Sanctum

by Matthew Powell

  Joshua chose to go back the way he had come, figuring that it would be mostly devoid of stray monsters. While he had nothing against racking up a little extra EXP, using the Endemic Magnum this close to the Drudge Bear’s resting spot seemed like a bad idea. He had no idea how fast the bear could move, but it was probably faster than he could run away.

  During the journey, it didn’t take long for Joshua’s passive Pestilence generation to add up. It had taken a bit for him to regenerate from the crater’s radiation damage, but everything after that went towards upgrading the longsword. While the magnum made fights easy, he needed a stronger melee weapon if he ever wanted to clash with tougher enemies. When the trenches started flattening out back into a regular wasteland, the upgrade was finished. Rather than presenting a new status screen with the weapon’s new stats, a choice appeared.

  Your Pestilence Longsword is as powerful as it can get in its current state. You must choose to either enlarge it or enhance the material.

  Thinking back, every time he had upgraded a piece of equipment, there had been a clear goal in mind. Joshua wanted plate when he upgraded the armor, a bigger gun when he upgraded the pistol, etc. He didn’t have a clear upgrade in mind for the longsword, so the game was forcing him to choose.

  Enlarging the longsword would likely result in a generic two-handed sword or a Zweihänder. It would give the sword extra damage and put extra weight behind each swing, but also restrict him from using his free hand. Given the usefulness of having a free hand for either the dagger or pistol, Joshua chose to enhance the material instead.

  The Pestilence aura that hung around the sword receded, sucked into the weapon by the enhancement process. The weapon grew heavier in Joshua’s hands as the sword’s rusty-brown material changed into shiny black. When the process was finished, the sword had been completely remade.

  Plague-Ridden Obsidian Longsword

  Soul-Bound Weapon

  Damage Potential: 500 Blunt/4500 Sharp/2000 Infection

  Pestilence Towards Next Upgrade: 0/10,000

  Special Ability: Injection

  The obsidian making up this weapon has absorbed the Pestilence that once surrounded it. Infection damage has been greatly increased but will only apply when the sword point is directly stabbed into an enemy.

  Potential synergy has been detected between the Plague-Ridden Obsidian Longsword and Plague Plate set. One more item will result in the creation of a class set.

  Joshua admired the sword as its edge caught the light. No matter how deep he tried to dive into Macrocosm’s systems, there always seemed to be something more to learn. What was a class set? Was it unique to him? Would it evolve with his class? Did every class get one set or were there generic sets that could be used by everyone that equipped a specific armor type? There was still so much to learn, and the game hadn’t been out nearly long enough for others to solve everything yet.

  That was what made this so perfect. This was the environment Joshua had made a living in: being one of the first, discovering how to manipulate the mechanics of a new game, and abusing them for profit. The ability to create an entirely new item set from nothing would be a goldmine until others wizened up to how it worked. Joshua was lost in his thoughts until he reached the radiation zone’s edge, where Grace was within sight.

  Chapter 16

  Immortality is a fun topic. There are just so many different types of it, and everyone who has any of them thinks they are invincible. There are those with technological or biological immortality, who have found a way to extend their bodies lifespans or jump to new bodies. There are those with magical immortality, which is pretty much the same as before but with magic. Above that would be godly immortality, where someone ties their souls to their very universe, such that nothing short of complete universal annihilation would kill them. Above even that resides beings such as me…and Filth. – On Immortality, from the Chronicles of The Founder

  ◆◆◆

  The first thing Joshua noticed when he entered town was the sheer number of different classes people had. When he had first found Grace, most of the other players had generic classes that he could see in almost every other online game on the market, but things had changed. The realization that radiation might change people’s class had sparked an entire wave of class evolutions, and now almost every player in town had their own unique gimmick.

  Radioactive Spellslinger - Tier 2

  Contaminated Hunter – Tier 1

  Glowing Berserker – Tier 3

  All of the class names had something tagged onto it that gave away the radiation’s effect, and it looked like a few of them had discovered how to use magic at the same time. The only Tier 3 person that Joshua could see was the Glowing Berserker, surrounded by a crowd of other players. It was an impressive feat to have gotten so far on this zombie-filled world without Filth’s blessings, but to Joshua, it just made clear how slow his own progress had been so far.

  Making his way through the town, Joshua re-entered Alaran’s item shop. The store was visibly nicer than before, as if it had undergone extensive renovations in the hours since he had left. It was nearly twice as large and had several players walking around browsing the goods.

  “Well, if it isn’t our knight in less-than-shining armor. Come back to change the meta again?” Alaran was actually awake this time, and apparently much happier than he had been before. A quick look at his status showed why.

  Alaran the Journeyman Merchant

  Tier: 2

  Level: 4

  HP: 1300/1300

  “You’ve made some improvements to the place. Weren’t you going to ditch Sanctum as soon as you had the money?”

