With a glance behind him, he saw Michell using her larger, two-handed cub, to fend off attacks from the skeleton. Her chest spewed green blood, and she had a stone shaped wound on her forehead. The skeleton was missing one arm but did not seem to notice. Don had somehow relieved the Dwarf of his shield and begun peppering his enemy with quick strikes. Each of them was wounded, and it was unclear who had the advantage. Unable to help, he looked to find his enemy. He needed to remove the threat.
Refusing to die, to let his friends die, Eli kept moving. His legs protested as he forced them into action, his stamina bar draining with every step. Aida informed him he had been cursed, causing his every action to cost twice as much stamina. He didn’t care. As Eli continued to rush forward, the necromancer’s smug grin turned into a look of horror. The player didn’t expect him to be able to move. A second later, Eli was on him, carving him with his twin axes.
Focusing on the player, wanting to know the name of his enemy, Eli brought up his information as he continued his assault. To his surprise, more information appeared than usual. Under the man’s name, Kel Thul level 10 Necromancer, was a health bar that was dropping significantly with each attack. Seeing this brought a smile to Eli’s face, causing him to look insane as he rained attacks on his enemy. Under the constant attacks, Eli watched as Kel’s health dropped below twenty-five percent. Before he could land another hit, Eli felt an intense cold creep up his back. A moment later, his body froze, and the chill enveloped his entire body. Then the world turned green.
As Eli stood motionless, green energy swept through the library, followed by laughter. The cries of pain and sounds of battle had stopped, leaving the insane cackling of the player to echo off the walls. Slowly the small necromancer smiled and walked forward, dusting himself off.
“Finally. I thought I was a goner for a second,” Kel spoke, before stabbing Eli in the chest with a small obsidian dagger.
“Stop fucking around, Kel. We don’t have time for this shit. Just kill him so we can take this place. Chris is probably waiting for us.” The dwarf’s voice called out as a loud thud sounded out behind Eli.
“I guess, I’ll get this over with,” The necromancer said with a sigh, lifting his blade to Eli’s throat. “Sorry, man, this place is ours. Better luck next time.”
Attempting to close his eyes, Eli felt calm as he looked over his status. He was stunned for five seconds. The little caster could take his time, make sure he landed a fatal blow. He would die here, and there was nothing he could do. He just hoped that he would somehow be reunited with his family. As resignation took hold, a wet gurgling sound caught his attention, and the necromancer’s eyes opened in shock. Eli looked down to see a kunai sprouting from the Goblins throat, blood pouring down his chest.
As the necromancer slouched over, unable to breathe, the Dwarf screamed, “What the fuck was that?”
Noticing that he could move, Eli’s will to fight returned. He was nearly dead, but so was the small man before him. Without hesitation, he lifted his axes and began hacking through the back of the Necromancer's neck. A moment later, the goblin’s decapitated corpse fell to the ground, and the poisonous smoke lifted, followed by the sound of bones falling to the ground.
Fearing for his friend's lives, Eli turned and sprinted back towards the small alcove where their battle had started. After taking his first step, a loud crash came from Michelle's direction, followed by the meaty thud of a dwarven corpse. Eli stopped in his tracks, staring at the body in shock. The player’s head had been caved in, his metal helmet showing a significant dent. From around the corner, Michelle appeared covered in deep cuts, bleeding from the mouth, one arm hanging limp.
“Never turn your back on a troll.” She whispered, her words weak and broken, before falling to the ground, unconscious.
Chapter 33
“Fuck, Don, help her!” Eli shouted, his friend already moving, but not towards Michelle.
“First, let me try to cure that poison,” Don said, as he placed his hand to Eli’s chest.
As healing warmth flooded Eli’s system, the stacks of poison faded, and his health bar returned to a healthy red color, “Wait, what? How can you?” Eli stammered, never seeing his friend cure poisons before.
“I learned it when I got hit by that stun debuff. I started cycling my mana through my body, trying to destroy the effect, and wham. My martial healing skill leveled up. I forced a breakthrough or something. It leveled up my healing skill, and gave me a new one, cleanse. Don’t know how, but we can figure it out later.”
