Would Helena be paying attention? If she was, he’d need to explain himself when he got back to the hab block. He could just hear his opening argument - baby, it was all for entertainment …
When the cut-scene had finished, Nick found he was being inundated with Love and Hate points. There seemed to be a puritan viewer for every horny love rat. Way of the world, he supposed. Feeling curiously satiated, he hit his inventory to equip all and strode to the doorway.
“Oh,” he said, almost forgetting. Fully clothed, Dela was brushing her hair by a mirror.
“What do you think about the King’s murder?” he asked.
She cocked her head, as if thinking about it for the first time.
“Just that he seemed like a good man,” she said. “It’s those ghouls in the woods that have us worried.”
Nick froze. A slow trickle of XP began rolling in.
“When did these ghouls start appearing?” he asked.
“Maybe three weeks ago,” came the reply. “If I didn’t know any better I’d think they got into Durandor Castle somehow. But there are so many guards I’m sure that’s not possible.”
Nick’s XP trickle became a steady flow. 400 before it stopped.
“Thanks, Dela,” he said. “I hope I see you again.”
“Me too.”
It was time to pick up the pace. 105 minutes to go and Nick still felt like he was scratching the surface of his quest. At least he had a solid lead - the emergence of undead. It was clearly a notable event around here and perhaps someone at the castle would know more about it.
Horses were available for rent just outside the tavern. Nick was penniless, so he did what he always did in these situations - he stole one. A burly wrangler came chasing after him, but Nick’s chestnut-brown mare proved amenable to his commands. He was galloping south down a dirt path in no time.
It was an exhilarating feeling, thundering down the track on a beautiful horse, but Nick’s social scores tempered his joy a little. Stealing the horse had earned him a few hundred Hate points, which seemed more than it deserved. Surely there were millions of RPG fans out there who would’ve done the same thing?
Maybe there was more to it than the horse alone. He had to admit he’d acted like a bit of a dick so far. From his perspective, he was just trying to survive. Fine - if the masses saw him as a villain, then that’s what they fucking get. It was a cutthroat game and he wanted to be the last runner standing.
There were enemies in the fields to either side. Nick slowed the horse to get a better look. Furry, badger-like creatures. The role-playing nerd in him wanted to see how hard they were to kill and how much XP they yielded, but he needed to be at the castle at this stage of the game.
The fields became purple with lavender. Farm hands waved at him as he rode past. Never had Nick felt more like a hero. He could see the uppermost spires of the castle above the tree line to the north. It couldn’t be more than fifteen minutes ride. He urged the horse on, hoping he was leveled enough for this region.
The path narrowed and up ahead he could see another river to ford. At least this time a bridge was readily available. He could see hundreds of colorful stalls on the other side. A bustling marketplace lay in the shadows of Durandor Castle.
Nick climbed from his horse, unwilling to barge blindly across the bridge. Besides, he could see a blur of color that raised alarm bells. The figure was too far away to tell for sure, but Nick could’ve sworn it was a player. He could see the name bobbing up and down as the figure moved. He slapped his horse’s flank, sending it galloping back to its master. He got some Love for that.
He drew IceBringer and explored its move set. A brutal, diagonal swing was the first primary move. Back-handed, mail-splitting swipe was the second. Overhead slash was the third. The power move was a thunderous overhead that looked like it could split helmets. There was also a leaping strike and a fairly decent defensive stance.
Overjoyed with his strength weapon, Nick checked the bridge. The figure was definitely coming toward him, and yes, it was a player.
JohnCorzo13 strode purposefully toward him. He was a Knight - another heavy build. Looked like he was a serious player too. He’d already purchased basic mail armor and wielded a longsword. His shield was just a wooden buckler, which was small consolation.
Nick suddenly felt like a fool in his leather gear and stupid armadillo gauntlets. The only thing going for him was IceBringer. Not that fire resistance would come into play in this fight.
JohnCorvo13 was the same level as Nick. He had probably made straight for the castle so he could buy decent gear from the marketplace. A wise strategy, but Nick’s slow and steady foraging had yielded IceBringer. Which would hopefully seal this guy’s doom.
