《Shattered》 Chapter 1: The End of the Road The End of the Road It was 2023 and the point of life was to work. At least, that¡¯s what Warren¡¯s parent believed and what Warren Geron lived by. They were always working, to the point that Warren all but lived by himself, only seeing them as they came and left the house. They rarely even had time to take him to school, usually hiring a driver. Even for his sixteenth birthday, Warren only received cash and a tie. He recognized the tie from his father wearing it the day before. He was eighteen now. Sports and games were forbidden, he was only allowed books. He stayed in the house, a large two story building, and did his homework each day. Then, he would read any books he could get from the library around the corner. Warren knew that his parents'' plan was to have him get a job as a lawyer after he went to college, where he would then marry a woman who had a high paying job, and live life like his parents did, but he tried not to think of it. He hid it behind his mask of icy calm like he parents had taught him to. Their plan was shattered one day on the way to school. It was a rare occasion, where he and his parents had been leaving at the same time, them in a rush to get to a meeting and him on him to school, so they took the same car. The area was worked on by construction workers. One sharp turn, a popped wheel from some dropped nails, and a slide into the construction zone later, there was an explosion. It didn''t really matter how it happened. There was only one thing that did. He had died. He was quite certain about it. Everything had gone dark and he had wondered what had happened, but now there was a light. He blinked and everything turned white. He was standing in a room, a white room, with a black table and man in a suit sitting across from him. ¡°Please, take a seat, Warren.¡± the man said, shifting in his seat. Warren sat, staring at the man. A minute, two minutes passed in silence, before the man broke it. ¡°Well, don¡¯t you have any questions?¡± the man asked, perturbed. He hadn''t dealt with a kid like Warren before, who was as silent and pale as a ghost. ¡°Not particularly. I¡¯m dead after all.¡± Warren replied, watching the man. He dressed alike to his father and that meant this was business. He wondered if it had to do with his soul or something else. ¡°Warren, you aren''t dead. You¡¯re alive and in the hospital, even as we speak.¡± Warren blinked once at this, then returned to his cold expression. ¡°Then what¡¯s this, then?¡± Warren asked, gesturing at the room, empty aside from them and the furniture. ¡°This,¡± the man replied ¡°is the Loading Room. But first, let me explain the situation.¡± The man in the suit took a deep breath, preparing to deliver some bad news. ¡°Warren, you were badly hurt in the accident. The most serious was 3rd and 4th degree burns, along with a leg and several ribs broken. There was a concussion and other various minor injuries, but they weren''t as dangerous. Unfortunately, your parents died on the spot at the accident, while you lucky that nothing is permanent aside from scarring. I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± the man said, speaking in the manner of someone trying to break it to him fast as possible, like ripping off a band aid. Warren was silent, absorbing the news. He had a firm grip on his emotions, so nothing showed on his pale face at the man¡¯s words. ¡°You''ve gotten treatment, but you haven¡¯t woken up. It¡¯s been several months. So we decided to try something different: we hooked you up to a VR pod.¡± The man continued, his face beginning to get worried at his continued silence ¡°VR pod? As in one of the up and coming virtual reality game, Shattered, made by Crescere?¡± interrupted Warren, his face lighting up despite himself. He had heard of it, boasting of a 97% realism and 33% pain conversion, with secret classes and secret jobs, on top of having a top-grade AI in charge of it. He had always wanted to play such a game, but he had never expected to actually be able to do so. ¡°Well, yes. I¡¯m Mr. Yeorn, I work for Crescere. The construction site you crashed into was ours, a game center in the making. So, we felt this was the least we could do. You can take part as a player; we''ve given you a free life-time subscription.¡± The man said, surprised at Warren¡¯s reaction. The cold faced boy had suddenly become a lively teenager. Realizing this, Warren¡¯s face once more reverted back to its icy calm from before. Warren had no friends, now no family, it was already paid for, and he didn''t have anything else to do. His life had been dashed to pieces and he seriously doubted his parents had planned for anything like this. There was nothing to hold him here, while there he could be anything. ¡°When do I start?¡± ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yeorn sighed in relief, he hadn¡¯t known how this kid would answer. He began to explain things in more detail to him. ¡°Well, there are some conditions¡­¡± The kid raised his eyes at that, an expression on his face that could freeze a man¡¯s soul, but Yeorn plunged on, braving those eyes ¡°¡­mainly the starting races and that we get to monitor you as you go.¡± Hearing such simple things, the cold lessened in the kid¡¯s eyes, but a hint remained, as if to hurry Yeorn along This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.¡°Basically, you¡¯re going to be testing out a new race. They¡¯re pretty good, and if all goes well, they¡¯ll be added, but you¡¯ll be the first players to try them, though there¡¯s a small chance to be set to one of the normal starting races.¡± ¡°Players?¡± the kid repeated ¡°Yes, players. They¡¯ll each be doing a new race, like you, while we monitor them. But, there¡¯s another catch: you don¡¯t get to choose your race. It¡¯s randomly selected by the AI, not even we know what you¡¯ll start as or what skills and abilities you¡¯ll get from it, aside what we know from NPCs. I¡¯d advise you pay attention to whatever lore you can find, it can affect you a lot.¡± ¡°How so?¡± ¡°Like if you read books on dragons that say that have a weak spot behind their ears, then later you can strike there for a critical hit, while if you don¡¯t read it wouldn¡¯t count it even if you do hit it.¡± Yeorn explained ¡°Sounds reasonable. When do I start?¡± asked Warren ¡°Right now. You were the last to agree.¡± He said as he snapped his fingers, sending Warren to the larger Loading room, with the rest of the testers. With the boy gone, Yeorn sighed in relief and sagged in his chair. ¡°God, that boy will be something else in game.¡± Yeorn murmured ¡°Really?¡± a woman¡¯s voice rang out in the empty room, causing him to jump ¡°Damn it, Marcy, don¡¯t do that. You know I hate that. When¡¯d you get here anyways?¡± Yeorn complained ¡°I came as soon as you finished. So, what¡¯s different about him, anyways?¡± Marcy asked, ignoring Yeorn¡¯s complaint ¡°He¡¯s like a corpse, with that pale face and expressionless mask.¡± Yeorn replied, shuddering ¡°You scare too easy, Yeorn. Let¡¯s get back to the group, so they can select their races.¡± ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Warren blinked as he suddenly appeared at the back of another room, one looking like a theater with four other people, who stared at him as he stared back. Nobody spoke to one another, an awkward silence in the air, before a short guy with brown hair stepped forward. ¡°Hi, I¡¯m Carl, this is Eve, Layla, and Harold.¡± He said, pointing to each person in turn. Warren examined them. Carl was brown haired and was built like a bear. Eve was tiny, energetic, and black haired, looking like she was about to take off sprinting and bouncing off the walls. Layla looked like she¡¯d join Eve in running, but to get away from everyone, she was slender and shy with black hair. Harold, though looked like a gift to girls everywhere, tall, muscular, tanned, with golden hair and blue eyes. Warren disliked him almost instantly, though he didn''t know why. ¡°I¡¯m Warren.¡± he replied ¡°So how were you selected? I won a race, Carl won a competition, and Harold was asked to join.¡± Layla asked, while Harold puffed up with pride. ¡°They asked if I¡¯d join. I agreed to.¡± Warren replied shortly ¡°Hey, there¡¯s no need to be rude! Apologize to Layla now!¡± Harold said, leaping on a chance to look like a good guy in front of the girls ¡°Why? She asked me a question, I answered it. If she dislikes how I answered, she can tell me herself, since she¡¯d know better than anyone.¡± Warren pointed out, not willing to be a scapegoat for Harold, who searched for a reason, his actions starting to backfire on him. ¡°That¡¯s beca-¡° BANG ¡°Ok, welcome everyone! Time for your races to be selected! Stand next to a pedestal and you¡¯ll be assigned a race!¡± Yeorn announced, as he appeared on the stage Five pedestals began to emerge from the stage as they hurried up, taking positions next to one. There was a drumroll, then a bang. Carl¡¯s pedestal lit up, showing a hulking man with stone protruding from him, like some sort of golem, on a rocky slope. Eve¡¯s race was a tiny feminine figure, dark furred and with a tail, like a ratman, in a cave. A slender human with deer horns in the midst of a forest, with willow wisps spinning around her, was Layla¡¯s selected race. Harold had a shining white-haired merman, except there was balls of light at the end of his hair and the merman floated in the skies. Warren¡¯s pedestal lit up with a human, standing near a caravan. ¡°Ok, now that your race has been selected, say ¡®Enter¡¯ and you¡¯ll start up! Good luck and enjoy!¡± Yeorn called Instantly, the others entered the game, disappearing in a bright column of light, while Warren hesitated as he looked at his pedestal. After a moment of disappointment, he shrugged. After all, he had just been in a coma minutes before, now he was going to play Shattered. Being set as a human wasn¡¯t that much of a loss. ¡°Enter!¡± Warren said, still staring at the human. The human winked, as nine tails emerged behind him and fox ear appeared on his head. Warren blinked in surprise, then white light surrounded him as he entered Shattered.
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Chapter 2: A New Life Begins A New Life Begins
Scanning user
New user detected. Would you like to create an account?
"Yes."
Creating account.
Vulpine has be selected as your race
Please design your avatar.
The flurry of windows had filled my view, but Warren shrunk it so it wouldn''t block anything. A boy with back hair stood in front of him, black fox tails waving behind him, and fox ears peeking from his hair. It took a moment or two for Warren to realize it was him. The boy in front of him looked thin and sickly, with scars across his hands and chest. No wonder Layla had asked how he was selected, he looked like he could and would keel over and die any moment now. The accident must have taken more out of him than he''d thought and being in bed for months, even if it wasn''t by choice, would probably never be good for his health. "Add some weight and remove the scars." The boy in front of him suddenly packed a few pounds, to the point where he no longer looked starving and his scars vanished as if wiped away with a cloth. Now he looked at least healthy and smooth skinned. With that done, he decided to get to work with the rest of his appearance. He kept his height the same, at 5''9", but made his eyes a brilliant green and turned his hair red. He had always like red hair and wished he was born with it and now the ears and tails looked like those of an actual fox. "Select."
Choose a name
"Warren" It wasn''t like he could use his name in the real world anyways. Might as well use it here.
Welcome Warren. You are the 20,493rd player to join.
You have no starting area due to your race. You will be spawned in a safe area in the wild, in an area appropriate to your level.
"Well, that''s great." There were pros and cons to this. He''d be loosing all the benefits of a city, with trainers and vendors and starter quests. One other hand, though, he probably would be the only player in the area. He''d be safe from PKers and no body could interrupt his hunting. And he planned to start hunting as soon as he spawned. He had no intention of staying weak for long.
Crescent Beach has been selected as your starting area
Welcome to Ayzaela, Warren. The land has been ravaged in an enormous disaster, bringing many of the kingdoms to ruin as forests flooded and the ground split. You''ll find many opportunities to rise in power or gain wealth, if you are strong or fast enough.
Blinking at the beam of light that surrounded him, Warren looked around as it faded. He was on a beach, standing next to a forest. It was the same background as the one that appeared on his pedestal from earlier, though it was nearly morning. It looked astonishingly real, with crabs skittering along the sand, and seagulls soaring overhead. No wonder Shattered had such a hit with people, the graphics alone were to die for.
You''ve discovered Crescent Beach! Crescent Beach was once the site of an ancient temple. Due to an enormous disaster the temple no longer exists, but the blessings on the land remain. Undead will not enter Monsters will not enter +10% faster mana regeneration +10% faster health regeneration + 50 Fame + 50 Experience
"Open Inventory" All he had was 10 copper, basic pants, basic shirt, a rusty dagger, and 20 bread. He had food for a while and a weapon, though it looked like it was a bit shoddy. He equipped it and gave it a few swings to get the feel of it as the sun began to rise. Then he examined his weapon.
