《Icy Vendetta》 Ch0: Prelude to Disaster ###Prelude to Disaster### Deep within the military command center there exists an area known simply as Basement. It is rumored to be headquarters to the mythical Unit-71. Mythical because no one knows if they even exists. The unlucky few privy to the secret know that a hint of a leak will end their own lives. Unit 71 consists of just 21 individuals recruited from various sectors from crack investigators to cops to mafia guardians to martial artists. Separated from the chain of command they report to a 5 star General and they have just one order, "track down and kill terrorists by ANY MEANS NECESSARY". Each person in the Unit can easily bag a couple of Olympics Medal but they are satisfied as they are, saving countless lives by doing the lesser evil. They have a count of over 100 confirmed kills and over 200 unconfirmed high valued targets. Experts at infiltration and interrogation these men value honor over their lives. There are no ranks amongst the unit however a rank of Captain is awarded to the person who leads them. Present Situation ----------------- At present the basement has a grim atmosphere, well relatively grim; the General has a way of turning any room with his presence into a torture chamber. The silence of the room is broken by deep inhaling of the Havana Cigar and occasional beeps of the radio. The General is sitting at his usual place with a young man facing him stiff backed. Suddenly the General barks at the young man "Have you thought this through Captain!!! the ramifications of your action will be disastrous. I order you to take back your resignation." The young man sighs and says "Sorry General I just can''t overlook this. I have things to do which do not involve the military." The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. General: "You know I can put you under supervised observation right?" Young man: "So you will not let me resign? At least give me a year long vacation." A visibly angry Generals shouts at the Captain "You damn fool do you think the enemies will holidaying along with you. You made the pact with the devil when you came here. Operational till death or injured that''s our motto." Young man: "Then consider this a medical emergency." The young man picks up his gun and shoots himself in the calf. The bullet slices through the muscles preventing any bone damage but the effect on the General is devastating. The general turns a couple of shades purple and says "Bastard!!! I can have you court marshalled, but I know 20 others will follow you if it happens. Get the wound treated and go home you have 6 months time to put your affairs in order and not a single second more." The young man leaves the stuffy room and glances at his hands which are shaking violently now. ''Wow lucky the old man didn''t shoot me himself'' After about a minute or two the General presses a button to summon Yuri his intelligence chief. General: "You know what this is about?" Yuri silently passes a thin black folder to the General. Grunting to relieve the tension the old man puffs his Cigar and starts reading. 3 pages into the report he blanches and mutters, "Yuri I want a detailed investigation on these Assholes and I want it as of yesterday. We must have the exact count of their group so that we know how many graves to dig." Hi Guys, Its my first time trying to write any kind of fiction so please be gentle. Please excuse the poor grammar and flow. I will try to make the updates fast and thrilling. Ch 1: Background-1 ### Background ### Zack was an orphan. Left near a garbage bin shortly after birth, he was raised as part of a charitable trust. As a small child he knew that the world ran on a simple principle "survival of the fittest". If you are not fit enough to steal a loaf of bread then you don''t deserve to eat. At a small age of 6 he was caught shop lifting from a retail store. That''s when the shopkeeper took pity and offered him a job; and in return he will feed him twice a day and pay for his education. Zack knew that this was his ticket out misery so he accepted without even blinking. In his heart he knew that he would never be able to repay the kindness shown to him. A couple of years later he was officially adopted into the Taylor household and gained a cute 3 year old sister as well as brand new Parents. That was the first time he cried, he cried till could cry no more. Zack was an exceptional student and even more outstanding athlete. He excelled at martial arts and was referred to as the next Olympics representative in the field of Judo. Most of all he was a doting brother and an ideal son. One day while returning from school he got the word that his sister was getting bullied by some kids. Upon finding this out he ran and found his sister surrounded by a almost a dozen guys. Well it was a massacre, 7 people sent with severe concussion, 2 with broken kneecaps and one of them with face so broken that it would be a long long time before he got married. What Zack did not know that the bullies were politically connected. He was jailed and waiting for a trial when the General found him. He was made an offer, a job or 3 years in prison. Grant, Zack''s dad; was an ex-military guy himself and a highly decorated one at that. he was not remorseful about what his son did rather he was proud of him. He made discreet enquiries regarding the job offer that Zack got. To his dismay no one had ever heard of the General and even less about the group called the Unit. In the evening he received a call from the Army Chief of Staff himself who informed him to cease his enquiries at once and that serving the Unit was a privilege which people would die for. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Well the rest as they say is history. Needless to say that Zack was so good that at the young age of 21 he became the Captain of the unit, youngest ever and was given the name Zero. The unit did not have names just numbers. 2 Hours before present ====================== "Zero you have a call" said the units communication specialist, ''Thirteen''. "Call? Well is it mom or sis?", Zero asked. "Well whoever it is please take is immediately" said thirteen. Thirteen was a 23 year old kid once considered to be worlds best hacker and one day he suddenly dropped off the face of the earth. He was the closest to Zero age wise and considered himself Zero''s best friend. "What''s going on man...is it something serious?", Zero asked. "I will tell you everything but first take the call.", replied thirteen. Thirteen knew that this is the opening act to a huge disaster. It was his job to ensure security and surveillance and what he had found angered him. The unit was small so not only did they care about each other they cared about their families too. In the communication room Zero was freaking out. "Mom calm down!!! I cant understand anything." "WTH do you mean by Amy tried to kill herself. She what.... she consumed a lot of sleeping pills???" "Where are you guys?" "OK." "I will be right there." He turned around to thirteen and said just 3 words. "Where''s the General". Ch 2: Backgound-2 ### Backgound-2 ### In the hospital Grant and Ruth (Zack/Zero''s mom and dad) were waiting anxiously outside the ICU where their daughter Amy was struggling with life, when Zack arrived. "How''s Amy?", Zero asked while comforting his crying mother. "We dont really know", Grant replied. "What happened?", asked Zero his habitual mask of impassiveness cracking a little bit. "We found her lying next to a bottle of sleep medicine and rushed her to the hospital. She has a letter addressed to you which we have not yet opened.", Grant replied shaking his head and handing out a letter. Zero read the letter out a bit softly just for the benefit of his parents. '' My Dork of a Brother. I am sorry for leaving you alone but I just can''t live with the shame any more. Mom and dad if you are reading this I love you and I am sorry I just wasn''t strong enough. Always yours, Amy '' "WTF is this supposed to be?", shouted Zero. "I can tell you what happened.", said Celia quitely. Celia was Amy''s best friend and had arrived just a couple of minutes earlier. "We are a group of friends playing a game called Mythica. There we made a mistake of joining one of the leaders of the Drak guild who started hitting on Amy from first glance onwards. When Amy rejected his advances he got together with some of his buddies and they...", and then Celia choked. Sensing her hesitation Zero took her to the side and whispered "They raped her??? in the game? you can do that?" Celia took a look at Zero''s icy blue eyes and shuddered. She had heard thing from his sister which she discarded as myths but now she could see Amy was not kidding, not even in the slightest. She could do nothing apart from nodding her head in the affirmative. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. "Name", Zero whispered. "King Marco.", came the reply from Celia. Zero: "Do you know where I can find him?" Celia: "I dont know!!! real life identities are strictly prohibited in game due to its nature and I could not find it even if I wished to." And then she started crying. Slowly sobbing till she found Zero''s chest and then she completely broke down. She had been keeping it in since the past 2 days when this happened. She did not or could not understand who she could talk to about this. Who should she ask for help weighted her mind but now she could see a glimmer of hope and "hope" is a powerful motivator. Zero took his phone and dialled a number. "Thirteen. I need a favour. Anything and everything you can find about a game called Mythica. Also there is a guild called Drak everything about them." and then he briefed Thirteen on everything he had found out till now. He considered Thirteen as a brother and knew that he would have liked to know what was going on. "I understand.", came the curt reply. "Also is it possible to find out anything about this King Marco character?", asked Zero. "I will find out what I can. Take care of Amy and leave the little shits to me. I will dig out whatever information I can find about them and it will be with you in about 5 seconds after that.", replied Thirteen. Amy was like a sister to him too and the worl will burn before one of their''s comes to harm. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thank you for reading the beginning of the story. Your comments are suggestions are highly appreciated. Please do review it and point out if you notice any mistake. As always I will try to make the releases fast and exciting. - drago Ch 3: Mozart on Keyboad ### Mozart on Keyboard ### In a room far away from Zero and the hospital a man is silently cursing under his breath. He has been typing continuously for the past 3 hours trying to get into the firewall of a game called Mythica. The idea is simple get in retrieve the information and get out. But the advanced AI puts up so many layer of defenses and so fast that he is unable to go in. Being the world''s best hacker it baffles him. It took him less than 60 seconds to get into the Pentagon servers but more than 3 hours just to get a login prompt. Suddenly he gets a pop up. "STOP!!! It is too much of an effort for us to duke it out. If you stop now I will grant you any one wish other than personal information. It can be only in game though." It took Thirteen less than a second to understand that this was the AI who he was so vigorously trying to hack. "I will hold you to that and will send someone to collect on my behalf.", replied back Thirteen grinning from ear to ear. From what he could find out from the underground community this game was virtually unhackable and realized he was the first person ever who made the AI sweat a little. The smirk on his face immediately dissipated when he found that his cellphone was blinking to alert a new caller. Unit had a lot of unwritten rules and first amongst them was that "You never let the General go to voicemail". "My chambers. NOW.", came the short order. "General I was in the middle of something can I come in 10 mins.", replied Thirteen solemnly. The incoming shout was so loud that he had to hold the phone away from his ears "I don''t care if you are naked and stroking yourself. I want you here NOW!!!." Well the General always had limited vocabulary thought Thirteen and then with a deep sigh proceeded to the stinky Basement. He stopped in front of the door and took a few deep breaths trying to figure out what explanation to give to the General. As a golden rule of thumb everyone knows that the General was aware of everything so it wasn''t wise lying to him. "Come in before I break the damn door and bring your ass inside.", said the voice from inside the room. