“I feel better now that I’m here,” Kalmond said. “I’d feel even better if I had a quest in this world.” Kalmond waited. When no response came, he cleared his throat.
“Very well,” Virgil said. With a wave of his hand, a wall of wooden letters rose up from the floor in front of Kalmond.
“Wow, the interface changed!” Kalmond exclaimed, marveling at the detail of the carved block letters. “You’ve been busy.”
“No,” Virgil replied. “This is the work of the mages of your world, ‘coders’ I believe you call them. Playing in the lesser realm as Gideon, I instructed these lesser mages to change the interface.”
“I guess we are both of two worlds now,” Kalmond said. He read through a list of quests, skimming past the lowest ones until his eye stuck on the word “bear.”
“Tell me about this quest called ‘The Marauding Bear,’” Kalmond said.
“This is a level four quest, player,” Virgil said, taking on the ordinary tone of the standard R9C game interface. The shift in address made Kalmond’s heart sink.
“I know,” the dwarf replied. “I want to level up quickly.”
Virgil sighed and described the quest. “In the Third Circle, at the edge of the Trolong Forest, a bear is terrorizing the hill village of Dundree. By day, the village is peaceful, but at night, the meager food stores are torn apart and shops ransacked. So far, no villagers have been injured, but the village matriarch fears it is only a matter of time.
To make matters worse, the town has been suffering from bad water, and traders rarely visit. If you can help, the town will be in your debt.”
“Fix the bear situation,” Kalmond said, folding his thick arms across his broad chest. “That’s the quest for me! Don’t worry, Virgil. I won’t be going alone.”
“Shall I transport you there?” Virgil asked.
“Sure,” Kalmond replied.
The cathedral walls melted away. Light filtered by stained glass windows was replaced by bright sunbeams spearing their way to the soft ground beneath Kalmond’s feet.
Kalmond spoke, taking care to pronounce the words clearly. “Send a message to the leader of the Nameless Clan.” A blue line of text appeared several feet from his nose. A flashing cursor blinked at the end of the line. Kalmond raised an eyebrow in surprise, then spoke the rest of his message.
Message to Driskroll (GM Nameless Clan): Hey, Drisk. Back in game, lvl 1. Send someone to lend a hand? Need my clan tags back, too.
He waited, not wanting to move too far. Virgil would, according to protocol, have ported him to a safe spot, free of anything that would try to kill him in the immediate vicinity. He couldn’t guarantee how far the safe location stretched, though, and the dynamic nature of the world meant that things might change quickly. There were always dangerous creatures afoot in the Nine Circles.
Driskroll says: I will come to you.
Kalmond gave a satisfied grin and stood back, arms folded. It shouldn’t take him long to hit the first dozen levels, with a little help. That Driskroll was coming personally was particularly reassuring.
A moment later, the zing of an incoming teleport sounded. Kalmond spun to see his old clan mate standing there, a pile of fabric under one arm.
Kalmond frowned and activated the local voice chat. “What’s that?”
“Newb pack,” Driskroll said with a laugh. “You’re gonna need it.”
“What? Very funny, Drisk. The newb pack is just cotton armor. It’s not even worth equipping. You can help me level quick. Between you and the rest of the clan—”
The humor fell from Driskroll’s voice. “You don’t have a clan. Not yet.”
Kalmond’s jaw dropped. “Dude, this is getting old, fast.The Nameless is my clan. Remember?”
“Yeah. You were the one who set the entrance rules for everyone, no exceptions. Also, that immersion rig is freaky. The expressions on your face look so real, it almost makes me feel bad for holding you to your own rules. When can I get me one of them rigs?”
Kalmond shook his head and glared at Driskroll’s mannequin-like, orc face. By the tone of his voice, it was evident Driskroll was laughing behind his computer screen. “Yeah, but… you can’t seriously make me—” Kalmond began.
“The hell I can’t. And I’m going to. Trust me, it’s for your own good—or at least, that’s what you told the rest of us when we started new characters and wanted a hand up. ‘The Realm will judge you worthy by how it rewards you,’ you told me.”
