《The Path of The Sinners》 Chapter 1: Peaceful Beginnings ¡°Virtual reality. It is the idea of creating, well, a virtual reality. I know, truly poetic, but what can I say, at least I¡¯m accurate. Anyways, virtual reality is a pretty big thing in our everyday lives. In the past people would go on planes and ships to sail the world, yet now whole new ones were at all of our fingertips. People could visit jungles, space, oceans, hell, heaven, and even Canada, all without leaving their home. Of course, they were all virtual reconstructions of the real things, but the realism of it all left little to complain about. This is all thanks to one company named Liber. In 2054, Liber was but a floundering company, on the edge of bankruptcy, and out of the eyes of the people. Yet by 2056, they had risen into the households of every house in the world. With their creation of the Gate. The Gate, was the first true virtual reality device that could be afforded by the average middle class family, and although it only featured some sports, tours, and a virtual library, the Gate opened the way for the next era.¡± ¡°Jacob.¡± ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°You do realize that your speech was enough to put both Sarah, and Dawson to sleep right?¡± Looking over to his left Jacob was greeted by the tranquil sight of Sarah face down on the table, and Dawson, leaning back with his eyes closed as he slept peacefully on the couch. ¡°Well, was it really that boring?¡± ¡°Yes, the only reason I¡¯m not sleeping is because I¡¯m curious about what you¡¯ll be saying after your fantastic introduction.¡± ¡°Yeah Jordan, just like Nicole, the rest of us would prefer it if you would just get to the point.¡± ¡°Alright, since you guys were this patient, I suppose I can tell you.¡± ¡°Just get to the fucking point already Jordan¡±, muttered a rather annoyed Sarah, having woken up when the mind numbing intro ended. ¡°Ok, Ok, so you guys know how Liber, is launching their new game ¡®Fractal Lands¡¯?¡± ¡°Of course, didn''t we enter that video contest to try and win access to it?¡± Dawson said without opening his eyes. ¡°Yep, we didn''t just enter the contest though,¡± Jacob said with a hinting voice. ¡°What else did we do then? Besides spending hours working on the fucking thing, I don¡¯t remember doing anything else with it.¡± ¡°We did do one thing though, and that, is¡­¡± ¡°Either spit it out, or I¡¯ll make you spit your teeth out!¡± Sarah, clearly amused by Jacob¡¯s theatrics, voiced her opinion rather openly. ¡°We won.¡± ¡° ¡° ¡° Eh?¡± ¡° ¡° This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. ¡°We won the contest. Our video was selected as one of the winners.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re telling me, that a short video of us pretending to fight each other won a contest in which thousand of others entered as well?¡± Muttered Nicole as she regained her composure once more. ¡°Pretend my ass, did you see the way Sarah was swinging her fists! It was enough to make even the greatest of fighters run!¡± Dawson cried out before seconds later he was laid out onto the floor. ¡°Anyways guys, They will be installing custom Gates for each of us tomorrow. I already told Jordan, Morgan and Michael yesterday, since their flight won¡¯t arrive until after everything is installed.¡± ¡°Seems like our boredom will be dammed for a while¡±, happily exclaimed Nicole as she started to help Dawson back up. ¡°What time will they arrive?¡± Asked a frighteningly calm Sarah ¡°Tomorrow at around 8 is what the email said. Why don¡¯t you guys come over at around that time?¡± ¡°Well in that case I¡¯m off to bed, don¡¯t want to be too tired when everything arrives.¡± ¡°Mind if I join you?¡± Called out Dawson, before he was once more reacquainted with the floor. ¡°Good night Sarah¡±, Jacob said as Sarah started to head home. ¡°I¡¯m off too then.¡± ¡°Me three.¡±, exclaimed Nicole and Dawson, as they hauled themselves down the hall and out the door. Closing his door after them and throwing himself onto his bed, Jacob thought about what he knew of Fractal Lands. First, it was a fantasy themed MMORPG that was coming out from Liber. From the trailers and interviews he watched he wasn''t able to conclude much more than that. All he knew was the genre and the fact that the developers took great pride in how free the game was to let people be. ¡®The world will be created for all of you. Whether you will be saints or demons, conquerors or paupers, famous or obscure, all of these choices are up to you. You must only reach out, and grasp it within your hands.¡¯ And with the words of the Fractal Lands trailer playing in his head, Jacob drifted off into the land of dreams. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hello everyone! This is my first story, and although English is my first language, if you catch any errors or areas to improve please comment them as I would like to be able to fully express the ideas that I have. Anyways Thank you for reading the first chapter, although it seems to be more of a prologue :/ Chapter 2: Proud Beginnings Waking up and heading downstairs, Jacob began to make breakfast when he heard the doorbell start to ring. Quickly putting his bread into the toaster, Jacob rushed to the door to be greeted to the sight of 4 men holding multiple boxes, each about the size of a microwave. While going through the process of confirming who he was and showing them where to set the Gates, Sarah, Dawson and Nicole arrived.They then began opening the boxes which held a large helmet that enclosed the entire head, as well as instruction manuals upon how to setup and use the device safely. ¡°When will Morgan, Michael and Jordan get here?¡± Asked Nicole as she giddily held the Gate in her hands. ¡°Jordan texted me earlier, he said their plane just landed so they should be here in about an hour or so.¡± Jordan replied calmly, while inside he was just as giddy, if not more so, than Nicole. ¡°In the meantime why don¡¯t we all decide our in game names and that?¡± ¡°Huh? Aren¡¯t we going to use our real names?¡± Sarah asked puzzled as to why she should have to think of a new one. ¡°Tell me Sarah, how many Sarahs do you think there are in this world?¡± Dawson asked. ¡°Well, shit, I suppose you¡¯re right, but if not our real names then what should we all use? ¡°Well there is seven of us in total, once everyone else gets here, so why not doing a group thing?¡± Nicole suggested to the group without removing her eyes from the Gate for even a moment. ¡°Well if it¡¯s a group of seven then it has to be the seven deadly sins right?¡± Jacob replied as he skimmed through the instruction book. ¡°Sure, sounds good, but which of us should be which? I know Sarah should be Wrath, and Dawson Sloth, but what about the rest of us?¡± Nicole commented, while the two aforementioned members tried to find points to refute. ¡°Well, Jordan can be Gluttony, and Morgan can be Envy those ones are pretty obvious too.¡± Jacob replied so that Sarah and Dawson wouldn¡¯t feel so bad about being so easily pegged onto a sin.. ¡°Well that leaves Pride, Lust, and Greed right? Well, seeing how you¡¯re such a perfectionist at time, and Michael is the penny pincher of the group, why not you two be Pride and Greed, and I¡¯ll be Lust?¡± Suggested Nicole as she found a way to sew the names onto each member of the group. ¡°Alright, I guess that settles it then, when Jordan, Morgan and Michael come back, we can tell them their names and then we can talk with them about their trip to Toronto until the game launches.¡± Dawson finally piped up, having given up trying to refute Nicole¡¯s earlier statement. ¡°The game doesn''t launch ¡®till 4, so I guess that¡¯s a pretty solid plan. In the mean time you guys want some food; I believe my toast is done by now.¡± ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A Few hours later and everyone was sitting in the living room of Jacob¡¯s house. When Nicole told Jordan, Morgan and Michael their plans for naming everyone seemed to agree that the names fit, and with only minor profanities being swung around, everyone finally settled down in time for them to chat aimlessly until the launch time approached. ¡°Well, the game launches in 5 minutes, so why don¡¯t we all enter the Gate right now in case there is anything we need to set up before launch?¡± This was suggested by Michael as he sipped away at his orange juice. ¡°Alright, when we enter the game though guys, make sure we all register each other as friends, since we don¡¯t know any of the starter cities, or even how we start, we might not see each other in person for a while.¡± Jacob calmly suggested, in order to remind his friends who were prone to forget things. ¡°Well let¡¯s quite stalling then and start!¡± Sarah yelled, her excitement finally peaking. And with that everyone donned their Gates, turned them on, and were introduced into a open white space. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ¡®Welcome, New user detected, please state the name you wish for me to call you.¡¯ A feminine voice called out, most likely the A.I. which controlled his Gate. ¡°Please call me Jacob¡± ¡®Name confirmed. Welcome Jacob, would you like a basic overview of the services you Gate may perform?¡¯ ¡°No thank you. Please open game Fractal Worlds.¡± ¡®Fractal Worlds is not yet released, would you like to preload program and run when program is released?¡¯ ¡°Yes.¡± Jacob then had his scenery change into that of a small waiting room, fitted with a couch, coffee table and a door with with numbers counting down for 50. ¡°Must be the time until the game is released then. I guess that must be in real world time, seeing as time here moves slower.¡± Jacob muttered to himself while sitting down onto the couch. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Once the timer finally reached zero, the door swung open, and light poured in from the other side. Jacob timidly rose from his seat, and stepped through the door, and into another empty white space. The difference though, was that this time, he was put face to face with a woman wearing a toga who looked to be in her mid-twenties. ¡°Greetings adventurer, please, tell me your name.¡± A window popped up in front of Jacob with a keyboard and the instructions to say the name he wants in-game, as well as to type it out. ¡°My name is Pride¡± Jacob answered the presumed goddess, while typing it into the screen in front of him. ¡°Hello Pride, please select the body you wish.¡± In front of Pride three races were given for him to choose, as well as a small description for each.
Human
Humans reside in the central kingdom, while branching out into almost each inch of civilised land. Their diversity makes it hard for them to be put into any one category, which makes it hard for outside forces to judge their strength, but this also creates internal discord on a political level. Humans are a standard race, with the ability to grow in almost any direction. Humans have no particular benefits nor do they have any negatives.
Elf
Elves are a long lived race residing in the Eastern Forests. Although they are currently at peace with the other races, this peace is strained, as the beauty of elves is often sought by foreign slavers. Elves may change form depending upon their actions into different sub species, such as high and night elves. Basic elves however, have an increase in growth for agility and nature related skills, but will fare poorly in battles of pure strength.
Dwarf
Dwarves are stout and tough creatures, known for their ingenuity and love for mining and drinking. Dwarves reside in the Northern Mountain Ranges, building inside the mountain as well as in the valleys between them. They live a rather isolated existence, but have been known to send trader caravans out into foreign lands Dwarves receive an increase in skills related to crafting and strength, but are not very agile due to their short stature.