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site."Hello General. I was just trying to take in some oxygen before coming in inside Sir.", replied Thirteen. He was the only one who ever dared joke in front of the General. The General unfortunately was not in the best of moods. He gave Thirteen a look which could have made a tree shrivel in fear and then growled "If I want to listen to a jackass speak, then I would rather listen to politicians who try to suck up to me. Report about Zero''s situation". Thirteen took about 2 mins to brief the General about everything he knew. The General''s face darkened. Even with the gruff exterior he considered each of the Unit as his family and their families as his own. He liked the Taylors; having spent a couple of Christmas at their home. Although he had already gotten the word from Yuri it still bothered him that the situation was this grim. He knew that if Zero went on a rampage containment would be the last of their worries. He ordered Thirteen to give all possible cooperation to Zero but to act as his restraint when things went too far. It took less than 5 seconds for Thirteen to break into the Drak guild''s website. He found out that most people kept their RL identity a secret and not even the guild leader knew about it. He also found out that the guild leader and other co leaders were over level 300 and considered to be the strongest players of Mythica. He was about to give up on this avenue and search other means when he saw that the guild has hired a public relations officer to represent them in real life. "Well Mr Stanson how do you do. I am afraid I will be arranging a meeting for you with Zero." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It will be a couple of chapters more till we actually go into the game of Mythica. Thank you for reading. Please rate/favorite/follow if the content is to you liking and do let me know if you find out any plot holes or error - drago Ch 4: Nocturnal Games ### Nocturnal Games ### Zero had immense self control and right now it took all of it to not to tear the hospital apart. The doctors are a bunch of wuss, was his conclusion. Finally after 4 long hours of tension laden atmosphere he had enough. He barged into the ICU ignoring the protests of the doctor. He HAD to see his sister again. "She will live, but right now she needs rest.", said an elderly doctor. The doctor could sense the anguish on the young man''s face and decided to ease his pain a little. After a few seconds Zero tore his eyes away from his sister and said "Thank you. It means a lot." He went outside told his parents the good news. They had aged a lot in the past couple of hours. Grant took his son outside and set him loose, he said, "Do what you have to do." and he simply walked back. Zero stood there baffled as if a heavy weight had been lifted from his heart. He took out his phone and called Thirteen "Any news?" Thirteen was already on his way to the hospital when he received the call so they arranged to meet at a bar nearby. "So what do you have for me?", asked Zero. "A name and a plan.", replied Thirteen. Then he outlined the plan in detail. "First step of the plan is abduction and interrogation of a man named John Stanson. Mr Stanson fancies himself as a voice of justice, he would have some names from the guild elders. At least those who he needed to contact directly. Second step of the plan is inflicting damage in personal life. Identity theft, clearing out their bank accounts, posting their personal photos on popular websites and stuff. You know all these are small stuff and don''t really matter but I am feeling bored so why not. And then we come to the third step killing them in game till the point of time they cant even walk properly. Finally visiting them in real life and giving them a free sex change operation." Zero was pensive. "Why cant we just give them a wedgie while we are at it. I intend to kill these bastards slowly and painfully. I don''t have time to play games with them." Thirteen replied "Yes that is what I thought at first. While I know that your homicidal tendencies are acting up, but consider this you kill them once and they don''t get a chance to beg for mercy do they? Its like the terrorist scum that we kill; imagine if you had the opportunity to slowly torture and kill them over 100 times... how enjoyable that would be." The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. Zero silently shuddered when his friend''s inner Jack the ripper acted up. "You know you are the most sadistic bastard that I know right.", mused Zero. Thirteen: "I beg to differ man. Have you ever seen Nine eat. He is a walking chicken apocalypse." Oh this made Zero smile for the first time in the evening. "That being said I have ordered a game headset for you and a full briefing for you is in the folder. I also have a surprise for you which you will find in game. Now lets go and talk to Mr Stanson." said Thirteen. "OK. Where do we need to to go.", asked Zero. "To the parking lot of course. I had to put him onto the trunk of my car. I could not bring him inside the bar now could I?", replied Thirteen 15 Minutes later John Stanson was in a world of pain. He could not even comprehend what he had done to antagonise these thugs. Zero picked up a bolt cutter from trunk, looked into John''s eyes and swiftly cut off his pinky while removing the cloth from his mouth. "AAAAAAAARGH!!!!", John Stanton was crying like a baby now. He could not believe his eyes this fucking asshole had cut of his pinky and to add more to his disbelief he now saw the bolt cutter circling his other pinky. Zero knew the pain threshold for the little weasel in front of him had been crossed. So he whispered into John''s ear "Tell me everything that you know about Drak guild including their identities and I will let you go." and just to ensure that John told him the truth he cut off John''s remaining pinky. John howled in pain and sang every single detail that he knew. Zero then started fiddling with the pliers kept in the trunk. Ignoring John''s frightened eyes and pleas he inserted the pliers into John''s mouth and pulled out a couple of molars. He picked up John''s cell and dialled the phone number of the guild leader. "Do you understand what time it is?", came the voice from the other side. Zero was not a forgiving man so he barked into the phone, "Listen and listen good. You and your team mates dared touch one of mine. So I will deliver the same to you. You people will die... die so horribly that it will act as a lesson to others. Pickup your cronie from the bar at Lowendes street before he bleeds to death." He then left Stanson bloodied and crying in the parking lot and started walking. Let the games begin... Ch 5: The Game - Mythica ### The Game - Mythica ### Back at the hospital Zero sat in a recliner besides his siste,r thinking about his next steps. After coming back he had found out that his sister was out of danger and was sleeping currently. First things first he needed to go over the report by Thirteen. The report was a page long concise and to the point, military style. "Mythica was introduced as world''s first virtual reality game. It was not really the first but it was the first one with full body immersion and over 80% realism. Gamers everywhere were overwhelmed by the surreal atmosphere of the game and question of being first or second vanished; what remained was only astonishment. Before the advent of Mythica, MMORPGs were the hot genre, however Mythica bankrupted each and everyone of these gaming companies. Game making companies were either absorbed or collapsed making Mythica an overnight sensation. The game makers of Mythica were quite smart, they powered individual helmets with an advanced quantum computer each running a smaller clone of the game AI; thereby reducing the load on the servers. In a short span of time the game had become self sustaining and "Maya" the AI of the game omnipotent. Since Maya was part of each individual player, the game itself could be bent by the AI to provide a more challenging experience for the player. An average gamer does not care about all these things but for them what really set apart Mythica was the setting. It was different from normal fantasy genres because it could very easily be the truth. Mythica was set 300 year onto future in a post apocalyptic earth. Due to a large scaled nuclear war Mankind has dwindled in numbers. Although hospitable, the geography of earth has drastically changed. Due to the radiation and changed atmospheric composition animals and insects have undergone rapid and devastating evolution at the DNA level. Reptilian species being the most resilient of all have emerged as the species on top of the food chain. Some reptiles have evolved into dinosaurs and some unknown species even have managed to evolve into dragons. Monsters were ranked according to their strength are varied from E,D,B,C,A,S to SSS. There were also rumours of X ranked monsters but no one had seen them and stories about them were generally discarded as myths. Humans evolved to become stronger and faster. Some even gained racial traits. Even humans hiding in the bunkers were not spared from the radiation. Some of them with weaker chromosomes could not resist the radiations and were deformed. They were then called Lepers and casted out of whatever human society remained. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Power became everything. Hunting and eating monsters made humans stronger. Humans also could subdue and train monsters to become their servants. Civilisation were now turned to cities. But the cities themselves could not be protected my mere humans. To protect the cities humans made use of Aura stones. Aura stones as the name suggested created an aura around the city repelling all monsters from that area. Stronger the monster bigger the size of the Aura stone and larger the area it protected. A person with possession of an Aura stone could setup a city anywhere. The uniqueness of the world of Mythica did not stop here. Where other games boasted of classes unique and hidden the players of Mythica had none. You do whatever you have to do to survive. The pain setting for the game were set at a staggering 50 percent which means that people had to eat, sleep and shit in game if they stayed in for longer hours. This also meant that the players only had humans as a starting race. Whatever be the reason; people flocked to Mythica like addicts. Since the game boasted a 1:4 time dilation people understood that if they wanted to master their own professions Mythica was the way to go. Mythica was especially popular amongst the Craftsmen and the marital artists for the same reason. Mythica did not have magic in game. However due to the human evolution they gained a deeper insight into psions. A person skilled at manipulating psions can bend physics to his will manipulating elements or even affecting the weather. " It was close to 3 AM when Zero finished the report. But for him the night was still young. He picked up the red helmet provided by 13 and proceed to the visitors rest area. After a couple of seconds of procrastination he put on the helmet and switched it on. To his surprise after a couple of darkness he got a message in front of his face saying
Welcome to the world of Mythica!!!
