Raiya: Starter Zone - A LitRPG Saga: Archon's Chosen - Book One

by Russell Wilbinski

  "Hot damn, that is amazing!" He said, bouncing with excitement. He scooped everything from the table into his new bag, watching everything vanish without a sound. The inventory list filled in quickly, everything stacking into neat piles on the inventory screen. He did leave the two spell books he had found, that remained unidentified, out of the bag. He picked up the first book and focused on it.

  Congratulations, you have found Spell book - Ice Dagger. This is a spell of Water Magic. Do you wish to learn this spell, Yes or No?

  Of course, he wanted to learn this spell, why would anyone say no to more spells? He selected yes, the spell book erupting with light as the words sped from the pages directly into his eyes. He flinched reflexively, but thankfully, it was completely painless. After ten seconds of the constant stream of text, the book slammed shut and crumbled to dust. The knowledge flooded into his mind and he saw the full description of the spell.

  Congratulations, you have learned the Spell - Ice Dagger. This is a spell of Water Magic. Ice missile creates an eight-inch piece of ice resembling a finely crafted dagger. Once formed, the dagger flies forward at an incredible speed dealing 40-50 water damage to the target. Cast time: 1 second, Cooldown: 30 seconds, Cost: 45 Mana

  "Yeah boy!" He scanned the room, focusing on a point along the wall where a series of cracks converged. Arm extended he channeled the spell. White snow whirled from his fingers and coalesced into an ornate dagger, which shot forward and shattered against the wall. Specks of glittering ice twinkling as they fluttered slowly to the floor.

  Excitedly he picked up the next spell book and focused.

  Congratulations, you have found spell book - Pitfall Trap. This is a spell of Earth Magic. Do you wish to learn this spell, Yes or No?

  "Hell. Yeah." He confirmed his choice. From the name, it seemed like the spell would be pretty straight forward, a trap revealing a pit that you could fall into. The spell book flooded him with power then slammed shut, disintegrating into dust. A new prompt appeared.

  Congratulations, you have learned the Spell - Pitfall Trap. This is a spell of Earth Magic. Pitfall Trap creates a pit, 5 feet deep and 10 feet in length and width. A thin layer of dirt and grass remains whole above the pit, appearing only slightly different from the surrounding surface. At the bottom of the pit are razor sharp rocks jutting upward that will impale a target who falls victim to the trap, dealing 100-120 damage and trapping the target for at least 15 seconds. Cast time: 1 minute, Cooldown: 1 hour, Duration: permanent, Cost: 30 Mana.

  He immediately started running scenarios in his mind, thinking of all the devious ways he could use the spell. Though it seemed to be very situational, he could easily see the usefulness of being able to create permanent traps anytime he wanted. Used well, he could easily set these in advance and lure unsuspecting foes to a painful surprise. He brushed the dust that had accumulated on the table from the two spell books, then checked his inventory. Everything was nice and tidy, organized, and ready to be summoned at a moment’s notice.

  He checked through his list of items, realizing that he had forgotten about a bunch more items that needed to be identified. Like a kid in a candy store, he started pulling them one at a time from his nearly bottomless bag.

  He arrayed the items before him, giddy with anticipation. First, he looked at the magic boots he had found in the Kobold armory, focusing on them intently for a moment.

  You have found Spider Silk Boots, Rarity: Rare, Quality: Masterwork, Damage: 10, Durability: 30/30 Description: These boots are made from a light but durable spider silk. These boots increase the wearers climbing speed by 10%.

  He growled "Well these would have been super effin useful when he climbed that damn cliff. He removed his current boots, little more than rough slippers and slid these beautiful babies onto his feet. "Oh yeah, daddy really needed a new pair of shoes."

  Next, he found the items from his fight with the late Chief Gertrude. Two Magic Rings and a Magic Belt. He quickly identified each in succession.

  You have found Kobold Scale Belt, Rarity: Uncommon, Quality: Above Average, Armor: 4, Durability: 60/60 Description: The belt of Kobold Scales provides minor resistance to fire magic, as Kobolds are descended from dragons of old. 5% damage resistance to fire.

