Raven- The Beginning

by David Wadsworth

  I brought up my character’s stats window, and added 2 points into both Strength and Agility. I would then alternate between Dexterity and Vitality every other level. I now looked at my stats:

  Character

  Character Name: Raven

  Occupation: Rogue

  Level: 2 (60/105)

  Currency: 0c

  Health: 825

  Stamina: 925

  Mana: 600

  ———————————————————————————

  Stats

  Strength: 17

  Dexterity: 16

  Agility: 22

  Vitality: 15

  Wisdom: 10

  ———————————————————————————

  Weapon Damage: 64 - 128

  Critical Hit Chance: 12%

  Critical Hit Damage: 76 - 140

  Armor: 5

  Evade Rate: 2%

  I closed my stats window, pleased with my build decisions. I might need to ask Wuang if it would be possible to keep this character, depending on how far I got. Smiling, I stood up. It was now time to finish this quest and turn it in.

  Walking further into the forest, I spotted another pack of three wolves, walking in the same formation as the previous ones. I decided to stick with the same strategy as the first pack, and walked in a wide circle behind the wolves. Since I was now level 2 and the wolves where only level 1, I was able to get off my Backstab without being noticed. Instantly, I followed up with Eviscerate before the wolf could turn around and attack me.

  “So much better than the random auto-attacks,” I thought to myself as I started to slice at the wolf.

  The wolf was able to attack me, biting my arm as I finished my slice. Before my next attack could land though, the wolf died from the bleeding damage it received from my Eviscerate. I bent down to loot the wolf’s corpse, and instead of resting, I re-activated Stealth and started stalking towards the next wolf.

  I was pretty sure that I almost got off a significant critical hit with my Backstab on this wolf, since as I connected with Eviscerate, the wolf died. Feeling much better about my damage, I smiled as I collected yet another Fang. After looting it, I got a small notification window that informed me that I was finished with my quest from Moleari and just needed to return to the village and turn it in.

  After activating Stealth again, I brought up my stats window and looked at my health, which was at 700/825. I closed the stats window, and instead of resting, I started stalking towards the last wolf, the pack leader.

  I killed the pack leader the same way I had the others, but due to the difficulty of the mob, it did take a few normal attacks and 2 Eviscerates, however, I didn’t lose as much health as I did with the previous pack leader when I was level 1. This one only took me down to 495 health, which was about 60% if my math was correct. As with the last pack leader, I was awarded with another Fang and 2 Rawhide Leather.

  Since I was only 10xp away from level 3, I decided to kill another wolf pack. I had to look around for a few minutes before I found another pack, which I quickly dispatched. After killing the pack, I quickly looted the Fangs and the Rawhide Leather from the now dead wolves.

  Instead of upgrading my character sheet and purchasing new skills however, I decided to go back to town and turn in the quests that I had. I really could use those daggers, and might even ask Moire if she could make something with the Rawhide Leather that I had.

  The walk back to the village was peaceful, as I didn’t run into any aggressive mobs on the way. I did spot a few rabbits and squirrels that were running around, but the squirrels looked a little odd since they had two tails and sort of glittered. I chuckled to myself as I wondered if they were vampire squirrels, as they reminded me of one of those old movies from back in the 2000’s. Almost everything from that era was still archived and freely available on the Net.

  Getting back to the village, I let the guard that gave me the quest to kill the wolves that it was completed, and was awarded with another 50xp and 1 silver, which immediately granted me yet another level. I was almost level 5! I walked back to Moire’s shop, almost skipping in glee towards it, which granted me some perplexed stares from the different NPC merchants that I passed by. Arriving at the blacksmith’s shop, I walked into the store.

  “Oh, it’s you again. Did you get me my ore yet,” Moire asked me as soon as I walked in.

  Rolling my eyes, I replied, “No Moire, I haven’t gotten your ore yet, but if you think you could get it quicker?”

  Moire looked at me and scowled at me as I walked over to the counter and pulled out the 6 Rawhide Leather that I looted from the three wolf pack leaders, laying them on the counter. Moire’s eyes instantly went wide in surprise.

  “So Moire, do you think you could do anything with these,” I asked. Moire looked up from the hides that were on her counter.

  “I’m sure I could, with six of these, I could make you a cloak. Or I could use them to make some boots and gloves, since for those, I’ll only need three of each for them,” she replied.

  I asked Moire to make the boots and gloves, and the irritating blacksmith told me that it would take an hour to create the items. Smiling at her, which I hoped disguised my irritation, I thanked her and then headed out to go to the apothecary. I also needed to turn in the quest for the fangs.

  Entering the apothecary, I was again overcome by the stench of the various plants and metals that were being boiled down to create the potions that Moleari was making.

  Looking behind her, Moleari smiled at me, which made me feel a little weird, since when I originally came here she disregarded me.

  “I can sense that you brought the fangs that I need for these potions. You can lay them over there,” she said while pointing at a table.