Now he was standing in front of a very pretty lady wearing a red dress, surrounded on all sides by white nothingness. Zero was suddenly made aware of his fatal weakness, he was very awkward talking to any lady except his mom or sister. Suddenly the lady giggled "Oh My My when Thirteen told me that you were good looking he was just being jealous wasn''t he? So speak handsome what do you wish for?" Ch 6: Wish ### Wish ### "You... are you really the AI??? Maya?", asked a stupefied Zero. He had never seen a person more beautiful than her and he stammered slightly while taking to her. "Of course yes. But you may call me ma''am", replied the Red lady. "Yes ma''am", came the curt reply. The Red lady giggled a little and said "just kidding... please call me Maya." ''Holy Crap!!! did I seduce her?'', thought Zero. "No you did not you moron.", the Red lady was looking pissed now. "And before you ask, I am not reading your mind. Doing a fist pump is not exactly a subtle expression.", "Sorry.", was all Zero could say. "Kidding again man, you take things way too seriously you know.", giggle the Red lady again. "So tell me what do you wish for. But before that I should warn you I cannot alter the mechanics of the game for you nor make you a super man. I can grant only materialistic wishes." "Invisibility", shouted Zero at once. Maya sighed deeply and said "Did you even listen to what I was saying...Thirteen said you are a muscle head so I should not be surprised but still..." Luckily Thirteen had forseen this and has already prepared for the contingencies. So he had coached Zero on what to ask for. "I want a Japanese Katana of the highest quality which can never be stolen for me and which grows with me.", asked Zero hesitatingly. He was afraid even this would get turned down. But Maya smiled gleefully, "Are you sure you don''t want a gun. Guns are pretty popular and very powerful you know." Inwardly she was very happy. The young man had piqued her interest and was getting more interesting by the minute. "Very well you will have the blade in your inventory. You can check its stats when you begin. Also all the other agreed upon items will be placed onto your inventory." Zero was confused now. He knew he was getting some help but did not know which kind it was. He silently cursed Thirteeen for keeping him in the dark. He had already planned that he will play for 3 months leveling up and getting used to the terrain before confronting the Drak guild and any help in that was highly appreciated. "Do you know where you want to start?", asked Maya "Middle of Amazon jungle. Far away from any civilization please.", came the predetermined answer by Zero. Now it was Maya''s turn to gasp "Are you sure? Amazon is not part of the charted territory and as level 1 the probability of survival is below 1 percent." Zero was a survival specialist. He had once spent over couple of month in the Amazonian jungle alone to infiltrate a drug cartel. It was really unfortunate that due to some disagreement his cover was blown and he ended up eliminating the entire base. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation."Well my Dad used to say no risk, no rewards. So I''m going to stick with my decision.", Zero said confidently. Maya stared at him and said "Well said mortal, well said. Then let me assist you a little.", she waved her hand and a red animal with blinking black eye appeared before her. "This is a scout fairy. Consider her a mini extension of me. She cannot do any damage but she is an excellent scout and contains all knowledge of the game. However she is very stubborn and she will answer only the questions directly asked of her." "Lastly mortal what do you want to call yourself in Mythica.", asked Maya. "Zero." "Well Zero exit the gate to the left and you will be ready to begin your journey." Zero bowed slightly and started walking carrying a sleeping red fairy with him. Once he was out of sight the Red Lady had a sad smile on her face "I owe Thirteen a favour. He really has the most interesting companion. I am sorry Zero I could not help your sister. I really wish you can put an end to my pain." At this moment Zero was in a world of his own. As soon as he had walked out of the door his mouth fell open. He was standing in the middle of an opening surrounded by trees. He could really feel the heat and humid atmosphere of the jungle around him. He could not believe that this was just a game. With his heightened sense of hearing he could hear the slight breeze and feel it on his skin as well. ''What the hell. This is a game??? no wonder people are raving about it, this felt really like I was transported to the Amazon.'', he was astounded by the depth of this game. "Well its time to wake up the sleeping beauty. I wonder how I should do that, she has been sleeping the entire time." "Hey Maya, how do I wake this one up", he shouted. Just then another message popped in front of him.
Traditionally the princess can only awaken from the kiss of the prince charming, so why don''t you do the honours.
"WHAT THE HELL", an echo loud enough to penetrate the deepest portion of the forest could be heard shortly after. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As always Thank you for reading. Your comments,follows and favourites are highly appreciated. Please do point out if you see any direct plot holes or errors. Since this is my first time writing a fanfic so reviews are always welcome. Double release today. Taking a break tomorrow Next chapter ETA 14/02 Ch 7: First Blood ### First Blood ### Deep within the Amazonian forest a person and a fairy were surrounded by huge winged black shadows. "Uggggh... HOW did this happen??? I cannot die today. Oh mother Maya please help me. take me out of this living hell", cried the fairy. She was openly sobbing now. "SHUT UP you bitch and let me concentrate. It is because of you that we are in this mess.", shouted the man. The crying fairy now joined in the shouting match "Because of ME!!! You dare say this is because of me, you damn perverted paedophile." "I TOLD YOU NOT TO CALL ME THAT.", shouted Zero back. Just then a shadow lunged towards them. The person stepped to the side and in one swift motion cut off one of the shadow''s wings, which made the shadow''s flight path a bit wobbly and it crashed onto the tree. And then he stared running holding the fairy by her arms. About 30 minutes earlier... --------------------- "Ah I never should have believed the AI. Maya if you are listening then know this; I will set thirteen loose on you... Oye are you listening? wake her up.", Zero''s calls were fruitless as right now Maya was rolling on the floor holding her stomach. "It is my first kiss ever...Why does it have to be with a little red fairy. NOOOOOOOOO!", Zero was hysterical now. Suddenly he brightened up. He just remembered he had not checked his inventory yet. He quickly equipped the sword which was provided by Maya and squeled in delight "A Muramasa, an honest to God Muramasa katana. What beauty, what balance, what an edge! Oh this is what first love feels like.", shouted Zero as he kissed the sword. Zero was not wrong. Muramasa was considered to be the one of the finest sword maker of all times. His swords were often termed as Demon blades because of their beauty, level of perfection and their blood thirst. At present Muramasa swords are collector items often valued in tens of millions of dollars. The sword in Zero''s hand was a pitch black sword with a black hilt and a snow white sheath. To Zero it looked as if the sword was absorbing the light rather than reflecting it. Unknown to Zero however the last Muramasa Blade, often referred to as the Black Blade, was many centuries old. This original blade was forged by Muramasa using a piece of his own soul and granted a number of superhuman physical attributes to the one who wielded it. Muramasa, who has been stated as being quite mad, also poured his madness into the blade. It was stated that after wielding the sword for a period of time, the wielder would slowly be overcome by the sword''s influence. This blade was a virtual copy of the black blade it produced the same results without the soul devouring part. There were two other item in his inventory but he could not equipped them. For the first item that he tried to equip, he got a familiar pop up.
There is a time and purpose for everything. The items will be unlocked for you as and when you grow. For now have patience and enjoy your demon blade.
Second one however defined a clearer time frame. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
The Item will be unlocked after you have a SSS level Aura stone.
