by Felix Craft
The last bastard caught me by surprise. While I was hunting in the waving grass, my axe dragging through the dirt, it exploded up behind me and barreled into my shoulder, knocking me to the ground and sinking its teeth. Growling in pain and weary rage, I managed to flip over and pin it to the ground under my battle-axe shaft. But pressed down as I might, I couldn't choke it to death. My SP was bottoming out, and darkness was encroaching at the edge of my vision.
Then suddenly, the darkness receded, and my body jolted like I’d received a shock from a defibrillator. I wasn’t fully recovered, but the boost was enough for me to lift my axe and stab the end of it through the wyrmling’s throat. That’s what I call shish kebab!
Groaning, I rose to my feet and checked my status. My SP had bumped up to 20, which was weird. Was this some kind of stop gap measure the game put in to keep the action going? It seemed a weird thing, as it made reaching the end of the meter meaningless. I shrugged. I could ask Danny about it when I finally reached him.
After I told the farmer his fields were clear, he sent me on my way with a bit of fresh-baked bread, easily some of the best bread I’ve ever had. As I munched, I noticed my HP now creeping up. That was good to see, and feel. I'd been dragging after all those fights.
I made my way back to the quartermaster. Upon seeing me, his eyebrows shot up. “Great gods, my boy, you look terrible! Here, let me take care of that for you.”
Pulling out a golden amulet, he reached out and put it against my chest. I wasn’t too fond of the idea, but when a pleasant warmth suffused my body, I let him continue. In the corner of my vision, my status projection showed my bars return to full.
“That’s handy.” Something that useful had to be worth a lot of Rc.
The quartermaster smiled, seeming embarrassed. “Just a little something I get to use for trainings like this.” He quickly pocketed it again. I let it go out of sight and tried to put it out of mind. Even if I was okay with hurting the poor fellow, there was no way I’d beat that mustachioed man in a fight.
I cleared my throat. “I cleared out those wyrmlings.”
“Of course you did! How else would you get that disgusting!” The quartermaster searched around in his vest/hauberk again, then withdrew a small purse that jingled as he moved it. “I believe this was the proper amount.”
He tossed it to me, and I snatched it out of the air. I didn’t want to be rude, but with money in my hand, I couldn’t resist counting it. I started fingering around inside the bag, the unfamiliarly shaped coins not obvious as to their value. However, a small counter appeared as a projection as I looked through the bag. If it was correct, I’d just acquired 100 Rc.
“Thanks.” I pocketed the money. “Hate to ask another favor, but if you have any clothes…”
“You certainly need those!” The quartermaster pointed back toward the village. “I don’t have anything for you here, but Elsa’s Outfitting and Adventuring shop ought to have things that suit your needs.”
“Thanks, again.” I tried to keep the annoyance from my voice. If I wanted to reach whatever village the next mod was waiting at, I’d have to have better protection. Besides, I felt sticky and smelled awful from my wyrmling battles. If I couldn’t get a bath, I could at least get a change of clothes.
“Oh, take that axe with you,” the quartermaster said. “It suits you, and it might keep you from stealing poor Yurluf’s next axe.”
I smiled, nodded, said goodbye, then left.
5
Deathless
As soon as I left the training yard, a projection popped up and startled me. Stopping where I was, I read its message.
Congratulations, adventurer! You have reached level 2! When you level up, you can choose to boost your stats by 10 HP, 10 SP or 10 MP. Additionally, you receive 2 ability points (AP) for Tier 1 traits and skills. As you reach certain leveling milestones, you will receive additional AP for higher level tiers. Assign AP to traits and skills to gain boosts to your character’s stats. Read about ability trees to learn more.
If I was leaving town, assigning my new AP would probably help me survive. Begrudgingly, I gave the command. “Command: My Character.”
