Alpha World Book One: Gamer for Life

by Daniel Schinhofen

  “Oh, is that how that works?” Marysue chimed in. “I’ll let my friend know. He was having issues with his demons and just became an Angelic Summoner instead.”

  Bob sneered, “Fracking halo wearing assholes that they are.” The whole group turned to look at Bob in surprise. “Seriously, why can’t they just let beings do what they want? No, it’s always do this or don’t do that. Fracking hate those Angelic assholes.”

  “Don’t hold back Bob, tell us how you really feel,” Karen piped up with a grin.

  “Belay that order,” Alburet interjected, shaking his head. “I won’t be switching teams, Bob, so you’re safe with me.”

  Tiny rumbled, “I’m glad.”

  “Anyway, we going to just roam and kill stuff for the next few hours while we wait for the rare?” Gerald asked.

  Everyone agreed that this sounded like a good idea. The group started roaming the grasslands, killing every group they encountered for the next hour and a half before coming back to where they could keep an eye on the tree.

  Death Tracker Grugh

  The group killed another two patrols while they waited for the rare to show. The conversation between packs was all about comparing Alpha World to previous MMORPGs and how the abilities were similar or different. Alburet was about to expand on how the Summoner class was different from other games when he noticed a very large orc suddenly appear by the tree. He focused on it and got a name and level for it; Death Tracker Grugh, level 20. He blinked at the insane amount of hit points it had, 4000/4000.

  “Hey Karen, is this the guy?” Alburet asked.

  Karen turned and her ever present smile blossomed, “Yes, that’s him.”

  “Oh, good. They still have him named the same and everything,” Gerald added. “Double the old hit points, though.”

  “Anything special we should know?” Alburet queried as he started to buff Tiny.

  “He’ll stun the tank for five seconds at a time, so have Tiny ready to taunt him when I get stunned. I’ll taunt back when Tiny gets stunned, that way we can keep him on a tank and not going after the healer. He also throws knives that cause a bleed effect. The debuff stacks, so it can get nasty if the fight drags on.” Gerald said as Alburet started to buff him, “Other than that standard tank and spank fight, unless they tweaked him.”

  Karen vanished after taking a step towards the tree, “See you all there.”

  Alburet grunted, “We’re ready, let’s go. Tiny, you heard the man. Follow the plan.”

  Gerald and Tiny took off ahead of the others, so they’d be the ones to gain initial aggro. Grugh looked up at them as they closed the distance and a flurry of knives came at them. Each of them took a hit that placed a stack of the bleeding debuff, causing 5 health to be lost every five seconds. Gerald grunted as the knife grazed his cheek, just barely too slow getting his shield up to block it.

  As Tiny and Gerald swung for the first time, Grugh Howled in anger and slammed his foot into the ground. A shock wave pushed them all back a few feet and knocked Alburet, Marysue and Bob to their knees. As they got back up, Gerald started his attack, gaining the main focus of the boss. Grugh put his back to the tree, preventing the group from surrounding him. Karen appeared from above and slightly to the side, dropping from a branch to plunge her daggers into the orc.

  Alburet refreshed Demonic Vitality on Gerald then cast Sap Strength on Grugh as he waited to join into the fray. Bob was cackling happily as his Fire Blasts kept striking the orc in the feet, the leather boots providing less protection than the mail Grugh wore elsewhere. Just before Alburet plunged into the fray another explosion of knives flew out from Grugh, nicking all of them again and doubling the bleed damage to 10 every five seconds.

  Stepping into the melee, Alburet noted that Grugh used his two short swords to attack and defend equally well. Grugh hadn’t really perceived him as a threat yet, so didn’t try to block the first swing from the maul, only swaying slightly to take it on the shoulder instead of the head. When the maul impacted and tore away close to 200 health, Grugh growled loudly. One fist lashed out, slamming into Gerald’s jaw stunning him for five seconds.

  As soon as the hit landed Tiny roared, taunting Grugh to focus on him as the primary threat. It worked, but Grugh sent out another shock wave which pushed Karen and Alburet back and dropped them to their knees. That gave Grugh an opening to strike at Tiny with one blade while slashing Gerald with the other. Alburet flinched in sympathy as the blade gashed Gerald on the neck, which was a definite critical. Marysue gasped and a bright light flared around Gerald a bare fraction of a second later.

  “That was my big instant heal, it’s on cool down for the next two minutes.” Marysue told them as Gerald regained his lost hit points.

  Alburet and Karen got back into the fight as Gerald shook off the stun and started attacking again, too. Alburet swung his maul again, only to have Grugh parry the swing past him and into the tree which shuddered under the blow. “Fucker learns fast,” Alburet said as he stepped back to regain his balance. Alburet checked the health of Grugh, to find it still at 3346/4000 and sighed. This fight was going to take time. It occurred to him that both the bleed attack from the knives and the stun used Grugh's hands.

  Alburet felt a smile cross his face as he considered a radical option. “Tiny, Gerald, I have a really fucked up plan but I think it will work,” Another explosion of knives erupted from Grugh as the Orc’s hands blurred. Another stack of the bleeding debuff stacked onto all of them, taking them to fifteen health lost every five seconds. “Stop trying to attack him and pin his arms. Take a hit if you need to to do it, otherwise he might not be able to finish him before we all bleed out.”

