Item: LVL 70 Short-Range Lasso
Currently Equipped: NONE
Minimum LVL: 70
Durability: 50%
Faction Specific: The Enlightened
Soul-Bound Item: No
↑ Attack + 115
↑ Defense + 229
Current LVL: 02
Speed: 55/55
Attack: 30/30
Defense: 30/30
When equipped, a Short-Range Lasso can be used as an off-hand defensive weapon.
Must be LVL 70 or higher and a member of the Enlightened to equip this item.
You do not meet the requirements to equip this item.
Item may be carried due to primary profession.
Item will not function as designed until equipped by an eligible player.
John pulled his lips into a thin line. He could carry some of the items but not equip them? “I’m a glorified pack mule.”
Looking at the scattered bodies around him, John began to notice something. The small emblems on their gear seemed to shimmer slightly. Even bodies several yards away were easier to classify into the three factions. Even if he couldn’t equip higher level gear, maybe he could sell it to make some coin on the side. The food and potions he could use. The faction specific items he might be able to unload in a town—if he knew where to find one. The blueprints and scrolls might be worth a pretty penny, too. He would have to do some investigation into their worth first. With his new profession under his non-existent belt, the stacks of dead bodies made him feel a bit like a kid in a candy store.
John darted quickly to a pile of four dead Enlightened members. A gilded chain peeked out from under the stack of bodies. Even in a game, people liked their shiny things. The chain was pinned beneath the bottom man and the ground. It was too much weight. John dug his heel into the ash that covered the ground. He wedged his shoulder into the side of the top three men. Red frustration puffed out his cheeks. The strain made a vein in his forehead pulse angrily. Sucking in a deep breath, he gave another mighty shove. The top two men toppled noisily to the ground. The sound of their gear crashing into the shield of a member of the Holy Seal echoed across the field. John froze in a slumped position.
The NPC’s who had been only half-heartedly interested in him earlier scanned the area for the cause of the noise. Their computerized gazes seemed to linger in his direction. John wasn’t sure if it was just his natural paranoia, or if leveling up had actually increased his threat level enough to pique their interest. Either way, he didn’t want to find out. He focused on his breathing and his heart rate. Diligent training in the real world had taught him how to slow both until they were almost imperceptible. After a few nerve-grating minutes, the NPC’s lost interest and went back to feuding amongst themselves.
John let out a bated breath. His fingers snaked under the bottom player’s gut. The chain was connected to what he assumed was a pocket watch. He pressed a button to release the golden lid covering the watch’s face. Instead of a clock, John found himself gazing at a compass. The traditional needle that would point generally north was replaced with several swiveling hands. Scrawled across the pointers in elaborate writing were labels: Cog City, Steamgrad, Heaven’s Shield, Eternal Battlefield, Silk Temple, and Hallowed Veil. The Cog City hand moved gradually across the face of the strange compass.
Rare Item: NorthStar Compass
Minimum LVL: N/A
Durability: 92%
Faction Specific: No
Soul-Bound Item: No
*Item can only be created using Engineering LVL 100 and Inscription LVL 90 or higher.
*Requires Engineering LVL 60 or higher to repair.
Item points to major locations that it has been to, including mobile cities—relocation of a city does not affect accuracy. Typically used by the Enlightened faction to easily track down moving, cog-work cities.
Item location indicators are based off of where the item has been, not where the player has been.
Item is typically paired with but not dependent on player’s personal map.
If item reaches 0% durability, item will cease to exist, and all marked locations will be lost.
“Rare item, huh?” John lifted the compass up into the air by part of its chain. The golden circle spun slowly in front of his face, suspended by the gilded, metal links. A compass that had been across the entire gaming map would undoubtedly fetch a pretty penny. For the time being though, it was his most precious possession.
The AI hadn’t even given him the common courtesy of a map. He hadn’t found a map on any of the other players he had picked over. Maybe they knew the layout well enough to not need one, or maybe they had died previously and lost their maps in an earlier lifetime. He slipped his hands in and out of the man’s pockets, looking for anything else that might come in handy. A wrinkled scrap of parchment came out of an interior vest pocket. John smirked to himself. The lay of the land was scrawled in dark ink. It was missing a few of the locations shown on the compass, but it was better than the giant goose egg he had been working with before.
The items he had salvaged from the victims of the Eternal Battlefield were piled haphazardly at his feet. His smirk quickly turned back into his typical frown. Toting his ill-gotten goods in his arms was hardly practical. Aside from being awkward and inconvenient, a level 02 player with an armful of assorted items would make him a prime target for player-on-player violence. He clicked his tongue against the top of his mouth and wiped a bead of sweat from the back of his neck. His character stats opened.
Character Information
Character Stats
Currently Equipped
Inventory: 60/60 Items
Faction: N/A
Class: N/A
Guild: N/A
Primary Profession: Salvager
Secondary Profession: UNLOCKED AT LVL 03
XP Penalty: Player has had multiple deaths in a short span of time.
