The Curse of Hurlig Ridge_World Tree Online_1st Dive

by M. A. Carlson

  “Yes and no,” I replied. “The Goddess is . . . not easy to understand, I guess.”

  “So, she spoke with you?” asked Trinico, looking both surprised and rather pleased.

  “She did. It was . . . I don’t know. Anyway, she also set me a quest. She said I had to share my knowledge, whatever that means. I’m supposed to talk to you to start,” I explained as best I could. I was honestly trying not to think about my conversation. I still felt like so much was out of my control.

  “Such a blessing,” said Trinico, positively giddy now. “I am happy to receive such knowledge.”

  “I still don’t understand, what knowledge?” I asked.

  Trinico just rolled her eyes. “Silly boy, your spell. ‘Justice Bringer’.”

  Huh, as understanding dawned on me, most of my worries melted away. This was how I was going to be able to continue my own adventures. I could teach Trinico and then I wouldn’t have to worry about protecting the village all the time. I would still have to seek justice where I could, but the friends I’d made among the citizens would at least have a fighting chance if they were to be raided again.

  “Is it really that easy?” I asked only to catch a new lump to my head from Trinico’s staff.

  “Silly boy, there is nothing easy about teaching a God-level spell,” Trinico chided me.

  “God-level?” I asked.

  “Yes, God-level. Did you think that changing the fabric of existence, even temporarily, would be anything less than the work of a god?” she explained.

  “I hadn’t thought about it,” I replied, getting a much harder thump of the staff. I don’t know why I kept letting her hit me, but part of me thought I may have deserved it. Part of me also became worried suddenly. If I taught this spell to her, could she teach it to other adventurers? I knew she had spells she could teach me that we hadn’t even discussed yet, but would she be able to give away such a spell to other players, just how much damage could it cause.

  “The goddess does have quite the plan. If you teach me, I can spread such knowledge to the other towns and villages. It will protect us all,” said Trinico.

  “But players could abuse such a spell,” I protested.

  “Silly boy, what part of God-level spell did you not understand?” Trinico asked.

  “Apparently all of it. So please, explain it to me,” I answered.

  “A God-level spell is one given by a god or goddess to their chosen, either a priest or paladin or in your case, a Warrior Priest. This spell cannot be taught to anyone that has not been permitted to learn it, and that person would require the god or goddess that gave the spell to approve such a thing. As such, if you teach the spell to me, I can only teach it to those permitted to learn it by the Goddess Issara herself. So long as she wishes to protect the citizens from the less savory Adventurers, I cannot imagine she would allow such a spell to be taught to anyone, but the local priest or priestess and only if they were a citizen. So, you see your spell will be safe from being abused,” Trinico explained.

  Such instant relief. A giant weight off my shoulders. This must have been the developer's goal all along, Creating the Warrior Priest class would allow the game to introduce the new spell in an organic manner. The spell would eventually spread, probably through the lowest level provinces first, they were the most defenseless. Then move to the next tier and the next tier after that. Forcing a more balanced system of play on the various player killer groups. There would always be those people that continued to prey on the weak, and that was the second reason for the Warrior Priest class, I would be free hunt them down and punish them appropriately.

  “I love my goddess,” I said, letting all the tension that had been building in my shoulders for the last few days melt away. “So, how do we start?”

  “What do you know of runes?” Trinico asked. I couldn’t help groaning. I’d tried trudging my way through ‘Ruins Runes’ yesterday. It was extremely complicated. It wasn’t simply knowing what the rune looked like but understanding the true power that it embodied. Each line held power and meaning, every circle, triangle, square and any other geometric shape did too. On top of that, each line of the geometric shapes had power and meaning too. And if that wasn’t enough, then each time a line crossed, it changed the meaning and power of that entire structure.

  It was exhausting to even think about.

  “Good, then you have done at least a little studying. We will have our work cut out for us if you wish to teach me such a spell,” said Trinico, grinning causing my brain to already hurt.