The warrior wasn’t dead. Eli saw her health bar slowly refilling, fighting against the poison coursing through her veins. Next to her name, her stamina bar was empty. Her final powerful attack drained it completely. He, on the other hand, would be dead if the poison runs its course. While the Necromancer was dead, the poison lingered, constantly draining their health. Each of their crimson bars hovered around ten percent full. The poison debuff had capped out at five stacks, draining five health per second. Don, who cured himself, was the only one unaffected. After the Turta finished curing Eli’s poison, he got to work on Michelle.
“It takes a second, and a fuck ton of mana, but I can cure most debuffs on myself and others,” Don said with a smile. “Now sit tight while I cure Michelle. I’ll be low on mana and stamina after. So we should take a break.”
Eli nodded, impressed by his friend’s quick thinking. Yet something ate at him. Unlike Eli, the Turta never gave up, and it had saved them. He had always thought of himself as someone who would fight for what he believed in, what was right, and the people he loved. Lately, he wallowed in anxiety, depression, and self-loathing. He had just given up, accepted his death, and his friends. Possibly even those of the people in the slums, just for a chance to be with family again. Thinking about his wife, he realized that his indecision was partially to blame for their deaths.
Unable to face his friend, he turned away, “I’m going to loot these guys, they might have something important.”
While Don finished curing Michelle, Eli sifted through their enemies’ corpses. He took everything, storing it in his bag of holding. He processed his thoughts, staring into the dead eyes of the person who had killed his wife before they turned to ashes. He should have been the one to kill him; he needed to be. But that chance was taken from him.
As the body dissipated, his eyes filling with tears, he whispered, “Kata, I’m so sorry. I’m a failure.”
“You know, to him, none of this is real. He will come back and do stuff like this all over again,” Aida spoke, her words stabbing Eli through the chest. “That doesn’t necessarily make him a bad person. He’s just some guy playing a video game, with no concept of exactly how real this world is. No one knows exactly how much the AI here can process emotion, except the creators of the game. Don’t blame him, carrying this grudge will get you nowhere. The people you thought of as your family are gone, and these people don’t even know that they did anything wrong. Do you feel sadness when you step on an ant or swat a fly? What about if you break your tools while working? Because that’s how they think of NPCs. You can change that. You can change how players and NPCs coexist. You might be the only person who can.” She paused, letting her words sink in, “But right now, you need to cut it out. You hesitated, get over it. You’re broken, sure. However, at the moment, you’re in a dungeon filled with monsters and people who won’t hesitate to murder you. They don’t think any of this has any real consequences, while you are fighting to save your friends and a lot of other NPC’s.”
Eli fell silent, taking in his guide's words before letting out a quiet chuckle. She was right, and he had to look over his haul and get ready for whatever was next. “It’s time the bugs fought back.”
Opening up his inventory, he found decent armor, weapons, and traveling supplies and several magical reagents and useful herbs. The necromancer’s staff was similar to the one he had seen earlier, with a few exceptions. The skull at the top was much smaller, m
ore human, and its shaft was reinforced with steel. Its other end came to a vicious spear tip. As Eli focused on the item, its statistics popped into view, causing him to look at the item in wonder.
*Cursed Spear-staff of the Raven*
Damage: One-handed - (16-20 Bludgeoning / Piercing) / Two-handed - (23-29 Bludgeoning / Piercing) | Range: Melee | Size: Medium | Durability: 20/35 | Quality: Above Average | Rarity: Uncommon | Effects: Versatile, Reinforced, Cursed, Enchanted, Aspect of the Raven.
Versatile: This weapon can be used in one hand or two.
Reinforced: This item has been reinforced, +10 Durability.
Cursed: This weapon has been cursed. Alignment of the wielder will change to Chaotic Evil. +10 to Intelligence -5 to charisma.
Enchanted: This item has been enchanted, +5 to Spirit.
Aspect of the Raven: This item contains the spiritual qualities of the raven. +5% to perception, +5 Intelligence, +5 Spirit.