Rusty Dagger
Damage:1-4Durability:20 / 30
Requirements:None
An old rusty dagger, you should probably find something else to use
With that done, Warren headed off towards the forest eager to start leveling. A hundred meters in, he saw his first monster.
Wild Hound: lvl 2
It looked like a good monster to start on, by itself and merely one level stronger. He started moving forward, the hound a good fifty meters away.
Warning! Due to the basic enmity between hounds and foxes, you''ve attracted the hostilities of a Wild Hound! Fox''s Fear: +5% movement speed -15% damage done to hounds You have a chance for hounds to apply the Fear status effect upon you
Shocked, Warren reread the window, before realizing the hound was charging at him. He gripped the dagger tightly then swung it as the monster drew near, slashing its eye. -ding-
Critical Hit! Bleed: -9 health every 5 seconds for 25 seconds Blind: -50% sight
His blow had forced the hound to instinctively turn away, before it charged back, and he repeated this several times, slashing at its face whenever it drew near. He missed several times, but the hound was forced to leap back to avoid them. Gradually, Warren became more and more confident. "Hah! Not so tough are you, even with the debuff!" As if his words were a cue, the hound drew back and howled. The noise was shockingly loud in the quiet morning and he flinched, allowing it to latch onto his leg, taking out 20% of his health. Even worse, a window appeared before him.
Hound''s Howl -5% movement speed for 5 seconds +5% movement speed for all hounds nearby All hounds within a hundred meters will run the the spot the howl originated
Warren could see several hounds charging towards him, some of them higher leveled than the one he was fighting. He turned to run, only to realize the situation had gotten even worse: the hound he was fighting was still latched onto him. -ding-
You''re affected by a status effect! Slowed: -20% movement speed
He could swear the hound had a gleeful look on its face as the rest of the hounds arrived.
You have died. You shall respawn in 3 seconds at Crescent Beach
"Damn it!" Warren reappeared at the beach, back where he had first appeared. He could even see his foot prints on the sand, leading towards the forest. Part of him wanted to run back there to finish that Wild Hound that had started that whole mess, but another part of him, the part of him who remained calm realized there would at least half a dozen hounds there by now and he wouldn''t even get a chance to hit him like this. First, he needed another weapon. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.He had used one hand to use the Rusty Dagger, but that left his other hand doing nothing. He needed a second weapon to be able to deal damage consistently. Unfortunately, since he had started in the wild, he had no way to buy another weapon. So he had to make one himself. Unfortunately, that meant he was going back into the forest. He snuck into the trees and searched among the trees for materials and found what he needed as the sun reach its zenith: a sturdy tree branch. He took it back to the beach and started using his rusty dagger to carve it. -ding-
Crude Wooden Club
Damage:2-4Durability:15/ 15
Requirements:None
A crude serviceable club that was carved from a tree branch. It holds a 5% chance of stunning the target
-ding-
Satiety: 50% -15% health regen -15% mana regen
Warren ate some bread to refill his satiety bar, then went to implement the next step of his plan: he hunted crabs. All he got were crab meat and broken crab shells, but they were good practice. He wandered up and down the beach, stabbing and crushing crabs. All they gave was a one exp, but he continued to kill them, as all they could do was run sideways and pinch him for one damage. As long as he didn''t let them swarm him, he was safe from dying. After about a thousand or more of them died at his hands, he received a window.
You''ve gained a title!
-ding-
Crab Hunter
Due to your zealousness in hunting crabs, you''ve the skills of novice fisherman in crab killing. + 10% damage against crustaceans + 10% increase in critical hits when facing crustaceans +10 Fame + 1 to all stats Fishermen feel a slight sense of kinship with you
"Well OK, that was unexpected. I guess I''ll keep it." Slam! Warren went flying and sprawled on the sand. Getting up, he saw an enormous crab standing where he had been. It was bigger than the Wild Hounds from earlier, as large as a desk.
Crab King: lvl 3
-ding-
The Elite Monster Crab King has appeared! Due to your slaughter of his people, he has come to do unto you what you''ve done unto them!
"Seriously!?" The Crab King clacked its claws menacingly and and charged at him. Or rather, it ran sideways at him. Warren instinctively swung his club at the crab, but it bounced off its hard shell, while its claws snapped at him. Luckily, Warren had fought enough crabs that he knew when to step back, and he did so, prompting a flurry of hissing from the crab along with sea foam being spat at him. They went back and forth, his weapons unable to damage the crabs hard shell, and the crab unable to lay its claws on him. Finally, a blow went a stray, landing instead on the crab''s legs, rather than its body. Crunch -ding-
Critical hit! Slowed: -12.5% movement speed
The club smashed one of the legs, leaving it useless, and the crabs health finally dropped. The legs had less armor than the crabs body, so it could be killed that way! Eight broken legs later, the Crab King sat helpless in the sand, unable to move it large body. Hissing and sputtering in crabby fury, it flailed its claws, forcing Warren to back away from its front. But its back was another story. Behind it was out of reach for the crab pincers, allowing him to rain blow upon blow freely, before finally smashing the shell and killing it, filling his view with a flurry of windows and dings. -ding-
+2 strength for an act of immense strength
-ding-
You''ve killed the Crab King!
-ding-
The title Crab Hunter has upgraded to Crab Slayer!
-ding-
Crab Slayer
Due to your deeds against crabs, you''ve the skills of experienced fisherman in crab killing. + 15% damage against crustaceans + 15% increase in critical hits when facing crustaceans +20 Fame + 1 to all stats Fishermen feel a sense of kinship with you
-ding-
You have leveled up!
-ding-
You have learned a new skill
-ding-
Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:
SmashBeginner110%
You take your weapon and smash it into the target as hard as you can. Effects: 110% of your weapon damage 20% chance of a stun Chance of weapon durability dropping sharply Cost: 100 mana/5 seconds
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Chapter 3: Racial Skills Racial Skills "Finally!" Warren hurriedly went to check his newly gained stats, eager to see how he improved. thinking about it, he should''ve checked it as soon as he started, but he had been too eager to try hunting. This time, with the right stats, he would be able to do better. "Status!"
Status Window
Name:WarrenAlignment:Neutral
Level:2Class:None
Race:VulpineGender:Male
Titles
Crab Slayer
Fame:80Infamy:0
-
Health:100 / 100Health Regen:0.1 / Sec
Mana:140 / 140Mana Regen:0.4 / Sec
-
Strength:12Agility:14
Vitality:10
Intelligence:14Wisdom:14
Perception:7Luck:13
-
Resistances
Poison:0%Cold0%
Disease:0%
Affinities
Fire:5Water:0
Wind:5Earth:0
Illusion:10
Available Stat Points:10
Language(s):Common
Racial Skills:Fox Fire Shift Essence Steal Gust
"Why is there both Fame and Infamy?"
Fame is your favorable reputation, Infamy your unfavorable. When one has an extreme difference between the two, you can gain a Good or Chaotic alignment, until there is no longer such a large disparate difference. A temporary Chaotic reputation can be gain for Player Killing, if you struck first. It can be removed by good deeds, a donation to the church, or by not doing anything to accumulate additional infamy.
It made sense. If you had a high Fame, you generally could get away with a few Infamy-gathering activities, like how a king could tax their people for more money. It would give them a bit of a bad reputation, but overall it''d be lower than their good reputation. In addition, Warren suspected it affected how NPCs reacted to you. After all, they''d charge a hero less money than they would a normal mercenary, and it would affect whether or not they''d give you quests. "What''s the Perception stat and what''s the differences between resistances and affinity?"
Perception is your openness to your surroundings. It controls the chance to detect vital clues, traps, or hiding enemies, and might influence combat sequence, or the accuracy of ranged attacks. It can be sometimes combined with Wisdom. You have received this stat due to your race. Resistances lower the amount of damage they take from something, while Affinities raises the amount of damage you can deal with that type of damage and lowers the amount of damage you take from that type of damage.
So basically, Perception was your senses working together to let you notice and react to something. He could see how that would help archery and long-distance attacks. Meanwhile, Affinity both lowered the damage you took and raised the amount you dealt with a type, while resistance would lower the amount of damage alone. Sort of like how a Fire Mage would be able to deal more damage with fire and resist any damage due to his experiences with it, versus someone who had experience in being burned by fire wouldn''t be as hurt as the first time they got burned. Probably, some of the resistances could be turned to affinities if you worked with them long enough. "What are my racial skills?"
Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:
Fox FireBeginner10%
A globe of fire you can control, casting it at your enemies. Effects: 3% chance of burning your enemy. Costs: 50 mana
Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:
Shift--100%
You transform from your Vulpine form into a Human form, and vice versa. Effects: Human Form: Doubles your Strength and Vitality while halving your Intelligence and Wisdom. Vulpine Form: Doubles your Intelligence and Wisdom while halving your Strength and Vitality. In your current Vulpine Form, you have one fox tail, which boosts your mana regen by 20%. You will grow more tails as you get stronger, to a total of nine. Costs: 0 mana
Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:
Essence StealBeginner10%
You steal your target''s mana and health, while raising your own with the stolen energy. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Effects: Drains 5 health per second Drain 5 mana per second You must have skin-to-skin contact with them to cast it.
Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:
GustBeginner10%
You throw a burst of wind at your enemy, slowing him. Can also be used to speed you up, if cast behind you as you run. Effect: 10% movement speed decrease for those hit 5% movement speed increase if cast behind you as you run Cost: 40 mana
Seeing his racial abilities, Warren was filled with joy. He had suddenly gained four different spells, that in total, slowed his enemies while speeding him, burned and hurt them, strengthened his physical abilities in one form and strengthened his magical abilities in another, and on top of that he had Essence Drain! A spell that drained both health and mana while restoring your own was almost unheard of, and he had gotten it off the bat! The only downside was that he had to maintain skin contact with the target. He had to admit, when he had read that, his mind went to a deep dark place, before he dragged his mind out of the gutters. He had read histories where fox spirits drained the life force of people in... such ways, but he silently he swore never to use it like that. Turning back to the stats, Warren was at a dilemma: if he put them in Strength or Vitality, then his Vulpine form would decrease it, and the same for his Human form if he put in his Wisdom or Intelligence. He was stuck for so long the sun finished setting, and the beach began to get cold. Finally, he realized the solution. In Human form, he was basically strong but not smart, and in Vulpine form he was smart but physically weak. Therefore, if he trained each for in what it was weak in, when he transformed into the other form, he''d get a boost. So, even if he turned into the Vulpine form now, and was reduced to 6 Strength, he could train it to 7 Strength so that in Human form his Strength would be then be 14. Likewise, in Human form, he could do the same by reading or doing calculations!
You''ve gained +2 Wisdom making a wise decision using your common sense
Warren laughed, for the first time in years. The game scanned your brainwave while you were playing, allowing you to move your character. by doing so, it basically read your mind, which meant it followed his thoughts. Even the game agreed that it was a good idea. The ability to physically train up your stats had been one of the selling points of the game in the first place, though that had been mostly ignored due to most people''s thinking being confined by previous games they had played. But Warren hadn''t gotten to play any of those games. The closest he had gotten to them was reading about adventures in books. Since this was a game, Warren could even use those ways the main characters in those books had trained himself! Despite his feverishly racing thoughts, Warren suddenly shivered. The sun had set long ago while he had sat and examined his stats and skills and a wind began to blow, chilling him even further. For all his thinking, he had forgotten a simple thing: he had forgotten to set up a camp. It wasn''t all his fault either. Other players rarely bothered setting up camp for the night, as they could just log out and wait a couple of hours for night time to be finished and log back on. In addition, the books he had read rarely went into much details on the camping aspect of the adventure, preferring to linger on the swords and magic. So Warren was forced to scrounge for some more branches, in an attempt to start a fire. He found a meter-deep depression in the cliff at the end of the beach, which was only several hundred meters long. He had cleared the crabs from it earlier and it was out of the way of the wind, so he set up the branches for the fire. Then came the fun part: trying to light the fire with his bare hands. He tried rubbing sticks together, sparking rocks off each other, all to no avail. He had almost resigned himself to a cold night shivering against the cliff, before he realizied the solution. "Shift!" Warren could feel his tail, throwing him off balance, but he ignored that and kneeled over the pile of branches. "Fox Fire!" Using Fox Fire, his mana pool, and his mana regen (boosted by the safe area''s bonus mana regen and his tail), he cast his first spell. A globe of fire, about the size of a golf ball hovered in the air next to him. He tried guiding to the fire, but it refused to move, before he finally hit upon the idea of focusing hard on it and moving it slowly. Using that method, the globe drifted into the branches and set them alight. He finally ended the spell just before he ran out of mana, leaving him exhausted and curled up next to the fire. The fire eventually died out, but it got him through most of the night towards morning. In the morning, Warren groaned as he got up, sore from sleeping on the cold sand. Immediately, he set up the fireplace again, using some leftover branches from the night before. Once again using Fire Fox to start the fire, he gnawed on some of the bread while staring at the coals. He was getting tired of bread, it was his third meal of it. Seeing some sticks, he had an idea, making us of the crab meat he had gotten off all the crabs. He took it out of his inventory, stuck them on the ends of the stick, and cooked it over the fire. He had seen it done in movies and for marshmallows so he figured he might as try. When he finished, he examined the end production.
