Two trolls and a human adventurer reached the mouth of the trail. They hammered down the path after Kalmond, whose defiant smile faded. There should have been an explosion. Just when he was about to turn and run, the bombs went off, sending all four slamming into the midnight dirt face first. Two of the trolls were on fire when Kalmond’s axe took off both their heads as they tried to stand.
Killing the two trolls gave the human warrior time to pick himself up and come at Kalmond with a bastard sword. The dwarf blocked the first attack but was unprepared for the strength displayed by the swiftness of a reverse swing that crippled his right arm. But the warrior must have been equally surprised when Kalmond transferred the two-handed axe to his left hand and scored a solid hit to the human’s chest.
With his opponent off balance, and the Kalmond short the use of an arm, the Bear Dwarf decided to make a strategic retreat. He beat feet down the trail a few paces while he slung his axe across his back. When he was satisfied with the distance, Kalmond whirled and used his level two water jet spell with great effect.
Instead of a stream of water, a cannonball of liquid burst from the dwarf’s palm. The ball caught the human in the gut and sent him flying back several paces. For good measure, Kalmond hit him again with the spell, using the last of his mana. With the human still on his back, Kalmond did a one-handed plant of his axe to the chest for the kill, scoring 138 experience points that tipped over into the next level.
A flash of light announced level 13:
Kalmond the stone dwarf
Level 13
XP 14028
STA 32
STR 30
INT 29
AGI 30
CHA 30
MAN 27
MLVL 674
Hit Points 11309
He disappeared back into the woods just as the flames died down enough for the raiders to leave camp. Kalmond stopped when the footsteps grew closest. The big ogre came last, barking orders at the trolls. The dwarf didn’t have enough mana for a sneak spell, so he crouched down and held his breath, watching from the underbrush. Nobody bothered to check the woods.
When the pounding footsteps faded, he snuck back to the site of his first kill. He crawled through the tent and made sure to loot the corpse of 235 circs, a chainmail shirt and a spiked mace enchanted with low-level fire bonus.
He left the tent slowly, head on a swivel, looking out for stragglers. It appeared he was alone, but he kept his axe ready in one hand and the water spell in the other while he crossed the camp to loot the body of the elf he’d skewered with the crossbow. But on the way there, he paused by the fire where the ogre sat brooding before the attack. From his vantage point in the woods, Kalmond couldn’t see that the ogre’s seat was large treasure chest.
The grin almost broke his face. Chests like this always contained the best loot. This one was locked, another leading indicator of good things within. Kalmond broke out his lock picking tools and set to work. The lock did not yield readily, and when it did, Kalmond lifted the lid with trembling hands.
The treasure chest did not disappoint. Two spellbooks sat atop a sack of circs atop armored mage robes. Something else was beneath the robes. He took a moment to examine the circ sack and found 1000 coins. The thief added the spellbooks to his inventory without examining them. He did the same with the mages robes. Removing the clothing revealed something at the bottom of the chest that took his breath away.
A two-handed, spiven steel axe took up the entire length of the chest. Kalmond picked it up like a new father picking up his child. Arcane script scrolled along the handle, from the broad, double-bladed head to the long taper of the spiked butt. The weapon was forged from a single piece of steel.
Examination revealed that the axe had a name: cloudsplitter. The weapon did +9 damage and had three enchantment slots. One slot was taken with a 10% chance of doing lightning damage. The other slot gave a +3 block ability, and the third slot was empty. It’s circ value was 1500 coins, but Kalmond knew a weapon like this was a keeper. He would not be selling this one, especially since he had a speed enchantment scroll for it and he could use it with a single hand.
How long had he been admiring the weapon, he did not know. He was only aware of voices drifting through the woods and coming closer.
“Damn,” Kalmond said, snapping out of his trance. He rushed over to his other kill and did a quick looting. The score felt hardly worth the trouble after raiding the chest, but adding 150 more circs, a +3 short sword and a gold ring enchanted with +2 mana was not trivial. He put on the ring immediately.
