The bandits get their bowls filled and then congregate around their campfires. One of the soldiers shouts out, “Ugh, what’d you do to the stew tonight, Cookie? Try to kill it?”
“Piss off!” someone, presumably Cookie, calls back.
“Seriously, Cookie. This ain’t up to your usual fare.”
“Well, it’s all we got, so eat up. Can’t be blaming the cook when you lot bring me gamey, half-rotted meat.”
The men go back to their meals. They still grumble, but they eat. I wait.
It doesn’t take long. Within half an hour of Cookie ringing that triangle, the first casualty finds his way into the woods. Within an hour the entire camp is deep in the throes of some epic diarrhea.
Congratulations! You’ve earned an achievement: Say My Name
Congratulations! You’ve earned +5 Bardic credit. You’ve done something worth singing about. Notice: Bardic credit is non-transferrable. Once you have earned 100 Bardic credit, your story will be submitted to the bardic guild and a song will be commissioned on your behalf, telling of your adventures as a hero in the land.
Awesome. So far my bardic song probably has a stanza in it about me getting killed by a dude with a fishing pole and a stanza about me giving a camp an epic case of diarrhea. Righteous. The only thing that could make it better is for me to be a KISA.
I keep my eyes on Kawata. The fearless leader takes to the woods like all the others and then retreats to his tent.
That makes it way too easy.
I cast shadow cloak and slip in through the back tent flap. I come up behind the man and, with the help of my lethal daggers, I slit his throat. He tries to retaliate, but by the time he realizes I’m on him, it’s too late. He fights me, but between my poison sapping away at his strength over time, my ability to dance away from his listless attempts to hit me, and the keenness of my beautiful daggers, it’s not long before his life bar is drained.
I get the guy’s bandana and then decide I might as well make short work of the camp, since everyone is a bit indisposed. I get a lot of practice with my shadow cloaking and get real familiar with my daggers.
+28
+43
+37
+36
+29
+33 ...
I make sure to catch the soldiers off guard, while they’re squatting and otherwise not paying attention to me. It’s a horrible way to die, but I know it won’t last forever. I make a game of it. How fast can I take out the camp? I rifle through their bags while they’re in between spawns and add a princely little sum to my now-bulging gold pouch.
After a third respawn, when the soldiers start respawning again I stay cloaked in shadows and make my round of the camp looking for easy loot, maybe a bit of treasure. I wouldn’t mind actually having enough money to gear up a bit. No one seems the wiser. I consider killing all of them again for more experience, but I’m not feeling all that bloodthirsty anymore. Besides, I want to see what Billy has in store for me next.
I skirt by the prison wagon as I head back to Billy. “Hey,” I whisper. “Why are you all here? Why are they taking you? Where?”
The women look around, but don’t see me.
“I’m hidden, but I’m no friend of your captor’s. Tell me. What’s going on?”
“We were caught trying to cross the border without official leave,” one of the younger girls says. “We just wanted a chance to have a family.”
“Where will they take you?”
“Not sure. But likely to the Queen to face her punishment.”
“Which is?”
“Likely imprisonment until we’re too old to breed. Chambermaids, cooks, and the like will be our lot.”
“But not today,” I say.
Then I get to work on the lock.
I smile to myself on the way back to the village. It’s nice to have done a good deed. But, damn, it’s a long run. Billy’s still sitting at that same table I left him at. I guess he likes it there.
I drop the bandana on the table in front of him and announce, “Mission accomplished.”
Billy picks up the bandana, looks at it with distaste, and then a grin spreads wide over his face.
There Can Be Only One Quest Complete!
Congratulations! You have received
2 silver pieces, and 1,500 Experience
A rush takes over my whole body and I stand there for a very long moment, throbbing with power. I feel amazing. I can almost hear trumpets.
Congratulations! You have reached Level Seven!
Warning: You have five minutes to distribute two talent points.
Congratulations! You have reached Level Eight!
Warning: You have five minutes to distribute two talent points.
Congratulations! You have learned a new combat skill: Fangstrike.
No wonder I felt so good. Two levels at once.
“It’s growing dark,” Billy says. “The night is young, but you should get some rest. I’ve procured a room for you here. Make use of it for a few hours and then come see me again.”
I’m familiar with this protocol. After a certain amount of in-game time, the system encourages the avatar to go dormant so that it can do a resting body scan of the participant back in at the VR World headquarters. There was something about the brain needing a break from constant stimulus. A little alone time sounds great right now, anyway. I keep focused long enough to distribute my talent points, and then I find the innkeeper, a rotund and cheerful gnome, who shows me to my room.
I close the door, flop onto the bed, and thoughts of Catriona’s shapely body fill my mind. Then I fall to sleep wondering if I could dream in a sleep that I was already dreaming.
LEVEL 8 CHARACTER STATS
NAME Leeroy Jenkinz, CLASS Rogue, RACE Human EXPERIENCE (EXP)—5,356/3,900
Next level achieved at 6,300 experience points.