You have created Roasted Crab Meat A first attempt at cooking, who knows how it''ll turn out
Hesitatingly taking a bite, Warren chewed it. "It''s delicious!" Finishing it off and starting on the rest, he felt far better after a full stomach. He stood up, dusting off his hands on his pants. Now, it was time to train.
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----------------------- Author''s Note Feel free to comment on this, I''m trying to get better, so I appreciate any feedback. Chapter 4: Rock Climbing, Herbalism, and Slimes! Oh my! Rock Climbing and Herbalism and Slimes! Oh my! First, Warren had to decide what type of training he would do. There was push ups, pull ups, and other such exercises; but it didn''t feel right. He could attach weights to himself as he trained, but he lacked rope or cloth to bind any weights to himself. He really wanted to go swimming, but this was Ayzaela, a continent full of monsters. If he went swimming, he could easily be attacked by sea creatures and he wasn''t confident in his ability to fight monsters off while swimming, especially with his low level. On top of that, he couldn''t run that far either. Crescent Beach was in a crescent shape, of course, but it was only a few hundred meters long with cliffs running alongside it. The only way in and out was the sea along the inside curve and the forest which could be reached through the bottom of the outside curve Unless... Warren examined the cliff. They lined the outside curve of the beach, being at least 50 meters tall at the shortest part near the forest and more than doubling that the further the cliffs got up the outside curve. At the top of the curve, he suspected it was more than 200 meters. This was it. If he climbed the cliff, he would be training his Strength and Vitality, and even his Dexterity! Eager to begin, he started towards the cliff near the forest. Several hours later, he finally reach the top, pulling himself over the edge. Warren lay on the ground wheezing like an old man and he knew he was going to regret this next morning. He had slipped and fallen down the cliff down the cliff several times, before he had realized he needed all three of his limbs on firm holds, before he could move his fourth. By repeating this over and over, he had lowered the amount of times he fell and finally made it to the top. -ding-
You''ve gained + 2 Strength, +3 Vitality, and +2 Dexterity!
-ding-
You have learned a new skill!
-ding-
Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:
Rock Climbing (Passive)Beginner143%
You climbed sheer rocks with speed and precision. Effects: 5% movement speed increase while climbing 5% fall damage reduction while climbing
"Well, that''ll be useful." His breath back, Warren looked around. There was a lot of shrubs and bushes, and about 25 meters away the forest started. It was a little after noon, from the sun''s position, and it was about time to eat. He gathered firewood from the brush and avoided the forest, even though he knew he was pretty safe on the edge of it. He also gathered some plants, one could only eat so much crab or bread. Gurgle
Satiety: 40% -20% mana regen -20% health regen
He took out the cooked crab meat in one hand and some bread in the other. Which to eat? Then, an idea hit him. Why not both? Taking the bread, he used his dagger to cut it open, then he added the meat to it. -ding-
Crab Sandwich A roughly made sandwich from a loaf of bread and crab meat.
Warren guessed if you ate food simply, you''d still gain the satiety, but if he made it a more complicated food with the plants, he might gain effects...
Shady Crab Sandwich A Crab Sandwich with a shady looking plant mixed in...
Odd Crab Sandwich A Crab Sandwich with a odd plant tossed in.
Taking a deep breath, Warren ate the shady sandwich first, then the odd sandwich -ding
You''ve identified the shady plant as an antidote herb!
You identified the odd plant as a poison herb!
You have learned a new skill
Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:
HerbalismBeginner112%%
You can gather and identify herbs and their usage.
Due to the fact you ate an antidote and a poison herb together, the poison has been neutralized. However, you''ve been afflicted with Nausea for 3 minutes.
"Ugh, at least I got a skill from it... I''ll gather more..." Ignoring his nausea as best he could, Warren gathered up more of the antidote herb as well as the poison. Several times, he nearly lost his meal, but he stubbornly kept it down. If he threw it up, his satiety would drop again and he had to make more food. Searching for any more plants, some things emerged from the ground next to his foot and darted away, causing him to leap back. One remained though, so Warren focused on it. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
Slime: lvl 0
"Level 0? How can it be level 0? I though level 1 was as low as it can go!" The slime was about the size of a tennis ball and almost completely see-though. It looked like a blob of jelly. Looking at the ground where it emerged, Warren had an idea. "Did the slime just hatch? Then that explains its level, it''s a baby slime!" -ding-
You have learned a new skill!
Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:
DiscernBeginner12%
By the use of logic and keen observation you can identify additional lore on monsters, people, and items.
Warren swiped the windows away and knelt down, putting his hand next to the newborn slime. The slime wobbled back and forth for several seconds, then rolled onto his hand, apparently fascinated by his fingers. It began to twine through his fingers, before focusing on his index finger, giving Warren a soft sucking sensation from the slime. Apparently it likes his finger. Chuckling, he rubbed the slime''s body head back and forth, before making his decision. "Well, it''s not like I can get much exp from it, anyways. Might as well feed it!" Pulling out some of the crab meat again, he offered it to the slime, who examined it and then ''swallowed'' it, with its body. The meat sat inside of it for a few seconds, before it started dissolve at a slow rate before Warren''s fascinated eyes. Several minutes later, the slime finished the meat and nuzzled his thumb. -ding-
Due to your kindness to it, you have befriended an unnamed slime.
What would you like to name it?
"What? Uh, how about Mire?"
Mire is now registered as one of your pets. You can find more details on Mire''s Status window.
"Mire''s Status!"
Mire''s Status
Name:MireRace:Slime
Level:0GenderMale
Health:15/ 15Loyalty:35
Abilities:Consume Body Manipulation
Looking at the window, Warren nodded to himself. Most of it made sense to him, Loyalty was how much Mire would obey and follow him, if it dropped low there was probably a chance for Mire to ignore his orders or run away. Consume was basically an ability to absorb food, while body manipulation was how Mire could twine around his fingers like he did now. "Let''s go, it''s about time to head back to the camp." Setting Mire on his shoulder, Warren first gathered a lot of firewood and tossed it down the cliff, before starting down himself. Unlike going up, going down took only a half hour or so to make it to the bottom. Once he reached the bottom, Mire crawled down from his shoulder and set off to explore the beach, while he gathered up the firewood and set it up for later. Then, Warren trained by casting his spells on the crabs, who had all returned to the beach while he was gone. He tossed Fox Fire at the crabs, switching to Essence Steal to steal a bit of mana, before being distracted by Mire. Mire, in his explorations, had run into a crab. Both he and the crab immediately started circling one another, sending darting blows towards one another, prompting Warren to watch for Mire''s health. Mire would lash at the crab with whip-like limbs, aimed at the crab''s eyes, while the crab did its best to get its pincers on the slime to no avail. Finally, their duel taking them all over the beach, they ended up on a small boulder where Mire sent the crab sliding backward with a few whips at its legs. The crab fell off and landed on its back, where it flailed helplessly, while Mire stood above on the boulder. Finally, in a scene that reminded Warren of cage fighting, Mire leaped from above and landed hard on his helpless foe. With a crack, the shell broke and Mire settled down to enjoyed his well earned meal. "That was dramatic." Warren on the other hand, had caught and killed enough crabs for his dinner earlier, during Mire''s ''duel''. Cooking them with Fox Fire, he had enjoyed them along with his mealtime entertainment. With that done, Warren set up the fire with fresh logs before heading to ''bed'', while Mire found a small ledge, about a foot wide, and curled up in a pile of leaves. Tomorrow would be a new day and a new opportunity to train.
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----------------------------- Author''s Note: Thanks for all your encouragement, I''ll keep on it. Enjoy! Chapter 5: A Hidden Class A Hidden Class Several days had past since Warren had first found Mire. Every day, he climbed up and down the cliffs, each time going up taller and taller cliffs. Currently, he was near the top of the last cliff, the tallest one. He was also dying. On his way to the top, he had come across a narrow ledge with a tunnel half hidden behind a rock. He decided he''d check it out on his way down, and had continued to the top and done so. But after Warren had entered, with Mire on his shoulder as usual, he had been attacked. They were a dozen little rock golems, barely coming up to his knee. What came to mind when he first saw them was primitive gnomes. "Grrrragggg!" Angry, psychotic, rock gnomes at that. They didn''t have any weapons, but they did have their rocky bodies and they used it to their full advantage, punching, headbutting, kicking, and even biting at him. It didn''t do all that much damage to his health, especially after all the training he had done, but the sheer number of blows made it difficult to fight. Warren was forced to block with his dagger, which was useless against their hard skin, and swung his club as much as he could. "Smash!" Warren swung his club again, crushing a gnome golem''s head, turning it from hard rock into loose soil. Unfortunately, he couldn''t do it often. Finally, after a stony fist clashed with his eye, he came across the solution. He grabbed that particular golem and heaved it as hard as he could at the rock walls. the collision killed it and forced back the gnomes for a moment. "Hah! Not so tough now!" Warren preceeded to grab a golem and chuck it as hard as he could. It didn''t particularly matter where, if it hit the walls it''d die and if it hit another golem, they''d both both be injured and loose a limb or two. After several minutes of this, he used Essence Steal on the remaining few, healing up his health.
You have leveled up!
"Whew, that was a work out! Sorry you couldn''t help against them, Mire." When the last of them crumbled away, Mire had come out of hiding. Mire bobbed up and down, agreeing. Warren had left out some poison plant a day ago and Mire had eaten it. He nearly had a heart attack, thinking Mire would die on him, but instead he received a skill. The skill Poison Body absorbed poisonous things to boost its own toxicity, but poison was useless against the rocky bodies of the golems, forcing Mire to flee. "Status!" Warren now high Strength, Vitality, and Dexterity thanks to his training, but he keenly felt his lack of mana. If those golems had been tougher, he would''ve been forced to flee or he''d have been killed. He definetly needed more mana. He rose his Wisdom from 16 to 23 and his Perception went up by 3 to 10. He hadn''t detected the golems before they attacked either. Higher Perception should help with that. Finishing, he examined the window one last time.
Status Window
Name:WarrenAlignment:Neutral
Level:3Class:None
Race:VulpineGender:Male
Titles
Crab Slayer
Fame:80Infamy:0
-
Health:420 / 420Health Regen:3.2 / Sec
Mana:230 / 230Mana Regen:1.3 / Sec
-
Strength:33Agility:35
Vitality:42
Intelligence:14Wisdom:23
Perception:10Luck:13
-
Resistances
Poison:0%Cold0%
Disease:0%
Affinities
Fire:5Water:0
Wind:5Earth:0
Illusion:10
Available Stat Points:0
Language(s):Common
Racial Skills:Fox Fire Shift Essence Steal Gust
"Looks good, let''s go Mire." Swiping the window away, Warren set off down the tunnel, following the way. After several minutes, he stopped examining the ground. Mire hadn''t been the only one to gain skills the last few days. He had received the skills Camping, from making camp at the base of the cliff so much, and Tracking, which allowed him to follow the path of the one he followed. It also lit up footsteps for him to see and told him how old they were. "These footsteps are larger than the golems... and they were made a long time ago." They were old enough that Tracking only picked them up from the disturbed dust and to tell they were made by a man, but too old for his skill level to tell how old. In addition, the footprints only went one way. "Let''s follow them, Mire." Mire bobbed on his shoulder, agreeing. Further along, there was blood drips alongside the footsteps, and Warren could all but predict the result at the end of the trail. The footsteps finally entered a cave, with a large opening in the top, letting Warren see the blue sky beyond it. In the center of the clearing, next to a old campfire, he found what he expected. An old body lay face down, partially covered by some rotten blankets, with a bag positioned near it. Warren ignored the body to search the bag, finding several books in it.
