“There,” Kalmond said, focused on an interesting title. “Sounds of Thunder: find the source of mysterious rumbling near the Giant’s Toe Mountains. Looks like that’s rated for an hour of game time.”
“That is correct, intrepid player,” Virgil replied, sounding more like his normal self.
Virgil turned and moved down the hall, past several dark arches. Kalmond noticed Virgil’s robe was not so pristine white as it was before. Had there been black stains on the cuff when he entered the lobby? Kalmond was not sure. The stains looked as if Virgil rested his forearms on a table covered with soot. Just as he made that observation, the smell of wood smoke in Virgil’s wake tickled Kalmond’s nose.
The old Wizard turned to the right and the two passed through a stone arch and into the absolute darkness. The dwarf followed. When a cold wave passed over Kalmond, it brought profound surprise that raised more gooseflesh than the cold itself. The sensations came to him complete and absolute. His existence as Kalmond the dwarf eclipsed the presence of Dante the game developer.
Kalmond rocked on his feet, still dizzy from the teleportation that had brought him to the Giant’s Toe region of the map.The light of a new region came painfully to the dwarf’s squinting brown eyes. It had been truly instantaneous—one moment he was speaking to the absent Virgil, the next he was breathing out the last word of his request into humid air, looking out over green vegetation. It was early morning at the feet of the Giant’s Toe Mountains. Cold wind topped down from the peaks and lifted the sleeves of Virgil’s robe as he pointed toward a lush stand of forest not too far distant.
“There you will seek out the hunters who report the strange sounds. Should you accept the quest, their livelihoods will be in your hands.”
Before Dante could ask the three allowed questions, Virgil turned on his heel and disappeared back through the stone archway that instantly blinked out. Kalmond stood in the valley and surveyed the scene. Without the standard quest hints, he had little idea on how to proceed. Well, at least he knew where to go… “Uhh… Virgil?” Kalmond’s voice faded into the open space.There was no answer, but he turned in a circle. “Can you grant me the three hint questions?”
He whipped his head around. Then, not seeing any immediate danger, he sighed and squatted down. A rumbling roar erupted and Kalmond sprang back to his feet.
“Ahh!” He covered his ears, metal clanging as his gauntlets crashed against his helm. “Dammit!” Shaking off the ringing in his ears as both sounds faded, Kalmond took note of his surroundings. The mountain was to the southwest of his current location, an undulating range that, from this angle, really did look like oversized toes. He headed towards them, then stopped when the loud groan washed over the landscape again. A flock of birds shot out of a tree and flew off, but otherwise there was nothing he could see that would point to the cause of it.
“I guess the mountains are the only clue I have,” Kalmond muttered. He was enjoying the sound of his new voice, and still getting used to the feel of a fat tongue that worked around crooked teeth, and the tickle of whiskers against his lips. With a grin, he bounded off in the direction of the mountains.
He ran quickly, effortlessly. Unlike in his human form, Kalmond felt only the power of bunched muscles springing off the soft ground below and none of the fatigue or breathlessness he would running back in the real world. His heart pounded, but with adrenalin, not exhaustion. He raced along the landscape, slowing only when the vegetation thickened enough to cast deep shadows. He slowed to a walk, still revelling in the exhilaration of the run while admiring the crisp, clean leaves that rustled as he pushed them aside.
Birds chattered loudly in the treetops and beneath him, twigs snapped and his armor clanked. “How do I cast?” Kalmond muttered. “I need to cast sneak, but—” His words faded as the rustling and clinking cut off abruptly.
Sneak cast : successful
The words drifted into view along with a blue bar next to text that said 99%. He pumped a silent fist, then continued on his way.
Something leaped down from the trees above. With a shriek, a jungle cat flew at Kalmond’s face, and only instinct saved him as he threw up an arm to protect himself. Not good enough to fool the cat, the sneak spell ended. The sabertooth took only three percent damage.
A red ‘97’ floated up before Kalmond. That would be his own hitpoints. Kalmond wrenched his eyes away from the text. “Axe. Activate axe.” He rolled to the side as the animal attacked again. “Equip—Where the hell is my axe?” A claw slashed at his leg and searing pain bit through the armor. The red bar turned redder and his hitpoints dropped another five percent.