Before Kalmond could protest, Driskroll offloaded the pile of clothing and stepped back.
“Catch you later, Kal!” He disappeared with a flash and a zing.
Kalmond stood in shocked silence, trembling with rage. It was just a bad prank, surely. “Send message to Driskroll.”
Message blocked..
“Message Nameless Clan second in command.”
All messages to Nameless Clan blocked.
The gravity of the situation dawned on him slowly. The clan affiliation system obviously had new records for the Nameless Clan leadership, and Kalmond was nowhere near the top. His privileges were set such that he could not even look up the membership rosters. He was a probationary member again.
Kalmond let out a roar and kicked the bundle in front of him, sending light billows of cloth into the air. “Asshole,” he grumbled. “Virgil?” he called.
“Yes, Master Kalmond?” The interface gelled into view with a bland expression on his creased face.
“Can you take me back to quest selection?”
“You have already used the only allowable teleport for a new adventurer.”
“Virgil. Seriously. I’m of the Noble Four. You’re the one who told me I need to get my ass to level twenty in a week.”
“My apologies, Master Kalmond, but you know very well that I cannot circumvent the game rules,” Virgil spoke without meeting Kalmond’s eyes, but the unmistakable twitch of a smirk touched Virgil’s mouth.
“Screw you, Virgil. You’re not sorry at all, are you?” Kalmond yanked a shirt off the ground and roughly jerked it over one arm. Then, with a growl, he tugged it back off and flicked out the dirt he’d kicked over it earlier. Beneath the pile of clothing, he found a dull, rusty dagger. He added the weapon to his inventory, knowing it would do him little good. At the very least, it might serve as a base crafting tool. This early in the game, every little bit helped. He didn’t usually play characters heavy on the crafting skills. Maybe this was time to change. The path might prove more interesting. no, Kalmond thought, I’m in this to level up quick and get my position back.
“Is there anything else I can assist with, Master Kalmond?” Virgil’s gentle smile only added to Kalmond’s seething rage.
“Yes. How the hell am I supposed to survive in a level four area?”
“I assure you, my programming would not permit me to abandon a low-level player in an area that would be impossible to survive.”
“Whatever,” Kalmond grumbled, then quickly put on the quilted shirt that gave +3 to his armor rating. He checked his stats, then groaned.
Kalmond the stone dwarf
Level 1
XP10
STA14
STR12
INT11
AGI12
CHA12
MAN9
MLVL127
Hit Points 2968
“Ouch,” Kalmond said. The lack of mana would hurt, but Rogues were not known for their spell-casting ability. He’d have to work on his enchantment skill or maybe become a potion maker to up his effective mana capacity. Once he hit level 10 and chose his calling, he’d be able to do that. “One step at a time,” he said aloud to drive the reminder home.
He hadn’t felt this vulnerable in years. The measly three points of armor from the flimsy cloth tunic and pants had only given him an extra two hundred points of damage resistance. Pathetic.
“Virgil, where—”
Virgil was gone. Holding his breath to stifle a roar, Kalmond raised his eyes to th
e sky, fists clenched, face ruddy. This day was not going well. He tried to force his mind to center, to feel the dampness in the air and the gentle rustle of leaves. These were elements of the world only available to those in immersion mode. The sensations had a purity and a directness he didn’t experience even in the lesser realm. Sweat prickled and itched in his beard and sharp twigs dug into his feet through the thin soles of his calf-high moccasins. Heaving out a long sigh, he set to work.
The dynamic nature of the Nine Circles meant that, for the most part, the world and the items within it acted as they did in real life. They could be picked up, used and manipulated. Kalmond kicked through fallen leaves, then spied a sturdy branch beneath a nearby tree. He trotted over and reached out a hand. A viper darted out and sank its fangs into Kalmond’s calf, producing a searing jolt of pain.
The attack by a level four viper did 4200 Damage—a fact revealed by stark, red words above the creature as his HUD melted and his vision faded to black.