The dwarf slipped back into the woods as the ogre lumbered into camp. Kalmond scaled the tallest nearby tree to witness the scene. With the bonus of the ring and the tunic, Kalmond was able to hold sneak a long time while he sat in the tree suppressing laughter. The ogre stopped short as soon as he laid eyes on his treasure chest sitting by the campfire with the lid up. He turned in a slow circle and Kalmond could see, even from a distance, how the ogre trembled with rage.
The scream of rage was much higher than Kalmond would have thought for a creature of that size. The dwarf stifled a belly laugh until the ogre pulled out locks of his own hair with both fists, then turned to the nearest troll and ripped it cleanly in two like an envelope containing junk mail.
“Holy shit,” Kalmond said aloud in spite of himself. The ogre turned towards Kalmond, and he retreated hastily. He felt it only by luck that he wasn’t spotted. It seemed the ogre had grown more powerful. The troll-ripping move was flat-out disturbing. Kalmond headed in the general direction of Dundree using sneak spells until he was more than certain he had attained a safe distance.
Chapter 14
By the time Kalmond made it back to Dundree, it was well past midnight. His limbs hung heavy as he tromped down the hill towards town. A quick check of his stats showed minus signs beside all his key stats.
“Time for the potion,” Kalmond said, removing the sleep replacer from his inventory. He took the potion in three large gulps. At first, it tasted tangy, but by the third gulp, it tasted like chugging straight tobasco sauce with a shot of pepper spray.
He smashed the bottle on the ground and blinked away tears. Putting fingers to his face confirmed that his head hadn’t swollen up like a balloon, it merely felt that way. The starlight seemed much brighter for a moment, then the sensations faded. His stats were back up where they belonged, and he felt strong again.
“Halt!” a voice called out, produced by a shadowy figure atop the palisade wall. “Who goes there!”
Kalmond couldn’t read the tag above the adventurer’s head, but he had his suspicions. “Is that Runecaster or McCrushin?” he asked as he neared.
“Oh, hey Kalmond. Yeah, me, McCrushin.” said the guard.
“Who put you on guard duty?” Kalmond called as the large wooden gates, made from thick logs, parted.
“Nobody. I just got these guard towers built,” he said proudly as he jumped from the tower to the ground. Kalmond staggered back several paces.
“Sorry,” the ogre said. “I have a couple jump attack bonuses.”
“That’s cool,” Kalmond grinned. “An ogre who climbs trees and attacks like a leopard.”
“Yeah,” McCrushin said. His voice smiled where his avatar could not. “Man, that immersion technology is so cool. It’s all anyone can talk about on the internet. Plexcorp keeps saying it’s coming in the next six months.”
Kalmond played it off, but that was news to him. “It’s a great experience,” he replied.
“Are they going to tune it down for people without the harness? It seems to give you tons of advantage. You have moves that aren’t in the key combinations, and you’re tons faster.”
“Yeah, they probably will,” Kalmond replied. “But I need the advantage. My reputation has put a bounty on my head.”
“Well,” McCrushin said, leaning on his bone club. “I hope you’re not a player killer because PKs are lame.”
“Only when I need to be,” Kalmond said
. “I’m only fighting the new monsters to...ah...test them out. I got jacked by three bounty hunters when I was level nine. They were all level twelve and higher. I almost died.”
“You don’t have to justify to me, bro,” McCrushin replied. “You seem like a cool dude.”
“Thanks,” Kalmond said. “You too.”
“Even if you are a thief,” the ogre said.
Kalmond chuckled over the open voice channel. “Where’s Runecaster?” he asked.
“She just built a portal to Darkwell. She’s up there trading,” the ogre replied.
Kalmond was impressed. “I really needed a portal. I just can’t seem to earn enough teleport credits. It’s hard to get them and focus on leveling up.”
“Why don’t you take some time to explore, then you’ll get more credits. What, are you a noob?” the ogre asked.
Kalmond took a second to shake off the ribbing. He understood it was a sign of friendship, but he wasn’t in the mood. “Nah, I’m on a deadline to level up for this other quest chain I have.”
