Alpha World Book One: Gamer for Life

by Daniel Schinhofen

  Alburet ignored all but the one with the highest loyalty and checked its stats. 40 Strength, 50 Constitution, 5 Dexterity, 3 Intelligence and Wisdom, and to finish it off 1 Charisma. The picture of the beast showed a very typical large, muscular red skinned demon with horns and tail. In other words, a very large imp minus wings. It held a shield and axe in its hands and wore leather pants only.

  Alburet selected that Infernal, causing Bettzle to purse his lips, “Again taking the weakest but most loyal. You are most strange for a Summoner.”

  “What can I say? Loyalty is where the action is really at,” Alburet replied.

  “Well, good luck with that weakling as your shield,” Bettzle said with a smile before vanishing in a flash.

  “Okay Bob, you ready to say hello to your big brother?”

  Bob rolled his eyes, “The large and stupid Infernal.”

  Alburet pointed his right index finger at the ground a few feet away, “Come to me, Tiny.”

  With a flash and puff of smoke and the Lesser Destroyer appeared. It threw back its head in a roar and stretched. “My master calls me. I come to wreck vengeance in your name.” Its voice was deep and powerful, with a growling resonance to it.

  “Welcome to the party. I am your master, Alburet, and this imp is called Bob. He is my loyal minion, as you will be.”

  The destroyer bowed to Alburet, “Point me at your enemies so I might kill them in your name, master.”

  “First I must bestow upon you a name. A name so fearsome and terrible it causes the foe to quake in fear.” Alburet said, keeping his voice even as he held back his laughter.

  “Yes, master. What shall be the name our enemies learn to fear?”

  “I shall call you Tiny the Fearsome,” Alburet said as he held back his laughter. Bob exploded in laughter, bending over to slap his knee.

  “Tiny, you called him Tiny. Hahaha,” Bob gasped as he kept laughing.

  “I call you Bob the Mighty, so why not him being Tiny the Fearsome?” Alburet replied, his own grin coming out.

  Tiny seemed to ponder it for a moment before standing to his full seven foot height. “Tiny the Fearsome I shall be. Let me wreak havoc in your name, master Alburet.”

  Alburet blinked, looking at the Lesser Destroyer who didn't seem to understand the joke. “Err, okay, yes. We are holding this ground and killing the goblins that come to us.”

  Bob kept laughing while slipping to the ground, “Told you they’re as smart as a bunch of rocks. He doesn't understand and never will hahahahahahahahaha.”

  Alburet shook his head, looking down at the imp rolling on the ground, “Okay Bob, that's enough. Settle down. The next goblin should be coming any second.” Turning to Tiny Alburet asked him an important question, “Tiny, how do you gain happiness?”

  “Protecting my master and killing his foes. I become unhappy when I am not allowed to fulfill those roles.” Tiny said, his eyes beginning to glow red as he spotted the Goblin Scavenger coming at them.

  “Okay. Tiny, he is the target,” Alburet began, pointing at the goblin, only to see Tiny rush forward the few feet and hack at the goblin with hate.

  “How dare you threaten the master?! Die, you weak goblin!” Tiny roared as he engaged the goblin in combat.

  “See? Only good for being a block,” Bob said, still chuckling as he got to his feet, before starting to cast his spell.

  “At least it means I won't be the punching bag anymore,” Alburet said with a smile, knowing he wouldn't end up in as much pain any more.

  For the next hour Alburet marveled in how well Tiny did his job before calling it time and heading back to the Stormguard fort. He needed to grab some food and drink, his Hungry and Thirsty debuffs were almost at the end of their duration, which would leave him with the Starving and Parched debuffs.

  The guards on the gate nodded to him but eyed Tiny carefully. Tiny snorted at them as if he found them contemptible. “Silly humans are no match for Tiny the Fearsome,” Tiny said as he walked by.

  “Tiny, they are friends. Do not insult those who aid us,” Alburet admonished his minion as he headed to the merchant. Tiny bowed his head and remained silent, accepting the order.

  “Greetings again, sir,” Alburet said to the merchant. “My friend had to go but I’ve brought back more items for you to purchase.” He placed all the non-weapon drops onto the table.

  “Very good. Hmm, not nearly as much as last time. I will give you twenty silver for the lot,” the merchant said.

  “Good enough for me. I wonder, though, if you have anything to eat or drink that I might acquire from you?”

  “I have the best jerky this side of Stormguard and a wine pouch filled with a decent wine. Twenty five copper for both.”

  “Done. Take it from the coin you offered me. In fact, if you have another set of jerky and wine I’ll take them as well.”

  “I have four such sets of food. Would you like them all?” the merchant asked with a grin.

  “Deal,” Alburet shook hands with the merchant and put three sets of food and drink away along with the coin. “Pleasure doing business with you again.”

  “Pleasure was all mine,” the merchant replied as Alburet went off to sell stuff to the blacksmith.