  After an hour I was ready to log off and never return. Trinico was merciless in her instruction. Similar to the book, ‘Ruins Runes’, she was all about teaching me the meaning between the lines and shapes but unlike the book which would only punish me by causing confusion, Trinico would thump me good with her staff. If this were not a virtual world, I would have started worrying about concussions and brain damage by now. As that was not a concern, I simply had to redouble my efforts to learning, preferably before the mad priestess accidentally sent me to respawn.

  “Enough, that is enough for the day,” said Trinico, sounding as frustrated as I felt. I had gained the profession, but Trinico insisted I needed to gain a great deal more levels to be able to successfully share my knowledge of the spell. Then she made me grind out seventeen painful and mind-melting levels to the skill. It was now my highest-level ability by far and only slightly useful even at its level.

  Runology (Evolved from Writing)

  Level: 27

  Experience: 48.47%

  Professional Skill: Runology is the art of communicating power.

  Chance to Learn Unknown Rune: 13.50%

  Chance to Inscribe Skill: +6.75%

  Chance to Inscribe Spell: +3.375%

  Professional Skill: Writing is the ability to communicate through the written word.

  It was no wonder more people were learning Enchanting instead of Runology. As valuable as skill books would be, it had such a low percentage chance of successfully creating one, it was hardly worth it.

  “What is the point?” I asked, my frustration getting the better of me. “Tell me, Trini, what is the point of even trying. I only have a 3.375% chance of creating a spell book.”

  “Modified by the level of the spell,” she corrected me. That stopped me short and sent a ripple of confusion through me.

  “What do you mean modified by the level of the spell I’m inscribing?”

  “Bye-bye, you are a wonderful young man, but you still have so much to learn. For each level of the spell or skill you are trying to inscribe, you gain an additional 1% chance to inscribe the spell or skill into a book or scroll,” Trinico enlightened me.

  I could only blink. “Huh?”

  “Okay, so assuming your ‘Justice Bringer’ is a level one spell your chance to inscribe it is 4.375%,” she explained.

  “But the description doesn’t mention anything about that,” I protested. Looking at the profession again.

  “Does your Runology skill not say ‘Chance to Inscribe Spell: +3.375%? It is that little ‘+’ that should tell you,” she explained.

  And boy did I feel stupid. I checked my spell book for some of the other spells and skills had a ‘chance’ to whatever some of them had a ‘+’ sign and some did not. “Does that mean you don’t need the Runology profession to create a spellbook? Say if you had level 100 of a skill?”

  “Of course, you still need Runology. Just because you understand a spell doesn’t mean you can properly communicate the power of that spell,” Trinico answered.

  “Okay, I need a blank spell scroll or book then,” I said, mostly to myself.

  “Do you think you have the skill to create a book already?” asked Trinico.

  “The spell is level infinite. I get the feeling Goddess Issara wants this spell shared, the sooner the better,” I explained.

  Trinico couldn’t help but chuckle and shake her head. “Of course, it simply must be a level infinite spell. Why w
ould it not be ridiculously easy?” she said sarcastically. “Wait here, I will be right back with a blank spell scroll.”

  Maybe it was me, but she seemed upset that our task just got significantly easier. She returned a moment later with a handful of scrolls and a pen and inkwell. “This is special ink, try not to waste it,” she warned.

  I dipped the pen in the inkwell and put it to the top of the scroll and . . . nothing happened. I was kind of expecting to just start automatically writing but it didn’t happen. “Am I missing something?”

  “Cast the spell,” she said as if it was supposed to be common knowledge.

  “Justice Bringer,” I chanted the short phrase to activate the spell. Except the spell didn’t activate, my hand did. I was automatic writing. This was another common trope in paranormal games, often called psychography, but in any MMORPG I’d played before, they tended to use a progress bar or timer of some kind, instead of actually writing. Still, I was mesmerized as the runes began to fill the page, my hand moving precisely as it jotted each line and curve and geometric symbol, right up until the page was filled.