The weapon was nearly as powerful as his missing longbow, except this item was cursed. Not know what alignment did, other than act as a description of how good or evil someone was. He asked his guide.
Aida, what's with this curse, and what does alignment do?
“Well, a curse can be a lot of different things. In this case, it gives the wielder of the staff a bonus to intelligence, at the cost of charisma. Since the benefits and costs are not balanced, there is most likely a hidden disadvantage. If someone uses this weapon, they may not be able to remove it. It may act on its own, or start talking, or any number of things.”
Thanks. Got it. Don’t use the staff. What about alignment?
“Alignment is simple. It tells you how good, bad, lawful, or chaotic you are and factors into what gods you can serve, using some items, where you can go along with other positive and negative effects. If a lawful good paladin tries to enter a chaotic evil temple of plague, they will probably suffer some terrible debuffs. There are a ton of smaller things as well. One example is conversation. Two like-minded individuals are more likely to get along with or help each other. You’re chaotic good, so you will probably have a small bonus when interacting with most Mist Elves, and Gladekin.”
Well, shit. That’s actually pretty useful.
After inspecting the remaining gear, he found that the vast majority of it was of good quality, but mundane. The necromancers’ midnight black robes offered minimal armor, could be worn over armor and offered a two percent increase to mana regeneration, which could be useful. He gave the staff and robes to Don, who was the only one who would benefit from wearing them.
Eli replaced his shoddy hide armor, with the mixed set of boiled leather and blackened chainmail that the Dwarf had been wearing. As he mentally selected to equip the items, they resized to fit his body perfectly, before appearing on him in an instant. Not having to change into the new gear physically was extremely helpful, as chainmail could be difficult and time-consuming to put on. While he felt slightly heavier, his movement had not been restricted, and his armor had risen from ten to over thirty. After equipping the whole set, he looked over each piece, starting at his new boots.
*Sturdy Leather Boots*
Armor: 6 | Slot: Feet (over) | Size: Medium | Durability: 25/35 | Quality: Average | Rarity: Common | Weight: 4lbs | Effects: Reinforced.
Reinforced: This item has been reinforced, +10 Durability.
*Boiled Leather Leggings*
Armor: 15 | Slot: Legs | Size: Medium | Durability: 40/45 | Quality: Average | Rarity: Common | Weight: 10lbs | Effects: Boiled leather.
Boiled Leather: This item has been hardened. +5 Durability, +5 Armor.
*Padded Shirt*
Armor: 3 | Slot: Torso (under) | Size: Medium | Durability: 9/10 | Quality: Average | Rarity: Common | Weight: 1 lbs | Effects: Padded.
Padded: Reduces friction and increases mobility while wearing medium or heavier armor. Negates 50% of movement, speed penalty, and stealth penalty of some metal armors.
*Blackened Chainmail Tunic*
Armor: 25 | Slot: Torso (over) | Size: Medium | Durability: 40/55 | Quality: Average | Rarity: Common | Weight: 15 lbs | Effects: Blackened.
Blackened: Removes stealth penalty of metal armor. Increases durability by 5.
*Boiled Leather Armguards*
Armor: 12 | Slot: Arms | Size: Medium | Durability: 30/40 | Quality: Average | Rarity: Common | Weight: 8 lbs | Effects: Boiled leather.
Boiled Leather: This item has been hardened. +5 Durability, +5 Armor.
*Sturdy Leather Gloves*
Armor: 12 | Slot: Arms | Size: Medium | Durability: 25/40 | Quality: Average | Rarity: Common | Weight: 2 lbs | Effects: Boiled leather.
Reinforced: This item has been reinforced, +10 Durability.
Looking at the item's statistics, something struck him as odd. He could wear all of this armor, yet he could wear none of the shoddy goblin armor he had in his bag.
Aida? Why can I wear this, but not the goblin stuff?
“Do you see that little line that says size?”
Yes.
“What does it say?”
After looking at the chainmail’s information, he replied, slowly, Medium.
“Do you remember what size you are?”