Satisfied with his equipment he steeled himself for the kiss and pecked the fairy''s cheek. At first there were no signs of activity then suddenly the fairy woke up shouting "MOTHER, MOTHER, MOTHER please help me there is a pedo here and wants to do dirty things with me. Mother please help your child." "Oye............", a vein popped up on Zero forehead and Oye was the only thing it was capable of uttering, rest of the sentence was lost under the screams of the fairy. "Oye...", Zero seemed at a loss of words. The fairy sensing that Zero wanted to speak turned her head, looked Zero up and down and then started screaming again. "MOMMY save me from the pedo, MOMMY." The vein throbbing on Zero''s forehead was now as big as his finger, he shouted on top of his lungs "SHUT THE FUCK UP... I AM NOT A PEDO NOR AM I TRYING TO RAPE YOU. THIS WAS THE CONDITION FOR WAKING YOU UP AS SET BY YOUR LECHEROUS MOTHER." The noise made by the combined effort of the duo was enough to wake up a sleeping dragon. As soon as Zero realised this he put his fingers to the lips and started whispering, "Please shut up, we can discuss this later but first we need to get out of here. I sense killing intent and it will not bode well for us if we are found like sitting ducks." As if on queue there was a rustle in the nearby tree and without wasting any time Zero grabbed the fairy and started running. He was pissed at himself. He was one of the best assassins in the world and he had made an amateurish mistake. A mistake which could proved fatal. Back to the present ------------------- After running for quite some time he and the red fairy seem to have come to a mutual understanding ''escape from death first and then fight it out''. He came to a valley sort of area both sides blocked off by huge mountains and a road in between just wide enough for a couple of persons to pass side by side. An evil smile crossed Zero''s lips. He stopped right there, now it was his time to shine. He motioned the fairy to get behind him and fly up in the air whispering silently "Silent sword First stance. Commence." Red fairy''s POV --------------- She rose up in the air thinking that it will be great if the perverted pedo gets killed. "WTF is happening!!!", all she could see was the pedo going closer to the shadows and side step and in the next instant the shadow would fall behind him both wings cut. She tried to concentrate on the fight happening below to find out just how the shadows were getting killed, she could not even comprehend how the person was killing with a sheathed blade. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As always Thank you for reading. Your comments,follows and favourites are highly appreciated. Please do point out if you see any direct plot holes or errors. Since this is my first time writing a fanfic so reviews are always welcome. Ch 8: Pact ### Pact ### Shadow people lived in depths of Himalayan mountains as a very secretive cult. They are said to be direct descendants of Attila the Hun and were world''s foremost experts on camouflage, deception and bladed weapon mastery. Because their techniques mostly relied on stealth and speed they were called the living shadows or the Shadow people. Silent Sword was one of the deadliest techniques taught by the Shadow people, it consists of 14 different forms each with their distinct strength and weaknesses. The last 4 techniques were considered to be forbidden and taught only to those considered to be the heirs of the Silent Sword techniques. Each member of the Unit upon recruitment was directly sent the Shadow people for training, the requirement for passing being to master any 5 of the 14 techniques. So far Zero was the only outsider to master all 14 technique. Silent sword First stance was a close combat, quick draw technique; which was accomplished by simultaneously drawing the sword from the sheath and using the momentum to strike at the opponent while putting the blade back. In the hands of an expert like Zero the black sword left no trail and it looked like he had not even unsheathed. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Within a short period time 6 of the shadows were annihilated, rest of them seeing that this was more of an extermination than a hunt fled quickly. It helped Zero immensely that he was fighting in a narrow corridor where the enemy could approach only one at a time. With a sigh of relief Zero realised that this was the end of his first ordeal, he bent in front of one of the shadows and examined the corpse minutely. The shadow had a helicopter like body almost as big as an Apache 2 wings and a long hard trunk pointed at the end. Zero could see the green venom at the end of the creature''s trunk. "Hey Ero fairy, come down would you.", he shouted. The fairy came down; she had a sombre expression now, "I am not an ERO fairy. My name is Lina, better remember it you perverted pedo." Zero gritted his teeth and said, "Let''s make a deal, I call you by name and I swear to never ever, ever, ever kiss you or do anything sexual to you again and in return you help me with the game. What''s say you?" Lina thought for a while and said, "Deal but I have some conditions First I and any other pets you have get to eat all the aura stone you gather. Secondly 3 meals a day with nap time. Thirdly you will not treat me as a servant. and finally I get to decide when we end the contract. Do you agree?" "I agree to all the demands. However two things; firstly what''s up with eating the aura stones? and secondly I get to keep at least one of the SSS level aura stones to unlock one of my inventory.", inwardly he was sighing now. Lina seems to have a soul of a sleazy accountant back on earth and he was reminded of his conversations with the Unit''s internal funding department. Now it was Lina''s turn to grit her teeth and she whispered quietly, "It is one of the biggest secrets of the game that creatures marked as pets are evolvable. They evolve along with owners. However the evolution could be sped up if the pets were fed aura stones. Aura stones are extremely rare, with a drop of 1:1000; so they are extremely valuable tradable commodities so no one has ever tried to feed one of it to the pets." Upon hearing this Zero felt elated. He never had an ambition to build a city or to make money out of the game so he was very happy trading any Aura stones for some peace, quite and cooperation, "Well girls everywhere, whether real or virtual are attracted to shiny objects. God save the men." he muttered shaking his head. He was also elated that he was at present the only person to know of this secret, which gave him an advantage over the others.
Both parties have agreed to the terms and conditions to the pact and dishonoring them would result in severe consequences. Do you agree? "Yes" or "No"
"Yes.", said the both of them at the same time. "Now that we have that out of the way; Lina care to illuminate what sort of creature is this?", He asked the all knowing fairy. "You fought it without knowing what it is??? Did you even check the stats?", Lina was amazed. Zero was miffed, in real life he might have been closer to Naruto, but technically he was a game virgin. To make the matters worse he did not even know how to check the stats, he was hesitant to ask, as he knew Lina would get a huge ego boost realising that he was a noob, "How do I check the stttats?", he stuttered. Lina looked blankly at him and said, "Did you read the game manual before coming to this hell hole? (sighs) Nevermind I already know the answer say ''Identify'' for information on other creatures or items and to see your and your companion''s stats say ''show stats''. Have you not been seeing the pop ups?" This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Zero smiled shyly and said "Oh it was irritating seeing pop up in the middle of battles so I disabled them. He he." Lina face palmed a couple of times and said, "Oh Mother why does my fate rest with this ignorant buffoon. Please give patience to your daughter so that she does not kill this mortal herself... ''Show logs''". Companions share a soul bond with each other so the command could be invoked by the either of them.
You have successfully slain an Amazonian poison mosquito (x7). for killing an opponent 20 levels above your you game +2 fame (x7) You level up!!! You level up!!! You level up!!! You level up!!! You level up!!! You level up!!! You level up!!! You level up!!! You level up!!! You level up!!!
She then shouted, "Show stats for Zero."
Name:Zero
Level:10
Psion Synchronization:Locked
Titles:None
Fame:14Infamy:0
Experience Points87% to next level
Health:115
Mana:115
Strength:10(+5)Dexterity:10(+5)
Vitality:10(+5)Endurance:10(+5)
Intelligence:10(+5)Resistance:10(5)
Unallocated points:
50
Companions:
Name:Lina
Level:???
Rank:???
Zero had question marks floating over his head, he had so many questions and so little answers. He wanted to ask so many questions to Lina but realised he was now hungry and without a doubt Lina was too as he could hear her stomach rumble even 10 feet away. Mosquito??? Zero thought to himself "This black helicopter was a mosquito?", He was amazed and awed by the difficulty of the game. He also realised that he had gained several levels in one go. "Poison mosquito? What sort of poison?", he asked Lina since she knew just about anything about all creatures. "Amazonian mosquito have powerful neuro-toxin under their trunks. They paralyse the victims and suck them off all of their blood.", replied a pale Lina. Zero mused that the Mosquito seemed a connoisseur wanting to drink the blood before the body went cold. An evil smirk spread across his lips when he asked "How many seconds of paralysis and any other side effects of consuming the poison?". "15 seconds at most but it depends on the mass of the creature affected by the poison." Zero was now grinning widely, "HO HO HO it seems christmas came early this year. Lets discuss more over dinner.", he took out all the barley bread which came as part of beginner kit and gave half to Lina. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ As always Thank you for reading. Your comments,follows and favourites are highly appreciated. Please do point out if you see any direct plot holes or errors. Since this is my first time writing a fanfic so reviews are always welcome. Wanted to make the chapter longer but the damn stats took almost an hour to complete PS: Dont drink and write ;) Ch 9: Red rabbit Round 1 ### Red rabbit Round 1### Lina''s heart was in turmoil, she could not predict any actions of the human. The man before her was an enigma, no man in their correct state of mind would choose the Amazonian jungle as their starting location, but the man before her did it. Not only that; the strength and resourcefulness that he showed him already made him one of the best suitable candidates for her Mother''s experiment. She watched in rapt attention as she saw the man ripping the mosquito wings into thin little shreds and coiling them together to fashion a rope out of it. He then proceeded towards the trunk and cut them off from roots by using a single strike. "Hey. What''s with the +5 to the stats? Any ideas?", she was broken out of her reverie by the question. "Most probably it¡¯s due to the sword that you have equipped. It¡¯s a special sword made by Mother herself so it is bound to be special.", she replied puffing her chest, as if making love and devotion for her mother evident. "All right lets see the sword then. Show stats.", shouted Zero.
Unnamed Muramasa SwordLevel 1
Elemental AffinitiesLocked
Skills???