  “Well,” Alaran looked a little sheepish, “I was planning to, but then you came along and showed everyone how to get new classes with radiation. Business has been booming ever since! Almost every player in town exclusively adventures in the radiation zone now, and the Tier 3 enemies mean that they all need gear and potions! I’ve made as much money off the few dozen players here as I normally would have over a game’s entire life cycle!”

  “Hah! And now that you’ve found your cash cow, you aren’t willing to let it go?”

  “Of course not! With how well sales are going, I might just stick around here all the way to Tier 4 and move up to a higher level world with everyone else. Once the news got onto the forums that irradiated worlds had classes similar to fantasy ones, we started to get an influx of new players, so I should have steady business for a while after the rest of you reach Tier 4 and leave.”

  Alaran was practically shaking with excitement. He made his living through selling stuff in games like Joshua did, but made his money entirely from digital stores instead of fighting monsters for loot. Having a steady stream of business was practically a goldmine waiting to be exploited.

  “Oh, there’s something going on by the town gate that you might be interested in. Something about a raid going on.”

  “A raid? Here?” Joshua was surprised by that. Raids were massive groups of players that got together to take down particularly powerful enemies and massive dungeons. Even the smallest raids required at least 20 people, and larger ones could easily have several hundred. If one was forming here, it could only be for one place. The tower in the wasteland.

  “Yeah, some guys found a really tough dungeon out in the irradiated wastes and started getting a group together. They’ve been at it for over an hour now and I think they almost have enough people, so you better hurry.”

  “Perfect, thanks for the information.” Joshua started to leave the store, before jerking back and remembering why he had come here in the first place. “Before I forget, how much do you think this would be worth if it wasn’t Soul-Bound?”

  Joshua placed the Endemic Magnum down on the counter and watched as Alaran’s eyes widened. “Did…did you make this? It's easily one of the strongest weapons in town right now. If you can make these, I’ll buy them off you for 500 credits each.”

  “Only 500
? That’s a little disappointing.” The market, last time he had checked it, had several items significantly weaker than the magnum for much more than 500 credits.

  “If you had brought this even just a few hours ago, I would have offered thousands, but not anymore. Prices for gear are dropping fast as the real economy starts to form and players keep leveling up. If you offer this same weapon at this time tomorrow, I might offer you 50 for it.”

  “That’s…damn, people are moving fast. I figured it would be at least a few weeks before this kind of falloff. What about my armor?” The gun may have been worth less than Joshua thought, but the armor might be a different story.

  “…hang on a sec.” Alaran brought up another menu and started tinkering around with it. Joshua couldn’t see what he was doing, but it didn’t take long for him to finish. “3000 credits for the set. I don’t know how you managed to get a set, or if you crafted it yourself, but they are incredibly rare right now. Your Plague Plate set isn’t the strongest, but the sheer rarity of them combined with their special effects is keeping its price high.”

  Joshua nodded, glad that his hunch was correct. If he could create a set that included weaponry, the value would increase exponentially.

  “Alright Alaran, thanks for your time.”

  “Bring back any loot you find! I’ll offer a fair price!” Alaran called out as Joshua left, hoping to keep his business for a little longer. Joshua had already decided to sell Alaran any loot that he found. Unless something with extreme rarity or special powers dropped, it would almost certainly be worse than what he could form with Pestilence.

  Joshua left the store and headed towards the town gate once again. He hadn’t noticed at first, but the number of players in town was significantly higher than before. Most of them were still just Tier 1, but that would change quickly. He needed to pick up the pace in order to stay ahead, and a raid seemed like the perfect way to do just that.

  As the town gate grew closer, Joshua once again saw the Glowing Berserker surrounded by an even larger crowd of people than before. The large man actually called out to Joshua as he approached.

  “I was starting to think you wouldn’t be joining us, Zandrius.”

  Mane, the Glowing Berserker

  Tier: 3

  Level: 2

  HP: 11,000/11,000

  It was Mane, the same person who had approached Joshua to ask about his armor when he had first entered Grace. He had certainly put some work in, Pushing up to Tier 3 and getting an entirely new set of equipment in the process. Mane was decked out in a suit of armor much like Joshua’s own, though noticeably more worn and missing pieces. Where once a massive great-sword slung across his back, now was what could only be called a Buster-Sword.

  “Are you the one organizing the raid?” I’m interested in joining.”

  “No no, I’m not organizing it, I’m just here for muscle. Everyone who wants to join can gather here with me, and then we all head out when the leader gets back. If you want to join, make sure you’ve got plenty of potions, the radiation damage adds up quick.”

  Joshua was a little surprised by how unorganized the raid seemed to be. Normally raids would require careful planning and close leadership, but this seemed fairly haphazard. It took Joshua a moment to realize that this was because Macrocosm was still so new. There hadn’t been enough time to work out exactly which classes would fill what role, and there wasn’t anything like a built-in group finder. Until more organized groups formed, raids would pretty much just be large groups throwing themselves at challenges mindlessly.

