Skree clapped giddily, excited at how much progress he was making in such a short time. He had fought hard, and his efforts were starting to pay dividends at a fantastic rate.
“Well Sawbones, show me to my room.” Skree said with a smirk. Sawbones motioned for him to follow and led him further into the tent. The came to a stone archway, apparently the tent was attached to the back of the cavern. As they moved further down the path the hallway began to expand until they reached a large space that was sparsely furnished but there was a bed, an actual bed.
Skree hustled over to the rather large bed and flopped backward into it, the furs and stuffing holding him gently, like a lover’s embrace. He nearly purred as he rolled around, feeling comfortable for the first time in days.
Sawbones watched him quizzically. “My people hate this area, it is far too uniform. Everything is ordered and this thing…” he motioned at the bed “Does not allow Kobolds to shift the material into a nice nesting place.”
Skree sat up and looked around the room again, realizing for the first time that the cavern really didn't seem to be Kobold oriented. There were a few wooden chairs that seemed to be in nearly new condition, surrounding a table carved from a dark wood.
“What is this place?” Skree asked as he walked over to inspect the furniture.
Sawbones looked around. “Honestly, it has always been here as far as I can remember. Even standing here now, it just feels, like I am not supposed to be here. Hard to describe.” He shuddered thinking about it. “Based on how strange humans are, I assumed this might be a perfect place for you to stay.”
Skree did a double take, realizing that Sawbones was dropping snarky jokes all the time now. He chuckled, moving to sit down in a nearby chair. The wood creaked gently, and he sighed contentedly. Man, he didn't realize how much he could miss the most basic of furnishings.
“Buddy, this place is incredible. I think you might have trouble kicking me out of here.” he said to Sawbones.
“Why would I kick you at all, let alone kick you out of here?” Sawbones asked with a puzzled expression.
Skree shook his head realizing that some idioms might not translate well. “I mean that I like it a lot, so getting me to leave voluntarily might take significant effort.”
Sawbones rolled his eyes. “Humans are weird.” Without saying anything else, the Kobold marched out of the room, his tail swishing gently on the well-worn stone.
Skree leaned back in his chair, inhaling deeply. It dawned on him then that the air was fresh and smelled earthy, much different from the nearly overpowering musk of the Kobolds warren.
Happy with the offered living area, he moved back to the bed and relaxed a bit, finally addressing the few remaining prompts he had yet to resolve.
Congratulations, you have reached level 3, 4 and 5 in Short Blades - 5% increased damage with short blades
Congratulations, you have reached level 6 in Daggers - 6% increased damage with daggers.
Congratulations, you have reached levels 1 and 2 in thrown weapons - 2% increased damage with all thrown weapons.
Congratulations, you have reached level 7 in light armor - 7% more armor for all light armor pieces.
Congratulations - you have reached levels 8, 9 and 10! Through force of will and trials by fire, you have attained a new milestone. By reaching level 10, you are no longer a novice. You have reached the next tier of power - Initiate.
At level 10 you may select your first base class. A base class will define your strengths and weaknesses in the world of Raiya. You may choose from the following class options.
“Oh yiss!” he exclaimed after reading the prompts. Apparently this world rewards people for reaching the next set of levels like a lot of other games. “Let’s see what we got!”
Martial Classes
Fighter - Those who select this class are the battle hardened fighters in the world of Raiya. Specialization in all armor types, martial weapons and fighting styles. This class gains bonus damage with Two handed weapons and bonuses to heavy armor.
Scout - Those who select this class are the archers and trackers with a focus on combat. Specialization in medium and light armor, ranged weapons and small blades. This class gains bonuses to ranged damage and tracking skills.
Assassin - Those who select this class are those more comfortable working in the shadows, employing deadly attacks from unseen vantages. Specialization in Light Armor, Small Blades and can create and use deadly toxins. This class gains bonuses to stealth and sneak attack damage.
