Aeon Chronicles Online_Book 1_Devil's Deal

by Dante Sakurai

  Next.

  Defense Attributes

  Armour: 125 (5%)

  Block chance: 20% (unarmed)

  Cold resistance: 2300 (63%)

  Fire resistance: 1250 (44%)

  Air resistance: 50 (2%)

  Earth resistance: 50 (2%)

  Lightning resistance: 50 (2%)

  Arcane resistance: 50 (2%)

  Dark resistance: 300 (6%)

  Poison resistance: 50 (2%)

  Disease resistance: 50 (2%)

  Curse resistance: 50 (2%)

  Rowan ruminated on his absurd cold resistance and high fire resistance for five minutes, unable to reason why they were so high compared to everything else. The only line of intuition led to the fiery ice of the void in his spine… though that was a weak connection at best. He’d always assumed the void was some kind of psychotic side effect caused by brain trauma. Books, papers, and articles all pointed to this explanation when he’d scoured the Internet for answers. All trails led to either psychosis or hallucinations or schizophrenia and the like.

  Could this be the AI controller mocking him again?

  No, there was no way to know without interrogating the quantum machine. The void rumbled in agreement, promising the behead the AI controller if it showed itself in this cell.

  Rowan shook his head and moved on, dismissing the character sheet for it held no more useful information. A dark-magic caster or ranged damage-dealer would be an utter minimum as a plan B. He made a strong, mental note to visit the forums and ask the townsfolk about summoner classes.

  Which he could do right now. Roth had mentioned an in-game browser.

  Rowan concentrated on the other icon, bringing up a sub-row containing ten more icons. He zeroed in on the globe with a small magnifying glass. The largest dialog yet expanded into Rowan’s view and blocked out the majority of his sight. This window wasn’t transparent. He made another mental note to never open the browser while in combat.

  The interface was an exact replica of the standard browser most computers came installed with. He searched for the Aeon Chronicle’s forum and found the website on the first page of results. He clicked and typed and scrolled using his mind only, the VR technology working seamlessly to decode his thoughts without error. It was far, far more advanced than the archaic auto-correct from the early 21st century he had read in technology history books. Truly a marvel.

  Scouring through the gameplay section at high-speed, it appeared that either no one had unlocked a summoner-type class or they simply didn’t post on the forums. The vast majority of beta testers played some sort of mage—or Paladin to Rowan’s surprise. Very few people played support or archer-type classes and fewer played tank classes apart from Paladin. The Shieldmaster section contained the least number of threads. Curious. Very curious. It may be that players didn’t like feeling pain and avoided tanking at all costs—though that wouldn’t explain Paladin’s popularity.

  Oh, there was one post in the Death-Knight section which didn’t show on the main forum index.

  Does anyone know how to unlock Death-Knight or Necromancer? Anyone? Come on help a guy out. I’ve been saving all my stat points so for this class… :(

  No replies.

  Scowling in confusion, Rowan exited the forums and remembered to check the real-money market just as he was about to close the browser. He found the site through the first link in the search results. A login progress bar sprouted for two seconds while the site authorized Rowan’s credentials. He didn’t need to log in with the username and password Roth had written in the contract.

  At the top-right, in neat print, a label next to a credit icon displayed his deposit. Roth had already diverted several thousand credits from his first-month pay beforehand—that sly, genius, bastard. Rowan had played right into the good doctor’s plans.

  Ignoring a rising annoyance at Roth, Rowan studied the interface with a sweep of his eyes. It was a typical auction house.

  In the search options, a category for summoner-type gear existed. Rowan executed a sweeping search for summoner items and watched a spinning circle for one and a half seconds.

  Four items appeared in a vertical list.

  First, a demon focused helm.

  [Binds on Equip] Demonic Visage Of Torment

  A mighty, horned mask that seeps flame and darkness

  Rarity: Mythical

  Class Restriction: Demon-Knight, Demonmancer, ?

  Requirements: 95 Control, 20 Magical Power, 25 Magical Capacity, level 45

  150 Armour

  200 All-Resistance

  125 Fire Resistance

  +2 Magical Power

  +3 Magical Capacity

  +15 Control

  +4 Demon Minion Limit

  Demons, followers and minions, do 10% more damage

  Bid: 25c (No bids)

  Reserve: 50c

  Buyout: 100c

  Auction close: 82 in-game days

  A standard summoner-type helm with numerical boosts. No unique effect or strategy-enabling modifier. Generic. He nodded and opened the next result.

  [Retained on Death] Anton’s Bone Wand of Ice

  This bone wand was carved from the skull of the fabled necromancer Anton Plaguerider. There was only enough bone for three wands.

  Rarity: Semi-Unique

  Class Restriction: Death-Knight, Necromancer, ?