  Class Quest Alert: Share your knowledge and Protect the World Tree - Completed

  The Goddess Issara has charged you to share your knowledge to protect the World Tree. Speak with Priestess Trinico to begin.

  Reward: +1,000-Experience, Collect your reward (x5) from the Temple of Issara in Root City.

  Excellent news indeed plus five rewards waiting for me at the temple and it was enough experience to push me to level 5.

  Congratulations! You’ve reached Level 5!

  +1 to bonus Holy Spells, +1 Intellect, +1 Charisma

  You’ve forgotten the spell ‘Justice Bringer Lvl ∞’.

  You’ve learned the spell ‘Justice Bringer Lvl 1’.

  Justice Bringer

  Level: 1

  Experience: 0.00

  Spell Duration: 1 hour

  Spell Cast Speed: Instant

  Spell Charges: 1/1

  Spell Mana Cost: 100

  Recharge: 23:59:59

  Spell Effect (Active): All Adventurers and Citizens within 20 yards have their effective level lowered or raised to match your own. Does not work on enemy Citizens, Beasts or Monsters.

  That is so unfair. They just nerfed my best weapon again PK’ers. Not only does it now cost a 100-mana, but its range was knocked all the way down to 20-yards. That was nothing. A good mage would nuke me from 40-yards or more. Additionally, it now had a charge count and recharge timer as opposed to a cooldown. Did that mean I would be able to add another charge of the spell eventually? Or was there something else to it. I suppose I will have to play with it for a while to figure it out.

  “Why do you look like you have swallowed a lemon?” asked Trinico.

  “The spell, she took it away from me and gave me back a severely weakened version of it. Now it’s level 1 in addition to only being able to cast it once a day,” I explained.

  “Then it is well that I have the maximum level of Runology. Also, so long as I am in town you can cast your spell every day without worry as I will still have mine available,” she tried to reassure me.

  It still made me feel slightly exposed now. “What level is yours?”

  “Your scroll gave me level 50 of the spell. I can reproduce the spell with a 100% chance. Though at three hours per scroll I will probably not be able to make many a day.”

  “Three hours?” I asked confused. I looked at my system clock and was shocked to see three hours had actually passed even though it only felt as if it were only a few minutes. I looked around and notice Micaela was gone, probably to meet her husband for dinner. And thinking of dinner, my stomach gave a hungry rumble, it was almost 7:00 in the evening and I was ready for some food.

  “I know, it only feels like moments, but it can be a rather long process. Not that you will have to worry over creating a scroll for that spell again any time soon. Anyway, you should go, get some food and try to have a little fun. Get a good night rest too. Now that you have gained another level we have work to do tomorrow,” she stated.

  “So much for my plan to hunt wolves,” I grumbled. “I’ll see you tomorrow then Trini. Have a good evening.”

  “Thank you Bye-bye, you too.”

  The walk back to the inn was quick. The inn was rather quiet when I entered, not empty, just kind of subdued. It seemed a good number of people were still feeling the aftereffects of the celebrations.

  “Evening, Sugar,” said Trish, greeting me immediately, her hand on my arm and her body coming awfully close to mine, closer than it ever had before. “When are you going to show me your room?” she whispered into my ear, shocking me.

  Trish and I had flirted a lot, usually while I was under the effects of liquid courage, and it seemed, or at least I thought it was all in good fun, nothing too serious about it. But now, she was coming on to me very strongly. What changed? Then I remembered my new title was amplifying my effective Charisma, so instead of 61, it calculated it as if I had 183. With my Charisma jacked up so high, it was making this girl, who’d I had previously shown interest in, much more inclined to be attracted to me. But it wasn’t real. It was a mathematical equation affecting an artificial intelligence that was programmed to react accordingly. She didn’t actually care for me, she was simply enthralled by the Charisma stat. It instantly lost all appeal.