  I walked over to the table that she was directed me to and withdrew the fangs from my inventory and laid them down.

  “Mm, since you brought extras, I suppose I could give you an additional 25 copper for each of them,” Moleari informed me.

  “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I do need to get back to work. Seems that it never ends. Perhaps you should look for some more work yourself. Come back tomorrow and I’ll see what I have for you,” Moleari said, clearly dismissing me. I took the 1 silver and 25 copper from the counter that she laid the coins on, and walked out of the apothecary, unsure of how I felt about the old potion maker.

  However, instead of contemplating Moleari’s dubious nature, I decided to go back to the inn to review my progress in peace. I had 2 levels worth of skills and stats to invest in. I probably should have killed another pack of wolves while I was out there since I only needed another 30xp for level 5. Oh well.

  Sitting on my makeshift bed in my room at the inn, I first pulled up her ability window so that I could allocate my current stat points. I had 10 stat points to upgrade with, so I followed my plan, and increased my Strength by 4, Agility by 4, and increased both Dexterity and Vitality by 1. Next, I pulled up the new skills that I could purchase and reviewed it:

  Available Skill Points: 6

  Throw Magical Dagger (Level 1): Throws a magical dagger at a target within 50 meters. Further development in this skill increases range by 10% per level.

  Track Mark (Level 1): Allows the caster to place a mark on a target, allowing the caster to track them within 100 meters. Further development in this skill increases the distance which the target can be tracked by 25 meters per level.

  Riposte (Level 1): Performs an attack that riposte's the target's attack after a successful evasion which causes 125% weapon damage. 5 second reuse timer. Further development in this skill raises the damage by 2% per level. Requirement: Must be performed after a successful evasion.

  Crippling Slice (Level 1): Slices the target's legs, causing 100% weapon damage and slows the movement of the target by 25% for 5 seconds. Further development in this skill increases the duration of Slow by 5% per level.

  Frontal Slice (Level
1): An attack that hits all targets that are in the front of the rogue, causing 100% weapon damage to each target. Further development in this skill increases the damage by 2% per level.

  Kidney Strike (Level 1): Performs an attack the does 100% weapon damage to the target, causing the target to attack more slowly by 10% per level for 5 seconds.

  Looking over the skills, I decided to add two points into Riposte and Stealth, bringing both of them to level 3, and added a point into both Garrote and Throw Magical Dagger. Throw Magical Dagger might seem like an odd choice, however, once I was able to specialize as an assassin, I knew that I would be able to access a Poison Weapons buff, which would allow me to poison enemies at a distance.

  As far as Riposte, even if my evade rate was abysmally low, it would slowly raise with each level of Dexterity and the skill would do much higher damage when I evaded an attack. Closing my skills window, I opened my character stats window and invested the stat points that I had as well. I was slowly coming along.

  “Hide stats,” I said, and with a satisfied grunt, knowing that I had to get ready to visit Moire, which I had conflicting emotions about. On one hand, I admired that developers made the NPC a young girl when they would usually make the NPC a gruff-looking man with a beard, but the AI that ran that NPC seemed a bit irritating, like she had something to prove to everyone. It frustrated me to even talk with her, but I needed to get my boots and gloves regardless. Those should give me a bit more armor, which would allow me to take a few more hits. Higher levels of armor would lower the damage that I would take from each hit, so until I could get a high level of evasion, I would need the stat.

  Walking down to the inn’s lobby, Isbeil was kind enough to let me know that I needed to pay the inn’s fee for my room, which was 1 silver per week. I knew it wasn’t that bad since that in the major cities it could run up to 25 gold per night, and if a player actually wanted to own their own plot of land to avoid those fees, that could cost up to 250 platinum. At least I didn’t need to stay that long though.

  I looked around, and at this time of night, the village seemed quiet, with only a few NPCs walking around, making it seem more busy than it actually was. As I walked towards the blacksmith though, I heard the feint sound of laughter. I looked towards the sound, I saw a couple of players hanging around the crossroads. I assumed that it was probably a group of players. Shrugging off my curiosity, continued on to Moire’s shop.

  “Ooh, look at what the cat dragged in, a ruffian!” Moire almost shouted excitedly. “Come on over, I have those boots and gloves you requested,” she said while smiling.

  I rubbed at my temple since I was already starting to get a migraine from this young blacksmith. I wondered if I could actually get a migraine, and from dealing with Moire, it sure seemed like it.

  “Ok, let’s see what you have for me,” I said as I walked over to the counter.

  Moire looked at me with a twinkle in her eye, thinking that she might amaze me with her craftsmanship as she reached under the counter. From under the counter, she pulled out a pair of rawhide boots and rawhide gloves.

  “Not the best pieces mind you, but I only had some rawhide to use. Perhaps if you went to the mines like I asked you to, I could make something a bit more useful. Maybe you could get me some Draconic or Ephemeral Leather next,” she asked me with a grin.

