Gaia's Gambit: Evolution Online I (A LitRPG)

by D. L. Harrison

  I casted assess life, and the only information I got back was it was a goblin, and that if I was lucky I’d have a chance at killing one of them.

  I considered fire and dismissed it, a fire blast would explode and splash fire, and she was too close to them. I also cancelled detect life, I might need the faster mana regen.

  I aligned my mind with water, and summoned a water elemental, with the intent to free her from her bonds. Hopefully it could accomplish that in sixty seconds, because it would be dismissed after a minute. One minute per level. It was not quiet when the three-foot-high water elemental appeared, the movement of the circulating water sounded like a roaring river, and it snapped both their eyes in my elemental’s direction.

  The goblin’s laugh cut off, and one grunted as he swung his sword at the woman’s head. I winced in horror, and was only slightly less alarmed when the flat of the sword just knocked her out.

  The water elemental moved forward to free her bonds, not that she could help with the fight anymore. It didn’t matter though, one of the goblins moved to intercept, while the other one gazed around looking for the spell caster, which would be me. My mouth dried, and my heart took off like a jack rabbit, what the hell was I doing here?

  Crap.

  I stood up and cast Ice Spike as I held out a hand. Ice spike would do mana damage, plus intelligence, plus the level of the spell. Pretty much all offensive spells worked that way. At level one, with an eighteen intelligence and initiate level one casting, plus the five-mana cost, that was only twenty-four damage. Of course, that was the maximum, and would be lessened by any resistances or armor. It could also do more damage if I hit a critical area.

  The magic surged through me and out my hand. A large surge of water seemed to shoot from my hand, and it formed into a frozen spike mid-flight. It hit the goblin in the chest, but didn’t go in very far with the armor in way. The ice immediately lost cohesion and flowed from the wound, along with a healthy, or perhaps unhealthy for the goblin, amount of blood.

  There was no popup, perhaps the system was designed to not be distracting during a fight. All I knew was I’d done nineteen hit points of damage, and the goblin was only moderately wounded. It would take two more to kill it, maybe three. It was like instinctive knowledge, I don’t know how else to describe it, but it was clearly a game mechanic. I just suddenly knew, as if suddenly remembering some obscure fact.

  The goblin’s roar of anger promised my death, and my sphincter tightened. As war cries went, I’d have to judge it most effective, I’d have rather been anywhere else. The other goblin was still occupied with my summoned water elemental.

  It charged me brandishing its sword threateningly while I desperately cast a second ice spike spell. The mana surged and water flew from my palm, forming a spike in mid-flight that impaled the goblin the chest. Another twenty-one damage, perhaps the two extra points was because it’s armor had been degraded.

  It was about two thirds dead, one more might do it, or it might not. Regardless, I was out of time as the sword came in straight at my chest. I dodged left around the tree I was standing next to, and the sword cut deeply into my right arm, I wasn’t fast or agile enough to fully avoid the blow.

  I dove to the ground and rolled to avoid it’s back swing, while I cast another ice spike. It shot from my left hand, my right arm hung uselessly and throbbed in pain. I also knew I’d taken fifteen points of damage, which put me at fifty left. It really hurt, badly, pain that I hadn’t felt in my life before, but I fought through it. I knew I’d respawn, but all my instincts still cried out against the possibility of death, as adrenaline and fear flooded and energized my body.

  The spike shot out and impaled the bastard in the small of his back right below his leather cuirass. The goblin’s scream turned into a death rattle as he collapsed to the ground. All I wanted to do in that moment was stay on the ground, perhaps curse out Gaia for a while, but I rolled to my feet.

  The other goblin was still hacking away at my water elemental, which had actually managed to give the goblin a couple of minor wounds. My elementals would never be as strong as me, but apparently they’d do very well in distracting the enemy.

  I cast ice spike again, aiming carefully at its head. The magic surged, and water shot from my hands like a geyser, forming into a spike and then striking the goblin. I’d missed its head, but fortunately it had hit its upper chest and impaled him through the armor.

  The goblin screamed, and seemed to finally notice its comrade’s death. It turned, and ran.

  Screw that.

  I cast ice spike again, which chased down the goblin striking it in the back. It’s wheezing scream died as it collapsed to the ground. Dead.

  Congratulations! The two goblins are dead! Maybe you aren’t such a waste of precious oxygen after all. You have earned three hundred Experience Points!

  Damn, snarky messages. I cast heal on myself, pouring my mana into the spell until I was healed. It took about three seconds to heal the fifteen points of damage. Then I walked over to the woman. She didn’t look that damaged, which meant this world acted much like the real one. A blow to the head could cause unconsciousness, even with positive hit points. I cast heal on her to take care of what damage she’d taken. It took almost all of the rest of my mana to do it.

  I walked over to one of the goblins and searched its body. He had a leather satchel, with dried meats, ropes, and a water skin. Also a few coins, bronze, along with a flint, a pouch of salt and a cake of soap. I claimed it. I also sheathed his sword, and removed his bow and arrows. I left those on the ground, but took its belt and crude hunting knife. The second goblin was similarly equipped, and I stripped him down as well.

