《Avalon: New settlers》 Prologue Prologue I was always bored. Never could find anything that would interest me, either things were too easy for me to do, or required too much effort to learn properly, which made me dejected. People from my family and others called me lazy or quitter. I admit, that I was. I started reading, dreaming about fantastical worlds existing, sadly, in imagination only. Until virtual reality came to be. Yeees, the beginning wasn¡¯t anything impressive in comparison to things in novels and books, simple headsets with better 3D and option of moving in-game camera with your head. Now however, there was sensation on the tech and gaming news. New Perspective Innovations, a company no one ever heard of, has announced release of a product described as it was in all those books I¡¯ve read. A capsule, connected to private servers of the company, with only one feature ¨C Virtual World. The description was vague at most, only certainties were that it was game based on survival and RPG kind in fantasy setting, and it promised a totally new experience of living in different world. At first people took it as a prank, some unknown name declaring creating alternative virtual world? Fairy tale. Then the site appeared, with option of ordering the capsules, and people went bonkers. Machines were priced at fifty thousand dollars each, and it was written that for now, there existed only 100000 of them. After two hours, none were left. And as it happened, I am one of the crazies, who bought the big enigma. That was three days ago, specified time for delivery was expiring today, so I couldn¡¯t sit still from excitement and anxiousness at the same time. The money I used to buy this thing was my reserves, sent to me from uncle who raised me, not to bother him ever again. Problem is, I was now left with about one thousand, when bills per month cost me about two. Never mind, I will ask boss later to pay me earlier than usual. My train of thoughts was interrupted by sound doorbell. Full of anticipation, I opened the door and there it was, just like on picture on the website. The Link, as it was named. Also, four muscular man, clearly responsible for dragging this thing inside and one in black suit with wide smile on his face. ¡°You must be mister.. Robert King? ¡° ¡°Yes, that¡¯s me.¡± ¡°Sorry sir, but I will still have to check your credentials with some document, this package is quite expensive and to use only by Robert King.¡± Well, it didn¡¯t surprise me that they wanted some insurance, it WAS expensive. After showing my documents, I was asked to fill a form on a portable laptop, while others started installing in a spot I pointed at. The form consisted of strange things. Baffled, I interrupted man in the suit who was instructing his workers. ¡°Excuse me, is this somehow related to the game I will be playing?¡± ¡°Yes, you might notice a green card, sticking from the side of the laptop? This card will save data you fill the form with, and after injecting it in capsule, you will be able to start your adventure with what you chose. I am inclined to remind you, this choice is final. Unless you buy a new capsule, which as you know, is at the moment impossible, you can¡¯t change your initial character.¡± With that said he resumed installation, leaving me in deep thought. The beginning of the game was very important, especially new game and based on survival. I looked over entire form reading basic information first. It included obvious stuff, like character race, creation panel, as well as what stats were influencing what and initial skills with descriptions. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. Races included human, alv(elves), dvergs(dwarfs) but also gnomes and giants. I chose half human half dverg (mixing of the races was allowed) because I liked bonuses from this mix which included faster mining, forging and basic prospecting from the dvergs side, as well as improved adaptability (which just sounds good, there was no description for those) and bonus to negotiation from human. After deciding on race, next was looks part. Height was going to be random, ranging from 4.5 feet to 5.5. In fact, the only thing I could choose was how my face looked. And wow, was it realistic. Like I was looking at a real person. Not really obsessed with looks, I made face as close to my real one, leaving image with green eyes with gray tinge, dark brown hair and small beard (what dwarf doesn¡¯t have a beard). All in all it didn¡¯t look rough, but not feminine either. An average look. Satisfied nevertheless, I moved to the most important section. Stats and skills. For stats, I could either choose them myself, in which case all started from 1 and I had 30 points to choose between 7 of them, or I could leave them to chance and choose randomize option, in which case I received additional 20 points. Tough choice. ¡°We are finished, sir¡± The black suit walked up to me, surprising me. I looked at the clock, and apparently an hour passed already since I started filling the form. The capsule was standing in the corner of my living room, no cables visible, the muscled people were gone. Hmm, I must have been really into it. ¡°Sorry, I am not finished yet.¡± ¡°That is no problem sir, I will wait in the car outside.¡± ¡°Oh, ok...¡± Not minding him anymore I immersed myself back in character creation. I wanted to be crafting character, but also a wizard of some kind. First required strength to harvest and handle resources, second intelligence and wisdom. So I could theoretically choose those to give more points or even max¡­ but I didn¡¯t. I decided it was too bothersome to strategize and think about how many points I wanted in what, and also the 20 additional points were worth the risk. After pressing randomize button, I was left with skills to choose from. These were active skills, and just like with stats there was either 2 for me to choose, or 3 as random. 100 skills listed, with basic description. Screw this. I was already getting fed up and wanted to play so I pressed randomize again, and then save. After brief moment I saw notification that data was saved on card. I took the card and quickly went to return the laptop. In front of black SUV was standing black suit I met before. ¡°Already finished, sir?¡± ¡°Yes, I opted for random stats and skills in the end.¡± ¡°Ha, you are the first I heard of sir. May luck be with you than, and happy new life!¡± With those strange parting words he entered car. Not thinking much about what he said, I returned home to launch the game. 1.First trouble Author¡¯s Note: Hey to those reading, here is first, a bit short chapter. Next chapter will be posted later today. If you are wondering about stats and skills and stuff like that, worry not, it will be included later on as there is a reason for lack of these for now. Anyways, different chapters WILL have different length, but I will try to make them longer. Enjoy! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I lied down in capsule. After pressing the button under my hand, door closed and I instantly drifted to sleep. Or at least it seemed that way. I ¡°woke up¡± lying on the grass, surrounded by tall trees which I couldn¡¯t recognize. But the experience itself was outstanding. I lied there for a bit, smelling grash air with no fumes, listening to wind whistling through the leaves above me and birds singing. After a while I stood up and was greeted by screen floating in front of my face. WELCOME TO AVALON This is only notification you will see in this new life of yours. As a new settler, we sincerely hope you enjoy this experience to its fullest. Everything here relies on your wit and luck. Remember, cherish your life, because starting from level 10, the gods¡¯ lift their protection from you. Thus, after dying, unless you have sworn yourself in one of the temples, you WILL NOT REVIVE. So struggle, explore, and a HAPPY NEW LIFE! And that was that. Great. After a minute the notification faded. Instantly I tried to access a menu of some kind to check my stats and skills. First I tried to think hard about menu or options, but nothing happened. Then I spoke ¡°Menu!¡± which worked. And left me dumbfounded. The only thing appearing was log out button. Was this a joke? After 5 minutes of trying other possible commands which I could think of aloud, I gave up. What the hell. It was totally different from how they described it in novels!!! I was supposed to be seeing everything clearly, having op potential and bright future! I was standing in a forest, god knows where, with simple cloth shirt, trousers and leather boots. Looking down I noticed I must have been shorter then in real life, but also more muscular. About 5 feet I guess? Everything seemed larger than me. With nothing better to do, I started walking in the direction I was facing. Something was bound to happen sooner or later, right? I mean there should be a beginner¡¯s village somewhere nearby, right? I wasn¡¯t just being na?ve, right??? Well, apparently I was. Or maybe I chose wrong direction, because after walking for about an hour I was still surrounded by the same damn trees and bushes. Only thing that changed was that it had grown much quieter around me. And I didn¡¯t get the clue why, until ugly green creature with sharpened stick almost impaled me after running from the bushes in front of me. Luckily it screamed loudly after emerging, which gave me chance to desperately dodge to the left. Well, I wanted something to happen, and something was. After unsuccessful charge, the creature didn¡¯t chase me, but rather went quiet and hid itself in bushes behind where I was standing before. I quickly stood up picking a fist sized rock on the way up. I waited for some screen to tell me that I just equipped rock +1 to smashing. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. Nope. No notifications, remember? It was like in real life, mundane and ordinary rock. Except that in real life I wouldn¡¯t be assaulted by green ugly creature I could only name goblin. I could see movement all around me, which was explained when three of those bastards jumped out, all pointing their ¡°spears¡± at me, screaming and running. Not knowing what to do, I decided to take a chance and ran towards smallest of them. I saw fear reflected in his eyes, and his hands started trembling, and only thanks to that he missed with his wild thrust towards my head. I grabbed the stick near my ear with one hand, and hoping for the best pulled him towards me while simultaneously punching out with rock in my other fist. The result was beyond my expectation. Goblin flew at me after my pull, and abruptly stopped with a sickening crunch when met with my punch. I almost vomited when seeing what I did to his head, red blood all over my hand. But quickly I was brought back to my sense when I heard scream behind me. I looked back abruptly, but instead of spear drawing near my face, I saw backs of the goblins disappearing into bushes around. After a while, when it grew quiet, I breathed sigh of relief. Then I looked at my work. And gagged again. This FUCKING game! They made it TOO realistic!!! I could see caved in skull, with brain matter all over the place. Ueghh. I couldn¡¯t look anymore. Only thing keeping me from self-loathing was the fact that this was a game. It may looked real, but it wasn¡¯t. Right? After getting myself together I cleaned as much blood as I could with grass and decided on getting some food weapon. Stone may have been enough against those guys, but if I encountered something bigger and badder.. I didn¡¯t want to think about that. At least the confrontation proved I was quite a bit stronger then in real life. Also much calmer. I did panic at first but was still able to do well. I think? 2.Lumber Author¡¯s Note: Second chapter of the day, already working on the third. Enjoy, and if you spot mistakes/anything wrong please write. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Guess what? You want a weapon in the forest? You got to make yourself one. Or kill a bloody goblin. Which gives you pointed stick. And here I was, expecting bronze dagger and village chief asking to kill chickens. No. I am stranded in this big damned forest, no signs of civilization whatsoever, with no spare clothes, no food and a stone and a stick for a weapon. Oh, and did I mention they made this game realistic? Yes. I even have to exercise toilet needs. First I thought I needed to do it in real, so I quickly logged out where I was standing. But when I opened my eyes, there was nothing, no urge, no need. So I logged back again. And there it was. But thanks to that, I realized another thing, which was very disturbing. When I relogged, I was lying in the grass, face down. That meant, that my character just fell asleep, or lost consciousness when I logged out. And it meant, I could die in game, while logged out. Not good. Especially considering warning about not being able to revive. I needed to find temple, real quick. I didn¡¯t want to check what the message about not reviving after level 10 meant. First, food. When I was walking before, I noticed that some bushes had fruits similar to strawberries, there were also mushrooms lying. I risked getting poisoned, but starving to death was bad option as well so I decided to risk fruits, as they seemed more edible. And they were! Taste was similar to peach, a little more sour, but they didn¡¯t have bad taste and any instant detrimental effect. I didn¡¯t have any means to take them with me, but I have seen them all around so they must have been common around. That was first base need taken care of. Next was shelter. Until I found civilization, I had no protection from weather conditions or hostile creatures. So I had couple of choices now. To continue walking around in search of other people or to find some kind of cave. Anyway, I wouldn¡¯t build a makeshift tent, I didn¡¯t know how to. Cave would very possibly be inhabited by something, and I was in the forest, so finding a cave was also unlikely. So no other way but to resume search in hope of finding village. After 2 hours (yes, BLOODY 2 HOURS OF RANDOMLY WALKING FORWARD) i finally saw hope. And specifically road. It was simple packed dirt, but clearly it was made by sentient beings. With renewed vigor I started to follow it, and after another 30 minutes I left the forest and saw smoke in the distance. Finally! When I ran and was about to enter village my way was blocked by tall, sturdy man in leather armor who went out of first house upon seeing me run. With REAL spear pointed at me. ¡°Stop right there, dwarf. State your name and business here. And to seven hells, whose blood is it on you! No funny moves, if I even see you saying anything suspicious this¡± he shook spear ¡°goes into your heart.¡± After catching my breath I was able to respond. ¡°Yes, hi, I mean hello, my name is Rob King (I didn¡¯t change my name, never had any fantasy naming sense), I was lost in the forest and was searching for nearest village to find some information about where I was. And blood is from green ugly creature which attacked me.¡± ¡°Ok, Rob, my name is Vars and I am this village¡¯s chief protector. If you have some proof of killing goblin I could give you 3 coppers as reward, but clearly you have none. Can¡¯t say I trust you, too many bandits around these parts, but since you don¡¯t seem to carry any weapon and your clothes are shabby at most, I will allow you to go to the village. It¡¯s called Lumber and most of people here are woodcutters. You can get more information from our mayor, he lives in the big brick house down this road. Oh, and before you go, one last thing. If you cause any kind of trouble you will be instantly kicked out or worse. We don¡¯t tolerate any mischief around here.¡± Even though Vars wasn¡¯t very likeable character, he seemed honest and straightforward. Besides, I finally was in a village!!! There were people around me! No more trees, bushes and green killers! I could already imagine getting quests and slaying dragons ahead of me. But before that, I needed more information about this world, and a temple to be at ease. Walking towards mayors house, I noticed curious looks. Also I noticed that I really stood out. Grown-ups in vicinity were all six feet and taller, almost all with bulky builds and blonde hair. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! After I knocked on mayors door I was momentarily greeted by small girl, probably 5-7 years old, with adorable twin tails and adorable everything really. ¡°Hello mister, you want papa?¡± ¡°Is your papa a mayor?¡± ¡°Yes, papa is very important person. He¡­¡± ¡°Lidi, come here! Sorry for my daughter, she always somehow answers the door before I can get to them. I am mayor of Lumber, Cordel, what can I help you with?¡¯ The man who spoke was a little overweight, cheerful fellow. He had blue eyes like his daughter, was as tall as everyone in this village, but his eyes were not cautious like Vars I met before. ¡°Ah, hi, my name is Rob King, I wanted some information and Vars told me I could ask you.¡± ¡°Ehhh, Vars has all information I have, you must have done something to make him think you troublesome.¡± I could feel my cheeks burning when I remembered running like a madman while laughing and crying. Yes, that could have been a disturbing sight. Mayor just laughed on seeing this, and invited me inside. ¡°We don¡¯t get a lot of new faces around these parts, mostly new bands of thieves, so unless you are one, you are welcome to stay in my house temporarily, until you find yourself a place. We have no inn in our village, but few houses are empty. But to live there you must first rent or buy them from me so¡­¡± He looked at my dirty clothes with criticizing eyes. While he was talking he led me to a living room with cosy fireplace, dining table and chairs made out of engraved wood. We sat down on the opposite sides with his daughter taking chair and sitting near her dad, looking all over my figure with sparkling eyes. I must have been the first time she saw someone with posture of a dwarf. ¡°Now, onto the business. What kind of information can I provide you with?¡± ¡°I need some kind of temple, as well as map and means to survive around here. Job or quest would be nice, also I will take your offer to stay in the house for now, thank you for that.¡± ¡°Temple? Quest? Oh my¡­ you came from the forest? You were¡­ No, no I can¡¯t. Nevermind. Don¡¯t mind me.¡± After hearing what I said he lost his composure for a while, mumbling under his nose with grim look on his face. I was starting to wonder if I said something wrong when his cheerful look returned to him, maybe a littles less than before. ¡°Okay, Rob. There are 2 minor shrines in village, one of God of nature, other of crafters. I suppose as dwarf it would be better to be sworn to the crafters God, his name is Regbet, you need to just say that you want to commit all your work in his name and it should do it. As for map, I can sell you one for 10 silver, it extends from here to other 3 villages nearby. As for jobs. Hmmm. If you went to the village of Plenty, there are forge masters who would be happy to get a dwarf apprentice.¡± Forge masters? Not blacksmiths? It sounded awesome. As if they made weapons out of legends. And I could become one!!! I was already beaming with anticipation but his next words cooled down my enthusiasm. ¡°For now I won¡¯t ask for money, but if you continue to stay with us I will want reimbursement. I don¡¯t provide charity, each day will cost you 10 coppers. And as an apprentice you will be probably be gaining 30 to 50 coppers a day, based on your performance and master. Also, I see you have no spare clothes and weapon to defend yourself with, so for clothes I will rent you my spares, and as for weapon, I suggest you just make it for yourself when you become apprentice. Of course you will have to pay for the materials. Last thing, as I said before, bandits are infesting these region, so I suggest the first time you move to plenty go with others. Tomorrow morning at dawn, people interested in travelling there are leaving. Is there anything else?¡± I shook my head and thanked him. He smiled with wide grin. ¡°Everything costs, so don¡¯t thank me yet. I am not doing this out of good heart, each additional member of community must work here to improve our lifestyle. So, with business concluded I will make something to eat. Oh, and welcome to our village, and a happy new life!¡± What was with with all these people wishing me happy new life? Was it some kind of company slogan? Never mind. It was dusk already when we finished dinner comprising of meat from horned deer, apparently best creature to hunt in forest, bread and some vegetables. After saying bye to the mayor and his daughter I decided it was time to log out and check on the forums what other people experiences were. 3.Journey to village Plenty(1) Author¡¯s Note: Here comes third chapter. As before, hope for criticism and if you spot mistakes I will try to correct them as soon as possible. After posting this chapter I will also edit second chapter a bit, to make it look less bulky. Anyways, enjoy! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When I left capsule, I noticed it was growing wasn¡¯t even dark outside, and I clearly spent whole day in-game. When I looked at the clock it that the time spent inside capsule was only two hours. It was quite incredulous. Whole day playing should be whole day in here right? I mean, it should be around midnight here, at least. What was this game, different dimension??? Anyways, that meant that I had to log in back in about an hour or even less to make it for departure towards the next village where I could get a job. Not much time really, but I didn¡¯t mind, I had nothing to do here, except for some light food and checking info on the net. After making myself some sandwiches I started searching in the web for information on the game. Guess what? I found NONE. There were only posts about arriving of the capsules and anticipation on how the game would look like. That¡¯s it. Not what I expected, that¡¯s for sure, I mean, some people MUST have logged out by now? And some must have done it even earlier if they were in similar situation as I was at the beginning to complain about game difficulty? But there was nothing. So in one of the forums about capsules, I posted my own experience so far half to gloat, and half to complain. I still had some time before 45 minutes passed, which was the time I decided on logging back in, so I just waited, while refreshing thread I posted in. And after 10 minutes of waiting there was still nothing. NOTHING. That was just impossible. The topic was viral, last post I saw was posted just 2 minutes before I posted my own. But after my post there was nothing. I was simply dumbfounded. Crazy ideas about suddenly becoming last man on earth and a few bad horrors came to my mind. But I quickly dismissed the ideas and decided to check it later on, when I logged out again. Now it was the time to continue my adventure! I woke up in game and sun was already starting to shine through the window where i slept. Also, on the chair, near bed were neatly folded clothes, similar to mine in design but different in size. Yes, it was mayor¡¯s size, so after putting them on I must have looked like child with beard in its big bearded parent¡¯s pajamas. I rolled the sleeves and trousers up to maintain some dignity and walked out of my room. I immediately smelled eggs, and my stomach started growling. That just proved that whatever I did outside the game, didn¡¯t affect the state of my body in here. I went down and said hi to the mayor and his daughter. They were together, standing in the kitchen connected to the living room, but upon seeing me Lidiam (that was her full name) started hopping around me trying to make me play with her. ¡°Stop bothering Rob, Lidi, he doesn¡¯t have time now.¡± ¡°Time, what do you mean Cordel?¡± Aw shit. I was distracted by delicious smell and forgot about departure. ¡°Damn, am I late? Cordel, where is the meeting point for those travelling to Plenty?¡± ¡°You have luck, you still have about 5 hourglasses before they depart. Take these for the road¡± he gave me bread and couple of sausages ¡°you will pay for them later. For now run straight ahead of my house, towards the forest where you came from, and met Vars. He is responsible for delegating protectors for this journey, so tell him you will be participating. Good luck!¡± He shouted at my back and I shouted thanks back to him, as I ran towards group of people I saw at the entrance to the village. There were about 15 men with 2 women standing near cart loaded with wood. What surprised me was that cart was pulled by normal horses. Finally something I recognized in here. One of the men, Vars, was giving instructions to the others. I managed to get in range to hear him finish. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°¡­and remember, the thieves around here may be weak, but they are plenty. They didn¡¯t form any band that could threaten us. Not that we know of. But still they can try to ambush you, and I don¡¯t want any more causalities. Understood? Park, Lomar, Ref and Ungr. You are responsible for all these people¡­¡± Than he noticed me. ¡°¡­and this dwarf. Keep your wits about you, and return safe.¡± ¡°He, hello Vars. I Cordel says hi. And I was supposed to tell you that I want to go to Plenty¡± He was looking at me, grimly so I stuttered a little. ¡°Yes, that I can see Rob the dwarf. Now listen. If there will be ambush on the road, and you don¡¯t help others with defending themselves, you might as well not come back here. And if I ever find you, it will be short encounter. Do you understand?¡± Why did he have problem with me? Oh right. When we met I was looking like madman, with blood on my clothes. If I wanted to live here I probably should improve our relations somehow. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, as I said before, that was goblins blood, and I am not a bandit.¡± ¡°Hmph, we shall see.¡± With that he rudely turned away and went into his house. One of the other men in similar to Varse''s leather armor and spear came up to me. ¡°My name is Lomar and I am leader of this trip. You will be walking behind the cart with others, and don¡¯t do anything suspicious.¡± Why was everyone except mayor so wary of me? I was smaller than them by whole feet for god¡¯s sake. ¡°How can I prove to you people that I mean you no harm?¡± ¡°Trust is not easily earned, you should know that best as a dwarf.¡± After a bit of time we went ahead and left the village. I noticed all people, even women, had some kind of weapon on them, as well as small moneybag strapped to belts. Weapons were mostly short swords, couple of them had staffs, wooden maces and wooden shields. I was given a large stick from the pile of wood. Great. Still no real weapon. But I was going to be a blacksmith, so I had high hopes for the future. Few people were talking during our journey, but there was one I managed to talk to without stress. He was named Dorrick, and was very talkative. Laughing and talking almost non-stop, I hardly had any opportunity to ask him questions. ¡°¡­yes, my mother thought I would be tough like a dwarf so she named me after your king. Hahahaha, imagine me, woodcutter from northern frontier, with name of a King!!! Hahahaha¡± ¡°As I was saying earlier I am only half dwarf, so he is not really my king.¡± ¡°Ay, details my small friend, details. Have you been around these parts before? No? Well you will like Plenty, it¡¯s almost like one of your dwarven towns, except on surface. Hahahahaha, so nothing like them at all!¡± I was growing tired of his constant talking, but I managed to squeeze some of crucial information I needed. When I asked him whether I could somehow check how strong I was (I really wanted to know my stats and level), he said that It was possible in temple, if I paid for it. Only 50 silver for check-up. What the hell. Also, when I told him I forgot to swear myself in the temple, he grew startled and said I had to do it in Plenty as a first thing upon arrival. But I was at ease, I mean, until level 10 I had divine protection right? And it wouldn¡¯t be easy for me to gain those levels, without hunting anything first. Or so I thought. After passing small hill, protector in front of the cart shouted something no one wanted to hear during this journey. ¡°BANDITS!!!¡± 4.Journey to village Plenty(2) Author¡¯s note: Here comes part 2. I decided to split it, I want you to point to anything wrong as I write the rest of the fight. A bit later part 3 will be out. I will definitely end this one today, so worry not, no more cliffhangers. I think? Point out any mistakes you see, and enjoy! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Everyone, I included, stiffened for a moment. Than our whole group rushed to the front of the cart to see how many assailants we were facing. On the road before us, there were 8 enemies, 7 human bandits in tattered cloak and a 5 feet tall wolf. They didn¡¯t look weak at all. They had different weapons, all metal, some of them even had armors from, what I assumed, was studded leather. Still, 8 opponents against our 17 wasn¡¯t bad right? As I thought that, I forgot about common idea of flag triggering. More bandits started coming out from the sides of the previous 8. I counted about 25 of them in total, newcomers were armed with pointed sticks and stones, and they clothes were tattered. They looked kind of like me, actually, after my encounter with goblin, except they were all human. The leaders (7 original bandits with the wolf, I will call them leaders (and yes, wolf followed them)) went forward in our direction. After stopping about 50 before our group, one of them, a woman spoke. ¡°We hold the advantage. Surrender your money, as well as 5 of you, and we will let the rest go unharmed.¡± What? Didn¡¯t they want cargo as well? Lomar with other protectors was standing in front of us, and now he responded in neutral voice. ¡°We can surrender our money, but no people will come with you. It is not negotiable, unless you want unnecessary bloodshed, take our offer and get out of the way.¡± Woman looked our group looking into eyes of villagers, as if to ascertain all were agreeing with what Lomar said. She briefly stopped at noticing me, but she didn¡¯t seem overly surprised to see a dwarf here. Finally, she turned her back on us and started talking in quiet voice with man beside her. He was grim fellow, and from what I could see from his expression this wasn¡¯t going to end well. And my expectations seemed correct, when woman turned with cold smile and shouted one word. ¡°ATTACK!¡± The 17 underlings with bad weaponry started charging at us while screaming. Why does everyone shout so much when engaging in battle? To encourage himself and his allies. So people around me started shouting as well, and charged, protectors leading the way, to meet the enemy. What was with these people? Both groups were unorganized, the bandit leaders led the charge of theirs, protectors led ours, but we were just random masses of people, screaming and running. This encounter could have looked antirely different with some tactical orders. But I had thought of that only after the battle, because at this moment I was swept in bloodlust and adrenaline, doing what everyone else was just wishing to gain as much exp on those bandits as I could. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. First to clash were Lomar and wolf. Lomar stabbed forward, while the beast dodged by jumping to the side and quickly grabbing the spear. I had no time to watch rest of this fight, because chaos ensued, when people met other people. This game was awesome. Seriously, how did they make these AI. The conversations before could all be easily programmed, but fighting was much harder.To make it fluent and so responsive? We were at disadvantage, but we had better weapons than most of the opponents. Bandit leaders were the only real problem, as those who engaged with them were being pushed back. I was attacked by one of the mob bandits, he thrust his stick at me. But it was similar to goblins thrust, and as I was much calmer than during my first fight, I avoided to the side while bringing my own weapon on his head, with all might I could muster. D¨¦j¨¤ vu. Crunch of broken bone, blood and brain matter splattered over me and surroundings and limp body falling to the floor. But this time, I simply continued to fight with others, as our enemies were plenty. I didn¡¯t notice shocked looks from both sides and rushed to one of the bandit leaders who was whacking villager¡¯s shield with axe. There was blood flowing from the shield arm of the defending person, and clearly he was on his last feet. I couldn¡¯t get to him fast enough. My way was barred by another leader, this one with short sword soaked in blood and a shield of his own. I could only watch with frustration as the axe fell, chopping through cracked shield, arm and torso of villager. Then I saw a sword coming towards my face, and had no more room to look around. This guy was tough. I had range advantage, with my large stick (okay, staff, let¡¯s give this one some credit) but he easily defended my blows with his shield, while using each opportunity I struck to counterattack. We exchanged couple of blows, him parrying, me jumping to the sides and back to dodge, when I noticed he was holding his shield lower and lower, and his face was expressing pain and panic. ¡°Hey, Herad, stop playing around with that guy and help me!¡± Not good. I must have some strength to make his arm suffer under the shield, but that also meant I would be focused in a moment by other tough enemies. I desperately started to whack him with all strength, abandoning defense. He tried to counterattack to stop my offensive, and we ended up striking each other. He hit me first, as I was just raising my stick for another slam, and I was struck straight to the stomach. I don¡¯t know how, but I didn¡¯t feel any pain, and there wasn¡¯t much blood flowing through the wound. He looked baffled, that is, until my staff met his face and he didn¡¯t look like anything anymore. ¡°GOD¡¯S DAMMIT, YOU WILL PAY FOR THAT YOU BASTARD!!!¡± I hoped I could catch my breath, but I looked up, only to see another one of my group, a protector this time, fall under the hands of the grim looking man from before, while he shouted, clearly at me. Except this time, he was not looking grim, but enraged. Not good. 5.Journey to village Plenty(3) Author¡¯s Note: Part 3rd and last of the journey. Point out any mistakes you see, and enjoy! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I quickly looked around to see if anyone could help, but everyone had their hands full. Lomar, bleeding from bite wounds was still fighting with wolf, which was also bleeding from from few holes in its fur. 2 other protectors were engaged with 3 bandit leaders, and they were doing fairly well. One of bandit leaders was already lying on the ground, unmoving. So that left 5 leaders, a wolf, and mob around right? I had a chance to pick short sword from the bandit I just slain, but decided to keep my staff, as it gave me longer reach. And it was necessary to have it, while fighting people who were head taller than you, AND you had no combat experience. My quick glance around almost cost me my life, as grim bandit reached me faster than I could have predicted. In the edge of my vision I saw blade coming for my throat and I desperately brandished my staff to defend against the blow. Due to strength of the strike I took, I fell to the side, almost flying. I quickly regained my bearings and stood up, only to be rained upon by an onslaught of mad slashes. The man I was facing was one of those wearing studded armor, wielding blade similar to 3 feet cleaver. After two blows my staff couldn¡¯t handle the strength of the blows and broke, and I had to jump back and run away. Quite an unsightly view, but I had no other choice, I had no time to pick up any other weapon, and he was chasing me with his blade swinging just behind my back. I saw a glimmer of hope when Lomar, who was ahead finally finished the beast, and turned around to notice my situation. He immediately ran in my direction and intercepted the man chasing after me. That gave me time to look for a weapon, which wasn¡¯t so hard. There was wooden mace lying nearby. I thanked the corpse of a villager who had been the previous possessor, grabbed the mace and rushed back to help Lomar. He was fighting rather evenly with the grim bandit, and when I joined him we were able to finish him quickly. I attacked from the side, aiming at path of his swinging blade. It lessened the strength of his blow and disrupted his balance. This created opportunity for Lomar to stab him straight to the heart, and finish the struggle here. The fight was over. Bandits were discouraged, although loses on both sides were fairly even, we were fighting for our lives, while they for profit. After defeating 4 bandit leaders and wolf, as well as 8 of the weaker mob, first ones of them started to abandon the fight and run into the woods. Quickly all of them left the fight, suffering loss of one more leader and 3 of the underlings, before the rest disappeared from our sight. I just stood there, exhaustion and pain getting to me. I was struck a couple of times by the first bandit leader I fought, but those were just minor wounds, stomach wound included. It was a miracle that last stab managed to avoid any organs. A miracle, I repeat. I almost had a heart attack when someone patted me on the shoulder. It was the protector, Park, he asked whether I felt good enough to help wounded. I was, and so we started to clean after the battle. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. In the end, from the initial 17 of us, we ended with 9 left. 1 woman and 7 men fell, including one of the protectors. 2 of the survivors had major wounds, and we had no medicine available to help them, so we had to end their suffering. People wore grim expressions, some were openly crying and cursing bandits and gods. In the end, Lomar interrupted grieving. The villager¡¯s bodies were burned, first cutting some of the hair off and putting them in their respective clothes on the cart, with their weapons included as means of identification. The mace I looted was taken as well, and put near clothes of the person I found it nearby. When we finished departing our fallen, the looting of the bandits begun. First all leaders possessing armor were stripped of it, than it, with all metal weapon and valuables were put in a pile. Weapons left were short sword, two handed axe, longsword and cleaver from the grim bandit. Only 2 studded leather armor¡¯s as well as two wooden shields. And 4 moneybags, which after counting, consisted of only 30 silvers and a bit of coppers. I was allowed to pick a weapon first, so I swiftly picked the cleaver. Although I probably looked funny, it was after all over half of my size, I was able to wield it with ease. Rest of the pile was put on the sides of the cart, while all the money was all taken by protectors. Apparently that was how they earned their money, that, and small tax taken from villagers monthly. We left after doing that, continuing towards Plenty. Lomar, when I asked him about the hair cutting and burning of bodies, answered that it was their custom around here. You never knew when the corpses may be reanimated, and clothes and hair served as the memento of the dead. It was put in shrine at home, to make them reincarnate in same household they belonged to. Well, well, so creators of this game took reincarnation concept as base for NPC¡¯s spawn? Nice if I say so myself. I wasn¡¯t overly sad, after all, it was just a game, and these people were strangers to me. I was actually happy, though I hid it, because I should have gained some exp, or even level from that encounter. Also people around treated me as one of their own, so my reputation also must have risen. All in all, I was starting to really enjoy this game. Hour passed after the encounter, and we left the forest. We were on the hill, gently going down towards mountain range. The mountains were huge, their peaks hidden in the clouds. They were called Teeth of Rasgar, which was said to be an ancient dragon. And at their base, was village Plenty, home of miners and forge masters. Our destination. A place, where I learned the truth. 6. Plenty 6. Author¡¯s Note: Hey there, previous chapters were kind of a baptism by blood for me. It¡¯s really hard to create fight scene you see in your mind using words. But I hope you liked it :P. And sorry for hanger, i decided to cut this chapter because I prefer <2000 words in chapter. Couple of hours and finishing another chapter. As always point out any mistakes you see, and enjoy! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The village Plenty looked more like a small town than a village. There was 7 feet tall stone wall surrounding it, with one gate in the direction of the forest we were coming from and another towards the mountains. We were stopped before entering to pay small toll for entering. Also, we were asked to give guards our weapons, those on cart included, before gaining entry to town. When taking weapons identifying dead villagers, they also took their respective clothes as sets. Only thing allowed in were daggers and small knives for self defence. Plenty¡¯s protectors wore hauberks, with metal shield and sword strapped to their backs. Later on I learned they had different equipment from our protectors, because had higher status and more experience than Lomar and others. After they had a brief conversation with our protectors, we were let through with wishes luck. We were asked to give them our weapons, those on cart included, before gaining entry to town. I asked what that was about and Lomar was happy to answer, his attitude towards me completely different than before. Apparently there were many new people in town, looking for accommodation and jobs. As we lost a few people, out village needed more people. So, it was a chance to recruit some of the newcomers. I also asked him about dwarves I could see here and there, walking on the streets. ¡°I thought you would know this as a dwarf. This is last human settlement before Harsh North. These mountains are serving as a border, but also they are home to one of dvergverds. This one is one of more friendly, named Rasgar Hold. People of Plenty are living of the trade with dwarves, as they provide ore and expertise, as well as protection in case of unpredicted disaster.