Dream Stream Reality: Publisher's Pack Books 1-2: (A LitRPG Adventure)

by Derrick Burke

  Ezekial: It would probably be best if he does go up last. That way we can remove as many obstacles as we can silently before he gets up there and the alarm is obviously raised due to his pounding on the wall.

  Kazzrak: I’m not that bad, seriously. Just ’cause my hair is so hard it sounds like nails on a chalkboard when up against stone doesn’t mean you have to go on so much.

  Dosan: Pfft, we should shave you hairless and sell the strands separately as violin strings. Or maybe acupuncture needles. Lol.

  Ifalna: Guys, less chat, more looking. I think we are here.

  I look up from where I’m carefully placing my feet and see a massive stone wall rise up in front of me a good fifteen yards away. The tree we are under is a thick leafy shield between the top of the wall and us. So thick I can’t actually see the top of the wall at all. If I were to get closer, in the last two yards or so I would be able to see the top due to the small gap.

  Ezekial: Here’s the fun part. Watch where I place my hands and feet so you know where to do the same. Slow and careful is key. It’s starting to settle into dusk now, so we will be much harder to notice.

  Ezekial moves slowly closer to the wall, still in stealth. After eyeing the wall for a moment, he grasps a couple of small divots in the stone and starts levering himself up the wall.

  When he is about three yards up, an entire section of the wall silently extends out a few feet and just as silently glides sideways, with Ezekial hanging frozen from the brand-new door. It must have surprised him so much that he actually popped out of stealth when it started to move.

  Ezekial: WTF?!

  Ifalna: Dude, stealth back up.

  Ezekial: Oh, shit!

  Becoming semitransparent again, Ezekial makes his way off the stone door and takes a look at the dark passageway beyond.

  Ezekial: Stay there. Let me scout for traps.

  Disappearing inside, the shadows swallow Ezekial as he inches his way forward, looking for traps.

  Ezekial: Ok, I’ve left them active because you can easily move around the trigger points if you know where they are. Stay as far right as you can for at least ten yards. You only have twelve inches to play with, Kazzrak, before exciting things start happening.

  Ifalna: Ha! Phrasing!

  Sybaal: Seriously, guys? Ok, let’s go. The dwarf is last.

  Kazzrak: Fine, whatever. Leave me out here in the cold.

  Ifalna: Not like it will make much of a difference >.>

  Without waiting any longer, I slowly inch my way into the open, glancing up every now and then to see the top of the wall. I can’t see much because it’s getting darker now, and I don’t see a moon. Keeping right when I enter the tunnel, I can easily make out Ezekial up ahead, but I don’t move away from the wall till I reach where he is standing.

  My night vision has kicked in, and I can see everything clearly with a slightly red tinge. I move to the side and realise that the rest of the party has followed on my heels the entire way.

  Sybaal: Geez, Ezekial, that was pretty damn lucky, opening up this tunnel like that.

  Ezekial: Yeah, I certainly wasn’t expecting it, that’s for sure. However, I believe we encountered the Guardian boss due to Dosan’s Luck attribute, so I bumped mine up to 40. Especially ’cause I’m always looking for stuff, it pays to be luckier. I’m going to shut the door now, so don’t freak out.

  He then presses a flat section of the wall in a half inch, and the door starts closing the same way it opened. Shortly, it’s pitch black in the tunnel, and the red hue of my vision gets brighter as it is more heavily relied upon.

  Ifalna: I only have low light vision, so I can hardly see anything.

  Dosan: Same here and for Woody.

  I look back at Dosan with a blank expression that he probably can’t see.

  Sybaal: Woody? Really? That’s the best you could come up with?

  Dosan: Well, it was a test to see if I could change his name. And then I couldn’t change it again. So Woody it is.

  Ifalna: At least he didn’t go with ‘Got Wood’.

  Dosan: It was a close second.

  Ezekial: I’m going to start clearing the rest of the tunnel. I’ll notify you if I don’t think I can disable a trap.

  Ifalna: Ok, people. Usual dungeon formations. Hop to and let’s go. Keep ten yards away from Ezekial at all times while he is disarming traps.

  With that, off we go. Ezekial out in front. Kazzrak and I stagger next, followed by Ifalna and Dosan. The tunnel slopes sharply down to the left and after a little while ends up turning into steep spiralling stairs.

  At the bottom, a small landing sits in front of a brick wall, creating a dead end. We all move back up the stairs a little so we can see the wall still, but so we won’t be in the way of a trap if Ezekial sets one off. Running his hands lightly over the wall, pressing here and there, eventually something clicks and the wall starts to open inwards, making Ezekial hop out of the way.

  Slinking into the small room beyond the door, Ezekial gives us the thumbs up before moving over to the far side of the room and checking the wooden door set into the wall. Shelves and crates line the walls, leaving the middle area free of clutter.

  Ezekial: Check the crates and shelves for anything useful.

  I start digging through the shelves and opening the crates, but all I’m finding is white linen sheets and bedding.

  Sybaal: There are only sheets and stuff here.