You have received the book Staff Fighting
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
You have received the book Weather Magic
You have received the book Overgrowth
You have received the book Pet Mastery
"Whew, look at these! Wait, what''s that? When Warren had been picking up the last book, a piece of paper fell out.
Hello, I am Cheric Roen and I am dying. I came running in here after being attacked by a wild hound, which bite me deeply. Upon entering the tunnel, I was driven further into it by the golems, only to find it dead-ending here. I can not treat my wound and I''ve been far too injured for it to reverse the damage done. I shall die here. Therefore, I have made plans for that. Since I am to die, I want my class to live on. There are so few of us left, especially after the disaster that shook Ayzaela a few months ago. We were supposed to guard the land, yet we failed. The people turned against us, mobs formed to kill us, and we were driven to ever harsher lands to live safely. If you accept this class, I''ve but one request. Slay a few wild hounds for me, will you?
-ding-
You have found a Hidden Class! If you accept, you can use exclusive skills related to the nature of the class, if you kill 10 wild hounds afterwards. If you accept this class and do not kill the hounds, you will be stripped of this class. Yes/ No?
"Yes!" Hidden classes often had special abilities and skills. The dead man had wrote that his class had guarded the land, so it had to be a rare and powerful one. If he got it and trained it right, he''d be able to use it to defend and attack if he ever got into fights. On top of that, this place seemed like an obscure location, so the chances of anyone else having the same class was rare. There was no way Warren would let an opportunity like this pass him up! -ding-
You gained the Hidden Class Druid!
You have learned new skills
Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:
Plant ManipulationBeginner10%
You can control plants within 1 meter of you. Cost: 15 mana per sec
Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:
Earth ManipulationBeginner10%
You can control Earth within 1 meter of you. Cost: 15 mana per sec
Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:
EntangleBeginner10%
Plants burst out of the ground and bind the target for 2 seconds, halting all movement. Cost: 25 mana
Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:
Detect PoisonBeginner10%
You can determine whether an object, creature, or area is poisoned or poisonous. Cost: 10 mana
Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:
Detect Traps (Passive)Beginner10%
You detect simple pits, deadfalls, snares, mechanical traps, and traps constructed of natural materials.
Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:
Animal SpeakBeginner10%
You can speak and summunicate with animals. Cost: 5 mana per second
Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:
RejuvenationBeginner10%
You quicken their healing with your energy Effects: +10 health per second for 5 seconds Cost: 50 mana
Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:
Nature''s Hunt (Passive)---
Chaotic Status wears off in a week when in the wild and you can kill those who have damaged nature without becoming Chaotic.
"Wait, what?!"
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Chapter 6: A-Hunting We Will Go A-Hunting We Will Go "I thought this class would be a Warrior hidden class! Not a druid!" Hours later, at his camp, Warren was still complaining. He had burned the body with wood and Fox Fire, and had found a staff and an iron dagger in the cave. Nonetheless, he wasn''t totally happy. Druids were a controversial class, for the most part. In some cases, they were nature warriors, but in other they were basically nature clerics. Apparently in Shattered, they had gone for the cleric version, much to Warren''s disappointment. Warren preferred melee combat and being given a class that didn''t was quite a disappointment to him. But that didn''t mean he wouldn''t take it, it was still a hidden class, and it was estimated 1 out of 20 people would be able to find one. "But I might as well hunt those wild hounds down anyways... I owe them one from earlier." Eager to hunt them, especially that one-eyed one, Warren spent the rest of the night planning his attack while Mire napped away in ignorance of the trials to come the next day. The next day, Warren crouched in a bush as he watched the hounds come and go from their lair, an old cabin with the bottom half of the door rotted off and shoved to the side by the hounds. He had tracked them back here ignoring the Fox''s Fear, only to be stopped cold as they mostly left in pairs, leaving him unable to attack. The Buddy System. It was the worst enemy ever for anyone looking to quietly take down anyone or anything, especially a social creature. Finally, one hound went off by itself, and Warren eagerly followed. It lead him to a cave entrance, where it entered slowly and disappeared into the shadows. He hesitated to follow it in and then a series of barks, howls, yelps, and growls emerged with the hound flying out with blood streaming down its shoulder. Taking a chance, Warren attacked. "Entangle!" With the hound jerked to a halt as Warren charged it, his new iron dagger in hand. He immediately plunged the dagger into the hound''s throat, silencing it mid-yip. He yanked it out and finished it with a stab into its ear, causing the dog to twitch and then collapse. With the hound out of the picture, Warren turned his attention back to the cave. He wondered as to what had chased hound out. He should go as well and see, what ever it was enough to beat up a hound and send it running scared. Quietly, Warren entered the cave, to be confronted by a chorus of growls. It was a pack of wolves. They snarled and prowled slowly towards him, making him take a step back, before firming himself and stepping forward again taking another look at the wolves. They were each heavily wounded, with blood caked on their fur, and some looked like they could barely stand, let alone attack. Seeing how wounded they were, Warren was struck with an idea. "Animal Speak!" Then, he stretched and acted as relaxed as possible, putting away his dagger as he spoke to them, ignoring their growls and snarls. "Here I was, wondering what had driven that hound out of the cave in such a hurry... looks like it was you wolves." The snarls and growls cut off abruptly as the wolves gaped at him. Obviously, they hadn''t expected a man with a dagger in his hand to suddenly start chatting with them. There was shuffling feet, a few wolves retreated, a few wolves stepped forward, their united front against an intruder suddenly broke. Warren smiled, he had hoped a casual and honest act to all this might confuse them and make them hesitate, and it worked. One wolf, a older with a scar over his left eye, stepped forward. Warren heard the words in Common, the words sounding like they came from a older man, rather than a heavily bleeding wolf. "Of course. So, how did you get into such a sorry shape, anyways?" "How do you speak our language? We have never seen fox like you speak like us." "Because I''m a druid, of course. Why wouldn''t I be able to speak to animals? I have to admit, the amount of time I can do this is limited though." Hearing this, the pack burst out into murmurs. The older wolf from before growled, before speaking again. He turned back to Warren, who was petting Mire on his shoulder. "It''s fairly simple, I was hunting the hound and I killed it. I was just curious as to what made it run." "Because they attack me and I''ve tired of that. I figure if I kill another nine, they''ll hesitate a bit more." The wolf hesitated before sighing and sitting on his haunches. "Sounds rough, mind if I help?" "Rejuvenation!" Warren grinned as Clawtooth''s wounds rapidly began to vanish, before the wolves eyes. They turned to him and he could almost hear the gears in their heads turning. He didn''t seem aggressive, he fought and killed hounds, and he could heal wounds. They definitely wouldn''t attack him now.
For your actions, your intimacy with the Clawtooth Wolf pack has risen by 20
Clawtooth began examining his body, checking over for remaining wounds, while the other wolves crowded "Rejuvenation is a healing spell. I used it on you, so you were healed." "No" "Several reasons. First off, I don''t know how to teach it. Secondly, even if I could teach, we do''t know if you''d have the ability or aptitude to learn a nature magic spell like that, you are a wolf. Fourthly, even if you did learn it, who knows if you could actually use it. Therefore, I won''t teach you the spell, because you likely can''t learn or use it."
Heal the Wolves
A pack of wolves was wounded by wild hounds, forcing them to retreat to a cave. Their leader, Clawtooth, has requested that you heal his packs of its wounds. 1/ 23 wolves healed
Rewards:Higher Intimacy with the Naru Wolf Pack
Penalty:Lower Intimacy with the Clawtooth Wolf Pack
Requirements:Have a healing spell
"Sure, but it''ll take a while. I can only cast it a couple times before I run out of mana. I''ll have to end my Animal Speak spell though." Ending the spell, Warren accepted the quest and cast Rejuvenation several times on the wolves, before running out of mana. Then, he set up camp, receiving the buff that camp with the skill, a 10% bonus to health and mana regen, along with monsters avoiding my camp. That meant there was less likely to be a hound attack now. With all that done, Warren decided to examine the books he had gotten the day before. He decided to pull out the book on Staff Fighting first, he had gotten plenty of spells earlier and wanted some combat skills to even it out. As as he opened the book, a progress bar appeared with a timer to indicate he could learn it in 30 minutes.
Staff Fighting is comprised of the skills Staff Mastery and Quarterstaff Combat, created long ago by ancient clerics to defend themselves, before being adjusted so that the user may also attack, though a strong emphasis on defense remains. Requires at least 30 Strength and Dexterity to learn
The 30 minutes had passed quickly, with Warren casting Rejuvenation every minute or so. With the healing done, he was waiting on the book for the remainder of the time. -ding-
You have learned a new skill
Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:
Staff Mastery (Passive)Beginner10%
By paying close attention to the art of Staff Fighting, you have understood how to wield staves, in and out of combat. Effect: +1% damage taken negated +1% movement speed
Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:
Quarterstaff Combat (Passive)Beginner10%
By paying close attention to the art of Staff Fighting, you have learned how to fight with staves Effect: +1% damage
You have used an Ability Tome! Since it has been used, it will disappear.
These skills would definitely prove useful, though it was a pity he wouldn''t have the book anymore. If he had kept it, he could have sold it at a city, if he ever made it to one at this rate. He was starting to feel like things such as cities or villages didn''t exist anymore, all there was monsters and wilderness, and him. It was like he was the last man in the world. Of course, he knew that all that was false. But still, he couldn''t help feeling like that. Sighing, he cast Animal Speak then went and found Clawtooth. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. "Clawtooth, I finished."
You have gained 20 intimacy with Clawtooth Pack
"You know, my name is actually Warren." -ding-
Aid the Wolves
The pack healed, Clawtooth now needs to drive away the threat to them, the wild hounds. He has requested you help in killing and driving them away.
Rewards:Higher Intimacy with the Naru Wolf Pack and the contents of the cabin.
Penalty:Lower Intimacy with the Clawtooth Wolf Pack
Requirements:Help the wolves before.
Warren thought about for only a second. He would be able to kill the amount of hounds needed, receive the belongings in the cabin, and gain additional exp. "Sure, I''ll lend a hand." "Wait, we''re going now?" Stinking hounds! This is our forest! A veritable flood of hounds started coming out of the cabin. The only thing that kept the wolves from being overwhelmed was the fact that only a few hounds could make it through the broken door at a time, allowing them to bottleneck them and pull the wounded wolves back while fresh wolves replaced them. Meanwhile, Warren cast Rejuvenation whenever he saw a wolf severely wounded, before he struck upon an idea. "Earth Manipulation!" A wall of rock blocked off the doorway, allowing the wolves to regain control of the fight outside the cabin. When they did so, Warren let out a couple hounds and then closed it up, repeating this until none remained.
You have completed the requirements to gain the last of your class'' abilities.