Nick swung the blade a few times as the pixel runner calmly circled him. He wanted Corvo to wonder about the weapon’s special properties. He seemed like a cool character. Probably thought he could farm some tasty XP from Nick’s corpse.
Not today, Nick said to himself. Not today.
He didn’t know whether he stance should be attacking or defensive. He wouldn’t usually two-hand at such an early stage with weak armor. Nothing he could do about that now. Corvo approached suddenly and tried to draw an attack. Nick was too experienced for that, knowing he needed to make sure of every hit. Otherwise he was exposed on the counter.
The patient circling couldn’t continue forever. Time was running out for both runners. Corvo eventually struck first, a neat round arm that Nick almost didn’t see coming. He managed to get IceBringer in the way just in time.
All he had to do was block and counter. Corvo’s longsword was a nice base weapon but it hadn’t been improved or enhanced. Once this guy realized he couldn’t penetrate Nick’s two-handed defense, he’d try a power move. That was Nick’s opportunity.
And so it proved. Corvo tried a few more standard attacks before tumbling into Nick’s feet and delivering a devilish power move. Alert to the threat, Nick stepped back, neatly avoiding the searching enemy blade, but only just. Corvo’s shield was momentarily wide open.
Nick landed a power blow on his iron helm. It split and fell away in two halves, but IceBringer kept on digging. Blood spurted everywhere as Corvo slumped to his knees. Nick tugged his blade free and cross-swiped the runner’s head clean off.
Charged with adrenalin, he performed a little jig over the guy’s twitching corpse. That earned him over 300 Hate points. So what, Nick thought. He’d had it done to him so many times, it felt good to strike back.
500 XP in the kitty and Nick was almost ready to level up. Man, he could get used to this PvP business. It was such a rush to play for keeps like that. Right now, somewhere in the world, JohnCorvo13’s pixel running dream was shattered. Untried rookies rarely got second chances once they’d been smoked. There were simply too many wannabe runners waiting to get their chance.
Of course, the best bit was being able to loot Corvo’s mail armor. Nick took all of it, including the longsword and buckler. He upgraded his leather armor, glad to boost his overall defensive rank. The mail armor had a DR of 6.
Now he felt more like a proper strength build. He was tempted to wear the mail gauntlets, but there was no set bonus and his armadillo gauntlets were better. As he liked to say, gaming wasn’t a fashion contest.
Danger averted, Nick headed across the bridge. He wasn’t worried about in-game enemies as he’d seen Corvo cross without being attacked.
The marketplace was a riot of activity. Keeping an eagle eye out for other players, Nick engaged a weapons dealer and sold his shortsword. He also found an armorer, where he unloaded his leather armor and mail gauntlets. He now had well over 100 crowns.
The only remaining question was whether to set up with the longsword and buckler or stick with IceBringer. In the end it was an easy decision - he would use his greatsword because it was an enhanced weapon. The armorer was selling steel bucklers and he purchased one just in case, but he was happy to two-hand for now. He had a contest t
o win. Besides, he could now work towards gaining enough strength to one-hand IceBringer. Now that would be the best of both worlds. An elite strength build.
It was time to further the main quest - the timer was down to less than 90 minutes. But where to start? The traders here might have valuable information, but Nick decided to try the most direct course. He marched over a drawbridge spanning a deep and menacing moat. Several steely-eyed guards watched him from the ramparts above the gatehouse.
At this point he noticed another player walking an external staircase hugging the circular keep. RogueFox00 appeared to be a female Ranger, so it was almost certainly a male pixel runner. She was only level 3, which was tantalizing to Nick. If only he could get up there and smite her with IceBringer. There was no obvious way to reach those stairs, which began at a higher level.
The castle yard was filled with sparring soldiers in purple livery. Prince Jannibar’s men. Nick approached a sergeant-at-arms and asked for an urgent interview with the prince.
“And you are?” growled the veteran, irritated at the distraction. “Begone before I run yer through.”