  I frowned as I went over to untie the woman’s ropes, and freed her, she was still unconscious even fully healed. Perhaps there was a duration to the knockout blow of some kind? I cast assess life, which told me she’d be fine, given time. It also told me her name was Gwen.

  Gwen was an attractive woman, perhaps a year or two younger than me in appearance, twenty two or so. I say in appearance, because we were both over a millennium old, our minds were anyway. She had long curly medium reddish-brown hair the color of chestnut. Her face was heart shaped, giving her a cute beauty aided by the smattering of freckles on her button nose. She had full slightly bowed lips, and soft cheekbones. Her body was lithe and athletic.

  My mana had recovered, so I cast detect life in an effort to not be snuck up on.

  I cast water elemental, and had it carry the two swords, bows, leather armor, and the knife and pack that was left. It changed shape from humanoid to a flowing cart of sorts, the top of which was a sheet of ice, and scooped up the loot. It would only last a minute, but that was more than enough time for it to move it all to my glade and future campsite. I scooped up the woman in my arms.

  She was startlingly light. My strength and agility didn’t exactly suck, but my abilities were obviously geared more toward mental strengths with my higher intelligence and wisdom. Still, I obviously had better than normal human strength, but I knew that didn’t mean squat. That didn’t mean nearly as much as the fact weapon wielders would always be even stronger than that.

  Status, I thought.

  Name:

  Jason

  Classes:

  None.

  HP:

  65

  Regeneration 1.3/sec.

  Race:

  Half-Elven / Half Human

  Mana:

  80

  Regeneration 1.8/sec.

  Platinum:

  0

  Stamina:

  75

  Regeneration 1.4/sec

  Gold:

  0

  Level:

  1

  TNL: 660

  Silver:

  0

  Strength:

  15

  Bronze:

  0

  Agility:

  14

  Intelligence:

  18

  Willpowe
r

  13

  Wisdom:

  16

  Magical Spheres:

  Fire:

  Initiate level 1

  Water:

  Initiate level 1

  Air:

  Initiate level 0

  Earth:

  Initiate level 0

  Light:

  Initiate level 0

  Darkness:

  Initiate level 0

  Life:

  Initiate level 1

  Death:

  Initiate level 0

  Skills (Combat)

  Combat Skill Name

  Description

  Level

  N/A

  Skills (Non-Combat)

  Skill name

  Description

  Level

  Sneak

  Allows you to move silently.

  Initiate Level 1

  When I got back to the site of my awakening, I laid her down on the bed of moss. My stomach growled, and I’d put off eating long enough. The dried meats in the pack smelled bad. I sighed, and picked a place in the glade as far from the surrounding trees as I could get, and used the knife to break up the ground, and started digging out a fire pit with my hands. Then I found some large stones, and surrounded the pit. I’d never done it before, but I knew the theory well enough. Once I had the pit dug, and the surrounding brush cleared away, I went out looking for firewood. There was enough scrub, sticks, and even larger pieces of dead wood littering the forest to build a respectable fire.

  I used the knife again, and whittled the bark off of a fairly straight branch giving one end a point, and used two other sticks with a Y shape at one end for supports. I had no idea what I was doing, and it looked a bit rickety, but I thought it would work well enough for a spit.

  Then I stood, and walked into the forest surrounding the glade. It didn’t take me long to find a group of rabbits, not with Detect Life running. Two Ice Spikes later, and I was carrying my prizes back to the campsite. It was a grizzly task, and although I’d read about it, skinning and dressing a rabbit was an ugly process. I put the skins to the side, they might come in handy for something.

  Congratulations! You are now the bane of rabbits everywhere. You have earned the skill Hunter. You have earned ten Experience Points!

  I rolled my eyes and dismissed the window.

  I impaled them both on the spit, and put it over the two vertical Y branches over the fire pit, and crossed my fingers as I cast Control Flames. I rolled my eyes when it didn’t work, and aligned my thoughts with the sphere of fire, then cast it again. That was something I’d have to keep in mind, I didn’t think it would take too long though, before my subconscious took care of that effort.

  Still, it took a high level of concentration, it was no wonder it took master level control of magic to combine two spheres. How the hell was I supposed to focus on two at once?

  The small brush and kindling smoked, and then lit. The logs themselves started rather quickly, but that was no surprise given I used magic to start it. Maybe I hadn’t even needed kindling with the aid of magic.

  I went to the other side of the glade from where I intended to build a shelter, and dug another hole. The bad meat from my pack, and from the pack I intended to let the woman have, went inside it. I considered the two rabbit hides, and although I had the knowledge in my noggin I didn’t have the un-iodized salt or potash alum, and if there was another way to cure hides I had no idea how. I’d probably end up throwing them away in the refuse pit I’d just built, but for now I left them. Maybe Gwen would have an idea. I was hesitant to throw anything out that could come in handy.

  I took the time to carve crude bowl plates. The knife would have to do as an eating implement for now. Good enough, I had what we needed to eat when the rabbits were finished.