You have gained the Affinity Nature
You''ve gained 10 affinity for Nature
You''ve gained 15 Wisdom and Intelligence
You''ve gained Leather Specialization
Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:
Leather SpecializationBeginner10%
Many casters curse their inability to wear armor better than cloth, as it hampers their casting. A Druid, however, can wear leather armor freely, in fact they can wear it better than a rogue due to their connection to nature. Effect: 5% more defense
You''ve learned Rebirth
Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:
RebirthBeginner10%
You can cast this on killed players or players who are going to die to revive them with 33% of their total health, though it takes 15 seconds to cast. Effects: Revives the targeted player with 33% of their health Costs: 300 mana
With the hounds killed and having received the rest of the abilities, Warren entered the cabin, eager to see what he would receive. Much to his disappointment, the cabin was a mess. The bed had been ripped apart, the chairs laid broken on the floor, and shattered bows rested in the corners. An large hole had been dug in the far corner, leaving dirt and rocks scattered everywhere. The only thing intact was a battered chest that had been at the end of the bed. He opened it only to find musty clothes, a battered leather chest-plate, and leather leggings. "These''ll go well with the new skill anyways." Warren quickly went to change, slipping out of his beginner clothes and into the battered leather. Now his defense had jumped by a good 15, not counting Leather Specialization. Stretching in his new armor, he headed back outside, to see Clawtooth waiting for him. "Hello Clawtooth,looks like you got most of the hounds." "Well, I had to help out, right? I''m just glad its over."
You have gained 30 Intimacy with the Clawtooth Pack
"What?! Why?" "I guess I understand that." "Farewell, Clawtooth." With that, the pack left, vanishing into the trees around the cabin. Warren stood for a while, then sighed and started heading towards Crescent Beach using the staff for its speed boost, even it if was only 1%. He got halfway there, before changing his mind. "I''ve never seen the sea from cliffs, Mire. Let''s go take a look." On arriving at the cliff, he turned around, enjoying the view. The cliff edge was actually higher up than the forest giving him a view that let him see for miles. He could see a lake on the other side of the forest, with a plain stretching northwestward. Southwestward, there were mountains aplenty with looked like a ruined castle, which Warren promptly decided to head to the next day. Turning back to the sea, he looked, curious as to weather there were any islands or the like. Looking down, he swore there was several shipwrecks underwater, when he heard a noise to make him worry. Grrrrrrr It was the one eyed hound he had first fought against. While his eye certainly hadn''t healed, he had definitely changed. Now, he was larger and muscled, with scars across its body. It looked a hound on steroids, and he swore his could see a red light bubbling in the hound''s one eye. "You''ve certainly changed..." It snarled in response and leaped at him. Warren held the staff with two hands and thrust the middle of the staff into the hound''s open maw, preventing it from biting him. It did not, however, prevent the hound from slamming into him at full force, driving him backwards. A moment too late, he rememberrf the cliff, being driven off it with the hound at this chest and Mire on his shoulder. "DAAAMMMNNN IIIIIIIIITTTT!!!"
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Chapter 7: A Plunge and a Cage A Plunge and a Cage Warren fell downwards, knocked off the cliff by the hound. Panic filled his mind and he tried to stop his plunge. "Earth Manipulation!" He created a platform made of earth, to stop his fall. He slammed into it... and promptly broke through it, while he recieved damage from hitting it. "Plant Manipulation!" Not many plants that grew on the cliff, but a couple stretched out and grasped at him as he fell. They were torn through. "Entangle!" The plants that remained grew larger and thicker, lashing around him. They were ripped out as he fell, their roots not strong enough to bear the weight and velocity of his fall. They only had the strength to make it so that he spun as he fell. Meanwhile, the hound drifted several meters above and snapped at him whenever his feet spun. Warren had kept a hold of his staff, so he swung it, smacking the hound and sending it spinning like him. With the hound thus distracted, he turned back to trying to slow his descent as he fell, desperate to stop himself from falling. He had been falling some 20 seconds now, and if Warren remembered his math lessons correctly, that meant he had fallen at least 200 meters. He had heard that after falling 50 meters, hitting water would feel like hitting pavement, and he was not eager to find out if that was true. In addition, if he died he could lose some items and stats and skill levels, all things he had worked hard to receive. The reason he hadn''t gotten this debuff before when the hounds had killed him was because he had just joined. Beginners were given a grace period of one day or so to let them get used to their body and how to move it. Of course, other players were stuck in starter cities for a month before they could go outside, unless they uncovered an illegal exit in the city, which would turned them chaotic if they got caught. So, Warren was desperate not to die, as he fell with the hound spinning above his head, like an old-fashioned cartoon scene. Except he was certain this would be a lot more painful to him than when the cartoon characters got hurt. Scanning the cliff frantically as he fell, he spotted his last chance: an old tree perched some 20 meters above the water. Nearing it, he pinned all his hope on one last spell and cast it at the tree. "Entangle!" The tree branches suddenly thickened and stretched into this path as he plunged downward. His heart in this throat, he body slammed into it and was suddenly glad that his heart was in his throat and not his chest. A thick branch in his way slowed his decent, but he continued the plunge toward the water. As he did so, he caught a view of the tree branches whipping back up and catching the hound as it fell, catching and breaking several branches as it crashed through. Warren sank like a rock, unable to move from the pain in his chest.
You have gained Fall Resistance due to the amount of time you spend in constant proximity to heights and due to your experience in falls
Despite this, somehow Warren was still not happy. The water was surprisingly warm, with soft sand at the bottom, he had expected icy water with sharp rocks abounding. However, he did notice several things happening, important things. First off, he had survive the fall. Secondly, he was now floating on the surface. That was due to the branch he clung to when he crashed through the tree. Thirdly, he was now floating out to see, dragged by the current. Groaning he tried to move then froze, his chest feeling like there where several knives buried in it. At least, that''s how much he imagined it hurt, all he could tell was that there was stabbing pains in his chest and it hurt like the dickens. At least the hound was dead. No, the hound was floating along behind him, on the same current. Somehow,it hadn''t fallen off the branches when it landed. But that didn''t mean it was alive. Warren glared at it, examining it. "F***." The hound was breathing. Either they both had terrible luck or they both had great luck. They had fallen off an cliff, crashed through several earth platforms and plants, and finally a tree before slamming into the sea. But despite that, they had live, along with the other still alive. Still, his life was in the red with less than a tenth of his health remaining he had a headache, he suspected he had some broken ribs, and his tail felt broken. On top of that, he was floating out to sea. At this point, he half expected shark fins to appear. He floated for hours as his vision dimmed and he finally succumbed the call of sleep. "Well, f*** you... dog. I''m gonna live... just... let me.. take... a nap." As he drifted off both mentally and physically, he could''ve sworn he heard voices draw near, but by then he was too far gone into the darkness. -------------------------------------------------------------- Warren woke up, feeling much better. His head no longer spun, he tail felt great, his ribs hurt a lot less, and his health had been restored. He had all limbs attacked, so there hand''t been sharks or the like. However, there was still some major problems. Why was his gear all gone? And he was in a cage that was barely tall enough for him to sit up in? He was naked and in an iron cage in a dark room with curved walls... no, Warren recognized this type of walls, though it was his first time to actually be within them. He was in a ship. Or rather, more specifically, he was in a ship''s hull. And of course, the hound was there, bandaged and looking none the worse for wear. Seeing Warren look at him, it growled. "Hey, it''s your fault we''re here. I was just enjoying the view until you showed up and had to throw us both off a cliff." Warren didn''t even bother to cast Animal Speak, he had a feeling the hound would go out of its way to be singularly unhelpful. Looking around, he noticed more caged, many more. Each held an odd beast, though he recognized some of them. Giant insects, gryphons, and other monsters moved their weight to the shifting boards and as time when by a square of light appeared, with a man walking through it, with a large pot at his side. A doorway. "Eat up, beasties! You''ll need your strength when we arrive, where you''re going!" "And were are we going?" Warren spoke after examining the man as he fed the caged creatures, deciding to ignore his own nakedness. After all, you came into the world naked anyways. The man was short and sturdily build, with a huge scar across his face from where it looked like he got slashed by a clawed creature. He was also the dirtiest man he had ever seen, reeking of sweat and grime, with dirt caked on him with pieces falling off "Eh?! Looks like foxy here can speak! Ain''t he the lucky one, hah! You''ll sell well!" "Sell well? Where?" "We''re aheaded to Caose! It has a grand arena there, you''ll sold to them there." "How am I supposed to fight?!" The man shrugged as he reached Warren''s cage, dumping a scoop of what looked like some sort of goop in his cage. "Like you would for your life! After all..." The man''s cheerful expression and attitude suddenly vanished. "Most are sold there to be killed in an amusing fashion. Only those that survive get a chance to fight." The man turned and left, stopping at the door to sudden grin at Warren "Remember, you aren''t bought to fight well, that''s only a bonus. You''re bought to be beaten entertainingly." The door slammed shut, erasing the light like it was never there. Warren sat there, in the darkness for a time, his eyes adjusting to the lack of light slowly. Mire suddenly appeared, he had been hiding behind a support column, so Mire feed him some of the goop while he ate it himself. It tasted awful, but it filled his satiety. "I guess that means back to training." ------------------------------------------------------------- Several weeks passed while Warren trained. At least, he assumed it was weeks, he had trouble with time in the dark. Since he had trained his physical stats and he couldn''t train his other stats, he decided to train his skills. Of course, in the small cage he was in, that meant he could only train his spells. He choose to train Earth Manipulate, Plant Manipulate, Animal Speak, and Rejuvenation. He would manipulate the dirt dropped off of his jailer into shapes, play with any plants he found and sprout any seeds, and activate Animal Speak even though he didn''t talk to anyone. He had to keep an eye out for the jailer though, he would occasionally poke his head in at odd times. Fortunately, Warren could hear him coming. Eventually he even developed a skill from doing it so much. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.
Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:
EavesdropBeginner112%
Due to your constant prying, your hearing has improved. You can now hear everything within 5 meters.
You''ve developed a subset skill from Plant Manipulation, Eavesdrop, and Tracking!
Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:
Plants Eyes and EarsBeginner11%
You watch and listen through the plants. Effect: Can see and hear everything through any plant within 3 meters Costs: 10 mana per second
These new skills he also trained, allowing him to easily hide the earth and the plants before the man came. But it was his Rejuvenation that proved to be the trickiest to level. He had Mire use Poison Body on him to take away his health, then he cast Rejuvenation on it to replace it, though he had to use it twice after he was poisoned to fully heal. The jailer nearly came in on him being poisoned several times before he got the new skills. To his surprise, he discovered that he would gain poison resistance from being poisoned for long periods of time. Finally, after weeks, the jailer came in with the meal and announced that it would be the last meal before they arrived at Caose the next day. After that, Warren trained harder than ever, these skills could save his life. His skills leveled up and the next day, he gave his trained skills a god look over.
Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:
Earth ManipulationBeginner947%
You can control earth within 6 meters of you. Cost: 15 mana per second
Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:
Plant ManipulationBeginner925%
You can control plants within 6 meters of you. Cost: 15 mana per second
Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:
Animal SpeakBeginner456%
You can speak and communicate with animals. Cost: 5 mana per second
Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:
RejuvenationBeginner874%
You quicken their healing with your energy Effects: +14 health per second for 5 seconds Cost: 50 mana
Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:
EavesdropBeginner542%
Due to your constant prying, your hearing has improved. You can now hear everything within 8 meters.
Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:
Plant Ears and EyesBeginner518%
You watch and listen through the plants. Effect: Can see and hear everything through any plant within 7 meters Costs: 10 mana per second
Suddenly, a square in the ceiling opened up and he saw clouds in the first time in weeks. Mire hid in his hair while Warren sat still in the cage, still naked. He had arrived in Caose. Ropes and chains were lowered and silent men attached them to the cages lifting them up via a pullry. Soon only the cages containing hound and him remained. Mire hid in Warren''s hair as the hound''s cage was lifted up, with Warren soon following after him. As the pulley carried him up, he looked over the city. The city was a bright and cheery place to his surprise. He had expected a filthy and rundown city instead of the streets being swept clean, glowing stones hang everywhere, and the crowds hashing out deals with merchants. It looked like a thriving and civilized place. Of course, with Warren apparently considered a slave and being sold to fight in an arena, he had his doubts as to if the city was as civilized as it appeared. He saw money exchange hands with a man in a hat, whom he assumed to be the captain, and various cages were loaded onto wagons. His odd appearance causing quite a commotion. Obviously, he was a sight they hadn''t seen before, being a Vulpine. An auction was set up for him in particular, but he ignored the details, taking in his surroundings. Finally, he was sold and loaded into a wagon. To Warren''s surprise he found the hound in the cage next to him. Oddly, it looked like patches of black were pasted on his fur, with its eye a deeper shade of red. It snarled at him as the wagon began to move, weaving back and forth through the streets, with a crowd of people following, cheering. Apparently, the people loved him. Or perhaps they loved the hound? He didn''t know. A few minutes later, the wagon came to a halt and he looked outside. He had arrived at the arena.