Unnamed sword belonging to Zero. Forged by the master crafter Muramasa from the purest Metallic Hydrogen. The sword is an excellent conductor of elemental affinities. The sword provides +5 to all stats per sword level. Proceed to naming the Sword? "Yes" "No"
"Hmmm, I name thee Gideon", muttered Zero. In Hebrew mythology Giedeon was said to be the destroyer of all evils. He was a bit confused by the material used for the sword crafting. He had heard of Hydrogen as a gas but never as a metal. He made a mental note to ask someone about it. He tied up all the trunks that he got form the mosquitos into a bundle and hefted them up on his back and started running forward. He had presumed that the valley was probably the safest point in the Jungle right now and wanted to use it for training. He ignored the multiple +1 to Strength and +1 to Agility and continued running. After couple of hours of intense running he came in front of a dark cave. Lina and Zero shared a look of mutual understanding and entered the cave. They knew that if they wanted to survive the night then they would need shelter and nothing says shelter like a dark cave with only one entry and exit point. Zero entered the cave, the silence and the eerie atmosphere inside was accentuated by the slow droplets of water hitting the rocky floor. He was a veteran soldier and could smell the killing intent in the air. He immediately took a step back as a bolt of lightning came rushing to the spot he was standing on a moment before.
Warning!!! You have entered the Red Rabbit''s lair. All stats -5. Petrification in effect. All agility related stats and buffs -5%.
"This is bad. At this rate we might not survive. RUN!!!", Shouted Zero to Lina. He urged her to abandon him and started running in the opposite direction, as he saw a gigantic red coloured rabbit emerging from the cave. It had 2 horns instead of ears and looked really ferocious. Zero could see slight hints of electrical surges coming from the rabbit¡¯s horns. The Rabbit covered the distance in a blink and mauled Zero. Last thing that Zero saw coming was a huge fluffy claw.
"You have died!. Setting resurrection point to the clearing in the Jungle. Time remaining for respawn 15.59.59 hours."
''Great now I can''t login for 16 hours.'', Zero thought to himself while removing the helmet. Zero was really lucky. For the first month of gameplay the penalty for death were waived off so he did not end up losing any stats or experience from his first death. Looking at his watch he sighed, "I died within the first 4 hours or 16hrs of gameplay. Disgraceful!!!" Zero realized that he was weak; and based on his teachings answer to weakness is training, training and more training. He made a resolve to kill the red rabbit as soon as he spawned. He was also a little worried about Lina, but felt a little relieved remembering that Maya will not let anything happen to her, after all she was her self proclaimed daughter. In reality the Red Rabbit was called a Jackalope and it was a C grade monster. Even level 50 players had difficulty soloing it. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. He checked in on his sister, and seeing that she was still asleep made his heart flutter a little bit. He took out his cell and dialled a number from his memory. "Yess.", asked a slurry voice. "What do you know about Hydrogen Metal.", asked Zero. "Huh? A better question would be what do YOU know about it? Did you pick up a physics book by mistake?", replied the voice. ''These nerd types are always a pain in the ass.¡¯ thought Zero. Who he had called just now was called Seven, he was the residential expert on all things scientific. His responsibilities for the Unit were to create and maintain high end gadgets, sort of like Q to James Bond, though no one had the courage to tell it to his face. "I am currently playing a game and I have a katana made out of it. Since you fancy yourself as Wizard of Oz so thought I could ask you.", replied Zero simply. Seven: "A game!!! Thank God. I thought you being Zero and all, had finally gotten your hands on it. Wait... A game? Is it Mythica? We need to meet. Where are you? I will come there. " Zero was shocked, he had never heard of Seven reacting so violently. Even now he could hear the grinding of Seven''s knuckles on the cell. He wondered what could have agitated Seven so much. He stood near the window staring outside where dawn had just started to break; the first light of sunrise illuminated the room. He pondered over the events of last night and how it had changed many lives in a bad bad way and thought of people who were in pain and finally with fire in his eyes thought of the people who were going to be in a pain worse than death. "Soon, very soon Sis. I will not rest till the bastards cry tears of blood.", he promised his sleeping sister and proceeded out the door to grab some breakfast. He was barely out of the door when he ran into Seven. The young Nerd had a unkempt hair and was panting hard as if he ran all the way here. "Hello Captain. I ran here as soon as possible. Tell me about the Katana.", he panted. "Wait before you answer that we need to address the social customs.", he bowed and said "I am so sorry to hear about your sister." Zero did not know whether to hug or hit him. He was really worried now, the socially awkward genius was greeting him and asking about the wellbeing of his sister, this was like a bolt out of the blue. He proceeded towards his car motioning the genius to follow, and he complied. "Ok shoot. What''s got your panties in a bunch?", asked an evidently tired Zero. "You know that everything you do in a Mythica is 90% real right? That means all experiments done in Mythica can be replicated in real life. Now coming to your katana. Its made out of Hydrogen Metal. Hydrogen metal is considered to be a mythical metal and world''s best Super conductor. Do you understand what a Superconductor is? Of course you don''t. Never mind then; Superconductivity is a phenomenon of exactly zero electrical resistance and expulsion of magnetic fields occurring in certain materials when cooled below a characteristic critical temperature. NOW what it means is with the right set of conditions you can control gravity, you can control magnetism and even the temperatures. It¡¯s all theoretical of course because there has never been a substantial amount of Hydrogen metal to experiment with.", Seven took a deep breath because apparently he had been talking without taking one till now and continued for another 5 minutes. For Zero of course this was all science mumbo jumbo, but what he really understood that Maya had not only given him a Muramasa but apparently a Weapon of Mass Destruction. "STOP.", He whispered before Seven could bombard him with more useless information. "How can we weaponize it?" Seven sighed; this is exactly what he hated about the Unit. They find a Holy Grail and think of only weaponizing it. But still no one has dared try what Zero and he were going to do to "together" he thought to himself. "I will start working on theorizing some plans. In return you have to provide me with all the results. The results as in all the videos of the Katana in action.", replied a super excited Seven. "Done." Zero looked at his watch and set an alarm for lettting him know when could login again. He then went back to the hospital; only to find a teary eyed, remorseful Amy awake. She was being held by her crying parents who had spent the last night in living hell. Needless to say she was apologetic as well as grief stricken. Zero spent the entire day with her consoling her, scolding her, telling her jokes, basically doing anything and everything to take her mind off the fearful ordeal. Finally his watch rang out a couple of beeps, indicating that it was time for round 2. =========================================== Sorry for the delay guys kept busy over the weekends. The next chapter will the Zero''s fight with Red rabbit to conclusion. it is already halfway done and hopefully should be completed by tomorrow. As always Thank you for reading. Your comments,follows and favourites are highly appreciated. Please do point out if you see any direct plot holes or errors. Since this is my first time writing a fanfic so reviews are always welcome. Ch 10: Red Rabbit Round 2 ### Red Rabbit Round 2 ### Zero woke up in Mythica to find a very angry Lina waiting for him. "You!!! How dare you? You cannot die and leave me in such a danger. Do you understand? Next time onwards set the resurrection point correctly so that I can be safe you MORON. If the great me died who will guide a fool like you. Have you ever considered the consequence. Hmmph" "Sorry, Sorry. You know it was not really my intention to die.", said Zero apologetically "What''s done is done. Lets think of a way to have rabbit stew today shall we?" "Hmmph!", came the snort "and how exactly do you plan to do that. The Red Rabbit is called a Jackalope. It is a C rank monster. You need to be at least level 50+ to overcome the petrification and stats penalty. Also genius you don''t have any medics with you, how are you going to heal yourself?" "Simple by planning.", replied Zero with an evil spread across his lips. Zero then hefted his bundle of venomous mosquito trunk and started from marching towards lair. Zero always thought that the problem with wars always come down to one thing ''Logistics''. The first one to secure a supply chain onto the war field has higher resources. Since he was in a jungle he had an abundant supply of wood making it a treasure house of improvised traps specifically spring traps. Spring spear traps date back in time probably longer than recorded history and are and excellent way to capture game of any significant size. Zero now back in the narrow valley where he had