The Land: Predators

by Aleron Kong

  Damn! Richter thought to himself. He immediately saw himself jumping around a battlefield like an absolute boss! Firing arrows, getting out of danger… He might even be able to do a superhero landing! They weren’t even armor, so he should be able to wear them under his sprite boots. If it wasn’t for that pesky curse thing, he’d snatch them up in a heartbeat. The more he thought about it though… He hated being forced to do anything, let alone jump five hundred times a day. Even with the curse, Hisako could probably remove them, but not being able to take something off… that sucked. Also, he doubted the item self-cleaned. He couldn’t even imagine the foot fungus situation if he sweated in them for a month straight. Nope. Those weren’t for him.

  The Spirit Poison was also interesting, but the most fascinating option of all was the belt. When The Land had only been a game, spell thieves had been one of the most hated and desired players to be around. Casters despised them, but if you had a good one, it could neutralize several enemy magi at once. Best of all, it wasn’t fucking cursed. He made his choice.

  Total Chaos Points: 89

  As soon as he chose, the prompt disappeared and a hole with ragged edges appeared in front of him. It looked out into the roiling, grey void of pure Chaos. Terrod and Randolphus could not bear looking at the rent, but to Richter, it was just a slightly pleasing tableau. The crumbling voice spoke, echoing off the walls of the chamber, “Claim your possession, Chaos Seed.”

  Richter reached in and his hand disappeared as it crossed the plane of the small portal. His questing hand felt metal. Grabbing it, he pulled the Belt of Spell Stealing into his reality. The entire thing was made of interlocking rings of black metal. In front of the belt, there were three clear jewels. It was simple, but not plain. To Richter’s eye, it looked quietly elegant.

  You have found:

  Belt of Spell Stealing

  Durability: 193/193

  Item Class: Unusual

  Quality: Exceptional

  Weight: 1.6 kg

  Traits: Wearing this belt lets you capture cast magic. You must be within twenty-five yards of either the caster, target or path of the spell. Only Novice level spells of the Basic Elements can be stolen. This belt can hold three spells at a time. Each spell may be released once per day and three times total before it is lost to the ether.

  This thing was awesome. It was like his Ring of Spell Storage, but it could be used offensively. Stealing spells from others could be absolutely incredible. It could also give a non-magic caster access to magic for a short time. Someone like Terrod, in fact. He looked at his Companion, who was searching the cavern for any hidden compartments. Richter realized that was probably a fruitless exercise seeing as how the man lacked the Pierce the Veil skill, but even a blind rat could find cheese. Besides, Randolphus was there to help and the Spy was an adept in the skill.

  Richter put the belt in his bag. He would experiment with it later but for now he had a decision to make. Whatever had happened in the past, he was pretty sure the luck potion was working overdrive this time. He hadn’t been planning to spend more points, but if the first stratum had given him the belt, what would the third stratum offer? He had to find out!

  Total Chaos Points: 84

  1st STRATUM OFFERINGS

  Offering

  Chaotic Cost

  Traits

  Recipe: Gilded Lie

  16 points

  Provides a potion recipe that if poured over iron will change it to gold for 1-4 days

  Extra Respawn

  25 points

  Purchasing this will extend your respawns by one. Your respawn time will revert back to the previous length.

  Unknown Skill Book

  32 points

  Provides a skill book that will teach you an unknown skill that you possess an affinity for. Reading this book will advance you to skill level twenty-five.

  Richter blinked. He finally had access to a skill book! He had no idea what kind of skill it would give, but still… a skill book! He had wanted to get his hands on one of these ever since he’d reached journeyman rank in Enchanting. No one could tell him how to make one though. Not Gloran, the other village enchanter, and not even the scribes, Bartle and Bea. Bartle had just told him that while spellbooks were valuable, skill books were much more so. They took much longer to create and the price was normally measured in platinum, not gold. Now that he’d thought about it though, he’d never asked Randolphus. The chamberlain was always doing a million different things at once, and Richter seemed to be fighting for his life every other day. He shrugged. No time like the present.

  “Hey, Randy.” The chamberlain looked up from the back of the cavern. “What can you tell me about skill books? Specifically about how they’re made?”

  “They are extremely valuable items, my lord. Extremely valuable and immensely time-consuming to create. I have only made one in my lifetime and doubt I will make another.”

  “Why?” Richter asked. “I’ve made spellbooks. What’s the difference?”

  “I, too, have created spellbooks with the help of a Scholar, my lord. The time required is miniscule compared to a skill book. The base time to create a spellbook is one day per spell level. A level five spell requires five days to finish.” Richter nodded, he already knew that. “The base time,” Randolphus continued, “to create a skill book increases with each level imparted, however. A level one skill book would only require one day, but a level two book would require three days and a level three, six. A level five skill book would therefore take fifteen days to finish.”

  Richter nodded. It wasn’t a one-to-one ratio like with spellbooks. It was easy to see how skill books could take an insane amount of time to produce. The unknown book would get him to level twenty-five, enough to get him to the first level of the apprentice rank. He started to calculate just how long it would take to make it when Alma interjected.

