Alpha World Book One: Gamer for Life

by Daniel Schinhofen

  “I’m sorry about that, I didn’t know it would hurt him.” Marysue said as she came over.

  “I forgot all about Bob telling you not to heal him yesterday, so it’s partially my fault as well.” Alburet said.

  Bob snickered, “It’s not like it did any real harm to him.”

  Alburet shook his head, “What if we had forgotten about not healing you?” Bob looked away without answering, which prompted a chuckle from Alburet. “So healing spells don’t work for my minions obviously. Makes me hope I get a way to heal them soon.”

  “Hey, the loot is a leather helm, +2 Constitution,” Gerald said to get Alburet and Marysue’s attention. “I got a good enough helm from yesterday. So who wants to greed the item?”

  All four of the others opted to roll for it, using the pop-up to do so. Alburet found a set of ten sided dice in his hand, making him smile as he knelt down and rolled them as the others had already done. He laughed when his came up as a 1. The others laughed as well. Franz took the helm, his 87 the high roll. “Wow, talk about rolling low,” Alburet joked.

  “Says the guy who got a unique set of gloves yesterday,” Gerald said, shaking his head. “I would think that would be enough luck for the first fifty levels.”

  “Meh, I took a gamble and it paid off. We doing the Jailer next?” Alburet asked as they left the room.

  “That is the plan. If your imp can free the one prisoner again we should be golden,” Gerald replied. “Luckily we had a Trapsmith with us on our second run and he was able to free the one slave. We didn’t get any extra rewards that time, but the DPS with us did. And it does make the fight easier.”

  The group decimated the next few packs of trash in short order, pausing outside of the boss area for Gerald to explain the fight to Franz. “Okay Alburet, buff me and in we go.”

  “Bob free the one prisoner at the start. Tiny no taunts on this fight.” Alburet said before buffing Gerald to kick the fight off.

  The Jailer went down just as easily as before, but Tiny taunted the boss at 5% life giving Gerald the chance to get some life back. Gerald pursed his lips looking from Alburet to Tiny but not saying anything as he looted the boss.

  “Tiny? Why did you taunt?” Alburet asked.

  “Squishy human Gerald was close to not having enough life to survive, so I saved him. I am ready for your retribution for disobeying you,” Tiny said with stoic calm in the longest speech he’d ever made.

  Alburet looked to Gerald, “Any issue with him taunting there?”

  Gerald shook his head, “Not about helping make sure I survived, no. I thought they were supposed to obey you, though.”

  “I have noticed that as long as they are Content on the happiness scale they do a little more to help out.” Alburet replied with a shrug before turning to Tiny, “As you saved Gerald I will not be punishing you, you did the right thing even if it did go against my order.”

  Tiny bowed his head, “Thank you, master.”

  Fluffball giggled but shook her head when Alburet raised a brow her way, “It's nothing.”

  “The loot is a necklace with +2 Wisdom,” Gerald said holding it up.

  Alburet and Franz both rolled to see who would get the necklace. Franz ended up with a 10 much to his dismay until he saw the 1 that Alburet got again. “Ha, dude your dice hate you,” Franz said as he took the necklace and put it on.

  “I wonder if anyone sells better dice?” Alburet said out loud, half jokingly.

  “Ha, yeah, dice with a +10 modifier,” Franz said, “we could call them crooked dice.” That got a chuckle out of the group as they considered the idea.

  “No, ‘cause then the rogue type classes would have abilities like, ‘Once a day win any roll with a 100’, called loaded dice.” Alburet said, prompting more laughter.

  “Guess you should have been a rogue then,” Franz said, “maybe then you could roll above a 1.”

  With that as the last word the group went upstairs to the second floor. Alburet looked at the two bodyguard mobs and pursed his lips before smiling. “Hey Gerald, why don’t we split the group here? Tiny, Bob and Fluff on the one to the right. You, Franz and me on the one to the left. Since they have a linked enraged when one dies we might be able to whittle them down enough in tandem to defeat that mechanic.”

  Gerald considered it and nodded, “Good idea. We’ll do it that way. You sure Tiny can hold up for the entire fight?”

  “If it looks like his isn’t dropping first I’ll chip in on it. As long as his dies first it should be fine.” Once everyone was ready Alburet put Demonic Retribution on Tiny and Gerald. He could only give one of them Demonic Haze, so he gave it to Gerald. Once the buffs were out Gerald and Tiny rushed up the last few stairs to the two mobs.

  Fluffball and Bob killed the mob on Tiny about twenty seconds before the one on Gerald died. “Well done,” Gerald said as they regained their health and mana. “Just the boss left.” He told Franz the mechanics before turning to Alburet. “This one was a bitch with the four casters at the end. We died twice on this boss on our second run. Do you think Tiny can hold up?”

  Alburet nodded as his mind worked on the boss fight, “I’m sure he will be fine if we all focus kill the casters in order. If not, me and Fluff can tank a single one each like we did last time.”

  Fluffball winced, “I was just getting used to not being pummeled, too.”