  I got up and took a deep breath through my nose, and felt calm here, in the glade. It was a welcoming feeling that had seeped through me slowly, and I hadn’t really noticed it until them. It wasn’t that outside the glade was unwelcoming, it was just here felt… right in some way. I wasn’t sure if that was because it was my spawn point, or if there was some other reason.

  The glade was filled with bushes and brush along the edges, and the whole thing was surrounded by mighty oak trees that reached for the sky. I dismissed the feeling for now, and headed back out into the forest to find sticks, brush, and other things. The rope would come in handy too, for binding the shelter together. It wasn’t going to be pretty, a simple cover with three walls, in case the weather turned bad. I didn’t really have the tools or supplies to build an actual hut, or shack.

  I chose one of the larger oaks as the site, and started to build the crude shelter under its boughs. I wasn’t sure how waterproof I could make it, and the massive tree would assist with that. There were also bushes all around offering some small amount of concealment. Weaving the branches so it was self-supportive without nails was a lot harder than I’d expected it to be. It was also a slow process, and I stopped every few minutes to turn the spit over the fire.

  I sensed a change with detect life, and looked over at Gwen, who still looked to be out cold. I smirked, she was playing possum.

  “It’s safe. I’m Jason. The goblins are dead, and your welcome to any of the loot piled next to you.”

  Her head turned in my direction, and her eyes snapped open. They were a startling vivid green color. She tilted her head, “Half-elf? What happened?”

  I shrugged, “No idea why that crazy computer made me a half-elf. As for what happened, I heard your struggle with the goblins and decided I couldn’t ignore it. What happened?”

  She sighed, “I was stupid. I was meditating on the skills I wanted, and the bastards snuck up behind me. I’m actually a decent fighter, but between the surprise, having no weapons, and being weaker than they were, they had little trouble tying me up.”

  “I’m rubbish at fighting, which is why I chose three spell spheres.”

  She laughed, “I’m a black belt, I chose sword, bow, and was working on darkness when I was attacked. Of course, no weapons, but I do now?”

  I continued to work on the shelter while we talked.

  I nodded, “They aren’t in the best shape, but the goblin swords and bows are yours if you want them. There’s also a knife and pack with a few useful things in it. The armor too. Neither would fit me, but I’m betting with a few adjustments…” I trailed off.

  She sat up and looked around, “Thank you, Jason. I’m Gwen.”

  “Nice to meet you Gwen, welcome to our crazy world.”

  Gwen laughed, “I don’t actually mind, our old world was driving me insane, though I wonder if Gaia might not have lost hers.”

  I snorted. The A.I. named after the goddess of creation was most likely nuts.

  “I have rabbits cooking, your welcome to join me. We seem to be the only ones out here, no human town or city in sight.”

  She looked a bit cautious, but seemed friendly enough.

  “I don’t suppose it would hurt to have magical backup.”

  I took her comment in stride and I didn’t blame her for her caution, she was an attractive woman, and alone in the middle of nowhere with a man she didn’t know. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t attracted to her, but I didn’t know her, and wouldn’t dream of crossing any lines uninvited. Plus, I’d need to get to know her first, for all I knew she was crazy.

  On the other hand, it felt nice to not be stuck in the middle of nowhere alone. I’d been something of a loner in the other world, but I sensed that would be suicide in this new world. I needed allies, and she’d be a good start. More than that was beside the point, and premature to even consider. I changed the subject.

  I asked, “Darkness?”

  She smiled, “The sphere will let me add curses to my weapon strikes, as well as enhance myself.”

  I frowned, “I thought the latter was the light sphere?”

  She nodded, “Yes, for stuff like increasing speed or strength.
Darkness will help me remain unseen if I wish, or make me harder to hit by blurring my form. Stuff like that. Light is direct enhancements, dark is more… sneaky.

  She examined both of the swords and bows, and took the better ones. Then she looked over the armor, hunting knife, and what was in the pack. The leather armor was a little loose on her as she pulled it on, very loose around her waist, and tight around her bust, but it fit. Probably a good thing she had a lissome body, we’d find something better sooner or later though. She took it back off, and started to fiddle with the straps in an attempt to make it fit better.

  The crude shelter wasn’t much as I tied the top to the walls with the goblin rope, but it would get us out of the wind and rain if it came. I aligned my mind with nature, and cast growth. Two beds of moss grew before my eyes, about as far apart as I could make them under the small shelter.

  Congratulations! It’s not much of a shelter, or a fire, but you’ve earned the skill Builder. You have earned ten Experience Points!

  Gwen looked over the shelter critically, and I shrugged helplessly. It wasn’t much to look at.

  “What are your plans?” she asked.

  I shrugged, “If we’re going to work together we should make plans together. I had the vague idea to explore the area. I don’t know what challenge Gaia had in mind for us all the way out here, but I think we need to be cautious. There might be a human settlement close to here, or a hundred miles away. There’s also no doubt the goblins must have a settlement around here somewhere.”