The First Player (AlterGame Book #1) LitRPG Series

by Andrew Novak

  "Well, no. No, then," he said nonchalantly to Quinn. "It always happens like this. You cunning Achaeans cashing in on us simple warrior Scands! Instead of getting some cash, I'm going to spend some here. I need a ‘descrier’. You probably have one, yeah?"

  Jack opened his equipment menu and began to put the goods back into the slots.

  "I have a Book of Zaile," Quinn Lyon said, licking his lips nervously, "Keep it around just in case. It's a rare item in these parts since we're in the middle of nowhere. Magical artifacts are a rarity. So the price, unfortunately, will reflect that. That's how it is with rare curiosities in our poor area."

  "No, I don't need the book. How about something one-use? Oh, don't be stingy. One-use ‘descriers’ certainly should be in a provincial backwater and the price, of course, should be cheap."

  "What if the disposable doesn't work?" the merchant made a last attempt, "The Book of Zaile guarantees a minimum of ten uses."

  "It'll work," Jack assured him. "Come on, lay it out."

  "The Eye of Zaile, five gold. Cheap, no warranty, one-use ‘descrier’, suitable for items up to Legendary level."

  Jack paid and placed the Eye of Zaile into a slot with the horseshoe. The single-use "descrier" disappeared with a soft flash, and an inscription appeared above the horseshoe:

  Good Luck Horseshoe, item level rare

  Increases the speed of riding mounts by 15%

  Increases the endurance of riding mounts by 15%

  Jack took the horseshoe out again and held it up in front of himself so that the Achaean could read its stats.

  "Well, yes," the man grumbled, "it's a nice trinket, no doubt. But we rarely get knights in our parts. Who would I sell it to?"

  "Well, fortunately, there's a war right now," Jack winked, "the Royal Army will come and with it will be knights on horses. What a lucky opportunity, eh? And so rare in your little provincial town."

  Quinn Lyon started to bargain and Jack would have haggled properly with the man, but he was worried about Lisa. He needed to get back to her quickly and he had yet to stop by the magic shop. After a little back-and-forth, Jack concluded the deal with the Achaean, which could have been considered quite successful for both sides.

  A deposit of 227 gold has been made to your account.

  Would you like to see the details of the transaction? Yes/No

  You have 982 gold in your account.

  Do you want to perform another transaction? Yes/No

  Before leaving, Jack learned where in Feanot he could buy magic scrolls, and then left the shop. The Achaean emerged after him and began to shout:

  "Hey, brave warriors! Stop in, replenish your arsenal before the battle with the necromancers! Great selection, low prices! A rare trinket! An incredible rarity! Special discount for heroes in the war with Nightmare!"

  A few players actually turned into the shop, but Jack didn't worry about it. He was already in a hurry to buy the scrolls. The mage-merchant was an NPC, his bargaining abilities were limited to his script. Jack bought more healing elixirs, a couple of scrolls to get around Maxitown... after all, they would have to go back there sooner or later. Well, and a few more "wipes" for Eloise. In total, he spent a tidy sum. Having stuffed his purchases into free slots, Jack checked his wallet.

  You have 542 gold in your account.

  Do you want to perform another transaction? Yes/No

  Not very much. But Jack had 200 panbucks, which could be converted into game gold. Moreover, now Sartorius was responsible for the financial side of the quest and the alpha's wallet should be bottomless by omega standards. Jack tried to contact the mage once again, but he was still off-line. Then he brought up a chat with Lisa and wrote that he would be there soon.

  But when Jack went to the city gates, they were locked. Royal guards in shiny helms were tightly huddled on the wall and a crowd was rushing toward the gate.

  "Necromancers!" Jack heard. "They're approaching the city!"

  "Do not worry, citizens of Maxitor!" the loud voice of the captain of the city guard broke through the noise. "The evil warlocks have attacked Feanot, but we will repel them! To the walls, good people, help the guard repel the attack. The Royal Army is already on its way to us."

  With nothing else to do, Jack took a place on the wall with the other players and looked out from behind the bulwark. The army of necromancers turned out to be very small. A few dozen skeletons approached in front of them – crossbowmen in leather armor. A full-body shield hung on the back of each one. Standing with their backs to the city, their bony fingers dexterously turned the charger handle. Then they turned around, released their arrows, turned back, and reloaded again. All the while, the shields protected the crossbowmen from reciprocal fire.