CORE ATTRIBUTES
7 + 8 (modifiers) AGILITY (AGI) = +15% to dodge and critical hit
1 SPELLPOWER (SP) = 10 spell points
4 FORTITUDE (FORT) = 40 health points
7 POWER (PWR) = +7% damage
ARMOR/ENHANCEMENTS
Chest—black leather vest
Legs—black leather pants
Feet—black leather boots
Rings—+1 AGI Ring of Dodge
WEAPONS
+1 AGI/level Dual Wield Heirloom Daggers
SKILLS
Stick’em
Slash
Slippery Fish
Shadow Cloak
Fangstrike—an unleashing move that releases a fast-acting poison from a syringe doing 100% of your normal damage points multiplied by the number of rage points accumulated, up to 500% damage per unleashing move.
PROFESSIONS
Poisoncrafting
Woodlore
Mixology
ACHIEVEMENTS
Say my name!
They just don’t want to share the hedge.
Phew, Level Five already?
It was this big!
You’ve arrived!
Bardic Credit: 5
Chapter 11
When I wake up, I can see starlight glistening through the room’s single small window. I walk to it and see the bright white light of a full moon. It’s almost like dawn outside it’s so bright. It’s a rogue’s time to play.
I clean up a bit and make my way back down to the inn’s great room. Billy the Dodger is right where I left him. I stop at the bar and order a meal and some ale, then head over to where he’s sitting.
“The hero returns,” he says when I approach.
“At your service,” I say. “Do you have anything that needs doing?”
“Not just yet. I need you to practice what you’ve learned. Get stronger. Here, I’ve made some more poison for you. Go explore. Rid the forest of some of its dangers. Return to me when you have enough experience to reach level ten.”
Quest offered: Grow up already
Accumulate enough experience to reach level ten. Re
turn to Billy the Dodger when you’ve done this.
Reward: Special.
Do you accept?
“I accept.”
The barmaid brings my steaming hot food—a big slab of roasted meat and vegetables with biscuits with gravy—and I tuck in. I eat as fast as I can. I’m almost halfway to my goal of level twenty. Maybe I’ll be able to plow through all of this by tomorrow sometime. Catriona is waiting.
I stand up to leave and see some familiar faces coming down the stairs. “luvs2heal! Turtle!” I shout across the room. I’m surprised at how happy I am to see them. It’s like they’re old friends already, though we haven’t been parted all that long in truth, nor do we really know each other at all. That’s the nature of gaming, though. You make fast friends and you stick together through thick and thin. You accept each other for who you are, because it’s usually life and death that come first. You help each other survive, and then you find out who each other is, warts and all. And you learn that it’s okay if your friends think differently than you do, or if they’re incredibly inept around women, or if they can’t talk without cursing. You still love them. Because they would die for you.
“Whassup?” I say. Because that’s enough among friends.
“Not much, not much,” Turtle says. “Another day another quest.”
“This is the life, eh?” I realize I’m unabashedly happy, and that I haven’t felt this way in too long.
“It’s pretty sweet,” luvs2heal says. She shoots Turtle a look I can’t quite read. “So, we’re off to do some dragon slaying.”
I laugh. “Seriously? They don’t mess around with you.”
She shrugs. “We’re KISAs. It’s what we do.” She hooks arms possessively with Turtle. I guess she’s found a new target for her affections. That’s cool. That’s preferred, actually. Catriona is waiting for me.
“Have fun killing the dragon, then.” I guess I’m alone. No problem. That will be fun too. I head out northwest of town. I haven’t been that way yet and I might as well go exploring while I’m at it.
I spend the next few hours with an eye on my quest pane. It has a bar that slowly fills up as I approach my experience goal.
I stealth my way through the forest until I come upon some rather large droppings. I follow them, and come upon a den of bears in the moonlight. The breeze lightly rustles through the trees. I shadow cloak in and sneak attack a bunch of the mangy bears. They wake up slowly, and I easily get the jump on them.
Having wiped out that clan a few times, I get tired of waiting for them to respawn, so I venture further into the forest and come upon a herd of deer. The stag is an absolute beaut in the moonlight. Big ol’ gray muzzled fellow with an impressive rack. I take him out first.
After that, the does go down easily. My knife slides in and out so fast I can barely track it. The does are panicked, and they kick back at me, but I dodge their hooves without thinking about it.
I don’t really like killing Bambi, though, so I move on after I wipe the herd out the first time.
I find a fluttering herd of giant butterflies and I take one down, but it yields almost no experience so I move along.
I stalk through the woods until I come upon a cliff’s edge overlooking a fast flowing river. There are simple wood and straw huts along the shore. I move with caution at first, until I can assure myself there’s no vengeful badass wielding a fishing pole. Instead, there are a bunch of smelly river goblins. They mutter and chuckle amongst themselves. I have to pick them off carefully, because they look like the kind of critters that will gang up on me and murder me with a thousand tiny pinpricks of their little bamboo fishing spears.
It’s peaceful here. The moonlight is so pretty glinting off the river’s choppy surface. The little goblins are buggers to kill, and their annoying gurgling death yell brings the next one on me before I can get a breath in between, but each kill gives my experience bar a satisfying jump and these guys are hoarders! With just a few rounds of the camp, my bag is brimming with items worth selling. I’ll be able to gear up soon.