Okay, I get it. You can stop talking to me like I’m a child, Eli said, bringing the conversation to a close, before looking at a piece of the shoddy goblin armor.
*Tattered Leather Tunic*
Armor: 5 | Slot: Torso (over) | Size: Small | Durability: 10/15 | Quality: Low | Rarity: Common | Weight: 10 lbs | Effects: Tattered.
Tattered: Maximum durability reduced by 5.
After confirming the size of the armor, Eli looked at his character sheet to confirm his own. What he saw was odd. His size had a note next to it. Focusing on the small asterisk brought up a small tooltip.
Due to your height and bulk, you can wear both medium and large-sized armor. Some large size items may not fit correctly.
A moment later, he closed out of his character sheet and smiled as he inspected his new armor. He felt invincible. The armor wasn’t magical, like the robe or staff, but it was well made and sturdy. Unfortunately, the fine steel helmet that the dwarf was wearing had been crushed so severely that it had been ruined. When Eli tried to bring up its statistics, not much was visible.
*Ruined Steel Spangenhelm*
This item has been destroyed. Must be repaired before use.
Eli placed the helmet in his bag of holding, a look of defeat on his face. Then his eyes glanced to a twin set of fine steel maces and a shield. He knew someone who could use these. As he thought about the giant troll warrior, he heard motion behind him and turned. Then he was enveloped in golden light, leveling up. He lifted from the ground, watching as the same thing happened to Don and Michelle. A moment later, all three had been fully restored and were standing on their feet, inspecting the changes to their character sheet.
This was the first time Eli had inspected his character sheet since fighting the goblins. What he saw shocked him. Several of his attributes and skills had improved. The information displayed before him was too much to handle, so he closed the window quickly, deciding to ask Aida for help.
Hey, is there any way we can condense this a bit more. There are way too many skills. I don’t think I need to know what level my hiking skill is at. Eli asked, hoping to end up with something more streamlined.
“I sure can. My suggestion is to filter it down to your most used combat, survival, and trade skills only. You don’t need to know the level of sub skills or special skills unless they are immediately useful. We can put those on a separate tab to look over if you want to.”
Do it, Eli said before a newly organized character screen appeared in his vision.
Character Sheet
Name: Eli Miller
Level: 6 | Class: None
HP: 200 / 200 | STA: 200 / 200 | MP: 160 / 160
Attributes:
STR - 18
DEX - 17
CON - 16
/> INT - 11
SPR - 13
CHA - 10
LCK - 14
Points: 17
Skills Main:
Archery: 22 / 100
Axes: 23 / 100
Swords: 20 / 100
Tactics: 23 / 100
Light Armor: 20 / 100
Medicine: 10/100 | First Aid - 6/100
Perception: 16 / 100
Stealth: 16 / 100
Survival: 19 / 100 | Tracking - 15 / 100
Willpower: 20 / 100
Insight: 01 / 100
Several of his skills had, and attributes had risen somewhat significantly. He remembered Aida chiming in now and then, but it didn’t account for all the changes. Suddenly, he remembered that he had restricted notifications while in combat and limited the options heavily.
Hey, a ton has changed here. Why wasn’t I informed? I mean, you told me some stuff, but this is a lot. Eli questioned.
“Well, you kind of limited me. But, I would get bored, so I sent some stuff through. Most of it is only slight improvements, small bonuses. Nothing significant happens until you hit thresholds; Twenty-Five, fifty, seventy-five, and one-hundred for skills and twenty, forty, sixty, eighty, and one-hundred for stats.”
I learned new skills; I should have known. Eli responded, somewhat irked.
“If you want me to let you know that you learned how to throw a club in combat, I can. But it should be rather obvious. You did a thing successfully. Congratulations, here’s your new skill. As you saw, there are thousands of skills—one for nearly every action. Most of them are mundane and unremarkable. I’ve been making judgment calls.” Aida responded, her voice echoing through Eli’s mind in annoyance. “Letting you know that you are better at something does nothing to help. It will make you overconfident in your abilities. But, if you want me to give you a chipper notification every time you take a thousand steps off of a paved road, I can.”
Ascension Page 42