  *Three hundred and twenty-five days, master,* Richter couldn’t help but hear the smugness in her thoughts.

  “I would have figured it out, Alma!” Richter called out in irritation.

  *Heh,* was the only reply.

  Richter glared at his familiar for a moment, before looking back at Randolphus, “So you just need a high-level Scholar to help you then, right?” There were Talents Bea and Bartle could purchase that increased the speed of making magic books, and every skill level in Scribing increased the creation time by 2%.

  “That is almost always helpful, but just as with spellbooks, someone involved in the process must have the Enchanting skill. There is more that you do not know, however. The skill books require even longer to create as you reach higher ranks. While each novice skill level requires a number of days equal to itself, level eight adding eight days and level nine adding nine, initiate skill levels increase the gap by two. Put another way, the tenth skill level adds eleven days and the eleventh adds thirteen. This increases with each rank from apprentice to journeyman until each master level increases the time requirement by six days.”

  Richter tried to wrap his head around that and do some calculations. He did take a second to tell Alma that she’d been flat wrong about her calculations. There was more than a little snark in it. After a minute, he just grunted. It was math he couldn’t do in his head. Which in turn, naturally and understandably, made him angry, “There isn’t any way to shorten that amount of time?”

  “There is, my lord. In addition to working with a high-level Scribe, each rank that you achieve in the skill you are imparting increases the speed that you can create the book. Someone that reaches initiate rank in Small Blades for instance, can make a skill book twice as fast as a novice. Reaching the rank of journeyman gives a speed boost of 300% and a master can create a skill book six times as fast. That is one of the primary reasons that only masters and adepts take the time to create skill books. Even so, it can be the work of months or years. They also cannot be copied or replicated by Scribes, unlike spellbooks. This is yet another reason why they are so expensive. Finally,
even if the skill book is successfully created, it is worthless to anyone who lacks the proper affinity.”

  “What happens if someone without the required affinity reads the book?” Richter asked curious.

  “If they have less than a 50% affinity in the skill, they would not even be able to use the skill book. If they possess middling aptitude, then they would advance in the skill until their affinity reached 50%. The skill book would still be destroyed and the knowledge of the higher levels would be lost forever.” Randolphus stopped searching the chamber and looked at Richter, “Why do you ask, my lord?”

  “I’ve got a decision to make,” Richer answered absently. He turned his attention back to the grey table hovering in his vision. From when it had appeared, he only had seven minutes before it disappeared, and with it, the opportunity to purchase these items. On the one hand, the skill he got might be total crap. On the other, it would still be a new skill. Also, he’d get the experience from reaching skill levels ten and twenty, even if it was a skill like Knitting. It wasn’t really a decision either, he realized. The southern gambler in him just had to know! He bought the skill book.

  Total Chaos Points: 52

  The voice intoned again, sounding gravelly this time, and another hole in reality appeared. Richter reached through and grabbed his prize. Pulling it through the rent, he saw that the book was about two inches thick. It was bound with some type of black hide and had a soft, almost furry, feel. A symbol was engraved upon it. Most people probably would not be able read it. Hell, according to Randolphus, most people in The Land couldn’t read anything. Richter recognized it as tvrish though, also known as “Old Common” by the people of the River Peninsula. His Gift of Tongues ability was not as immediately impressive as Limitless, but it had saved his life more than once. Here it let him know that the symbol communicated two words: “Unconventional Materials.”

  You have found:

  Skill Book of Unconventional Materials

  Durability: 18/18

  Item Class: Scarce

  Quality: Exquisite

  Weight: 0.8 kg

  Traits: This book was created by the orc Master Tinker, Bjurstrom. His ability to create bizarre items with the most unexpected of materials brought him much fame. Unfortunately, his penchant for adding decorative phalluses to his rings, necklaces and belts also drove away many patrons. Despite this, his creativity has made him remembered throughout the centuries, even more so as the orc race rarely produces crafters. Scholars often wonder what masterpieces he could have produced if his life had not been cut short by an ill-advised liaison with an ogre “maiden.”

  Reading this book will instill you with knowledge of the subskill Unconventional Materials. This skill enables you to use materials that could not normally be combined to create magical items. These unconventional combinations can also create new and unexpected effects. You will immediately gain twenty-five skill levels and be granted the rank of Apprentice. As this is a subskill of Crafting, the primary skill will also be advanced to Apprentice rank as well.

  Whaaaaattttt? This book was amazing! Totally worth the Chaos Points he’d spent. It not only increased a skill that he had wanted to explore for a long time, Crafting, but it also gave him a subskill that let him experiment and try new combinations of materials. When he had played the VR version of The Land, good crafters were worth almost their weight in emeralds. Many players learned to make a low-level Ring of Health or a Necklace of Weak Stealth.

  Those were basic enchanted items that, though useful, were also kind of a-dime-a-dozen. Only a few players had learned to make unique and truly wondrous items. That was because Crafting had been both an elusive art and an exacting science. To make even a low-level Ring of Stamina, specific materials had to be combined in a specific sequence. Varying even a small amount would negate the enchantment. To make matters worse, creating a stronger Ring of Stamina didn’t require just more of the same. You might have to use a completely different process or entirely different materials. That was where the “art” came in.