¡°Human.¡± Pride decided this after careful deliberation, due to the fact that he really had no clue what he wanted to do and would much rather keep his options open. ¡°Alright, please now adjust your appearance as you see fit.¡± The goddess then created a splitting image of Jacob and placed it in front of him. Jacob was a decent looking guy. He was 6¡¯3¡± (190cm), had blonde hair, grey eyes, and kept his body in fairly good shape through daily exercise. Due to this, Jacob chose to keep Pride pretty much the same as him, while only changing his hair length until he could put it up into a small ponytail. He enjoyed the hairstyle, but never had the determination nor patience to grow it out himself. ¡°Is this how you wish to be seen?¡± The goddess asked Pride carefully. ¡°Yes¡± ¡°Where would you like to start, there is currently Lumbridge in the Province of the Holy Order, or Desri in the Central Province to choose from.¡± ¡°Desri please.¡± Pride chose Desri not because of what it was, but rather it was because the idea of starting in a holy province didn¡¯t sound too appealing for one of the sins. Moments after stating his request, Pride was transported into a town square, as others also instantly appeared as beams of assembled light around him. In the back of his head though, he heard the goddess say.¡±Welcome Pride, to the Fractal Worlds.¡± ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Well that is chapter two. This was my first attempt at tables, and It¡¯s currently midnight here so if I messed up on them please tell me how to fix it. Anyways, This is Jacob¡¯s beginning, I will be using him to do all the world set up and then later on (~ch8 maybe) I will switch to another characters beginning. I will just do this for one of the dwarves and one of the elves though, so that things can keep moving without too much repetition before everyone gets together. Anyways, once more, any suggestions or comments would be much obliged. Thanks :D Chapter 3: City In The Sky (Quick note, will be in Pride/Jacob¡¯s POV from now until the other characters pop in) I¡¯m not sure what I expected when I first entered the game. I¡¯m not sure if I was expecting a typical castle town, surrounded by high walls, or a peaceful village with friendly citizens for the new players to be with. But what I can say however, that the sight in front of me, was not what I was expecting. All around me there was light shining down as new players joined, creating a shimmering atmosphere around all of us. The place where we arrived was a stone plaza, shaped in a circle with an angle in the middle of a fountain, reaching towards the heavens with it¡¯s hands, and a sword standing proudly beside it. What truly amazed me though, was where the angel was reaching towards. You see, in the sky, being highlighted by one of the three setting suns, was a castle floating in the air. It¡¯s white walls, no doubt bleached by the suns rays over time, were shimmering in the distance. Emerging from the castle were shapes, slowly growing larger and larger towards our group, until finally they were recognized as gryphons with riders on the back of them. Eventually the gryphons arrived, slowly circling above us, as all the new players were captivated by the magnificent sight before us. Finally, they landed in a circle around our group, and a man dressed in a white robe with faint gold embroidery stepped off of his gryphon and immediately, all the villagers around us dropped down onto bended knees, an action most of us then emulated. ¡°Greetings, children of the gods, my name is King Rex, and I welcome you to the city of Desri.¡± His words rang clear like crystal, and the faces of those around me were of those awed by the magnificence before them. ¡°Hello King Rex, although I am but one of us children, I do believe that I speak for all of us when I say thankyou, for the warm reception in which you have graced us with.¡± The words flowed out of my mouth almost subconsciously as all those years of reading fantasy novels finally kicked in. ¡°You are very welcome. Now, to proceed upon a more formal subject, I wish to inform all of you of the basic rules of my lands. I realise that your realm beyond is vast, with varying laws and punishments within it, so I would like to make clear how our world is run.¡± The king said this, while a man dressed in plate armour, approached him, holding a scroll in which I could only assume held the aforementioned laws. ¡°First, there will be no theft, murder, rape, or unnecessary violence while within the city boundaries. Second...:¡± The kings voice drolled on as he explained the rules of this land to us, but to spare you the speech, I will instead summarise the key points. First off, many of the rules regarding violence or sexual conduct were maintained over here. Although sex was allowed in the game, due to legal concerns the developers had made it clear in previous interviews that it would be restricted to players above eighteen, who had no status effects on them. Second, Dueling or other forms of sanctioned battles were to be performed within the walls of the arena, no doubt to prevent damage to the properties of the citizens. Now Lastly, the most surprising thing was that slavery, was allowed. Of course it had rather strict rules governing it, but the fact that people could own other people created a stir within the group. Some of the group was calmed down upon learning that we as children of god, couldn¡¯t be made into slaves, but it still was an unsettling thought to most. To me though, I wasn¡¯t really surprised. Slaves could be made of enemies defeated in battle, or captured from other slave owners. Slaves could also be made if a citizen committed an atrocious crime, as they would then be awarded to the victim or their family. After outlining all the rules of this world, the king mounted his gryphon and with a swift farewell, returned to his castle in the sky. Slowly we all came to our senses and started to explore the city around us. Around the square there were some stores as well as a cathedral. I saw players starting to enter, most likely to search for jobs or skills related to the holy order. Others, myself included, started to head off onto the roads surrounding the square. While wandering the streets I opened my inventory and was greeted by the sight of a wooden stick, 10 pieces of bread, 2 canteens of water, and a card.
Status Card
Type:SoulboundDurability:Unbreakable
Quality:Unique
A card outlining a character''s stats, level, name, and other information. May not be traded, destroyed or stolen.
¡®Huh, I guess that instead of having a window to show our stats to us, we have a card that we can display to others instead¡¯
Status Window
Name:PrideAlignment:Neutral
Level:1Jobs:None
Race:HumanGender:Male
Titles
None
Fame:0Infamy:0
-
Health:100 / 100Health Regen:0.5 / Sec
Mana:50 / 50Mana Regen:0.5 / Sec
-
Strength:10Agility:10
Vitality:10
Intelligence:10Wisdom:5
Leadership:1Luck:10
-
Attack:1Defense:10
If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡®Hmm, it seems that the basic stats are pretty normal in comparison to any other RPG, but what is this about a job, and where is the class slot? Do they mean the same thing perhaps?¡¯ I wonder what the other¡¯s stats are. As soon as that thought crossed my mind I realized I had almost forgotten to add them as friends. Saying ¡®Friends List¡¯ was enough to pop open a window for myself in which I then tried to add the others to the list, only to be greeted with a message saying I must be within 200 metres of the target to add as a friend. ¡®Well that¡¯s a bit of a pain.¡¯ Although its a pain in the butt, at least that confirms my thought that none of the others chose to start here. Oh well, atleast from all this walking I finally reached the edge of the city. ¡°The entire fucking city¡¯s floating!?!¡± Unable to contain My thoughts, I burst out my finding to the surrounding crowd that had noticed the same. When you look out from the main gates, you would see a field slowly stretching towards the edge, before a sudden drop, almost as if the city had been ripped from the earth and set into the air like a balloon. Off to the right from the gate, a river flowed off the island, and out of sight from my eyes. ¡®I wonder what happens to the water, and why has the city not run out of water anyways?¡¯ While pondering such things I started to turn back to try and explore within the city for a little while longer. Never know, maybe I could come across a typical training center, or stumble across a quest. After wandering aimlessly for an hour though, the only building I found of interest to me was the library. Of course I also found buildings for the various guilds and professions that were available in the city, but seeing how full they were with other plays, I decided to wait for calmer tides. Around me I saw other players who seemingly had the same idea, as they wandered the aisles looking at books of lore or magic, perhaps in search of a skill or quest. I myself, am currently reading a book titled ¡®The Principles of Magic¡¯. The book so far, had outlined what magic was, and surprisingly enough, told the principles behind it. Magic worked in multiple ways, with multiple results. With summoning magic, the caster would form a pact with the summoned, and then create a specific formula to summon the summons with. That formula could take three forms, a verbal chant, a set of runes, or an item which contained the stored summons. Chanting would need to be memorised, practiced and could be at times rather lengthy and cost a lot of mana, however it required no outside materials or skills. Runes required a basic knowledge of runes, as well as the rune itself to be created. Runes could be put onto parchment, or carved into a materiel to act in a way similar to the item form, but to fully use runes one would use mana into the air to create the set of runes with just their mana. This however required a lot of practice, and the tinies of mistakes could ruin the entire summon. Items were the best in terms of time and mana, but were hard to come by and could not be created under normal circumstances. That was just an example into one branch of magic, contained in the game and in the book were the principles of hundreds of forms of magic, such as elemental control, body strengthening, teleportation, telekinesis, mind magic, and hundreds of others. After reading the book though, one piece of information lodged itself rather firmly in my head. That information was that almost all the magics had one common way to be used. Runes. Runes, for those that don¡¯t know, are symbols formed using in most cases a ¡®magic language¡¯, that then forms the spell by taking in mana from either the user, or the world around it. In Fractal Worlds though, runes could come in various languages, shapes, and some would even require special materials. Even with these restrictions though, it was one common idea that linked everything together. Just like that, through a boring book in the library, I found my calling in Fractal Worlds. Pride, Rune Master. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Hello once more! A bit of a longer chapter here to compensate for the fact that the previous two weren¡¯t in game yet, so I hope you enjoy it. Big thanks to Sieghard for his guide on making tables! I tried a different writing style then what I was used to, but I think it turned out okay, let me know what you guys think though. Also, I¡¯m curious to know how much detail you want me to give on the cities and areas in chapter. I have an idea of going between chapters and posting little side bits that would outline the city layout, design, basis etc. as well as show some images I used for concepts. But I¡¯m curious as to what you guys think. Anyways, thanks for reading! :D Chapter 4: The First Job With my goal now decided, I went around the library searching for various books on runes. There were only books on theory here, but it is helpful none the less. Thanks to those books, although I didn¡¯t learn anything about making runes, I did learn where to go to earn that knowledge. And so, off I went to the magic guild. The magic guild itself is not a single building, but rather a compound encompassing numerous facilities all tied together in one location. It was more akin to a college rather than an office building to give an example. Once at the gates though, I came across a certain issue that I had not expected. How would I get in? In the books I read before people would just enter and ask for a teacher, but I guess that wouldn¡¯t be very profitable, seeing as you needed to sign up and pay for any courses you wished to take. Being broke, I of course left and went around like a normal teenager in search of a part-time job. Other people seemed to of had the same idea, as in front of most every shop on the main road there was a sign saying ¡®NOT HIRING¡¯. That instead lead me to wander the side roads and alleys until I found a store that had piqued my interest. A tattoo parlor. It was nothing fancy, there were no flashing lights nor extravagant signs to mark it¡¯s location, but the curiosity of a tattoo parlor in a medieval city of magic was enough to make me enter. ¡°What do you want?¡± A man asked from the counter. ¡°I was curious about what you did here, so I came to have a look, is that alright?¡± Deciding to be honest I answered the man clearly, while slowly stepping forward to be able to see the interiour more easily. ¡°Just curious about my business? Well, suppose I can¡¯t really say no. What would you like to know?¡± The man stood up from his seat at the counter, and instantly I felt like a dwarf. The man must of been at least 6¡¯10¡± (208cm) and his hand which he offered for me to shake, seemed to be large enough to palm my skull with. ¡°Well I was curious about what you use to tattoo with, or how you tattoo.¡± I said while shaking his hand. ¡°Well, since I¡¯m currently empty at the moment, why don¡¯t I give you a small temporary tattoo as a demonstration, instead of trying to explain in words.¡± He said this while pointing towards a chair situated behind a curtain that was not visible when I was standing in the doorway. ¡°I¡¯m sorry sir, but I don''t have any money to pay you with.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, a freebie here and there helps draw in customers.¡± The man said this with a wink as if to say that I should draw in customers in compensation. ¡°I¡¯ll just do a small dagger on your forearm, does that sound good?¡± ¡°Yes, that would be nice thankyou.¡± While I sat there I rolled up the sleeve of my plain tunic and looked around me. On the walls surrounding the room were pictures. Images of all kinds were situated there, from dragons to girls, from horses to daggers, it was almost like an art gallery was shoved into the room. While I was looking around though, the man had gone into a cabinet and grabbed an object reminding me of a paintbrush with the bristles replaced with a small blade, too small to be called a knife, yet too large to be called a needle. This tool was accompanied by a bowl of some kind of red liquid, as well as a small bush. ¡°Alright, hold out your arm and watch carefully.¡± The man then started to trace a shape on my arm with the paintbrush-esque blade, which as I followed its movements, started to make faint red lines on my skin. These lines started to take the shape of a dagger and after the form was ready, he then picked up the brush and dipped it into the liquid lightly, only enough to wet the tip. He then proceeded to carefully trace the lines once more, filling it in with this red liquid, until finally the entirety of it was filled. ¡°Now hold still boy, this part may hurt a bit¡±, And with those words the blade was thrust into the centre of the knife¡¯s design and my health was dropped instantly by nearly 80 points. When he removed it While holding back numerous words that had come to surface I realised that blood as well as a blue liquid both seemed to be coming from the wound, and that my mana was slowly draining one point at a time. ¡°Sorry about not telling you in advance, but it¡¯s better if you¡¯re not tense for it. Anyways what is happening now is that this little¡¯ tool here punctured into your mana lines and is allowing your blood and mana to fill the design, once it¡¯s full I will patch you up and apply the last step to seal it in. Of course the seal will be temporary and will come off in about a week.¡± ¡°So my mana is what makes the tattoo?¡± ¡°Kind of, your mana acts as a bonding agent for the dye so that it won¡¯t be rejected by the body, and allows the tattoo to synchronize with your life stream.¡± ¡°Synchronize with my life stream? Isn''t this just a tattoo?¡± Curious, I voiced my thoughts as the idea of a tattoo being for anything other than aesthetics never had occured to me. ¡°Tattoos, depending on their dye, design, and designer, will have different effects on a person¡¯s life. For some it is an increase in the ability to regain mana, others find it lets them talk to others easier and with more effect than before.¡± ¡®So they¡¯re like status buffs that can be ingrained onto a person for a long time¡¯, Finding the lack of a drawback weird I asked the man what could or does go wrong with them. ¡°Well firstly there is the idea of rejection from the dyes. If the dyes and your body don¡¯t react well then you could suffer some nasty drawbacks like blindness or having your mana slowly drain. There is also certain negatives with most designs, you design should increase reaction speed to attacks coming towards you, but in exchange people will tend to avoid you and might even fear you. Lastly there is the thoughts of the artist. If the artist has strong thoughts or emotions going through his head while he carves the person¡¯s skin, then those thoughts might be ingrained into the design as well, which can leave all kinds of effects.¡± Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. While he told me the list of downsides to tattoos, he was slowly clearing out the excess blood and mana from the tattoo, as well as applying the seal. ¡°There you go. it seems like you children of the gods do receive tattoos just like any other person.¡± ¡°Wait, was i some kind of guinea pig for you!?¡± Astounded that the good will that I had thought came from this man, was rather a veiled experiment being performed on me, I ended up yelling at the man. ¡°Yep¡±, Without a single thought the artist answered me and grinned from ear to ear at my face,¡±By the way Mr. Guinea pig, I¡¯m Ezos, and you are?¡± ¡°My name is Pride.¡± ¡°Pride eh? Interesting name you have there.¡± ¡°Thank you, I take great pride in it.¡± While giving me a look like that of a dead fish, Ezos sighed and sat down, seemingly disappointed in my amazing pun. ¡°So Pride, what is it that you children of the gods wish to do here in our realm?¡± Ezos asked me this in a way to seemingly shift the conversation away from my linguistic abilities. ¡°All of us children are here for our own various reasons. Some seek fame or wealth, yet others seek carnage and destruction. Some prefer the idea of exploring the world, and yet still some seek out arts and culture that cannot be experienced in our realm. Myself though, I just wish to enjoy myself, although I do have a goal set in mind for the time being.¡± ¡°And what, might I ask, is that goal?¡± Ezos asked me this while sitting down back into his chair behind the counter. ¡°My current goal is to save up money to enter the magic guild, and to then learn more about runes.¡± ¡°Runes eh? Most of that magic stuff just goes over my head, but Runists I will admit, always seemed to be like comrades to me.¡± Ezos said this while looking up towards the roof. For a while silence persisted until he spoke up once more. ¡°Listen Pride, you seem like a nice enough fellow, so why don¡¯t you work here? I need some help with this business, and you need cash, so why not kill two birds with one stone?¡± I was not expecting this kind of offer to come in from a business that i had just stumbled into, and if not for the slight smirk on Ezos¡¯ face, I might of instantly said yes, rather though I asked,¡±What would the job require me to do?¡± ¡°hmm, you don¡¯t seem to fall for the same trick twice then. What I would have you do is learn to make tattoos, gather materials from the area around us, pick up deliveries, as well as be my personal experiment. Sound good?¡± The last bit there caught me off guard, but the fact that we will revive if we die, and that I might not get another offer prompted me to say a quick, ¡°Yes¡±, and with that a window popped up in front of me.