Arcane Classes
Wizard - Those who select this class are powerful masters of magic. Specialization in all schools of magic and light armor. This class gains bonus spell effectiveness in all schools of magic other than restoration.
Druid - Those who select this class become deeply attuned with nature. Specialization in Life, Air, Water, Earth, Fire Magic, and medium armor. This class gains bonuses to survival, tracking and nature knowledge.
Dark Sorcerer - Those who select this class seek out dark and dangerous powers. Specialization in Dark, Death, Earth, Fire and Soul Magic. This class gains bonuses to summoned undead and demons.
Skree read the information several times and felt frustrated. There was just so much he didn't know about this world. He hadn’t played many arcane classes in video games, and Raiya was proving a challenging place to survive.
The single healing spell that Sawbones had used had saved him more than once and that kind of power could be incredibly useful. Luckily, he knew that he had the unique bonus trait - Beta Tester which would allow him to use any skill, even race restricted abilities, but he didn't know how to properly use that yet.
So far, he had been regularly utilizing stealth and ranged attacks, but it has come down to melee combat every time. The scout class stood out as it seemed to align with his current skill set and would give him a great set of bonuses to his melee combat skills.
The Rogue class provided incredible utility, adding enhancements to his stealth bonuses and even more damage from sneak attacks.
Skree growled. “This is a significant choice and it’s not like I can just create a new character. Worse, I don't know how this will affect my skills in the future.” He muttered to himself. Why was there sol little information readily available in this damn game?
He reread every choice again. He thought about the time he faced Gertrude and her heavy weapons. She was large and in charge, and he really liked the idea of being a heavily armored wrecking ball.
He knew immediately that he would ignore the Dark Sorcerer choice, as necromancy just felt wrong and summoning demons? He had seen enough horror movies to know that never went well.
He looked at Wizard and Druid noting that the wizard appeared to be the offensive spell caster and the druid a healer slash utility class. He could really use some serious firepower and a healing spell would be like the best thing ever. Who knew how long he would be travelling alone on this island, so being able to heal himself was something of a priority.
He spent a few more minutes carefully considering his options and then made his selection. He moved the prompt to Druid and accepted his choice.
Congratulations, you have chosen your Druid as your base class. The powers of nature can heal wounds and harm foes with equal measure. Protect what is natural, channel nature’s fury, and become Raiya’s protector!
A swirl of deep green energy cascaded around him, feeling his body absorb the potent energy and his mind filling with wonderful new information.
Congratulations, you have learned Minor restoration - This is a spell of life magic. Minor Restoration restores 60 health points instantly and an additional 60 over 10 seconds. Cast time: 1 second, Cooldown: 1 minute, Mana Cost 55
Congratulations, you have learned the spell Nature’s Bounty - This is a spell of Earth Magic. Nature’s bounty creates 1 large piece of fruit that will restore 100 health points and provides total sustenance for 24 hours. Cast time: 30 seconds Cooldown: 24 hours, Man
a Cost 350
Congratulations, you have learned the spell Entangle - This is a spell of earth magic. Entangle creates a 10-foot circle of thorny vines in an area that will reduce the movement speed of anyone in the area of effect by 80 percent, including yourself. Duration: 10 minutes, Cast Time: 5 seconds, Cooldown: 15 minutes. Mana Cost 120
Congratulations, you have gained bonuses to the following skills:
Survival - +10 skill points
Tracking - +10 skill points
Foraging - +10 skill points
You have been granted the following trait - Natural Predator: You gain a 100% bonus to your stealth and tracking skill when moving through woods, jungles or grasslands in pursuit of a specific enemy.
You receive 25% bonus strength to all life spells
You receive 15% resistance to death magic
You receive 5% resistance to life, earth, fire, and air magic.
“Woohoo!” Skree exclaimed with joy. He knew that picking a class would have good bonuses, but this was great! New spells, new traits and resistances to magic? He looked through his spells again, reveling in the fact he could now heal himself whenever he needed.