  The most powerful items typically were crafted with components gleaned from slain monsters or discovered relics. Of course, there was no manual for unique items, and people had spent countless hours combing wikis to no avail. Somehow certain players just had the knack of it and could make miracles happen. All the people who made such items ever said was that they had just “felt” certain materials could be combined in certain ways. Though there were countless differences between the game he had played and the reality of The Land, apparently this facet remained true.

  From speaking to the few villagers with the Crafting skill, he had learned that the specific set of steps and materials needed to make magic items were called Templates. They served the same purpose as building Blueprints or weapon Schematics. Like all knowledge in The Land, the designs were jealously guarded and expensive in the extreme. Life in the Mist Village had many perks, but access to top-tier merchandise like that wasn’t one of them. This had been the primary reason that he hadn’t been able to advance his Crafting skill. As a Specialist Enchanter, it was infuriating. If he understood the book’s description correctly though, he would be able to successfully make his own new Templates. Thank you, Potion of Luck!

  Richter cracked the spine. A beam of light shot from both the left and right sides of the book, bathing his face in light.

  Do you wish to absorb the knowledge of the Skill Book of Unconventional Materials? Yes or No?

  With great anticipation, Richter selected “Yes.” His heart started beating faster and his pupils widened. He knew!

  When he learned spells from a book, the sensation was that of the knowledge flowing into him. He received a sequence of facts and the ability to apply them. That was a pale shadow of this experience. Richter’s consciousness poured into the book itself. He watched as Bjurstrom initially learned the subskill. No, while the orc invented the subskill. The chaos seed stood silent witness as the orc was first ridiculed, then beaten, by the other members of his tribe. That derision turned to grudging respect as the orc made items that gave his people an edge in battle. As his skills progressed further, that silent respect turned to cheers of esteem and veneration. Richter learned as Bjurstrom learned. He watched over his shoulder, and occasionally it seemed that the orc spoke to him, explaining both successes and failures. At times he even was the orc, a sensation that was interesting, but also unsettling.

  When the experience ended, it was clear that the orc was only beginning to scratch the surface of his skills and experiences. Richter was left with skill experience sufficient to make him an apprentice. As his consciousness flowed out of the book and back into his body, he became aware that someone was shouting his name.

  “Richter!”

  “As I told you, sprite Sion, the connection cannot be broken once begun. Now that the book is crumbling, he will quickly come back to himself.”

  “I heard you before,” Sion snapped at Randolphus. “I just want this gyoti to know how damn dumb he is!”

  “What?” Richter asked confused. He felt like he’d taken the deepest nap of his life. He was groggy, but also well rested. “Why are you shouting, Sion?”

  “Why? Why?” his friend asked, his voice rising even higher with each word. “That is why!” the sprite pointed behind him.

  Richter looked and was shocked to see ten jenit prowler and seven koran tusker bodies piled near the entrance to the cavern. He was sure the prowlers hadn’t been there before, and unless Richter was wrong, there hadn’t been any tuskers lying in that particular spot either.

  “How?” the chaos seed asked.

  “You’ve been staring into the goblin-cursed book for the past two hours… asshole!” Sion’s familiarity with the swears Richter had taught him was really improving.

  “Two hours?” Richter repeated. His head still felt a bit foggy. He could remember living through so many experiences with Bjurstrom, but now, it felt like it had all passed in an instant. “Are you sure?” he
asked.

  Sion face adopted the most incredulous expression imaginable. Turning to Terrod he asked, “Did he really just ask me if I’m sure? Am I sure?” The last three words were clipped and spread out. They were further punctuated by him leaning close to Richter’s face. His final words were said with all the dismissive power of a teenage girl asked about her day, “Just die.”

  The sprite took a deep breath and controlled himself. Even he thought that was a bit mean, but he still wasn’t going to let Richter fully off the hook, “Yes, I’m sure. Terrod and Randolphus have been protecting you from any Dungeon creature that wanted to eat your helpless gyoti ass for most of the last two hours. I’ve been helping them since I returned about fifteen minutes ago. You’ve just been staring into that book with that light shining on your face, and not even shaking you would snap you out of it.”

  “A fact which I told him, my lord, though he felt the need to test the theory himself. Several times in fact,” Randolphus added dryly. “Along with his “slap him back to reality” hypothesis.”

  That explained why his cheek was stinging a bit. Richter looked at Sion who just shrugged, unapologetic, and still belligerent. The chaos seed took a beat, and thought about it. He did owe his friends for protecting him, “Well, I apologize. I didn’t know that would happen.”

  “Did you ask?” Sion put to him, clearly already knowing the answer.

  “Well… no,” Richter replied.

  “What have we said about pushing magical buttons or using magical items when you don’t know what they do?” Sion said in a lecturing tone.

  Richter was about to protest that he was not, in fact, a child, when the sprite continued, “Or have you forgotten about plunging Yoshi, Daniella and me into a pit filled with eaters? Or the time after that when you picked a fight with a rock giant? Or that time after that when you used a demon’s soul to grow the crystal garden and almost got us all killed?”