  The situation wasn’t ideal for the raid, but it was still Joshua’s best chance at leveling up as fast as possible. With any luck, the surrounding players wouldn’t even notice that he was leveling up faster than them from the same monsters thanks to the Blessings. If they did, he could pass it off as a class feature just like his armor.

  “I’ll be back in a sec, just gotta turn in some quests first.” Joshua turned to leave, headed towards the quest board.

  “Hurry back! The leader should be here in just a few minutes.”

  Joshua quickly found the quest board near the gate, entirely devoid of people. Anyone who might be here was grouped up and waiting for the raid to start. Before he even reached the board, a notification popped up.

  Quests Completed!

  Wanted: 10x Tier 3 Zombies has been completed twice.

  Reward: 6000 EXP

  Lesser Blessing of Growth detected

  Reward changed to: 12,000 EXP

  All Joshua could do was stare at the blue screen. 12,000 EXP was downright absurd for the quest’s difficulty, pushing him past level 5 and up to level 6. Up until now, there had been no indication of exactly how large the Lesser Blessing of Growth’s bonuses had been, but now he knew it was doubling all the EXP and Pestilence he had been receiving. A permanent double EXP multiplier was something that professionals would kill for, and Joshua had it all to himself.

  While he was at the quest board, Joshua took a quick glance to see if there were any quests related to the dungeon. He had purposely avoided dungeon quests during his first visit, not wanting a repeat of the supercenter, but now was a good time to find one. It didn’t take him long to find three of them.

  Clear the first level of the Dungeon.

  Area: Irradiated Skyscraper

  Reward: 10,000 EXP

  Description: Only available once per player. The irradiated skyscraper in split into three sections, each called a level, and are made up of multiple floors each. Either clear the first level or be a part of a group that does.

  Recommended party size: 10+ Tier 3 players

  Accept Quest? Yes/No

  Clear the second level of the Dungeon.

  Area: Irradiated Skyscraper

  Reward: 20,000 EXP

  Description: Only available once per player. The irradiated skyscraper in split into three sections, each called a level, and are made up of multiple floors each. Either clear the second level or be a part of a group that does. The second level is significantly more difficult than the first.

  Recommended party size: 15+ Tier 3 players

  Accept Quest? Yes/No

  Kill the Dungeon Boss

  Area: Irradiated Skyscraper

  Reward: 30,000 EXP

  Description: Only available once per player. The irradiated skyscraper in split into three sections, each called a level, and are made up of multiple floors each. At the top of the third level lives an extremely powerful entity known as the dungeon boss. Kill this boss or be part of a group that does. Do not attempt this challenge unprepared.

  Recommended party size: 20+ Tier 3 players

  Accept Quest? Yes/No

  Joshua immediately accepted all three quests. How could he not? He planned to finish their objectives anyway, and the rewards were simply too good to pass up. With his new knowledge of the Lesser Blessing, these three quests combined would reward 120,000 EXP in total, a mind-boggling amount to him. Even if the dungeon itself turned out not to be noteworthy, the quest rewards alone would be worth more than ten levels and serve to get him to the next planet extremely quickly.

  Joshua made his return to the gate, where Mane was waiving him down.

  “Hey! Two whole levels just from a quest turn-in huh? Must have been some good quests. Did you make sure to pick up the dungeon stuff while you were there?”

  “Yeah, I did. Any idea when the raid leader will be here?” There was no need to let Mane or any of the surrounding players know about the EXP bonus. The longer that stayed a secret, the better.

  “He should be here any second now.”

  Just a Mane finished talking, a figure that could only be the raid leader drew the attention of the gathered players.

  Khymer, the Soldier

  Level: 8

  Tier: 2

  HP: 5000/5000

  Khymer was dressed in a setup of pristine military garb and holding an assault rifle, much like the town guard were but of much higher quali
ty. Gear like his must have been made through a higher-level craftsman than the town of Grace had access to, and that could only mean one thing.

  A whale. Even centuries after the term’s creation, and long after buying and selling items for real money became legal, the term whale persisted. A whale was a player with enough money in the real world to deck themselves out in all the best equipment for their class and level without having to earn it first. The assault rifle alone had to be worth over 1000 credits. The armor was likely a set, though not a Soul-Bound one.

  Joshua already had ideas floating through his head on how to take advantage of this. A quick glance around showed that several other players were having the same thoughts. None of the whale’s equipment was Soul-Bound, which meant it would all drop on death. Before the man even got his first word out, half of the raid was planning ways to kill him and take his stuff.

  “Wow, looks like you sure managed to draw a crowd, didn’t ya Mane? All for the best. Now as I’m sure you’ve all taken the quests related to the dungeon-” A few players actually ran off to the quest board when they heard that, causing Joshua and others to chuckle. Apparently, not everyone had thought to check that beforehand. Khymer continued when they returned.