Dream Stream Reality: Publisher's Pack Books 1-2: (A LitRPG Adventure)

by Derrick Burke

  “Sure she does. She used it just last week at the last day break-up party… Oh crap,” I say, realising I had forgotten that we aren't fully decked out in every spell and ability yet. Getting up again on shaking legs, I say firmly, “Well, I'm making the executive decision that she has to log in first and go get one. While she's at it, she can go buy the rest of the spells we can use as well. She can log out and tell us when she's done.”

  “You make a fine point, Sybaal.” Kazzrak grins at me as he picks up Ezekial in a fireman's carry. “Let's get everyone squared away in their rooms then log out ourselves.”

  “Probably should dismiss our familiars. No way are we going to be lugging them upstairs,” I say, lifting up Ifalna, also in a fireman's carry, and almost falling over as I do. Getting both legs somewhat steady, I lurch towards the stairs and slowly make my way up them. Kazzrak passes me on the stairs as he goes back down to get another one.

  Getting to the first unoccupied room on the right of the hall at the top of the stairs, I somehow open the door and unceremoniously dump Ifalna inside, shutting the door behind her.

  Kazzrak and I make several trips up and down the stairs, and to my surprise, I only fell down them once. Kazzrak didn't fall over, but I blame that on him being a lot closer to the ground than me.

  We had to literally drag Halvard up the stairs, one of us on each foot, so he may have a bit of a headache when he wakes up. At least, judging by the sound the stairs were making when his head hit each one.

  He'll be fine though; I think the stairs were worse off in the end.

  Once everyone is safely in their own rooms, we make our weak-kneed sailor way to our own rooms. We make sure the doors are locked with keys we got from the lad who still hasn't finished cooking the meat for our breakfast.

  It will probably be lunch by the time we eat though, depending on how long we sleep.

  Summoning Grace, who is still asleep, I lie down on the bed and log out.

  11

  When I wake up in the real world, I immediately rush to the bathroom. To be honest, I'm surprised I haven't made a mess already. For some people, it is a negative side effect staying logged into DSR for too long causes. Even if they don't go into the game itself but one of the shared spaces for businesses and such.

  Coming out of the bathroom after a shower and getting changed, I glance at the time, which is becoming my habit when I log in or out. It is currently 16:50. Guess we were drinking to Knax for quite a while.

  Just thinking about the little guy gives my heart a little squeeze, so I take a deep breath and walk out into the main room. Damn, this new game feels so much like the real thing. I've never made such drastic connections to other NPCs before.

  Everyone else is already tucking into a massive bucket of fried chicken and BBQ buffalo wings. Loading up a plate, I sit with them as we devour the several pounds’ worth of chicken.

  “So, I'm just going to go out there and say it. Does this game seem more real to everyone else than usual? I don't normally get so beat up inside when an NPC dies,” says Blake, looking around at us with a grimace.

  “So it's not just me, then?” I sigh around a mouthful of chicken.

  “Maybe it's because this new game seems to have much better physical integration; it lets us connect to the NPCs more? We didn't really interact a lot with them in the last game on a personal level,” Anya suggests.

  “I think that is a possibility. Maybe our minds are having trouble distinguishing this world from the game world, in terms of thinking that it is real as well. Especially since our pain receptors in the game world are turned on. Surely that would mean that we would be able to feel more of our emotions as well, don't you think?” Fuzzy asks, waving a wing around, sauce all through his beard.

  “That makes sense, I guess.” Lockie nods. “Well, what are our options on bringing Knax back?”

  “I'd immediately say a resurrection spell of some kind,” says Anya. “But those have previously been limited to players. They might work on NPCs now, but we will have to trial it and see. I'm not sure it would even work for Knax now anyway, as the ten-minute timer for the resurrection spell to work has elapsed.”

  “Okay, that's pretty much out, but we need to keep an eye out for one so we can try it. If the worst happens and someone else dies, I want to be able to resurrect them,” I say. “We will head to Attis’s chapel and see if one of his priests can be of service. If not, what's next?”