New Job Acquired
You have accepted a job change to ¡®Apprentice Body Artist¡¯, as such you have gained the following changes: +20 Dexterity +5% Growth for skills related to tattoos +More respect from citizens in professions related to the arts
Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:
Body ArtistryUncommon10.00%
By engraving the body with specific tools, an artist may create special effects associated with the design and dye used. Skill affects chance of positive effects, duration of tattoo, allowed dyes, as well as strength of the effect.
With a new job and skill now being added to my repertoire, I began my work as a body artist, well I wish that was how it went, but my alarm inside the Gate went off and with a quick explanation that I would be back soon, I left the Gate and returned to the real world. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hello once more! This chapter contains some hints towards Pride¡¯s future and finally introduces his first skill. Once again the window is thanks to Sieghard¡¯s guide. If you have any suggestions or comments please post them and be aware that while I will try to get a new chapter out daily, I have exams coming up soon, so I might have to slow down for a bit. Thanks for reading by the way, and the review I received was much appreciated! :D Chapter 5: Speaking and Sandwiches Coming back to reality I was greeted by a pitch black view of the inside of the Gate, until the helmet¡¯s visor started to clear up and I was free to take it off. It seemed as I was the first one out as the others were still sitting in their various positions around the room. I had set my alarm earlier than their so that I could make everyone some lunch before returning to the game. While making my way to the kitchen, I heard Nicole¡¯s alarm start to go off, and figured I should stay until she¡¯s out to ask her what she would like. ¡°Hey Nicole, welcome back to the work of the real.¡± ¡°Ello, nice to see you again. What did you start as, and where? It seems as if the friends list has some range limits on it.¡± Nicole said all this while slowly getting up and stretching her body which seemed to of been in a rather awkward position until now. ¡°I started human in Desri, how about you?¡± ¡°I started human too, but I¡¯m in Lumbridge with Sarah.¡± ¡°Guess that means that only us three started as humans then, seeing as those were the only options.¡± Using the process of elimination I deducted such, and Nicole simply nodded in acknowledgement. ¡°Anyways, enough chit-chat for now, I¡¯m hungry and I¡¯m sure the others will be too!¡± Nicole seemed to now be too influenced on her stomach to continue on for now, and I went off to the kitchen to make some sandwiches. When I came back, I was greeted by the sight of everyone else already awake, and talking about their adventures so far. ¡°Hey Jacob, how are ya¡¯?¡± Michael was the first to notice me and curtly said hello, before moving his eyes onto the sandwiches in my hand. ¡°Oh Jacob, I¡¯m glad to see you were thinking ahead!¡± Jordan said this before taking three of the sandwiches from my hands, the others then followed suit until I was left with only my own simple ham and cheese. ¡°So, what race and city did everyone choose?¡± Nicole was the first to strike up conversation after she devoured her sandwich. ¡°I¡¯m human in Desri.¡± I responded simply just to get the ball rolling. ¡°I¡¯m human in Lumbridge, same with Nicole.¡± Sarah was next to chime in while adding Nicole as well. ¡°Dwarf in Bahrst.¡± Michael followed suit and added his as the first non-human. ¡°Morgan and I are Elves in Faladrion.¡± Jordan chimed in,¡± Seems that would leave Dawson as the last eh?¡± ¡°Save the best for last, anyways, I¡¯m a dwarf in Bawold.¡± Dawson seemed to be rather happy for being last as it let him try a witty comment. Key word of course being try. ¡°So what are your guys¡¯ cities like, I thought mine was in a mountain at first, but once I reached the exit I found out we¡¯re dug into the underbelly of a damned floating island! Going up though, I saw that we were still in a mountain too, with a few settlements in the valley down below.¡± Dawson continued on while revealing some pretty interesting information. ¡°For me I¡¯m in a pretty normal fantasy city, but the land is floating in the sky too, and above the town is a castle on another floating land.¡± Briefly summarising the sights around me, I then motioned for Sarah to detail her own. ¡°I don¡¯t know if Lumbridge is floating or not, the entire city is surrounded by mountains with a giant lake in the middle.¡± Sarah seemed to be slightly miffed at the fact that her city didn¡¯t get a beautiful aerial sight as her glare face scrunched up while recounting the sights. ¡°Typically elven villages are in forests right, well Faladrion is just inside of one big tree, with the gate leading out onto branches. I couldn¡¯t tell if we were floating or not, as the vines and leaves blocked me from looking for too far." Morgan said this and right after, Michael followed up. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. ¡°Well my city seems pretty dull then. For Bahrst we seem to of just dug down from a field. There is a town for trade up above, but through the entrances dotted around the city you can enter almost like an ant colony which holds most of the important stuff.¡± ¡°Huh, the developers sure didn¡¯t skimp out on landscape design now did they?¡± I asked this rhetoric question and was responded with a plethora of nods and yeps. ¡°So did you guys find a job yet, or any skills?¡± Curious, I continued the information sharing with a simple question. Michael, Jordan and Morgan quickly said no, but the others seemed to of gained something. ¡°Sarah and I found a jobs as grocers from an elderly lady after after we helped her when she had fallen, It gives us increased effects from food, and lowers cost from other merchants. No skills though.¡± Nicole gave a report about their job and then motioned towards Dawson for him to speak next. ¡°Well, being a dwarf and all, I found a job as a miner. It gave me some strength and vitality, as well as it gave me the mining skill. It¡¯s pretty boring though, so I might leave after earning some coin.¡± Dawson seemed tired even in real life, although that didn¡¯t really surprise me. ¡°Well for me I found a job as a body artist. It gave me some dexterity, as well as increases my tattoo skills, of which I gained the skill body artistry.¡± Seems like I got the most exciting of the jobs as everyone looked at me while trying to think of what to say next. ¡°What is a body artist?¡± Eventually Michael chimed in and asked the question I was preparing for. ¡°Body artist are pretty much tattooists. They put tattoos on people that then give buffs or debuffs depending on the tattoo and the dye. In game my boss, Ezos, gave me a dagger tattoo on my forearm that should increase my reflexes in battle, but make people slightly scared of me. Oh, it¡¯s temporary by the way.¡± ¡°Wow, that¡¯s pretty cool, I¡¯m kind of jealous.¡± Morgan chimed in while almost subconsciously making a pun off of her name. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m trying to save up money to enter the magic guild and learn runes.¡± ¡°I was really surprised that the schools cost money, although it does make sense for a business.¡± Sarah chimed in this time, while grumbling under her breath about how insane the costs were. ¡°Yeah, I can¡¯t wait to earn enough money to enter though.¡± Michael said this, while emphasising the word money. ¡°Why wait then, when we can just enter right now?¡± I asked this to michael and smiled, while reaching for my Gate. ¡°Guess you¡¯re right, shall we?¡± Michael responded in turn by mirroring my actions. ¡°Let¡¯s.¡± And with those word I went back into the Fractal Worlds. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Another chapter done! This time we get to see the characters interacting a bit in the real world, and explaining some of the sites that you will get to read about later on. Quick question now, do you guys want me to make a side chapter with even more detail on each city as kind of a bonus bit, or would you rather me focus on continuing the story for now. Comment down below and depending on the results, there might be a bonus chapter on the city and scenery of Desris. Chapter 6: Dwarven Greed Entering Fractal Worlds once more, I am greeted by Ezos sitting once more in his seat, this time however, he is eating a bowl of soup. He pauses though for a minute, and stares at me before finishing his soup. ¡°Hello again. My apologies for having to leave suddenly, my realm required my attention.¡± Trying to explain things to him in a polite manner, I had chosen my words before hand. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, instead of apologizing you can go to the docks and pick up a shipment of mine that came in about an hour ago.¡± Ezos said this while handing me a piece of paper with a map and directions written on it, as well as the name of the shipment. ¡°Understood, I will be right back then. What is it that I¡¯m picking up by the way?¡± ¡°Nothing too worrisome, just a few boxes of a new dye a customer wished to try out.¡± While saying this Ezos went back to his seat where a piece of half finished bread lay, and began to eat once more. ¡°Alrighty then, I¡¯m off.¡± Saying this I left the parlor and went onto the main road. The docks seemed to be on the other side of the city, and the main road would lead me almost right to it. On my way there I saw other players running around, doing push-ups, talking to people and doing other miscellaneous tasks in attempt to generate stats or quests. It really was a weird sight to see the people doing all of this on the streets. Once I reached the docks though, the scenery vastly changed. From streets and buildings it went to wooden piers, hanging off of the side of the island with airships and winged beasts seated at the end of each. The view past them though, was breathtaking. Ahead of me I could see an endless sea of clouds, only being interrupted by other islands, whether it be the tips of their mountains, or their underbellies scraping the surface, the appearance was absolutely surreal. Finding myself almost in a trance, I shook my head and began looking for a dock worker, to find the ship ¡®The Osprey¡¯. Once I found someone though, and was given directions I was shocked to see that The Osprey was a huge whale that seemed to be floating at the far corner of the dock. Making my way over, I then asked one of the crew where to pick up the delivery. The delivery however, was surprisingly normal. Just three boxes the size of shoe boxes. It was almost disappointing to find such normal looking boxes amidst this amazing scene. Carrying them off and back to the parlor I arrived without event. A nice stroll through the city being the only reward received upon completion of this task, and for the next week, that was one of my only tasks. Doing stray errands for Ezos around town, cleaning up the parlor, reading about different tattoos, dyes and their effects, and watching Ezos work became my daily schedule. I can¡¯t really complain though, as carrying deliveries from the docks earned me some points in strength and vitality, as well as the lessons had earned me a level in Body Artistry and some information that I wouldn''t of been able to find in a library. While I was doing this though, it appears the others had not remained idle. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* {Michael¡¯s POV} After joining the game I wouln up in what seemed to be in comparison to the other cities, a rather dull location. Once I learned that the rest of the locations were floating in the sky, I asked around the city to see if we were as well, only to find out that we were merely on the surface. High up above us one could find floating island that had been ripped out of the land when an apparent calamity struck thousand of years ago. One thing that this city had however that the others did not, was the space to build structures incomparable to those of the floating islands. Yes, on this flat land there lied buildings of incomprehensible magnitude. The guilds in this town being the largest of their respective groups, and thus the headquarters of each. Down below as well, the caverns seemed to stretch on forever, each path continuing and branching off almost to create a labyrinth in not for the signs placed at every corner. In these caverns contained many of the more public buildings, such as the library, the keep, and the public housing. Just like before too, these buildings were god damned massive! The structures from the outside alone looked huge, but once one entered you could see that they continued on into the surrounding walls. I would feel pretty dwarfed by all this, if not for the fact that I am a dwarf. Dwarves were not the only race here either, although, players were all dwarves, the citizens were not. Merchants from all kinds of races visited or lived here. Just from standing in the square I noticed an avian, a lamian, a centaur, a gryphon riding elf, and many many others that I don¡¯t even know what to call. This city was like a complete melting pot of people. After chatting with everyone I learned about one thing though. You could get a job in this game and earn some money. Of course one could leave the city and fight monsters for loot to sell, but the energy put into that would pale in comparison to the scent of wealth floating around within this city. It seemed as if it was time for me to live up to the name of Greed. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hello, just a quick chapter here to begin the next characters, well, beginning. Greed will be next in his adventures in money making. Pride will be back soon, but I didn''t want to have him too far ahead before putting in the others, so he will stew for a little while. Also, I finally got 10 followers, so a big THANKYOU, to those that are following, and if you enjoy reading this and aren¡¯t following, then give it a shot, it really helps in motivating me to write this. Well, till next time. Au revoir. Chapter 7: Sin City In any large city, one can find crime. Theft, murder, rape, drugs, kidnapping, human trafficking, the list goes on. The fact that this is a game should change little. If not for crime, why would the city have guards, or the merchants have body guards? Crime is apparent everywhere, due to the fact that with the risks associated with it, can come great rewards. Now, in the real world players would never kill each other over who gets to pick up an item due to the fact that we have court systems to go through for that. In game though, this reckless slaughter is committed without much thought, since we are in effect, immortal. The law can still punish us, but with less success than a normal citizen here. That is what will lead me to wealth. By capitalising upon the fact that I am a different existence than the citizens, I can quickly amass some money through more, ¡®shady¡¯, channels. Now, my priority is to find a group to work with. One can only get so far on their own, and having more pawns is always useful. Using players would be too unreliable though, as they would have the same advantages as me. So citizens were to be my only resource. In Bahrst there was a red light district in one of the caverns below. Once there, the cavern was one vastly different to those containing government and public buildings. The cavern seemed to have a dull glow from the lights shining below, whereas the walls were carved into holding cages with dancers and prostitutes displayed their respective skills. The buildings were varied, as some went from the floor to the ceiling, seeming like columns for the cave to not collapse, while others were nothing more than walls surrounding a courtyard where ''business'' was done without discretion. All this could be seen from the gates (Albeit some bits were blurred from this location), since the entrance was located at around the mid height of the cavern, before descending or ascending from one of three staircases. At the entrance were a few guards, who seemed to be checking players and citizens before allowing them to pass. As I watched to see what they could be checking for, a kid looking no older than 13 tried to enter, only to be laughed at and turned away by the guards. Of course! Liber wouldn¡¯t want to get sued for inappropriate content being accessed by minors, so this must be an age check! Clicking the pieces together I walked forward towards the entrance, and hoped that 18 would be old enough to pass. ¡°Hello, show us your status card before entry.¡± One of the guards approached me and told me to show my status card to him, which I readily presented. ¡°Hmm, you seem old enough, although a bit pure for coming in here eh?¡± The man commented such while most likely referring to my infamy being at 0. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that sir, as a sin I intend to live up to my name.¡± I replied while testing the waters to see how accepting the district was of criminals. ¡°HAHAHAHA, nice to see ya¡¯ have some spirit in ya¡¯! Have fun in there boy, and sin for us too!¡± It seemed it was a lot more accepted than I thought. Having made it past the entrance I took the descending staircase and started wandering around, walking through the roads where women and men of all ages and races danced half, or entirely naked in windows in front of shops. All around me were men and a few women, who were either hiding their faces, for fear of recognition, or openly cheering the dancers on more, before entering the shops they occupied for a bit more ¡®dancing¡¯. What I was interested in however, was not the roads and shops, but rather the alleys. The alleys always held shady business deals in novels, and if I were to start anywhere, why not start in the most clich¨¨ place possible? On the third alley I checked, I saw a two men standing a few feet apart as they nervously looked around, before exchanging items that I could not discern from my impromptu hiding spot behind a crate. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Once their deal was done, one man left down the opposite direction from me, while the other stood there, before turning and heading in my direction. I waited, counting his steps before he approached, regulating my breathing, and preparing for the scuffle I was about to enter if things went sideways. Standing up when the man was about 3 metres (9ft) away, I said to him,¡±Hello there sir, mind if I talk to you about the products you were dealing with a moment ago?¡± The man jumped back while producing a knife swiftly from his jacket and pointing it at me. ¡°Who the fuck are you!¡± Putting my hands up and behind my head, I addressed the man calmly while observing his features. ¡°Don¡¯t worry sir, I was just curious about what it is you¡¯re dealing. See, I¡¯m a child of the gods, and as such I don¡¯t know much about the drugs and crime syndicates around here. Mind enlightening me?¡± The man I could tell now, was an elf, of what type I was not sure though. His head being covered by a hood masked any distinguishing feature I could see, except for his ears which were faintly visible underneath. ¡°A child of the gods eh? Well I guess killing you won¡¯t do much then will it.¡± The man said this while putting his knife back into his coat, but although he was unarmed, I knew he could change that fact in a moment. ¡°Tell me, why do you want to know about the drugs and crime here?¡± ¡°I need money, and in my realm crime is a dangerous, yet effective method of attaining it. Selling drugs specifically, was what I wished to start with. I¡¯m not stupid enough to just start though, and would need to work for one of the groups here. Right?¡± I stated honestly to the man, since I did not want to push him to any reckless actions. Especially since those actions would drop some of my stat points. ¡°Hmm, I see where you¡¯re coming from, but it isn¡¯t that easy to get in, and once you¡¯re in, you¡¯re in. You sure you still wish to get into this stuff?¡± Seeming taken aback by my answer, the elf relaxed his stance and leaned up against one of the walls this alley was between. ¡°Yep, nothing earned without loss.¡± ¡°Alright then kid, walk with me, I¡¯ll tell you what you need to know.¡± The man responded while walking toward me and motioning with a finger for me to follow. ¡°What is your name by the way sir?¡± Seeing as I was about to be working with him, it would be nice to know what to address him by. ¡°Anthir, and you?¡± ¡°My name is Greed sir, I look forward to earning with you.¡± ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sorry about no chapter yesterday, I was attending a funeral, and had an exam today that I had to study for. Anyways, more stuff with Michael A.K.A Greed, and his adventures into the shadier sides of money. I hope you guys enjoyed it and if you have any suggestions, or notice any mistakes then please tell me. Also I received a comment saying the font was a bit small, but for me it appears fine, if you do find it small though tell me, as I don¡¯t want to change for only one person, nor do I want to ignore it while others have the same issue. Thanks! Chapter 8: Dancing Daggers ¡°Well then Greed, I suppose I should first off tell you what I was dealing.¡± Anthir started talking to me while we walked around the streets. ¡°What I was dealing there was a drug called ¡®Dragon¡¯s fire¡¯, it is a drug that makes the user into a berserk state as well as enlarging their body mass, downside though is that it is highly addictive, and overuse will result in death. That is, if they don¡¯t kill themselves in a fight.¡± ¡°Sounds dangerous, how much of a profit is made from it?¡± I asked while trying to gain a bit of a perspective on the local economy. ¡°To get the stuff takes about 20 gold a kilogram (2.2 pounds), and we sell it by the gram for about 10 silver.¡± ¡°Wow, so you make about 80 gold per kilogram! that is quadruple your starting costs!¡± Surprised I did the math in my head and saw the huge profits that were to be made. ¡°Don¡¯t be yelling out that stuff you little shit! Thieves are everywhere looking to get as much cash as they can. Anyways, yes, it makes huge profits, but the demand isn¡¯t steady. As I told you before the users develop an addiction and eventually die from fighting or overuse, which means we can¡¯t get them again.¡± While admonishing me, he continued on while saying the downside of this trade. ¡°I see, so what other activities do you do to earn gold?¡± ¡°We also deal in a couple other drugs, as well as brothels, and hitmen. I myself though, just stay on the drug side of things.¡± Anthir answered me, but the mention of ¡®we¡¯ caught my attention. ¡°Since you said we that must mean you are part of a group then?¡± ¡°Yep, without an affiliate, dealing drugs is as good as digging your own grave. I myself am part of the ¡®Dancing Daggers¡¯. We are one of the mid-sized groups here in the red light district, but the large groups are on friendly terms with us for now.¡± Interesting, it seemed as if I started at a nice mid spot. Large groups would be what other players would try to get into, and small groups wouldn¡¯t be as profitable. This works out rather nicely. ¡°Anyways, you will be meeting the rest of us Daggers in a moment here. You see that building with the girls up front? That is one of the brothels we have here in town.¡± Anthir continued on while saying our destination. ¡°Anything I should keep in mind before entering?¡± Feeling nervous I asked Anthir what I should and should not do. ¡°Just don¡¯t be stupid, you caught my eye with your wits, so do the same for the rest of us.¡± Anthir praised me in a rather round about method, but I¡¯ll take it with grace. ¡°We¡¯re here, follow me and don¡¯t speak until I tell you you can.¡± Anthir approached the doors and entered the building. Inside the building was a reception desk in front of some stairs, while two doors stood on either side with body guards standing in front of them. From above I could hear the floor creaking and moans of pleasure, so I guessed that would be where the brothel is situated. That left one of those two doors being our destination. ¡°Why hello Anthir, how nice to see you! Do tell me though, whom might your guest be?¡± The receptionist said this while smiling, but her eyes were like daggers being pierced through my skull. ¡°This is Greed, he seems to be interested in becoming a member of ours.¡± Anthir answered without missing a beat as if he was prepared for this conversation beforehand. In fact, he probably was now that I think about it. ¡°I see, I see. Now, do you think he can be trusted as a member?¡± The receptionist dropped the smile and went completely into a business state. ¡°Trust I¡¯m not sure of, but usefulness I can vouch for.¡± Anthir offered his honest opinion, and while I felt hurt for not being trusted, I honestly could not refute his statement in any manner. ¡°Hmm, useful eh? In the end all that matters is that he brings in cash, so he may pass. Besides, he is cute enough to be used in at least one section of the group.¡± The receptionist said this while sending me a wink, which in turn sent shivers down my spine. Sure she was relatively good looking, with long black hair, bright eyes, and slender limbs. But the fact that she was a lamian sort of was a turn off for me. ¡°Thank you Annal, but I think he would rather work in my department.¡± Anthir said this while flashing a smile. ¡°Also, here are the earnings for today, I will spend the rest of today teaching and preparing him.¡± Anthir then handed her a bag of presumably gold coins, which jingled a tune to my ears unlike any other. ¡°Hmm, alright, carry on then. You¡¯re blocking the door after all.