¡± Protection? And what about bandits? ¡°But Vars said that these parts are infested with bandits, we were also attacked by them on the road. Couldn¡¯t dwarves help with hunting them down?¡± Lomar looked at me like I was dumb child. ¡°Rob, are you sure you weren¡¯t hit on the head during the attack? Why would they want to help us? ¡° Wasn¡¯t the answer obvious? ¡°Aren¡¯t bandits harmful for the trade?¡± Apparently not. He responded with a tone of teacher, lecturing very slow child. ¡°Yes, to OUR, human trade. Not dwarven. In fact they get more profit thanks to the bandits around here, because there is always need for their ore and weapons. And if they want to sell something further from here? They use their Portals.¡± Portals, hmm? That was a word which really piqued my interest. Every game which had a big world should have means of instant transportation, right? But I decided to ask about it later, because he was already looking at me as if I were halfwit. Our group was supposed to meet at the same gate we came in from at dawn of the next day. That meant that I needed to find job, as well as place to sleep. I also remembered to go to the temple to swear myself to god. First of all, homever, I prioritized job. Mayor of Lumber told me that temples were open all day and night, so if only thing I wanted to do was swearing myself, than I could do so whenever I wanted. Plenty was about 2 sizes bigger than Lumber. Houses were clustered together, making it more crowded and lively, and the main street was bigger, allowing more traffic. It really felt like town out of RPG game. There were stalls on street, selling food, as well as things I didn¡¯t recognize. Above the doors to some houses were signs advertising their trade. And, I could see a few smithies around. Yes, I could already imagine myself, creating a weapon capable of killing dragons and demons. If they existed in this game. I asked Lomar, before we split, who was the best forge master in town, and he said that I should go straight from the gate, until I saw ¡°Lars¡¯s shop¡±. But, he also told me not to bother going there, because Lars never took any disciple. AHA! That must have been quest of some kind. Or at least I had to have required stats to be able to learn from that guy. Perfect. The smithy was near the town¡¯s square, it was average building, with chimney and big red letters above the door saying places name. When I entered I felt heat of forge, and saw huge silhouette standing near anvil, banging with precision on a hot, red metal. The interior was made mostly of workshop, with small door leading further, probably to storage. I didn¡¯t want to interrupt the man during his work, so I resolved myself to wait for him to finish, when he spoke. ¡°I have no time BANG! work so if you BANG! order something, then BANG! If you want something BANG! just speak up.¡± He didn¡¯t shout, so I could only hear bits of what he said. But it was fairly obvious I had to explain the purpose of my visit. ¡°I WANT TO BECOME YOUR APPRENTICE! SIR!¡± Polite shouting. I guess it¡¯s a thing in such a circumstances. Lars¡¯s shoulders stiffened when he heard me, and he stopped his swing in mid-air. He carefully took the blade(?) he was making, and put it into large forge nearby. Then he turned to face me, and started examining me. He was older than I thought, I could see his hair go gray here and there, where soot didn¡¯t mask them. But his eyes were sharp as steel, I was wondering whether stronger NPC had some skill letting them identify others. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. After brief examination, he started asking me questions. ¡°Ok, dwarf, as with everyone, first you must tell me your statistics in the field of strength, wisdom and agility. Also, I need to know your skills associated with my craft. That¡¯s the first test. You fail that, and that¡¯s it. I will never consider making you a disciple again.¡± Wha-?? Isn¡¯t that absurd??? It¡¯s a game, right? So I should be told something like you don¡¯t meet requirements YET, so come back later. My thought¡¯s were interrupted by Lars, my expression must have betrayed me. ¡°Surprised? Look, I respect people who know their strengths and weaknesses. If you don¡¯t have at least 30 points in strength, agility and intelligence, and you come here, you are simply wasting my and your time. Also, prospecting is necessary in this trade, but I think that won¡¯t be a problem as you are a dwarf, after all.¡± 30 in all of those? I could already see my hopes of being master smith go down the drain. I had 50 points randomly put between all seven stats, so even if I had money to check them in temple, i had no chance of having met the requirements. I was dejected, and wanted to leave after thanking him, but he stopped me on my way. ¡°Okay wait. Actually the first condition to become my disciple was to be a dwarf, so just wait a second.¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t there dwarfs all around this town?¡± ¡°Yes, and if one of them wants to be a forge master, he takes dwarven master. I may be best blacksmith in this town, but I am no dwarf, and your kind are best in the world. You must be new around here, not to know that?¡± ¡°Yes, I am from Lumber.¡± ¡°Lumber? There are dwarves living there?¡± ¡°No, I¡­ well I was travelling here and there, and settled in Lumber temporarily. Then I heard about your village, and decided it was time to learn smithing.¡± Uhhh, that wasn¡¯t really convincing story. But he didn¡¯t seem to mind it. ¡°Ok, look, as long as you are not a thief and have at least 30 points in strength I can make you my apprentice.¡± Yes!!! That was it! I must have met a hidden condition or something, and luckily I had a chance! Yes, it was highly unlikely that out of my randomized 50 points 30 were put in strength, but I must have got at least one level up from the fight with the bandits. But I had no money to check it. So my expression went sour again. ¡°Is there any other way than temple, to check my statistics? I have no money on me at the moment.¡± ¡°No money? You were robbed or something? And how are you going to stay in town with no money?¡± Lars was incredulous. Well, it was embarrassing, but I had no excuse. If I told I was robbed now, it would sound kind of bleak. He must have really wanted dwarf apprentice, because he said he would lend me money for temple check, if I swore on my ancestors to return back. I thought it wasn¡¯t big deal, I mean, these were just words, and I really wanted this chance. After giving me money bag with 50 silvers counted, we shook hands. ¡°Ok, I think you have what it takes, but I want myself to know what I am dealing with. So, come back fast, ¡­?¡± Oh right! I still haven¡¯t introduced myself. ¡°Rob, my name is Rob. I hope to be learning from you in a bit, teacher Lars!¡± And with that I went out, almost jumping from glee in the direction of the nearest temple. Which was just around the corner, a simple building from granite and no windows, except one, in the ceiling. The light from outside was focused on a statue of an average sized man, in blacksmiths apron, wielding a hammer and a chisel. God of crafting, Regbet. I went to the statue, and as instructed by mayor I spoke loudly that I wanted to commit all my work in his name. And nothing happened. Wondering whether I did something wrong, I asked the nearest caretaker about it. ¡°Excuse me, I wanted to swear myself to Regbet, did I do something wrong?¡± He laughed quietly, and answered. ¡°No, everything you did was fine. Did you expect some reaction from god? There are many people who commit their work to Regbet, the first crafter, and gods don¡¯t have to manifest their power to each and every one of them. When you check your status, you will see you have been sworn successfully, unless you already had another god as your protector.¡± Well that explained it. Still, I was disappointed, game developers could have made something flashier. I asked the man about checking my stats, and he said to follow him. We went behind the statue, where was a small room with a blank stone stele inside. He asked me for payment, and after ascertaining there were 50 silver, he made a simple pushing gesture towards the stele. I could feel something like a wind moving from his hand, after which a small circular spot on the stone started to glow. He told me I just had to put my finger on the spot, and I could see the information. After these words, he left me alone, this information was my private business it seemed. With no hesitation, I went forward to learn about my status. 7."...and a happy new life!" Author¡¯s Note: Ok, here comes nothing. As always point out any mistakes you see, and I hope you enjoy. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After I touched the glowing spot, the stele came to life and status was shown from top to the bottom of it as follows. Rob King Half-Human, Half-Dwarf Jobs: Titles: Level 11 Hit Points: 100 Mana: 100 Strength: 102 Vitality: 101 Agility: 102 Wisdom: 100 Intelligence: 100 Charm: 92 Luck: XXX Fame:8 Points available for distribution: 0 Passive Abilities: Life Gambler, Basic Prospecting, Basic Mining, Basic Smithing, Basic Negotiation, Basic Adaptability, Divine Protection of Farran, Basic Staff Handling, Basic Two-Handed Fighting, Basic Mana Sense Skills: Smash, Dodge, Block What. The Hell. How, how did I get so much points??? And all those skills? Luck wasn¡¯t even visible, and I had shit-load of passives. When I saw that I already had level over 10, cold sweat ran down my spine when I thought about the fight earlier on. But then I noticed all those figures and thought something was bugged. I mean it must have been some error right? All except charm were 100 or more, and I had no points to distribute between them while I had level 11. Leaving stats alone, who was Farran? None of the skills had any description, but except Life Gambler, Mana Sense and Divine Protection, all were pretty self-descriptive. And I having them could be explained. I memorized everything I had questions about and took my finger off the stone. It still glowed, so I checked where was caretaker who led me there, to see if that was normal. I saw him leaning against the wall near the door to the room I was in. When he saw me, he spoke. ¡°Finished already? Any questions about what you saw?¡± ¡°Yes, actually, first of all the stele is still glowing, is that normal?¡± ¡°After you leave the room it will stop glowing after half and hourglass. Was that your first time checking your status?¡± ¡°Yes, and if you don¡¯t mind I have other questions¡± ¡°Ask away, I have nothing but time, since there are no others here today.¡± ¡°Ok, then first of all who is Farran? I have his protection apparently. Also I have level over 10, does that signify anything? And I have skills which I don¡¯t recognize, could you tell me about them as well?¡± I kind of forgot I was talking with NPC and bombarded him with questions. Despite that, he was able to respond. ¡°Farran, hmm? You must have done something for him in your previous life, he rarely blesses anyone. He is a god of luck and chaos, responsible for chance. He has almost no followers, some even deny his existence. People like to believe in fate, and that everything is predetermined, so his existence is uncomfortable to them, to say the least. Now, about having reached level 10, we will have to go somewhere more private to talk about that. I will answer your question about skills then as well.¡± Hmm, so I was protected by god of luck? Did that have anything to do with randomizing all my initial stats and skills? I couldn¡¯t find other explanation at the moment, so I left this topic for later. After logging out I could ask on forums about that. The other part of his response was cryptic, as if it was some hidden quest, or so I hoped. He motioned for me to follow him, and we went to the stairs leading down, which were hidden behind statue of Regbert. The passage led to small cozy room with two sofas facing each other and a fireplace. What was this place doing beneath the temple? ¡°I am Cordby by the way, may I know yours?¡± The caretaker said after we sat down on opposite sides. ¡°Sure, Rob, thank you for your time Cordby.¡± ¡°Oh, don¡¯t thank me yet Rob. I am afraid you won¡¯t like what I have to tell you. I will get straight to the point, after having reached level 10, have you tried logging out?¡± What? What was he talking about? Wasn¡¯t he an NPC? But how could he be temple¡¯s caretaker as a player? Ohhh, right, he may have been an admin. That would explain this. ¡°Are you perhaps an admin, Cordby?¡± ¡°Admin? No, I am.. I WAS a player.¡± Cordby frowned and I could see sadness, as well as melancholy in his eyes. Was a player? I didn¡¯t really get his meaning. If he wasn¡¯t a player anymore, how could he be in the game while not being an admin as well? ¡°Listen Rob, it¡¯s easier shown then said. Try to log out right now.¡± Still baffled, I did as he instructed. I said Menu out loud, but nothing happened. Hmm, maybe I remembered the command incorrectly? Options, Settings, Exit, Log out, Setup. Nothing. I had a bad feeling. Cordby just watched me with sad smile, as I was growing more and more desperate and confused. Finally I stopped trying. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON! WHO ARE YOU CORDBY, AND WHERE THE HELL IS LOG OUT BUTTON?!¡± I don¡¯t think I overreacted, looking back at that situation. It was fully justified, I mean I watched S*O and read many different fantasy stories, in setting based on world transportation and whatnot. And even though I did dream about such things happening to me, it wasn¡¯t really my wish. Dreams, and those stories were beautiful, because they were not real. Everything that happens to the heroes of those stories is in their favor, and even if it isn¡¯t it ends well. Real life is not like that, it¡¯s fucked up, and you got to struggle with all your might to attain something. So, deep down, I didn¡¯t really want to leave my boring, but safe and comfy life. ¡°Sit down Rob, and calm down. I will explain everything. You just have to listen to me calmly.¡± ¡°I DON¡¯T WANT TO SIT DOWN! I WANT TO EXIT THE GAME RIGHT NOW! I WILL SUE YOUR COMPANY FOR SICK JOKES LIKE THAT!¡± ¡°SIT DOWN AND CALM THE FUCK DOWN BOY!¡± Cordby roared at me, which shut me up. I sat down unconsciously, shocked by strength of his shout. He grunted, and continued speaking in previous, calm voice, as if nothing happened. ¡°This is no joke, and you better realize that as fast as possible. I don¡¯t know how old were you there, but it doesn¡¯t matter in here, in Avalon, you either grow up and adapt, or die. All players after getting level 10 are attuned to this world, which means you stop existing on your world. You become inhabitant of Avalon, one of the settlers. Don¡¯t ask me how, why and stupid shit like that, because I don¡¯t know. If you ever have chance, you can ask Gods, as these fuckers are responsible for reincarnation, and probably relocating here.¡± He took a sip of water from glass which I didn¡¯t notice standing on the table before. Or maybe it wasn¡¯t there earlier? I have no idea. At that moment I was just staring at him blankly trying to listen and make sense of what he was saying. After seeing my stare, his tone became gentler. ¡°Look there, kid, the reality is that you are now living here. You will never see your family, unless they played with you, which also doesn¡¯t guarantee it. Many people can¡¯t handle it, many more die before level 10. There are also those thinking what caretakers say is bullshit, and dying after level 10. It is not. Every sentient being on this world, is either a former player, or descendant of one. This ¡°game¡±, started a long time ago. And it doesn¡¯t show any signs of stopping any time soon.¡± I calmed down enough to ask the question bothering me the most at the moment. ¡°So when you die in here..?¡± ¡°You die. If you have divine protection, you will be reincarnated, in indefinite time, with no memories, as a normal baby of this world. That¡¯s if you are lucky, some are said to be reincarnated as monsters or animals, but there is no solid proof for that. And if you lack divine protection¡­¡± I gulped loudly. I probably achieved level 10 during the fight with bandits, so one wrong move, and I would be gone. Forever. And when I thought about it again, bandits were normal people right? Sentient and stuff? So I killed¡­ My stomach hurled and I almost vomited, thinking about crushed skulls and disfigured faces of people I slain today. I was a fucking murderer! They were probably just trying to survive here, in these harsh circumstances, and I killed them, destroying that hope. No! My head somehow cleared a little, when I was wallowing in despair and self-hate. They were attacking first, killing others and trying to kill me. It was self-defense, I had to kill so I wouldn¡¯t be killed. Yes, that¡¯s it. That¡¯s the train of thoughts I need to take in this situation. One more thought couldn¡¯t get out of my head, and I spoke it aloud, growing angry again. ¡°Ok, Cordby, if all people here know these circumstances, then why the fuck don¡¯t they warn newcomers about the situation? Why are they letting others be, ¡°relocated¡±, as you named it, in here?? I mean, who in their right mind would have continued playing this until level 10 in this case?¡± ¡°It is because we can¡¯t tell. Gods don¡¯t do almost anything to interfere with us in here, except relocation of course, but one other thing they do, is smiting. You see, when first players played this game, they received a divine message, notification if you prefer, at level 10. Each and every one of them, same message. It said, that they were the first of the new settlers, pioneers, expected to pave way for the generations to come. But the crucial part of the message, was forbidding them from warning new settlers, under the threat of punishment, about the reality of this ¡°game¡±. After some time, new ¡°players¡± indeed arrive, they were immediately warned by some of the pioneers about situation they were in. Guess what happened to these pioneers.¡± ¡°Punishment?¡± ¡°Yes, punishment. The pioneers doing the warning were burned by flame from the sky. But not just them. Everyone they knew closely were included in this smiting. It was called purge, and there were 23 of them in our known history. The last one, was biggest, and was called The Test. Beloved granddaughter of a man who became one of the human leaders, started ¡°playing¡±. And it just so happened, that she appeared in his house as a relocation point. She named her character with her real life name, so when the man found out who she was, he immediately told her to stop playing, and explained why. He didn¡¯t want her to live in this cruel world, even if it meant dying with his closest ones from Avalon. But he miscalculated. This was set up by gods, as final show of power. All the people he led were purged, except the man himself.¡± After these words, the room seemed to grow dark and ominous. I finally understood the meaning of the words ¡°¡­and a happy new life!¡± but they didn¡¯t sound cheerful. They sounded like death¡¯s whisper, cackling at my fate. 8. Adaptation Author¡¯s note: Well, I hope you enjoyed last chapter, I had two ideas on how to inform the MC about his situation, and chose this one. Will try to write another chapter for later today. Anyways, point out any mistakes you see, and hope you enjoy! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cordby, seeing that I understood the meaning of the story he just told, changed the topic abruptly. ¡°Ok, Rob, your initial question was about skills right? If I know them, I will tell everything about them. Otherwise, you will have to go to one of the cities, but, except Rasgar Hold, there are no other towns nearby. Other questions can be answered later on, most of the time I spend in the temple, so if you have other things you want to learn, feel free to come by. But your priority for now should be accommodating yourself. ¡° What? The sudden subject change confused me at first, but it also allowed me to focus on a problem before me, instead of redundant information I may ask about later on. Specifically, I still needed job, especially now, when the game became reality. Knowledge of skills was crucial as well, if my survival depended on it. So I asked away. ¡°First of all, are there any other perks to the divine protection except reincarnation? I mean, I have blessing of god of luck, and I couldn¡¯t see this stat at all. Was this the reason?