The most surprising was the natural predator trait. Those bonuses were staggering, and he could think of one creature he really wanted to find when he had the chance.
“I’m coming for you Godzilla.” he said with a grin. Despite all the prompts he had taken care of already, there were more he needed to sort out. After all, he had leveled multiple times and he was able to power up a few more skills.
15 new attribute points. 15 Attribute points unspent. You have earned 15 Skill points, 15 unspent.
Skree considered his new points carefully. If magic worked in this world like other games, then intelligence would increase his mana pool and wisdom would increase his mana regeneration rate. Since he had just picked up new spells, and some were pretty expensive, he knew he would need more mana right away.
He dumped 10 points into intelligence bringing his total to 27 points, which increased his mana pool to 370. That was just enough to cast Nature's Bounty in case he was desperate for food, but the cost was extremely prohibitive. It was also a potent healing spell, and knew that it could be a lifesaver one day.
He allotted the remaining attribute points to wisdom and checked his mana regeneration rate. It was a whopping 0.4 mana per second, and after some quick math he realized it would take around sixteen minutes to completely refill his mana pool.
“Dang!” he thought. “Spells were expensive and regenerating mana took a long time. Looks like I will need to use them effectively or find myself in trouble when I need them most.” He sighed. “Where are all the freaking mana and healing potions?” Pushing that question to the back of his mind, he moved on.
Next up, skill points. His skill points were growing at a similar rate to his attribute points, but there were far more skills than attributes. He knew this would happen as he unlocked more skills but still, looking at his new spell proficiencies, he knew he would need to be critical when making decisions.
He knew he needed his spells to be more powerful, but the only one that seemed like it would benefit immediately was Minor Restoration. He didn't know how the skill ranks would apply to his spells, so he dumped 5 points into life magic and reviewed Minor Restoration.
Congratulations, you have reached level 6 in life magic. Your life spells are now 6% stronger. Bonus 25% strength from druid class. Total bonus: 31%
Minor Restoration - restores 89 (60 base) health points instantly and an additional 89 (60 base) health points over 10 seconds.
Skree looked over the spell description and saw it now restore 29 more health than the base level. So, his base spell would restore a total of 180 hit points and with the additional points in life magic and his druid bonus it was a straight calculation. Awesome!
With his other points, he thought about the new gear he had just earned by killing Gertrude. Right now, he didn't have any plans to move to heavy armor and big ass swords, even if it would give him a lot of boosts to his damage. He just didn't know if he would like to use them or how heavy armor might affect stealth skills.
For now, he decided 5 more points in light armor and 5 more in stealth would provide the best benefit. Light armor didn't provide a ton of protection, but every little bit would help in the coming battles.
These points brought his stealth skill to 13 and his light armor to 12. “Not bad at all” he thought.
With that done, his body fully healed but exhausted and this comfy new bed, Skree closed his eyes, falling asleep almost instantly.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Skree stretched deeply as he awoke, feeling fully refreshed after a great night's sleep. He opened his eyes and for a second, just a second, he forgot he was sleeping in a decades old bed in a lair of reptile creatures. Then he remembered with a deep sigh.
Despite his situation, he never was one to think too hard about the past, always looking toward the future. He rolled out of bed, standing and stretching as he looked around his private little chamber. The table in the center of the room drew his attention. There was a pile of fresh fruits, vegetables and… bacon?
His stomach nearly roared in hunger as he rushed over. He didn't much care what it was, it smelled like heaven and he was approaching the top of the stairway. He grabbed a handful of the crispy strips, stuffing them into his mouth and savoring the delicious fried meat.
It may have not been bacon, but it was as close as he could imagine. He ate a few berries and a what looked like a small type of potato before drinking some water from a skin. He inspected the water skin, taking in the fine craftsmanship. Whoever made this was an expert leatherworker.