met the mosquitos head on. He sat down on the rocky floor and examined the trunks, they were poison tipped so he was careful not to touch the tips. He then sliced them vertically using his swords and cut them diagonally, each approximately 3ft long. He now had 14 spears in his possession. He placed a long branch horizontally between the cluster of 4 spears and using a few feet of rope tied it firmly into place, making certain that the other end has enough distance to swing between the remaining two spears. Next, he tied a spear to the free end of the swing arm making certain that it is tight and at least some portion of the spear protrudes forward. He tied the horizontal trigger post into place about 5 to 7 inches above the ground and tied a string to the same spear slightly below the horizontal trigger post. He repeated the same procedure and created a second trap. Lina was now watching him admiringly. She knew that Zero was building a trap but the speed with which the two traps were created was astonishing. It was as if he had done it his whole life. She could envision that in the narrow corridors of the valley this would be a deadly and unavoidable trap. Zero hefted both the traps and put them into his inventory as he did not want to damage them carrying it till the cave. 500 meters from the cave he stopped, he took out one of the traps and placed it on the ground gently. A slight hint of mistake and it could prove fatal for him. He walked forward with huge strides counting his steps and exactly at 20 he stopped again. He then placed the second trap here. The reason for placing the two traps in proximity was that he wanted to use one of the traps as a diversion rather than the main attack. He then picked up generous amount of dirt and piled it on top of the traps making them almost invisible to the naked eye. He cautioned Lina to follow him silently. They found a gap between the rocky ledges and hid. Zero wanted to start the attack at dusk so that he could gain advantage of the low light to mask the already murky trap. Zero assumed that the Jackalope would have a rather huge advantage at night time where Zero could be blinded by the lightning based attacks. The first to break the silence was Lina, "Have you done this a lot?", "Not a lot but enough. Once I was sent to the southern part of Africa to kill a terrorist. The assassination went smoothly but there was a problem with the extraction, which compelled me to flee into the forest with nothing except my set of throwing knives. I had to hide out in the jungle for almost a week before someone came to pick me up", replied Zero cautiously. AI or not he was still giving out official secrets so he distorted the facts a little bit. He still had nightmares about the mission. He was sent to a south african nation to kill the leader of a religiously motivated radical group. Every day for almost a month he lay on the side of the road acting as a goat herder till one day he saw the man getting out of his jeep. He urged his goats to go close to the man and under a veil of ignorance and protests swiftly drew his throwing knives pushing it onto the enemies heart. It was a risky operation primarily because they had no assets in the country. He was shot in the shoulders while fleeing but managed to get deep into the nearby forest covering his tracks. Almost a week later the back up tracking his implanted GPS arrived to find him eating deer meat grilled over a makeshift barbecue. "Hey Lina why cant I view your stats?", asked Zero just to change the heavy atmosphere. "He He Its because you are not strong enough.", replied Lina sheepishly. "So does that mean you are strong?", asked Zero. Lina: "Strength is kind of relative. You know a lot of people say knowledge is strength so don''t compare me to muscle headed idiots like you." Zero: "You know you inherited Maya''s twisted personality right?" Lina: "Thanks." Zero: "How is that a complement???" Lina: "Do you mean to say Mother has a bad personality?" Zero: "Eh. what else can I mean from twisted." Lina: "Oh Mother. Please give me permission to kill this bastard right now. If you are listening, smite him with your fury." Zero was not exactly sure but he thought he imagined laughter in the distance, "Nah it must be my imagination." he shook his head. The friendly banter continued for some time before Zero out a finger to his lips silencing Lina. He edged towards the gap and found that the Sun was shining a bright orange. "Its showtime!!!", he whispered in Lina''s ear. "Listen here''s the plan we will first try to enrage the Jackalope and dodge his lightning attack somehow and then lure it to the first trap somehow.", said Zero. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings."Did you just realize that you said ''somehow'' twice in a single sentence.", shot back a bewildered Lina, "this is the most idiotic plan that I have come across." "Yup", replied a smiling Zero. "How stupid can you be and what''s with the triumphant smile?" "Wait!!! Allocate your points first. You will be a little faster than before if you allocate a bunch of stats to Agility, thereby increasing your chances.", advised Lina. Zero then opened up his stats window and allocated 40 points to Agility and 10 points to strength based on Lina''s advise. Zero carefully counted his strides from the set of traps that he laid and walked towards the lair. "OOYE JACKASS.", he shouted. Lina took this opportunity to correct him "No No it is Jackalope not a Jackass. Well whatever I give up.", she sighed heavily and went back onto the ledge. The Jackalope emerged from its lair pissed at the tiny human for disturbing his sleep. Although it was not the strongest monster in the Amazonian jungle, it was still one of the fastest. And this human had just made a mistake of angering it.
Warning!!! you have entered the Red Rabbit''s lair. All stats -5. Petrification in effect. All agility related stats and buffs -5%.
The monster lunged towards Zero at an astonishing speed. Zero ducked and rolled towards the right avoiding the blow. Although Zero was a lot slower than the Jackalope he had absolute confidence in avoiding blows not thrown in a point blank range. He slashed his sword at the rabbit''s furry feet trying to impede its speed but missed when the rabbit jumped back sensing danger. Streaks of blue white lightning gathered near the Jackalope''s horns and shot towards Zero. But he just raised his sword dug and the moment lightning hit, he dug the sword into the crusty earth. The lightning gather around the sword for a short while then fizzled out as if being absorbed. Zero picked up the sword and glanced towards the Jackalope who was not happy having his primary attack neutralised. The creature then took a step forward towards Zero gauging out his opponent and and in return Zero backed away a couple of steps while muttering "76" under his breath. "Silent sword Third stance. Commence.", shouted Zero. Where Silent Sword First Stance was a technique which relied on godly unsheathing skills to perform accurate cuts, Third Stance was more of a defensive technique relying mostly on parries and thrusts. Zero struck the incoming paw with the flat of the blade and used the momentum to thrust the sword towards the creature''s eyes. The creature avoid the thrust jumping to the right and swung his left paw towards Zero. Zero back flipped a couple of times before stopping and swept his sword in a wide arc barely missing the creature''s nose; making him lose his balance a little. He then stepped back to avoid the incoming lightning attack launched by the Jackalope who had sensed that Zero after losing his balance a little had a distinct disadvantage. Zero staggered a little and muttered "23" under his breath. He had not escaped unscathed from the attacked his left hand felt numb and he could smell the burning meat before his shirt. The creature jumped forward bounding towards Zero adding to Zero''s misery. Zero abandoned all hope of attacking and ran backwards with the Jackalope following closely. Little did the creature realize that this was just an oscar winning performance put up by Zero. When the count reached "Three" Zero jumped backwards slicing the rope holding the trap in place. The spear trap sprung up impaling the left foot of the creature who howled in agony. The Jackalope was now furious he had never been pushed so hard or injured by such a weak little creature. With its anger tipping the boiling point it went berserk slashing, hacking and mauling the creature in front of him. However its speed was visibly reduced and it was limping now. Ignoring the pain it pushed on to kill the little creature in the most gruesome manner that it could think of. Zero was panting now. This was now real life where he would run out of stamina so fast. Here the stamina was dependant on stats which due to his low level he did not have. He continued to dodge the shattering blows from the bear missing them by a hair''s breadth each time. To save stamina he was now swaying to avoid the blows instead of jumping backwards. "7 more steps to go. Come on Zero you can do it.", he urged himself. Little by little he made his way to the second trap, summoning his reserved strength he jumped over it and cut the rope. The poison tipped spears were now lodged deeply into the creature''s torso. Zero knew he would barely have a couple of seconds of poison effect before the Jackalope released itself. So he summoned all his willpower, gathered all his strength and in one swift attack cut off the Jackalope''s head.
Congratulations!!! You have successfully slain an Amazonian lightning Jackalope. for killing an C class monster alone you gain +50 fame. You level up!!! You level up!!! You level up!!! You level up!!! You level up!!! You level up!!! You level up!!!