  After selling the few weapon drops he had gotten, Alburet ducked into the keep to hand off the three extra supplies he had picked up. The Quartermaster thanked him, with assurances that his deeds would be known by others.

  Alburet found a spot and sat down to eat with a sigh, glad to just relax for a bit. As he finished his food the Sergeant came over to him. “Private, did you need a place to sleep for the night?”

  Alburet got to his feet and saluted the Sergeant, “It would be much appreciated, sir. I was told by Captain Roberto to stay away from the capital for a couple of days.”

  You are now Disliked by Gilden House.

  Alburet blinked at the sudden reputation pop-up, but pushed it away since the Sergeant was still talking.

  “Hmm, so the Captain of Training knows you. Very well, then. If you take the stairs behind my desk you will find the barracks. Take any bed that doesn't have gear in the foot locker. Consider this payment for the extra goblins you are killing.”

  “Yes sir, thank you sir.” Alburet replied. “I will do so, but first I am going to head back out for a bit longer and slaughter some more of the green skinned bastards.”

  “As you will. Just stay safe out there.” the Sergeant went back to his desk just as another player to come running in to demanded a quest.

  “Alright, guys. Break time is over. Let's head out again,” Alburet said, then paused. “Err… Do I need to feed you two?”

  “Tiny feeds on the blood of his enemies,” Tiny said.

  Bob rolled his eyes, “We don't eat anything from this plane. Just dismiss us when you’re done for the night and we will eat when we return to our plane. We can go days without needing to eat though, so do not worry.”

  “Good to know,” Alburet said as he led them back out the gate. “Tiny, front and center. Do not attack any goblin engaged with another player. We are heading back to the corner we were at earlier.”

  Tiny grunted and set off at a trot, followed by the other two. “Good thing you gave him explicit instructions or he would be stopping at every mob,” Bob said as he ran along with them in his normal skipping gait.

  Alburet just chuckled as they engaged their first goblin. “I thought he might.”

  They spent the next few hours killing any goblin that came in range. Alburet noticed the number of players starting to increase as evening came on. He called a halt to it without having hit level ten, but he knew he was close to it.

  “Alright, back to the fort and once we are inside the walls you two will be dismissed for the rest of the night.” Alburet said and started to jog for the fort. The two minions followed along and vanished in puffs of smoke as soon as he passed the gates. “Well, at least they follow orders well.”

  He sold off the excess gear and hand
ed off supplies before heading up to the barracks. Once he found a bed, he dropped one piece of gear into the foot locker. A message came up telling him that anything he stored in the locker could only be retrieved by him. Smiling, he put both bags into of the locker along with his staff.

  Turning, he found a young man in uniform buckling on a belt. “Excuse me, is there a bathing room here?” Alburet asked the man.

  “Down the hall, fourth door on the right,” the private replied without looking over. “Remember to clean up after yourself or the Sergeant will be pissed.”

  “Will do, thanks,” Alburet said and followed the directions he had been given.

  The bathing room was a large room filled with four granite tubs. A sink stood to one side along with a wood stove that was burning away. Taking some kettles stacked near the stove, Alburet filled them with water and placed them on the stove, then he partially filled a tub with cold water after having put the stopper into it. He added the hot water when it was ready before stripping down and climbing in. He used the bar of lye soap he found on the tub rim to scrub down before relaxing in the water.

  As he was getting dressed after his bath the door opened and ten men came in laughing and carrying on. They froze at the sight of Alburet. One of them stepped forward with a frown. “What are you doing in here, Civvy?”

  Sighing, Alburet stood up, “Leaving actually. After I look about the place a bit more I think I might retire a bit early tonight. Is that a problem, private?”

  “Yeah. This is a military keep not a fracking inn,” the private said belligerently. “I think I should take you down to the Sarge so he can explain it to you.”

  “The Sergeant is well aware that I’m here. He offered me the barracks as a place to sleep for the night. Something about killing more goblins than any of the privates in the building. Now excuse me, but I will be leaving.” Alburet walked forward being forced to stop as none of the privates moved.

  “I don't think so dumb nuts. First we’re gonna teach you a lesson for insulting us.” the private growled, reaching out to grab him.

  Alburet sidestepped, taking the proffered arm and tossing the private into the nearest tub. “I think I should go without being taught anything. I will warn you that the Sergeant and Captain Roberto at the capital both think highly of me.”

  The others all stepped out of the way with dark looks and mutters. The first one clambered to his feet groggily. “Don't let him bluff you, guys. After we beat the shit out of him we’ll turn him over to the Sarge and say he started the fight.” The eyes of the other nine all glinted at the idea.

  Alburet sighed and pointed behind the group, “Come to me, Tiny.”

  The group paused to glance behind them as the smoke cleared, showing Tiny. “You called, master?”

  “You’re a fracking Summoner?” one of the guys gasped and stepped well away from the others.

  “Yes. Now, do you want to continue down this road or not?”

