Neck-Deep In It: A LitRPG and GameLit Series.

by Jason Cheek

  ‘That shouldn’t even be possible,’ Fiona testily complained, as she stalked back to Jodi’s side in disgust.

  ‘Shit happens,’ Jodi thought back with a shrug as Blasto happily finished up his piece of meat. Cocking his head curiously at Jodi, there was a flash of understanding and another mental chirp as the Pyro Spitter leaped onto her leather armor and skittered up to her shoulder. With a cheerful lift in her step, Jodi headed back to her friends just as she saw Elandorr and Nalaea walking over.

  To Jodi’s surprise, they shared a quick word with Hanvoril, the Rogue that had been leading the Stealth group that had been shadowing them the whole time while they’d been running through the forest. There were several curious looks towards Jodi and the rest of the players, before the Rogue Assault Leader clapped his subordinate on the shoulder and walked over to them. As Elandorr came to a stop in front of Jodi, Zeppy, Grody, and Tumms wandered over to join the conversation.

  “Thank you for taking care of our people after they were slain,” Elandorr said, giving them a respectful fist salute as Nalaea began casting resurrect on Bialaer.

  “It was our pleasure,” Zeppy said, as Jodi nodded in agreement. The old gamer ran a dirty hand through his short-cropped brown hair. “That was a righteous takedown with Dreadmere of the Icy Wrath.”

  “I have to admit,” Elandorr said with one of his smooth grins, “Dreadmere of the Icy Wrath was the toughest champion that we’ve taken out on our own.” His jovial face turned serious. “Though, I worry that it’s going to come back to haunt us. There is a good chance that taking down the local champion could still force the region up another level. It’s hard to say when there are still so many Elite Barbed Rippers and Frost Shriekers alive. We’ll just have to wait and see how The World responds.”

  Jodi half-listened to their talk as Elandorr asked them to be ready to move out as soon as they were finished raising their dead. The reason she was distracted was the clink of coins dropping into her virtual inventory. While that was the usual way players in a group or raid shared drops, she’d never seen an NPC loot a corpse before. Though, she nearly choked on her tongue when she did an Identify on the unique shield that Ara pulled out of the creature’s stomach.

  Crystalline-Spiked Defender

  Item Quality: Superior

  Item Type: Crafted

  Armor: 3000

  Armor Type: Medium

  Durability: 197/200

  Weight: 16 kg

  +40 Strength

  +40 Stamina

  +40 Agility

  -20% chance to shoot out a crystalline spike upon a successfully blocked attack.

  -Waterproof

  -40% increase chance to block.

  -25% increase resistance to Frost magic attacks and effects.

  Seeing Zeppy’s raised eyebrow at her odd reaction, Jodi nodded towards the named boss’s corpse as the Ranger was revived. She saw several similar reactions from Zeppy’s guildmates as they each began intently watching the looting and skinning processes. As Elandorr helped the Ranger to his wobbly feet, Nalaea headed over to the next corpse that needed to be resurrected while the Rogue began explaining what had gone down during the fight. Before she knew what was happening, Jodi had a smiling Ranger offering her a hand of thanks.

  “I appreciate you making sure I wasn’t lost in the shuffle,” Bialaer said as they shook hands, “and that I have most of my gear.”

  “It’s the least I could do after all of you put your lives on the line for us,” Jodi embarrassedly said, realizing what she meant, “Oh, here, let me give you your bow back.” Before she could hand over his bow, a shout from Ara interrupted their conversation.

  “Hey Bialaer, I think there’s a drop you might want for your portion of the loot!” Trading a confused look with Jodi, the Ranger hurried over with Jodi, Zeppy, and Tumms curiously following. As he walked up, Ara pulled out a wicked-looking crystalline bow from the corpse and tossed it to him.

  “By the Dark,” Bialaer exclaimed, holding up the bow to inspect it, “this is epic.”

  “Holyshit!” Zeppy coughed out, covering his mouth as Jodi and Tumms eyes nearly bulged out of their heads from their Identifies.