  A few dozen paces behind them stood the pikemen in rusted chain mail, among them, the necromancers' mantles stood out like black spots. From time to time, the mages extended their hands to the ranks of crossbowmen, then clouds of green dust ripped from their palms, expanded in flight and enveloped the first line. Some kind of protective spell, Jack realized.

  I've been delayed, he wrote to Lisa, A detachment of necromancers came to the city. Hide and don't stick your head out.

  "Hey, there aren't that many of them!" shouted a player next to Jack. "We'll kill them ourselves!"

  "Yeah!" another chimed in. "We'll kill them ourselves and the drop'll be ours!"

  A few dozen people were already running for the stairs down to the gate, and the voices of the few skeptics were drowned in their joyful cries. Most wanted to go into battle. Jack saw that the players, in terms of strength, were quite able of defeating the necromancers. The players gathered here weren't high-level, there were few here who had earned their fortieth experience point. So they went down into the city behind the walls to wait for the army. But there were a lot of them.

  However, something told Jack that this was a trap. A detachment of black mages wouldn't act so audaciously if there they didn't have strong support behind them. Suspicious, suspicious... it looked very much like an ambush. And, most importantly, the necromancers were moving calmly and methodically, moving the line of archers toward the city wall, which meant they were expecting something. He could see a certain plan in their actions.

  However, it was clear that Jack shared this line of reasoning with the minority of the players gathered behind the gates. After all, they were here to kill the necromancers of Nightmare! Who'd come here themselves, hadn't they? No one seemed to remember that the initial plan had been to join the Royal Army. They players shook their weapons, shouted belligerently and demanded that the captain of the city guard open the gates immediately. Jack wasn't planning to fight. He wanted to leave town and find Lisa as soon as possible. So he joined those who wished to fight and, a couple of times, he even shouted some combative stupidity with them.

  The NPC captain announced that the gates would be opened straight away and that he was pleased to see so many brave men.

  "Give 'em hell, warriors," he instructed the players.

  There were loners and several small guilds in the crowd. Masters quickly exchanged a few words to clarify the plan and act together.

  As soon as the gates parted, the players ran out of the city. Jack was next to the already familiar Glory Seekers. Meanwhile, the line of necro-crossbowmen retreated, allowing their enemy to line up in front of the gates. This increased Jack's suspicions and now he was just waiting for an opportunity to take off without attracting attention.

  He slowed his pace so that he fell to the rear of the attackers, who were running over each other to get there. The heavy-armor fighters, those not susceptible to arrows, pushed toward the front and were covered by mages and archers. Most of the attackers rushed to disperse to the sides to form a wide front. They had two, maybe two and a half times more fighters, and in order to make use of the numerical advantage, it was best to take the detachment of necromancers from the flanks.

  Everyone prepared their weapon. Jack, too, withdrew the
Shadow of the King. A player walking alongside him said:

  "Whoa! Interesting sword! It's black!"

  "Kill a necromancer, and you'll get one," Jack winked. "Except, of course, black swords don't drop for everyone. It's a rare thing."

  The hint worked. The fighter quickened his pace. He wanted to be in the front line when the distribution of black swords began. Jack, on the contrary, walked even more slowly. The necromancers and their bony army retreated. The players moved after them, detachments already advancing on their flanks, overtaking a few enemies, when Jack noticed a suitable gulley, densely overgrown with bushes, and he dove into it. Running between the earthen slopes, he scrambled away from the attackers and then began running to the forest, where Lisa was waiting. He summoned her in chat while he ran and asked:

  How are you?

  There was no response, though the icon showed that Lisa was in the game. Jack didn't like her silence. He ran faster. When he reached the edge of the forest, a scream rose behind him. Jack threw a glance over his shoulder.

  The detachment of necromancers stopped their retreat. The skeleton pikemen rapidly strode forward through the line of crossbowmen and struck the fighters from Feanot head-on. From the groves on the right and left a hazy smoke dispersed and evaporated. The trees had been a magical illusion. In their place, units of heavy cavalry appeared. Before, the riders had been concealed by the spell, but now they were hurtling at full speed, black cloaks fluttering behind them like banners, at the flanks of the light army, which had pushed too far forward.a

  A player on a flying mount was tracing circles above the battlefield. From Jack could make out, the flyer wore black armor and was riding a black gryphon. It was certainly Ruger Eckerhart. Then Jack crashed into the brush and could no longer see how the battle was progressing. And what was there to see? It was clear who would win.