¡± ¡°It¡¯s up to gods really. As you saw, they seem to rejoice in our struggles, so they didn¡¯t put any kind of tips about the skills, so we all had, and still have to figure out what they do. Divine protection is most random of skills, because one god grants different things through it, making it impossible to determine exact effect it has, besides reincarnation of course. You must observe it yourself, whether you are really lucky or the opposite.¡± ¡°I guess there is no other way around it then. There are also two other skills, Life Gambler and Mana Sense. Know anything about them?¡± ¡°Mana Sense is fairly easy, it¡¯s self-explanatory after all. It is ability to sense magic around you. It includes monsters, spells being cast around you as well as magical objects and places rich with mana. The higher your proficiency, the better you sense it. It is basic skill required to learn any kind of magic. As for the other one, what was it? Life Gambler? I never heard about it before. It sounds as it is associated with Farran though, so you should probably look for people knowledgeable about him, to learn the effect of that skill.¡± So no luck with Life Gambler huh? I had a feeling this skill was associated with my stats being so big, but I had to wait till I went to larger cities for that to be explained. There was one more important thing bothering me about my status. ¡°Last thing, I have 11 level, and it is my second day in gam¡­ on Avalon, is earning levels easy here? Also, what do levels grant? I got 11, but no points to distribute between my statistics.¡± Cordby was quite surprised at what I said. ¡°You have been here, and you earned 11 level already? Wait, did you just say you got no points to distribute?¡± He stood up and took attacking posture against me, his face contorted in anger. ¡°You better tell me fast who did you kill Rob, and no funny moves, this room is situated above one of the Mana Rivers, so I can obliterate you if I deem you dangerous!¡± ¡°Bandits, I killed bandits! On the way from Lumber to Plenty, me and my group were attacked large band. During the encounter I killed a few of them, including one of the leaders! You can ask Lomar, protector I came with, he will prove my story.¡± Cordby relaxed, but not fully. He explained then, that killing people granted many levels but no additional stat points. If one wanted to earn points on leveling, one needed to kill monsters, and absorb their energy. Avalon inhabitants just called it Life Force, and to harvest it from monsters corpse you needed to stand near it and feel it. Kind of like with mana, but different feel to it. After sensing it, you needed to draw it into yourself, like Ki in cultivation books, only this was fast and easy process for all. The harder monster was to slay, the more LF he had. After leveling from monster kills, you didn¡¯t get fixed amount of points, they were based on quality and quantity of monsters you have slain, before leveling up. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. So there wasn¡¯t any perk to leveling up in itself. In fact, the way I did it , was detrimental to my growth. The higher the level, the more life force was needed, and the less points was granted for it. Average points from leveling up by killing monsters of similar to ones strength, was 3, so as long as you didn¡¯t kill something way above your capabilities, your growth was rather slow. But there was great potential in this system-while killing people granted many level ups, if you killed, say, dragon, while being much weaker than it, you would still earn only one level up. But points earned after that upgrade would skyrocket! There was also another way of earning stats and level, which was living. Normal people wouldn¡¯t go hunting monsters, especially when their average stats were in 30¡¯s and 40¡¯s. So how did they earn points? By doing manual labor, exercising, learning and many other things associated with each stat. For each person it was different, how much one needed to work to earn level and points. Those earning lots with almost no effort were called prodigies. Truly unfair world. What was worse, was that unless you passed a kind of thresholds, you could lose stat. For example, if you lied on the bed, not training your muscles at all, your strength would fall. But luckily, it couldn¡¯t fall beyond borders. These were on 10, 50, 90, 130 and so on. So I had to earn another 30 in each stat not to worry about losing them, or let them fall to 90, which I didn¡¯t even consider. I had huge starting handicap, and I didn¡¯t intend to lose it. I decided that that was enough for today, as I had to return to Lars, and somehow convince him to pay me for today. I preferred sleeping in bed to cold stone in random alley. Especially with my unknown luck factor included. Before I went, last thing Cordby said, was not to talk about my previous life with others. It was sensitive topic for most, since they left families and friends in their original worlds. After thanking Cordby, and assuring him I was alright, and would come back later on, I left the temple and headed back to smithy. Lars was overjoyed to see me. He really needed help with his work, but was too proud to take on any ¡°useless¡±, as he said, human apprentices. His one condition, was that after learning everything from him, I was to teach him everything I learnt on my own, if we met one day ahead. Master becoming student sort of thing. I was shown the ropes, he completed a set of 5 same blades, after which I was supposed to take my shot as he instructed me. All in all, it wasn¡¯t as easy as it looked. If I wanted to make perfect piece of equipment, I had to strike with precision and regulated strength. My first 4 attempts were failed, the metal had to be reforged. But Lars didn¡¯t criticize me harshly, he just pointed out my mistakes and watched from the side, and my 5th attempt was acceptable, as he said. I didn¡¯t notice when it had grown dark outside. I sheepishly asked Lars if he could lend me some more money for the inn. Lars laughed, and said that he could, but the only inn in Plenty would probably be full. So, he proposed, I could sleep in his house, on the floor. It was better than sleeping on the street, I happily agreed and followed him, after he closed the shop. 9.Everyday life in Avalon Author¡¯s Note: This will be last chapter with explanations for now. Point out any mistakes, and enjoy! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Next day, at dawn, I asked Lomar to convey a message from me to mayor of Lumber. I decided it would be best to stay in Plenty until I learned my profession, and earned money to pay Mayor back. The group I came with was now at its original size, Lomar must have been successful in convincing new people to settle in Lumber. I said my goodbyes and went to the shop, as work was going to start soon. Time passed peacefully. It was now 2 months later, I paid my debts and accomplished quite a lot. I was earning 3 silvers from each product I made, which was hefty amount of money, considering that a price of one night in inn was 50 coppers. Money was based on hundreds, so 1 silver made 100 coppers, and 1 gold made 100 silvers. I managed to save almost one gold, I also made chain armor for myself, which took me VERY long time, but was definitely worth it. It was made of steel, as I couldn¡¯t get my hands on anything better, but I looked badass in it, so I didn¡¯t mind. I had hauberk, coif, as well as chain boots. Of course I wasn¡¯t using it, but you never knew what might happen, right? After Lars guaranteed my credibility with guards, I received my sword back, so I was prepared for anything. I made friends with Cordby, as he had a lot of stuff to share, and I had lot of questions to ask. Avalon was big world, no one knew exactly how big because no one managed to map it so far. Generally all known civilization was inhabiting Central Continent. It was said that there were other land masses across the ocean surrounding the continent, but few who returned from them discouraged other explorers from folly voyages into unknown. We, Plenty, Rasgar Hold Lumber and few other villages, were situated on the Northern Frontier. The Harsh North was land of Giants, who didn¡¯t associate with other races much. If you saw a mountain anywhere, it was probably home to monsters, dwarves or gnomes. There were 3 human kingdoms, and a small elven communities in some forests. And that was it. Perhaps other continents also had their countries, but it was unknown. Each race, although originally human before being brought to Avalon, had become closed communities with sparse contacts between different peoples. Everyone had their own problems, and didn¡¯t want to help others in solving theirs. It seemed strange to me, wouldn¡¯t getting together as one big community solve monster and bandit issues? But no, race changes didn¡¯t change human hearts. One ruler couldn¡¯t be chosen, and in human dominated world democracy would be idiotic. So each race stuck to their own, rarely exchanging trade and knowledge with others. The only thing common for all races were mercenary guilds. Each bigger village, like Plenty, or town had at least one mercenary guild. It was simply adventure guild in game language, but people in Avalon hate all game related terms and tried to avoid them at all possible cost. I went to the guild once, and it was just like in games, but it really was good system so why not implement it? When signing as mercenary, you were first tested by local guild master in combat prowess. If you were much better than him, you had to go to bigger city to repeat testing with higher ranked guild master. After test, you were given rank ranging from F to A. There was theoretically possibility of getting X class, but for that you needed to defeat guild¡¯s Champion, who was guild master in capital of one of the human kingdoms. All his stats were above 300, exact numbers not known. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. I wasn¡¯t tempted to join the guild. I liked my safe life with satisfying job and good people around. I made friends with Lomar, who came by weekly from Lumber, as well as started to develop interest in female mercenary, who was one of the newcomers in Lumber. She was really nice! Blonde hair going to the end of scapula, emerald eyes, and she was human on the short side so only slightly taller than me! We hit it off when she came a couple of times to order maintenance of hers, and her companions gear. She had one of the custom made weapons, which was short sword with jagged edges. Sharpening it was really problematic, so at first I was grumpily and asked her what dwarf couldn¡¯t fix her own weapon. She wasn¡¯t mad, she first looked at me surprised, and then started laughing so hard I thought she would choke. I was confused, until she explained during laughing that she wasn¡¯t dwarf but human. Her name was Cynthia, after couple of meetings we started going out. It was simply drinking together in inn for now, talking about previous lives, but I was looking towards the future. I REALLY liked her. One day, there was commotion at the gates, and because I was passing by with nothing to do at the moment, I went to look what was it about. When I managed to hear from onlookers that something happened to Land Sharks, which was how Cynthia¡¯s group called themselves, I was frantic. I started to push my way forward, not minding that I almost flung other people flying. Finally I saw Cynthia, who looked alright, only with minor wounds and tired expression. I heaved sigh with relief and went to ask her what was going on. We first went to an inn, she said she needed a drink. One of her companions had major wounds, and they barely brought him to town. Apparently their quest was harder than described. It was supposed to be material hunt for some alchemist. He needed slime¡¯s core, as well as a bit of slime body. Unfortunately, the cave where slimes were supposed to be, was infested with them, among other hostile creatures, like kobolds and fire serpents. Their party had to isolate one slime to extract what they needed, and it was hard doing so to unwilling creature when other enemies were upon them. Those hostiles were average leveled, so it shouldn¡¯t be hard to discouraged them from continuous attacks. But they seemed to be afflicted with rage of some kind, and they didn¡¯t mind their kind dying all around. As I listened to her story, a strange warm feeling grew in my heart. I interrupted her at one point and hugged her on an impulse. She stiffened at first, but then relaxed and patted me on my back, saying she was alright, and apologized for making me worry. I would have asked her to quit adventuring, but I knew she loved this job. We went to her home afterwards, and spent night together. We didn¡¯t do anything, just cuddled and talked till late into the night. She asked me if I didn¡¯t want to join her group but I declined. I had no combat or magic training, so why brave dangers, when you have satisfying life? These were my thoughts, until I lost her. 10.Rasgar, the Ancient Author¡¯s Note: Dumdumduuuuum. The last chapter of introduction, marking beginning of our hero¡¯s adventures. Why do people want to get stronger? Because they want to protect something, or exact revenge for something they lost. I use this clich¨¦ one to push MC forward. Point out any mistakes and I hope you enjoy. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Somewhere deep and dark: There was a cave filled with magical objects. Swords, furniture, magical minerals and many others. Everything here was precious. And in center of those things, lied small, white, winged lizard. It was sleeping, sometimes frowning due to unpleasant dream. It slept there for an indefinite amount of time, but sometimes it woke up. It looked at the ceiling of its abode, as if seeing what was beyond it. Then, as always it went back to its slumber. But this time was different. It opened its purple eyes, and yawned. After shaking its head to get rid of the remainder of dream, it looked at the ceiling. And then its eyes started to glow with interest. It stood up on its feet and flapped wings couple of times, and each time it flapped it seemed to grow bigger and bigger. After 10 flaps, its 100 hundred feet glory outshined the treasures below. It started to chant, not opening its mouth, in an ancient language. After spell was finished, it disappeared along with the cave and its contents, as if it was never there. Loose earth started falling down, filling the place which was empty, and collapsing a small mountain in the outside world. But no one saw this strange and startling occurrence. No one was expecting the impending doom. Rob¡¯s POV: Have you read tales of Bilbo Baggins before? Dragon¡¯s arrival was very well described there. First the birds and all animals ran. Than the wind picked up. And then a silhouette appeared above a mountain peak. People who noticed it started screaming in terror, running around trying to save their lives. There was still no reason to do so, but just the sight of the mighty creature instilled horror in everyone¡¯s hearts. The bell somewhere started ringing loudly, and lots of armed mercenaries as well as protectors started flooding streets. But what could they do to a Dragon? I myself was working on a first mithril creation in my life, when I heard the commotion and bells. Lars shouted at me to leave what I was doing behind, and ran for my equipment. While running, I didn¡¯t have to ask what was going on. Many people were screaming it out aloud. ¡°DRAGON!!!¡± I was pale faced. I wasn¡¯t thinking about my life ending here. I was worried sick about Cynthia. She had selfless character, so she must have went to help and oppose danger. Rasgar, the Ancient¡¯s POV: I could see it. In the distance, there it was, among all those flies. It was bright, and reminded me of all those previous interesting beings I encountered in my years. They were small, but had powers defying their size. And all shared this trait. I could sense their aura, which was like a bright sun, so similar to my kin, yet different. I wanted to know more about them. I wanted to fight with them. They were so much fun to fight with! Only sad thing was that they died too fast. But before they did, they shined so brightly! But first, I needed to clear the disturbance. I could feel arrows and minor spells hitting my hide as I flew, and though it didn¡¯t do me any harm, it WAS FUCKING IRRITATING! ARGGHH, THAT¡¯S WHY I STAYED IN MY CAVE, THE NOISE, THE CONSTANT INTERRUPTIONS! DISSAPEAR, YOU WORMS! Rob¡¯s POV: I managed to get my blade, I chose not to dress in my armor. Why you ask? Well I didn¡¯t know whether this dragon could breathe fire or not, but just seeing his size, meant I needed mobility a lot more than armor which would only slow me down. As I was leaving the house I heard deafening roar. I was happy, thinking someone managed to deal some kind of wound to the creature. But as went outside, I saw inferno being unleashed. It could breathe fire. But not just any fire. The things struck by it turned to ash. Literally everything was disappearing in its wake. I dropped to my knees in despair and just watched what was happening, awaiting my death. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. The dragon was drawing closer, obliterating everything around its path, slowly and methodically. Tears flowed on my eyes, as I thought about Cynthia and future I was already planning for us. But nothing mattered anymore. City was gone, she with it, and soon I would follow. Or so I thought. I closed my eyes. I felt heat around me, and thought I was dying. After moment heat passed, it was still very hot but not as much as before. So what, I was in womb now? I tried opening my eyes, and was met with dragon¡¯s eyes. I recoiled back, falling on blade strapped to my back. I looked around, and saw desolate field filled with ashes. Nothing stood beside my house. Evvrything was black, smell of burnt meat permeating in the air. I was the only person left alive. I started crying and screaming. ¡°WHY??!!! WHY GODS, WHY??!!! WHAT DID WE DO TO YOU??!!! WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH THIS WORLD, FUCK FUCK FUCK¡­.¡± I shouted and cried and jumped shaking my fists toward the sky. At first dragon observed me with interest, but after I started cursing him along the gods, he started to have dangerous look in his eyes. I stopped my behavior when cold bloodlust swept over me like wave. It pulled me out of depths of madness, and made me realize that I was still facing death. The dragon had its head on my height, and was in my reach. I had a crazy thought and acted upon it, after all I had nothing to lose. I strained my muscles, and in one motion ripped the blade from straps on my back and swung it at dragon¡¯s eye. Rasgar¡¯s POV: I cleared all the loud flies. I stood before the one that interested me. It was smallest I ever met, maybe a new kind of flies? But it mattered not. I observed its actions, wondering whether this was some ritual connected to his gods. But if so, why was it cursing them? Than it started cursing me, which wasn¡¯t really to my liking. Ritual or not, I had to express my dissatisfaction, and I seemed to stop the small being from dancing around. I finally had chance to talk with it, when it went ahead, and attacked me. HA! Action before words? I was glad to comply so I easily blocked his blow with my tail, but I miscalculated. This one was WEAK. Pathetically weak. Or it was hiding its strength, nonetheless, my tails swipe blew it away. I ran after it, expecting some kind of ruse, but was left disappointed. It laid there, somehow still holding its blade, but it was clearly expiring. Almost every bone in its body was broken, it could barely move its head and the hand holding blade. I hope for more. Well, back to sleep I guess. But before that, I never tasted this kind of fly before, so I picked the fly up and swallowed it. Rob¡¯s POV: My world was filled with pain. But it wasn¡¯t physical. My brain must have had something broken, because even though I knew I was messed up and dying, I felt nothing, except despair and anguish. And those were connected with the fact that I couldn¡¯t even avenge Cynthia. I was nothing in eyes of the dragon. I thought it would burn me or crush beneath its teeth and eat me. No. It took me with its claws and threw into its opened jaw, attempting to swallow me whole. But did it matter? Yes. Yes it did. The dragon was so conceited that it didn¡¯t matter whether I still held my blade or not, it swallowing me was my last chance. Only later on did I learn, that dragon¡¯s anatomy was very different from what you would usually think. His organs were clustered together, and it felt taste by dissolving matter in its stomach. So munching food first was useless, unless the food posed danger to it. Because digestive tract of a dragon was situated conveniently near its heart among other organs at some point. And in the last ditch of effort, as I fell into its stomach, I managed to rise my hand with blade, and struck one final strike. It took everything I had, and after that, I fell unconscious. 