“My leg!” Kalmond screamed. “You stupid cat!”
Instinct took over and Kalmond simply kicked. The toe of his armored boot made solid contact with the sabertooth’s ribcage. A red bar rippling over the cat’s head showed 90% hitpoints left. The cat wasn’t too powerful, but if he didn’t stop MMA fighting with it, the thing might just win.
The cat screeched and scrambled back. It shook its head and edged to the side, watching Kalmond warily. Kalmond turned, unwilling to turn his back on the creature. “Where’s my… Oh, you idiot, Kal!” When he'd played in the old immersion rig, hand gestures controlled everything. The voice command for stealth had confused him but now he reached behind his back, and found what he was after.
A smooth wooden shaft met his searching fingers and he pulled, drawing an axe that weighed reassuringly in his thick hands. Its blade was sharp and clean and glimmered in the shafts of sunlight peeking through the canopy overhead. Slices of mirrored light over the surrounding trees as Kalmond slowly moved to a defensive stance.
Beginning with a more realistic version of the simple movements he'd used to control the old rig, Kalmond found his limbs guided by some kind of innate knowledge. He launched forward, swinging the axe in a sideways action that whipped across the sabretooth, too fast for the cat to resist. The bloodthirsty charge added nearly 25% to his attack, as shown by the rapidly-descending indicators hovering above the big cat’s head. The numbers scrolled by fast as Kalmond reversed the swing and the opposite edge of his axe caught the cat full-on. The animal reared and screamed, blood spraying from its chest as it tried to sprint away into the jungle, trailing internal organs behind it. An iridescent soap bubble formed above the dead cat and floated away. On its surface appeared ‘200XP’.
Kalmond dropped his hands to his knees and bent over, heaving deep breaths. “My leg…” he groaned. Though Dante knew this was just a simulation, that the pain couldn’t be real, he could feel it just as perfectly as that time his shin took a bone bruise while rock climbing. He sat, dumping his small, squat body ass-first onto the ground and detached the shin plate of his armor. The cat had pierced it like a nail through a soda can. “It’s broken, and I’m cut up. This is crazy, man.” He thought for a moment, then said “show me my stats.”
A HUD popped up, clear buttons and tables overlaid by glowing text. He could still see the jungle as he swivelled his head, but the numbers stayed put. The effect was dizzying, but he quickly got accustomed to it. His life now depended on it.
Armor: 75%
Helm of the Righteous: 98% / Pauldrons of Fire Protection: 92% +3% durability enchantment bonus / Chestplate of the Fallen Paladin: 89% / Gauntlets of Making: 49% / Leggings of Exceptional Strength: 91% / Exquisitely Crafted Elven Shin Guards: 14% / Shoes of the Swift: 91%
“Ugh, my shin pads are ruined.” Kalmond threw away the broken one and it vanished. The other pulsed with a sickly red glow. “I knew I should have fixed the rotten things before I left.” He’d been so wrapped up in the new simulator that he hadn’t even thought to check his supplies and equipment. He ran his eyes over the durability stats again, and let out another curse. “What the hell have I got these on for?” He peeled off his gauntlets and shrugged the leather backpack off and opened it. He must have put them on when he was levelling his crafting and forgotten to swap them back. He reached one bare hand into the b
ag and pulled on the first thing he saw. It looked like a shimmering glass plate but when he pulled on it, it slid from the bag with no resistance at all, then flipped up into the air, suspended like a giant holographic screen. It was covered with squares and each square had a small icon in it. So, this is the inventory, he thought.
“Woah!” Kalmond gave a quick look around to make sure nothing was creeping up on him. It was a habit long formed as the inventory screen always obscured most of the visible area of the game. The last thing a thief needed was to be caught rummaging through his bags. As in the flat version of the game, the curtain hung in a way that, though he could see snatches of the landscape behind it, it would be hard to see any opponents sneak up behind it.