XP Penalty: Player has had multiple deaths in an area designated for players 20 LVLs or more above player’s current LVL.
Current LVL: 02
Health: 105/140
Mana: 0/0
Speed: 55/55
Attack: 30/30
Defense: 30/30
Charisma: 25/25
Weapon Skills: 0/0
Buff: 25% Increased Pain Tolerance (45 Minutes Remaining)
Chest: NONE
Bracers: NONE
Legs: LVL 01 Cloth Briefs (Starter item: no stat bonuses)
Boots: NONE
Cloak: NONE
Neck: NONE
Main-Hand Weapon: NONE
Off-Hand Weapon: NONE
Ale x 2
Antique Brass x 10
Aura Revelation Talisman*
Bandana--Black
Chicory Root x 10
Clockwork Spider Blueprints*
Enchanted Dust
Health Potion x 4
Loose Black Powder x 2
Mutton x 2
NorthStar Compass
Plum x 3
Prayer of Devine Intervention*
Raw Iron
Salted Meat x 4
Scroll of Mist Calling x 2
Short-Range Lasso
Spaulders of Elders Blueprints
Sweet Water x 4
Well Water x 3
Well-Worn Map
Willow Bark x 4
“I already filled all of my slots to carry things? So much for my profession bonus.” John scoffed as he looked over his inventory. It hadn’t taken long to fill up his carrying capacity. What would happen now that he had used all of the slots? Would he be unable to pick anything else up? Unable to move if he did try to carry anything else? He had been grabbing everything because he had started with nothing. Maybe it was time to start being a little more selective with his haul.
He skimmed over the listed items, trying to decide what he should cut. A
warning buzz startled him a little. A new window opened with bright red letters.
WARNING: 60/60 on-body slots filled. Move Items to Void Storage?
*Items may be placed in Void Storage at no cost.
*Items placed in Void Storage are still in Void Storage after death.
*Retrieving items from Void Storage requires a Blood Sacrifice of 10% of player’s health at time of retrieval.
Move All Items!
Select Items To Move!
Ignore Warning and Cancel!
John reviewed his options. Maybe Void Storage was the reason that the players he had looted hadn’t had a wider range of specialty items on them. Maybe the guy with the compass was just a putz that had made the mistake of going into battle with a rare item still on his person. He selected everything in his inventory except for a piece of willow bark, the bandana, the well water, and the salted meat. Moving the items into Void Storage lifted a previously unnoticed weight from his shoulders. He was back down to 09/60 items in his on-body inventory. It was as if he could breathe more easily. He felt lighter, freer. John retied the bandanna around the smaller items that he had kept out.
From the corner of his eye, John saw a pistol on the other side of the body he had just looted. Curiosity got the better of him. The weapons for high-level players were probably soul-bound. Even if he couldn’t take the gun for his own use, that didn’t mean he couldn’t understand it better. Knowledge was power. Knowing more about the firepower of his potential enemies was worth his time.
The gun had a dark finish. It wouldn’t reflect in the light like a silver pistol would. The weight was enough to make it feel sturdy without causing muscle fatigue. He pressed a side button to free the magazine. It fell easily from the weapon and landed in John’s palm. The Enlightened must have been dropped before he could finish firing all of his rounds. The bullets were nothing like what he was used to. Instead of brass glinting up at him, the magazine was loaded with glowing, blue ammo.
John freed one of the rounds from the pressure of the mag’s spring. Looking closer, he noticed that the outer shell was clear. The interior moved like a liquid in its transparent casing. The blue glow pulsed. The tips of his fingers felt slightly numb as he rolled the bullet between them.
Item: Rimfire Freeze Cartridge
Minimum LVL: 95
Durability: N/A
Faction Specific: The Enlightened
Soul-Bound Item: No
Item is only compatible with Sleeping Beauty Rimfire Pistol.
Item contains paralytic neurotoxin that is released upon impact. Neurotoxin causes damage over time that results in complete paralysis and eventual death as the target’s nervous system fails.
Handle with caution: Extended skin contact with item may result in temporary nerve damage.
John quickly dropped the bullet to the ground. The pulsing blue substance was made of neurotoxins? He opened and closed his hand a few times until the feeling came back. That would be a nasty way to go. It was no wonder the gun’s owner had died before he could fire all of his shots. An enemy toting a paralysis gun would have been high on his kill priority list, too. John examined the gun itself a little closer. “I guess that makes you Sleeping Beauty.”
Item: LVL 95 Sleeping Beauty Rimfire Pistol
Currently Equipped: NONE
Minimum LVL: 95
Durability: 75%
Faction Specific: The Enlightened
Soul-Bound Item: Yes
↑ Attack + 425
↑ Defense + 380
Current LVL: 02
Speed: 55/55
Attack: 30/30
Defense: 30/30
When equipped, Sleeping Beauty Rimfire Pistol has 25% chance of instant kill if 5 live targets are hit within a 2 minute interval.
Must be LVL 95 or higher and a member of The Enlightened to equip this item.