While he was busy stuffing his face, a large rolled up parchment caught his attention. He wiped the grease from his fingers then unrolled an aged map showing a detailed depiction of a large island. He looked at the scale indicator and was shocked. This wasn't a large island, it was an absurdly huge island.
He stared with amazement. He guessed the island would have been a few miles in circumference since this was a deserted island. Like Lost or Gilligan's island. But these scales… indicated it would be nearly 20 miles in circumference, and even though his trigonometry skills were lacking, he calculated that the Island would be well over 300 square miles.
He whistled at the number of miles. That was a lot of ground to cover, but he thought - I guess I will have plenty of time, after all, according to Sharktooth, he was the only player on the island. He started to scan the map more carefully, taking in the many features illustrated on the map.
His eyes settled on an interesting point on the map with some cryptic script he had never seen before.
As he attempted to read it, a prompt appeared.
You have been offered a quest - Mysterious Island with a missing past - part 1.
You have discovered an antique map. The Blue Stone Kobolds once ruled this island with incredible intellect and spirituality. Over the centuries, their empire fell to ruin though no one, not even the Kobolds, remember why.
Will you investigate the unknown markings on this map and discover the lost history of the Island? YES or NO?
Reward: Unknown
Skree grinned as he read the prompt. His last quest had given him a mountain of experience, led to gaining an Ally in Sawbones and thus far it was paying dividends out the ass! He selected Yes, and the prompt faded away. He continued to pour over the map for a several minutes before he heard a small chirping sound from the entrance to his private chamber. He laughed to himself. Private chamber, what a nerd.
He glanced up from the map smiling as Sawbones entered without waiting for an invitation. He stared at the Kobold, who walked with confidence and had a small contingent of Kobolds behind him. “Taking to his new role well I see.” he thought.
“I must say Skree, if it wasn't for your outrageous snoring, I would have thought you had died. When we came to summon you for the feast, we were unable to wake
you.” Sawbones said with a humorous tone.
“Unfortunately, I could not postpone as the Blue Stone Kobolds do not reschedule a feast. I hope you don't mind. I did ensure that you received fresh Cave Bear belly strips.”
“That was cave bear?” Skree asked excitedly. “I thought it was bacon! It was good. Thank you very much.”
Sawbones shook his head. “I don’t know what bacon is, but if it is as good as Cave Bear belly, then I would like to try it someday.” He motioned to his retinue.
“These are the new warren elders, and we have been discussing much while you slept.” Sawbones explained. “Many of us have started to remember a lot from our small days, what you would call youth. Across the warren, we Kobolds have been rapidly increasing in intelligence and regaining memories and abilities long forgotten.”
“While I know that this is purely thanks to the power of the Daravesh ring I recovered from Gertrude after your victory, I cannot recall much past the last generation. The ring is supposed to hold the memories for dozens or hundreds of generations and instead, I cannot remember more than the last hundred years.”
The assembled Kobolds began muttering amongst themselves. Sawbones hissed at them in reproach. “Calm.” The silence settled over the group again. “We have much to do here, to rebuild and enemies still crawl the tunnels seeking retribution for Gertrude's’ death.”
He stroked his chin in thought while Skree sat in silence, paying careful attention to his words. “I have a task for you, and if you would consider it, I would be most grateful. Somewhere on this Island, rests the secret to our past. Possibly other Daravesh rings of leadership or maybe something else.”
His lips pulled back, unintentionally baring his teeth as he remembered the suffering of his people. “I know you intend to explore the island, and seek your next great adventure, but I beg of you, as the Blue Stone Champion if you find any more of our people or our heirlooms, recover them and bring them to us.”
A prompt appeared in his vision: You have been offered a quest “Friends in Low Places - Part 2 - A Desperate Plea.”
Raiya: Starter Zone - A LitRPG Saga: Archon's Chosen - Book One Page 9