  “Well, we can't go undead or anything like that, or we will fail the quest,” rehashes Lockie. “Would finding another body work though? And somehow put his soul into it?”

  “That might work, but we would need to make sure the body isn't dead already; otherwise we run into the undead problem,” ponders Anya. “So it would have to be inanimate for that to work, I guess.”

  “Where would we even find an inanimate body?” I ask.

  Blake makes a waiting motion with his hand as he swallows the chicken he's inhaled. “We could find a golem or something and put him in that?”

  “We might have to find a power source that isn't easily depleted if Knax's soul doesn't power it. Not to mention I'd feel bad if he were in some cheap and crappy golem,” Fuzzy says with a frown.

  “If it's possible, we are going to need to find masters in the different professions necessary for it to work. We probably will have to travel to the Genasi city to find them. Maybe even further,” I say, feeling a little better that we have a plan of action. Then I start thinking aloud. “So, we are going to want to get geared up with our relics and anything else we need, then go complete the mount quest that Polly told us about.”

  “That's a good point; otherwise we would just be wasting time, seeing as how getting the mounts and then going to the city will probably take just as long as walking there without them,” agrees Anya.

  “On that note.” Fuzzy grins at her. “As our dedicated healer, we will all wait here while you head out and get all the spells that we can use.”

  “Why would you…?” Anya looks puzzled for a moment before rolling her eyes. “It's because I don't have Cleanse, isn't it? I might not be able to get Cleanse this early in my levels, you know.”

  “That's true, but Fuzzy makes a good point,” I agree, and looking at the others, they also agree as well. “You should do it for the others’ sake too, as they will probably be feeling pretty crappy when they wake up.”

  “Ugh.” Anya makes a disgusted noise with a grimace. “Why do I always get the shitty straw? I don't see why one of you can't go get it. This is going to suck. The next time there is something that one of us has to do and it involves something we all obviously really don't want to do, I'm not it by default.”

  “Agreed,” we all say in unison. Hangovers suck, especially in a game where you can feel it and know it can be cured, but don't have the means for it. That just makes it all the worse.

  “Alright then.” Anya stands up. “I had better get this over with before my hangover gets any worse on the other side.”

  “We will head down for a slow gym session, so just get Sorrel to let us know when you're ready and we'll log in,” Fuzzy says, also getting up.

  “Sure.” Anya walks away towards her room, muttering under her breath.

  Probably cursing us all. Wouldn't surprise me.

  The rest of us change and head down to the gym and just take it easy. We have been going to town lately when we have been working out, so with our full bellies, it's probably best to just relax a bit this time.

  Within an hour, Grace informs me that Sorrel has been in contact and says they have our spells for us.

  “That was a bit quick,” says Lockie.

  “What, do you think she's punking us?” asks Fuzzy.

  “Maybe. Wouldn't put it past her, to be honest. We gave her a raw deal,” Lockie replies.

  “Well, considering how many times she has Cleansed other people, myself included, when we didn't want it, it's about time we were able to get some payback in.” Blake
snickers.

  “I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that, and then tell her you said it anyways,” I say with a wink.

  Blake gasps. “You wouldn't! She'll definitely leave me to die if I pull a stand-in-fire stunt again.”

  We all laugh at that. At least Blake might show some restraint then. Heading to my room, I head to the bathroom quickly to freshen up before logging in.

  Opening my eyes, I find out how much of a massive mistake it was to do so and slam them closed. Oh, the pain. Actually, to be honest, besides the blindingly painful light when I opened my eyes, I feel slightly better than when I had resurrection sickness. It still sucks, but isn't quite as bad, so I get up and crack an eyelid.

  After the initial pain dulls a bit, I see that Grace is still passed out, so I decide to dismiss her. I'll summon her back again when I'm sure Ifalna isn't messing with us.

  Heading downstairs, only Kazzrak, Ezekial, Dosan and Ifalna are sitting around one of the tables we were at last night, with their familiars. They have steaming piles of meat, vegetables and a black mug of something that smells surprisingly like coffee. That's when I realise I haven't had a coffee in the real world for a few days now.

  Wow, just goes to show how much gaming can disrupt your regular habits.