  “I will not let them harm you,” Tiny told her in his gravelly voice.

  Fluffball grinned up at the destroyer, “Ah, thanks big guy.”

  “The master likes you, so…” Tiny began and Bob began to laugh.

  “Enough,” Alburet said quickly, “let’s get buffed up.” Fluffball was a little pink but smiled a little noting Alburet’s own blush. Alburet didn’t look over at her though, and missed the smile as he tagged Gerald with his two short term buffs. “Okay, we’re ready,” Alburet said.

  Gerald led them into the room as he rushed at the goblin. Alburet called out a warning as each poison vial was about to be tossed, which helped Franz and Marysue avoid the ones aimed at them. Tiny stood next to the door waiting to pick up the adds when they spawned. The first set Tiny picked up and held without issue. Alburet was able to renew Demonic Retribution on Tiny during that first phase.

  The first set of adds died quickly, allowing the DPS to go back to the boss as Tiny stood beside the door waiting for more adds. Alburet continued to call out poison vials which let Gerald already be in motion when the boss tried to smash one behind Gerald. Gerald called out his thanks as he moved to tank the boss at a new angle.

  The tricky transition came up at 50%, with adds coming in and the boss tossing a poison vial at the same time. It was here that the party learned the easy way of dealing with the adds. Alburet had shifted closer to the door as he was buffing Tiny again when the boss hit the 50% mark. Alburet dove out of the way as the vial broke right where he had been standing next to the door. Tiny stepped out of the way as well and was turning to pick up the adds.

  As the adds rushed into the room they stepped into the poison cloud and began to cough and choke, their life dropping by the second. Tiny slammed one with his shield and slashed another with his axe, keeping them from moving through for another couple of seconds before he turned to the third add. By the time the two Tiny had hit left the poison cloud they were at 50% of their life. The DPS piled in quickly and killed them in short order as Alburet grinned like a madman.

  “At 30% all DPS to the door. Marysue, you as well. We want that poison cloud there for the last set of adds, it fucked them up bad. Order of killing the four casters are the one on the far side from me, then closest to me, then the two who will be in the middle as they’ll take another second or two to clear the poison.” Alburet called out to the others.

  They shifted around and were ready when the boss hit 30% and tossed his poison vial at the clump of them. All of them were able to vacate the area without taking damage, leaving the cloud directly in front of the doorway. Alburet laugh
ed as his plan worked flawlessly as they dispersed into the room, away from the cloud. As he had predicted, the next set off adds had to step into the poison cloud and started to cough as their life drained away. Tiny did his best to keep the goblin casters in the cloud as the DPS focused the casters down quickly. The casters each only got a spell or two off before they all died.

  Franz, Alburet and Bob stopped casting for a bit to regain some mana, waiting for the last 10%. Tiny joined Fluffball in DPSing the boss down during that time as Marysue dodged the 20% poison vial. At 12% the trio of casters started back up DPSing the boss and waited to see who was going to dodge the last vial as frenzy started. Alburet noted the boss turning towards him and was moving to avoid the last vial before it got to him.

  During the frenzy phase Tiny taunted off Gerald at 5%, taking the brunt of the damage while Gerald got healed up some. Gerald taunted back at 2%, as Tiny was taking an absolute beating during that time. The boss died to a cheer from the group as they each checked their pop-up loot. Alburet smiled at the Reinforced Staff he received, which gave a +2 to Constitution and did 40 damage, which was better than the 35 his current staff did. He put it away wanting to use his old staff until it broke before using the new one.

  “Good to know the poison can damage the adds,” Gerald chuckled. “That would have made the fight way easier yesterday.”

  “Well now we know,” Marysue added, “fast thinking about the last set of adds, Alburet.”

  “Once I knew it worked it seemed like the best idea,” Alburet shrugged. “I’m glad it worked, the boss could have easily tossed that vial at Gerald instead.”

  Gerald nodded, “Yeah, but the odds were stacked by the door. I’m going to adopt that strategy as well as keeping the idea in mind for future boss fights. Well, we’re done in here. What are your plans, Alburet?”

  “Going to farm goblins with Fluffball, unless she runs off on me.” Alburet said as they began to walk out of the dungeon. He noticed that the others all walked along with them, as if they’d forgotten to run since he was walking.

  “No, I’m good for a bit yet,” Fluffball replied to Alburet. “Are you going to head off to learn your ability first?”

  Grimacing, Alburet shook his head, “Nope. I was told by a captain in the guard to stay out of Stormguard for a couple of days. So it’s going to be at least another day before I go back.”

  The others all looked at him weirdly. Marysue spoke up first, “That doesn’t make any sense. Why would an NPC guard captain tell you to stay out of Stormguard?”

  “I kind of knocked out one of his guards when I was attacked. Did you know it’s illegal for a Summoner to have demons out inside the city walls?” He asked the question to lead them down a false path about why he’d been attacked.

  “So you were attacked and then told to stay away?” Fluffball asked. “What the hell? That doesn’t make any sense. What happened to the guard?”