Name: Zane_SD21
Level: 2
Profession: —
Faction: —
Runecoins: 100
- HP: 100/100
- SP: 100/100
- MP: —/100
Affinities:
- Battle-axe: Level 1 - 35%
Ability Trees:
- Combat
- Calisthenics
- Survival
- Industry
- Civil (available at Level 20)
- Magic (available at Level 20)
I blinked. Talk about information overload. As if that wasn't enough, when commanded, each ability tree opened up into a web of other paths. For Combat, there were paths for Light Weaponry and Heavy Weaponry, Ranged, and so on, which in turn opened into specific weapons — short sword, broadsword, battle-axe, bow, etc. Each of these branches had tiers — five of them, it looked like, which seemed to be opened by reaching a certain level. In the first tier, the only one I could access now, were traits where AP could be used to accentuate the effectiveness of the ability. For my battle-axe, there were four first-tier traits. I could boost my damage by 5%, improve block by 5%, improve accuracy by 5%, or improve attack speed by 5%.
None of this really mattered to me. I’d only be in MythRune as short as I could manage. I put one AP into battle-axe damage and another into the Calithentics ability tree for a 5% increase to dodge. Since I didn’t have armor, I figured it was my best way to avoid damage. I also boosted my HP by 10, figuring it would be good for surviving out in the wilds of MythRune.
Dismissing the jumble of projections, I cursed Danny again. I couldn't believe I was standing around, assigning imaginary points to imaginary stats on my digitally-fabricated character. I needed to get the hell out of here.
I hurried toward Elsa’s Outfitting and Adventuring Shop per the directions on my map. It was just off of the main crossroads of the village — that is to say, on the corner of the two muddy lands that qualified as roads here. It was two stories tall, the only building that tall in this backwater town, and had fresh paint on its sign. I took that as a good omen and stepped inside.
However, “outfitting and adventuring shop” was apparently code for “junk store.” You couldn’t find shittier stuff in Goodwill. On my way to the counter, I passed hunks of metals that were rusted beyond recognition, clothes that were so full of holes they would have been fashionable back on Earth, and what I’m pretty sure was a literal pile of crap.
At the counter, I rang the bell then waited. After a moment, a small woman maybe half my size waddled out from the back room and up to the counter, not saying a word. Elsa, or who I assumed was Elsa, wasn’t in much better shape than the store. She wore goggles and a floppy leather cap like Amelia Earhart, and her eyes were magnified to look huge. With the whole getup, I wasn’t sure how old she was, or, given her diminutive stature, if she was even supposed to be human.
“Hello.” I layered on the charm with a smile and tried not to loom too much over her. The more Rc I saved now, the more real money I’d have later. “Are you Elsa?”
The shop owner craned her head to look up at me for a moment, studying me with her huge eyes, seeing every spot of crusty wyrmling blood on me. “Yes!” she barked in the most blaring voice I'd heard. “What do you want?”
I scrubbed at one ear. “Outfitting and adventuring gear, I guess.”
“Then take a look and leave me alone! I have business in the back!” She jabbed a thumb at the door she’d come from, then turned on her heel and marched back through it.
So much for charm. I shook my head and started aimlessly moving around until I finally stumbled upon some gear that might be useful. Burnished bronze armor hung on a wall, easily the sturdiest stuff in the place. That would help me survive until I could find another mod.
I w
ent back to the counter and rang the bell again. Elsa stormed out of the backroom. “What?”
I pointed to the armor. “I'll take that. How much for it?”
Her magnified eyes followed my finger, and one exaggerated blink followed. Then she turned her look back to me. “2165 for the set.”
I nearly choked. “2165 Runecoins?”
“What else?” She looked me up and down again. “I knew you couldn't afford it. If you have at least 200 Runecoins, there’s that section over there for light armor.” She nodded to a corner filled with piles of rags, which I’d opted to pass by before.
I was starting to get angry. This whole stupid game seemed designed to make me plod through it. “Fine. I’ll look over there.” I didn’t tell her I only had 100 Rc, not trusting that she wouldn’t take advantage of that knowledge somehow.