  You have found Ring of Constitution, Rarity: Rare, Quality: Above Average, Durability: 20/20 Description: A ring of constitution is one of the more common magical items in Raiya. This ring grants +5 to your constitution attribute.

  You have found Thieves Ring, Rarity: Uncommon, Quality: Above Average, Damage: , Durability: 100/100 Description: A Ring of Unlocking increases your Lock picking skill by +5. Current Lock picking skill 0.

  A low whistle escaped his lips. These were going to be super useful in the coming days. He fitted the belt around his waist and a gentle cooling sensation filled him, almost like his blood had chilled a tiny bit. He assumed that must be the fire resistance taking effect. He slid the Ring of Constitution on his hand, feeling bolstered. Next the Thieves Ring slid onto his hand and a prompt appeared.

  Congratulations, you have learned the skill Lock picking. Using this skill, you can use a set of lockpicks to open mundane locks up to a certain difficulty. Current lock level: Basic.

  Skree had always loved the lock picking skill in games, gaining access to places he wasn't supposed to and treasures he otherwise couldn’t. It was one of the most versatile skills he had so far, and he was bristling with excitement thinking about what he would might find when the opportunity arose.

  Wiggling his fingers and admiring his new jewelry, he remembered that he had one last thing to deal with, a chest full of gold. He walked over to the chest, sizing it up appreciatively. "That is a lotta hooch!" He picked up a handful of the coins, letting them run through his fingers, the metal discs clinking as they landed back atop the pile.

  He grabbed his new bag, tossing a handful of gold coins into the opening. They disappeared without a sound as per usual and he checked his inventory; sure enough, it showed that his pouch contained 14 gold coins and 6 silver coins, in neat little stacks. He tossed a few more handfuls into his magical bag, amazed as they vanished and reappeared on the inventory list. 83 gold coins, 26 silver coins. This new bag was incredible! He went to work shoveling handful after handful of the coins into his magic bag.

  His mouth nearly watered as the numbers just kept climbing. He was amazed at just how many coins there were already, and he wasn’t even half way through the pile. If Sawbones was right and there were dozens more chests like this one, his friend had just become a very wealthy lizard. After several dozen handfuls of coins, he started hearing clinks from inside the bag. He checked the inventory window and saw that the bag was already 55% full.

  He shrugged. "It is called a NEARLY bottomless bag after all." He chuckled at the ridiculously appropriate name, then continued stuffing coins into the bag. When he finished emptying the chest, he checked the total in his inventory window. 2214 Gold Coins, 682 Silver coins. According to the inventory screen, the pouch was 90% full, still leaving him enough room to fit his remaining belonging in the Magic Bag. He hefted the bag, noticing it was much heavier than before.

  Even with the 72% reduction in weight, 2896 coins still weighed a whole lot. He would report his findings to Sawbones when he saw him next. He reached into the bag, thinking of a random number. He removed his hand and sure enough, exactly 52 coins were now resting gently on his palm. He let them fall back into the bag with a smile. This was so much better than his crappy satchel.

  He laid down on the bed, opening some prompts he wanted to take care of now. First, he had 10 personal skill points to spend. He reviewed his skill list, happy with the progress he had made in his short time in Raiya.

  Skills

  Rank

  Stealth

  13

  Tracking

  13

  Archery

  12

  Light Armor

  14

  Daggers

  7


  Survival

  14

  Foraging

  13

  Thrown weapons

  2

  Short blades

  5

  Life magic

  7

  Fire magic

  1

  Earth magic

  4

  Water magic

  1

  Air magic

  1

  Great weapons

  6

  Lock Picking

  5

  Rock Climbing

  4

  Now, where should he put his unspent points. 15 points was a fair amount, but as he gained more and more skills, they were becoming less and less impactful. He had just gained a several new spells, from the gift of the Priestess and the two spell books he had found. Life Magic continued to be the best skill he had thus far, and he assumed that wasn’t going to change anytime soon. He added 3 more ranks to Life Magic, giving him a total of 10 ranks.