  “Right, I’ll see what I can do about that,” I replied. Draconic Leather was a level 90-100 material, and Ephemeral could make items that were 100 plus. I sincerely hoped she was actually joking with me.

  Looking at the stats of the equipment, they were what I had expected. Each piece granted another point of armor, but neither raised my stats. At this point though, I would take what I could get.

  “And yes, I haven’t forgotten about your ore Moire. In fact, I should probably be getting to it soon, and then we’ll see about those daggers,” I said offhandedly as I equipped my new armor.

  Walking out of the shop, I walked along the dirt road towards the entrance of the village, thinking that I should kill another wolf pack to get to level 5, and then I could start on the task of getting the iron ore from the mines. I was unsure as to what to expect from the mine, so I set out towards the forest to grind wolves to get level 5.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Death in the Mines

  After the last wolf died, a golden aura filled my vision. “Congratulations, you are now level 5! You may now acquire an advanced specialization,” the system’s voice informed me. After killing another wolf pack, I now had 240xp, which to reach level 5, I only needed 235xp. Also, now that I had 2 more pieces of rawhide from the pack leader, I could get Moire to make me a couple of bracers for my wrists. More armor never hurt!

  My steps much lighter now, I walked back towards the village, excited that I was able to finally specialize as an assassin. I was also really enjoying the game, except for the fact that the smell of both the wolves and their blood was almost enough to make me gag. They smelled exactly like wet dogs, and the coppery smell of blood made me woozy. However, since it was just a game, I was able to put the new sensations in the back of her mind.

  While I absentmindedly walked towards the blacksmith, I decided to at least allocated my stat points. I now had 23 Strength, 17 Dexterity, 28 Agility, and 17 Vitality. Before I could specialize though, I would need to sleep at the inn and speak with my deity, Noctis, inside of the dreamworld. I figured that I would pick up both Assassinate and Apply Poison once I got access to those skills tomorrow morning.

  After dropping off the rawhide to Moire, and getting back to the inn, I laid down in the uncomfortable bed and almost immediately fell asleep.

  ****

  Once more, I woke up in a world of fog, as a voice called out to me. It was the same voice that I heard when I first started the game.

  “Child, you have come far in your travels, but this is just the beginning. There are many paths before you and many ways you may become my champion,” Noctis said. It seemed to me that her voice was everywhere and nowhere at the same time. It was hidden in this world.

  In front of me, the fog began to disperse, and what was beyond the fog was a thief, stalking behind his mark, ready to pick the mark’s pocket. The scene faded to the next one, showing the same thief unlocking a treasure chest in some dungeon. Noctis provided commentary on the scene, explaining the thief class and how useful the class could be.

  The next scene that played out for me was my assassin class. It showed an assassin appearing behind a goblin, slicing it’s throat and assassinating it. More commentary from Noctis, and I started to grow bored as the scenes showed the remaining rogue specializations - the bard, swashbuckler, and shadow dancer.

  Although I was intrigued by the the shadow dancer class, when Noctis finally asked me what class I would like to specialize in, I chose the assassin. Since this world felt so real to me with the new equipment I was testing, I didn’t want to attempt to play a brand new class without the proper tutorials or guides. Wuang probably knew the same thing, hence why he suggested it.

  “You have chosen to become my assassin, to become that which is feared in the night, that which has people looking into the shadows. It requires patience, strength, and tenacity. You must never falter, and you must never fail,” Noctis said.

  She then added unexpectedly, “You are unique among my champions, and I will be watching.”

  Noctis then appeared beside me, facing the opposite way as she put her hand over my heart as she did before. This time she did not push though, and I felt a warm feeling starting to grow.

  “Go forth into the world my child, and learn what it is to be an assassin,” she whispered in my ear, her breath making my heart skip a beat.

  ****

  I suddenly woke from my dream, still in my bed which was a mess, the covers entangling me. I felt different though, more… deadly, which was a different experience than I had before, even on ShadowBlood. I pulled up my skill list and saw the skills which I could now purchase.

/>   I immediately distributed the two points into Assassinate and the other point into Apply Poison. I now had a good selection of skills to last me until level 10. From level 5 up to level 90, additional skills would only come every 5 levels. It was hard enough for me to track them as a player, I could only imagine how hard it would be for the developers to keep track of them all, let alone balance them.

  However, something did bother me about my dream. Perhaps it was because this character worshiped Noctis, but on my main character, the deity didn’t tell me that he would be watching me. Mentally shrugging to myself and thinking that it was more than likely due to a different storyline path, I got out of my hay-strewn bed and walked back to Moire’s shop.

  “You seem… different, but whatever, I have your bracers” Moire immediately said after I walked into the blacksmith’s shop.

  I walked over to the counter as Moire pulled out the wrist bracers from beneath it, laying them on the counter.