by Matt Ryan
I nodded and she shot an icicle bolt out. I used dash and got to Nathaniel just as it did. It struck him on the side of the head, as Gor sent his ax into his head, breaking his skull right between the eyes. I took my dagger and stuffed it into him, right behind the ear.
Every undead thing in the room collapsed to the ground, including Nathaniel.
Good Job! Nathaniel Rile has been killed.
263 Damage
+100 XP
Congratulations! Level 8 Unlocked:
+ 5 Attribute Points
What does it matter? You won’t use them. Maybe you should put them all in intelligence?
+2% Crit Rating
+ 1 Specialization in Daggers
Gor swung his ax again, striking the dead body of Nathaniel.
“He’s dead,” I said and looked around the room.
The whole room seemed to be filled with the dead. A close call for sure. My heart pounded in my chest and I kept scanning the room, expecting something else to come out of the walls.
“We just killed it,” Gor said in a whisper, as if he was talking to himself. He looked up at me as a smile spread over his face. “We just freaking killed the boss! Let’s loot this shit.”
“KILLian?” I said.
KILLian went to Nathaniel and knelt next to his body. She picked up the black rod and held it up above her. “This thing is incredible,” she said. “It has plus stats on all my attributes.”
“Grats, KILLian,” I said.
“I bet this is the best in level gear I can get.” She reached into Nathaniel’s pockets and pulled out a stack of bills. The money disappeared from her hands and I saw approximately $402 go into my account. And then the money owed to Esme was immediately subtracted. At least I didn’t owe that debt anymore.
“Does he have any plate armor?” Gor asked.
“I don’t think Necros have plate armor, sorry Gor. There is one more item though.” She pulled it from him like a magician might a tied handkerchief from his mouth. She stood up, and kept pulling the large red cape.
“Caster stat?” I asked as I inspected it.
“No,” KILLian said.
Red Cape of Seer’s Hill:
+10 Agility
+6 Attack Power
+3 Intelligence
“It’s a shadow cape,” I whispered and KILLian reached out to give it to me. I swung it over my shoulder and it clipped near my neck. The instant gratification of the points filled me. A euphoric feeling. I could feel myself becoming more powerful.
“That’s a bitchin’ cape,” Gor said. “I’ll get a drop on the next boss, I bet. Grats, guys.”
“Thanks,” I said, fingering the blood red fabric. “At least we all got paid some money and are out of debt with Esme.”
“Yeah, and four hundred bones isn’t nothing to scoff at,” Gor said. “Plus, that was fun as hell. Did you see him go all Darth Vader on me in the middle of that fight? I was literally choking. I couldn’t breathe. That necrodick was going to kill me.” He chuckled, unbelieving.
I laughed along with him, but I quickly remembered what was in here—the door to the Shadow clan master. Why he would stay in a necromancer’s hall was beyond me, but who was I to judge? I slept in a garbage dump just the other night.
My friends saw me looking around and start doing it themselves.
“Maybe there’s a lever somewhere, to a secret door,” I suggested.
After a few minutes of searching, all the dead bodies were becoming annoying speed bumps as I attempted to dash around the room.
“I knew I should have rolled more into perception,” KILLian complained.
“Oh, that’s right.” I brought up my stats.
Magoton:
Level 8
Spec 1: Service
Spec 2: None
XP 1150
(250 XP until next level up)
HP 142/375
Mana 100
Stamina 100
Attribute Points: 20
Bank: $327.85
Crit rating 6%
Attack Power 16
Spell Power 0
Agility 20
Dash 10
Charisma -5
Intelligence 13
Strength 0
Service 20
Merchant 0
Perception 10
Stealth 5
Evil 20
Good 0
Weapon specialties:
6 points in Spears
5 Points in Daggers
I had twenty points to spend. I still didn’t have my main combat spec laid out, so I’d save half for that, but I wondered how best to spend the rest of my points. Agility would be helpful, with increased speed in attacks, better dashes and probably a slew of other Shadow abilities would benefit from agility, but I saw one attribute that could help me right now; perception.
It seemed like no matter what my spec was, perception would be a good stat to have. I dumped ten points into it and immediately felt the change. Normally, I’d put in the specs and the world would brighten, or things that were important would start to glow, or maybe I could lift a sword I couldn’t before, but I always felt the same. Not in Avarice. These points made me feel as if I could actually see more. My vision sharpened and I noticed things, like the necklace left on Nathaniel and the symbol on the floor—even being half covered by undead. They both held one of the symbols I’d seen in Trinity Hall. Was there a connection to this place?
I looked around the room, searching for what I might have missed before. Then I saw it. Behind a pillar, at the back of the room, a shadow bent in more than it should be. I dashed over and checked behind the stone pillar stuffed against the wall. Right behind it was a thin passageway that could easily be missed, even if you looked at it a hundred times.
“I found it.”
Chapter Nineteen
I couldn’t help but enjoy the feeling of the extra points in perception, and resisted the urge to dump all my points in there. It felt as if I were smarter. What if I dumped another ten points into agility? Would I become an athlete?