11. Those affected by the attack Author¡¯s Note: Last chapter marking beginning of first arc. Hope you enjoyed, and will continue to do so. Anyways, without further ado, chapter 11. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lomar¡¯s POV: Everyone in Lumber heard loud roar and saw smoke rising in the distance, from direction in which lied Plenty. After some time, there was one loud, lasting bellow. All villagers were afraid, I pitied Vars, who was responsible for everyone¡¯s safety, and had no idea what course of action to take. Should we run? Should we send people to investigate? Roar started dying out, but we still remained wary. Mayor Cordel and Vars decided to wait and see, so we waited. At sundown, we saw group of people in tattered clothes running in direction of the village. They looked like bandits, but were unarmed and there weren¡¯t many of them. And their shouts from the distance made all of us pale. Dragon. Dragon came, destroying everything in its path. Plenty was gone, its citizens wiped out, only smoke and ashes remaining. We all turned to Vars for guidance. He didn¡¯t say anything, just opened and closed his mouth. Mayor showed that he was the right man on the right place, because he quickly regained his bearing, and started giving orders to people. ¡°Leave everything not essential, take only things which can be carried and won¡¯t slow you down. Send messenger on the fastest horse to the nearest city, and follow after him in couple of separate groups, using forest as cover. At least one protector is to go with each group, everyone remember to take weapons! It¡¯s still wild land out here, we may be chased by dragon, but spear in your gut will kill you just as effectively!¡± I started moving, looking one last time in direction of what was once known as Plenty. The only thing I could offer, was silent prayer for those killed. In face of Dragon, what could a man do? Dwarven Council of Rasgar Hold, just after Rasgar¡¯s attack: At the moment, the room of meetings was filled with worried and angry dwarves in heated discussion, with one giant standing on the side. He only looked calmly at arguing dwarves, deep in thought. One councilman was trying to convince others, but with everyone against his idea it was going bad. ¡°We have to look for survivors! Maybe there were some stragglers out of town, during attack?¡± ¡°What nonsense are you spouting! Are you suggesting we draw drake¡¯s attention to our home? Do you really want to doom our city, for small chance of saving few humans?¡± ¡°Your ancestors were human as well, don¡¯t forget that! Though we may have changed in Avalon, our roots are the same!¡± ¡°STOP!¡± Finally, leader of council couldn¡¯t take it anymore and stood up. ¡°But, Gavran, I think¡­¡± ¡°Enough Romulus. I know you are passionate about humans, seeing as you are a child of first generation. But its lost cause. We will hereby vote on closing the gates of Rasgar Hold, until we ascertain from outside, that the danger has passed. Those for say yea¡­¡± All except giant and dwarf called Gavran raised their voices. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°¡­and those against say nay.¡± Giant remained silent, while Gavran with voice filled with stubbornness and anger said nay. ¡°The majority have spoken. We immediately close the gates. To those outside I can only say: may the gods be with them.¡± And with strike of hammer, the meeting was finished. Romulus cursing others for fools and cowards, went out storming his way through the town hall and scaring people. Leader of the council, who was also Dwarf Lord, the mayor of Rasgar Hold looked after his back and smiled sadly. He then turned to giant nearby, who didn¡¯t leave with others and started speaking. ¡°What do YOU think? Should I have overruled vote and scouted the situation first? We did leave few dozen of our brethren out to die.¡± The giant responded for the first time, with deep voice sounding like avalanche from afar. ¡°No, what you did, as a person responsible for this community, was right. There is no correct decision in this situation, the fact, that dragon never came to your city so far, doesn¡¯t mean he won¡¯t come this time after all. But the gates should slow it down, and give your people time to evacuate through Portal. There is only one big problem with gates being closed. You have no idea what will be happening outside. You can remain closed for years, until someone manages to bring you news about dragon being gone.¡± Dwarf Lord looked at the giant with helplessness on his face. ¡°And what am I supposed to do? Send others to die? The Lower Passages became danger zone in previous generation, so unless you are hiding couple of A ranked parties under those clothes of yours, we have no way out. Except gates, which will be closed soon, and Portal, which leads couple of thousand kilometers from here.¡± Giant smiled suspiciously after hearing what was said. Dwarf Lord frowned upon seeing this, and when an idea came to his mind, he started protesting, even though nothing was said. ¡°No, no, no, no, no way! I will not allow the first ambassador of different race to go to his death! You are our chance to establish first friendly contacts with giants since the last purge!¡± ¡°Just listen, I can leave here before you close the gate. That way I will only have to go through Lower Passage once, on my way back. It will lessen risk by 50%¡± ¡°50% not counting bloody fucking dragon you mean. You don¡¯t know these mountains, just as you don¡¯t know Lower Passage. So even if you don¡¯t end up as lizard¡¯s chopstick, you will rot in spiders belly. Or be yeti¡¯s meal. Look, I also want to know what is going on outside, but situation is as it is. No one would agree to guide you on your folly adventure, knowing the circumstances and your path.¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯s where you are mistaken. I think I will find one willing to do so pretty easily.¡± ¡°HA! If you do, I will eat my beard. No sane dwarf will go into spiders den willingly, especially if dragons are on the menu as well.¡± ¡°You better prepare plate then, because I am going.¡± With these words said giant left the council room with cursing dwarf lord behind. Brom (giant), left in the direction he could meet certain human loving dwarf, while the lord went to order closure of the gates. 12. The new beginning Author¡¯s Note: Hey there, last chapters was one of the shorter ones, but it hope you don¡¯t mind it much? :P Anyways, onwards with the story. Point out any mistakes you see, and enjoy! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Brom¡¯s POV: I managed to quickly convince Romulus to come with me and investigate dragon¡¯s aftermath. In fact it didn¡¯t take much convincing, when he heard about my idea he immediately ran to his house to get equipment and we met near the gates, which were just being closed. We barely made it, but we managed to leave, with guards wishing us luck. Sometime later, after passing another hill, the dwarf started to grow grumpy. ¡°I have no idea why I agreed to do it. I am too old for adventures.¡± ¡°Oh cheer up, you almost jumped at the idea of going out. You wouldn¡¯t be able to rest in one place not knowing what happened to Plenty and dragon, and now you have chance to find out. Perhaps save some damsel in distress? Are you married Romulus?¡± ¡°Oh stuff it, giant. And yes I am married, happily, with 3 kids. My wife luckily was working at the time I got home, otherwise she would probably killed me after hearing what I was doing. And believe me, I prefer facing dragon then her when she is angry.¡± I started laughing. We, giants, chose our partners only after attaining some kind of achievements and 100 level. It was custom, nothing more, but it promised a stable family, with no worry about income and future. I myself was eligible to be paired to someone, but I preferred wandering around the world to sitting in one place. Being ambassador to my people was perfect excuse to explore and run around. The passes leading from Rasgar Hold to Plenty we riddled with crossroads and empty chasms on the side. If one took a wrong step, one could end up falling to his death, or get lost in this labyrinth. Luckily, I had certain grumbling dwarf on my side, so going astray wasn¡¯t an issue. If only he would shut up for a bit and enjoy out journey! I was excited. Scared as well, but mostly excited. The idea of seeing dragon¡­mmmm! I trembled with the anticipation. ¡°Look Rom, the dragon was silent for some time, so for all we know, it may have already left. So there is nothing to worry about!¡± The dwarf was grossed out, looking at my being smile. ¡°Who is Rom? Only my wife calls me Rom, and I hate it. It sounds even worse when I am with you. Rom and Brom, the merry twins! Tfu!¡± He spat on the ground while I laughed. He was fun to tease. At sundown, we reached the final stretch of the mountains, a road leading straight to Plenty. From there we could clearly see what was left after dragon¡¯s attack. Or rather what wasn¡¯t. There was nothing in place where once stood bustling village full of people. Smoldering ashes, black, charred earth and lots of smoke. We had grown quiet a while ago, and now this silence turned grim. I have never been to Plenty myself, but I heard about it. Population of approximately thousand, with many visitors every day. Usually about 1300 people were in village at one time. It was more of a small town than a village. No more. Though the smoked masked some of the view, it was easy to spot dragon. It was lying on still on the ground, not making any kind of movements. Has it spotted us? We had no way to hide, except few trees here and there. But after waiting behind them for what seemed to be an eternity, nothing happened. No roar, no flames scorching us. Maybe it was sleeping after expending strength on obliterating Plenty? I came up with a crazy idea, and shared it with Rom. ¡°Hey, the dragon is sleeping, so it should be safe to go there, right?¡± ¡°ARE YOU¡­are you mad?¡± Romulus shouted at me but quickly regained his wits and started whispering. ¡°You are either mad or blind. You definitely have something wrong with your head. Do you see the size of that thing? A small castle!!!! But this one is flying, breathes fire and has VERY sharp claws!!!! No way in seven hells am I going near that creature. We did what we were supposed to do. No one could have survived such a calamity. We should go back, the Lower Passage will be difficult to cross safely.¡± Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. The dwarf turned and started walking back, but my next words stopped him. ¡°Let¡¯s make camp at the last curve, where we will be hidden from dragon¡¯s view. I want to wait and see what happens.¡± ¡°WH..why!!!! You know what will happen? We will wake up in dragon¡¯s belly, that¡¯s what! Or we won¡¯t wake up, he will just roast us in our sleep. Either option is not really appealing to me!¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t you notice that the dragon doesn¡¯t move AT ALL? No breathing, no gestures like tail swiping around. It¡¯s like its dead. And I feel in my gut it is so. Remember the last bellow it made? It died out after a while, but it sounded like it was its death throe.¡± ¡°Death throe my ass. It¡¯s a DRAGON! A fu..blasted dragon!!!! Nothing is able to kill those!!! And anything that is, I don¡¯t really want to meet. So let¡¯s just go? Please?¡± ¡°I am staying. The more I think about it, the more convinced I am. I will wait till tomorrow, and if it still hasn¡¯t changed its position, I am going to check it.¡± ¡°Good! Very well! You want to throw your life away, do so by yourself. I don¡¯t care. I will probably not survive Lower Passage, but I at least will have a chance of getting through this shit situation in one piece.¡± I watched as he walked away some distance, while grumbling into his beard. I just stood there waiting. Though I didn¡¯t know Romulus for a long time, I recognized his character, and after couple of breaths he didn¡¯t disappoint me. He turned back, and approached me angrily while saying. ¡°I must be getting dementia, or perhaps your head sickness is infectious. Very well, Brom the Mad. We will camp till the morning comes. But I will be watching the beast during whole night. If even tiny wind picks up from its direction, anything, which could prove that it is still well, and breathing, WHICH IT IS! and we leave immediately. Do you understand?¡± ¡°Yes, yes, don¡¯t worry, I will be watching it as well. Though I said about going near it in its sleep, I think if it really moved I will run away as fast as I can. I am not that crazy.¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t you now.¡± And so, we waited. The next day, at sunrise, I couldn¡¯t stand anymore tension, and headed for the dragon. My eyes were bloodshot, I didn¡¯t even get a wink of sleep, but I was convinced by now, that the beast was dead. Romulus was in similar state to mine, he was so tired that he didn¡¯t even protest and simply followed behind me to, as he said, get it over with. We cautiously approached the humongous body. By now only sparse smoke polluted the air, so we were able to see whole glory of the being in front of us. White scales reflected sunlight like ice, almost blinding us. The dragon had no other protrusions except its legs, front and back, tail and wings. No horns, nothing. Sleek body, like an enlarged lizard with wings. As we neared its head, we were startled to see its eyes were open. But then we noticed, that they were blank, with death veil clouding slit iris, so we heaved sigh of relief. And then we noticed it. Romulus, upon seeing it expressed his bewildered opinion. ¡°What in the gods name is that?!¡± I couldn¡¯t agree more. Before us laid, what was, and there is hardly any better way to describe it, a naked, scaled, hairless dwarf. Was this some kind of mutation? Or did this dragon had a child with dwarf somehow??? My imagination showed me scenes of dwarf raping dragon, and I couldn¡¯t abstain from laughing. The sudden noise woke up the enigma before us. We took a step back and prepared our weapons, in case it was hostile. However it didn¡¯t seem that way. He, the dracodwarf, let¡¯s call him that for now, sat up and looked around with his purple eyes with slit irises, seeming confused. When he noticed me he spoke in normal language. ¡°Who are you? And who am I?¡± Seems like we discovered more questions than answers. 13. Lower Passage (1) Author¡¯s Note: Hey there, another chapter, with our main hero as a focus again. Sorry for the hanger, i didn''t want to do it but its growing late, and i had hard time writing this one. Amnesia is really hard to deal with in such a situation. Point out any mistakes you see, and enjoy! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rob¡¯s POV: I woke up, with fog encompassing my mind. I couldn¡¯t remember who I was, where I was. Nothing. I looked around to look for any hints regarding any of those questions. The ashes and creature in front of me seemed familiar, but nothing specific surfaced regarding those, only faint feeling of loss. When I spotted giant man, I immediately asked about identities of him and me. The man was surprised when I spoke, but answered nonetheless. ¡°I am Brom, representative of giants in this parts. As to who, or what, you are? I was hoping you could answer that question.¡± ¡°Did you kill the dragon? And if so, how? Why are you alive, while everything else, except that house over there lies in ruins?¡± The dwarf I didn¡¯t see before started bombarding me with questions, while waving his short sword around. Luckily giant came to my rescue, interrupting endless stream of dwarf¡¯s speech. ¡°Easy there Rom, we still don¡¯t know what we are dealing with here. All we know for certain is that dragon is dead, and this fellow here is somehow connected to it. First let¡¯s explain some things, maybe our new scaly friend indeed doesn¡¯t know anything.¡± Brom started to explain about dragon attack, Plenty being wiped out of existence and me lying in the midst of it with dragon scales on my body. Something moved on the border of my mind couple of times, but the fog remained. I had an apologetic look as I said that I didn¡¯t remember anything. ¡°Nothing can be done then. I doubt there are any other witnesses to events that happened here. The question is, what do we do now? I watched silently as the two started to argue. After heated discussion, they decided to risk it, and take me with them. Romulus didn¡¯t trust me, but Brom managed to convince him. I spoke, except the scales and lack of hair I looked like a dwarf, and wasn¡¯t hostile. And also, they both wanted to keep an eye on me. So it was decided, that I would leave with them. First however, they both started hacking with their weapons at the carcass of dragon. With no result. Scales repelled their blades, recoil caused their whole arms to shake. They gave up pretty quickly, leaving only small dents in the tough skin, and decided to leave corpse behind. I stood up, and was told by Brom to stay behind Rom, while we traveled. The dwarf was dissatisfied with having me behind his back, but he was the person who knew the way, so he had to lead. Before we departed, Brom handled me simple blanket and rope. I looked at him confused. He said while laughing, that while I may have scales, some parts of humanoid physiology remained normal. And he pointed down. I followed his finger, and felt shame. Quickly, I took blanket from his hands and bound it around my waist. He looked with interest, and when I was done he commented that I must have had contact with people before, because otherwise I wouldn¡¯t know how to do that. He had a smile of satisfaction on his face. Did I just do something good? If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. We travelled through the mountain passes. Instead of in the middle, I walked beside Brom to talk. He was considerably friendlier than his shorter companion. I learned many things about Rasgar Hold, Giants. And about Lower Passage, our current destination. It was dangerous place, infested with big spider and other horrors. Supposedly it originally served as an emergency exit, and a mining shaft. But dwarves dug a hole where they shouldn¡¯t. Spiders were fairly easy to deal with, since fire burned them and their webs with ease. But then came worse and worse things, which finally succesfuly forced dwarves to retreat and seal the Passage. The gate was small there, so nothing truly dangerous couldn¡¯t get near the city without risking tunnels collapsing. But central part, the Crossroad, where way out and mine shaft intersected¡­ That was where the problem lied. When the sun was in its zenith, we reached a small, inconspicuous portal on the mountain side. We camped there, resting and preparing for the hard part of the journey. I had no weapon, so I asked how I would defend myself if the Lower Passage was as dangerous as Brom said. They looked at me surprised. They saw I was serious, so the simply pointed at me. No, at my hands. They ended with sharp claws. So that had to suffice. Rested and ready, we went down the stairs leading to the Lower Passage. The way was lit by torches filled with glowing crystals, which gave of bright white light. I wasn¡¯t blinding, it shined gently but strongly. After we went deeper and deeper, everything grew quiet. The only thing heard right now, was our footsteps and breaths. Since we didn¡¯t know what we may encounter, we abstained from speaking. Nothing attacked us when we reached bottom of the stairs. Both Brom and Romulus kept their weapons unsheathed nonetheless, as we began walking forward. At some point, we entered a spacious chamber, filled with ruined furniture. Rom stopped, and muttered under his nose that this used to be the first guard post. This was one noise too much. The opposite end of the room came to life. Six foot tall humanoids wielding rusted weapons were now standing there in a group of 9. These were kobolds, characterized by dogs head and lower body. They wore dirty rags, and didn¡¯t present much threat, except for their numbers advantage. I looked nervously to Brom and Romulus and was glad to see they wore calm expressions. Clearly they had situation under control. Then their expressions started paling, and I looked to see what was the reason. The kobolds numbers grew. And grew. I stopped counting them after 30. They stopped just standing at some point and started slowly coming closer, flooding the room. ¡°Retreat¡± Brom said quietly. When we started backing away, the kobolds in the front howled, after which they charged. We started running ourselves, but when we were back in the narrower passage, Brom and Romulus stopped and turned around. Did they really want to go against the horde chasing us? I was scared, but there was nothing I could do. These two were very nice to me, considering circumstances in which they found me. I had an indistinct feeling that I wouldn¡¯t be so lucky with next group I would have met. Especially when I remembered my current companions feverish hacking of the dragon¡¯s corpse. So with resigned sigh, I also turned to greet the incoming avalanche of bodies. 