“Let me guess,” McCrushin said. “It’s another beta thing you can’t talk about.” Kalmond just grinned in response. “The animation of your character is so real,” McCrushin said. “I’ll be first in line for pre-order when they make that announcement.” The ogre walked away and said, “See ya.”
Kalmond headed to Urseon’s the cave. He hoped Urseon wasn’t in there, but he was. He had crawled into the deepest part of the cave and lay there in the half light with his arms over his head.
“You hiding out?” Kalmond said, sitting beside him.
“I am useless,” Urseon said. When he lifted his head, Kalmond jumped back. Urseon’s face was somewhere between bear andhuman. When he sat up, Kalmond noticed his arms were less furry, and his chest was nearly bald.
“Well,” Kalmond said. “We should get you some clothes. Also, you are not useless.”
“I ran,” Urseon said, and his voice grew less growly and took on human tones.
“Call it a strategic retreat,” Kalmond said. “When the time comes, you will be ready. I know it in my bones. The town doesn’t think you are useless. You are a symbol to them and a blessing from the wood spirits. Look,” Kalmond pointed to a pot of honey and a plate of fruit outside. “They left you food.”
“Food?” Urseon said, absently placing a hand on his furry pot belly.
“Yeah, you remember food?” Come on out and eat.
As soon as the bear stepped outside, a little girl came from nowhere and attached herself to his leg.
“Sarette!” Urseon scolded gently. “Why are you not asleep in your bed?”
“I was waiting for you to come out,” she said, beaming up at the big man/bear.
“Your parents will be angry,” he said, taking her hand. He moved to lead her away, but she pulled at his arm.
“But I left you food,” Sarette said.
“Food? After we eat, then,” Urseon replied, and his rumbling belly had the last word.
Sarette picked up a piece of fruit and tossed it high in the air. Urseon pointed his long face to the stars and opened his mouth while walking backward. He gave a little jump to scarf the morsel from the air, then took a bow while the girl shrieked and clapped her hands. More fruit flew through the air, and Urseon caught it all between gales of Sarette’s laughter. When the two settled down and got into the honey, Kalmond decided he’d seen enough.
He walked away carrying his deep grin towards Molly’s house. An incoming chat icon blinked in the corner of his eye. Admin, flashed along with the icon.
“What’s up?” Kalmond asked, opening the voice channel.
“Everything,” Martin replied in a weary voice.
“What time is it there?” Kalmond asked.
“It’s 2 am,” Martin replied. “What level are you?”
Kalmond did not like the sound of that. “Level thirteen, why do you ask?”
“Because whatever is going on with Gideon and Virgil is spreading out,” Martin said.
“What do you mean ‘spreading out?’” Kalmond asked.
“Ever spill a mop bucket on a floor you’re trying to clean?” Martin asked.
“No, but I get the picture,” Kalmond replied.
“Najeel and I have been up for two days now just trying to keep up with the growth of R9C. The Realm engine is taking over the whole company. People in virtual meeting spaces are talking with troll avatars instead of their remote colleagues. The board is asking questions. Fucking congress is starting to get nosy. Plexcorp tech runs half the Pentagon.”
“Wow,” Kalmond said. “That’s major.”
“Yeah,” Martin continued. “The Realm is rebuilding itself. Whatever’s going on with the towns seems to be at the root of this.”
“Towns?” Kalmond asked. “You mean Dundree and Darkwell?”
“Yeah, whatever,” Martin replied. “I know them by their unique identifiers. Universal Unique Identifiers are not supposed to create themselves. The realm wasn’t designed that way. The coders are freaking out, and Holly and I had to come up with some very convincing lies to explain it. The realm is generating thousands of new UUIDs for the new circle, everything from plants, to clouds to NPCs. It took an order from the fake Gideon to stop the devs from asking questions. The game writing itself has turned every coder into debuggers. They’re not happy about it.”
“That explains a lot about what I see,” Kalmond replied.
“Virgil keeps talking about ‘balance’ and the ‘Bear Dwarf shaping the new circle with his deeds’ and shit like that. He sounds insane,” Martin said.
“I think I get it,” Kalmond said. “The game is reacting to what I do with the towns. I’m not sure how, exactly. Or why.”