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Chapter 8: Hooded Men Author''s Note: As you''ve all probably noticed, my writing style has changed a few times over the chapters I''ve done. I plan to eventually go back and correct them after I''ve settled down on a style, but this time I''ve decided to try writing it first-person view. Sorry if it''s distracting! In addition, sorry for taking a while to post this. I had almost finished writing it, then the window got closed and I lost it all. I had to rewrite it all, nearly lost it all again, before finally finishing it. Anyways, my rate of posting these right has slowed down a bit, I got a lot happening. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hooded Men As soon as the wagon came to a halt, a bunch of people hurried over, though most went to keep the crowds back. "They''ve arrived!" "Take them to the basement." "Hurry, before the crowd catches up!" My cage suddenly lurched and floated, hovering above the ground along with a few others. Several peoples in robes waved their hands and the floating cages obediently followed them as they rushed back towards entering the arena though a large tunnel, as lines of people chained together got off of wagons that were ahead of mine. Apparently, I had missed seeing them, as they had arrived ahead of me. It looked like my wagon had been the last. Meanwhile, I sat cross legged like an odd furry guru as the cage drifted through the tunnel behind the wizards. I had been instructed that I behave like a robot around many people, as emotion could easily become weakness for anyone wanting to be a lawyer. That had kicked in as soon I saw the crowds, thanks to my parents. My parents. Wow, it''s been a while since I thought of them. Weeks, no, a month! That was in game though, in reality that meant was a week or two. I had been so focused on leveling up ad training that I had forgotten all about them. Which I felt like I should feel really guilty about, but I didn''t. Their deaths felt like those of distant relatives, not people whose flesh and blood and sweat had made me. It was like I barely knew them, like their death was that of some neighbor''s family. You could feel sorry for their loss and all, but you didn''t really feel that sad. Meanwhile, as my mind drifted, we came to a halt. It was in a long rectangular torch-lit room, with dry stone walls and cells and cages embedded in the walls on the left. To the the right there was a tunnel with sunlight coming in, brightening the room immensely. I could hear cheers coming from that one, so it must lead to the arena. and the far side wall had a few cages. The cages that had followed the mages began to stack themselves like crates against the wall, the creatures in them squabbling as the cages moved, but the cages looked as if they had been purposely made to prevent the captives from harming one another. They had very wide bases and tops, with the bars a foot within the edges of them, like an exaggerated double capital I. I was fit into the far right, near the arena, but thanks to the fact that the sun shone into the room, I had a spot in the dark. Time passed and some monsters would be taken from the cages by guards and forced up the tunnel into the arena. Some came back wounded, some came back untouched, and others didn''t come back at all. Apparently the guards were very confident as none of them guarded us, preferring to watch the fights. I was surprised that I wasn''t taken to the arena, but I soon got bored and started manipulating the dirt on the floor into patterns, then wiping it clean and starting again. It passed the time, but soon I got bored of doing that and decided to try looking around using Plant Ears and Eyes. I couldn''t find anything with a good view of the arena, so I focused on the room. Looking around, I noticed some bags near the tunnel I had entered through. With a combo of the Plant Eyes to look in them and Earth Manipulation to make an earth tendril to maneuver the bags and the stuff within, I managed to go through them, but it was difficult. Not only did it suck up my mana like you wound''t believe, but with the earthen tendril I made to go through them, it was like using another person''s arm and watching through another person''s eyes at the same time. It was disconcerting. Nonetheless, I found several coins and even my gear! It made sense though if you think about it, you buy merchandise you get what came with it. I waited for my mana to regen entirely and then dragged the gear and the money over, underground. I made an air bubble in the ground with my manipulation, put the gear in it, and dragged it over. Whenever I started to run low on mana, I made the earth around the air bubble harden, so it was like a tiny cave. When my mana had regenerated enough, I brought it the rest of the way. By doing so, I got two windows. -ding-
Earth Manipulation has leveled up!
However, with all the earth manipulation to pass the time, night time had fallen and the guards had left for the night, leaving all of the monsters and me locked up. I slept for several hours sitting up, leaning my back against the bars, when the ground started rumbling. Part of the wall, next to the tunnel leading into the arena and within 3 meters of me, opened up. There was now a second tunnel going down, lit by torches. Hooded men started to emerge, about 5, and the beasts started going crazy at the sign of them. Some lunged at them from inside their cage, others pressed against the back of their cage and looked like they to disappear, and a few of them remained absolutely still. Personally, I was surprised as hell, but again, thanks to my parents that didn''t show. "Couple of them seem pretty calm, compared to the others" one of the hooded figures commented, as he looked at all of the cages. He sounded like a young man. He was right, the hound was watching everything keenly with its one eye. I glanced around wondering which were the other ones he had spoken about, but it wasn''t that hard to tell. Beside the hound, there was a wyvern, a large scorpion, and a ball of fur. Literally, it looked like a ball of fur, until I noticed a pair of eyes in the midst of it. "There''s a couple like that in every shipment, those are the ones to watch out for. I saw a man reach in to pet a cougar that looked like it was calm enough to be a damn priest, only to have the arm ripped off, the idiot." a stooped hooded figure replied. That fellow sounded like an older man, old enough to pass as a grandpa. At this, every hooded person in the room paused for a second, their glances flying at me for that moment. I could tell by the way their hoods tilted. Apparently I was considered the oddest monster and I decided to reply to the insulting comment with nonchalance and innocence. "It''s not like I could rip off a man''s arm. It''s the hound you should watch out for, that dog is nuts." For a split second, they froze. I could only imagine the expressions on their faces as they were hidden by the hoods. The next second, however, had every one of them about to hurl a spell at me. "What the fuck!" "It spoke! It spoke!" "What is that thing!" "I''m not a thing. Why are you guys so surprised, it''s not like I hid that I could speak." "You''re all supposed to be simply monsters! Maybe a rare creature, but not able to speak!" the hooded man from before exclaimed, staring at me "I''m not a creature. I am a Vulpine." I corrected, my eyes on their spells. It was really at times like that the way my parents had dealt with me kicked in. "Vulpines are extinct! They died out a long time ago!" the man cried out again, jabbing his finger at me Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.I stared at him and raised an eyebrow. I couldn''t help it, my debate training that my parents had made me take had kicked in by now. "Going by the fact that I am alive, I have to tell you that you are wrong." I replied, succinctly "This is great! He''ll be our star of the arena! We''ll bring in thousands if the people hear we''ve a real live Vulpine on our hands!" the old hooded man from before cackled, dancing around my cage with agility that defied his apparent age That didn''t sound to bad. If I was making them money, they''d probably treat me well, they wouldn''t want to risk loosing me. "We just needed to sacrificed him first! Get the knives and the goat''s blood ready! Bring that hound too, it might be something strange like him!" That was not the reaction I had been expecting. Suddenly those hooded figures, which I had assumed were simply to keep their identities hidden, suddenly looked a lot more sinister. They started rushing around, before heading further down the dungeon, as my cage the the hound''s extracted themselves from the stack. "No thanks. I''d rather not be sacrificed." I said, as my cage chased after them They ignored me of course. As I watched, they set up a circle with blood, set up candles, and got ready to take the hound out. By now, the hound was snarling and growling up a storm, watching them prepare. I don''t know how much that he understood what was happening, but he definitely knew that it wouldn''t be good and wasn''t going to behave. Sure enough, the hooded people open the cage and the hound leaped forward, his jaws shutting on one of their arms. -CHOMP- The hooded figure, a man, screamed and started beating on him, trying to get him off, to no avail. Determined, the hound began to move and I heard chewing sounds. He was gnawing on the man''s arm. I started feeling certain the man was going to loose his arm and the hound would go after someone else, when the old man took hand. "Paralyze!" The hound froze and the chewing sound stopped. Moving quickly, the other hooded figures seized the hound and bound him with rope, with magic around its muzzle and paws by the old man. Moments after they did so, the hound moved again, wiggling and growling. Ignoring this, he was dragged into the circle, where the bitten man gave the hound a kick in the ribs before stepping back to stand outside the circle. The old man stood next to the circle of blood, with the hound in the middle of it, holding the knife I had seen earlier and started chanting. Flashes of magic began to swirl around the circle, the hound reappearing and disappearing in the midst of it. "Oh, demons of the deep, of the Abyss, and the dark... we call upon you and offer this vessel for your use!" the old man cried out, finishing his chanting, before stabbing the knife into the circle. The hound howled, long and high, before a sudden silence. Everyone was silent and the hound still hidden in the mist of magic. What emerged in its place, was a shadow. -ding-
You have been have gained the status effect Extreme Fear: -20% damage dealt -20% movement speed 20% chance of being immobilized
What the heck! What was this! This was a huge debuff! What exactly had they done to him! As I watched, the shadow started to emerge from the mist, stepping past the old man without a single glance, before standing still. It was the hound. Or at least it looked like the hound. He was pitch black, as if the the odd black patches on the hound''s body from earlier has spread across him, and the red in his eyes had grown deeper by several shades. When the hound moved, where the glowing eyes had been there was a hint of red, like a prolonged exposure on a camera, before it faded away. He paused before the wounded man from before, the one that kicked him, and I could''ve sworn he smirked at the trembling men before pouncing on him, disappearing into mist with him. Screams. Wails. Shrieks. The man all sorts of noises. Before it cut off suddenly. What was this?! This was supposed to be a game! Yes, it felt real, looked real, appeared real, but it was still a game! So how the hell was I suddenly in this horror-movie! The hooded figures didn''t move, not a single one of them. A minute passed, before the hound emerged from the mist and lopped off, in the direction that I vaguely remembered entering from, before I realized my situation. This might be a game, but it''d suck if something happened to my avatar. I began to make my plans while the hooded figures recovered, ignoring the missing man the hound had dragged away earlier. "A Hellhound!" "We finally did it!" "That was great!" "Thta thing is magnificent!" "Imagine what we could do with the Vulpine!" At that last bit, I could almost hear everyone''s neck whip to look at me. They converged around my cage, looking at me with bright eyes. Creeps, the lot of them. From all that I''d seen, I was fairly sure they were cultists, or wannabe''s who just succeeded in becoming cultists. That settled my plan. As soon as they opened the cage, I''d use Earth Manipulate to drop myself into the ground, then run off. If I couldn''t sneak off, I could do what I did before with my gear, and create a bubble to hide in while underground for a while. I readied myself as they went to open my cage. "Paralyze!" -ding-
You have been paralyzed for 3 seconds
DAMN IT! The old man had apparently learned from the hound earlier and decided not to risk me running loose. I decided to take a risk and log out, there was no way I was going through what ever that hound had. "Log out!" -ding-
You can not log out in combat!
Apparently, being paralyzed counted. Frantically, I tried to cast spells any spells as they dragged me out, bound me like the hound had been earlier, and tossed me in the circle. Instead, I kept getting windows saying I couldn''t cast the spells. They were moving much faster than they had for the hound, the old man already chanting in his eagerness, ignoring the other hooded people. I wasn''t going to be able to cast any of my spells in time. "Oh, demons of the deep, of the Abyss, and the dark... we call upon you and offer this vessel for your use!" Suddenly, immense pain. Nothing but pain. Wasn''t the pain factor supposed to be reduced! But everything had become pain. And in the midst of that pain, I heard that ding. That oh-so-annoying ding. -ding-
You have been possessed.
