by Jez Cajiao
DO YOU WISH TO LEARN ‘DARKVISION’? THIS WILL CONSUME THE STONE.
I confirmed, and the stone slowly began to dissolve, evaporating into the air and forming a small hazy cloud that hovered around my hand. I sat there, watching it and wondering what to do next, when it began to dissipate. I panicked, realizing I was losing my chance to use it, and leaned forward to do the only thing I could think of. I breathed it in.
As the cloud flowed forward, I expected it to enter my lungs, but instead it flowed directly into my eyes, causing them to burn and ache for a few seconds. When my vision cleared, I could see much better; so well, in fact, that I turned the torch off and put it aside.
The world was filled with greens and greys, but I could see!
I dismissed the prompt telling me that I’d learned a new ‘Ability,’ and moved on to the Spellbooks. They were the real treasure here, and I needed as many as possible. I knew I could learn two spells now, as the bracelet increased my usual potential by that amount. I’d either have to free up another slot by investing more points in my Intelligence when I leveled next, or save two spells for later, just in case. I decided to learn ‘Chameleon,’ as neither ‘Stone-Sight,’ ‘Undead Servant,’ nor ‘Featherfall’ seemed like they’d help a great deal right now. Being a stealthy motherfucker, though, was always worthwhile.
As I lost myself in the book, an hour passed in the blink of an eye. As I finished the final page, I realized that I now understood how Osun Dagomar had been so hard to see. The bastard had probably been using this and bending the damn light around himself! I stretched my right hand out and, looking at the far wall, I pushed the feeling of life in my body to run down into my palm, focusing it into as tight a ball as I could, and then ‘pulled’ it back across my body, coating myself in something that felt like a thin layer of oil. It spread across my body in less than a second, leaving behind a slight blurriness. I waved my hand in front of my face, watching it, then held it close. I could see my hand covered by the same colors as the wall behind it. The colors were smeared, and not very good, but this was just a basic entry level spell, so it was fucking amazing! I brought up the spell description and read through it quickly.
Chameleon:
This spell bends light around your body, making you 10% harder to detect and increasing your Stealth Skill by 5 points for 10 seconds at a cost of twenty-five mana.
The possibilities of this spell, especially when leveled up, were awe-inspiring. It was probably safe to assume that even true invisibility was possible. More importantly, some experience with this, and I could become seriously lethal with this kind of stealth attack capability. Definitely worth learning, even more so because, beyond the gestures required for the spell, the spoken component was sub-vocal. Was it possible that if it was acceptable for this, why not everything else?
“Ignis Lacta Scopum!” I sub-vocalized, thrusting my open hand forward and willing a firebolt to hit the wall. A flicker of fire burst to life, growing in a second from a tiny spark to a ball the size of my closed fist before hurtling across the intervening few meters. The room filled with a whine as the air marked its passage, then a loud crack as the Firebolt hit the spot I’d aimed at. A wash of flames burst out across the wall before guttering out and dying.
“Hell fucking yes!” I gasped, looking down at my right hand in shock. “It worked! I actually did it,” I whispered to myself, realizing that even still, I’d been expecting something bad to happen, to fail somehow, now that I was in the UnderVerse rather than on Earth.
I sat back against the wall, thinking, my mind reeling from the possibilities of this new world, even as I watched my mana bar refill at a hugely increased speed. After a minute, I caught myself stifling yet another yawn and realized how tired I was. I’d spent a significant portion of the last twenty-four hours battling for my life, and I was exhausted now. I pulled out my sleeping bag and curled up in the corner, trying to ignore the foul stench from the corpses of the creatures I’d killed earlier, and resolved to get some sleep.
When I got up the next morning, I used the sleeping bag to make a more comfortable seat and took up the skill books. I read Trapmaking first, as it was the one that called out to me the most. I’d always been terrible at biology and chemistry, and those were the basics of herbalism and alchemy, but I would eventually get to them as well.
As I turned the pages of the book, examining diagrams and pictures, I slipped into a half doze. Memories of the author filtered through my mind. I watched through her eyes as she made simple snares, pitfalls, spring-loaded traps, and even experiments with contact poisons. Dozens of men died from her traps, and I started to notice common details in her memories. The walls, floors, and clothing of the people that fell for her tricks were all familiar. They were from my world! Whoever had created this book had done so there, and had amused herself by murdering people in her own simple labyrinth.
