by Sam Strigo
Arcane Hazards
Demonic Summoner: Installment One
Sam Strigo
Blazing LitRPG
Copyright © 2018 by Sam Strigo
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
To Logan, whose name will ring through writers’ Valhalla well before his time. Whose help has been instrumental in the release of Arcane Hazards.
May endless good reviews pave your path, friend.
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Next Up…
About the Author
LitRPG recommendations from Blazing LitRPG
Chapter One
Submerge yourself into a world of old myths and grand possibilities. Feel the wind at the top of a mountain range made of candy. Breathe in the air in a valley of titanic sunflowers. Dive MMORPGs take control of the players senses and subconscious. Everything a player would feel in a fabricated magical world, she would feel as if real, as if she were really physically transported to a parallel universe. Since its invention in the twenty-third century, Dive has become the unrivaled immersive experience.
It was no surprise, that when Dive human-machine interfacing technology was first made commercially available, it became immensely popular. Half the world’s population have Dived at least once. Since then, advancements have only secured Dive games further as the world’s greatest pastime.
Felix stares at the instructions in his hands. Setting up the pod himself cannot be that difficult. Sure, other people had it shipped to them fully installed but he can handle putting color-coded components together. Besides, it’s cheaper this way.
The young man, in his parents’ attic, lays down the instructions in front of a yet-to-be assembled pile of techno pieces and wires. He picks up a red metal cube, about the size of his palm. On its tag is printed, "Limiter Module". He grins at it. Soon, it will all come together and Felix will be one of the first to play the most anticipated game of the decade.
ArcaneHazards, the newest and most ambitious Dive MMORPG ever attempted, has just been released. The game walks to the cutting edge of technology and builds a bridge into the unknown. Felix recalls hearing of its development five years ago when he was fifteen. He remembers the hype. An open world, intelligent NPCs, deep magic and crafting mechanics, living ecosystems of flora and fauna, realistic to the nth degree — the game promised a level of immersive experience that was unheard-of.
Felix can't stop smiling as he puts his pod together, piece by piece. They aren't cheap, these machines. This one in particular is the very latest kit. The model was designed for the game; the most advanced line of its kind, in fact. I had to save up for a very long time to afford this thing, he laments as he fixes the frame. And even then it's not like just anyone can place an order.
He had to beg his uncle to get one reserved, and for a discount too. Uncle James works as an executive for the company manufacturing these pods. Very nice man.
*thump thump thump*
Ugh. Why can't they just. shut. up. Always making a ruckus. Get a job or go to school they chirp, chirp, chirp. Plenty of people make tons of cash — real cash — in Dive MMORPGs these days, and that's exactly what Felix knows he'd do well. What could be better? In a world of adventure, and new beginnings. No boss to accuse you of things you did or did not do. And no being fired by said boss from a terrible dead-end job. And in the end, no being forced to move into your parents’ depressing attic.
Time flies while Felix puts together the lower half of the seven-foot rectangular cuboid. The unorganized pile of puzzle pieces shrink over the whole afternoon to nothing and a sleek shiny black metal pod takes its place. "Suitable for ages twelve and up. Five foot even to six foot six only," reads a sticker on one of the panels.
We're not done yet.
Felix heaves, gripping the curved heavy lid, tightly, as he lifts it above the machine. It makes a low *clack*, dropping into place. Black wires, blue wires, green ones, and ones that think they're candy canes. After a short bit of wiring, all that's left is turning it on, and then, no more nagging, no more terrible — well, never had any friends , but certainly no more little sisters!
Felix double-taps the lid and the whole thing hums to life. A few moments pass and bright yellow text scrolls rapidly down the length of the glossy black top. Minutes later, just as suddenly as it had appeared, it disappears, replaced with a status display.
Pod Status : Ready
Power : Connected, Charging 10%
Diagnostics : 0 Errors, 0 Warnings
Server Connection : 100%
Latency : 10ms
The young man unbuckles his belt and pulls his pants off, almost tripping and falling over as he does. Hopping on one leg, Felix takes his pants off, chucking them onto his bed. In one swift move, his t-shirt follows.
Down to nothing, the youth carefully slides his hand down the edge of the pod cover. Blue eyes stare back from the reflection on the surface. There is no need for glasses inside. His fingers finding what they're looking for, pulls. Gracefully the lid swings open. Felix hops in and lies on his back.
*beep*
As if acknowledging his presence, the pod closes shut. The incessant thumping below, the honking down the street, the laughter in the driveway, everything, abruptly, all silenced. All but a gentle hum. Felix, illuminated by the lights inside, sees a prompt appear in front of him.
ArcaneHazards
[Start Game]
*tap*
The prompt disappears, and the light dims to nothing. In total darkness, the humming of the machine fades away. A floating sensation hits Felix, but even that is gone in moments. His senses numb, not even the beating of his heart is felt. He cannot see but feels his vision going the way his mind is. Going, going, gone.