¡± After entering the door on the right, I was met with a long hallway, lit by stones inbedded in the walls. We walked down the hall until we came across a side hall to our right, which then led to a door. ¡°From here on out, you can speak, but only when spoken to, and make sure that you are not rude in any manner. I know death is trivial to you, but these folks will make long and painful.¡± Anthir said this to me without any hint of a lie at all. When I looked into his eyes, the only thing I could see, was fear. ¡°I understand, but first off, who will I be meeting?¡± I asked this so that I can know what to say, and how to say it before coming face to face with whomever they are. ¡°The person you will be meeting in the leader of the group. He should be in there with his body guards and a couple section leaders. They personally talk to each recruit found, and if you don¡¯t measure up¡­¡± Letting his voice trail on Anthir slid his finger across his throat in the universal indicator of murder. ¡°I see. Well, I better hope they find me cute then.¡± Anthir chuckled at this and knocked on the door in front of us. After waiting for a few moments the door opened and a giant of a man appeared in front of us. Covered in scars and tattoos from head to toe, this man radiated danger on so many levels that I felt like bolting the moment I laid eyes on him. ¡°Hello Anthir, is this the new recruit that Annal messaged us about?¡± Hmm so it seems like there is a way to quickly send messages for the citizens in this world, as the guard knew about us coming before hand. ¡°Yes he is. Come on now, introduce your self.¡± Anthir said this while tapping my back, and I was brought back from my thoughts. ¡°Ah, um, yes. I am Greed, I wish to join the Dancing Daggers and work with you.¡± I stumbled over my words at first, but found my pace and expressed myself swiftly and concisely. ¡°Hmm, Understood. You may enter, but Anthir, please stay out here until we are done alright?¡± The man, who I will refer to as ¡®Hulk¡¯ until I learn his name, expressed his commands while opening the door for me to enter. ¡°Understood.¡± Anthir said this while moving to go sit on a bench a few feet away from the entrance. Once inside the room It seemed as if I was transported into the palace of a sultan. The walls were lined with gold and exquisite drapery lined the walls. In the center was a large rectangular table, with men and women of various races lining the sides, and a single elderly man at the head. The only thing These people seemed to have in common, was that I had no doubt they could kill me in an instant. Even without seeing weapons, or them glaring at me, I could tell, this would be dangerous. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. ¡°Come in, come in! No need to be shy! We won¡¯t bite, well, as long as you don¡¯t mess up that is.¡± A female harpy, seated closest to me on my left, said this while gesturing for me to approach the table and stand opposite the head. ¡°Please, tell us your name.¡± A human seated directly to my right said this while looking bored out of his skull. ¡°My name is Greed, sir, and I wish to become a member of the Dancing Daggers.¡± I answered in a manner that I hoped would not trigger any negative responses. ¡°Become a member eh, and why is that?¡± The same man said this while studying me from head to toe, his eyes feeling like they were stripping me naked. ¡°To put it bluntly, I wish to join in order to earn money.¡± Lying and sugar coating would definitely get me killed, so saying things simply would hopefully be enough. ¡°How fitting your name is then!¡± The harpy from before chirped up while seeming amused over her putting the pieces together. ¡°But tell me, why do you want to make money? You can¡¯t just be greedy can you?¡± The man from before continued on, while glaring at the harpy women who had interrupted him. ¡°In the future I will be using the money I earn to support and work with my friends, whom are in various other cities across the world. Until that time comes though, I always enjoy having money in my hands.¡± ¡°Is that so, well, atleast your motives don¡¯t seem to conflict with ours.¡± The man said this while leaning back into his chair. ¡°Anyone see any problems with him so far?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± A centaur seated near the middle of the table spoke up, ¡°He seems to be a child of the gods, how do we know we can trust him?¡± He brought up a good point, but that question was one that I had hoped for. ¡°You see sir, being a child of the gods I cannot die, however, I will always return in the cathedral of the city I was last in. Due to this, if I ever betray you, you can continuously kill me over and over again, until I lose all of my abilities, items, and become worthless in the eyes of the gods.¡± I answered them with my weakness, and the weakness of all the children of the gods, since it would mean they hold the power to reduce me to nothing if they so choose. ¡°Hmm, so your immortality comes with a cost then, tell me, does this apply for all of you children?¡± A dark elf seated to the right of the head spoke up. ¡°Yes maam, all of us will become worthless if we are killed enough times. Know though, that some of us will last longer than others.¡± ¡°One last question, before the head of us daggers makes his decision. Tell me, are you willing to be marked with our symbol, in order to show you will not betray us?¡± A lizard man situated a few seats down from me, asked such. ¡°Yes sir, although I would like to know what this symbol is, even if I don¡¯t know I will still accept it with honour.¡± Humbleness and chivalry I hoped would earn me some points before the decision was to be made. ¡°Well then sir, what do you think of this dwarf?¡± The human to my right asked this to the head, while everyone in turn focused their eyes to the same man. Standing up, the elderly man whom I assumed to be the head, was revealed to be a dwarven, whose voice bellowed across the room, ¡°Welcome Greed, I, Aznaz Dagger, accept you as one of us, the Dancing Daggers.¡± The rest of the room stood up and faced me while clapping, and I bowed while feeling a bit overwhelm bit this all. ¡°Also, you will be assigned to work under Dierphy as an assistant at her establishment.¡± Aznaz said this while pointing at the harpy whom had been speaking before. Dierphy then waved to me and licked her lips. ¡°Understood sir, and thank you for accepting me,¡± I answered while bowing once more towards the head. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it Greed, you still are not completely in, you still have to receive the symbol after all.¡± The elder said this while making a nod towards the guard who had let me in before. ¡°Pardon me sir, but what is the symbol?¡± Curiosity getting the better of me I asked the head, but was answered by the centaur who was now standing and walking towards me. ¡°The symbol is a mark, or tattoo that will be etched into your back and if we ever choose to, we can use it to kill you instantly. It shows devotion to us, and can only be removed by at least six of us leaders of the family, as well as the current head.¡± ¡°I see, thank you for the information, may I see yours so that I know what it looks like?¡± ¡°Sure,¡± the centaur then turned around and lifted his shirt enough for me to see a dagger, wrapped in blood soaked cloth, and surrounded by a circle of words in a language I could not read., ¡°The words say, ¡®For the dance of daggers is the dance I choose¡¯, Just in case you were wondering.¡± ¡°Thank you Mr¡­?¡± ¡°Call me Thane.¡± The centaur, Thane answered me just as the guard returned holding a tray of tools. ¡°Now, let the marking begin.¡± The head said this while all twelve of the leaders, not including himself, made a circle around me. Aznaz then walked behind me and picked up the tools. I could then feel a needle or a blade tracing on my back, until I could then feel a warm, wet brush trace those lines as well. ¡°Now hold still boy, this will hurt quite a bit.¡± Aznaz warned me just before I felt a blade penetrate my back, and a yell escape my lips as my health dropped by almost 95 points! ¡°There, now stay still for a bit, while we apply the seal onto you.¡± Thane said this to me since he was standing directly in front of me. The sealing was a simpler and much less painful event, and they all chanted a spell I could not understand, before something else was applied to my back, sealing the tattoo there forever. And with that, I became Greed of the Dancing Daggers. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A longer chapter today, showing Greed entering the group he will be with. Once more, if you notice any mistakes or have suggestions post them in the comments. Also, just out of curiosity, I want to see how many of you can guess what Pride and Greed¡¯s jobs will be. I won¡¯t say if you guys are correct or not, but I am still curious none the less. Thanks for reading! Chapter 9: Handling the Responsibility Once everything was said and done, I was taken out of the room by Dierphy, who then led me back down the hall and out the door. Once outside Dierphy led me down the road to another piece of town. ¡°Where are we headed?¡± I asked Dierphy since my curiosity was getting the better of me. ¡°We are headed towards the brothel I run. You will then become my plaything until I decide otherwise!¡± Dierphy turned around and licked her lips while saying this to me. While it is an attractive offer in most cases, I don¡¯t want to think about what she would do to me. ¡°Just kidding, no need to look so scared! Am I really that ugly?¡± Dierphy said this while dejectedly holding her head down. ¡°No not at all! Rather you are quite attractive, however, I don¡¯t believe I would be a suitable partner for you.¡± Flustered I voiced my thoughts while Dierphy in turn laughed loudly. ¡°I can¡¯t believe how naive you are! Did you really think I would make you into my plaything, or worry about my appearance? Geez, and harpies were thought to be bird brains.¡± Grumbling to myself for the rest of the way, we arrived in front of a tall building with a sign overtop the entrance saying ¡®The Dancing Whores¡¯, a rather subtle and elegant name. The building also had two windows to the sides of the doors with beautiful women dancing. At the moment there was a human woman who seemed to be in her twenties, and a lamia who was slithering around a pole inside the windows. Once inside there was a reception desk and behind her there were women seated on couches and benches with signs in front of them saying their price in silver. Around the room I could count four tall men wearing swords on their belts and having the symbol of the dancing daggers as a patch on their shoulders. ¡°Hello Madam Dierphy, might I ask whom the gentleman behind you is?¡± The dwarven receptionist greeted Dierphy and then proceeded to glare daggers into my skull. ¡°This is Greed, he is a new member to the Dancing Daggers and will be working here to start!¡± Dierphy, completely oblivious to the look I was getting, said this with a broad smile on her face. ¡°It is a pleasure to be working with you Ms..?¡± I tried to introduce myself to the receptionist as her gaze softened after hearing that I was to be working with her. ¡°My name is Khalil, I look forward to working with you as well.¡± Khalil then proceeded to then leave her desk and present some documents to Dierphy. Dierphy quickly glanced over them and then motioned for me to follow her upstairs. Once at the top we entered a large office that was guarded from the outside by men looking similar to those seen downstairs. ¡°Well then Greed, allow me to tell you what you will be doing here. Your job here will have three main things." Dierphy said this while sitting down onto a chair and looking at tthe documents she was handed. "First off, you must ensure that the girls are healthy, both mentally and physically. Basically you will be their caretaker. Next, you will go out to recruit girls to join our brothel. How you do this I care not, just ensure that they won¡¯t be dangerous to the customers or us. Lastly you will be doing training as a guard here. You will receive training regularly to prepare you before you are fully integrated into the system. Any questions?¡± ¡°Two questions actually. First, how many girls will I be in charge of, and second, my realm will require me at times to return so I may vanish for periods.¡± Expressing my concerns to Dierphy she sat down for a moment to think before turning to me once more. ¡°You will be in charge of just four girls to start, and in the case of returning to your realm, see if you can notify us in advance so we can schedule around it. Does that sound good?¡± Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. ¡°Yes madam, it does. Thankyou.¡± Once those words came out of my mouth a window popped up in front of me notifying me of a job change.