“Just keep doing what you’re doing,” Martin replied. “Every quest you do adds more code, though. Just don’t fuck this up.”
“Wow,” Kalmond said. “Thanks.”
“Be careful, Dante,” Martin said.
“Who’s Dante,” Kalmond replied.
“Not funny,” Martin said.
Kalmond paused. The fact that he was not joking scared him for a moment. He had to tell himself repeatedly that he was not a dwarf. But wasn’t he? Couldn’t he be both? He shook off the thought. “OK. I gotta get back to work.” Kalmond signed off.
Work, Kalmond thought. He was rapidly heading into day six, and he was only at level thirteen. He had no idea how long he could go without sleep, and he was out of ingredients to make the rejuvenation potion. That meant he’d have to make a run up to Darwell for the kindlebloom and search for the other ingredients. At least there was a portal in place now.
He found Runecaster’s portal conveniently located between the Alchemist’s shop and Arnold’s place. He stepped through and zapped immediately to the town square of Darkwell, forgetting all about visiting Matriarch.
The street was quiet. Not even a candle lit the windows. Movement caught his eye, and he whirled with axe in hand.
“Easy,” Runecaster said, holding up her hands.
“Sorry,” Kalmond said, slinging his axe across his back again. “Thanks for the portal.”
“No problem,” Runecaster replied. “This is a great town. Driskroll is pretty cool, too. We’re making circs for each other.”
“He’s always good like that,” Kalmond said. “Is he around?”
“Nah, he’s on Greenwich time. I’m West Coast US, and it’s getting late for me, so…”
“OK,” Kalmond said. “Got time for a trade?”
Kalmond sold her the spiked mace in exchange for two health potions. He used his new riches in circs to buy two mana potions from her as well. She had ten blue swamp flowers that cost Kalmond twenty circs, and all the trading earned him 30 XP. They parted ways, and she promised to come back in a few hours. Kalmond almost forgot that normal people were heading into the weekend. He hoped she would come back. He needed more friendlies on his side in case the ogre came back with more trolls.
He
made his way through the village and into the thick woods full of tall trees. Here and there, green pools of light spilled across the forest floor from fan fungus clinging to tree trunks. Shadowy animals rustled through the treetops as he passed. He wasn’t careful and stealthy, but hurrying in a random search pattern to find the kindlebloom. He found a basilisk instead.
It attacked talons first, scoring a few points of damage. Kalmond’s fist caught it in it’s rooster beak, sending it spinning away, clawed and feathered wings swinging wildly. As it spun, the spiked tail caught him in the ribs and dug in, sending a fiery wave across his left side. Kalmond hated basilisks. Every part of them seemed to have some form of attack.
The creature rounded for another attack, but Kalmond was ready with his axe. He used it two-handed this time, scoring a critical hit to its neck and taking half its hitpoints in the process. Pressing the attack cost him more damage, but he finished the beast with a counter swing that removed its head clean and scored 144 XP.
From the body, he recovered basilisk feathers, a gold necklace, and another spell book. The spell book contained a level two shield enchantment. That would make an excellent addition to the cloudsplitter axe for the third slot. Using the shield enchantment with the already-existing block bonus, the axe would be better than a shield. He’d rather have that then speed.
He used the level two detection spell, selecting kindlebloom as his search item, then holding the spell until his mana was nearly depleted before he found a stand. He scored six more flowers for 12 XP. The dwarf wandered the forest, pressing further north and the land rose and became studded with large, round broken boulders. He managed to find a dozen more kindlebloom along the way.
Another basilisk jumped out from a split boulder, and its claws aimed dead-on for his chest. Kalmond blocked it with the cloudsplitter, then used the spiked axe butt to stab the creature in its long, feathered neck. It screamed, spraying blood, and as it rounded for another attack, the dwarf removed its head with a spinning chop for another double-critical that earned him another 158 XP. As he looted the body for fifty circs, more basilisk feathers and four precious gems, another of its kind jumped out from the same boulder.
Realm of the Nine Circles: The Grind: A LitRPG Novel Page 17