  Requirements: 257 Control, 61 Magical Power, 98 Magical Capacity, level 120

  36m Range

  1021-1721 Cold Damage

  523-823 Dark Damage

  520 Cold Resistance

  150 Fire Resistance

  -125 Disease Resistance

  +5 Magical Power

  +20 Magical Capacity

  +55 Control

  +20 Undead Minion Limit

  Grants the Tainted Blizzard spell (Scales with character level)

  Undead minions imbued with cold mana deal 15% more damage

  Bid: 500c (No bids)

  Reserve: 1000c

  Buyout: 2000c

  Auction close: 156 in-game days

  Rowan’s jaw sagged. A semi-unique weapon that granted a potentially unique spell! In other MMOs, items like these were astonishingly rare and powerful, often taking hundreds of raids to obtain. Rowan opened another browser tab and cross-checked the wand with other legendary weapons from Paladin and the various Mage classes. Twenty minutes and over thirty items later, the bone wand was only surpassed by three weapons: a hammer, a staff, and a lightning wand.

  Looks like he’d play as a necromancer-type class. Fine by him. Rowan placed a bid in an instant, his credit counter now displaying 6500c (500c reserved)

  But… If these were dropped by encounters less difficult than S-tier raids then that pirate lord and bandit king must drop god-like items. Was he wasting money buying these?

  No, Rowan decided. MMOs were incremental games. One needed lesser gear to defeat harder bosses that drop better gear.

  Closing the second tab with a simple thought, Rowan expanded the third summoner-type item.

  Beastmaster’s Fine Robe

  A typical garment worn by Beastmasters

  Rarity: Rare

  Class Restriction: Beastmaster, ?

  Requirements: 50 Control, 20 Strength, 33 Magical Capacity, Level 30

  200 Armour

  50 Earth Resistance

  +1 Strength

  +2 Magical Capacity

  +4 Control

  Beast minions take 5% less damage

  Buyout: 20c

  Auction close: 22 in-game days

  The icy void gnarled at the item as Rowan’s fingers twitched. Why the fuck was this on the real money marketplace?

  Rowan exhaled—at least he’d learned that Beastmaster was a playable class. There wasn’t a section for Beastmaster on the forums, strikingly.

  Next.

  [Retained on Death] Sazar’s Sapphire Ring of Corruption

  Some say the ghost of the Death-Knight Sazar still looks for this ring t
o this day

  Rarity: Unique

  Class Restriction: Death-Knight, Necromancer, ?

  Requirements: Level 87

  -500 Armour

  250 Dark Resistance

  -30 Vitality

  +5 Strength

  +55 Control

  +15 Magical Power

  +25 Magical Capacity

  +35 Undead Minion Limit

  Emits a Dark Mana Aura (Aura effect and radius scales with character level and total mana)

  Undead minions are also imbued with dark mana within the aura radius

  Deals 0.5 dark damage to the wearer per minute (scales with total mana, 0.5 per 250 mana)

  Bid: 100c (No bids)

  Reserve: 200c

  Buyout: 300c

  Auction close: 76 in-game days

  Note: LOL -500 armor and -30 vitality and .5 scaling dark damage taken per minute? Fucking useless! Ring looks real nice though and it’s a unique so there’s none other like it. Would look good in a trophy case in your house!

  Rowan didn’t even think before he hit the buyout. 300c was nothing compared to his monthly salary and this was the only copy of the ring in the entire game—a unique. The stats were good apart from the negatives and it granted an aura. It was a smart investment.

  Purchase successful! Please visit your local in-game marketplace or mail office to claim your item

  Ah, damn.

  Well, Rowan couldn’t equip the ring anyway due to the class restriction. It’d be sitting in his inventory for a long while.

  He eyed the time. 5:14AM. Two hours had passed and the guard captain hadn’t arrived. He must not be an early riser. The town would be vulnerable at night. Perfect.

  Rowan sighed and settled on browsing the forums, marketplace, and the remaining game menus he hadn’t checked. The social, skills, professions, the other interfaces were all typical and empty of skills and professions apart from Examine. He breathed, holding a leash over his constant state of annoyance at the town’s treatment of him.

  He read up on the game as the first light broke, taking special note that game worked on exponential experience and power scaling. Character levels were not an accurate indication of power, only a general pointer. One’s power was determined by skills, equipment, professions, and teamwork capability. Levels one to one-hundred were unofficial tutorial levels and could be sloughed through in a few days of group-grinding. Currently, high-level was considered above level two-hundred, the highest ranking players over level 220. You’d have to had learned many skills and trained them by then. It took in-game weeks to gain a single level at 220+.

  Chapter 7

  Coincidence

  At 6:43 AM, the bald guard captain’s boots clunked into the jail. “So you’re still alive and clean, kid.” He laughed once. “I was thinking I’d find you soaked in your own piss.”

  Why that fucker…

  Rowan brushed off the taunt and kept calm, submerging into his thoughts, a simple meditation technique.

  First, passing waste was an optional feature, toggle-able in the system-preferences interface. Alpha testers had given feedback saying the need to take craps and leaks added little to the game’s immersion and were irritating hindrances during dungeons and such—not to mention the unhygienic conditions of the middle-ages. And those who set the toggle to off could still eat. Waste vanishes once it reached the end of the colon or bladder, an acceptable solution which was agreed upon by a near-unanimous majority. Many had even refused to play the game till the AI controller implemented a toggle and waste was also magically disposed of inside sewage systems.