New Job Acquired
You have accepted a job change to ¡®Handler¡¯, as such you have gained the following changes: +20 Charm +2% Growth for skills related to nursing -Easier to charm those of the opposite sex, unless they know of your job
Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:
NursingCommon10.00%
By offering help to those that need it, you may increase their vitality, morale, and spiritual strength. This benefit is increased with applying appropriate medicine and by your actions. -Currently can help targets physical health
Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:
RecruitingCommon10.00%
By speaking to people you may charm or persuade them to join your group, cause, or army. The chance of success is affected by your charm stat as well as your speaking abilities. -Current base chance is 5%
¡°Thank you Dierphy, I will make sure to do my job well.¡± ¡°You better, otherwise you will be working in a more, physical position.¡± Putting emphasis on the work physical had the effect of sending a chill down the entirety of my spine. ¡°You will meet the girls you will be handling in a little while, and your first training lesson will start tomorrow, until then, relax in here.¡± Dierphy continued on while outlining my schedule. ¡°Understood madam.¡± And with that, I became Greed, the handler. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Another chapter done! I looked back at some of the chapters I had posted before and realised that the formatting was going wonky for some reason and have now fixed it. Also, I changed the font, font size, and colour so tell me if it looks better. Just like before, post any suggestions or mistakes below. Thanks! Chapter 10: Introductions After that little exchange, I sat down on a couch seated in the corner of the room while we waited for the girls to come. Dierphy was pretty calm while she sorted through her papers, which shocked me as my view of her was a bit more ditzy or air headed, but I guess even she could be serious at times. *Knock knock*, It seems as if the girls have arrived. I stood up and positioned myself to the side of Dierphy while she told the visitors to enter. ¡°Hello madam, we were told you have a new handler for us?¡± A tall woman with slender limbs entered. I would of thought her to be human, but instead of hair she had willow branches and leaves that trailed down her back to about her waist. She was wearing a slender green dress and was quite a sight to behold. ¡°Yes, feel free to come in all of you so that I can introduce you to Greed.¡± Dierphy invited them in while waving her hands. ¡°Yes ma¡¯am.¡± Next an elf entered. She was relatively tall with light skin and blonde hair. There was nothing truly breathtaking about her, but she seemed to have a very solemn air about her. After she entered a short girl, about 2 feet (60cm), came in skipping over into the impromptu line.¡±Hello madam Dierphy! How are you today?¡± The gnomish girl seemed to be all smiles as she easily talked to Dierphy. ¡°I¡¯m doing well dear, now please calm down while we do the introductions.¡± Dierphy smiled and asked for the girl to calm down in a manner like a other talking to her daughter. ¡°Hello madam, I do hope that this handler is a bit more¡­ ¡®professional¡¯ than the last.¡± Finally a human woman with dark skin entered the room and completed the line in front of Dierphy¡¯s desk. ¡°Well then girls, allow me to introduce you all to Greed. He is new to the Daggers, and will be doing training here in the brothel as your handler.¡± Dierphy faced towards me and motioned for me to speak. ¡°Hello, as madam Dierphy said I am Greed. I do hope that I will be able to live up to your expectation, but if I do make a mistake please inform me so I may fix it in the future. Also, please note that I am a child of the gods, and will have to leave to my realm from time to time .¡± Making things simple and stating the cafts I then motioned for the girls to do the same. The woman with the branches for hair spoke up first,¡±Hello Greed, I am Luxviel, a dryad. I do hope that you will be able to do things properly. Also, please note that while we do work in a brothel, it does not mean we will allow you to do as you please.¡± Seems as if I¡¯m off on a good foot right out the gate. Next, the Elven woman introduced herself,¡±My name is Raynik. I am an elf who just got here last month. I do hope that we can both do our jobs properly.¡± Short and simple she reported her introduction simply. ¡°Hello Greed! My name is Sylvie, a gnome! Lets both get along in all this.¡± She seemed to be a bundle of sunshine as she swayed side to side as if trying to run away to play. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. ¡°I guess I¡¯m last then. My name is Matrona, an Ikalu Nappa. I was working in one of the branch locations until my previous handler passed. I do hope we can get along and last a bit longer.¡± ¡°What are Ikalu Nappas? I don¡¯t believe I have heard of your kind before.¡± Curious I asked Matrona about her race, hoping that it wasn¡¯t a rude question. ¡°We Ikalu Nappa¡¯s are often referred to as either mermaids or humans, but we hold the ability to change our lower half at will.¡± Matrona answered my question honestly and with that Dierphy took it as her turn to speak. ¡°Well then Greed, please take care of these fine ladies. Later on when I give you a tour of the building I will show you both their work, and their sleeping rooms. Until then though ladies, you may return to your chambers and rest for the day.¡± ¡°Understood madam.¡± All four of the girls answered in sync, so much that it seemed to of been drilled into their heads, before exiting the room and leaving me with Dierphy once more. ¡°So, what do you think of them?¡± Dierphy started talking while sitting down into her chair once more. ¡°I believe that I will be able to do my job properly, although I do have some questions regarding specifics for each of them.¡± I replied while moving over to stand in front of her desk once more. ¡°Well then, ask away.¡± With those words I detailed my questions such as the diets of each girl, their previous experiences, so on and so forth. Once I was done and satisfied with the information, Dierphy then lead me on the tour of the building. We walked through the halls while moans could be heard all around. The layout of the building was rather simple. On the first floor there was the reception room, and directly to the left and right of the room were staircases upstairs. Opposite the entrance there was the room where the girls are presented with their prices. Once upstairs there are two halls that connect to make a U-shape, these halls have the work rooms were the girls provide their services. At the end of the U, there is another staircase that leads upstairs once more where the hall once more branches off and leads to each of the girls bedrooms, and at the end there is a staircase that leads to Dierphy,s office. I was shown where each of the girls bedrooms were, as well as the work rooms that they use. After the tour though, I had to log off. No matter how much I would want to stay in this world, the real world will always take precedence for me. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Bonjour, sorry about the slowdown for chapters. Exams suck and studying takes up a lot of time. Anyways after the next real life break we will be returning to Pride for a bit. Until then though, thanks for reading and comment any questions or mistakes below! Chapter 11: Communication is Key ---Real World--- ¡° ¡®Ello Michael, long time no see.¡± Nicole said this while stretching to shake off the stiffness that accompanies the Gate. ¡°Hey, how are ya?¡± Michael responded while following Nicole¡¯s example of stretching. ¡°I¡¯m doing well, things have been pretty exciting in game. Sarah and I have been hunting around the city and earned a few levels. How about you?¡± ¡°I haven¡¯t done any fighting yet, but I did find a job in a brothel.¡± Michael said this without thinking of his surroundings, and the rest of the group was left speechless for a few moments. ¡°Umm, Michael, we know that you¡¯ve been in a bit of a slump ever since your last girlfriend, but to join a brothel is a bit¡­¡± Jacob tentatively approached the subject while inching his way towards the kitchen. ¡°Shit! That¡¯s not what I meant! I got a job working at a brothel as a handler. I take care of a couple girls as well as try to get more girls to join. I¡¯m not a fucking prostitute ya prick.¡± Vehemently denying the accusations Michael yelled while his face was dyed red from embarrassment. ¡°Hahaha, don¡¯t worry Michael, we never thought you¡¯d be a prostitute, no one''s that desperate to pay for you.¡± Sarah seemed to be in pain from laughing so hard as she wiped away tears from the corner of her eyes. ¡°Hardee-har-har.¡± Michael said this while moving towards the bathroom, no doubt to deal with a natural calling. Jordan seemed to then be getting up from his Gate, just when Jacob was returning with bowls and behind him Dawson carried a pot of soup. ¡°Figured you guys would be hungry. Grab a bowl and serve yourselves.¡± Jacob presented his food to the group while grabbing some for himself. ¡°Perfect, I finish eating in-game, to now be rewarded with a meal in real life. Ahh, could life be any better!¡± Jordan hastily removed his Gate at the mention of food and pounced onto the pot as if he was starved for days. ¡°Why don¡¯t you ask Michael, he seems to be living a rather fine virtual life.¡± Sarah said this when she noticed Michael returning from his business. ¡°Fuck off.¡± Michael curtly replied in a polite manner. Jordan, instead of prying any further, was too busy stuffing his face with soup. ¡°So then, now that everyone is back in the realm of the living, why don¡¯t we discuss what we¡¯ve all been up to?¡± Nicole proposed this while sitting onto the couch with her own bowl. ¡°Well I told you that I got that new job, but I also joined a criminal syndicate and was given a tattoo to ensure I would stay in.¡± Michael quickly summarised his adventures in a very, very well thought out manner. ¡°Pardon. Did you say you joined a criminal syndicate?¡± Nicole seemed to be staring daggers at Michael as she paused bringing her food to her mouth. ¡°Yep, the Dancing Daggers is their name. We do drugs, brothels, and hitman.¡± Michael still spoke in a manner that would be elegant enough to charm even the Queen of England. ¡°Come over here you little shit while I teach you a thing or two about manners!¡± Nicole set down her bowl and started to walk over towards Michael. Meanwhile, the rest of the group decided to unanimously stay out of the impending slaughter. A few minutes later, everyone once more was seated. the exception being Michael, whose ass was too sore to sit. ¡°Anyways, since we heard of Michael¡¯s exploits, how about yours Jordan?¡± Nicole continued on as if she hadn¡¯t laid out a beating worthy of a WWE championship belt. ¡°Well Morgan and I were exploring the city together for a bit, but we decided to do things separately. After we separated I went to a restaurant and picked up a job as a waiter. I thought it would be easy at first, but after joining there was an increase in customers. Atleast I get fed though.¡± Jordan detailed his exploits while simply, and it seemed his stomach guided his journey. The rest of the group though sighed mentally. Jordan was a rather good looking guy. Standing at 6¡¯2 (1.9m), with blonde hair, blue eyes and a fairly nice body, if not for his hunger and airheadedness he might of been Lust instead of Nicole. ¡°While Jordan was stuffing his face, I had a much more difficult experience.¡± Morgan began to speak and everyone focused onto her. ¡°The first thing I did was go outside onto one of the branches and see what monsters were around. That was the plan until one of the monsters swooped down from above and pushed me off the damn branch!¡± Everyone chuckled at that until Jacob spoke up,¡±You didn''t die though did you? Otherwise you would of been kicked out for the day.¡± ¡°Nope, I didn¡¯t die, instead though I landed in a pool of water a couple branches down. After recovering I looked around for a bit to find out there was no way up besides one vine that came close to the branch. Issue is though, any time I try to climb the thing those monsters attack me and I end up too tired to continue.¡± ¡°Well that is a bit of a predicament, why didn¡¯t you message Jordan?¡± Sarah asked this while trying to figure out a way for Morgan to get out of her issue. ¡°I did try, but his messages are apparently off!¡± Morgan glared at Jordan while saying this, and in turn Jordan continued to eat more soup. ¡°Sorry about that, there were too many friend requests and that coming in so I decided to turn them off.¡± Jordan apologized while pouring the last of the soup into his bowl. ¡°Anyways, from trying over and over again I at least gained a skill as well as some points in strength, vitality, and agility. The skill I got was danger sensing. It¡¯s apparently a common warrior skill that occasionally warns the user of impending danger. It drains mana pretty quickly though, and isn¡¯t very reliable though.¡± Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. ¡°Hmm, well atleast you gained some stuff, are you still stuck there?¡± Jacob asked this while bringing the pot away from Jordan so as to bring it to the kitchen for cleaning. ¡°Yeah, I almost got to the top a couple of times, but the monster things have a nest near there, and get aggressive when I come close.¡± Morgan sighed after saying this and finished off the rest of her soup. ¡°Well that sucks, now that Jordan knows though, next time we go on he can probably help you at least.¡± Nicole spoke while taking Morgan¡¯s bowl as well as Sarah¡¯s and her own towards the kitchen. ¡°Anyways, enough about me, how are things for you Sarah?