“Let’s make this quick,” he mumbled. He quickly scanned the inventory and found the glove icon he wanted. He frowned, then reached out a finger to touch it. The finger went straight through the glass and he cupped his hand, then pulled the gloves free. As they detached from the strange screen, they morphed and swelled into a life sized 3d pair of gloves. “Double woah!” Kalmond picked up the crafting gloves and dipped them into the box the others had come from. They sank into it, flattening and shrinking to fit. Before putting the inventory away, he quickly hunted down a spare pair of shin guards and pulled them out, too. Then, he gasped the edge of the thin plate and pushed it towards his bag. It whooshed in with hardly any effort.
“Man, I wish I had one of those when I visit Mom.” She was constantly on his back for the bag he travelled with that would explode into an oversized pile of wrinkled clothes when opened. Kalmond leaned down to fasten the new shin guards, senses on alert for another attack. He quickly brought up his stats once it was done to confirm the +2 damage resistance from his Dwarf Smithed Gloves. He wrinkled his nose after confirming the 7 point drop in armor thanks to the inferior shins, and closed it again.They’d do until he got back from his quest, at least.
“Cast sneak,” Kalmond said after standing. He shuffled his feet in the fallen leaves to confirm it had worked, and set off again towards the mountains. He encountered two more sabertooths—one, a lower level than the first that had attacked him, failed in its sneak attack and he dispatched it with a couple of easy blows, sustaining no damage. The second sprang from a bend in the narrow trail Kalmond had stumbled upon. It flew at his face, slamming hard against the shield he raised at the last instant.
He used the shield to smash the cat, delivering moderate damage. The sabertooth hit back hard, even with 45% hitpoints remaining. Kalmond let it come, backing up a few paces while his furious lunge recharged. When the cat spent all its attack points, the dwarf let loose, scoring a superior strike critical. Another bubble floated away, announcing another 300xp. This cat was a bit tougher than the first. It seemed the dynamic quest engine was ramping things up.
Kalmond kneeled over the fallen jungle cat. “Examine.” A smaller version of the inventory screen flicked into view. He reached forward and, ignoring the tooth and a small rabbit carcass the sabertooth carried, took the pelt and dropped it into his backpack, where it promptly vanished. He knew it would appear in his inventory when he needed it later. This was the third one he’d found and he knew Thuglar would appreciate the chance to level his leatherworking skill. Kalmond might even score a nice enchantment in return for the gift.
He pressed on, stopping periodically to try and pinpoint the source of the rumbling sound. As he neared the mountains the volume increased and when he pressed his hand to the ground, he could feel the vibration through the soft soil. Finally, the jungle gave way to a solid rock face, black stone worn smooth with age and covered in mossy growth that presented itself with dank airs to twinge the dwarf’s nostrils.
The jungle was silent here. Kalmond realized the roaring did not sound as he pushed deeper to the mountain proper. Without further thought, Kalmond stepped up to the rock face and began to climb.
Half way up the slope, glowing red letters announced his endurance falling below 50%, and his legs began to tremble. The arms that he once thought of as steel, seemed far softer now. “Don’t look down, don’t look down,” he muttered a moment before looking down. He almost lost his grip and the fear motivated him, though he couldn’t climb any faster. By the time he hauled himself over the edge of the rock face to lay panting just over the lip of an expansive plateau, his endurance read 18%.
Across the gently rolling land, far off in the distance, Kalmond recognized the waterfall that was a common landmark in this region. Players had been trying to reach that place for years, but no matter how many adventurers explored the Giant’s Toe Foothills, the waterfall remained elusive. Entire forum boards were dedicated to finding the path to it. The designers must have wanted it that way. The feature seemed just as far off no matter how far one went to find it.
Kalmond struggled to his feet and shaky hands fumbled with his backpack where he found the inventory again. He snatched the first food item he could find. When his teeth tore into the mutton, the sensation of saliva flowing over his lips came as naturally as the satisfied groan. The dwarf drooled without shame and tore hunks of flesh from the smoked lamb leg and swallowed, barely bothering to chew. The meat was beyond delicious. It tasted like nothing from the real world—a world that now seemed a memory of increasing distance. As he ate, he watched his replenishable stats tick up until they were full again.