Nick tried to describe the ghoul, which darkened the sergeant’s face, but he wouldn’t be swayed. A direct entry into the castle was impossible, just as Nick had expected. The sergeant’s reaction to the mention of ghouls had been interesting, however.
Nick headed back out to the marketplace to re-consider his strategy. He didn’t have much time to speculate. On impulse he approached a dye merchant and spent the rest of his crowns on a bag of cobalt powder. It was useless to him, but perhaps he could on-sell it later.
“Tell me, friend,” Nick said, finding it surreal to be talking like that, “Why are Jannibar’s soldiers so nervous about the ghouls? Can’t they just march out and destroy them?”
His heart did a quiet somersault when the dye merchant leaned in conspiratorially.
“The ghouls started appearing when the prince got back from Bariz,” the man said.
“The prince is back?” Nick asked.
“I spotted a royal chaise,” came the reply. “No one else believes me, but I’m certain Jannibar is in that castle. Something happened to him out on the Great Sands. That’s my guess.”
Nick nodded, grateful for the information. “Any ideas on how I can get in there?” he asked.
The dye merchant shrugged. “You could try the wings. I believe the cellar is being cleaned out. King Andaran did love his wine collection.”
“I thank you.”
There wasn’t a moment to lose. Nick followed the moat to the west of the castle, dispatching a few wispy, fairy-like creatures in the trees. They weren’t particularly hard, though he had to watch out for their powerful light spheres. Alas, they didn’t yield enough XP to tip him over to the next level.
The dye merchant’s intel was correct - a smaller bridge had been lowered over the western moat. Beyond it, a staircase descended into what was presumably the cellar. A steady line of soldiers marched in and out, loading wine barrels onto a series of wagons.
There was no way of sneaking in, so Nick joined the back of the line as if he belonged there. He crossed the bridge unchallenged, but there was a soldier by the cellar door with his arms crossed. He looked Nick up and down.
“Who the fuck are you?” he spat. This was the critical moment.
Nick scowled at him. “If you need to know, I’m investigating the King’s murder,” he said darkly. “Jannibar’s orders. Do we have an issue?”
Doubt crept into the soldier’s gaze. “I suppose not,” he said at length. “Don’t be long in there.”
Used sparingly, arrogance could go a long way in RPGs. Nick nodded curtly and followed the soldiers in. The cellar was cool and dark. More than half of the oak barrels had already been removed. He made a show of inspecting a spill on the floor, like some weird detective, but none of the other soldiers paid him any mind.
There were two exits from the cellar - a stairwell going up to the next floor and a passage that continued under the castle. Nick took the latter, sensing he wouldn’t get far up the stairs without being noticed.
Lit only by cold, blue flame, the tunnel made Nick’s skin crawl. He drew his greatsword and held it ready for action. The shadows cast by the flickering torches messed with his mind. He’d flinched from what he thought was ambush at least three times before he reached a circular intersection. The empty, shattered cells in these walls would’ve been filled with poor souls once upon a time, but now they crumbled in decay.
Nick continued down the passage and up a stone stairwell at the far end. He ascended as far as could go, which seemed to be around four levels. The passage up there was cleaner and showed evidence of recent use.
Padding as quietly as he could in his mail armor, Nick opened a door to his left. He was surprised to see sculptured gardens in an upper courtyard. Probably the King’s private sanctuary. Footsteps rang out at the southern end of the passage. He was about to flee into the garden when he saw who it was - RogueFox00. She saw him but didn’t slow her pace, drawing a finger to her lips as she drew near.
“Guards are looking for me,” she whispered. “If we fight, we both die.”
“Through here,” Nick said, motioning to the garden. The Ranger hustled through and Nick closed the door behind them.
“Where are you headed?” Nick asked.
RogueFox00 frowned at him. The golden rule of Oakshield Junction was trust nobody.
“OK,” Nick conceded, changing tack. “You walk, I follow. Otherwise we both die, remember?”
The runner paused, then nodded. There was no arguing that logic. The pair picked their way through the garden, avoiding a guard who stood at the rampart overlooking the castle yard.