With a start, Felix gasps for breath, pushing his upper body up on his forearms. His eyes flutter open and sees white. Still breathing heavy, he looks around in a panic.
A room? Am I in the game? Ahh, that sucked.
"Oh god." Felix exhales, catching his breath. Slowly and deliberately, he gets up. The first time always sucks. Losing everything then getting it all back again, all at once. It was just the machine asserting itself over the brain. Everything he feels from now on is the fabrication of mind-bogglingly complex series of algorithms. Layer upon layer of genius paired with years of hard work.
Four walls, a ceiling and a floor. White. Impossibly pristine. A cube with no exit. The waiting room, Felix reckons. Once he calms down, the game will begin. A prompt appears as a tiny window he is sure is just in his head. It doesn't follow his vision but stays, always at a distance, wherever he faces. The letters so crisp, he feels like he could read it from miles away.
ArcaneHazards
Character Creation
Please Choose A Name
MaxValentine, Felix wills and the ambiguous intelligence acknowledges.
*beep*
ArcaneHazards
Character Creation
Create Character MaxValentine
[Continue] [Cancel]
[Continue]
The room shakes. In the center, from a featureless floor, a wide circular platform begins to rise. And it continues rising, until a white-topped transparent cylindrical chamber towers over Felix. The shaking stops. Floating inside is a body. Half a dozen displays pop into Felix’s view. Some show close-ups of the figure and others, tens of little sliders.
ArcaneHazards
Char
acter Creation
MaxValentine
Body, Face, Hair
"Ahhh."
Ages pass before Felix, finally satisfied with his work, steps back to admire his body to be. Six feet zero, muscular, lean, black hair, blue eyed and everything he imagines would have solved all problems in life.
Felix looks down at himself, still naked, with a grimace. The pod had copied his original form in all its imperfections, minus the terrible eyesight. Only what's skin deep is ever brought over. But before him, floating weightlessly in a tank, is his true body. Felix trembles.
[Next]
Old displays fade and new ones beep into existence. Graphs, figures, and loads of text. Felix takes his time adjusting his starting stats. He was sure these numbers weren't the only ones that mattered in the game. Most were rumoured to be hidden from players in any case. He'll just have to wing it.
ArcaneHazards
Character Creation
MaxValentine
Starting Stats
"Aaand done!" Felix says to nobody in particular as he inspects a summary on one of the windows.
MaxValentine
Male
Level 0
Exp. 0/25
* * *
Health 20/20
Stamina 20/20
Mana 20/20
* * *
Strength : 1
Celerity : 1
Resilience : 1
Endurance : 1 + 1
Auric Potency : 0 + 2
Auric Depth : 0 + 2
* * *
—Skill Systems—
*None*
—Magic Systems—
*None*
* * *
—Abilities—
Identify (Level 1)
Party Management (Level 1)
Inventory (Level 1)
* * *
—Attributes—
*None*
—Titles—
*None*
—Status Effects—
*None*
[Complete] [Reset]
Tapping the summary window with his finger and dragging it closer, Felix takes a deep breath and one final look at his new body.
[Complete]
Everything goes black.
Chapter Two
The howling of wind. The cold whipping gale. Felix startles awake as he feels himself being thrown forward, into an explosion of fresh air. Tumbling through space uncontrollably, helpless to steady himself. He sees the blue skies, he sees the clouds, he sees the ground -two thousand feet below him.
"Oh shit! Oh! Oooh!" Felix twists and turns. His expression is distorted and wild. "Ahhh!"
With one held breath, he shuts his eyes tight and hugs his knees. But the ground never came.
Deliberately, Felix opens his eyes, and considers his predicament. He isn't falling. He isn't moving forward. And the tumbling has stopped. Slowly, he uncurls himself. Suspended upright, high above a passing flock of birds, Felix exhales a long sigh. Clouds float by, beneath him.
Those damned developers. I could've gotten a heart attack.
Tentatively, he wills himself to move. Slowly, by an unseen hand, his body turns. Testing his range of motion, he discovers that the invisible power holding him up is holding him in one spot.
This must be like the waiting room. Something will happen once I've calmed down.
Turning himself around, he surveys the world beneath him. The sun is high but Felix feels no heat. His jaw drops. A stormy sea of hills, gigantic forests, glowing rivers like wounds on the earth, all within a world so vast its makes mountains seem like anthills.
With a start, Felix is thrown backwards. The invisible hand of the game pushes him on. He turns to face ahead, squinting his eyes at the anticipation of what's to come. At first, the pace is slow, but quickly builds up to great speed. As if on rails, his flight takes him swooping down valleys filled with nesting monsters, soaring above rivers so deep he just might drown looking at them, and flying by fantastical flora in dark forests.