Excuse me?
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Chapter 9: A Demons Meddling Author''s Note: Changed the view back to third person, due to the multiple POVs. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A Demon''s Meddling -ding-
You have created the special stat Spirit
-ding-
Spirit Spirit raises the damage you deal, lowers the effectiveness of status effects, and raises your health regeneration and defense when in critical condition. With a high Spirit stat, you can shake off effects like fear, paralyze, and it also lets you survive hits that should killed you due to your sheer determination. Spirit can also rise and fall along with your emotions. Current Spirit: 4
-ding-
You have learned new skills
Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:
Iron HandBeginner10%
Drawing upon your spirit, you concentrate it into your hand as you grip your weapon. Effect: Whatever is in your grip is clenched in your hand 10% damage increase Cost: 20 mana per second
Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:
PressureBeginner10%
By exerting your spirit, you intimidate those around you with your aura, making them hesitate and flinch. If they are weak willed, there is a chance to be knocked unconscious, unable to bear the strain of your aura. Effect: 30% chance to render the weak-willed unconscious 20% chance to intimidate those with equally strong willed 10% chance to make those with higher willpower flinch Cost: 30 mana per second
-ding-
You have been possessed by the demon Kalgara
-ding-
You''ve learned the language: Demonic
-ding-
Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:
Obsidian Skin (Passive)Beginner10%
Strengthens your defensive abilities so you take less damage from enemies. It takes effect upon being damaged, hardening it like obsidian. Effect: 5% decrease in damage taken
Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:
Demonic Attibutes--0%
Kalgara can make changes on your body, if you don''t have enough willpower to prevent him. If you regain control, they might subside, but if you don''t and Kalgara completely changes your body he can control you at will. Current Attributes: None
-ding-
Due to being possessed, you now require double the amount of food to fill the same amount of Satiety. This is the result of having a second person in one body, who also requires sustenance.
-ding-
You are the first player to be possessed. You''ve gained the titled ''the Possessed'' +25% mana regeneration +35% mental defense Churches will doubt your words and attack you on sight Your alignment has become permanently Chaotic
Warren gawked at the windows that appeared with a mixture of horror and amazement. These were amazing skills and terrible effects. Looking at them, there was no doubt he was stronger than before, but with such effects thrown on he''d be hunted and starving. Both players and NPCs would be after him. Even worse, these effects would take place in the middle of a city, with guards and players everywhere. He was screwed. He was so screwed. Shaking off some of his shock, Warren realized everything was quiet. At the risk of sounding cliche, he''d say it was too quiet. Where were the cultists? They should be celebrating their success at this, but instead there was silence. Looking around, he realized for the first time that he wasn''t in the same room. This room was blank, empty. It was a dull black, that seemed to stretch on forever. And he wasn''t alone in here. A man, with blackish-grey skin, curled ram horns, and bat wings. Warren assumed this was Kalgara. "I was beginning to think you''d never notice me." Kalgara said, flashing a grin at me "There''s not much else to focus on in here." Warren replied, staring at him "Indeed. So, let''s get started." That sounded ominous to Warren, coming from a demon that had possessed his avatar. He also guessed this room was either entirely in his head or in another dimension or something like that. "Started with what?" "Making you anew" That was not what he had expected. He had expected something more along the lines of ''with your DEATH!'' or such. "What?" "The older you are, the harder it is to control you. I have to admit, I didn''t expect a human spirit in such a body, but it doesn''t matter. Once I''m through with you, it''ll be much more easier for me to take control." That was more like it. Then he realized his words. "Wait, human spirit?" Warren twisted himself and looked at his rear, then felt for his ears. No ears or tail. "Of course, this body isn''t your true one. Did you think I wouldn''t notice? I quite frankly do not know why this is so, but I''ll take this one anyways. First, let''s have a look at your life." Kalgara waved his hand and a window appeared, floating in the air next to them. Through the window Warren watched a small child eating his cereal by himself while he parents left for work, though the scene soon changed, flashing through scenes that Warren started to recognize.. "Wait a minute! That''s my life!" How was this possible?! Kalgara was a program, made by the game''s AI, how could he possibly be going through his life? How could the game know about his life! Warren was just one in thousands of people who joined Shattered, why would the game know of his life?! Suddenly, Kalgara become much more terrifying. Could he be a real demon? No, according to the health and mana bars he had, Warren was still in the game. "Indeed. Did I not say we''d be looking at your life? I have to say, you come from a strange dimension... no magic, so many laws... by the gods... the taxes and the bureaucracy!" Shaking inside, Warren couldn''t help but tremble as the demon continue with comments, always in a cheerful tone. That didn''t hide the fact that he was in serious trouble. "Log out..." He tried logging out quietly. He had no idea what would happen, but if the game could scan his brain and read his memories because the demon wanted to know them, Warren was sure as hell not sticking around for the demon to go messing with his brain.
You can not log out in combat!
Whaaat?! "You can''t leave yet, due to the fact that the magic affecting you is magic that affects your mind. Besides... I haven''t even started to change you yet." Kalgara had a huge grin, revealing his perfectly normal white teeth. Briefly, Warren wondered why a demon had the build and the appearance to pass as a model, before Kalgara suddenly appeared in front of me and laid his clawed hand palm first on his face. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Yeorn! Yeorn! WAKE UP!" With a groan, Yeorn rolled out of bed and onto his feet, before he had even open his eyes. Past experiences of being woken by such a way kept him from falling face first into a dresser, but he sincerely cursed the mind that had suggested the idea of supplying the living quarters for those who worked for Crescere with a speaker system, so that they can be contacted as wished. "Marcy, I swear, if you''ve woke me up to talk about something unimportant, I will find you and I will hurt you." "This is serious! That corpse kid of yours, he''s found a demon!" "WHAT?!" Yeorn knew how important this was. The amount of demons found in Shattered so far could be count on two hands and every single one of them had been hidden away in some seriously nightmarish dungeons, found by the best players. More importantly, not one of them was lower than level 200. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings."How the hell did the kid find a demon! Last I checked the kid was somewhere near the west coast of Irea!" "Well, now he''s in the south, in Caose. Apparently, he some how caught a ship there. The feedback is a little odd though." "Damnit! On my way!" Yeorn managed to get dressed within a minute, shattering his previous record, from when a player had discovered dragons. Sprinting out of his quarters, he got a call, which he answered on the run. "Yes, this is Yeorn?" "Yeorn, it''s me Marcy. Figured you''d be on the way, so the speakers aren''t an option." "What''s so important that you couldn''t wait?!" "It''s the kid." "What''s new?" "The hospital''s called. The doctors are going crazy, apparently the kid''s brainwaves are going nuts. Most activity they''ve seen yet. They were babbling something about him releasing contradictory brainwaves that he''s still in the coma, while accessing all of his memories, and with his brainwaves changing. The doctors haven''t seen anything like it." "So what happened with the demon then? Did he lose?" "No, apparently he''s still with the demon." "Wait what? How''s this even possible!? This doesn''t make any sense! Marcy, find his feed and focus on it, I''ll be there in a minute." A minute and a half later, Yeorn sprinted into the room. He came to shuddering halt, his chest heaving like he''d finished a marathon, before making his way to Marcy''s desk. To his surprise, there was a crowd there, everyone in the room watching her screen. He quickly shoed them away before turning back to Marcy. "Marcy... fill me... in...." Marcy was a perky young woman, with florid orange hair, a pieced nose, heavily tattooed, and wearing a particularly eye-catching shade orange t-shirt and jeans. She looked nothing more than a orange goth punk. Not at all what you''d expect of one of Crescere''s top computer specialists, but Marcy was allowed some leeway, she was that good. "Yeorn, you''re not going to believe this... it''s impossible, it''s gotta be fake, no way, no how." "Spit it out!" "Apparently the kid got possessed by the demon." "..." "..." "You''re serious, aren''t you?" "Yes." "Crap. What happened? How''d the hell he''d get possessed?! I thought that was as good as impossible!" "Apparently, he''s spent the last couple weeks in game captured, he was sold to the arena in Caorse, and cultists dragged him into an area under it. Some hound was turned demonic, then he was shoved into the circle, and he got possessed." "Wow... so, what''s happening now?" "Hell if I know. The game was never designed to do something like this. It definitely shouldn''t be happening in the first place. It''s Shiv again." Yeorn groaned, frustrated by the mere mention of the AI. The developers had surprised everyone when they gave the AI control of the system. Even updates and repairs had to be accepted by the AI before being implemented. That had driven a good many specialists to curse their names as they worked and given birth to the moniker ''Shiv'', to describe their pain. Of course, on the plus side the lore was better and far more in-depth than anything a human could make. It also prevented Crescere from knowing everything about the game, so the employees didn''t have an advantage over other players. "So, what''s going on with the kid?" "Apparently, the demon is trying to create a younger version of him. It mentioned something about it being harder to control older humans. It went through his memories, trying to find a good age for him to control." "It went through his... are you SERIOUS?! How did a program start going through his memories?!" Something like reverence began to shine in Marcy''s eyes. "That was a work of brilliance. The AI interpreted it and used the scanner in the capsule to do so." "...." "The scanner was made to identify each player by their brain and to translate everything into in game actions. The AI simply took the scanner and scanned the part of the brain that possessed the memories. By doing so, it gained access to them and allowed the demon to ''read'' that kid''s memories." "So... it basically downloaded his memories? What''s Warren doing while all this is happening?" "He tried logging out." "What else?" "What do you mean ''What else''? The kid is level 3, the demon''s at least 200, and he''s already possessed. Even if he was beyond lucky and he could use the environment, he''s basically in a blank room. That alone takes out like half of his spells, and even if he has a hidden class, Druid isn''t exactly the most combat-oriented." "So, this is affecting his mind, according to the hospital? I thought the demon was just scanning it!?" "No, it''s trying to overwrite his mind. That of course, has a major effect on his brain." "How so? How will this affect him?" "Basically, the demon is creating a split personality from the kid''s mind. Once that''s done, the doctors said the previous personality will be swallowed up, until the new one is the only one that only one that remains. Which, according to what you told me of him, might not be so bad in my personal opinion." "No, this is bad. The kid''s still himself, even if he has a look that can give you frostbite. Lord, what if the other players learned of this... we need a patch to prevent this from happening to anyone else!" "That''s easy enough to do, I can write it up within a half-hour. I don''t think Shiv would mind either, it basically just cares about the game. Adding in features that protect the users should fly right through his inspection.... but what about the kid?" "...damnit. There''s nothing we can do. The kid''s in the middle of brain surgery, if we go mucking about, it can turn out to do a lot more damage. We just have to wait and hope for the best." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Kalgara heaved a sigh as he worked. Creating a new mind, even with an old one for basis, was no simple task. The human mind''s thrashing even set him back some, as if he was a blacksmith with another person was working against him. But, the human clearly didn''t have the experience to stay up to par against his onslaught. Slowly, he reworked the mind, choosing the qualities as if he was a connoisseur picking fine wines from the menu. Some of the qualities were buried deep, so deep that even Kalgara was surprised they were there, but he found they were well worth his effort. If he was going to make a mind for the body he was using, he wanted qualities that''d aid him immensely. Fearlessness, yes, that was good. Couldn''t have his body flinching or such at crucial moments could he? Naivety, for ease of manipulating the body, he wanted to avoid a struggle for every step. Make him slow-minded and foolish too, no need for him to realize what''s happened or think too hard, Kalgara would do that for him. Yes, and make him cheerful. The last human he had possessed nearly a century ago had been endlessly grim and dark, even for a demon like him. Taking these as the mind could only take so much, Kalgara finally finished and ignored the previous mind''s struggle, which amounted to little more than death throes. Examining his work he came to a conclusion: the new mind was simple, with no memories of the past. It was perfect. Taking a hold of it mentally he replaced the old mind, which disappeared into the new mind like water down a whirlpool. Stepping into the mind, he arrived in the new mind, which was a contrast to the previous one. This one was like a forest, with creatures and and flowers blooming. Ignoring the new surroundings, Kalgara focused on the child-like man who was waving his hands in the air in front of him. Greetings, Warren. "Are you my family? No, I am your Master Kalgara. You shall serve me and we shall enjoy this world to its fulles- "Don''t wanna." ...What? You have no choice in the matter, you shall serve me, or pay for your disobedience! "I don''t like you. Go away." With that, Kargara felt a force lift him up spin him away, arriving in the Abyss immensely confused as to what had happened, and helpless to resist the suddenness of it all. Unknowingly to Kalgara, the new Warren was far more child-like than he had expected thanks to the ''death throes'' of the previous mind. Working as hard as he could, the previous Warren could only give his new mind a single quality that he had lacked throughout his life but secretly wished he had. Stubbornness. Meanwhile Warren was surprised by several windows as the forest began to fade before his astonished eyes. -ding-
You have lost the skill Obsidian Skin
-ding-
You have lost the skill Demonic Attributes
-ding-
Due to being possessed and your possessor being suddenly driven away, your Satiety bar remains the doubled, though only you will draw upon it.