14. Lower Passage(2) Author¡¯s Note: One chapter today, but it''s quite long. I had different ideas on how to do this, so it took me longer than expected, but I finally finished. Also, i am doing small poll regarding how should I proceed next.Regarding the poll, if I write normally, there will be 1-3 chapters a day, at some point later on I will come back to the previous chapters to redact them. If I do it now, since I don''t have PR, it may take some time, and I will probably post 1 chapter a day until mistakes and grammar will be corrected. So if you are interested, decide, time poll ends is 2 days. Point out any mistakes, answer the poll, and enjoy! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rob''s POV: We were standing side by side, with barely any place to move between us, waiting for the first kobolds to reach us. Though there were a lot of them, we would be facing one each at a time. Yet the pressure remained. I looked one last time at giant and dwarf nearby, and the battle began. First to act was Brom, as he swung his axe overhead, bisecting enemy, before he could do anything. Having long range must have been nice. I had no time to watch on, one of the kobolds charged at me, so I had to focus my attention. A strange calmness enveloped me, as I saw him thrust his spear at me. I leaned to the side, barely avoiding the blow, and caught the handle with one hand, before surprised creature could pull it back. Tugging at it, I simultaneously struck out with my stiff hand. It easily went into kobolds head and exited on the other side. At the same time, I felt something akin to a flash of light in my head. A scene of goblins head smashed with a rock. A bandits head splattered with a stick. But as fast as they came, they were gone. However they distracted me, and I didn¡¯t notice another kobold, with sword raised, closing in on me. Closing my eyes I raised hands in defence, expecting pain to come. A deep, metallic thud resounded, and kobold dropped its weapon, its arms shaking and eyes filled with fear. I didn¡¯t think about it twice, swiping my claws at its face, while I had a chance. When next opponent jumped over the body of my last, I decided to directly block his blade with my hands, to ascertain something. Again, the only thing I felt was slight touch, while creature¡¯s weapon rebounded on contact with my scaled hands. It caused kobold to lose its balance, allowing me to finish it quickly. From that moment, the battle proceeded smoothly. Prowess of my companions, combined with my unbreakable defense, sowed doubt in their hearts. More and more started to run away, finally leaving us alone, in the room filed with corpses. After counting them, we killed 26 of them. I myself did 7, Brom 11 and Romulus 8. And we weren¡¯t even tired. Well, at least I wasn¡¯t. Romulus was panting hard, and Brom teased him for that. ¡°Do you need to rest old man? You know, this is just the beginning.¡± ¡°Who¡­Huf, huf¡­needs to¡­huf¡­rest? I am¡­huf¡­ready for¡­a hundred more¡­¡± ¡°Hahaha! Of course you are! After all, this was just the easiest part, later on we will fend off more dangerous stuff, while RUNNING!¡± Brom was laughing even harder now. I saw him in new light. He may have seemed friendly, but he was a sadist. Dwarf just grunted, leaning on his axe, trying to catch his breath. After his laughing fit stopped, the giant turned to me, looking at me thoughtfully. I straightened my back under his appraising look. Finally he decided to speak what was on his mind. ¡°Your scales are definitely useful Drake. I wonder if you could withstand blow from me?¡± Drake? Did he just give me a name? Wait, more importantly is he going to hit me?! ¡°Eee, please don¡¯t joke like that Brom, Kobold weapons were rusted and they didn¡¯t possess much strength, while you¡­¡± ¡°Ok, ok, don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t do it. However I was serious about your toughness. Kobolds aren¡¯t really that weak, they are classified as D rank monsters, its just that we are way stronger.¡± I felt a bit uncomfortable under his gaze and fidgeted. He noticed my reaction, and turned his head away while changing the topic. ¡°As per rules in these cases, each one of us gets his own share. So better get to it, Life Force will disperse soon.¡± Life Force? Another flash of memory. An old man, telling me something very important. Again, as soon as memory appeared, it was gone before I could grasp its meaning. Frustrated, I shook my head to clear my thought. Brom and Romulus were going from corpse to corpse, extending their hands for a moment, over each one they passed. I didn¡¯t understand the meaning of their actions, and Brom saw me standing in place with question plastered on my face. He stopped what he was doing and went over to explain. ¡°You can absorb Life Force of monsters into you, Drake, to make yourself stronger. It lingers above dead bodies for some time. You need to feel it, it¡¯s quite easy to discern, and then focus on it entering your body. You can imagine grasping at it, when you see it, and it should enter through your hand.¡± Then he waited for me to try. I did as they were doing, extending my hand over one of my victims and focusing my attention the body and the air above it. There was a strange feeling to it, almost like I had hand in warm current. I imagined grasping this warm breeze, and felt something enter my body. I nodded with happiness to Brom, who smiled and went to finish his process. After absorbing everything we could, we proceeded with our journey. The path we travelled was a series of narrow corridors, like the one in which we made stand against kobolds, and abandoned guard posts. When we passed fourth guard post unhindered, Romulus stopped us, saying that we were about to enter central complex, The Crossroad. Giant and dwarf started strategizing in hushed voices, while I listened. The path before us, was going to be a big, long cave, spanning for a couple of kilometers. A full kilometer ahead, the cave split, one way going down towards the mining shaft, another to Rasgar Hold. We decided, that we would slowly proceed from one hiding spot to another, fighting only if necessary. At any sign of danger we couldn¡¯t handle, and unless we weren¡¯t cut off, we would retreat back to the surface to wait for a day. Stealth and silence were priority, so I was wondering how Brom was going to manage either of these with his stature. We left guard post, and entered very large cave, with big columns holding the ceiling. They had span of 20 feet each, so there wasn¡¯t any problem with hiding our group behind one of them. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. The real issue lied everywhere around us. On the columns there were crystal torches, illuminating a huge obstacle to our plan. Spider webs. Strewn all around, they covered most of the view before us. Tunnels, spanning 6 feet, could be seen here and there, clearly meant as entry points for the current hosts of this place. If not for the need for silence, I would have cursed loudly. How exactly were we supposed to be stealthy, when we had to hack our way through these webs?! Without moving back, Brom and Romulus revised our plan. We would destroy some net in our proximity, and wait for a reaction. If nothing happened, we would slowly proceed, following one of the tunnels on the ground. Of course nothing happened. The whole web vibrated after being struck, but after settling down, there was no more movement from it. With bated breath, we went into the nearest tunnel, hoping for the best. I pitied Brom a little, who with his height had to hunch so much, he almost crawled on his hands. We were surrounded by white stickiness. From all sides, except the floor. Barely seeing around us, we were slowly going forward, looking around for any kind of movement. Everything was deathly still. It gave me eerie feeling. As if we were walking into a trap. We could barely see the starting point, when we encountered some kind of a room. It was shaped like a cocoon, with pillar on the left side, and 3 tunnels to choose from in front of us. Each curved at some point ahead, so we couldn¡¯t see where each of them led ultimately. Rom simply went into the middle one, so we followed, with Brom in the middle and me last. Indefinite amount of time passed, and I was already growing tired of the same surroundings, when we encountered dead end. Rom was mad, and he slashed across the wall of white in front of his, before we could stop him. The axe cut, revealing large cocoon shaped chamber, similar to the one we left, except this one was filled with eggs and had one tunnel on the other side. Oh. And the other thing. When the web was struck this time, it didn¡¯t stop vibrating. And everything around us started moving. Apparently we were surrounded on all sides, by an unknown number of creepy crawlies. I was wandering how could they move outside of the tunnels we went through, when I noticed smoke rising from a spot on the ceiling. The web quickly dissolved, letting in a 2 feet tall, black hairy spider. Except the substance that dissolved the web, these ones weren¡¯t really dangerous. There were a lot of them, but they were easily squashed with one strike. Brom could stand tall in this room, so he had it easy, strapping his axe to the back and flattening spiderlings with his bare fists. As we destroyed the swarming little ones, the big ones made their appearance. There was a loud screech from the way we came, and a 5.5 feet tall monstrosities arrived one after another. And more screeches resounded around us. Judging by the loudness, there must have been at least 50 of these things, and they could come two sides. ¡°Run!¡± Rom shouted, and after slicing through another spiderling dashed to the opposite side, then where we came from. I followed closely behind, leaving giant a little behind us, but he quickly caught up. We couldn¡¯t outrun the spiders, so we had to fight on the run. Wasn¡¯t worried for myself, the spider¡¯s acid didn¡¯t do anything to me, but other two had patches clothes burnt and had to be vigilant against both small and big spiders. We were stopped a couple of times, when one of the bigger versions came from around the corner. In such cases I went forward to help Rom clear the hindrance as quickly as possible, while giant behind us had to fend for himself. I had small hope in my heart that we could make it, when we reached another chamber. However this time, there was no way out. No tunnel following, nothing. Brom guarded the entrance, allowing us to try to find way out, but there was none. Suddenly, the web beside me ripped open, and a spider leg, as tall as me, struck me. Unprepared, I received blow to my shoulder. The leg penetrated defense of my scales, leaving small wound. It didn¡¯t matter how small the wound was, I was hurt, and I lost it. Until then I was sure I would survive somehow anyway, because nothing could breach my scales. However I received the wound, and something took over my reason. Romulus¡¯s POV: Blasted kobolds, blasted spiders, and fucking GIANT! What madness overtook me to accept his request?! Now I will die here, eaten by those disgusting crawlers! The dragon-spawn we took with us, can¡¯t he do something about this situation?! He should know some magic, at least, right?! I chopped and chopped at the web, but all that came in view was more, bloody web. No way out, this was dead end. I turned back, to see how others were doing. At this moment, Drake, or whatever his name is, was struck to the shoulder and fell down with shocked face. Moment later he opened his mouth but instead of words, there came a deafening roar. Was that guy crazy?! Did he want to bury us alive? After roar ended, I barely had any time to fall down to avoid a stream of fire that followed. I had blank mind. Smelling webs and bodies, I could only pray that Brom managed to notice what was going on and avoid disaster. I don¡¯t know exactly how long it lasted, I almost suffocated from heat and smoke. When everything grew quiet, I opened my eyes, only to see clear passage with charred columns, and no spiders around. The fire burned webs in the radius of 300 feet, and I could clearly see the surviving spiders run back to safety. The giant saw the fire before it reached him, so he had only slightly burned back. The dragon boy lied unconscious where he stood before, seemingly not breathing. I looked around and recognized the place we were in. Just ahead of us lied narrower passages, leading to Rasgar Hold. Only small distance and we were home. We survived this shit! We WERE ALIVE! I started to laugh, and couldn''t stop myself for some time. I had to buy beer for this dracodwarf whatever-his-name-is, if not for him and some god damn luck, we would end up a spiders meal. 15.Rasgar Hold Author¡¯s note: Hey there, since almost everyone voted for me to write, I will comply. A friend of mine will be reading Mind you, at some point I will be editing previous chapters, but I will do so later on, and only after I get some help with that. First chapter of the day, I will try do do another one, but no promises! This weekend I will be out of town, so next chapters may be delayed, but I am back on tuesday, worry not! Anyways, point out any mistakes, and enjoy! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rob¡¯s POV: I woke up, but didn¡¯t open my eyes yet. I didn¡¯t want to get up, lying down was comfortable and made life easier, I could forget about everything around me and just sleep. But I couldn¡¯t shake off feeling that something was wrong, so I forced my heavy eyelids to go up. The first thing I noticed, was that I couldn¡¯t move much. I raised my head, only to see that I was bound by a big chains inscribed with some kind of runes. In front of the heavy doors, facing me, were 2 heavy armored dwarves. When they saw me raise my head, their grips on their axes grew tighter, and one of them shouted that ¡°he is awake¡±. I just looked at them curiously, not knowing what to make of this situation. Last thing I remembered was burning every spider around me. Did I kill Brom and Romulus? Is that why they kept me chained? But why bother with the bed than? Why not simply throw me into some cell or kill me? My thought¡¯s were interrupted, when door were opened suddenly, almost smashing into one of the guards inside, and familiar giant figure came in. He was followed closely by another 3 armored dwarves, but he didn¡¯t mind their protest and simply came up to me and started talking. ¡°Drake! You are fine! That¡¯s great, we were worried about you. You didn¡¯t wake up after a day. I am sorry about the chains, me and Rom tried to persuade them you posed no danger to dwarves, but they didn¡¯t listen. Rom was so mad, they had to confine him to his house. Anyway, since you are awake, we can get rid of these ¡­¡± ¡°Hold it Brom! I told you before, until I spoke with him, he was to be bound!¡± A dwarf dressed in a golden embroidered robe walked in, with another 4 guards. I could see behind him, that there were many more of them standing outside the door, with their weapons ready. The giant frowned when hearing newcomer, but stopped in his track and allowed the dwarf to come closer to me. I looked at him with interest. He had short black hair, deep gray eyes, and certain charisma about him. He was probably some kind of a leader around here, his voice was used to giving orders. After we evaluated each other for a while, he broke the silence. ¡°Welcome to Rasgar Hold, Drake. I am Lord of Rasgar Hold, Durin II, and I apologize for the circumstances you find yourself in. Especially since you saved Brom and Romulus. But I can¡¯t risk my people¡¯s safety on a basis of you being friendly so far.¡± He sighed loudly, and continued in a stricter tone. ¡°From what I heard, you suffer from an amnesia. I want to know whether there is anything you can recall about dragon attack, or yourself. We have magic placed in this room which will detect if you lie, so don¡¯t even bother to do so. If you do, we will not hesitate to kill you.¡± ¡°Hey, that wasn¡¯t what we agreed on!¡± ¡°Shut up Brom, it¡¯s my kin that¡¯s on the line here. We never dealt with dragons or their like before, so we can¡¯t cautious enough. Now, back to you. Even if you are capable of somehow cheating the lying detection, know, that we will also accompany you to the temple to have you checked. That will prove without doubt, whether you are dragon spawn or not.¡± I was growing rather nervous. I didn¡¯t recall anything, just some flashes, but nothing I could relate to. I told them that, after which they nodded their heads, and after a brief pause, said that I didn¡¯t lie. The giant was dissatisfied, taking my side and saying that of course I didn¡¯t and that he told them already, but they didn¡¯t mind him. The chains on my legs loosened by themselves, but still hovered in the vicinity, ready to restrict me again at any moment. I was told to stand up and follow them. We walked out of the room, Durin leading the way. The guards encircled me and Brom, who refused to leave my side, saying that I was treated unjustly and had to have at least one friend nearby. I was really glad I met someone like him. The room where I was held was situated in Lord¡¯s Mansion, so that in case I went on rampage, he would suffer first, as the one taking the risk. The temple we were going to was lord¡¯s private one. We passed long corridors, filled with servants and guards on each corner, whispering and pointing at our formation. I looked around me, but my view was mostly obstructed, so I dejectedly abandoned the idea of sightseeing and focused on counting my steps, and encouraging words of giant beside me. The temple was just another room, with a statue of dwarf, leaning on a large stele, looking down on us. The guards spread around the room, with two going behind my back. Lord, standing in front of the stele, gestured me to come closer, and pointed at a glowing spot on the stone. I looked at him confused, and he told me to touch it. The bind around my hands loosened just so much, that I could free my hand and extend it. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. The whole situation was getting slowly on my nerves. I was led like a cattle to a slaughter, with no freedom to move, and with no knowledge what was going on. Were dragons really that dangerous? What if I was a dragon? Would they kill me? Why? I wasn¡¯t doing anything to them, was I? Nervously, I placed my hand on the glowing spot. The moment I touched the stone, I felt as if some heavy burden was lifted off my chest. Something akin to a breeze swept through my mind, clearing all the fog, leaving my memories bare before me. I remembered everything, who I was, Earth, Lumber, Plenty, Lars¡­Cynthia¡­ Deep sadness enveloped me, my vision blurred. Tears flew through my eyes, as I watched and recounted happy moments I spent just a few days ago. An emotional swirl existed in me, I felt satisfaction from killing the beast, grief from losing my new found love and home, happiness that I was alive, confusion because of my current state¡­ That¡¯s right, my current state! I shook my head to get rid of tears, and looked at the stele showing my status. Rob King Half-Human, Half-Dwarf Jobs: Forge Master in training Titles: Drake Level 15 Hit Points: 1000 Mana: 1000 Strength: 212 Vitality: 210 Agility: 220 Wisdom: 201 Intelligence: 203 Charm: 199 Luck: XXX Fame: 53 Points available for distribution: 4 Passive Abilities: Race Progenitor, Dragon Legacy, Life Gambler, Intermediate Prospecting, Basic Mining, Advanced Smithing, Intermediate Negotiation, Intermediate Adaptability, Ascendency Candidate, Basic Staff Handling, Basic Two-Handed Fighting, Basic Mana Sense, Basic Unarmed Combat Skills: Smash, Dodge, Block, Shapeshifting, Ancient Magic, Dragon Aspect I was baffled. I was expecting something more, much more! All of my stats raised by 100, with minor changes here and there, and my health and mana was 10 times bigger. But that was it?! I killed dragon, didn¡¯t I?! I was racking my brain, for what reason I didn¡¯t have loads of points to distribute, when I recalled the necessity of absorbing Life Force. What the fuck?!!!!! So I killed dragon for nothing??? My head cleared somewhat when I looked at my skills. I had couple of new ones, some of them glowing in deep purple light. It made them easily noticeable when compared to pale white of other skills. Everything that read dragon was clearly connected with the fact that I killed the fucking beast. But others? Race Progenitor? And instead of Divine Protection there was Ascendency Candidate? There were also Ancient Magic and Shapeshifting. First one I had no idea about, but if the other thing was what I thought it was, I had a hope of returning to my normal look. Hell, I could probably get back my appearance, if I wanted to. Not that I did, I didn¡¯t look very nice, but still. The dwarves in the room stiffened when the screen shined showing my status, but then after reading it they relaxed a lot. I didn¡¯t notice when, but chain surrounding me disappeared at some moment, and all the guards silently left the room, leaving me alone with Durin II and Brom. When I finally turned away from stone stele, towards them, the lord spoke first. ¡°From your reaction, I assume you recalled your memories, Rob. I am deeply sorry, whatever happened to you must have been tough. I also hope that you will forgive me about treating you as I did, I will reimburse you for that in any way you will deem appropriate.