  “He was escorted home and told to take the day off if I recall correctly,” Alburet said with a shrug as the group stepped out of the dungeon.

  “You seem to have the oddest stuff happen to you,” Gerald said with a chuckle. “Oh well. We’ll probably be shifting zones tomorrow. If you end up in the same place maybe we can group again.”

  “Sounds good.” He waved goodbye to Franz, Marysue and Gerald who went out the fort’s gate. Turning to Fluffball he sent her an invite and they took the front left corner again.

  “So you going to stay here for the rest of your time today?” Fluffball asked.

  “That’s the plan. I can get a bed to rest in at the fort. It gave me a rested bonus for a few hours when I woke up this morning. So, I’ll probably do that for tonight. Tomorrow morning I’ll duck into Stormguard to see my trainer and see about visiting an armorer to see if I can get any armor better than my buff.”

  “So you play every day then?

  “Right now it’s the best way for me to spend my days,” Alburet said with a strained smile.

  “Oh, right,” Fluffball said, a little embarrassed. “Sorry. I forgot about you having medical issues.”

  “It’s okay,” Alburet smiled falsely, a little upset that he was lying to such a nice person. Then again, if he told her the truth it would probably break the NDA that he’d signed. He probably should have asked about that, he sighed inwardly.

  “So let’s kill us some more goblins,” Alburet said as he buffed Tiny for the pull.

  The next few hours were pleasant as they pulled at a steady pace, chatting about trivial matters. Each of them reached level eleven before Fluffball mentioned she should be going. They headed back to the Stormguard fort to sell off junk, some of which Alburet had held onto for Fluffball as her bag had gotten full. After a round of selling off junk to the merchant and smith, they turned in supplies and armbands for extra coin and rep, as well.

  “Oh nice, I just got to Liked with all Stormguard factions,” Fluffball said, bouncing slightly up and down.

  “Well done,” Alburet replied, enjoying the view, even though he was glad she hadn't over endowed her avatar. He thought her small b-cup avatar fit the athletic, furry Lunari best. “I hope the rest of your day is pleasant, Fluff.”

  Fluffball groomed an ear as she glanced at him then away, before grooming her other ear as she pulled her Homestone from her bag. “Um, would you be interested in company in a few days when I get back to the game again?” she asked, her voice carrying the hints of nervousness.

  Alburet let a smile fill his face as he reached out and gently took her hand, turning the back of it up. “It would be my pleasure, Fluff. I'll try not to outpace you too badly before then.” He gently kissed the hand he was holding.

  Fluff’s eyes were wide and her cheeks flushed as she nodded slightly. She swallowed, trying to get moisture into her suddenly dry mouth, “That… that sounds grand.” Her hand hovered in the air for a few seconds after Alburet released it before she realized and let it fall to her side. “See you then,” she said before she vanished.

  “Ah, she likes you,” Bob smirked. “Setting up to get a piece of tail?”

  Alburet burst out laughing, “Not really. I wouldn't turn her down, but she seems like the serious type and I am not in a place for that. Thank you for keeping the biting comments at a minimum today, Bob. Thank you for the exemplary work tanking, Tiny. You are both free to go.” Bob and Tiny vanished in puffs of smoke, leaving Alburet without companions for the first time since this morning.

  “If you’re free in a few hours, I would be happy to spar with you.” Sergeant Jasper said from his desk.

  “Sounds good. I’ll just go drop my stuff off in the barracks, if that’s okay?” Alburet waited for the Sergeant’s approval before heading up to the barracks. He ate some jerky and drank some wine before heading back downstairs as the debuffs were getting close to the danger zone again.

  He spent the next four hours sparring with the guards, before bathing and turning in for the night. As he snuggled into the cot his mind turned to what tomorrow might bring. His dreams were focused once again on Fluff's shyness and Victoria's enigmatic smile.

  Alburet

  Human Summoner

  Level 11

  Strength: 16

  Agility: 16

  Constitution: 25

  Intelligence: 32

  Wisdom: 41

  Charisma: 25

  Health: 800

  Mana: 960

  Spells:

  Demon Skin-Rank 2

  Demonic Retribution

  Summon Least Imp

  Fire Blast

  Sap Strength

  Demonic Haze

  Summon Lesser Destroyer

  Demonic Vitality

  Abilities:

  Personal Spells

  1 Ability waiting to be trained

  Shopping

  Alburet woke with the sun just below the horizon to find all the guards awake and getting their gear on. He put on his gloves and boots, having slept in his clothes again, glad that
they never seemed to pick up blood or dirt. He returned greetings to those who hailed him as he made his way down the stairs to find Sergeant Jasper waiting for him.

  “Feel like breaking your fast with us again this morn?” Jasper asked.

  “Be glad to,” Alburet replied, following the Sergeant into the dining room.

  After they polished off the food and were sipping the tea, Alburet advised the Sergeant on his plans. “Looks like I’ll be moving on today, Sarge. Going to risk the trip into Stormguard to train and get some better equipment. Once I’ve gotten that all together I’m going to find a more challenging area to test my skills.”