His eyes opening, Warren stared at the ceiling, wondering how he got there. Looking around, he noticed some strange people with funny looking clothes staring at him. Looking at the swirling magic and drifting mist, he said his first words in this strange new place. "Wow, this place looks cool!"
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Chapter 10: A New Friend Author''s note: Sorry it took so long, school and family delayed it a lot. Enjoy! A New Friend "Wow, this place looks cool!" Warren stood up then started running around, while the cultists stared at him. While everything had take quite some time for Warren and the demon, for they had started to think it had failed and they had wasted a sacrifice, but now the sacrifice was running around like monkey. The old cultist strengthened his heart and stepped forward. He might not know hat was happening, but he certainly was going to ask. "What has happened? Are you a demon, lord?" Warren paused at old man''s words, before walking up and staring at him intently for a few seconds. "You''re old!" "WHAT!" The cultists all roared in confusion. They had been confused but now they know that he definitely was not a demon, most demons were vastly older than a human. "The sacrifice must have failed, kill him!" "I''m not that old!" "Kill the sacrifice!" "Whoops, I''m gone!" Cackling, he ran for the tunnel, sprinting up with them hot on his tail. Eventually he came to a halt, stopped by the tunnel ending with a flat rock. "I''ll just smash my way through then! Iron Hand!" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Hey, did you hear that?" "Sounds like people yelling in the stone?" Several guards had caught the faint commotion from the arena room, where Warren had been held earlier. An older guard had his own theory about the noise. "Must be the demons singing." "What, demons?" "Why the hell would there be demons?" "I heard there are demons that live under the arena, occasionally dragging away a slave or a beast to feast upon. If they enjoy it, they sing a song. I know of a guard who tried to investigate it, he was never seen again. " "That''d explain the missing fox-thing." "Hey it seems like the noise is getting louder!" One of the guards, curious, went to place his ear against the stone. He didn''t make it. "Iron Hand!" CRA-BASH Warren''s fist, reinforced by Iron Hand, crashed though the stone and hit the guard knocking him out cold. Pushing through, he emerged in a cloud of dust. "I''M OUT! Try to catch me now, old man!" The cultists, raging at Warren chased after him, entering the room. Blistering words flew, promises to murder him made, and knives were drawn. Then they noticed the guards, with drawn swords. Everyone froze, staring at one another, with their weapons drawn and Warren standing in between. In a rare moment of brilliance, he stepped out of the way. "Ah... guards! Shit, run!" "Those are cultists! Get them!" Instantly, chaos ensued. The cultists had only daggers and some magic, but the guards had armor and swords. "Fight fight fight fight!" Warren cheered as the brawl continued, with the guards coming slowly out on top. The cultists either died or ended up surrendering. The problem became what to do with the cultists they had captured, as only three of the guards remained to the two cultists. "Sir, what do we do with them?" "Put them in a cell and guard them, the captain should arrive in a bit." "That was AWESOME!" In the confusion, Warren had been forgotten. Not any more. "Another one! Get him!" "Oh, you wanna fight! Let''s go! Iron Hand!" Warren charged at a guard swinging a sword at him, catching the sword in his hand! Warren then kicked at the guard, his foot swing in a beautiful arc, landing in between the guard''s legs. The man crumpled, a slight whine emerging from his mouth. The other two guards backed up several steps, wincing in sympathy, while Warren examined the sword. "A sword! Cool!''" The guards tensed, as they watched their foe pick up a blow. He had taken out a guard with out a weapon and now he had one. "Nah, killing people is wrong." Warren tossed the sword away and turned back to the guards. "Now let''s fight!" Several minutes later, the guards had fallen to Warren''s fists. Planting a foot on them, he threw out his chest and roared in triumph. "Victory! HAHAHAHAHA!" -ding-
Defeating your enemies without killing any, gives you 1.4 times the experience.
-ding-
Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:
Knock Out (Passive)Beginner--
When an enemy''s health is completely depleted, rather than kill them, they are rendered unable to fight. This only affects those you do not intend to kill, leaving you free to hunt.
-ding-
You have leveled up!
As Warren cheered and danced around, Mire fell out of his hair, where he had hidden the entire time. Curious, he picked up the slime and examined it. He didn''t remember Mire''s name, but he did have a feelings about the slime. "You shall be Squishy and you shall be mine." Proclaiming this, Warren returned the slime to his hair, where the newly dubbed ''Squishy'' hide one more. As he did so, he saw keys on one of the fallen guards. Picking them up, he noticed the monsters in the cages, watching him. "I''ve got a idea..." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gopea was a NPC captain of the guards, but in Shattered NPCs looked and acted the same as players, the only difference being that they didn''t come back if they died. She arrived with reinforcements to the arena guards, having run as fast as she could from the barracks. A few arena guards remained outside the arena, keeping an eye on things as she arrived, with plenty of questions. "What''s the situation?" she called One of the arena guards came up, young and sweating profusely as he answered. Gopea was a well-known figure among the guards, one of the few female guards in the city. She was known the Hound of the guards, having previously been a bounty hunter, and she had caught every target she had hunted so far. Having her involved was both a relief and a cause of worry, a sign of how serious the situation was. "Unknown, sir- I mean ma''am! Nobody has come out and we''ve not enough to go in!" "Well now we do. Hounds, move out!" The Hounds, so nicknamed for her presence with them, roared and cheered before heading for the tunnel leading under the arena. As they did so, the doors burst open in a flood of newly freed monsters, with a single figure sprinting in front of them. "BE FRREEE!!" -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Warren laughted as he ran, barely able to keep to his feet due to it. Barely 10 meters from the arena doors, he sank into the floor with Earth Manipulation, escaping the monsters chasing him. The monsters roared, angry with the escaped meal and turned on one another and on the guards. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "Form up! Shields lock, the beasts finish one another before we move in! Where''s that man!" In the ensuing melee, no one noticed a hand reach out of the ground and snag the keys off of a fallen arena guard. Warren then emerged from the earth and ran back into the tunnel that he had emerged, using Iron Hand to stun any monster that strayed into his path. With his aid, the guards definitively gained the upper hand, but he didn''t stick around. Warren, despite his new personality, had a plan. Passing through the room with the cages, he headed into the arena itself. He had noticed that the room lacked any people held in it, and had come to a simple conclusion. They were on the other side of the arena. The arena was basically a large circle of sand and bare dirt, but on the opposite side of it was another tunnel. Entering through the tunnel, Warren found the prisoners in their cells, all men, crowed against the bars in their attempt to see what was going on. "What''s going on?!" "How would''d I know?" "What ever it is, it''s loud! "Hey, there''s somebody! What''s going on out there!?" Warren paused and shrugged, before answering "The guards and the old men were fighting. Now, the monsters and the guards are fighting." "...what?" "So, they''re distracted? Hey, go find the keys and set us free! "Not interested." ""WHAT?!"" "I''m looking for someone who would join me. I wanna become the strongest man, so I need a crew of strong people." Warren had been made to want become strong by Kalgara and it was only amplified by his frame of mind. After all, what child didn''t want to become big and strong? So Warren was looking for someone to join his crew. And despite his frame of mind, he was certain he didn''t want any of the men swearing at him and with the selfishness only the children focused on a goal can achieve. Ignoring them, he walked up and down the cells, everyone one of the prisoners swearing him up and down before coming to a halt as he stopped before the last one at the end of the room. Inside it was a green-skinned woman who ignored him, her eyes shut as if she was asleep. She was tall and muscled, wearing rags that couldn''t concealed her body and attractiveness "Don''t mess with that nutjob!" "Oh, if she''s getting out, I''m staying in here!" That guy is so dead. "Hey, join my crew." "Not interested." "Why?" "I''m here to fight against worthy opponents." One of the prisoners called out to Warren, fear evident in his voice at her words. "She''s Jade Blades Keira, she actually wanted to be captured and to fight here solely for the enjoyment of it. She fights people in the arena three times a day!" "Hey, join my crew." "Not interested." "Why?" "I''m here to fight against worthy opponents." "Hey, did you even-" "Hey I''m Warren, join my crew." "Not interested." "Why?" "I''m here to fight against worthy opponents." "You know what? To hell with it. To hell with the both of you." This repeated nearly a dozen times before Keira cracked. "I told you here to fight worthy opponents! I must be stronger!'' "Do you fear the guards?" "What, no! I can beat them easily, only reason I''m here is to train." "So can you escape?" "Of course!" "So why do you fight weaker people?" "Becaus- wait, what?!" "The guards only keep weak people, but you''re strong. So, you aren''t training, you need to train people as strong or stronger." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Keira stared at him. Warren was absolutely correct. This strange, persistent, childish man saw this clearly before she did. Suddenly raising her hands, scythes emerged from her palms, single edged with bumps on the other side. They were easily as long as her arms and jade-colored, revealing how she had gotten her nickname. She then turned around, showing a double pair of insect wings. The outer pair was narrow, opaque, and leathery. They functioned as a shield for the hind wings while the hind wings are much broader, more delicate, and transparent. Those, she used to hover and for short burst of flight. "I''m a mantic. Mostly human with mantis-like characteristics." Upon hearing this, Keira expected this man to flinch. All men did, upon hearing she was one of the infamous mantics, who had lived deep within their enormous forest and hated men with a passion. Long ago, mantics lived at peace with humans, but something had happened. Some said the queen of the mantics had a human lover who used her and ran away, others that a curse was laid upon them, nobody quite knew what. All that was known was that the mantics and all other races were locked in combat in their forest city. By the end of it, the mantics had carved out a bloody legend of their ferocity, with a bloodcurdling list of deeds against men in particular, but at a cost of most of their people . They disperse, the war coming to an end, but it was still a tale favored by many bards to tell. As a result, men of all races fear mantis women, who had committed almost the entirety of the deeds against men of other races. "Ok. Join my crew." Keira was surprised. Warren''s face hadn''t even twitched when she had told him. Someone this strong-willed, even if he was a little foolish... he could become something... something great. "I''ll join." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -ding-
Keira has joined your party! You can have 10 more people join.
Warren unlocked the cell door and Keira stepped out, surprisingly graceful for someone who had spent time in a cell. Together, they turned and headed for the tunnel leading back into the arena, emerging into the light from the morning sun. "Prisoners, hold it!" A woman, that Warren recognized seeing earlier with the guards emerged from the tunnel opposite from them, where the monsters had been held earlier. Behind her was a troop of battered, but still eager, guards. Guards who had been substantially annoyed by the monsters Warren had lead into them. "Grab them!" "Move it Keira!" Sprinting and leaping into the stands, the two of them raced out of the arena with the guards howling at their heels. It was only as they raced through the city gates, leading into the wilderness that the guards began to slow, collapsing from their efforts to catch the far lighter prisoners. Gopea watch them race along the road, heading for freedom and cursed. Turning to a guard, she handed her badge indicating her position and headed back to her quarters. She had prisoners to catch and she couldn''t be weighed down by the city if she was to do so.
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