Gor took position at the front and slowly walked down the narrow, hidden passageway.
A breeze blew against me and I relished the bit of fresh air. The smell of the place had become unsettlingly tolerable. Gor stopped and peeked around the next corner.
“There’s a door here,” he said as he went around the corner.
The Shadow clan symbol was carved into the door—a hooded person’s silhouette. This was it, Sephorus was right. I turned the handle, opened the door, and gazed into the room. It was about the same size as Nathaniel’s room, but more like a library than a dungeon of death. The only man in the room sat at a table with his head close to a book.
I stepped inside and cleared my throat.
The old man looked up from his book. Before I could even blink, he had a dagger at my throat, as if he had teleported across the room. “Who are you?” he asked.
“Magoton. I was sent here to join the Shadow clan.”
He sneered and pressed the dagger against my throat a bit harder.
“You hurt him and I will kill you,” KILLian warned.
“Ditto,” Gor added.
“Who sent you?”
“The man in the room. I can’t say his name, not here.”
He lowered the dagger and took a step back, gazing at me as if for the first time. “You’re him?”
“I don’t know . . . I guess,” I said. “Can you help me?”
He backed into one of the tables and a stack of books fell. With lightning-quick reflexes, the old man caught every book before they hit the floor. As much as I liked KILLian and Gor and their willingness to put their lives on the line for me, I didn’t think we’d have a chance against this old man. A quick inspect confirmed he was above any level I could see.
“Yes, well, I never expected you to actually show up. But since you are here we might as well discuss a few things.” He sat at a table and motioned for us to do the
same.
The three of us joined him, and KILLian went right to the books, flipping through them. She sighed. “These are all in a different language.”
“Yes, great care is taken to keep knowledge a secret, especially here. How did you find the hidden corridor?”
“I threw ten into perception,” I said.
“Only ten? Impressive, most impressive. And I see you have friends. That’s good, very good. But if you are going to be truly great, you’ll have to stand out from them at some point and be on your own.”
“Friends like these raise me up.”
“Hey, Shadow-dude,” Gor said. “What’s he need to do to get into this clan? I mean, the Warrior clan just had me place my hand on a piece of paper and say my name.”
“My name is Lukin and what I offer is not what you can get at the training hall. You know they laugh at you travelers, right?”
“Yeah, the foam weapons and sparklers were kind of a giveaway that they were dicks,” KILLian said. “But at the clan house, there seemed to be more helpful people. At least at mine there were.” She glanced at Gor.
“Warrior clan people are okay. The house master guy is kind of a hard-ass though.” Gor grimaced. “I saw him beat a man to within 5 HP of dying because he mouthed off to him.”
Lukin smiled and looked at me. “Yes, well, what I offer is more than most.”
“That’s why I’m here. I’m looking for more.”
“I know, but first you need to do something for me. I need you to prove that you are ready for the next level. I want you to sabotage another player’s quest; if you get caught or even spotted as the culprit, then the deal is off and you can go back to the clan house and beg for acceptance. This is a quest to prove you can be clever and stealthy.”
QUEST: Sabotage another player without getting noticed, to gain access to Lucien.
I never wanted to betray another player, but then I remembered Trevor and how he’d ruined my quest. If he hadn’t done that, I might have found a way into the Shadow clan without jumping through hoops. I wouldn’t have been black-flagged by all the merchants because I had failed a service job so spectacularly. But then again, I may have never been able to sit right where I was sitting now, if all that hadn’t happened. And now I was with a man who could help me gain an even higher spec—one people would respect.
“What do I need to do?”
“That’s completely up to you, but make it good. If it’s good enough, I might even give you a reward.”
QUEST: Make it interesting for Lukin and get a reward.
“Thank you,” I said and extended my hand.
He looked at it, then gestured to the door behind him. “Just take the stairs over there. You can also come back through there, as Nathaniel has a way of respawning. Oh, one other thing, they can’t help you.” He gestured to Gor and KILLian. “You have to drop them from your party, and if they help in any way, you will fail the quest.”
Chapter Twenty
Once we left the dungeon, KILLian shared an idea of a quest I could ruin for some player.
“Please, don’t say anymore,” I said. “Now I can’t use that quest because you just told me about it. Remember, he said no help.”
“Oh, sorry.” She grimaced, looking remorseful.
We jogged from the forest and headed toward the city.
“I’ll try to do it quick and we can regroup after, okay?” I said.
“Yeah, I’m going to go solo as well. I need to search out a few things,” KILLian said as we reached the city gate.
The guards gave me a bit of a sneer, probably because of my evil points, or lack of charisma, but they didn’t stop me from entering.
“Yeah,” Gor said. “I totally got stuff to do as well, like plot my revenge against the training hall . . . I can farm some quests. Maybe I can pick up a PUG for the Nathaniel dungeon. So much stuff I could be doing.” Gor sounded as if he wanted to do anything other than the things he’d mentioned.
“Do you want to go with me?” KILLian offered in a sigh.
“Yes!” He said and jumped with excitement. “Where’re we going?”