  Ifalna: Yep. Ah, that feels better. Let’s have ourselves a toga party, shall we?

  Glancing at Ifalna, I see she has created a toga out of a sheet. I can now look at her and see the bountiful beauty with the chiselled body of a Roman goddess in a toga instead of her birthday suit.

  Snatching a sheet for myself, I dress myself and marvel at the gentle caress of the soft cotton. Everyone else joins in on the toga party before Ezekial starts emptying the crates of sheets into the middle of the room.

  Sybaal: What are you looking for?

  Ezekial: Not looking for. Going to make. We are all going to make nice braided ropes before we go any further. Those walls were huge, and if we need to retreat at some point but can’t get to the tunnel, we will need to go over the wall. I for one am not willing to just jump off, even with these wings.

  For emphasis, midnight black feathered wings unfurl and grow from his back. We finally get to see the fully displayed wings instead of them always being tucked up against his back.

  Dosan: Do you know how to fly? That is awesome!

  Ezekial: Maybe in the future I can, but I tried to a couple of times in the forest, and all I can do is push some air around. I have no idea how to fly yet.

  Kazzrak: Maybe we should throw you off the wall. I hear that’s how most birds learn to fly. Ha!

  Ifalna: Nobody is throwing anybody off anything. How do we make these ropes so we can continue? It’s a good idea.

  Picking up a sheet, Ezekial starts fiddling with it.

  Ezekial: Simple, just tear it into long strips like so. Roll those pieces up lengthwise and then braid four of them together. Tie the braided sections to each other and done! Don’t cut up all the sheets, as we have no bags, so we will have to make sacks to put stuff we find in.

  For the next ten minutes we are busy making several ropes around twenty yards long each. We keep two large sheets each to create sacks from and pile everything into one sack, which Kazzrak shoulders.

  Ezekial goes to the latch of the door leading out of the room, still in stealth. We all move out of the way of the door, crowding along the walls next to the door. Slowly he lifts the latch on the door and turns the handle, pulling the door open and disappearing through the opening.

  Ezekial: There is a long corridor with multiple doors along it. There is a set of stairs at the end. I’m opening the first door. Room 1 is clear. Looks like a bedroom. Large bed and wardrobes.

  Dosan: I could totally use a nap and a fresh set of clothes.

  Ezekial: Opening door 2. Room 2 is clear. Looks like a st
udy. Big desk and lots of books.

  Ifalna: We might be able to find some spell books in there. Or something useful like that. Wish we had a darn Bag of Holding though.

  Ezekial: Opening door 3. Room 3 is clear. Looks like a storage room. Lots of crates.

  Sybaal: Shotgun not it. Kazzrak, you can search them, buddy.

  Kazzrak: I see, give the dwarf a job that requires opening things in a manly way. But at the same time make the dwarf look silly opening tall crates bigger than him. Yeah. Smooth. Asshole.

  Sybaal: Lol… Unintended, but I’ll take it.

  Ezekial: Opening door 4. Room 4 is clear. It is an armoury. Lots of weapons and armour of all types. I’m taking what looks like the best bow with two quivers of arrows and two daggers. I’ll clear up the stairs next before you guys come loot the rooms.

  Sybaal: Shotgun the armoury! Woot! Loot!

  Ezekial: Stairs lead up to a landing with a solid wooden door with a rusted-out lock. Looks like its dead bolted and stuck there. Going to have to bust down the door to get through. We are clear. Loot time.

  With the okay to move freely, we all leave the room and split off at each room. I walk into the armoury and gaze at all the weapons and armour along the walls in their stands. It looks like everything is just basic low-level non-enchanted stuff, but it’s a hell of a lot better than the nothing that we currently have.

  Looks like this is where whoever lived here before stashed either their exit plan or forgotten junk. Depends on how rich they were and whether they thought this stuff was quality or not.

  Just touching each item lets me see its name and stats. Moving my way through the room, I remove certain items from the walls and pile them in the middle of the room in five different mounds, one for each of us.

  For armour, the best choice is full sets of Simple Leather that I find in the right sizes that will make as little noise as possible, from the leather boots all the way up to the leather caps. The Simple Leather armour rating varies from piece to piece, but the combined total is +19 armour rating.

  There is no plate here, which is surprising. This isn’t a game that bans people from wearing plate if they are a mage, however it still weighs a crap ton, and if the mage doesn’t have enough Strength stat, he won’t be able to move very fast.

  Taking all this into my consideration, everyone should have enough base Strength to use leather gear. Ezekial, Kazzrak and I will eventually be using chain mail as added armour due to our more melee style, but we will have to wait to find that.

  Ezekial should be able to move around quietly enough with his stealth activated, but if not, he can swap it out. I’ll need to get him to test it out. Everyone gets a Simple Leather Belt with what looks like four quick slots for vials or potions.

  Going through the weapons, they are all Simple weapons that have a damage output of between 9 and 11 except for the daggers, which have 4 to 5.