  With his recent decision to focus on being a Great Weapon Fighter, he added 5 more ranks to the Great Weapons skill, bringing the total ranks to 11.

  He confirmed the points and a new prompt appeared.

  Congratulations, by reaching level 10 in Great Weapons you have learned the ability - Cleave - You can swing your weapon in a large arc in front of you, dealing bonus damage to the first target and reduced damage to any additional targets stuck with your might blow. Damage 120-140, 30% reduced damage to any additional targets. Cost: 115 mana, Cast time: 1 second, Cooldown: 30 seconds.

  He cheered seeing his new ability, happy that he was starting to become a very dangerous man. Cleave was a bread and butter attack in games for Great Weapon fighters allowing you to deal significant damage to multiple foes. It gave you a fast way to get the attention or “aggro” of many foes quickly. If you didn't pay attention to a four-foot piece of steel being wielded with deadly efficiency, then you were asking for trouble.

  He had been getting a lot of use out of his earth magic, which seemed to be focusing on trapping or incapacitating foes. Entangle was a great opener and his new spell - Pitfall Trap, would further enhance his ability to control the battlefield. He added 4 points to Earth Magic. Wanting to squeeze more damage out of his only direct damage spell, he added 2 points Water Magic, increasing the damage of his Ice Dagger spell.

  Lastly, his remaining point went into lock picking, so he would have at least 1 rank without the ring on. He thought it was weird that he would gain the skill by putting on a piece of gear but he wasn’t going to complain. Maybe it was a bug, no way to know. He reviewed the changes and confirmed, the new ranks glowing brightly, indicating they had increased. Skree had to admit to himself, he was really starting like this game. It was dangerous, sometimes outright terrifying but damn was it fulfilling in a way he couldn’t explain. He had a whole new life, free of the monotony of his desk job and boring old hobbies. Now he was changing the fate of entire kingdoms!

  It was quite the upgrade. He went back to his shopping, only one prompt remained - Zuka's Companion Talent Points. He currently had 7 points to spend, meaning he could not afford the talent he really wanted to pick up from the fourth tier. Inspiring Howl 2 or Lick Your Wounds would have been instant buys, but they were eight points. That meant he would need to earn another level before he could earn enough points to afford those bad ass talents.

  He reviewed the available talents, still frustrated that he was just one point shy of what he wanted.

  Talent name

  Cost

  Description

  Inspiring Howl 2

  8

  Increase attack speed and damage by 40%

  Lick Your Wounds

  8

  Zuka may cast Minor Regeneration

  Savage Fangs 2

  4

  Bite damage +30

  Piercing Fangs

  4

  Ignore light armor, reduce armor penalty for medium armor

  Thick Hide 2

  4

  Health +40

  Feral Dodge

  4

  50% chance to avoid any attack once per minute

  Maul 2

  4

  Increased pin time to 10 seconds, damage +25%

  Fetch

  2

  Zuka will retrieve any item he able to, on command

  Stealth 2

  2

  Increase stealth by 10 ranks

  Tracking 2

  2

  Increase Tracking by 10 ranks

  Sneak Attack 2

  2

  Increase Sneak attack damage by 25%

  He really wanted to wait so he could buy Inspiring Howl 2, even though there were still some great options available. He made a snap decision and spent 4 points on Piercing Fangs. The ability for Zuka to ignore light armor was something he knew would be critical. Even his attacks couldn't ignore light armor, though it still provided little protection against his massive sword.

  Piercing Fangs only had one connected orb. It revealed the next rank of Piecing Fangs, allowing Zuka's bites to ignore medium armor. It had a cost of 8 Talent Points, a huge investment that would be a game changer if they came up against armored foes anytime soon. He had 1 Talent Point remaining, so he would need to gain 4 levels to earn the required 8 points. Sadly, with the extreme experience costs that was going to be a long time from now. Fortunately, he and Zuka had nothing but time.