  And second, Rowan had emptied his bladder in the corner-hole an hour ago before he’d read of the toggle in the forums. He’d then set the toggle to off, naturally—any little advantage was crucial. It was fortunate that the sense of putrid smells had been heavily dampened too.

  “No comment, eh?” The captain spun the key-ring on his calloused, scarred finger.

  “No sir.”

  “Hmph, good!” The captain smirked and unlocked the cell door. “One night in this shit-hole and you’ve already learned some respect.”

  “Yessir.” Rowan fought the urge to grit teeth. “I don’t know what got into me yesterday. I’ll apologize to the Present Dwarf immediately.” He won’t.

  Though he needed to blend in—for now. Once Rowan unlocked his Necromancer class and raised a sizable force, he’d unleash hell on this pitiful town.

  The captain appraised Rowan with a nod. “That’s more like. Keep it up and you’ll be a model townsfolk—even if you have snobby Draco blood in ya.”

  The captain left with a whistle.

  “Asshole,” Rowan spat once the guard was out of hearing range.

  Before leaving, Rowan checked his real money marketplace browser tab once more—just in case, you know? He’d always been market-obsessive in games with intricate economies. Someone could post an incredibly powerful item for cheap any minute or a start a bidding war for that bone wand. He couldn’t let the wand escape his grasp. It was the most powerful Necromancer weapon in the market by far. The second-best weapon which a Necro could utilize was a sacrificial dagger. It didn’t offer much.

  Unsurprisingly, no new summoner-type gear had been posted. He switched to the in-game gold market and searched again. Over twenty listings stacked into the results but all the items had either blue or green border (rare and common).

  At the top right, there was a small, yellow triangle notification Rowan had missed.

  Someone had suspiciously bid on the bone wand. It was at 1000c now.

  Rowan inwardly groaned. What a numb-skull. Whoever this was didn’t know how to bid in an auction. The seller could very likely sell below their set reserve if the auction drags on for too long.

  But the bid raised an imperative question: was there another Necromancer out there?

  Rowan had assumed you’d need to be quite evil and unafraid of gore and murder in real-life to become a darker class in a hyper-realistic game like this.

  He discarded the thought—the bidder could’ve been a merchant or a crafter. Many players had reported in the forums that the higher Disenchantment and Smithing recipes asked for powerful legendary or unique items. There were plenty of rich snobs like piggy-boy who’d pay tens of thousands to craft a single piece of gear.

  Nevertheless, Rowan thanked the idiot for not hitting the buyout button, then hit buyout himself. The item was delivered two seconds later. He bought that demon mask as well—just in case. And a small stack of gold coins. He was down to 4100c. 2900c spent on digital goods in a day. Nice. Rowan was living up to his in-game lore, quite. His useful parents would faint at the amount of money he’d splurged on virtual goods. They wouldn’t understand.

  Rowan switched to the other market again and picked up two Steel Daggers, a Silk Hooded Cloak, and a Charged Shocking Wand (10) for nine silver total. All common rarity and the maximum power that Rowan’s attributes allowed for. The wand could be used by anyone with a simple thought command and disintegrated after 10 bolts, dealing damage in the mid 300s for a non-critical hit to a target with 0 Lightning Resistance.

  He’d read on the forums that crafters mass produced worthless items and dumped them on the marketplace, far below the price NPCs sold them for. Typical MMO behavior. Many NPCs had to be put on faction welfare by the AI controller during early alpha. Some players also set up physical shops by buying prime real-estate in cities just for the heck of it. They even employed NPCs. The realism in Aeon Chronicles Online was truly revolutionary. Rowan could respect the technology—but not the game’s design. Such a waste.

  The early morning sun cast streaks of fire across the sky and cleared the night’s mist and dew as Rowan trudged through down streets of cobble. Few NPCs had woken and many shops were closed. A level 5 player walked out of the bakery, stuffing his face with a pie. Rowan ignored the delicious smell of pastry and sought the marketplace relentlessly while his Examine skill gained two levels at the side
of his vision. He had customized the user interface last night and set most notification dialogs to be less intrusive.

  He neared the magic shop nestled in between two wooden houses and stopped in his gait. Perhaps there’d be some spell scrolls in this place.

  A second later, Rowan realized he needed to first claim his gold stack at the market or mail office. He let out a cold breath and resumed his search. True, he could ask an NPC or the rare passing player but this approach allowed him to map out the town in his mind. By the looks of it, he’d already marched down half the streets. Glances through gaps in the town fence revealed yet another typical fantasy-esque setting: forests.

  He briefly scanned a passing bulletin board. It appeared this town was built to sustain a nearby mine by a steep spine of mountains, a kilometer away. A congregation of caravans from the capital to the south came every month and traded goods, a noteworthy piece of information. He continued his search.

  By Rowan’s estimates, he found the fancy market and office building with only a third of the town left unexplored. Judging from what had been tacked onto the bulletin board, he’d only missed the guards’ office, mayor’s house, and school of less than a hundred teens and children.