You do not meet the requirements to equip this item.
After reading the weapon’s stats, John placed the pistol back on the ground. He wouldn’t mind having one of them, but he had a feeling the faction requirement would prevent him from enjoying some of the game’s more unique armaments. His eyes flitted around the field. There were a few NPC’s battling not far away. If he stayed low to the ground, he might be able to dig through the bodies close to him for more weapons. Knowing that there were neurotoxin bullets in play made him curious about what else the game had to offer.
Scrounging around amid all of the dead bodies was starting to make him feel giddy with excitement. A handle jutted out from under the Holy Seal shield near the Enlightened bodies he had just toppled over in order to get to the compass. The edge of the shield was embedded in the parched earth. It was too heavy for him to lift with one hand. The faster he leveled up and gained more strength, the better. He felt as if he had never bench-pressed anything in his life.
After years of training, his mind had a hard time reconciling the extent of his newly acquired feebleness. John squatted and heaved the shield upwards. He strained as his legs braced for added leverage. The metal seemed to be wedged several inches deep. Frustrated, he wiggled the shield back and forth to loosen it. Perspiration stung his eyes. He repositioned himself and wrenched upwards again. The shield gave way, sending him sprawling to the ground. Hard. He didn’t have to look to know he had just lost health points.
Ignoring the pain radiating up from his coccyx, he examined the shield closer. The bright, silver edges were sharpened like a blade. Leather straps on the back of the shield were still bound around its owner’s arm. The torso the limb should have been connected to was nowhere to be seen. The tissue around the shoulder joint had been serrated with a jagged blade. Ash from the field clotted the bloody stump. “No wonder it was so heavy.”
Item: LVL 92 Bladed Kite Shield
Currently Equipped: NONE
Minimum LVL: 92
Durability: 30%
Faction Specific: The Holy Shield
Soul-Bound Item: Yes
↑ Attack + 200
↑ Defense + 350
Current LVL: 02
Speed: 55/55
Attack: 30/30
Defense: 30/30
Item is used primarily as an off-hand shield, but can also inflict melee damage.
Must be LVL 92 or higher and a member of The Holy Seal to equip this item.
You do not meet the requirements to equip this item.
Leaning the shield against the nearest body, John reached over to pick up the weapon that had been hidden underneath. It was a steel handle wrapped with studded leather. The handle extended to a large, medieval morning star. Spikes jutted from all angles. Dried blood was crusted to the tips of each spike. It was heavy, sturdy. One blow would be enough to crush a man’s skull.
Item: LVL 90 Studded Morning Star
Currently Equipped: NONE
Minimum LVL: 90
Durability: 60%
Faction Specific: The Holy Shield
Soul-Bound Item: Yes
↑ Attack + 500
↑ Defense + 220
Current LVL: 02
Speed: 55/55
Attack: 30/30
Defense: 30/30
Item is used primarily as a main-hand melee weapon.
Must be LVL 90 or higher and a member of The Holy Seal to equip this item.
You do not meet the requirements to equip this item.
The fighting styles of the different factions were becoming clearer to him. The more John learned about their weapons, the better he understood his enemies. The Enlightened leaned towards range engagements. If they were used to shooting instead of hand-to-hand combat, he could use that against them. The Holy Seal were more about brute force with swords and other melee weapons. If he could stay out of arm’s reach and take them down using a range weapon, there wouldn’t be much they could do. That still
left one faction that he needed to look into. John skimmed the field for a member of the Empire of the Seven Paths. It wasn’t long before he spied his next target.
The battle was starting to pick up again. Actual players were filtering in around the edges of the Eternal Battlefield. John cursed under his breath. The NPC’s might be programmed to overlook lower level players, but others linked in through their SyLVR technology wouldn’t be as forgiving. He would have to be more careful.
Some of the dead players were starting to disappear. John didn’t know what the timer was for the bodies to clear after death, but he was running out of time. If he was going to make the most of his situation, he needed to examine as many items as he could before the next battle was in full swing. His head was on a swivel. Danger was closing in. John quickly darted over to the member of the Empire of the Seven Paths that he had chosen for his next mark. He fell to his knees to make himself as small and unnoticeable as possible. The burnt grass stabbed like needles into his knees and shins. The only problem was he didn’t see any weapons. There had to be something the man was using to defend himself. Had someone already looted the body? Yells and ringing steel were beginning to fill the air again. Determined to not waste any opportunity to learn about his enemies, John searched the body.
A red strip of silk wound around the man’s wrist. Prying his cold fingers away from his palm, John saw a bronze coin clenched in the man’s fist. He carefully unwrapped the silk and held it up. The coin had a square hole punched through the center. The red cloth was tied to it. He didn’t recognize the symbols on the coin, but it seemed to radiate a small amount of heat. He felt drawn to it like a moth to a flame.
Item: LVL 98 Bronze Dragon Amulet
Currently Equipped: NONE
Minimum LVL: 98
Durability: 90%
Merchant of Death Page 4