¡± ¡°But how do you know I am not the enemy? I could be shapeshifted dragon or worse¡­¡± Brom was the one to answer that. ¡°Drake, I mean Rob, it¡¯s impossible for monster to acquire a job. It was proven many years ago, when mages tried to use goblins and kobolds as free workforce. And besides, your level and stats are too low to pose any danger to Rasgar Hold, so notion of you being some evil person trying to infiltrate here is rather stupid.¡± I felt somewhat dissatisfied, what did he mean too low? But I let the matter go and focused on my current situation. Durin offered me to stay in his mansion, seeing as I was homeless. That was great and all, but what did I wanted to do from now on? What were my goals for the future? I had to take time and think about that. We left the temple, with light from the stele growing dimmer and dimmer. 16. Resolution Author¡¯s note: Hey, I have no excuse. I know I wrote I would return yesterday, but I was unable to write anything for these days. Also, kudos to Simon the PR, person responsible for some changes in the text. Mind you, he worked on a part of it, so not everything was proofread. Since he is doing proofreading, I renounce my promise about second chapter coming today, PR will look over it first. Tomorrow however, 2 chapters at least coming out. Point out any mistakes, and enjoy! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I regained my memories half a month ago. I still couldn¡¯t get used to my new eyes. I managed to grasp Shapeshifting enough, to absorb scales and force my hair to grow out normally, but my eyes remained pale purple, with dark golden irises. When people saw them the first time, they usually jumped back from fright, until they recognized who I was. Yeees, I have grown quite famous throughout Rasgar Hold, changing my fame to over 4000 and gaining a few titles like Rasgar Bane. While it all sounded nice, these things didn¡¯t grant me anything, they were more of a vanity stats. Fame simply stated how many people would recognize me upon seeing me, while titles¡­ Pretty self-descriptive, they were my pseudonyms, nothing more. Ever since I got to Rasgar Hold, I had a carefree life, which gave me a lot of time to consider the future path I should take. I often met and drank with Romulus and Brom, who had lots of stories of their own to share. Surprisingly, even though my first impression of him was rather negative, I made friends with the Lord of Dwarves, who¡¯s proven to be gracious host, sharing his vast knowledge and experience in his free time. The topic of my new skill set was of course one of the more important. Some of the information I gathered were as follows: - Life Gambler offered me Divine Protection from Farran and +100 to all my stats. Supposedly, it was given to the first person who, as a player, chose to pick random skills and stats. - Unfortunately, shapeshifting didn¡¯t allow me to change my form drastically, I had to operate in boundaries of a reason. I couldn¡¯t change myself into a full size dragon, because one has totally different organ placement and bone structure, but dragon sized dwarf was a possibility. However, gravity affected me all the same, so unless I had strength around 1000, I should think twice before doing so. - Ancient magic was connected with Dragon Legacy. It was a common knowledge that runes used in dwarven Portal and Artifacts were actually Dragon Tongue. So in future, I may be able to teleport. Jump from one place to another. Disappear and reappear. Do you get it?! - Dragon Aspect lets me obtain some of the dragon¡¯s skills temporarily, at the cost of my mana. Specific information is unknown, since no one ever gained Dragon Aspect, so I will have to experiment with it on my own. However it comes at a high mana price, and if I overused mana, losing my consciousness was the least dangerous thing that could happen to me. There is a high risk of lapsing into coma in such situation, so until I gain much more mana, I will abstain from using that skill. - Adaptability makes me calmer and a bit faster during a sudden development. It didn¡¯t raise my intelligence, I still had to analyze and calculate things by myself, but it allowed me to do so without risk of panic clouding my judgement. Race Progenitor, Ascendency Candidate and Dragon Legacy remained mysteries. Durin told me, that I should visit Wisdom Depository in human ruled Desert Kingdom. Depository has always been a neutral ground, not connected to any faction or race, to all peoples benefit. Everything known to all races was documented and kept there. Sounds too good to be true right? Well, lots of things remained mystery concerning Avalon, so the so called everything wasn¡¯t really that much. Also, to enter Depository, you had to meet either of two requirements ¨C either pay 10 gold or offer a new piece of information with proof validating it. For an average settler, saving one gold per year was considered being very well off. Not that it concerned me. I was offered a small fortune, 100,000 gold for killing the dragon and selling most its remains to the dwarves. The dragon¡¯s corpse was mine, since I was the one to slay it. The lord offered to buy it from me, and after establishing a couple of additional conditions, I agreed. I wanted to learn from best forge master, as well as magic and melee instructors. Overall I felt need to get stronger. Dragon attack made me realize, what danger Avalon posed to settlers. I killed dragon, but it was due to a fluke. If I ever encountered similar threat, I had to be better prepared. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. My urge to become stronger was also influenced by my stats. Brom said I was too weak to pose a problem to Rasgar Hold, and I was too weak, to be a danger to a whole city. As one of the settlers, I was on the stronger side, since my stats put together gave me over 1400 points. 1400! Average person gained approximately 300 in a lifetime, unless they became a mercenary. But even then, they wouldn¡¯t go over 1000 very often. Races blessed with longevity like elves and giants had an advantage, so passing 1000 points overall points wasn¡¯t so hard for them. I could be considered weak by them, because my stats were split evenly between all seven attributes, which made me unspecialized. From now on, I needed to focus on few stats. And that was the problem, because I had no idea what would fit me best. Every single time I fought in this world, I would either grab a wooden stick or some other close quarter¡¯s weapon. Magic was never in the picture (and no, dragon breath does not count). I never saw any mages in action, so I couldn¡¯t even compare its potency with any hand-to-hand or ranged combat. Magic usage was rare, because it was hard to manipulate mana in the correct way. The first people to experiment with it usually died from their own magic, doing harm to their surroundings as well as themselves. An interracial mage guild did exist, but it comprised of just a bit over 100 members, and it was in decline. Few spells they managed to grasp were not very powerful, simple elemental manipulations like fireballs and such. Healing spells were basic at most, because you needed to know how the healing process worked, not mentioning the targets anatomy, to perform the spell correctly. And none of the initial settlers had vast medical knowledge. All that information should discourage any power seeking individual from learning magic right? Well, not me. After all my dragon¡¯s breath was magic based. Teleporting as well. Monsters were magical creatures. This whole world was permeated with magic. My assumption was that magic was the fastest way to gain power in here. Even though learning melee was so much less risky. For now though, having requested both magic and physical combat instructors I decided it would be best to wait and see how really talented I was in both of these fields. At the moment I perfected my smithing, learning from one of the best dwarven artisans throughout Avalon. He, Tovrik, agreed to teach me only after hearing about possibility of smithing Dragon Ore. He still demanded a hefty sum of 3000 gold, but he was the best. Week spent with him, was like a year with my previous master Lars, may he reincarnate soon. I had opportunity to work Mithril, Orichalcum, Black Steel and of course ¨C Dragon Ore. Dragon scales, to my surprise, after their owners¡¯ deaths changed into an alloy, possible to melt and manufacture. And they were the best known crafting material. A whole dragon corpse was priceless. Durin informed me, that the most accomplished instructors in melee combat resided in the Academy, a human school for mercenaries. Academy was based a day from Magic Guild''s headquarters, so going there would be killing two birds with one stone. I wasn¡¯t very happy about travelling altogether, but Durin pacified me, stating the he could always bring someone less capable to teach me. No way. If I wanted to learn, I wanted to do so from the best. So I grudgingly accepted the reality. To get into Academy, you had to become one of its students, or have something to qualify you for special case training. Also, since it was a mercenary training facility, you had to be at least C rank, registered in a guild. All of these requirements were fulfilled, when I slew the dragon. I was granted an A rank as a mercenary, as well as title (Dragon Slayer) and recommendation for special training in Academy, signed by Durin II. I tried to protest, since the dragon''s death wasn''t associated with my combat skills, but no one listened. For now, since I already began smithing training, before travelling outside. I had my scales and claws, so no equipment was really a necessity, it would rather slow me down, since I had to carry it all with me. However I wanted to use chance I got, and finish something, perhaps for the first time in my life. I liked smithing, and I learned it really fast, so I didn¡¯t think it would take me a lot of time to master it, and it may come in handy someday. My plans consolidated somewhat, only thing left now, was to incorporate them. 17. Dragons Edge Author¡¯s Note: Hey there, had to change a few things in 16 since they were quite ¡°atrocious¡± as some good people pointed out :D .Anyways, for those who read 16 already and are too lazy to reread, changed dwarven magic contraptions to Artifacts, also there was a mention about creating equipment for Rob ¨C well, he doesn¡¯t do it. The reason is there, so if you want to know why, reread the last 2 paragraphs. This one is not yet proofread, will update it later on, as well as post 18. Anyways, point out any mistakes, and enjoy! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tovrik¡¯s POV: It has been 3 months, since I took my newest apprentice. And I have nothing more to teach him. The fact terrifies me. I perfected my craft for almost eighty years, while him? Not even half a year? ¡­I didn¡¯t know whether to be proud or mad. I had 6 apprentices, him being the sixth. All previous ones were still in the process of learning, having their own smithies and doing their best. This, this monster just needed to be shown once what to do and how, and he did exactly what I did. The same movements, same strength of blows. But that wasn¡¯t the worst part. At the end of this time, he was actually getting better than me. When I thought a piece of equipment was perfect, he wasn¡¯t satisfied and continued refining it. The differences weren¡¯t big from my own work, but they were better. This, along with the fact that it took him just 3 months to overtake me, made me seriously doubt my whole life¡¯s work. I always loved my job. I was creator, and it was almost like creating life. Each small improvement made me proud, and when I reached rank of Master in smithing, I gathered the courage and proposed to my love. My whole life revolved around my smithy. I thought myself the greatest, the forge masters others could only strive to be. Rob¡¯s insane progress proved me wrong, and it felt like a kick to the stomach. Now was the time. I would create a masterpiece, a godlike thing, to carry my legacy, and quit smithing altogether. Since I heard about the dragon¡¯s corpse, I had a design floating in my head. A sword, double edged, two-handed claymore. A little over 4 feet long, with a simple design. But the looks were nothing. If I managed to create what I had in mind, this blade would almost indestructible, with sharpness never seen before. Rob¡¯s POV: I was nearing end of my apprenticeship, and I knew it. Since last week, I wasn¡¯t learning anything new. Quite frankly, the whole process couldn¡¯t be called learning. I just copied what Tovrik did, and it worked. Memorizing all his actions and repeating them, I even started to make small changes, which, I thought, could better things we were making. And to my surprise, they did! It always felt like something bothered me about a piece I was working on. And I just knew what to do, where to strike and how strong, to make the feeling go away, and create something better. At some point I stopped moving like Tovrik at all, I started creating my own works from the scratch, just following these feelings I had. Hit here, again, again, then here, here to smoothen, there again¡­ Each metal had its own properties, own way of molding. But I felt them all, as if they were talking to me. Finally, the day came. The lord of dwarves organized a party in his mansion, to celebrate birth of a new forge master. I was against the idea, but agreed, on the condition that it would be held in a circle of friends. I had no inclination to attend some kind of grand ball in my honor, just because I stopped being an apprentice. Durin kept his word, and we held celebration with least amount of people possible. Romulus, Brom, Durin, as well as Tovrik. Durin¡¯s family lived in other dvergverd, and visited him couple of times a year, so we could drink all we wanted with nothing to interfere. We drunk, we sung, we reminisced. I was really fortunate to have met all these fellows. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. The next day, when all of us woke up and organized ourselves, we met in living room one last time to talk. Today, I would be living Rasgar Hold through the Portal, travelling to another dvergverd, and from there going towards my first destination ¨C the Depository of knowledge. I was resolved to leave most of my fortune in Durin¡¯s care, since had no way to transport such a fortune by myself. That is, until we met in the living room today. My friends and master, gathered before me, and came up to me one at a time, saying their goodbyes. Durin was first, and he gave me Inventory Bracelet. It was one of the few magical devices capable of holding things in it, like in a storage. I protested when hearing description of its abilities. ¡°Wait, Durin, I can¡¯t accept it! I heard how rare these things are, you probably had this in your family for generations!¡± ¡°Rob, to be honest, compared to dragon carcass, this is nothing. The beast¡¯s corpse is literally priceless, and it still bugs me that I couldn¡¯t give you more.¡± Upon hearing that, I quickly accepted the bracelet. I obligated to protest, but these weren¡¯t my true feelings on the matter. I really needed and wanted this artifact. Hell, if what I heard was true, the size of the Inventory was that of a small castle! Capable of holding inanimate objects, accessible easily with just a thought. Something out of the game. Romulus simply wished me luck on my journey, and inviting me to his house the next time I had a chance. We came to know each other well enough, to know that we wouldn¡¯t forget about the other in the time of need. And that was enough for both of us. Next up was Brom. He was an ambassador to the giants, and as such his job was finished in Rasgar Hold. He would too leave Rasgar Hold, this time travelling through the mountains up north, which was faster way to his clan, compared to Portal to distant dvergverd. We wished each other luck, and hoped that we would meet someday during our journeys. Last was my master, Tovrik. He was carrying a long package, longer than he was tall, wrapped in cloth to disguise its shape. He came to me wordlessly, and revealed what was inside. A sword without sheath, long and slender. Grip was covered in black leather, which only accentuated silver-white gleam of blade. One could see its sharpness, upon slightest touch, the cloth which was covering it was cleanly cut. It had no decoration, but the simplicity of its design made it look beautiful anyway. Literally deadly beauty. When it was revealed, every one of us just stared at it speechless. Brief moment later, Tovrik grunted, disrupting our thoughts, and spoke with voice shaking with emotion. ¡°This is my last and, by far, finest work lad. It¡¯s my legacy, and as such, I give it to my best apprentice. It won¡¯t break. It won¡¯t dull. It won¡¯t fail you, of that you can be blood damn sure! The only thing I regret, is that I can¡¯t name it. This is your privilege, as its owner. Take it!¡± I was overwhelmed. I didn¡¯t know this man before me for that long. We had a relationship of a teacher and a student, but never in my wildest dreams would I consider myself worthy of his gift. Nonetheless, that was the reality. I almost dropped it when I took it from Tovrik¡¯s hands. It was quite heavy, it was surprising since I never felt such a heavy weight since I came to this world. The sword was a bit too long for me, but I could easily fix that with shapeshifting. I simply thanked Tovrik, but that was enough to convey the message. After all, no words could describe the gratitude I felt. I named the sword Dragon''s Edge, since it was made from dragon, for another dragon-similar-thing(me). Now, I was truly ready to begin my journey. 18. Caravan Author¡¯s Note: Hey there, today I bring you 2 chapters, one PR¡¯d other not yet. Sorry,I thought I could make 1-3 chapters a day, but my PR friend is working, and I am starting to, and it will cut my free time to write, and him to fix my mistakes. I am writing on a daily basis, meaning that I haven¡¯t written 3 chapters ahead which I am keeping as a reserve. No, I am writing the next chapter tomorrow, he will be reading it tomorrow, so you can guess, that some things may not be perfect. Okay, enough rambling. KUDOS TO MY FRIEND, AND BALTHAZAR FOR HELPING TO KEEP TEXT CLEAN. Point out any mistakes you see and enjoy! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Teleporting was weird. It felt like someone pulling your skin in all directions all at once. It wasn¡¯t really unpleasant, just annoying. And it was not instantaneous, it felt like couple of seconds passed, before I stepped on the other side of the Portal. Portals were a stone gateways, 20 feet long and wide, with slightly distorted air inside. They were standing on the edge of dwergverds, so as to smoothen the incoming and outgoing traffic.For one entry, you had to pay 50 silver to the guards at the checkpoint in front of them. Contrary to what I heard from people in Plenty, not every dwarven city had those. Only 4 of them existed, and they were connected linearly to one another. The city in the middle, where I teleported, had 2 Portals, one leading north, towards the Rasgar Hold, one leading south. So unfortunately, it wasn¡¯t like in a game, where you just chose your destination from some kind of board, or imagined the location. You had to move in a straight line, from one point to the other, at least by Portals. I sincerely hoped that this wasn¡¯t the extent of teleportation. The middle city, HammersVille, was situated in a small mountain range in the central plains. It was centre of commerce for dwarves, as well as a capital of sorts, since the High Dwarven Court was based in here. Commerce with other races prospered here, dwarves sold their equipment, and alloys, for commodities like furniture, food, alcohol... After asking guards at the checkpoint for directions, I walked through a bustling street, and observed the town around me. It was bigger and wealthier version of Rasgar Hold. Buildings were a bit more colorful, there were a lot more citizens on the streets. People here looked like nobles compared to average commoner of Rasgar Hold. It was also the first time I saw poor of Avalon. They were much like beggars in a real world, but here you could see missing parts of their bodies, describing their situation. At first when I saw people staring at my eyes I was worried, but I seemed that it wasn¡¯t really that rare in here. Monster Legacies changed people¡¯s eyes into that of the monster¡¯s they slain, also giving mosters abilities. Reward, granted randomly for killing some kind of evolved species, like hobgoblin or giant bugs. When I entered the guild, there weren¡¯t many people inside. There were couple of tables with long benches on the sides, a big guild board filled with requests hanging on a scraps of paper, and a counter. Behind the counter stood female dwarf, arguing with male mercenary in front of her. ¡°Look Rodrik, I can¡¯t post emergency request until I get a definitive proof of what you are saying!