  Gerald shook his head, “That’s stupid…”

  Tiny grunted as he dropped his shield and axe, lunging in to grab Grugh’s left arm with both of his. Grugh’s sword scored a deep cut across Tiny’s chest in return, but Tiny held the arm firmly. “Got him Master,” Tiny grunted as Alburet ducked around behind Tiny to hit him with Demonic Vitality.

  Gerald cussed, but also dropped his sword and shield before grabbing at Grugh’s other arm. Grugh managed to cut Gerald across the hip before Gerald managed to corral the second arm and hold on. “Why are we doing this?” Gerald called out, annoyed at this change of plans.

  “Because now he can’t stun you and the shockwave doesn’t knock you guys down,” Alburet called out as he stepped in between the two holding Grugh, smiling wickedly. The maul went back, coming down on top of the Grugh’s head for a critical hit that took a little over 400 health away. “Now that’s what I’m talking about,” Alburet laughed.

  “That is so fucking wrong,” Karen laughed as she knelt down and stabbed at Grugh’s knees. “You think the Devs considered people doing this?”

  “Maybe, but probably not,” Gerald grunted. “In previous VR games we didn’t have the full immersion we have here, which is what’s letting us do this.”

  Alburet kept pulling back and taking chunks from Grugh, who eventually did his special attack knocking him and Karen back and down. However, since he didn’t have his arms free he couldn’t stack any more bleeds or stun his attackers. The fight went much more easily than it should and Grugh dropped quickly. A minute later the bleeds wore off with no one dropping under half thanks to Marysue’s healing. Both Karen and Alburet leveled when Grugh died, to congratulations from the others.

  “Well, that was certainly a little lackluster once he was pinned.” Karen laughed as she touched the body to bring up the loot. “Oh, some nice stuff here, too.” She set the loot out before them so they could all see what there was. “I want the boots,” Karen said quickly, “they give a boost to stealth which is how he just suddenly appeared.”

  The others agreed that was the best for her and didn’t object as she took them. Marysue ended up with a chainmail coif that gave a bonus to intelligence and wisdom. Gerald took the shield that let him cancel a single negative effect on him once every five minutes. Alburet ended up with a two
handed axe that was better than the maul he had been using, but like his maul had no other stats.

  “This will be nice once the maul breaks. Thanks to the assassin its durability has really taken a hit.” Alburet said, putting the axe into his bag. He did note the ten gold he also had suddenly acquired when the orc died. “So that’s that, then.”

  “That was way better than I thought it was going to be. Thanks for coming you two.” Karen said to Gerald and Marysue, “Want to trade info so we can group up again sometime?”

  The three of them tapped Mindstones before Gerald and Marysue dropped the group and vanished, both of them citing real life things to do.

  “Well, that was fun. Any other plans for the night?” Alburet asked.

  “Yes, but I need a break for a few hours,” Karen said, her customary smirk back in place. “Don’t forget to see the Commander for your gold. Where would you like to meet in Stormguard later to celebrate our success?”

  “I’ve been over at the Dead Man Inn, good food there,” Alburet replied. “I need to see about another set of clothes as well, that assassin really fucked up my gear by killing me three times.”

  “Okay, so meet up at the inn in three hours?”

  “Works. See you there, Karen.”

  Karen nodded, pulling her Homestone and using it. Alburet turned to Tiny and Bob, “Okay, take a break guys. I’m going to head back to Stormguard.” He pulled out his Homestone as the demons vanished.

  Once he appeared in the graveyard, Alburet opened up his character screen to apply his stat points. When that was done he checked what spell he received at level thirteen, which turned out to be Demonic Retribution rank 2. Alburet read over the updated spell, seeing that the damage had doubled to 10 and the mana cost to cast was increased to 50. It still only lasted five minutes. Shrugging, mildly nonplussed only getting an upgraded spell rather than a new one, he wandered off to sell the stuff he’d looted during the day.

  As he walked it struck him again how alive the city was, with people moving about going about personal business. He had to dodge around a pair of old women who suddenly stopped in front of him to start talking about their grandkids. His sudden swerve caused both of them to eye him warily, but he only grinned at them as he kept on going. In a good mood he reached the leather shop, Tanned Hides, the small bell attached to the door announcing his entry.

  He heard the owner, Almira Smoothskin, arguing with a customer over the price of a hardened leather chest piece. “I’m telling you, that is the final price. If you don’t like it take your business elsewhere. I would tell you to try making a piece like this yourself but you two-souled can’t craft anything.”

  The customer sneered at Almira, “Uppity fuckin’ elf bitch, maybe someone should teach you that the customer is always right.” The customer tossed her blonde hair back over her shoulder as the condescending words cascaded from her lips. “You won’t make any money from me or my friends once I tell them about your shitty service, fucking NPC.” The player stormed out of the shop, leaving the door open as she went.