The selection mostly consisted of “armor” that looked as if it had just come off a cow’s hide. It smelled like a rotting pile of carcasses, and looked to be in about the same condition. Holding my breath, I quickly sifted through it until I found a jerkin with holes that weren’t too big. What I was to do about my arms and legs, I had no idea. There were a lot of different pieces that had straps on them, but where they went was beyond me. Then I remembered there was a command for that. Loathe to let go of any of my non-cloying air, I said, “Command: Identify item.” The stats and names for the various pieces I was holding came up. In the end, I sorted through the greaves (for the shins), cuisses (for the thighs), and vambraces (for the forearms) and found acceptable pairs.
Hide Jerkin:
Defense: +3
Durability: 68/100
Hide Cuisses:
Defense: +2
Durability: 63/100
Hide Greaves:
Defense: +2
Durability: 78/100
Hide Vambraces:
Defense: +2
Durability: 61/100
As for my head, there was no way I was putting one of those things on my head. I’d sooner go for the split skull.
I took my reluctant purchases to the counter and rang the bell for the third time. This time, Elsa didn’t come out alone. Following her was a familiar face — Leesha.
“Ah, this is the one bothering you,” she said to the short shopkeeper, eyes picking apart my grime and shoddy purchases. “Can’t say I’m surprised. Want me to throw him out?”
I tightened my jaw and kept my mouth shut, as Elsa looked on verge of doing just that. Even seeing the hide armor on the counter and my coin pouch in my hand did little to lighten her mood. Stepping onto a stool behind the counter, she sorted through my selections. “That will be 162.”
“162?! I didn't even get a full set!”
Elsa frowned. “That’s why I gave you a discount.”
I couldn’t believe it, nor that I was even getting upset over it. Still, so much for getting real money from my Runecoins. “Fine. What if I leave off the cuisses and greaves?”
“92.”
Gritting my teeth and ignoring Leesha’s smirk, I poured out the coins into my hand and tried sorting out 92 of them. When I thought I had it, I started to hold out my hand, but Leesha said, “That’s 83. Put one of the small ones back and take a big one with the center cut out.”
I did so, and the shopkeeper accepted them, pushing my purchases towards me. “Now get out.”
I would have gladly done so, but one thing was becoming especially clear to me — I had no idea what I was doing here. But there was one person who did.
I walked up to Leesha. “You’ll be going to another town, right?”
She eyed me warily. “Eventually.”
“Take me with you. I’ll take care of myself, but I have a feeling I’m going to need a hand if I’m going to get out of this place.”
Leesha’s eyes narrowed. “What, you think I’ll just take you on out of the kindness of my heart? You have no idea how many noobs I see like you every day. If I stopped to hold every one of their hands, I’d never do anything.” She nodded toward the door. “Get lost.”
I wanted to say more, but Elsa had a dangerous look in her magnified eyes, so I just clenched my jaw and left.
Once outside, though, I knew I couldn’t give up that easily, so I waited on Elsa’s porch while I put on my new armor. The straps made for easy adjustment, and since I still hadn’t had a bath, they didn’t smell any worse than I did. I already felt better wearing them.
Not having anything else to do while I waited, I flipped through my projections to look at my inventory. My battle-axe was there, as was my new hide armor and my soiled noob clothes, but there was another object I hadn’t seen before. It looked like a pair of gold dice on the screen, a fact confirmed by the name that it was labeled by —Dice of Danny the Destroyer.
My heart began to pound hard as I stared at it. This had to be how Danny intended for me to log off, some kind of backdoor exit perhaps, since my account didn’t show up in the system. It didn’t have an item description saying as much, but then, why would it? Barely able to put my thoughts together from being so excited, I finally remembered the command to take out items. “Command: Withdraw the Dice of Danny the Destroyer.”