  Frost Shrieker Bow of Piercing

  Item Quality: Epic

  Item Type: Crafted

  Attack: Ranged

  Weapon Type: Bow

  Damage 600-620 (Elemental Frost Damage)

  Durability: 396/400

  Weight: 2.6 kg

  +60 Strength

  +60 Agility

  +60 Intelligence

  +60 Spirit

  *Bow creates Frost Spike Arrows whenever bowstring is pulled. Magic arrows are created by the user’s own mana pool and cost ten mana per arrow shot. Arrows can be used with other skills and abilities.

  -Akra Zieniush was a great archer known for his achievements during the Reaver Invasion from the Strait of Icelus. The Frost Shrieker Bow of Piercing was crafted by his own hands to combat the overwhelming hordes of mutated Reavers that invaded the southern tip of the Norden Region. Akra went missing years later while exploring the northeastern mountains along the edge of the Plains of Atoll.

  Jodi had just thought that the Ranger was saying epic because he’d picked up some of their slang and not because the bow was a freaking epic. Was this freaking NPC Ranger really going to get an epic drop like this when there were a bunch of Ranger-class players in the raid? In her heart, Jodi knew that none of them deserved anything from the high-level named boss, but it was still hard to silence the greedy toad that lived in her heart. Taking a shaky breath, she tried to understand how the House of Kayden troopers split loot, especially since Bialaer had been dead when the boss dropped.

  “How do you guys usually divvy up loot?” Jodi asked, curious in spite of her mixed feelings as Zeppy and Tumms gave her a look like she’d grown a second head.

  “Well, usually the lucky fool would need to be part of the raid that actually took down the beast,” Ara brusquely said, giving her fellow Assault Leader a hard time as he blushed at her words, “But he did take the hit for the rest of the raid to keep watch over you newfar and,” she shrugged like it was something known by the rest of them, “it makes up for the experience that he lost. Besides,” she clapped the Ranger on the shoulder, “he’s been passing on his portion of the loot for the last few days to help get the rest of the Rangers geared up with better equipment.”

  “Thank you,” Bialaer said, giving a fist salute to the rest of the Assault Leaders that were gathered around the corpse. Turning back to Jodi, he gave her an easy grin as he nodded at the extra bow hanging over her shoulder. “How about you go ahead and keep a hold of my old bow as a thank you.”

  “Umm, thanks,” Jodi said, trying to sound more enthusiastic than she actually felt. It was the thought that counted since she found it hard to believe that this Half-Elf’s bow would be better than the current one she was using. Besides, it was hard to be happy about an upgrade after seeing such an epic item drop. Hell, that's why she hadn’t even bothered checking its stats earlier. So, it came as a bit of a surprise when Jodi did an Identify on Bialaer’s old bow.

  Savage Long Bow of Quickness

  Item Quality: Superior

  Item Type: Crafted

  Attack: Ranged

  Weapon Type: Bow

  Damage 140-160

  Weight: 4.0 kg

  Durability: 193/200

  +20 Haste

  +20 Strength

  +20 Agility

  “Wow, that’s pretty sweet,” Jodi said in a surprised tone as she did a quick comparison on the stats and damage, “thanks Bialaer.”

  Elven Long Bow

  Item Quality: Fine

  Item Type: Crafted

  Attack: Ranged

  Weapon Type: Bow

  Damage 70-101

  Weight: 3.2 kg

  +6 to Critical Strike

  +6 Haste

  +9 to Agility

  In truth, it was much better than her old
bow, Jodi silently thought. It was nearly double damage across the board and more than double on stat bonuses. While it wasn’t the epic Frost Shrieker Bow of Piercing, it would do as a sweet upgrade. Even Jodi had to admit that. Though, as she eyed Bialaer’s bow from the corner of her eye, Jodi silently wondered if he might let her try shooting it as she ran a finger through her hair. Seeing Zeppy and Tumms’ curious looks, she held up both bows for them to compare the differences between the stats for themselves.

  “Not bad,” Tumms said, giving her an appreciative nod.