Kalmond floated above his dead avatar. “Would you like to respawn in your last known location?” asked ornate calligraphy, carved from ivory and hovering in the void. Face burning at the thought of facing Virgil after that snide remark about not leaving a player somewhere he couldn’t survive, Kalmond barked “yes.” Respawning as a level 1 took all of his XP and most of his resurrection credits. A moment later he was back in the forest empty-handed and wearing nothing but his loincloth. His clothes lay in a rumpled ball nearby, though closer to his spawn point than the tree he’d died under.
“I hate low levels,” Kalmond grumbled, pulling the shirt back on.
This time, he activated his base sneak spell before moving. He crept over to the fallen branch, trusting the dismally weak, level one Rogue spell would let him bypass the viper. His mana bar disappeared as his fingertips touched the branch. The viper darted out again and murdered him swiftly.
Would you like to respawn in your last location?
“Yes!” He was not going to let Virgil have the last laugh on this one, though his last resurrection credit was gone and he now had negative ten XP.
This time, he waited until his breath had steadied and his hands were still. Kalmond eyed the tree, and the subtle disorder of the leaves showed where he’d walked earlier. He crept closer, waiting until he was a few feet away. He activated sneak, gently inching towards the branch, walking tentatively on the balls of his feet. He snatched the branch deftly, then inched away from the little mound of leaves where the viper waited to kill him again. With the branch in hand, he breathed out a shaky puff of air. He’d done it.
As a dwarf, he was better at bashing than cutting. Using the rusty dagger on the viper would probably get him killed again. The branch wasn’t wide, and still had some flex in it, but it would do. Kal stripped off the twiggy ends and used his blade to shave off all the bark. He carved the thicker end of the branch smooth, whittling away until a purple, sparkling XP bubble rose from the stick. For the crafting, Kalmond earned a grand total of 12 experience points.
The dwarf gave the stick a toothy grin because it was now his club. The secret and seemingly ever-changing R9C algorithm probably gave him a good amount of credit towards his crafting skill as well. He’d need to craft a few more items to be sure.
A quick check of the club’s stats showed him it gave his damage rating a slim +1, but his strength meant that +1 increased the effectiveness of his blunt force attacks. “Wait a minute,” Kalmond muttered. “Twelve points for simple level one crafting?” A thrill surged through him as he remembered something from the end of the Realm World War. He thought open his inventory and quickly swiped over to the miscellaneous section. He hadn’t bothered to check there before, but sure enough, there it was. A gold coin inscribed with esoteric Dwarven runes hovered in the air before him. “Token of nobility: +15% XP,” the caption beneath it read.
“Right, fangs. I’m coming to get you. Give to me, the XP I need,” he snickered.
Placing one quiet foot before the other, but leaving his sneak off this time, Kalmond approached the tree. This time, when the viper reared its hissing head, he was ready. A quick swing with the club sent the reptile flying. The attack scored 1056 damage and a critical hit bonus of 406. It wasn’t quite enough, as the viper’s life bar was now two-thirds empty. It launched itself at him, fangs bared. He kicked out with his foot, crying out in a moment of fear, imagining another bite.
“Gah!” Kalmond exclaimed, dancing away from his wounded but still-dangerous prey. He uttered a curse, and without thinking, punched the viper with his left fist as it attempted another weakened strike. The lucky punch did 200 damage and made the serpent’s health bar disappear completely. The viper spasmed as it fell to the ground, then flopped once before Kalmond stomped it under his moccasin and roared in triumph.
Achievement Unlocked: Bare Knuckle Boxer 230 XP, declared a sparkling blue bubble that rose from the dissolving body.
The Viper’s high relative level came with a bonus as Kalmond’s experience bar flashed, then faded, letting him know he’d gained a good chunk of the 400 points he needed to reach level two. His confidence boost was tempered by the memory of two recent deaths, so when a nearby bush rustled, he immediately engaged sneak. A rabbit hopped out, and Kalmond thunked it on the head with his club. Killing the fluffy bunny gave him 20 Experience points.
The crushed ball of fur made Kalmond’s stomach turn. It wasn’t exactly a vicious beast he’d felled, but he needed every point of XP he could get right now. It took fifteen minutes to take out five more fluffy bunnies for a little over 115 XP.