I came out of the trance soon enough and realized that I now knew how to create a few simple traps, as well as how to spot them. I quickly moved onto Alchemy and Herbalism. Each taught me the basics of the crafts, such as how to create basic potions from simple ingredients, to use my identify spell on herbs which I might suspect had alchemical properties, and how to improve my skills as I went.
It seemed that normal usage of the skills, like making potions, would increase the skill’s level, and in turn allow me to make stronger and more useful items. I loved it.
A serious side effect was making itself known now, though, as a migraine the size of Canada seemed determined to move in behind my right eye…
Lastly, I activated the map I’d been given. It was blank when I unrolled it, but as soon as I looked at it, I received a prompt from the Pearl.
ENCHANTED MAP DETECTED. DO YOU WISH TO SYNCHRONIZE?
I approved it, and a tiny area near the middle of the map grew more detailed. At first, it was just a spot of color, but as I focused, it grew larger, zooming in until I saw the outline of the room I was in, as well as the cavernous one next door. I sat back against the wall and contemplated the room, noticing a small, faintly pulsing notification in the bottom of my vision. I activated it and found that I now had both a magic page and a skill page added to my options, as well as a map section. I chose to examine the magic first, of course, seeing that I now had Chameleon added to the list of spells I knew.
My skills page had been populated with the skills I had that had transferred over to this world. A quick flexing of mental muscles was all it took to remove ones that were inappropriate, such as driving, and all were set to level one, so for some reason. practicing them before arriving in the UnderVerse clearly didn’t count. They were broken up into sections, such as Melee, Ranged, and Survival. These skills were further broken down by sub-skill, such as archery or axes. I discovered a space for bonuses, but they were all blank, likely in anticipation for me to learn some skills. Lastly, there was a section on specialty knowledge, such as the knowledge I’d gained of common herbs, their likely locations and uses, and how to use some of these herbs to make a few simple potions and reagents.
Skill
Sub-Skill
Level
Bonus
Specialty knowledge
Ranged
Archery
1
Bowman (0/100)
Throwing knives
1
Small Blades (0/100)
Throwing axes
1
Axes (0/100)
Melee
Axes
1
Dual Wielding
1
Daggers
1
Maces
1
Swords
1
Staffs
1
Naginata (0/100)
Unarmed
1
Survival
Camp making
1
Cooking
1
Tracking
1
Crafting<
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Alchemy
1
Minor Cure Poison (0/100), Minor Health Potion (0/100), Minor Mana Potion (0/100), Minor Stamina Potion (0/100), Weak Acid (0/100), Weak Poison (0/100)
Trap Making
1
Tripwires (0/100), Pitfalls (0/100), Spiketraps (0/100), Snares (0/100)
Gathering
Herbalism
1
Common herbs
I then sorted through the contents of the bag further. I’d been given several items that I hadn’t not been able to identify before, so I took the time and cast Identify on all of the magical items that I’d gained.
Ring of Healing
Further Description Yes/No
Details:
This ring provides a 50-point healing twice per day, minimum intelligence to equip this item is 11.
Rarity
Magical
Durability
Charge:
Uncommon
Yes
76/100
2/2
Ring of Wisdom
Further Description Yes/No
Details:
This ring grants +5 to Wisdom for the wearer.
Rarity
Magical
Durability
Charge:
Rare
Yes
82/100
N/A
Bracelet of Spell Memories
Further Description Yes/No
Details:
This bracelet allows the wearer to retain two spells more than their current Intelligence stat will support.
Rarity
Magical
Durability
Charge:
Rare
Yes
82/100
N/A
Cloak of Improved Stealth
Further Description Yes/No
Details:
This cloak grants an additional level to the wearer’s Stealth ability
Rarity
Magical
Durability
Charge:
Uncommon
Yes
88/100
N/A
Bow of Accuracy
Further Description Yes/No
Damage:
8-10dps
Details:
This bow grants the user a 10% increase in accuracy when used
Rarity
Magical
Durability
Charge:
Uncommon
Yes
74/100
N/A
Dagger of Darkness
Further Description Yes/No
Damage:
5-7dps
Details:
Injuries caused by this dagger have a 5% chance to inflict the ‘Darkness’ debuff on its victims, blinding them for up to ten seconds.