  Alburet calmly shut the door, shaking his head in exasperation at how people acted even in a game. Turning, he saw that Almira was looking at him with a stern gaze, as if to ask if he was going to start as well. A small smile quirked his lips as he gave her a small bow, “I promise I am much more civil, Miss Smoothskin. I have just come to sell off some of this loot I’ve picked up today.”

  Almira sighed softly, nodding, “Of course. I’m glad the crown pays us for doing this, otherwise I would be turning people away. You two-souled are very industrious when it comes to killing monsters in the wilds.”

  “And some of us even know how to speak properly,” Alburet chuckled, “or at least, politely.” He began to lay out the leather he’d looted, setting aside a few pieces. Once he had all the leather out he took those pieces he set aside and equipped them. It wasn’t better than his Demon Skin, but he could wear it without giving away his relation to Demons. “Okay, all of this here is what I’d like to sell.”

  Almira took her time checking the loot before nodding, “I’ll take it. I’m curious why you didn’t equip some of it out in the field.”

  Alburet looked away before replying, “I have an ability that hardens my skin to equal to this, but it lowers my ability to interact with people.”

  One of Almira’s eyebrows went up, “Summoner?”

  Shrugging, Alburet nodded, “I understand if you do not want me back in the shop.”

  Pursing her lips, Almira sighed, “I don't discriminate based on vocation and you haven’t struck me as a bad person. So for now I will continue to treat you as a valued customer. The customer who just left was a Paladin, for frack’s sake and she was way less pleasant than you’ve been.”

  Chuckling Alburet replied, “Yeah a lot of us are self-absorbed, sadly. I thank you for treating me fairly. Goodness knows many don’t, including among the city guards.”

  Almira held out several gold coins, “Six gold for the lot.”

  Taking the coin, he thanked her before heading to the chain armor shop to sell off mail armor. He went to Grimgar’s last with a bounce to his step as he entered. The small bell jingled, announcing him, which brought Grimgar from the back of the shop.

  “Afternoon, Grimgar,” Alburet greeted the owner as he went to the counter and began to unload weapons. “How’s business today?”

  “Welcome back, lad. Business be fine,” Grimgar replied as he checked the weapons Alburet was laying out on the counter. “Seems ye been busy, eh?”

  “Orc slaying for the most part. Need to go see a tailor after this, my clothes have taken a beating.”

  “It does me glad to see ye wearin’ some armor at least,” Grimgar said, counting out gold. “I can give ye eight gold for the lot. How is the maul workin’ out?”

  “I’ll take it,” Alburet replied. “It was wonderful. Unfortunately the durability has taken a huge hit. I got killed three times by an assassin which really did a number on it.”

  “Aich, why be ye messin’ with that ugly lot?”

  “Wasn’t my plan, but I pissed off a minor noble house and they got their panties in a twist. So they decided having me killed three times was the answer. It’s over now. I plan to look into why the kid I pissed off thought three times was the magic number.”

  Shaking his head, Grimgar sighed, “Aich, iffen it was a young noble than ye might never find out as most o’ them be without reason at all.”

  Laughing, Alburet put the gold away before turning to the door, “Right you are Grimgar. See you later.”

  “Aye lad, be safe and try not to run afoul of them assassins again, eh?”

  Stepping out into the street, Alburet paused to soak in the sights. He was still impressed by how alive the game was. The NPCs acted like people would in real life, from those who were simply going about the business of day to day life to the shop owners. He smiled as he watched a brother and sister playing tag around a put upon looking woman who was probably their mother. He set off to the tailor to see about new clothes and to check on the set Mrs. Wilson, the tailor, was making for him.

  Alburet entered Silken Needles, smiling at the simple jingle bells that announced people entering shops. Margret was behind the counter. She looked up with a polite smile on her face that widened when she saw it was him. “Welcome back, Alburet. Your clothes should be done tomorrow.”

  Returning the smile, Alburet nodded, “My thanks, but what I came for right now is to see about another set of clothes for day to day wear. These have done me well but sadly they’ve taken a rather severe beating over the last few days. Do you have anything you can alter for me?”

  Lips compressing slightly, Margret frowned, “My clothes should have held up better than that.”

  Sighing, Alburet explained his encounters with the assassin much to Margret's shock. “My goodness, that would of course account for the excessive wear on the clothing. Are you sure it’s safe for you now?”

  “The assa
ssin was kind enough to assure me that three was the number to be met and he did ensure my death thrice, so hopefully. Can you do what I am asking of you?”

  “Of course. A full set will cost fifty silver. I can have them ready in an hour or I can have them delivered to someplace in the city for you.”

  “Wonderful. Would you have them dropped off at the Dead Man Inn for me, please?”

  Her smile vanished and her lips thinned, “You’re with them?”

  Blinking for a moment Alburet felt a loss before he nodded, “Yes. If this is a problem, I can take my business elsewhere if you wish me to, Mrs. Wilson.”

  She paused, eyeing him then asked, “Necromancer or Summoner?”

  “Summoner,” Alburet replied with a blank face.

  Closing her eyes Margret, took a deep breath before she opened them to meet his. “Do you promise to never oppose the empire?”