I make one more round of the camp and decide it’s time to head back to the inn. I take out a few more bears and some big cats on the way back. Their fur is so sleek it feels like a sacrilege to just leave them there to disintegrate. I wish I knew how to skin a beast, but I’m sure I can learn it. And when I do, this same cat will be here waiting for me.
My experience bar fills up and I hightail it for the inn. Halfway there! Yes!
Once I find Billy, he stands up and shakes my hand and my vision fills with message after message.
Grow Up Already Quest Complete!
Congratulations! You have received
Spiritual Armor (breast plate) +3 INT
Congratulations! You have reached Level Nine!
Warning: You have five minutes to distribute two talent points.
Congratulations! You have reached Level Ten!
Warning: You have five minutes to distribute two talent points.
Congratulations! You have unlocked an achievement. Level Ten!
Congratulations! You have unlocked an achievement. Winner! Winner! Chicken Dinner! You went from level one to level ten in the fastest recorded time. Well done.
Congratulations! You’ve earned +5 Bardic credit. You’ve done something worth singing about. Notice: Bardic credit is non-transferrable. Once you have earned 100 Bardic credit, your story will be submitted to the bardic guild and a song will be commissioned on your behalf, telling of your adventures as a hero in the land.
I am absolutely pulsing with energy. This feels great. Of course, the breast plate is of absolutely no use to me, so it goes in the sell pile. Not only does it amp up spell power, which is totally useless to me, it’s plate, which is too heavy for me to move around in.
“Listen, I’ll be right back,” I tell Billy. Like he cares how long I’m gone for. I dash up to my room, distribute the talent points from the levels I’ve earned, unload the extras from my pack and stash them under the bed to make more room in my pack for loot, and then I head back downstairs. I’m ready for the next quest.
LEVEL 10 CHARACTER STATS
NAME Leeroy Jenkinz, CLASS Rogue, RACE Human EXPERIENCE (EXP)—10,400/10,200
Next level achieved at 16,500 experience points.
CORE ATTRIBUTES
8 + 10 (modifiers) AGILITY (AGI) = +18% to dodge and critical hit
1 SPELLPOWER (SP) = 10 spell points
6 FORTITUDE (FORT) = 60 health points
8 POWER (PWR) = +80 damage
ARMOR/ENHANCEMENTS
Chest—black leather vest
Legs—black leather pants
Feet—black leather boots
Rings—+1 AGI Ring of Dodge
WEAPONS
+1 AGI/level Dual Wield Heirloom Daggers
SKILLS
Stick’em
Slash
Slippery Fish
Shadow Cloak
Fangstrike
PROFESSIONS
Poisoncrafting
Mixology
Woodlore
ACHIEVEMENTS
Level Ten!
Winner! Winner! Chicken Dinner!
Say my name!
Phew, Level Five already?
They just don’t want to share the hedge.
It was this big!
You’ve arrived!
Bardic Credit: 10
Chapter 12
“Okay. Now I think you’re ready for a real challenge,” Billy says when I get back downstairs. “I’ve just learned that a friend of mine is in dire trouble. I need you to go rescue him from an enemy encampment. You’ll need to get the key to his cell off one of the guards, get to his cell, and get him out. Here. I’ll mark his location on your map.”
He looks agitated as he scowls at the virtual parchment. “There,” he says. “You need to get to him quickly. He’s wasting away in that cell!”
Quest offered: Need a Little Help Here
Kill Darius the Dark’s
henchmen until you find a key to the prisoner’s cage. Free the prisoner.
Reward: Experience points and 2 silver, 20 copper pieces.
Do you accept?
Can I just accept all? “I accept.” I look at my map. There’s a small “X” directly past where I was yesterday when I took out the rival gang leader. So it’s a good long distance away. “Couldn’t have had me knock this out yesterday, eh?” I shake my head.
“I didn’t know about it yesterday,” Billy says.
Right. This is how the game is played. I understand. I’ll just trek on all the way back out to where I just was. It’s not frustrating at all. No, really.
“What did he do? Why did you just find out about it?”
“This has to do with that letter you unearthed for me. Yesterday’s bandit run was just a warm up for this one. My friend Matthias was caught breaking the Queen’s law.”
“Which one.”
“They say he’s wanted for murder.”
“But you don’t believe them.”
Billy shakes his head. “Not in this case. Matthias is as dastardly as the rest of us, but we were together on the night they say he did this thing, and I can tell you he did not. There’s something else going on, something bigger at play here. My friend is falsely accused.”
“Okay. I’ll see what I can do,” I say. Billy’s really worked up over this. I like the guy, so ...
Besides, what else would I do?
I start my run. Things look a little different in the morning. Birds are singing, twittering, chirping. There’s a cacophony of sounds in my ears as I jog along the path. Fresh dew rests on the grass. The air is cool and refreshing along the forested path.
Arcadia Unlocked: A LitRPG Novel (Arcadia LitRPG Book 1) Page 7