¡± ¡°Do you really think I would have joked about that? What the fuck, woman? The human villages we passed through were deserted! No people, nothing! It was like they disappeared! No one in the Southern Pass knew anything about it! Don¡¯t you find it a little suspicious?¡± ¡°Even if what you say is true, it¡¯s not a reason to post an emergency quest. You forget we don¡¯t interfere with humans conflicts! And it may have just as well been some kind of a raid, or prelude to another damned war of theirs.¡± Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. ¡°Bah!¡± The mercenary punched the counter finally and walked away while grumbling under his nose. When we were close he glowered at me, and was startled by my eyes. I paid him no mind as I continued to walk to the counter. The receptionist had a beaming smile on her face now, as if nothing happened before, and greeted me, ignoring my eyes. ¡°Hello to HammersVille¡¯s Mercenary Guild! How may I be of service to you?¡± ¡°Hi, I am looking for a caravan travelling to Desert Kingdom.¡± ¡°Desert Kingdom is quite big, sir, so it would be helpful if you had specific destination in mind.¡± ¡°Oh, in that case are there any travelling towards Depository of Knowledge?¡± She looked at me with curiosity now, but answered nonetheless. ¡°There is one going to the city nearby the Depsitory. The required rank is C or higher, payment is 30 silver at the destination. You need to bring your own food. Journey takes 20 days, and you pass through one city along the way. If you want to sign up for it, you better hurry, there are only.. 3 spots left.¡± She stopped and looked at me expecting an answer. I didn¡¯t hesitate to accept, and, after seeing my guild card, she gave me paper slip saying I was a member of convoy to Mur¡¯da. I was supposed to go to the meeting place at dawn, two days from now, at the east gate. Wasn¡¯t really hard to get there, since streets layout was a cross, with east and west having gates, and north and south having Portals. I spent next two days simply walking through the town and enjoying myself. I made trips around town, watched forge masters work, met few mercenaries in the bar and drank with them¡­ Had fun. Time went by really fast, and at the determined time, I went to the east gate. I wore simple cloth clothes, which I had lots of in my bracelet, and to keep up appearances of having real baggage. I didn¡¯t bother buying a weapon, if anything came to pass I would simply use my claws. The scene before me reminded me a little of my first journey from Lumber to Plenty. Many people were bustling along the 5 carts filled with goods, and an armed group stood on the side talking with fat bearded dwarf. I was surprised to see an elf ¨C elven female to be precise ¨C with twin blades strapped to her back, standing among the dwarven mercenaries. She noticed me staring at her and turned to look curiously at my eyes. She was beautiful. I honestly wondered whether these dwarfs were sane to simply ignore her, standing right near them. Long, brown hair, bound into ponytail, slender, but not skinny figure with clothes emphasizing all the right curves. And boy did she have those. But the worst were her eyes. They were green, like grass. No. Green like grass ocean! Yes! That describes them better. But still not enough. I regained my wits when I tripped, almost falling on my face. When I embarrassedly looked up she wasn¡¯t looking at me anymore, but there was a slight smile in the corner of her lips. Yes, I must have looked really stupid at the moment. Red from embarrassment, I got close to the group, and introduced myself. They stopped talking when I did my falling maneuver so I didn¡¯t interrupt them. The fat dwarf, merchant and emplyer quickly informed me about general information, after I showed proof of my participation in the journey. Best ranked mercenaries were to ride at the front, rest would spread around convoy on all sides. We were 19 dwarves and elf lady, so we would be spread quite thin, but we had C and above ranked personnel, so no simple bandits could interfere with us. I had just slight objection in my mind. I was the second A ranked mercenary in caravan, and I was supposed to ride up front with the other one. Guess who that was. Yes. Her. Elven goddess. Just kill me now¡­ 19. Arianne Author¡¯s Note: Hey there, I will be reediting 17 and 18 later on. Can''t contact my PR friend, so for now not edited atrocious chapter coming up. I have no excuse for yesterday, hope you forgive me. Later today another chapter coming out. Anyway, point out any mistakes you see and enjoy! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We were travelling through the mountain pass on foot, with the exception of cart drivers and merchant himself who rode on carts. Mules were only used to pull the cargo. Although they and horses looked like normal Earth¡¯s animals, they weren¡¯t. The difference was, they had twisted sense of pride. They would die before being broken to the extent that one could ride on them. And they had low birth rate. All in all, people abandoned trying to saddle them, when they discovered that animals didn¡¯t protest to haul carts. Some misdirected pride, don¡¯t you think? I wouldn¡¯t mind travelling like that since I didn¡¯t really tire that much. It could have even been pleasurable journey. Could have been. If it wasn¡¯t for the awkward silence. I walked in front of the caravan, near the object of my admiration, and didn¡¯t have slightest idea what to do. When I finally gathered courage to speak she spoke first which startled me a bit. Her voice was quiet, yet filled with confidence and pride, and it sounded as beautiful as she was. ¡°We haven¡¯t been introduced to ourselves, I am Arianne.¡± ¡°RIGHT! I mean yes, ha ha ha¡­I mean, my name is Rob¡­¡± My outburst was met with badly masked amused smile, which just made the wounded pride hurt more. She noticed my embarrassment and stopped at that. Damnation! I haven¡¯t had much contact with women before, and when I managed to achieve something with Cynthia, it was cut short. But even with her it wasn¡¯t really that hard, because she was more of a tomboyish type, Arianne was a woman incarnate. And my stupid actions didn¡¯t really help. After a few hours, our group left mountains and we stopped for a brief rest. I decided to try and mingle with other mercenaries, to try and forget the awkwardness of the journey before. Unfortunately, she must have had the same idea. Dejected, I decided to go to their group anyway, to listen to what they were saying. They were sitting in a circle, telling rumors. I was eating a cracker and drinking water from my backpack, when I heard what the rumors were about and almost choked. ¡°Yeee, me heard that as well. A dwarven mercenary, covered in white scales and burning purple eyes. Killed the beast and got its Aspect, slaughtered his way through spider infested Lower Passage burning all them crawlies along the way!¡± (Mercenary 1) ¡°Bullshit!¡±(Mercenary 2) ¡°Ya call me liar?!¡± (Mercenary 1) ¡°And what if I am? Hah?!¡± (Mercenary 2) ¡°Shut up! I heard about that as well! Dwarf who got fortune from selling dragon corpse, he is to be next lord of Rasgar Hold!¡± (Mercenary 3) ¡°Rasgar Hold my ass, I heard he will be granted position in Court!¡± (Mercenary 4) Dwarves continued to argue, while I stealthily retreated, trying not to draw attention to myself. I could understand being famous, but hearing about my exploits, imaginary or not wasn¡¯t something I could handle at the moment. Especially if she was there, listening in on that. I wasn¡¯t worried they would recognize me, since only indication of me being that person were my eyes. And purple eyes were characteristic to many races. Slit irises could be explained with some rare lizard. Don¡¯t be mistaken, I didn¡¯t mind having fame and admirers. Quite on the contrary. However fame and recognition had its cons, so until I was trained and able to fend for myself, I wouldn¡¯t divulge who I was unless necessary. I didn¡¯t notice that my silent departure was noticed by certain pair of green eyes. During the rest of the day I didn¡¯t talk with Arianne. Taking passive stance, I simply stared in front of me with blank mind. At nightfall, we reached human village. It was supposed to be our first stop, where we would camp near settlement for additional protection. There was a fenced clearing specifically designed for that purposes, with enough place to leave carts and make campfire inside. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. After unhitching mules from the carts, they were left to wander around. Then, merchant who employed us went with 2 of his drivers to the village. Rest of us decided on the lookout terms. I definitely didn¡¯t want to be left alone with Arianne to extend my daily torture, so I volunteered for the worst watch, just before dawn. To my dismay, she said she would take the same one. Fuck! Was she sadist? Did she enjoy me embarrassing myself in front of her? Nothing could be done now, I didn¡¯t want to look like a prick and change my mind, so I begrudgingly accepted my fate. I was surprised to see everyone orderly go to their blankets and whatnots to sleep. I imagined they would start drinking, laughing and telling more stories and rumors. Well, whatever. I was slightly tired after whole day of walking in stress, so I also took plaid and laid near the fire. I didn¡¯t notice when I fell asleep. Waking up was rather rough, as I was kicked repeatedly. I looked up to see rather disgruntled dwarf, who in hushed voice cursed me for being heavy sleeper. I apologized quietly and stood up slowly, stretching my limbs to shake off grogginess. It was still dark, but fire was still lit so you could see around you. And the person with whom I was to spend this watch was really noticeable. She on the opposite side of the campfire, staring into it, so I had chance to admire her looks. When she raised her vision and looked straight at me, I awkwardly turned my gaze away. I could hear rustling from her direction. She came to my side and sat down, 2 feet away from me. The worst part was, I could feel her gaze on me. What did she want?! Did I insult her somehow? Was I staring too hard? After few breaths to calm myself down, with pumping heart I turned to her. Yep. She was staring at me, really intently. Our eyes met and I tried ¨C I really did! ¨C to return her gaze. But it was simply bloody too hard. I felt my cheeks growing hot and turned to look at fire, while speaking. ¡°Can I help you with something?¡± On the edge of my view I could see her frown slightly, before she answered. ¡°You can answer my question Rob¡­ the Dragon Slayer.¡± ¡°Wha¡­! How did you know?!¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t really, until now. I just had my suspicion. Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t spread your identity, I just want to know how you did it. ¡± ¡°How I did what?¡± ¡°Killed the dragon of course. You are far too weak to do it head on, so you must have used some magic or Artifact, right?¡± I grew mad at that remark. I wasn¡¯t that weak, at least I didn¡¯t feel that way. All my fights were won with ease which gave me confidence, and she just bombed it. Her image in my eyes worsened, and with my pride hurt earlier and now I retorted rather rudely, while glaring at her. ¡°What the hell do you know about my strength? I did kill the dragon, and though I don¡¯t have weapon, my claws are enough to pierce dragon scales!¡± She smirked amused, and I felt my anger turn rage. What the fuck! I thought of her as a goddess while she belittled me all along! I was just about to stand up and walk away when she interrupted me. ¡°If you are as strong as you say, why not prove it?¡± I looked at her blankly. What?! Prove it? ¡°And how would I prove it to you?¡± ¡°Simple, we duel each other.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t hit a woman.¡± Now she grew furious. I could see her eyes flare with rage as if she wanted to burn me with her gaze. I could feel bloodlust oozing out of her. Was that the same elf I admired just the other day?! Scary!!! "You will fight me dwarf. Otherwise I will beat you senseless where you stand and make the rest of your journey living hell.¡± Ehhh¡­ I had no choice now. I gulped loudly and agreed, deciding to go easy on her. 20. Lesson in humility Author¡¯s Note: Hey, still atrociously unedited, chapter 20. Point out any mistakes you see, and enjoy! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our brief argument woke up few mercenaries around, and when they heard what was going on, they quickly roused the rest to watch the show. Who could blame them? Two A ranks fighting it out with each other? We went to the side, where we had some place, and prepared ourselves. I made my claws appear, which was quite nasty to look at, since my fingers skin was stripped and fell off showing bone growing solid and sharp. My opponent took her sword from behind her back and threw them away. Bitch! She wanted to humiliate me more? I would definitely use this chance to grope her. She looked at me with condescending smirk on her face, and gestured me to come at her. Fuming with anger, I complied, running at her as fast as I could, extending my hand towards her breast as I grew close. Ha! I got her. Or at least that was what I thought. Her image before me faded. Afterimage. I lost my balance and fell, supporting myself with the other hand at the last moment. People were laughing around me, and my face grew hot. I quickly stood up and turned only to meet fist. I faintly heard cracking sound as my nose broke, and I flew back. That punch almost made me lose my consciousness. What was with that power?! Due to pain and humiliation I lost all my reason. I willed my body to change and it grew covered in scales. My nose was still broken and bleeding, but now I had armor on me. Let¡¯s see what will she do now? Remember the spiders in Lower Passage? The big ones that could pierce my scales? Turns out she was at least as strong as them. When I charged at her in my scaled form, she avoided swipe of my claws and with her extended hand she punched me again, this time in my jaw. Normally I would feel only slight discomfort when receiving strike to my scales. Her punch however, rattled my brain and I could feel that a bit more and my jaw would be dislocated. Before I lost consciousness I could faintly hear her voice, saying that I was even weaker than she thought. I woke up on the cart, among weapons and other cargo, still in my scaled form. My nose and jaw still hurt, but not as much as my pride. Sun was shining up high, noon must have passed by now. I lied there for a while, staring at the sky and thinking, when female voice interrupted my thoughts. ¡°Good morning Dragon Slayer. Did you sleep well?¡± FU¡­ahh, whatever. When hearing her voice trickling with sarcasm when calling me Dragon Slayer, I had urge to kill this woman. But I calmed as quickly as I flared. The events of the night were still before my eyes, and I couldn¡¯t do anything to refute her condescension. I still decided to ignore her, though, to save at least a bit of self-respect. She didn¡¯t seem to mind, and continued. ¡°Anyway, I hope you will honor our agreement and tell me how you defeated the dragon now.¡± ¡°Agreement? We didn¡¯t have any agreement, woman.¡± Contrary to what I decided, I had to refute her statement somehow. I put as much venom as I could into emphasis on her being female. But when I looked for some reaction on her face, there was none. God damn it. Or rather she was looking at me as if I were child who did something silly. Gentle smile and pity. Oh fuck me, I behaved like butthurt kid. I think Adaptability finally kicked in. Why didn¡¯t it yesterday during fight? I had no idea, maybe it worked only in some cases. Calmer now, I decided to ignore her obvious lie about an agreement and simply answer. Maybe she would buzz off. So I told her whole story, how it was all due to lucky strike after being swallowed. She seemed dissatisfied. ¡°There must be more to that than luck! Did you have some kind of magic weapon? Or Artifact?¡± ¡°No, nothing. Simple steel blade.¡± ¡°You are lying! You must have casted some kind of spell at least!¡± The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°You are free to believe what you want, I already told you what you wanted to know.¡± When I finished talking I got off from the cart and went to the front of caravan. I could see smirks on faces of mercenaries I passed. Let them laugh. I won¡¯t be bothered by it. Not even a bit. I absorbed scales and reshaped claws into fingers. Everyone here knew my identity, but elsewhere I would just scare people. This bloody woman! She followed me, and started conversation again, as if nothing happened. But her tone changed to an apologetic one. ¡°Hey, Rob. I am sorry. I was a bit over the top during the night.¡± What was with her?! I couldn¡¯t read her at all. Didn¡¯t she just a minute ago laugh at me? I looked at her suspiciously and she fidgeted and turned her eyes away. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to offend you when saying you were weak, I just can¡¯t help it but speak my mind. It¡¯s a bad habit of mine, sorry.¡± She was really apologizing! Either that or she was the best actress I have ever seen. And I have seen many, lazing on Earth and watching movies all day long, believe me. I didn¡¯t know how to respond so I simply told her not to worry about it. Her next words however¡­ ¡°Would you like to travel together with me Rob?¡± WHAT?! Where did that come from?!!!!! I stared at her in disbelief, and she grew red from embarrassment. My mind couldn¡¯t process the information I just received. The mules behind me almost ran me over, because I stopped from shock. This elf really tested limits of my Adaptability. She waited for my response while fidgeting nervously under my stare. ¡°Why¡­why would you want to? Travel with me?¡± ¡°Actually, I came to HammersVille looking for you. I mean, not for you, for Dragon Slayer. Which¡­is you. Aww, what am I saying¡­¡± She was showing her cute side. Her whole face was flushed, and she was speaking incoherently. That¡¯s probably how I looked in her eyes yesterday. But her version was adorable, while I must have looked like an imbecile. ¡°But how did you know I was the man you were looking for?¡± She calmed a bit, and answered normally. ¡°Oh, that was easy, I asked certain people to look for a man with eyes like yours in HammersVille. Then, I joined same mission as you did, in hope of making your acquaintance.¡± She grew red again, when saying last sentence. Well, making acquaintance and punching someone¡¯s lights out wasn¡¯t really synonymous. Even though it was partially my fault. After I apologized as well, we made peace, and I decided to feel her out a bit before accepting or denying. She was in elven forest to the north of HammersVille, when she heard from passing dwarfs about dragon being killed. She became an adventurer to explore the world and other continents, against the wishes of her family. For that purpose, she travelled around, doing missions and training herself, while looking for strong individuals to become her companions. Though I wasn¡¯t strong, I had great luck and potential since I managed to kill the dragon. In turn I told her about my goal, and that I needed to go to Depository of Knowledge to learn about my skills. And about Academy and Magic Guild, and my training. She said she didn¡¯t mind accompanying me, since she already took the request for convoy. I finally agreed to become her companion, when she offered to train me in combat. But since I wanted to be free to do what I wanted, our agreement wasn¡¯t eternal, I could leave her whenever I felt like it. Very late announcement Hey, I don''t want to give any excuses because I could post something about my absence from reading, but I didn''t really know how long the hiatus would last. I do feel compelled though to write something because some of you actually read this shit I procured. Anyways, I still don''t know when will I continue with Avalon, and if I will, it will probably be after I have found some PR or editor because my style is too rough, and while i have shitload of ideas in my head, I substantially lack time and skills to edit inconsistencies, grammar mistakes etc. My PR friend got 20/7 job soon after he offered his assistance.. Hope to write something soon.