She glanced at me. “You’ll see. Just need to check a few doors. How many points did you put in perception, Gor?”
“None. What the heck would I do with that stat?”
She rolled her eyes. “Come on. We’ll catch up with you later, Mago. Good luck.”
Gor gave a nod. “Yeah, good luck, man.”
They left, jogging down the street toward the residential side of the city, leaving me to wonder what KILLian was up to. Checking doors?
I strolled down the street, studying other players, as I thought of a quest I could interrupt. I hadn’t done many quests that could be easily tricked. Then I saw a few players with thin wands in their hands and smiles on their faces. I slowed a few of them down with a raised hand.
“Where did you get that?” I asked and pointed at the wand.
“Find it on your own, buddy,” one guy said.
“Don’t be a dick.” A woman stopped and pointed down the street. “Go back to Stimeypips Tannery. There, you can find the shop owner. She needs help.”
“Thanks,” I said and headed in that direction.
Arriving at the shop, I spotted numerous types of leather, from a heavy-looking kind that was worn over shirts, to chaps, and an assortment of hats and gloves.
A few of the items even had plus stats on them, but the prices were through the roof. One of the better pieces of armor that’d give the user plus six on agility was over ten thousand dollars. I wondered how many would regret buying such an item once they found out it was real money they were throwing around.
“Hello,” I called out to the shop owner. She was piercing a needle through a thick piece of leather.
Looking up, she lowered her glasses with a sigh. “Just grab a wand at the door and get me a pelt I can use,” she said sounding very annoyed.
QUEST: Leave through Gate C and use the aging wand to kill a Bitter Linx.
“What’s a Bitter Linx?” I asked.
“Just a little creature you can find in the forest.”
“Will it attack me?”
“Not likely. They are pretty much harmless. Many will come right up to you. The task is about as difficult as pissing in a toilet. I’m sure a young man like you can handle a little Bitter Linx.” She motioned to the barrel next to the wands.
The barrel overflowed with pelts of yellow and brown fur. Even though the small animals were digital creations, I still hated the idea of killing them for their skin. I knew then that I had found the quest to ruin for a player, while maybe taking it to another level. I just needed to figure out how to do it without getting caught.
“Thanks,” I said and took a wand from the barrel. “Oh, by chance do you have any batteries for sale?”
She looked up at me and it was the first glimpse I’d caught of her lazy eye; it appeared to be looking at the wall behind me. “Sure, I think I have some in my drawer.”
“Great. How much?”
“Just take them. No charge.” She pointed to a drawer that after first inspection, appeared to be a catchall of miscellaneous needles, strings, scissors, and of course, a collection of batteries.
I took two C batteries and noticed they were a brand I’d never heard of, Blinkers Batteries. The double B logo had a lightning bolt going through it. Placing five dollars on the counter, I left. I wasn’t even sure she noticed, but I didn’t like being in debt to anyone; especially when I considered what I planned to do with them.
I wasn’t interested in this quest, but I liked the idea of stopping a player from completing it. I went out Gate C and saw a few others heading into the forest. Leaving the city gates, I spotted the three that had helped me find the quest. They were all smiles and running back into the city. Most likely they had already gotten their pelts and were happy for a quick easy quest.
Not far from the city gate, I spotted my first Linx. It looked like a large cat with
tall pointy ears and a thick brown coat.
Then another guy ran up to it. To my surprise, it didn’t move, and even let the person pet it before the dude put the wand on its back. The beautiful creature aged rapidly, then fell over dead, with nothing left but a pelt laying in the short grass. The person picked it up with excitement and ran past me, saying how easy it was.
These early quests were sometimes like this—hurting cute animals—and I never liked doing them. I wanted to ruin the entire quest chain.
The first thing I wanted to do was put space between me and the ordeal. For the plan to work, I went to the potion shop and spent half my money on a single vial. Then I found a kid roaming the street, an NPC, and stopped to talk with him. After a bit of convincing that I wanted to put an end to the senseless killing of the majestic Bitter Linx, he agreed to help me.
+10 Charisma
Heck yeah. At least I wasn’t in the hole anymore.
I stood in a dark alley, and peeked past the wall, spotting the Tannery. The kid’s hands were shaking as he held the bottle. I hadn’t even asked his name, or inspected him. It would be better if neither one of us could properly identify each other, in case a guard happened across this kid in the act.
Man, he couldn’t be more than eight years old.
“You sure you want to do this?” I asked, sort of hoping he’d back out.
“I got this. I’ve asked my mom about a thousand times for a Bitter Linx as a pet, but she says she has an allergy. Before the travelers came, I used to go to their spot and just watch them. It makes me sick what they’re doing out there.” The kid gripped the vial tightly.
“Okay, you know what to do. It’s simple.”
The kid nodded and put the hand holding the vial in his jacket pocket, then walked into the street. I tried to stay in the shadows as I watched him move to his target.
The kid reached the door and tossed the vile I’d purchased directly into the barrel of wands. It broke open and splashed onto the barrel of pelts and the surrounding area. I heard screams from in the shop but the kid was running full speed down the road; he turned down an alley and disappeared from my sight.