  “Do you guys usually tend to take on the named bosses in the area,” Zeppy asked, as he turned to Elandorr thoughtfully.

  “Not usually,” Elandorr said, “it’s usually more of a risk than we want to run. That, and we’re always worried about the region upgrading on us.”

  No shit, Jodi silently thought, when she heard that. The Level 45 to what … Level 70 was already no joke. It would be a living nightmare if it were any higher than that. Bet those PKing assholes wouldn’t be willing to screw with them after that.

  “Here Elandorr,” Vulmon said, tossing the Rogue the gems.

  Most of the rocks that Jodi saw being tossed over were diamonds and emeralds. Though, there was a bright silvery-white gem the size of her fist. As Elandorr tucked it into his bag, she saw that it was the heart of an Elite Frost Shrieker. Seeing Jodi’s curious look, the Half-Elf laughed.

  “We save these for Lord Ironwolf,” Elandorr said nonplussed, “Hopefully, he can use it to craft items that the House of Kayden needs for the future.”

  “Are you guys taking the head?” Tumms asked, looking a little green around the gills as he saw Ara hacking through the creature’s neck.

  “You bet,” Ara said, proudly holding the head up by the scruff of fur, “we’ll hang it up in the main hall of BrokenFang Hold.”

  “If we’re lucky, it should give us all some nice bonuses,” Bialaer wholeheartedly agreed.

  “It’s a common practice in The World,” Elandorr explained, “and shows the power of a people’s house to all those who visit.” Looking around and seeing that everyone had been raised, the Rogue called out in raid chat. “Alright people, we’re heading out.”

  Still feeling like a stranger in a strange land, Jodi, Tumms, and the other players quietly fell in between the two group as Elandorr and the rest of the Assault Leaders hurried forward to talk with the leaders of the new group that had come to assist. As the rest of the players talked to each other in hushed voices, Jodi found herself lost in her own thoughts as they made their way up the slope. Blasto momentarily entertained her until he found a place to curl-up in her hood. The view was truly spectacular amidst the towering snow-topped mountains to either side of them, while the pass itself was quite the ascent and took a solid hour to reach the top of for all of the different allied groups.

  As they neared the top, Jodi was surprised to see how much construction had already been completed for the fortress. It was actually shocking once she considered that it had only been under construction for five days. Not even that, Jodi realized, as she thought back to the videos. Startum’s people only had half a day on Monday.

  So then, Jodi wondered, how had they managed to do so much in such a short amount of time? It wasn’t like there were diesel machines and power tools in a fantasy world. It didn’t make any sense. How had they already managed to lay down a good portion of the foundations for a keep, two towers, and thirty yards of curtain wall?

  Looking over the entrance, Jodi started to understand that part of the reason was due to the combined design. The gatehouse was more of a central keep with a gateway running underneath it since it was a good twenty-five yards or so wide. From the looks of it, there were already people living in the two lower floors while the third and fourth were still under construction. Though, to her surprise, Jodi saw that the gates themselves were already complete. There were even two massive doors that were three-yards high and five-yards long and reinforced with what looked to be heavy iron bars.

  To either side of the central gatehouse slash keep there were stone walls fifteen-yards long and high that ran to smaller towers that sat at the edge of the pass. These looked to be ten-yards or so in diameter. Basically, solid platforms to fight from but not something that was particularly set up for living.

  Interestingly enough, the walls and the tops of the towers had the traditional battlements and crenels that you’d expected from a castle built on earth. A curious addition was that there seemed to be a stone roof that was being built to enclose the battlements off completely from incoming fire. It was even slanted so that if an attacker managed to climb up that high, it would be nearly impossible to stand on top of the roofing.

  For all intents and purposes, Jodi realized, Startum’s people had managed to completely seal-off this side of Fang Pass. As she eyed the edges where the base of the towers butted up against the far sides of the pass, she realized that a sneaky Rogue might be able to slip by unseen if they were lucky. Though, with how high they were up, Jodi wouldn’t want to be the one slipping and falling down the mountain even if she’d been a Basic start player.