¡± Morgan asked Sarah. ¡°Well Nicole and I have just been levelling outside the city whenever we don''t have shifts at the grocer¡¯s. At first it was just myself and Nicole, with me kicking things and Nicole beating them with her stick, but some other new players joined us and Nicole has been leading us as we fight other monsters.¡± Sarah said this and Nicole, as if waiting for her cure, came back from the kitchen and began to speak. ¡°Yeah, leading other players raises my leadership stat and earned me a skill called troop coordination. As it sounds it allows me to project plans to those I lead. It works in a way that after thinking up the plan, everyone receives a mental message detailing their job in it. It uses a lot of mana though, so I keep it for large battles.¡± ¡°While she was leading us though, I was fighting and earned a proficiency skill in hand to hand combat. We both earned some levels and stats as well, making both of us level 13.¡± Sarah picked up where Nicole ended and detailed what she had earned as well. ¡°What was the hardest battle you guys fought then?¡± Curious, Dawson asked Sarah about their most difficult battle. ¡°Probably the one with the bear right Nicole?¡± Sarah stated her opinion, and asked Nicole for hers. ¡°Yeah, that sure took awhile. We were hunting foxes near the edge of the mountains when a bear came barrelling from the woods and plowed one of the players we were working with. After that it turned into a guerilla style battle, with us hitting it and having it follow us before stabbing at its sides.¡± ¡°That fucker took forever to go down, we all gained a level from it though, as well as some nice bear hide.¡± Sarah summarised the loot from their epic battle while using her nicest words. ¡°Well, that was us, how about you Dawson, did you quit mining?¡± Nicole continued the conversation flow and redirected it towards Dawson. ¡°Yeah, instead though, one of the foremen suggested that I look at the engineering group. They do a lot less manual labour and instead design stuff to make the whole process easier. The skill I got from the job is handy too. It¡¯s called design, and it lets me visualize a structure or object, before projecting it in front of me like a 3D blueprint.¡± Dawson detailed his position change and revealed his new skill. ¡°Did you lose anything from switching jobs?¡± Curious Jacob asked Dawson of any downsides. ¡°Yeah, I lost some proficiency in the mining skill, but the stats stayed.¡± ¡°Hmm, good to know. Guess that leaves me to speak then eh?¡± Jacob then began to detail his adventure. ¡°Well, in game I¡¯ve just been doing basic apprenticeship stuff, but just before leaving the game, I was given a job to do my first actual tattoo, which was pretty cool. What was even cooler though, was getting paid. I now have about half of the cost for a weeks course in runes.¡± ¡°That¡¯s cool, tattooing must pay well then?¡± Jordan spoke while thinking about when will he get paid for his work. ¡°Kind of, apprenticeship pays decently, but what really earned me coin was that I earned all the profit from doing that tattoo. They aren¡¯t cheap after all.¡± Jacob told his quick way to riches while ignoring the envious eyes around him. ¡°Well, I think I will hop back in then, how ¡®bout you guys?¡± Morgan said this while stretching once more and picking up her Gate from the couch. The rest of the group nodded and followed her actions until they were all seated once more. ¡°By the way guys, how many more days till we have to go back to hell?¡± Sarah asked this before putting her helmet on. ¡°You mean college? Our courses start up in about two weeks, you worried about going back or something?¡± Michael answered her question, and everyone else paused in their movement to hear her answer. ¡°Just curious is all. Wonder how many others at our school got the game?¡± ¡°Dunno, probably a few at least. Sure the game is pricey, but so is our tuition.¡± Jordan chuckled to himself while finishing putting on his helmet. And with that, they emerged once more, in the Fractal Lands. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hello. I know I said it would be in Jacob¡¯s POV last chapter, but after having them talk for a while it ended up being long enough for a chapter. Anyways though, I was reading through the already posted chapters and noticed some errors in grammar and that, which have now been fixed. Also, I might not have a chapter tomorrow, I will be going into my towns army reserve unit for my physical testing, as well to to finalize some paperwork, and might not have enough energy left in me. Never know though. Like always, post errors and suggestions down below, and thanks for reading! Chapter 12: Proud Achievements {Prides POV} Back inside the game, I got up from my seat in the parlour, and went to go find Ezos. ¡°Hey Pride, welcome back.¡± Ezos was sitting behind the counter just like always, except this time there was a woman with him. ¡°Hello Ezos, is she a customer?¡± Curious, I asked Ezos who this person was. ¡°Nope. Pride, meet my sister, Kallen.¡± Ezos stood up and motioned towards his sister, who in turn nodded her head towards me and introduced herself. ¡°Hello. Just like Ezos said I am his sister Kallen. I take it that you are his new assistant?¡± ¡°Yes, it is a pleasure to meet you.¡± Giving a slight bow I replied courteously. Kallen was rather attractive. She was about 5¡¯10 (1.7m), long blonde hair, brown eyes, and a slender figure covered in smooth white skin. Her skin though, had various tattoos marking her arms and I could see one peaking up from her shirt and onto her neck. ¡°Oi, you¡¯re supposed to be Pride, not Lust, so stop eyeing up my sister and instead eye up our stock.¡± Ezos seemed to have noticed my gaze and ordered me to go do inventory of our materials. ¡°Sorry about that, I was just curious about how this giant could be related to an angel.¡± Being a smartass has earned me a few points with Ezos before, so I hoped that these words didn¡¯t poke at any bad spots. ¡°Oh my Ezos, careful, or your sister might be taken away by a child of the gods.¡± Dramatically swooning Kallen then laughed when she saw Ezos flustered face while he thought about how to deal with this situation. As amusing a sight it was though, I had to leave to go do the inventory as Ezos had asked, and off to the back room I went. About halfway through, Ezos came in and said,¡±Hey Pride, you willing to do a tattoo, seems we got a customer.¡± ¡°Alright, have they chosen everything already?¡± closing the box I was looking in, I stood up to face him as he then handed me a piece of paper with the design, chosen seal, and dye. ¡°Hmm, a dragon snaking up their ankle, wyvern¡¯s blood for the dye, and a simple permanent seal. Fancy.¡± Reading off the list I then found the wyvern¡¯s blood, and the seal from the boxes. ¡°Pop quiz, what kind of effects should this tattoo give?¡± Before I could go out, Ezos decided to test my knowledge. I am his assistant after all. ¡°The design should give either fire resistance or strength, seeing as it is on the ankle though strength would be the better, and the dye tends to help reflexes and flexibility. Down side though tends to be itchiness on the applied area. Correct?¡± Recalling what I learned I answered Ezos and awaited his response. ¡°Almost, since it¡¯s wyverns blood being put into the design the downside would be a burning feeling, not itchiness. It is rather weak though, and comes infrequently. The person in question wanted the tattoo to increase strength and flexibility. Good luck.¡± And with that he let me pass. With the supplies in hand I walked over towards the curtain that the customer should be behind, and was greeted by the sight of Kallen seated in the chair. ¡°Hey Pride, I assume Ezos already told you about the design right?¡± Waving her hands towards me I realized that she was the person I would be tattooing, and instantly the pressure to succeed was increased tenfold. ¡°Ye, yes he did. Just to double check, you want a dragon coiling around your ankle in wyverns blood correct?¡± ¡°Yep, and I would like for it to increase my ankle strength and flexibility please.¡± Smiling at me she then raised her leg and set it on a table in front of the chair. Sitting down I grabbed my tool and started tracing around her ankle. The entirety of my focus was put into ensuring the design would not only look good, but would give the appropriate buffs as well. I first traced from the trail, and slowly did the rough outline of the dragon as I went around her ankle, lifting it up and twisting it carefully to reach all the spots. Once the design was roughly outlined, I went inside of the lines and put the scales onto it¡¯s skin, and detailed the face. The face gave an impression of ferocity, with an open maw flashing rows of teeth. The eyes seemed to pierce one¡¯s skin and the wings were open, as if the design itself was about to leave her skin and pounce. Having the design fully traced, I then grabbed a brush and carefully followed the lines with the wyvern¡¯s blood. The blue liquid slowly filling in the lines while I ensured it was thin enough to only stay in the outline, and not drip out on the underneath of the ankle. Once I finished, I looked at Kallen to tell her I was about to draw out her mana, to be met with her smile as she looked at the dragon on her skin. ¡°I like the design, it really does seems like a ferocious dragon!¡± I swear her smile inflicted some kind of status effect on me, as I was entranced for a few seconds before remembering what I was going to tell her. ¡°Umm, just so you know I am about to draw out your mana, so be prepared for a bit for pain, also, I will need to make three points, since the design curves around your ankle.¡± ¡°Alright, stick it in me then.¡± Winking at me, my face flushed a crimson red before she burst into laughter, no doubt amused by my embarrassment. I then took up my tool once more and found the points I would draw from. Since I would be doing this three times, I could be a bit more gentle than normal, and almost like giving a shot, I slowly put the tool in before pulling it out to allow for the mana to flow. I repeated this two more times, and after the design filled I applied the seal. Once finished, I was greeted to the sight of a window in front of my face.
Due to the quality of the tattoo, you may choose to add an extra effect
Intimidation: Intimidates opponents and may add fear to those that see it.
Harden: Hardens the area applied as if it is dragon scales. Costs mana to maintain.
Berserk: Owner goes into a berserk state. Costs mana to initiate. Can only be used once a day.
Wow, seems putting more concentration gave the tattoo a pretty cool set of things to choose from. ¡°You seem to be spacing out, is everything alright Pride?¡± Curious, Kallen asked me what I was doing, and I quickly explained what happened and what she could choose. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.¡°Wow, that means that this tattoo would be about a master quality! Amazing to think you are just Ezos¡¯ apprentice.¡± I had been taught about the quality of crafts, but I never knew that the quality could add effects to the piece. Quality went on a scale like this: terrible, poor, average, great, grand, master, expert, grandmaster, legendary and finally godly. It was a large scale, but it was a universal scale for art, blacksmithing, and tattoos. ¡°Anyways Pride, I would like for you to choose, seeing as you are the artist.¡± Kallen flashed another smile, and I felt like I was playing a game of Minesweeper. My choice would affect her for life, since this is a permanent tattoo, and I would rather not mess up. ¡°Well, in that case¡­ How about Harden?¡± Choosing harden the tattoo glowed and Kallen let out a small, ¡°Oh,¡± as the effect probably was given to her. I went Oh as well, but that was due to the window in front of me.
Body Artistry has increased to level 10
Seems as if doing higher level works gives higher experience, as before that I was at level 8 with 92%. ¡°I heard some yelling from back here. What¡¯s going on?¡± Ezos entered the room and looked at us questioningly. Kallen and I then explained the situation to him before he spoke again. ¡°Hmm, tell me Pride, what level is your Body Artistry skill now?¡± ¡°10 sir, it jumped up a lot from this.¡± I answered quickly and waited for his response. ¡°10 huh, well in that case congratulations, you no longer are an apprentice!¡± Ezos congratulated me, but I felt rather confused. ¡°Wait, what do you mean I am no longer an apprentice?¡± ¡°You see Pride, once you reach level 10 in a skill, generally that means you have an understanding of the action, so apprenticing will give you nothing. In fact, most people get stuck at level 9 for a while since they don¡¯t accomplish anything noteworthy, nor do they completely understand their trade.¡± Kallen supplemented for her brother and a sense of, you guessed it, pride welled up in me. ¡°Well then, since you are no longer an apprentice, I guess that makes us business partners then eh?¡± Ezos proposed this while offering his hand to me. ¡°Yep, I still have a lot to learn though, so guide me for a bit longer then.¡± Once I said this, another window popped up in front of me.
Job Updated
You have completed you apprenticeship and are now a ''Body Artist'', as such you have gained the following additional changes: +10 Dexterity +5% Growth for skills related to tattoos -More respect from citizens in professions related to the arts -Can read tattoos
That last bit about reading tattoos confused me, but when I focused on the dragon I had just finished I was shown a window with its details.
Winding Dragon
Owner:Kallen DanrothArtist:Pride
Quality:Master
The first master quality tattoo by the artist Pride, this dragon seems to be alive and ready to devour any that oppose it. Increases strength and flexibility of owners ankle, as well as can harden the area by controlling one¡¯s mana. Owner may get rashes on skin.