“This definitely does not taste like chicken,” Kalmond rumbled, laughing with a belch as he watched his endurance stats change from a sinister red color to blue, then green. He snatched a sweet cake from the inventory after he gnawed the mutton to the bone. The cake disappeared with two bites. Kalmond rolled his eyes as the taste of butter, sugar, cinnamon and a spice he could not recognize delivered a wave of delight.
Kalmond’s pleasure was cut short when the roar rolled over him again. A cold wind swept over him from nowhere and lifted dry grass from the undulating blanket of the plateau. Grass, dust and bits of other vegetation formed funnels that danced random, frenetic patterns in the distance. The air grew cold.
“This storm isn’t normal,” Kalmond muttered to himself, shouldering his backpack once again. As if to answer him the rumble deepened and lightning flashed where the plateau met the ever-rising mountain slopes. The sound surrounded him like a creature.
Kalmond forced himself to think. He brought out his axe again, the weight of it bringing clarity. centaur called plains like this home, as well as giant grasshoppers, bear and brush spiders. Warily, he moved directly across the rolling landscape toward the high ground where intuition told him to seek the heart of his quest.
A bell rang and Kalmond gave a start. The rumbling died down as the sky darkened. The bell rang again. From the corner of his eye, candlelight flickered. When he focused his attention to his left foot, he made out the words “incoming chat.” The sudden reminder that he was playing a game brought vertigo.
“Open chat,” Kalmond said. A translucent, amber window pane nearly smashed him in the nose.
“Dante,” the text shouted with multiple exclamation points. “I’m pulling you out.” The text header read ‘Game admin77’. That was Martin’s chat tag.
“Wait,” Kalmond exclaimed. His words showed up in the chat window below the admin’s.
“No. Dangerous. Bad readings here,” Martin replied.
“I’m fine!” Kalmond shouted back, and the text recognition engine filled in the exclamation points.
Nothing happened. If they wanted to pull him out, why didn’t they do so already?
The wind intensified and the skies turned from gray to coal. Clouds looked more like smoke than vapor. Kalmond turned in a slow circle until his eyes found a bright glow rising from a point midway between himself and the high ground. He moved toward it.
“Do not go there. Exit game,” the text commanded.
“Just a few minutes more,” Kalmond said. “Close chat.” The window disappeared, taking its unwelcome intrusion into his new world with it.
Kalmond ran towards the glow with axe and shield in hand. He braced himself as he passed giant grasshoppers and several bears as they rushed towards him. None attacked. They were too busy fleeing whatever the apparition was that quickly became the strongest light on the plateau.
Kalmond slowed as he grew near. The wind seemed to issue forth from the light now. Whatever it was, it replaced the mountain chill with its own heat. It smelled of electric storms and hot rock. A gauzy form lurked at the center of the glow. The rumbling increased until the ground tickled the great dwarf’s feet.
Too late, Kalmond realized what it was. The Monster Mylos appeared from a cocoon of light like a demonic silk moth. His tentacles formed a fan like wings behind his back. A booming voice issued from his bull head.
“Dwarf! Your blood is the sacrifice this Ream demands!”
“Cast armor spell! Cast spell of endurance! Cast spell of—”
The lightning bolt hit Kalmond dead center of his broad chestplate. His feet pointed at the black sky as he cartwheeled without gravity, jolting from side to side as the balls of fire slammed into him. He felt no pain, but the hitpoint text told him that he soon would, as he could not avoid it everywhere he looked. He tried desperately to ignore the counter as it ticked down past 40%.
His armor rattled and clattered against the ground when he landed and painfully rolled with no nope of control. He found a new but lesser rumbling rumbling in the ground. The lighting stunned him and he could not move. Did the new vibration feel like horse hooves? Impossible. But the ground continued to speak. Were those footfalls? He hoped the bears did not decide to return and attack him as well.
Kalmond struggled to his feet and turned just in time to see Mylos looming over him. The Monster raised both human arms above his head to cast a spell that Kalmond knew meant death. Mylos wore his minotaur head, with its blazing red eyes. Gone was the human face that might mean mercy. Kalmond raised his shield. Mylos bellowed.
Realm of the Nine Circles: A LitRPG Novel Page 6