  Even though it was far from being finished, it was an intimidating structure and one, Jodi realized, that would be extremely difficult to successfully assault what with it being at the top of such a steep and high pass. Part of her was curious as to what Startum was up to. From what it looked like to her, the man was planting his flag and saying to everyone coming this way that this was his land.

  Jodi had run into people like this before in other MMO games. Mostly, it was done by the larger platinum-sized guilds that were staking out a boss or a high-level area by putting up a guild castle or house to mark their land. Even in games that didn’t have that kind of game play, such guilds would make it nearly impossible to enter into their areas even if it was considered open land for the rest of the players on the server.

  Though, with how V-MMORG was implementing the high-level PVP game for The World, Jodi had no idea what something like this would truly mean for gameplay. In truth, she’d never seen anything like this before. At least, she hadn’t in an MMO. Could Startum seriously stake out a swath of land, close it off, and simply call it his own as if he were playing a real-time strategy game? It was an interesting question, Jodi thought, as her eyes studied the stern-faced House of Kayden troopers that were escorting them up the pass.

  There was no doubt that these hardened troopers would make sure to keep this pass secure and, to her complete surprise, Jodi honestly believed that they were more than capable of doing the job. Who would’ve thought that possible, she mused with an incredulous shake of her head, as Blasto began complaining in her ear at being disturbed.

  He’d really made himself at home quite quickly, Jodi sarcastically thought, as the old saying “might makes right” came to her mind. Nowadays, in our supposedly “civilized” society, people liked to think that wasn’t still a thing. If people were truly being honest with themselves, they’d know, just like she did, that such an ultimate truth had never gone away. It was, in fact, a part of everyday life that most people chose not to look at too closely. People in power made the rules while everyone else, for the most part, followed them. That quintessential truth had been repeating throughout societies since the dawn of time.

  While a part of her wanted to be angry at Startum for being a prick, Jodi slowly realized it was more complicated than that. How would players treat his people if he simply allowed them into his land? How would you stop people from taking your strategic resources? Hell, how would you stop PKers from trying to take your castle over or slaughtering your soldiers behind your back, let alone the horrors that such players could inflict on the civilians? Honestly, she couldn’t really blame him after all of the shit that she’d seen going down with those Syndicate assholes in Delonshire.

  As those thoughts were going through Jodi’s mind, the heavy iron-wood gates swung open for them to enter. Jodi couldn’t help but be interested in
the design of the fortress, especially when she realized that the archway was slightly smaller than the gates. There was a complete stone lip-like doorjamb that ran around the inside of the gate, so that once it was closed, the rim of the iron-wood would be braced by the stone of the corridor itself. While the doors could still be shattered, the design nonetheless added an impressive amount of support to the overall gate.

  The corridor of the gatehouse was a good thirty-yards long with the typical murder-holes in the stone archway above for dropping hot oil or shooting arrows down at any invaders coming through the tunnel. There even seemed to be several slots for what looked to be a traditional portcullis that hadn’t been installed yet. Jodi tried to picture what that would mean for an attacker that had gotten this far to breech the tunnel. If the defenders were smart, they could force the attackers to break through each portcullis while being attacked from above.

  Coming out of the tunnel into the central courtyard, aka the inner killing grounds, Jodi came to a stunned stop as she looked around at all of the activity going on. It was unlike anything she’d ever seen within The World before. Even more embarrassing, she couldn’t seem to stop herself from unconsciously staring at the lines of Centaurs delivering carts full of stones for the active construction project going on.

  Jodi had played enough games and seen enough artwork to know what a Centaur looked like. Hell, she’d fought a number of them in the various MMOs that she’d played over the years, but seeing a Centaur within The World was unlike anything else she’d experienced before. Even odder, there were both sexes working side-by-side to get the work done. While the Half-Elves were mostly clothed like you’d expect on earth, aka loose braw-like tops for the women and bare-chested for the men, that was not the case for the Centaurs, Jodi mentally whistled, both sexes were unapologetically topless and boy did that stand out.