  Kazzrak gets a Simple Bearded Axe, which is a single-handed axe, and a Medium Wooden Shield. It is the largest shield I can find, which happens to be a medium-sized round wooden one with metal strapping and has the added bonus of +5 armour rating. He also receives a Short Hunting Bow and a Simple Quiver.

  Ezekial gets the same bow and arrows as Kazzrak. I realise he already has one, but he may have just picked up the closest thing to hand.

  When I picked up the quiver, I was curious how it worked and if it was the same as with the original game, as in whether or not the quiver was its own dimensional bag that only housed arrows. I was correct in assuming this, also testing if the three slots available would hold anything else, but alas, they couldn’t.

  Three stacks of 100 Simple Arrows that don’t come out when I tip it upside down and on the pile she goes. The Simple Arrows give +1 to damage. I also give him two Simple Steel Daggers for shits and giggles.

  Ifalna I give a one-handed Simple Steel Longsword, a Small Shield the size of a dinner plate and also two Simple Steel Daggers. The shield gives +3 armour rating to help protect herself because she will usually be in the back, and sometimes adds (additional enemies) come from the rear. It’s good to be able to have a way to block attacks when you can’t dodge them, especially for spell casters.

  For Dosan, I put a Simple Wooden Spear and two Simple Steel Daggers in his pile. This is just because I know he likes to use a staff and refuses to learn how to use a shield. Guess he can poke holes in things now though.

  I give myself two Longswords, a bow and a quiver. I like being practical, but didn’t think it was necessary to have a ranged weapon in the previous version. At least until there was this one raid boss that took us five hours to defeat. It was a really simple boss too if you follow the mechanics of the fight to a T.

  At the point where we bashed it down to 5% health, we needed to stand on pillars around the room as they rose from the ground and lava filled the room. We couldn’t stand on the platform with the boss itself due to it doing multiple push-back attacks throughout the course of the lava build-up.

  The most annoying part about that fight was that if we’d had an extra person dealing ranged damage, then we would have killed it before the boss’s rage timer hit zero. And what happened when it reached zero? You guessed it, all his health replenished to full, resetting the boss completely.

  Ugh, so much hate on that guy. Because I didn’t have a ranged weapon on me at the time, we did finally figure out how to complete the boss. However, I had to stay on the platform with the boss, smacking it as hard as I could before being swept off into the certain doom of the lava.

  My own stupid fault for not having a ranged weapon. Even Kazzrak had throwing daggers at the time, so I had to front up the repair bill on everyone’s gear just as compensation for wasting so much time.

  Lesson learnt.

  Sybaal: I’m finished in the armoury. Bring all your loot in here when you’ve finished, ’cause I’m not lugging all this out there.

  Bringing up my character screen from the quick menu, where I see my toga-clad self and all my stats, I hold each piece of gear and mentally equip it onto myself. Not sure if I need the window open to do it, but it just feels easier doing it this way.

  My toga turns back into a bed sheet, which then turns into a sack as I fill it with quivers full of arrows. I really am a fan of the ‘just in case’ moments, and I’d hate to run out of ammo.

  Dosan is the first to walk inside with Woody, carrying an armload of clothes.

  Sybaal: Thank the gods that there are clean pants and shirts so we can stop being part of the toga fan club. That pile of armour is yours, Dosan.

  I point to the pile I set aside for him as I equip some Simple Cotton Pants and a Simple Cotton Shirt under the leather armour pieces. I noticed that both the armour and the clothing tightened or loosened a little to make for the perfect fit when I put them on. Interesting indeed.

  Ifalna: Clothes!? Finally. I was beginning to worry that the devs wouldn’t have armour or clothes in the game and we would have to keep making them ourselves whilst my bikini is one massive diaper. Ah, I’m so glad that’s not the case.

  Dosan: You’re just jealous.

  Kazzrak: Nah, even I sometimes like feeling the softness of a good pair of proper pants. My mankini feels good and lets me take a load off.

  Ifalna: Whereas I like to be properly clothed all the time.

  Sybaal: Guys, aren’t you done yet?

  Ifalna pops around the corner with an armload of books that she stacks carefully to the side of the door, out of the way, before taking some clothes for herself.

  I make eye contact with Ifalna and point to her pile of goodies, receiving a grin in return. She quickly heads over to her pile and starts equipping the new loot.

  Both Ezekial and Kazzrak come in at the same time, with Kazzrak carrying a large wooden chest with a massive lock on the front of it. They set it down next to the books and head over to the two piles of gear left.

  Sybaal: I’m not gonna bother telling you whose is whose. I’m sure you’re both
smart cookies and can work it out. Nice chest. Big lock though. Did you find any lock picks, or will we have to smash it open with a weapon? I’d rather not have possibly damaged goods inside it though.

  The annoying part about loot chests in the previous version was that if you didn’t have a key or a lock pick and needed to resort to violence to open the chest, it would have a very high chance of breaking the item inside it. Especially if you had to whack it multiple times.

  Kazzrak: Cheers for the gear. And yeah, Ezekial is the bomb diggity. He found a set of keys on a skeleton that looked like it had almost reached the chest, so I’m hoping he had the key for it and that there is something cool inside it.