  Part of me wanted to argue that this was the point of having high Charisma, but I just didn’t feel that way. Trinico had pointed out to me, that Charisma was useful in getting people to trust me, to ask me for help. I accepted that it also helped with trade and convincing NPC’s to help me. But using it to get lucky with a machine, something significantly better than doll but still artificial? It just felt so wrong now, made me feel dirty that I even considered it before.

  I looked into her eyes and the display of emotion was very convincing, she felt real even though I knew better. I also knew that I would have to let her down gently. I didn’t want to spoil our friendly banter, our almost-friendship.

  “Oh, that’s sweet you, Trish. I appreciate it, I do, but I don’t think it would be a good idea. I may be living here for now, but in a few weeks, I’ll be moving on. I would much prefer we keep our fun flirtations and friendship. I hope you understand,” I replied, trying my best to be gentle.

  Her personality flipped a switch in an instant. She didn’t get angry with me, but she did giggle. “Oh, Sugar, you should see the look on your face. You are a real sweetheart Bye-bye, but I was only teasing you.”

  I knew that she wasn’t teasing at the time, but it was the perfect out. “You got me with that one you little minx. Just remember, payback is a dish best served cold,” I joked.

  “Whatever you say, Bye-bye, how about a beer and some dinner?” Trish offered.

  “That’d be great thank you,” I replied, working toward my preferred chair by the fireplace and my waiting friends, Olaf and Micaela.

  Chapter 16

  For the first time since coming to this town, I was not awakened by the damnable rooster from hell. It was in fact, a full five minutes of being awake before the bird crowed his welcoming to the new day. So, either I had finally started to sleep through the morning noise or it was actually quiet for a change. The former seemed more likely than the latter, but I wasn’t going to start complaining now.

  I ate my breakfast alone for the first time in a few days as neither Olaf nor Micaela decided to join me for today, though I was sure they would join me for training, or at least I hoped they would. I had grown accustomed to their company.

  My journey to the training area behind the barracks was much the same as usual, what was unusual was the angry Lieutenant Graves, storming around the barracks, looking an angry red that almost matched his armor.

  “Out of the way,” he snapped at me as he stormed onward, nearly shoving me from my path.

  I shook my head in disbelief at the man’s behavior. It also made me wonder why he was so angry? Where had he b
een for that matter? I don’t remember seeing him when the Player Killers came to raid the village.

  I found Sergeant Butters, an extremely upset Micaela and angry Olaf around back. “What happened?”

  “That bigoted jerk found us training here with the sergeant and went off. He said several nasty things about us and then about the sergeant for training us, and then he went off about the sergeant training you too,” explained Olaf.

  “I would destroy that fool now if it was not more trouble in the long run,” grumbled the sergeant. “You should not worry about anything he said. I train who I want to when I want to, and he has no say over it.”

  “But, won’t that mean more trouble for you?” asked Micaela, fighting back a few sniffles.

  “As if I care what that ponce of a lieutenant thinks. The boy is barely out of diapers and he thinks he can order me about like I am just some green recruit. Now, you do not get to worry about his stupidity. You three need to get back to training,” ordered the sergeant.

  Olaf punched one of his meaty hands into the other in anger, looking as if he was planning something stupid.

  “Don’t do it, Olaf,” I tried to warn him off. “There is something else going on here,” I told him, trying to hold him back with my words because there was no way I would have been able to do it otherwise.

  Olaf frowned and hesitated, but it seemed to be enough to pacify him, at least for the time being. “What do you mean?” he finally asked me.

  “He was missing during the raid,” I answered.

  It was as if a light went off over the sergeant’s head. “He was not there, was he? Where the devil was he then? There were no scheduled patrols or trips to Root City. The runner to the bounty office left days ago and should be back tomorrow. There was no reason for him not to be here. So, just where was he?”

  “I think he’s up to something and his behavior suggests that whatever it is, is something secret and possibly dangerous,” I stated.