  The guys near the door backed away from Tiny and Alburet, shaking their heads. “Oh come on guys, if we subdue him the demon leaves.” The first attacker said as he got out of the tub, clenching his fists.

  “Tiny, make sure the others do not join in. This one is mine.” Alburet said as he turned back to the attacker. “I ask you again to stand down, private.”

  The young man shook his head and stepped forward slowly, “I'm going to show you that we’re better than you, Summoner.”

  Alburet waited, arms out before him, his hands flat as the man came forward. Alburet batted the first three strikes away, “This is not going to work out for you.”

  “I'm just testing your defenses,” the private said before lunging forward with both hands, trying to grab Alburet.

  Alburet went down and swept the grabbing arms up and away before turning and slamming a hand into the back of the private’s knee. As the private went to his knee Alburet grabbed him from behind and applied a choke.

  “Aggression is not always the answer. The wise man learns when to back down. Are you wise?” Alburet said waiting for the private to go limp. Once no more resistance was forthcoming Alburet released the hold and stood back up. “Anyone else?”

  The other nine looked from him to the private then back, shaking their heads.

  “Good,” Alburet said. “Tiny, pick him up and follow me. We are going to see their superior about this incident.”

  The other nine sighed and followed Tiny, who followed Alburet, out the door and down to the main room. The unconscious private was beginning to stir as they arrived at the Sergeant’s desk. He looked at the group with raised eyebrows.

  “Sir,” Alburet saluted. “I am afraid I must report being attacked by this man in the bathing room. He addressed me as a Civvy and told me to get out. He failed to listen to me when I informed him that I was in the barracks on your invitation, sir. These nine witnessed the attack but did not interfere when I asked them to stay out of it.”

  The Sergeant looked at the other nine, who all nodded agreement with what Alburet had said. He then turned to the private who was getting to his feet from where Tiny had dropped him. “Private Jenkins, do you have anything to add?”

  “Sir, he attacked me, sir. He summoned a demon and attacked me after intimidating the others.”

  “I have a different story from Alburet and the others have agreed with his story. Do you wish to continue with that line Private Jenkins?”

  Private Jenkins lowered his head, “No sir. I attacked him without provocation. I was in the wrong. I just let my anger at all the Civvies talking down to us out on him, or tried to.”

  “Very well, you have kitchen duty for the next month during your usual off time. Maybe this will teach you not to act without thinking. The rest of you, not all civilians are what you expect. This goes double for the two-souled. Alburet here has been killing goblins all day. Take this into consideration the next time you see a civilian in the keep. If it bothers you that much, come to me first before you start a fight.”

  A bunch of yes sirs followed before he dismissed them all. He turned to Alburet, who dismissed Tiny, “So how did you subdue Larry? He’s one of our better unarmed fighters here. He was trained by his father Leoric, who was trained by his father Leeroy.”

  Alburet chuckled, “The same way I showed the captain. If you can spare a few minutes and a few men I’ll show you what I showed him.”

  The rest of the night Alburet walked the guards of the keep through the same holds he’d showed the city guards. As the Sergeant called a halt to it for the night he thanked Alburet.

  “Thank you Alburet, for the informative night. If you’re staying around for another day maybe you can spar with us tomorrow.”

  You are Liked by Sergeant Jasper.

  Alburet nodded, “I’ll see what I can do, sir.”

  Finally Alburet got back to the barracks and collapsed for the night, letting sleep wash over him. His dreams were of a smiling Victoria and a purring Fluffball.

  Alburet

  Human Summoner

  Level 9

  Strength: 14

  Agility: 14

  Constitution: 25

  Intelligence: 36

  Wisdom: 34

  Charisma: 20

  Health: 700

  Mana: 790

  Spells:

  Demon Skin-Rank 2

  Demonic Retribution

  Summon Least Imp

  Fire Blast

  Sap Strength

  Demonic Haze

  Summon Lesser Destroyer

  Abilities:

  Personal Spells

  Grinding Goblins

  Alburet woke, stretching before he sat up to look around. All around him guards were dressing and chatting away amiably with a few giving him nods as they went by. Smiling at the camaraderie, he got to his feet to grab his gear from the footlocker. Sitting down he put on his boots and gloves which were his only real pieces of armor, as his Demon Skin did better than anything else he had. Once he was ready he sh
ouldered his bag, took up his staff and made his way to the stairs.

  Sergeant Jasper met him at the foot of the stairs, “Morning, Alburet. If you would like to break your fast with us we would welcome you at the table.”

  “Sounds good to me, sir,” Alburet said, following the Sergeant down a hall into a large dining room which already had a number of soldiers eating porridge with some fruit. He followed the Sergeant's lead, taking a wooden bowl and filling it with the porridge before accepting a cup of tea from an older woman. Sitting across the table from Sergeant Jasper, Alburet sipped his tea and discovered it was an apple spiced tea. He took a sample of the porridge, smiling at the honey sweet taste. “Very good food and tea, sir.”