Rarity
Magical
Durability
Charge:
Uncommon
Yes
74/100
N/A
I looked over the six magical items I’d gained. Slipping the rings and bracelet on and summoning my status page, I could immediately see five-point increase in my Wisdom, bringing me out of the minuses for my memory, which had always been poor, and increasing my mana regeneration from 1.1 points per minute to 1.6 points. A quick calculation confirmed that, with my current mana pool of one hundred and forty, I’d be able to fully regain that in just under ninety minutes. That seemed fast at first, but then I realized that as my spells grew in power, they’d grow in cost as well. Regenerating enough mana for another Firebolt every seven to eight minutes was great, but if the next spell up was fifty mana or more, I’d soon find the ceiling of my powers. I’d also gotten a notification while I’d been using my Identify spell.
Congratulations! You have gained a level in Identify. More information will be displayed when your skill in this spell reaches level ten. Increase this or other Light spells nine more times to reach Level Two in Light Magic.
Congratulations, you have raised your spell ‘Identify’ to level two. Once this spell reaches level ten, you may choose its first evolution.
Looking it over, I realized I had another two notifications waiting. I’d dismissed them when I was too busy earlier, but I had time now, so I brought them up one after the other.
Congratulations! You have killed a Level Eight Ranger! You receive 160exp. Progress to Level Five stands at 935/2700exp.
Congratulations! You have defeated a Level Nine Knight! You receive 180exp. Progress to Level Five stands at 1115/2700exp.
I proceeded to equip all the gear and leaned the bow against the wall next to the door, hanging the quiver of arrows on my hip. It looked like I’d gained 20 points towards the next level with each magical item I’d examined until I reached level two, at which point, I’d gained ten points for the next item examined. I could live with that, especially now that I now knew how to level it.
Looking back at things, I suspected I knew why the door had opened and then closed so abruptly, cutting the creatures into bits. The tower was responding to my mental orders. If I was right, I could open the door, fire a few arrows or firebolts into the room and then close it again, picking the creatures off with ease. If I was wrong, though, I wanted a fallback plan, so I began to prepare.
I propped my Naginata by the door next to the bow and checked my swords in their sheaths. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to go all out, casting Cleansing Fire and shooting Firebolts and arrows until I ran out of both mana and arrows, or play it safe. After a bit of thought, I decided to go with the second option. After all, this was my life I was risking, not just a respawn. I took a deep breath and jogged on the spot as fast as possible to get my blood pumping, working myself up to it.
I cast Raise Weak Skeleton on one of the corpses, my hands flowing through the peculiar gestures and words as I felt the mana flow through me. I used both hands to cast, and found that it seemed right somehow, even though I knew it could be cast with just one. Lines of purple and black began to leech into the corpse, sinking through its skin and into its bones, which began to shake. The skin sloughed off, collapsing with the organs into a pile of noxious slime on the floor, revealing gleaming bones that slowly stood up on all six legs. It straightened and reared up, standing on the rear four legs, while holding the front half of its body more upright, like the centaur on the mural behind me. Its front legs had more pronounced claws, with what looked to be greater dexterity compared to the middle and back legs. I looked it over as it stood motionless, watching me. A glow of purple fire shone in the center of its eyes, and its long teeth glittered in the torchlight. I took a step back, then another, instinctively grabbing my naginata. The damn thing looked terrifying! It took a minute to regain my control, but then I began to direct the skeleton. I discovered that it responded to my will, not just spoken commands. and I spent the next few moments directing it to walk the length of the room, stand on its back legs, balance on the middle and then front legs, and begin to dance the Hokey-Pokey. Yeah, I could see definite uses for this. Well, not the dancing, although it was actually more skilled already at dancing than half the people on reality shows, but a totally loyal undead creation that could act as my tank? Yeah, that, I definitely could use.
I ordered my minion to the doorway and instructed it to move through as soon as the door opened, stopping on the other side, and to attack anything that came within range. As it moved to obey, I concentrated on the door. It took a few attempts, but eventually I figured it out, and the crystal collapsed into mist that was sucked into the doorframe, leaving the next room exposed.
A single screech rose from the far side, quickly echoed by others, as the waiting creatures began scuttling toward me. My minion raced forward to stand on the far side of the door. I cast ‘Identify’ on the nearest creature, quickly reading the page that formed before me.