  “Tanni! Can Sybaal here get what we're having?” Ifalna calls out to the bartender from the night before. The excess noise is playing havoc with my headache, and I squint at Ifalna while holding my head.

  “Oh, whoops, my bad.” Grinning, Ifalna casts something, and feathers of light fall around me, and I instantly feel normal again.

  Ah, that feels so much better. The bitch yelled on purpose, but I'll forgive her for the little dig because she made the pain go away.

  “Cheers, Ifalna, better get that spell ready again quick,” I say cheerfully and summon Grace into the corner she occupied last night. Let her try that trick on Grace and see what happens.

  A growling rumble emanates from Grace and slowly gets louder as soon as she is summoned as she squints around at her surroundings. Looks like even dragons can get drunk and have a bad hangover. Probably not the best idea to be around one without a Cleanse spell handy.

  Ifalna shoots me a perturbed look, which I smile at pleasantly, after which I see feathers of light fall over Grace. Instantly the growling turns into purrs of pleasure as she stretches out, sliding a couple of tables out of the way in the process.

  “Thank you, Ifalna,” Grace says before promptly lying down and going back to sleep.

  Gilly, or one of the other female triplets, comes out of the kitchen bearing a mug of coffee and a plate of steaming food. She places them on the table in front of me with a shy smile before ducking back into the kitchen.

  I remember that last night we were introduced to Tanni's kids, who is the owner of the Lucky Nail. Sam, being the youngest, has three cute big sisters that he has to deal with, so I don't envy the kid. Especially since they have apparently started dating the local boys.

  Taking a sip of coffee, I sigh in bliss. “So, what have you found, Ifalna? Did you just get spells for you, or were you able to find some for us as well?”

  “Ah, right.” Ifalna opens up a trade window with me and puts in four different scrolls. “These are everything I could find that you can use. This town isn't a high enough level to have anything else. We really need a bigger city to get more. Also, I'm tapped out of funds, so I sent Han a mail message to get whatever gold he can and send it our way with a shopping list of whatever anyone wants or needs.”

  “Good thinking, better get that sorted first if he has sent a reply; then we will head off to get our relics,” I say, accepting the trade.

  Now what do we have here, hmm? I select all four scrolls and click the Learn Spell button that comes up.

  Congratulations! You have learnt four new spells!

  Chain lightning: sends a bolt of lightning at a target. All enemies within 3 feet of the target are dealt lightning damage based on your Intelligence Attribute. All enemies in the next 6 feet are dealt half damage. Instant cast. Costs 40 mana. 10 second cool down.

  Frostfire Bolt: Shoots a bolt of frost fire at the target, dealing fire and frost damage equal to your Intelligence Attribute. 25% chance to slow the target for 10 seconds. 25% chance to burn the target for 100% of the damage done over 30 seconds. Instant cast. Costs 40 mana. 10 second cool down.

  Challenge: Forces the target to focus their attacks on you for 8 seconds and increases your threat level with that target by 100%. 10 second cool down.

  Haste: All attacks that are successful on a target increase your speed by 2% each or refreshes the duration. Stacks 5 times. Lasts for 30 seconds unless refreshed. This is a passive ability.

  Well then. I have another AOE spell now, which I bet Knax would have absolutely loved to try out. Wallowing for a second, I snap myself out of it. Frostfire Bolt seems pretty cool, though the cool down on both of those spells sucks. Challenge looks like the same as Kazzrak's, though I doubt I'll be needing it much, especially with Halvard and Eloise in the raid.

  Haste, however, is a damn fine passive ability. That will up my DPS tremendously. If it stacks with Kendak's haste spell, that is. I think it would, considering they do different things.

  “Those are pretty good. I like the Chain Lightning and Haste,” I say with a smile.

  “Yeah, we thought you would. Ifalna already showed us what you have,” says Ezekial. “I have some interesting ones too. Incorporeal lets me become a shadow and take no physical damage and twenty-five percent less magic damage. I also know how to create poisons even without alchemy now, which would have increased my skills in it. I might respec my Leatherworking or Herbalism for Alchemy if I think the boost in DPS is large enough. Also got Evasion, which increases my speed. Lastly is Pinning Shot, which is a five-second rooting ability.”