Huh, so that¡¯s their last name. Probably should''ve known that but oh well. Anyways, the screen seemed fairly detailed about the tattoo, listing it¡¯s positives and negatives in a clean fashion. The downside though was a bit different than expected, but it isn''t necessarily worse at least. ¡°So, now onto payment I suppose. How does 50 gold sound?¡± Kallen said a price rather easily, but to me that was a huge sum, enough to pay for two weeks of rune courses! ¡°Seems fair to me. So Pride, once I take off the material costs and deduct some since you were my apprentice when you did this that leaves you with about 40 gold. Sound good?¡± Ezos said this while smiling at me and I wanted to run around the room like a toddler on a candy rush. ¡°Ye, yes! Thank you!¡± I gave a bow towards Kallen and she giggled a bit at the scene. ¡°Well then Ezos, I¡¯m off, don¡¯t want to keep my group waiting too long.¡± Kallen said this while heading towards the door after giving Ezos the money from a pouch on her hip. ¡°Stay safe then alright, and feel free to come by for some visiting.¡± Ezos happily sent her off while telling her she was welcome back. Once Kallen left I curiously asked Ezos what she does. ¡°Kallen is an adventurer to put it in simple terms. Her and her group go around the islands hunting creatures, mapping new lands, and doing odd jobs for various people.¡± From Ezos¡¯ description, Kallen seemed rather similar to the normal player. ¡°Anyways Pride, now that you¡¯re not my apprentice anymore, lets talk about money.¡± After starting with that I was subjected to talking about splitting material costs, building upkeep, picking up shipments, etc. The end deal was that I would pay him 10% of the cost of my tattoos to use his facilities, and would pay for the materials I use. There were other agreements in that, but those were the two big ones. ¡°Since that¡¯s taken care of, are you going to keep working here for a while, or will you go take some courses at the magic guild?¡± Ezos posed a very good question, and after debating for a while, I decided I would go the next day to sign up for the course. ¡°Well then, in that case why don¡¯t you man the shop here for a bit while I go out. Keep ¡®er safe.¡± With that Ezos left the parlour and went out into the cold night, while I stayed in the shop thinking about the amazing future I was going to have now. A shame that fate decided otherwise. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Hello. Another chapter for you guys. I tried to make this one a bit longer so as to counter the slow upload speed, but tell me if you prefer short, daily updates instead. Like always, comment any questions of mistakes, and thanks for reading! (PS Formatting this chapter sucked. The page just did not want to cooperate and kept on making huge spaces, highlighting random stuff, and changing it''s alignment. If you know how to prevent it from wonking out, please tell me. Thanks) Chapter 13: Prided Plans It was around 2am, when I heard a knock on the door. The shop was closed at this time, so I ignored it figuring it was a drunk. But when I heard Kallen¡¯s voice from the other side, I knew to open it up quickly. ¡°Hello Kallen, what brings you back so soon?¡± I greeted her while opening the door, but when I looked into her face, it was not smiling like before, but rather it had a face akin to a devils. ¡°Pride.¡± Kallen merely said my name, but from that one word, I could feel a sense of foreboding.¡±Ezos was attacked, you need to come with me.¡± ¡°Attacked? Wait, what do you mean he was attacked!?¡± I could not hold back my astonishment at her words, yet even while questioning her, I found my body automatically grabbing my shoes that I had unequipped and following her automatically. ¡°Come with me, I will explain while we walk.¡± WIth that she turned on her heel and started down the street, leaving me to fumble with the lock and chase after her. ¡°So Pride, how much do you know about the political worth of a body artist?¡± The question seemed to be unrelated to the event, but a preliminary bit would make sense to help me understand. ¡°Well, tattoo artists are artists after all. So a great artist would have some sway in a celebrity sort of way, but that¡¯s the extent of it, right?¡± ¡°Wrong. Tattoos are marking on a body right?¡± With that I nodded my head and motioned for her to continue.¡±Now, what if that marking was to put someone into slavery, or if the tattoo¡¯s negative effect was purposefully set to be lethal? Seems a lot more worthy now doesn¡¯t it.¡± ¡°I can see the uses in that, but what does this have to do with Ezos?¡± Seeing a couple of lines dangling near the issue, I decided to try to tie them together. ¡°Tattoos with those effects are few and far between, with their makings being closely kept. Ezos happens to be one of those keepers.¡± Kallen said this as she rounded the corner towards a district that mainly held inns, bars and restaurants. ¡°Wait, so Ezos was attacked for his knowledge? Were they attempting to kidnap him?¡± The information made sense, but it didn¡¯t explain why he was attacked. ¡°People aren¡¯t supposed to know who can, and cannot use those markings. They are markings that can change politics in an instant. Imagine if say, King Rex was scheduling to get a tattoo and the artist, instead of applying the tattoo asked, supplies a slave mark. Dangerous isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°That is a reason, but that still isn¡¯t tying the strings together.¡± ¡°Ezos was scheduled to do a tattoo for Rex¡¯s son, yet someone found out he can do slave markings. Artists who can do this are supposed to be announced to the king so that they can be monitored. Failure to do so... is death.¡± Those words struck me like a stone. Questions popped up in my mind, such as why didn¡¯t he tell the king, how did they find out, why attack him at night, rather than make a scene of it? I kept these to myself though, as we approached an inn by the name of ¡®The Harlequins Tavern¡¯. Kallen entered and I followed. She went past the eating area, and straight for the stairs, ignoring all those around us and focusing on her objective. Once upstairs we entered a rather large room with multiple beds, on one of which Ezos lay, his sheets stained with blood, and with three characters around him, tending his wounds. ¡°Welcome back Kallen, is that Pride?¡± A short dwarf asked this while moving his way from the bedside to in front of us, offering his hand for me to shake. ¡°Yes, and you are?¡± I said this while reaching out my hand. He grasped it in a vice like grip and said,¡±Name¡¯s Narvi. I¡¯m one of the members in Kallen¡¯s group.¡± Behind him I could see two elves, one male one female, both of which were talking to Kallen beside Ezos¡¯ bed. ¡°Those two elves over there are Ellan and Endal. They¡¯re twins who specialize in magic. Ellan is the one who has been keeping Ezos alive so far.¡± Noticing my gaze, Narvi supplemented for the knowledge I was lacking. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. I began to walk over towards them when one of the twins, the girl named Ellan, noticed me and they all come over to introduce themselves. ¡°Hello Pride, I¡¯m Ellan, and this is my brother Endal.¡± She and her brother were rather similar. They were of an average height and build, but their silver hair and blue eyes definitely made them stand out. ¡°Hello. I heard from Narvi that you have been keeping Ezos alive. Thank you for that.¡± I said this while bowing my head towards her. ¡°Lift your head. Ezos is a friend to us aswell, so there is no need to be caught on formalities.¡± The one who said this was Endal, his gaze seemed to of softened after telling me to be more casual with him. ¡°In any case, how is he?¡± Feeling anxious wasn¡¯t going to help me, so getting a solid bit of information would to well. ¡°He is stable for now, but there are bound to be more attempts on his life as long as he is in the city.¡± Ellan said this while looking at Ezos¡¯ silently laying on the bed beside us. ¡°What exactly was the attack by the way? I know who did it, but I don''t know how.¡± ¡°We ourselves don¡¯t know all the information, but we do know he was shot by a poisoned arrow.¡± Endal said this while moving down Ezos¡¯ blanket to reveal an area of bandages near his heart. ¡°I take it you¡¯ve done something about the poison then?¡± ¡°Yes, we¡¯ve been applying detoxification magic for awhile now, but the poison is strong and still isn¡¯t entirely gone.¡± Ellan said this with a downtrodden face. ¡°Hmm, so how are we going to get him off the island, and to where will he go?¡± ¡°We don¡¯t know yet, but I have some contacts in Bahrst who should be able to keep him safe.¡± Narvi said this while sitting in a chair opposite the bed. ¡°That is the where, but how?¡± ¡°We have our own boat, but the king will definitely have guards at the docks. What we will need to do is either eliminate these guards, or find another way to sneak out.¡± ¡°We should just kill the bastards and then get out of here like a dragon on a speed potion!¡± Endal yelled this out. It seems as if the stress is getting to him. ¡°Enough. We don¡¯t need more blood.¡± Kallen finally spoke, and a silence permeated the room. ¡°Well, it seems it will be option two then. We should act fast too, since the king¡¯s forces will no doubt be searching for him.¡± Continuing the conversation, I confirmed how we should do this, while reminding everyone of our constraints. ¡°Maybe we could find a smuggler?¡± Ellan muttered this to herself and it was barely audible for the rest of us. ¡°That could work, but do we have enough time to find one, and then leave in time?¡± Time was going to be our biggest constraint, and Endal did well to remind his siste of this. ¡°How far is Bahrst from here?¡± I had an idea, but I needed more information before presenting it. ¡°Well, by air it would take us about three days. That¡¯s assuming the king doesn,t follow us on the way there.¡± Narvi answered my question and waited for me to continue my thoughts. ¡°What if we did this¡­¡± With those words I layed out my plan, and it was decided we would do it tomorrow. I guess those lessons will have to wait a bit longer. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Another chapter for you. Bit of a set-up chapter, but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless. Anyways, like always comment any mistakes of suggestions and thanks for reading. Chapter 14: Chaotic Practices I woke up early in the morning, and set out to go do my part for this plan. Walking onto the street, I saw it was already starting to become busy as people started their daily activities. I started down the main road and headed to the centre of the town, where the statue of the angel was. All around, players were sitting, enjoying the early morning as well as new players shining into the world and looking around at their new environment. Those new players, would be my tools. ¡°Hello there! How are you.¡± Calling out to one of the players that just came in I put on my friendliest face and walked towards her. She looked to be about 16 albeit a bit short, and she had short hazel hair that came down to her shoulder. ¡°Umm, I¡¯m good thank you. How are you?¡± She seemed rather uncomfortable being called out after just coming into the game, and frankly I don¡¯t blame her. ¡°I¡¯m doing well thankyou. You are new to the game, correct?¡± Wanting to make sure that she wasn¡¯t someone who had reset her character, and was actually brand new to the game, I approached the subject with some caution. ¡°Yes, I am. Do you need something from me?¡± She slowly positioned herself in such a way that she could run in necessary. ¡°I don¡¯t need anything, but I do have something to offer.¡± I said this while circling around her to sit on the edge of the fountain. ¡°Offer me? I¡¯m sorry but this seems rather suspicious.¡± She finally voiced her concerns, but she wasn¡¯t being rude with them thankfully. ¡°I understand it is suspicious, but after hearing my offer you can choose whether to take it or not. If you say no then I will just offer it to some other new player.¡± I tried to coax her into at least hearing me out, as forcing her to listen would raise too many suspicions from those around me. ¡°Okay, I will listen, but we have to talk here.¡± ¡°Perfect! My name is Pride by the way might I ask what yours is?¡± ¡°I¡¯m Kelpy. So Pride, what is your offer?¡± She said this while sitting down a few feet beside me on the fountain. ¡°Well I am a body artist, or tattoo artist if you prefer, and I wish to try out a new design. The thing with tattoos in this game is that they can give various buffs and debuffs to the person who has them, so to test new ones is rather crucial. Normal citizens have a chance of being harmed, but us players can¡¯t die, which makes things safer.¡± I outlined the general bits about tattoos to her before she then spoke once more. ¡°If you give me a bad tattoo though, won¡¯t it be permanent, that seems like an awfully big risk to me.¡± She voiced a very good point, but It wasn¡¯t too hard to answer against. ¡°There are various seals for tattoos, so all I have to do is choose a temporary one.¡± ¡°Hmm alright, continue.¡± She thought about it for a moment, and hearing her give me the go-ahead to keep speaking was a nice sign. ¡°The design that I would like to try is actually made up of a couple separate tattoos, that would then be combined into one big scene. It would be on your back, since it has the largest open area, and If the effect is negative then I will give you a positive tattoo of your choice for free.¡± Kelpy thought about my offer for a bit and then spoke. ¡°That seems fair. I assume you have a parlour in town?¡± ¡°Yes I do, if you would please follow me.¡± With that I lead her to the parlour and began work on her tattoo. The design I intended to use was a battle scene between an orc, a human, and an elf. It would be like something out of a picture book, with them fighting each other in a battle royale. I first started with the orc, menacingly lifting his club into the air towards where the human would be placed, while stretching his palm towards the elf. The human was next, and I chose to make him into a knight, with his shield up and pointed towards the club, while his sword went towards the elf. The elf was then put with a staff in her hand, firing a fireball towards the orc, while blocking the sword with it¡¯s wood. After getting their basic outline, I put in details such as injuries, folds and wrinkles in their clothes, and on all of their faces, I put a face showing resentment, hatred, pain, and despair. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Once done, Kelpy¡¯s back depicted something akin to a scene out of hell. I then finished the tattoo with troll blood and with a bit of cursing due to drawing out the mana, I eventually managed to seal the tattoo and finish it.
Battlefield Hell
Owner:KelpyArtist:Pride
Quality:Grand
A tattoo depicting a scene of three races fighting each other, locked in struggle that would lead to their demise. Increases the owners strength and vitality, but decreases their wisdom and intelligence. Can put owner into a berserk state.
¡®Perfect¡¯, I thought to myself. Kelpy however, seemed a bit annoyed. ¡°This raises my strength and vitality, which is nice, but lowering my wisdom and intelligence sucks! I wanted to be a mage so I believe you should give me a good tattoo right?¡± ¡°True true, but first though we should test out the berserk ability. Although berserk itself is a battle skill that increases strength and vitality, the amount it increases can vary. Please follow me to where we can test it.¡± I explained this to her while putting away the tools from before, and with a nod the followed me out the door and towards the central square. ¡°Alright, we can test it here in the square.¡± I said this while turning to face towards Kelpy, who then bumped into my chest. ¡°Ow, don¡¯t stop so suddenly. Also, what do you mean test it here, this is the center of town?¡± ¡°Exactly, since the is the center of town, everyone will see the effects of your tattoo, which will be advertising for me. As well as the area here is very open, so we don¡¯t have to worry about you growing a bit and knocking stuff down.¡± I explained this while moving her off of my chest and towards the fountain. ¡°Okay then. How do I use the ability?¡± Kelpy agreed and asked for the final step of the plan here. ¡°Simply think of the area on your back, and use the idea of berserk.¡± Saying this I then turned around and headed to a safe distance before giving her the thumbs up. With that signal, she activated her berserk, and all hell broke loose in the square. Kelpy grew by about two feet, and her muscles thickened out like tree trunks. Her eyes started to cloud and with a loud yell she then pounced on the closest person, picking them up and throwing them into a wall at the opposite side of the square. She appeared to have lost her sanity, and the guards around the area scrambled to stop her, only to meet a rather sudden death. Kelpy climbed towards the fountain, ripping it out of the ground and tossing it towards the players who were trying to help stop her. Finally, one of the guards gave the signal I was looking for and shot a flare magic into the sky, signalling for reinforcements. Once I saw that I left the square and sprinted as quickly as I could past the people who were watching, and headed towards the docks. Once there I saw Kallen waving me towards a small boat on the far side of the docks. I ran on board and we set off with the sight of gryphons descending unto the main square behind us. A few workers noticed our sudden departure, but none took serious note. The guards that should''ve been watching this boat would have either been heading towards the distraction, or be knocked out in a crate. ¡°Seems your distraction worked Pride, good job.¡± Narvi said this with a smile on his face. ¡°Yeah, good job Pride!¡± From the Helm of the ship I heard Endal yell towards me. I sat down at the back of the boat and admire the fact that I was flying. The window showing clouds passing by slowly as we headed North. Next stop, Bahrst. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bonjour. First off, sorry for the delay, some stuff has been happening lately, and so the next chapter might be awhile as well. I managed to fit this one in quickly though. Like always comment suggestions of mistakes and thanks for reading.