A secluded door on the far side of the garden was the Ranger’s destination. She tried the knob - it was locked fast. Nick was about to turn back when she produced a lockpick and jimmied the lock.
“Wait, where did you get that skill?” Nick blurted.
She gave him a look that said “as if I’m gonna tell you.” Nick pursed his lips. So there were skills available in Durandor. Couldn’t be helped now.
The door swung open and RogueFox00 slipped through. Nick followed into a plush bedroom. An enormous four-poster bed dominated the chamber. Two polished mahogany desks sat side by side along the wall.
One was covered in various maps of Tyrennia, which Nick might have studied more closely if he had more time. The other was used for writing letters. King Andaran looked to have been a man of moderate, sober passions. The only decoration was an austere self-portrait on the opposite wall. Something about the picture gave Nick the creeps.
RogueFox00 followed his gaze and smiled broadly.
“You actually like that?” Nick said.
“It’s not a matter of liking it,” she said cryptically. She produced a scroll and pressed it between her palms.
“Wait … you can do magic?”
RogueFox00 looked at him in disgust. She really was quite pretty. He tried to ignore the fact that “she” was almost definitely a “he”.
“Dexterity-mana build,” he said, again pointing out the obvious. It was such a rare build he couldn’t quite get his head around it. Perhaps Oakshield Junction rewarded such builds. It was a big risk, whichever way you looked at it.
The runner’s spell hadn’t done anything obvious.
“Now what?” Nick said.
RogueFox00 rolled her eyes, drew her bow and fired an arrow directly at the painting. It passed straight through, spreading ripples across the fabric.
“OK, now that needs an explanation,” Nick said.
“Divination spell,” she said. “All I did was reveal the painting’s true nature.”
“How did you know how to do that?” Nick demanded, knowing no answer would be forthcoming. RogueFox00 climbed onto the end of the four-poster bed and climbed through the painting. It swallowed her whole. On impulse Nick stepped clumsily onto the head of the bed and pulled himself t
hrough the painting, hoping like hell it wasn’t a trap.
Thankfully he landed on solid ground. He was standing on a ledge in a circular tower. The portal they’d entered had disappeared. The air shimmered with what appeared to be magical energy. Perhaps it was a mage’s tower? RogueFox00 was already descending a staircase to the bottom. Nick followed, marveling at the intricate floor mosaic. It depicted a vibrant red rose. The sheer artistry was beyond anything Nick had ever seen, in-game and out.
RogueFox00 wandered across the face of the mosaic, scanning the walls for an exit. There didn’t appear to be any way out.
“Got any more divination scrolls?” Nick asked.
The runner’s silence said it all.
“We shouldn’t be here,” RogueFox00 said, a note of panic in her voice.
Nick was about to chastise her when a title appeared in his view - DUSKSTAR FOREST. They’d entered another area!
“You could be right,” he admitted. He became aware of heavy grunting from somewhere below them. Whatever was making that noise was big.
The pair looked at each other from opposite sides of the mosaic. Their ember of shared purpose was fading quickly.
Nick reached for his great sword. RogueFox00 drew her bow. It was time to dance. The runners circled each other, both formulating their strategies. Even though his heart was hammering wildly, Nick tried to apply logic to the situation.
The extent of RogueFox00’s magic ability seemed to be limited to basic scrolls, otherwise she would’ve sent something lethal his way already. She was probably dependent on DEX, which meant she was going to be hard to hit. With a pang of annoyance he also noticed she had leveled up since he last saw her. They would be fighting each other as equals.
RogueFox00 wouldn’t be doing much damage with normal arrows, but could probably whittle away his health with critical hits. And there was just enough room in this tower to evade him. This was no time for patience - when facing archers, a strength build needed to be super aggressive.
Nick advanced boldly and forced RogueFox00 into a series of rolls. She must have invested in agility, because her tumbles were fast and took her a long way. She rolled twice and loosed an arrow straight at his face. To his horror it drew blood, striking as a critical hit and substantially draining his HP.
Strength Build: A LitRPG Saga (The Complete Strength Build Cycle) Page 4