  “Phrasing!” Ifalna laughs. “Only five seconds, Ezekial? Well, as part assassin, I obviously have Incorporeal and Basic Poisons the same as Ezekial. I just don't get to utilise them yet. For cleric spells, I have Cleanse, Regen and Nullify. Nullify is interesting, as it negates all damage and effects for the next attack within five seconds. It has a thirty-second cool down though.”

  Kazzrak rolls his eyes at Ifalna. “Nullify would suck in bed though, as you can probably imagine, plus it is an instant cast, so doesn't that make it worse? My new skills are pretty standard. Charge rushes me at the target. Battle Cry and Inspire give allies within one hundred yards an extra 20 Strength and Constitution respectively. Challenging Roar gives me an AOE taunt.”

  Ifalna has an astounded look on her face. “So! Mean!”

  Laughing so hard he snorts coffee out his nose, Dosan starts choking a little before getting himself under control. “You got burned! I think I have the most interesting out of all of your skills. Especially since I can attack with more than just my wand now.”

  “Wait, you mean that you will be even more overpowered?” I ask, shaking my head.

  “What do you mean by that? Mr dragonkin game breaker,” smirks Dosan.

  Smiling, I hold up a hand and tick off fingers. “Let's see, you have the potential to Bond every single enemy we face. You can summon them in and out on an almost instant rotation. You can have up to five undead minions at a time, though you stick with four to keep some backup mana. You have a wand that does decent damage and doesn't require mana or recharging. Shall I continue?”

  “No, no, no.” Dosan waves his hand to dismiss my words. “Let me continue myself, actually. I can summon six different elemental blades that rotate around me and can use each one as an attack or defence once, as it gets used up. Arcane Storm is a hefty AOE spell, as is Plague Mist, which is a poison cloud that can be affected by the wind. I can also Siphon health and mana from a target over time.”

  “Exactly my point.” I throw my hands in the air. “And with Jena healing your minions, you have basically the perfect class, as long as you have corpses to reanimate.”

  “Well, that's a
ll of us. I wonder, did you get any spells for the others still sleeping last night off?” asks Ezekial.

  “I actually didn't. Guess I was in too much of a rush.” Ifalna shrugs. “We'll just do it later along with the auction house and such for the guild. That can wait though. I really want to get my relics and feel all decked out. I've been waiting since the bloody start of this game, so I'm going to let the kids sleep longer while we head out to the bank. They need to learn the hard way about how bad alcohol is.”

  “Cruel, man, just cruel.” Kazzrak shakes his head and stands up.

  “Grace.” I look in her direction as the rest of us get up as well. “Are you coming with us?”

  Stretching again, she blinks a few times before getting up and making her way to the door ahead of us. “What do you think?”

  Chuckling, I move to walk out after her but have a thought and turn around to the bartender. “Hey, Tanni! Can I get some directions to the bank?”

  Looking up from polishing a glass, Tanni smiles. “Going to get some more money out to spend, I see? Head left when you leave and you can't miss it. It's the building with the massive columns out front.”

  “Cheers!” I say happily while leaving.

  Upon exiting the inn, I see that the others have already made their way up the road a bit, so I jog to catch up. “Couldn't wait for me, eh?”

  “I waited till you woke up, didn't I?” Ifalna glances over at me slyly. “Totally could have gone to the bank before letting you all know I had Cleanse.”

  “Very true,” I agree solemnly, nodding my head.

  The town looks different in the daylight. Clean, crisp air fills my lungs. Much more peaceful and welcoming than last night, with the foot traffic slowly getting busier as people start their days. Sometimes I just have to take a step back and realise how complex this game really is.

  With our slightly fast pace, we quickly reach a large white stone building with massive columns out front at least three stories high that are holding up a gentle sloping roof. Much fancier than the buildings surrounding it, with carvings of various battles that must have happened in the past covering every square inch of the walls. Two massive doors stand open, and a plush red carpet extends into the building.