The lair of jackalope is now empty. Do you wish to change your resurrection point to the cave? "Yes" "No"
Zero quickly pressed "yes" before passing out with a smile on his lips. ================================================================================================= Ch 10.1 Side Story - Recruitment Drive Meanwhile in the real world... ------------------------------ Dave Kramer was a worried man. He wondered about how his past 24 hours changed his life forever and wondered what would happen to his lovely wife and daughter if he met his demise today. The day before he was woken up from in the middle of the night by his boss, who asked him to investigate an abduction and torture of a relatively lesser known public figure. His boss was personally requested by the next heir of the Vlad family and paid a sum in excess 10,000 Dollars to find out the assailants. Vlad family was one of the wealthiest in the world, whose footprint could be found from defense contracts to plasma screen televisions to the microwave ovens. From what Dave had heard Katrina Vlad had personally come to the offices of Wren Private Investigative services to ask for their best investigator, Dave. Dave was ex FBI, one of their best, before a stray bullet clipped one of his wings and he was delegated to desk duty. He quit FBI and took a high paying job in Wren PI investigating cheating wives and stray husbands to satisfy his inner Sherlock Holmes. He accepted the job in a heart beat thinking it would make a nice change from endless hours in disguise, planting spy cameras, to catch celebrity spouses having sex with anyone apart from their significant other. Within the first few hours Dave found out what he could about the victim, namely a John Stanson. Mr Stanson was a highly unremarkable individual, if not for a couple of things; first and foremost HE WAS BANGING KARTINA VLAD and secondly he was the face of Drak Guild in Mythica. Dave was a high level player of Mythica himself so he knew that Drak guild was one of the top 3 guilds with fearsome offensive potential and not something to mess with. The first thought he had was that this was an indirect attack on Lady Katrina, however he rejected it immediately; Vlad family was after all famous for being more cold blooded than a fish living near Arctic circle; any ransom or blackmail demand on Lady Katrina would have amounted to less than the sum paid as investigative charges and not a penny more. Dave had scrimmaged through the labyrinth of various CCTV footages, obtained by either influence or well placed bribery to narrow down the list of suspects. He had assumed that since Lowendes street was a fairly unsafe part of city, police patrol cars were not uncommon, hence the victim must have been stuffed onto the trunk of the car. He eliminated all hatchbacks, trucks and open hooded cars. Which narrowed down the list of vehicles passing the McDonalds in front of the parking lot to 12. He further eliminated all chauffeur driven cars and taxies reducing the number to 4. He now had 5 faces, a little blurry perhaps but clear enough to pass though facial identification, his goal was to identify the assailant and not try him in front of a judge so even a 60% match was good enough for him. He went to his office and sent the digital images to one of his FBI drinking buddies who promised him a quick run in return of a free pitcher of beer. Dave took a quick nap and a shower and proceeded towards the FBI building, only to see his friend standing in front with a frightened look on his face. Then suddenly a dark van proceeded shot from the corner. Everything happened so fast...He was clubbed on the head, sandbagged and put into the van, driving to an unknown destination. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ------------------------------------------------- Dave woke up to find himself naked, trussed like a turkey and bound to a chair. A giant halogen bulb was lit in front obscuring his sight, leaving only a faint outline of a couple of shadows. With a sudden stroke of clarity it hit Dave, these were the people that abducted and tortured his client''s lover. He cursed under his breath realising that these people were not thugs nor mafia, they were professionals, and they had the guts and clout to threaten an active FBI officer and kidnap a EX FBI officer. Whatever it was he had stirred the hornet''s nest and he shuddered thinking of the consequences. Just then he heard a looming voice, "I don''t like people prying into me or my people. Nor do I like people lying to me. You would be well advised to remember that." Dave could only nod when confronted by the deep baritone and the smouldering red cigar. "So tell me why were you looking for one of my people. The facial recognition alerted us to the query and a few pointy questions answered the rest.", barked the man with a deep baritone. "My name is Dave Kramer, I was... ", started Dave but he was interrupted in the middle by a second set of voice. "Dave Kramer. Ex-FBI Organised Crime Squad, considered to be a hot shot, next in line for Deputy Director. Shot in the shoulders losing 50% of mobility. Currently working as a porn photographer at Wrens. We have your resume Mr Kramer. We need to know who and why?" Thinking it best to not hide anything Dave recounted the entire event step by step from the moment he got the infernal call. "Impressive. Your deductive powers are really good.", replied the second voice. "No, it was not, you were just sloppy Thirteen. You should have erased the CCTV footages.", said the man with a deep baritone. "With all due respect Sir, I left it as it is, precisely for this reason. We need to know the opponent a little.", argued the second. The man smoking the Cigar ignored the tirade and addressed Dave "I have a couple of job options for you Mr Kramer and only one of them doesn''t lead to an unmarked grave in the ocean somewhere. Which one would you prefer? Think carefully and answer. You can take your time. I don''t mind waiting a little." Dave was not a fool. He knew the people in front had the resources to make him dissapear from the face of the earth. "What do I have to do?" he replied almost immediately. General rose up from his chair switched off the halogen bulb and then turned to Thirteen, "He''s all yours." The man known as Thirteen saluted the General, turned around and asked Dave with a hint of smile, "Hi Dave, how do you feel about playing I-SPY?" ======================================================== Zero''s Adventure continues from Ch11 onwards. I added a side story because I wanted a pivotal character in the fiction. The chapter serves as an introduction to Zero''s first ally, although it will be quite some time before they meet. Ch 11: Altar of Death - 1 ### Altar of Death - 1 ### Zero woke up in a world of pain, he gritted his teeth and surveyed the surroundings. To him it seemed like he was inside the dark damp cave. Water dripped from the ceiling seeping into the rocky floor, some of it trickled out from the rocky bowl, flowing towards to outside world. Outside he could see the sun had set, and based on the position of the moon he determined that he was asleep for at least a couple of hours. He was relieved to find Lina sleeping besides him, and wondered to himself how he got inside the cave. His last known position was approximately 600 meters from the cave entrance and Lina did not look like she had the strength to drag him back here. "But it must be her... I wonder how many secrets she is hiding under the hood of weakness.", he smiled deciding to give her the time and trust she needed to reveal all the secrets. Zero then opened his stats window and found that he had gained 7 levels. He allocated all of the unallocated points onto agility, his training and stats combined made him a speed type fighter which suited him perfectly. Zero examined his own injuries. He had a dislocated shoulder, a charred wrist on the left hand. He also could not move his ankles the way they were supposed to. Mythica gave each player an automatic heal function which meant that all injuries could be healed with longer duration of in-game time, which was also true for severed limbs and broken bones. The heal time of an injury was directly proportional to the severity of the injury, for an example it took a person quarter of an year to fully regrow a cut off arm, naturally. Using medics and anti-biotics the healing process progresses magnitudes faster. But Zero not having access to any medicines or medics was put at a severe disadvantage. Zero took a deep breath and readied himself for what was coming next. He then leaned on the wall of the cave bracing himself with his partially burnt left hand and pushed the right hand onto the socket. Blinded with intense pain he bit his lips till blood came out. He then laid down near the wall panting for breath. ''FUCK! that hurt. At least now I can move the damn hand.'', he thought to himself. He came out of the cave and walked towards the Jackalope. Now that he had the time to admire his opponent, he found that the rabbit was frightening and beautiful at the same time. He carefully cut down the horns, which still gave off a tingling sensation, to show Lina. The then carefully skinned the creature expertly cutting out huge chunks of the poison and wounded area. He then segregated the meat according to the tenderness with the toughest portion saved up for future use safely in his inventory. Zero then went in the jungle to find whatever edible herbs he could find. Once he had identified and collected a portion of the herbs, he started collecting small amounts of dried leaves and twigs and piled then up into a small heap; with the smaller pieces and leaves going onto the bottom. Picking up a couple of dried twigs he cut a notch in one of them and starting rubbing the second portion against it thereby generating small sparks frok friction. Within a span of couple of minutes he had a fire to grill the meat on. He poked his sword onto the prime rib and used it as a grilling rod, all the while reminding himself never ever to show this video to Seven. He reckoned when Seven said he wanted to see the sword in action this was not how he imagined it would be used (See Ch:9 for the details). A sleeping Lina was woken up by the delicious smell of grilled meat. Drooling ever so slightly she went out of the cave to find Zero sitting in front of a fire slowly twirling the meat in front admiring the view in front of him. She sat besides him on the rock, awed by the moonlit jungle. From their vantage point she could see glitter of the moon''s reflection on the flowing river, so peaceful and divine. Once the meat was done they grabbed the pieces of skewered meat and ran back into the cave to find a relatively safe spot, to enjoy the dinner peacefully. Once finished Lina squealed in delight, "That was exquisite. You are a good cook mortal." "Meh... that was nothing, you should try my Mother''s meat loaf. That''s what true grilled meat is.", replied Zero humbly. "Oooh then it must be really good. So what''s our plan of action now.", asked Lina; but frowned when she saw Zero staring at the cave''s back. Zero had noticed a couple of oddities about the cave which Lina had not. What drew his attention was the fact that even though they were sitting facing the cave''s entrance he could feel a slight gusts of wind on the nape of his neck, and then he noticed the flow of the water trickling down the ceiling. At first glance the flow of the water was even passing through the vein of rocks but more he noticed more it became clear that instead of a straight line the water was flowing in an arc as if deliberately trying to avoid a certain area. He got up from his squatting position and moved nearer to the water''s flow. "Hey Lina, come here and stand exactly in this position, can you feel the breeze on your face?", asked Zero once Lina had followed him. He ran his fingers through the rocky outcrops and grew bewildered, all the outcrops were almost of the same size. "I am pretty sure this part of the cave is man made. What do you think?", asked Zero. "I have to agree with you. I can sense a faint amount of energy coming from surface of the wall and it does not seem to be natural.", nodded Lina. She then went ahead tapping and prodding the section of the walls with her tiny little fists and at one of the portion she exclaimed, "Here Zero. Right here, there''s a hollow sound I can also feel a slight indentation in the rocky surface." Zero ran over to her, his heart beating wildly, he had come to a realisation that the cave was just a front. He began beating, prodding, pressing the section of the wall but to no avail. He then took out his sword and inserted in the small gap and tried to use it as a lever but the wall did not budge. Lina joined him and tried to push and pull the rocks but her feeble strength did little. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.Both Lina and Zero were frustrated now "So near and yet so far.", exclaimed Lina, "How the fuck are we supposed to open the damn thing. Grrr!!!" Both of them were sweating now, exhausted they went back to the dinner and sated their appetite. Then a light bulb went on in Zero''s brain. He hurried to different portions of the cave and started pressing the corners, jumping on clearer floors, he had read enough history to know that cave based civilisations relied on pressure plates; so he was hopeful that it would be the same case here. Then suddenly a section of the wall sunk in and the section of the wall where they were breaking their heads slided down the floor. "AWESOME!!! looks like you are not just muscles after all!", screamed an ecstatic Lina. "Hee Hee. Now bow down little fairy." He stood in front of the door and bowed down one arm under his chest inviting Lina in, "Ladies first." Zero took out his sword and proceeded closely behind her, bumping onto the fairy almost immediately, "What the Hell...", he said rubbing his nose. Lina paid no heed to Zero, she was busy staring ahead. What Zero saw took his breath away. The cavern was gigantic, he could not even make out where the cavern ended. Faint streaks of moonlight were coming from the top dimly illuminating the cavern in a faint white glow. "Wow!!! Whoever made this must have excavated the entire mountain to make this place", he thought out loud. "HUH?", Lina had broken out of her reverie now, "What are you looking at you idiot. Look over here.", she said sticking her arm out. When Zero followed her gaze, his mouth fell agape, if it was possible his jaw would have dropped to the floor. What he saw was heap and heaps of gold coins, bars, rings, crowns and all things glittery. It was literally a mountain of gold. Lina shot out like a bullet from a gun and buried herself in the gold, swimming in it, smelling it. Zero thought he saw dollar symbols on her eye, but ignored it thinking it a figment of his imagination. Zero walked towards the treasure when he got the familiar blue pop up
Welcome traveller!!! You are the first person to discover the ancient Mayan Chamber of Death. This chamber was used to bury the bodies of Mayan kings of the past. If you can pass the trials then all the riches and glory can be yours. If you fail you will lose the right to challenge the guardian of the Chamber and expelled from the chambers forcefully. Do you wish to proceed? "Yes" "No" If you want to proceed then proceed towards the Altar of Death
"Ye...", he was about to reply. "Yes of course, he accepts.", replied Lina faster than Zero could think. "Listen mortal you have to pass the trials even if you die. Do you understand? All this gold must be mine!", she was shaking Zero''s collar now advising him. "You meant ''Ours'' right?", asked a doubtful Zero. "Ah...", was all Lina replied. "Oye! you didn''t deny or accept it. You meant ''Ours'' right? What''s with the shifty eyes?", asked Zero with a dubious expression on his face. "..." Lina was looking away now avoiding Zero''s eyes. "Greedy Bitch!!! since when have we started behaving like a married couple.", Zero muttered to himself softly and took a step forward. He could see a huge throne in front of him and assumed that it was the mentioned altar. He was barely halfway there when a voice called out to him. "Stop!!! I can help you with the trials.", boomed the voice. Zero turned towards the voice and saw an old man supporting himself on a gold coloured cane. "Before you go onto the altar, can you riddle me this I am a lonely pilgrim, wounded with iron, smitten with war-blades, sated with strife, worn with the sword-edge; I have seen many battles, Much hazardous fighting, oft without hope of comforts or help in the carnage of war, Ere I perish and fall in the fighting of men. The leavings of hammers, the handiwork of smiths, batter and bite me, hard-eged and sharp; the brunt of the battle I am doomed to endure. In all the folk-stead no leech could I find with wort or simple to heal my wounds; But day and night with the deadly blows the marks of the war-blades double and deepen. What am I?" ====================================================================================================== PS: I do not own the riddle. I actually found it on the web. First person to solve it gets to name him :) I also want a bit of help. It has been mentioned that my summary sucks. Yes these were the actual words :) After going through the summary I cannot help but agree with the person. So anyone with a better summary please post it on the comment section. Also a brief explanation on why the chapters are short. I try to write a little almost daily. But i hardly find more than a couple of hours for it due to real life circumstances, so instead of making you guys wait I try to cut off a chapter when it reaches a logical conclusion. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As always Thank you for reading. Your comments,follows and favourites are highly appreciated. Please do point out if you see any direct plot holes or errors. Since this is my first time writing a fanfic so reviews are always welcome. Ch12 ETA 21st Feb Ch 12: Altar of Death - 2 So Sorry guys for the delayed and short chapter... Have been down with high fever and sore throat. ======================================================== ### Altar of Death - middle ### Zero did not look like a thinker, but he had a very sharp mind when he tried to applied it. He at first was stumped by the old man''s question but slowly and steadily he started peeling the layers and once he did that the answer became pretty evident to him "A shield.", he replied confidently. "Thank you, Young Man! I have been following your actions; ever since the time you appeared in the middle of jungle, as a traveller. I could sense your strength through your gaze but not your wit. So I posed a simple question to you. I can offer you a item which I possess but in return I might ask a favour from you. You need not worry, I will not ask for something unreasonable and you can still retain the item even if you fail.", said the old man feebly. Zero was a bit sceptical; the old man did not seem much, but he was not in a position to deny any equipment provided. His curiosity had now been piqued, there he was finding this mysterious cave with much difficulty and hardships; only to find another person already inside. What''s more the system itself announced he was the first person to discover the cave, which led him to a conclusion that either this guy was an NPC or part of the quest. Making up his mind fairly quickly he accepted, "It would be my honour." A couple of minutes later his eyes were dangerously on the verge of popping out of their sockets. The old man in front of him had transformed in a hideous sort of way, his thin wiry hands had turned mutilated, fingers had vanished altogether leaving behind tiny little stubs with nails growing on them. One half of the face looked like it had melted apart, along with a sizeable portion portion of the skull. The old man now looked something out of an horror story, missing one of his legs and standing upright with the support of the golden cane. Zero forced himself not to flinch at the sight, he stared straight at the old man measuring him, cautioned by him. "Well. Isn''t that something new. Generally when people look at me I can see the pity in their eyes. But here you are... Thank you for not treating me as an invalid.", chuckled the old man. Zero didn''t respond, in reality he didn''t have anything to say. "A promise is a promise. I will be waiting here for when you come back from your trials. Here take this.", he handed Zero a black box. "I just hope this is not an engagement gift.", said a smiling Zero. He opened the box and darkness enveloped him. Within moments of time the surrounding darkness condensed around him restructuring itself. The darkness first created a half mask around his face covering anything below the nostrils including the neck. Then they created a long black overcoat of a leathery material covering him from the shoulders till the knees, complementing with a black pant and a pair of rubber soled hard leather shoes. "Wow classy!!! a bit more Batman than I would have liked... but Nice!!!", exclaimed Zero. "Ha ha...", laughed the old man in front of him, inwardly though he was very very nervous. The suit reacted to a person''s psionic capacity to mould itself into the perfect defense. Various people had various different set of armours made specifically for them, but in this instance the suit had not created any armour at all. Instead it created full body cloth, this was unheard of. "show stats"
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Psionic ArmourAegis
Defense+100
Strength+20
Agility+20
Special Skills
Plasma sheild
level 1Provides a plasma sheild for 30 second duration
Camoflague
level 1Can project an image from the wearers mind. Bearer can take any shape, size, form as long as you can project it in your mind. 24 Hour cooldown, lasts till image wears off.
A wide smile spread across Zero''s lips, "Although the defense and addition to strength and agility is good. What takes the icing on the cake is the special skills. As a covert operative it is imperative to have some sort of disguise. But with this I can have a perfectly good disguise." He then bowed towards the old man and said "I do not know who you are or what your purpose is...but I owe you one. You can come to me anytime to collect it." He then took one huge gulp of air and proceeded towards the altar. Dressed completely in black and a black sword in hand and the face half covered, he looked like an incarnation of death itself. As he went closer to the altar he felt huge amounts of pressure. The pressure, oppressed and overwhelmed and made him nauseous, but he did not stop. With single minded determination he walked towards the altar with halting steps. When he reached his destination he had small trickle of blood coming down from his nose, but he stood in front of the altar like a statue made of black marble. There stood a huge creature in front of the altar now like a thing of immortal make, not human, lion-fronted and snake behind, a goat in the middle. When it breathed a huge snot of fire came out of its nostrils, like a thing out of your deepest darkest nightmare. "Ha ha ha. Its been quite a while since I had such an interesting prey, you are the first one in aeons who have managed to reach the altar. Usually they flee when they are unable to withstand the pressure. I stand in front of you human do you still want to compete?" Zero nodded once "Yes." The beast growled once and said, "The lets begin. But first answer me this what do you truly desire I do not sense a greed for the wealth in you but something far darker instead. What do you desire human?" Zero had not thought about it. What did he desire in the world of Mythica? He had a single goal. Revenge!!! But as he was now it was impossible for him to take care of a low ranking player forget the owners. Did he desire power to make them grovel in front of him? Did he desire wealth to crush them? Did he desire the means to kill them all over and over and over again? He decided that he wanted all of it, "Chaos!!!", he replied calmly. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- As always Thank you for reading. Your comments,follows and favourites are highly appreciated. Please do point out if you see any direct plot holes or errors. Since this is my first time writing a fanfic so reviews are always welcome. Next chapter is half written. Well it was supposed to be a part of this chapter :) will finish it after I get back to 100%