  He dismissed all the prompts, and settled into his bed, listening to the gentle snores of Zuka in the corner. That hound was also becoming a deadly weapon and Skree was pumped to see what they could really do together. He closed his eyes ready for a quick nap before he would finally have a chance to celebrate!

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  Poke. Poke poke poke.

  "Lord Skree?" A timid voice asked.

  His lordship just rolled over, pulling the blankets over his head. This time a less gentle poke startled him awake, his eyes furiously searching for an enemy, his dagger in hand. He saw Zuka standing nearby, hackles raised and fangs bared. Skree finally noticed Kamilla cowering near the bed.

  "Umm... Sorry." Skree said apologetically, quickly putting the dagger away. "We're okay Zuka. Good boy."

  The wolf relaxed, sitting with an attentive gaze. Skree stretched, yawning loudly.

  "What’s going on? Is the party starting?" He asked with a sleepy grin.

  Kamilla nodded. "King Sawbones and Mother Priestess requested I bring you. Please come with me."

  He bounced out of the bed, gathering up his gear, strapping on his weapons and fixing the nearly bottomless bag to his brand-new belt, he stepped over to Zuka and delivered a hearty round of pets. Skree squirmed away as Zuka tried licking his face.

  "You're a good boy, but no licking me in the face, okay buddy?"

  Zuka sat back down, huffing. Standing, Skree gestured toward the warren.

  "Shall we, young Priestess?" He asked.

  Kamilla froze for a second at being called Priestess, then nodded and walked out of the chamber, with Skree and Zuka right behind her. They made their way through the small building, emerging into the open space of the warren. There were fire pits everywhere with roasting pigs slowly turning on spits, piles of fruits and vegetables strewn haphazardly about the space. Hundreds of Kobolds chittered and hopped about, preparing food and playing games. Skree couldn’t help but smile as several of the mini Kobold children brushed past him in a mad game of chase.

  "Lively bunch, aren't they?" Sawbones asked, hopping over to stand next to him. "Amazing what removing the taint from our minds has done for us, isn't it? For centuries now, we have lived like feral animals, tribal cultures that fought and warred over nothing but dirt." He shook his head sadly but forced a smile. "But, I should stop thinking of what was lost and be more like my brethren, ready to celebrate what comes next, don't you think?" He asked brightly.

  Skree placed a steady hand on the King’s shoulder. "You should. It is time to let go of the past and star
t planning a future for the Kingdom of the Kobolds!"

  Sawbones patted his hand fondly. "Indeed. But, before we get to the real work, we should enjoy this feast!" The last words were shouted for all to hear. A raucous cheer sprang up, echoing loudly inside the cavernous warren.

  A voice called out from the crowd. "Three cheers for Lord Skree!"

  "Lord Skree, Lord Skree, Lord Skree!" The Kobolds shouted, the sound amplified by the stone walls so loudly that Skree nearly had to cover his ears. He waved to the crowd, his smile nearly ear to ear. A little selfish pride couldn't hurt he thought, feeling an immense sense of pride.

  "Let's eat!" Sawbones shouted above the roar of the crowd, his proclamation met by a flurry of motion as the Kobolds started pulling down the roasted pigs. Small crowds quickly gathered around each fire pit, anxious to tear into the delicate flesh that filled the air with a hearty aroma. Further into the cave, Skree saw a large iron pot with a Kobold atop it, ladling out servings of soup to another group. Lines were starting all around them. Skree's stomach gurgled angrily, reminding him he was still a growing boy with a hearty appetite.

  Sawbones glanced at Skree. "Come sit with us, we have a fire set aside just for you."

  Zuka barked inquisitively and Sawbones looked at the wolf. "Yes, you too." He said as he walked back toward the tent. As they approached, Skree recognized the elders who had been around during several of their conversations, along with Priestess, Kamilla and Carver, the Kobold leather worker who had created his leather harness.