The flight zooms to a frightening rush, crashing through a forest canopy and into blinding sunlight. The wind punishes him, while the game, without a hint of slowing down, pulls Felix along it's wicked adventure. Foreboding misty mountains loom ever closer, as Felix turns a wide, quick corner over a city.
Something odd about this place.
And, in a sweep, Felix ascends. Up. And up. And Up. Until the sky gave way to the stars. Until the world below him, unbidden, reveals itself. A titanic ecosystem of limitless promise. After a few moments, Felix tears himself away from the view. Something calls to him. He turns to see a monolith, its sides cracked and worn matte through the aeons. A blue-eyed man stares right back at him from the inky abyss, beyond the polished mirror-like surface.
“Ah!” Felix yelps, looking down at his hands uncertainly. He clenches them and trembles. His wide-eyed expression gives way to a grin. Unhurriedly, he runs his hand across his rippling musculature, from striated deltoids to rock-hard rectus abdominis.
*beep* A small prompt appears.
Do you wish to continue?
[Yes] [Reset]
[Yes]
The man in the mirror disappears. A map takes his place on the surface of the monolith. It shows, not the whole world, but a small slice. Still, what is on the map covers an enormous width and breadth. Hundreds of dots of light mark specific locations. A window appears.
Choose Starting Location
.
.
.
The window continues to list various starting locations, and their status. Felix mulls over the places he could begin his journey. Lights on the map brighten and dim sporadically.
Are cities generally easier to start in? The villages have really high difficulty levels. Alright! Time to make a decision.
Pushing the prompt away, Felix stares at the map.
[The Emerald Patron]
Chosen Emerald Patron | City | Low Difficulty.
Felix feels a strange, falling sensation. Then he plummets.
"Not agaaaain!"
Chapter Three
Bright streaks of light scar the afternoon sky. Each moves across its light blue backdrop with a purpose. One, moving with meteoric urgency, tears through the air towards a city.
Thick straight walls clad all sides of the almost amoebic shaped design, and where walls meet, arrowhead battlements protrude menacingly. Inside, vein-like streets divide the thousands of buildings into sections, like off-white scales on a giant spiked beast. A band of golden fields hug the city as if shielding it from the wave of hills that lay beyond.
The inbound streak of light becomes a glowing fireball trailing smoke. Merchants outside the walls, on their horse pulled carriages, stare. A guard yawns, unconcerned with the whole affair, while he examines papers at the gatehouse. People in the streets, ebb and flow about their business, in the unbreakable grip of old habits.
Closer the fireball comes, hurtling towards the city. Until, with an explosion of fire and a deafening boom, it slams into the ground. The impact shakes bedrock and clouds of smoke billow up from the site.
The dust settles. In the crater, a man, from a three point landing, stands. Felix looks around. He is in a wide marble plaza half embedded into a larger garden. Ahead is a marketplace bustling with people going about their business. Around him, everything from bipedal beasts to dwarves are in their little groups, chatting away, not taking any notice of him. Here and there, he hear little snippets of their conversations.
"Oh god, the flying in the beginning is so ridiculous."
"Where are we going, Marcy?"
"Still, it’s just been three hours since release."
"Hey, can I join your party?"
"Isn't the beginner entrance animation kinda over the top?"
"I am sooo hyped! Let's go~"
Felix notes that the crowd in the plaza are all wearing the same plain brown tunic and shorts.
"Hello MaxValentine! Welcome to the Emerald Patron!"<
br />
"What?" Felix blurts, startled at the sudden address.
A rather cute girl with bunny ears, is standing in front of him. She reaches out, grasps his hand and shakes it happily.
"Welcome to the Emerald Patron!" she repeats cheerily, beaming.
"I'm sorry, do I know you?" Felix asks tentatively.
"No, but I've been welcoming all the new Fallen. I have your welcome kit right here!" she says proudly while holding up a backpack.
"It has all the items you'll need insi— Oh! I am Emily by the way, nice to meet you!" she adds, hugging the bag. Glancing down, Emily continues, "And, um, there're some clothes inside too."
Emily offers the backpack shyly, taking care to avoid his gaze. Felix thanks her before taking the bag.
"Thank you Emily."
"Don't forget to wear your bunny ears! Take care! Bye~" babbles the red-faced Emily hurriedly, before turning around and running off, disappearing into the crowd.
*beep*
Quest : Beginners Tutorial
[Accept] [Decline]
So the backpack is part of the beginners tutorial? Or was it just coincidence? Felix thinks to himself.
[Accept]
*beep*
Objective : Go To Ruby Forest
Reward : 5 Gold
Time Limit : None
I'd better put something on first.
Rummaging through the backpack, Felix pulls out a pair of bunny ears, a plain brown tunic, brown shorts, and a pair of shoes. He leaves inside, a dagger, a garden trowel, a towel, a leather flask, and several rough cloth drawstring pouches.