The dice suddenly materialized in my hand. They were heavy, and big, the two cubes barely fitting in my hand. I held them up to the light, examining each side, and saw that they all had the same thing on them, a rune that looked like a cursive ‘DD,’ like an artist might sign the corner of their painting. I hefted them, wondering for a moment what to do with them, when I realized there was only one thing you did with dice — cast them.
Without a second thought, I threw them to the deck and watched with wide eyes as they arced toward it. Then they hit, and—
They disappeared.
I blinked. What the hell had happened? I knelt to the wooden plats, crawling all over them searching for the dice, but they were nowhere to be seen. Stumped, I took a look at my inventory again, and was relieved to see them still there. Maybe it had just been a glitch. All I could do was try again. “Command: Withdraw the Dice of Danny the Destroyer.”
They materialized, and once again, I threw them to the deck, only to have them dissipate into thin air. Checking my inventory, sure enough, they had returned.
I stared at them. Was this how Danny intended to destroy MythRune? Introduce so many bugs that players would just want to quit? At the moment, I sure wish I had that option. It was all I could do not to drop to the ground and throw a tantrum like a kid denied candy in the checkout line.
I was distracted from my cycle of self-pity when Leesha emerged from the shop’s front door. Her eyes narrowed when she saw me, and without saying a word, she walked by and down the stairs.
Since the dice weren’t working, it looked like Leesha was my only hope. I ran after her, battle-axe in hand. “Wait!”
She didn’t stop. “Go away.”
“I can help you if you help me. Just wait a second and let’s talk about it.” I grabbed her arm.
She shook me off so violently, she almost threw me off my feet. “Don’t touch me ever again. Understand?”
As I opened my mouth to speak, a projection popped up.
You have been challenged to a duel! Do you accept? Speak ‘Yes’ or ‘No.’
“Yes,” I said to answer Leesha before the text of the message had sunk in. As it did, and Leesha’s smile widened, I tried taking it back. “No. I mean, no … wait!”
She moved so fast, I barely saw it coming. Next thing I knew, I was sitting on my rump, nose bleeding and stars covering my vision. Leesha looked down on me with a furious smile.
“Get up, noob. You wanted to duel, so let’s duel.”
My HP was down to 94 from that one punch. I didn’t like to think what her mace would do to me. “Hey, hey,” I said, rising to my knees. “I’ll leave you alone, no need to do this.”
“I don’t think so,” Leesha said, her words pure acid. “I think you need to learn to keep your fucking hands to yourself.” She spun h
er mace in a circle like a majorette twirled her baton. “But don’t worry. It will only hurt for a second.”
She was going to kill me. She was going to fucking kill me. I jumped to my feet, battle-axe held before me. “Whoa, whoa, whoa! Don’t—!”
She leaped forward, mace swinging overhead. Hoping my invested trait would earn its bread, I tried dodging while thrusting forward clumsily with my axe. Both failed, as became quickly apparent when the mace burst through my shoulder.
Pain exploded through me, and I heard myself scream like it came from far away. I writhed on the ground, feeling like half of myself had fallen off. I’d never felt anything like this in real life, much less a game.
Then the same electrocution feeling as with the wyrmlings came again, and my body jolted. Life flooded back into me, and air hissed back into my lungs. My eyes opened wide, and the world came into clear detail.
I felt the sticky blood where my burst shoulder was, but the pain wasn’t so bad that I couldn’t think anymore. Leesha stood above me, mace dripping, mouth open.
“Oh, my God.” Her eyes widened with horror. “Oh, my God. You’re still alive?”
Every breath was like inhaling knives. “Yes, I’m fucking alive,” I growled, or as near to it as I could — my throat was incredibly hoarse. “No thanks to you!”
“Oh, my God,” she said again. “I didn’t mean—”
“What, exactly?” I snapped. I wasn’t in any condition to sit up, but I stubbornly did anyway, not one to just lie around. Until my shoulder started tearing, at which point I lay straight down again.