He waged ignoble war against more furry woodland creatures on his quest to reach level 2. The next to fall was a duke rat that came scuttling through the underbrush and sank its teeth into Kalmond’s bare fist during the fight, leaving him reeling with infection damage and only twelve hit points. He gobbled up all the raw meat from the bunnies and the rat to regain his health before seeking out more enemies. Everything tasted like chicken, except the duke rat, which carried the slightly funky overtone of aged cheese.
As the last rat died, a bright light flashed, and he tingled with gooseflesh from head to toe. Somewhere nearby, a gong sounded.
Kalmond the stone dwarf
Level 2
XP5 32
STA 15
STR 13
INT 12
AGI 13
CHA 13
MAN 10
MLVL 149
Hit Points 3319
His stats weren’t exactly epic level, but at least they were going up and after only a few kills. The slim boost in mana would help him hold sneak, at least, but he’d need to use it a lot more to improve it. A quick glance at his experience bar before it flashed away made him smile. He’d forgotten a quirk in the algorithms meant level three was marginally easier to obtain than level two, and he was now only 275 points away.
The level gain instantly replenished his health and mana. Looting bunny pelts and bones should yield a few circs when he was able to trade. Every little bit helped.
“Right,” he said, clutching his makeshift weapon. “Let’s do this.”
Slaughtering two more snakes and a few more duke rats left him tantalizingly short of the next level. A boot jammed down on the head of a lizard gave him one more point. “Are you serious?” He groaned at the sky above. “One point! One more miserable point!” The kills were now closer to his level, so the rewards shrank. How the dynamic quest engine dispensed, precious XP was still a mystery. The algorithm adjusted itself as the player changed in relation to the world. Sometimes, that kind of sucked.
He flipped his map open and calculated the distance to the quest area. A wide circle showed the location the bear would be found. It wasn’t exact, but at least he knew where to look. It was a short distance away, so Kalmond pointed himself in that direction and set off, trusting he’d find a target to push him one level higher before he got there.
The dwarf stomped through the trees, not caring how much
noise he made, startling a colorful bird in an otherwise empty forest. After several minutes of aimless wandering, Kalmond stopped and forced himself to think. His deliberate noise making had the opposite effect. If he wanted to attract a dangerous foe, he was going about it the right way. He wasn’t ready for that yet. What he needed was a level two or three beast, and they tended to be non-aggressive and shy. His grumbling and noise was scaring them away.
Kalmond waited for a few breaths, then activated his sneak. He didn’t care if it took all day, he would finish this quest. As he carefully pushed back a branch, he saw his chance. A fat turkey nestled in the grass ahead. The dwarf held his club at the ready and paused while his mana regenerated, then he cast sneak and stalked the bird like an ungainly housecat that rarely got outside.
Ding! A bell sounded just before he raised his club. Sneak increased to level 2. Kalmond brought the branch down on the turkey’s head with a hollow thock. Bludgeoning the turkey brought 84 experience and some meat. Patience, stealth, and four more turkeys brought him to the next level. With the last kill, the Realm informed him: Achievement: Stealthy stalker. You are more silent.
He examined the meat.
2x turkey breast. Regains 1600 health in 12 seconds.
Then, Dante checked his stats.
Kalmond the stone dwarf
Level 3
XP 704
STA 17
STR 15
INT 14
AGI 15
CHA 15
MAN 12
MLVL 195
Hit Points 4064
A flock of birds shot up into the sky, startled by Kalmond’s yelp of joy. Beyond the level gain, the meat was a great score and would save him from having to sit and wait for his health to regenerate. He slipped it securely in his inventory for later, planning it best to save all his healing items until they were absolutely necessary.
“Finally,” Kalmond exclaimed to the forest, “I’m ready for the bear.”
Voice Chat request: Admin. The notification nearly bonked him in the forehead.
“Or, maybe not,” Kalmond muttered, opening the channel.
Realm of the Nine Circles: The Grind: A LitRPG Novel Page 2