  Not far from the place where Jack had left Lisa, he moved slower. A sound emerged ahead of him. It sounded like a lazy woodsman slowly, deliberately working with an ax: thunk... thunk... thunk... Jack, his sword at the ready, tore through the bushes and stopped in a familiar clearing. The player in the red vest was standing by a thick oak tree and steadily beating his head against it.

  "You'd have better results with an ax," Jack informed him, coming closer.

  He recognized him as the same guy who had likely read Eloise's stats at the exit of Maxitown. He executed his simple and entirely stupid action quite dispassionately, with an indifferent expression. With each blow, a red spray flew from the sufferer's forehead. Jack noticed various items a little off to the side – dagger, a pair of gloves, shoes. Very similar to a drop from a fallen player.

  When Jack rounded the oak, he saw Lisa. The little necromancer was leisurely slapping a piece of iron decorated with a silver skull against her palm. With each strike, the player in the red vest smacked his head into the tree.

  "Repeat!" the girl demanded. "I will never attack Mistress Eloise!"

  "I will never attack Mistress Eloise!" the zombie dutifully recited, thumping his head on the tree trunk. Boom.

  "I will fear Mistress Eloise!"

  "I will fear Mistress Eloise!" Boom.

  "I attacked Mistress Eloise because I am a brainless clod!"

  "I attacked Mistress Eloise because I am a brainless clod!" Boom.

  "Enough already," Jack asked. "Let him go."

  Lisa heaved a heavy sigh and performed an intricate gesture with the skull-topped rod.

  Her raised dead collapsed heavily under the tree and soon began to lose mass and color. The dead man went to respawn.

  "I did it!" Eloise bragged. "And I got a level, look! Already twenty-three!"

  "Congrats," Jack nodded. "I remember that rod. I see you didn't steal only the book from Ruger."

  "Of course," Lisa had already calmed down. "Why waste time on trifles, if I'd already made up my mind? Sorry, I couldn't answer in chat, although I did see there was a message. I've been really busy. See, this idiot followed us. He even brought a friend. Well, I showed them!"

  "I see. Take the ‘wipe’, gather your drop, and let's get out of here. Ruger is very close, on a black gryphon. He might see us on the road from above, so we'll go only by forest."

  Then added:

  "And it seems you are vindictive."

  "No one else is going to kill me again!" Lisa declared triumphantly. "Enough already."

  The rest of the day, the made their way through forests and heaths, bypassing towns and settlements. Jack kept them heading north – away from the fighting and closer to the great river, Chand. But first, they had to spend about an hour lying in the bushes by the road, along which the Maxitorian troops were moving. Jack rarely had to watch such a spectacle. Knights rode at the front, each looking like the rest, in gleaming plate mail. Out of curiosity, Jack looked at their stats – 120 hit points, plus there were surely bonuses to defense from their heavy armor, plus the partial damage that the horses take. The cavalier horses were powerful, with heavy hooves and long combed manes. They would crumple skeletons with one hit. But something told Jack that Ruger wouldn't engage in open battle with this army. He would run away and face off again with squads of players. It was easy to see the army on the march from his gryphon.

  Without backup from the army of NPCs, the players, like the crowd that had gathered at Feanot, wouldn't be able to defeat the necromancer. Which meant the war would drag on, to the joy of hot-tempered amateurs of combat.

  Behind the cavalry stretched the heavy infantry and archers. They didn't have such an impressive reserve of hit points. Their job in battle was to engage the enemy in a fight, to give the cavalry the opportunity to prepare an attack.

  Jack began to question Eloise about the strength of Nightmare's forces. But there was little that she could tell. This was her first time in war. She had so far only participated in a few raids that Ruger had orchestrated. But those had been minor raids, and now it looked like her former master had somehow received a quest from the Despot himself. Which meant he was joined by other leaders of the necromancers and squadrons of Undead Warriors from Nightmare's army.

  Lisa explained that not all the skeletons were as strong as those that Jack had seen at Dargoth. Those had been from Ruger's personal retinue. The strength of the Undead Warriors grew proportionally with the level of their master, and Ruger Eckerhart had sixty-three points of experience. He had leveled his skeletons.

  But the Despot's elite undead were perfectly capable of resisting the warriors of the kingdom of Maxitor. The game maintained a balance of forces so that it was interesting for everyone. If Ruger had a quest from the Despot, then he had a very impressive force at his disposal.

  "And it's all because of me!" she finished proudly. "This big war!"

  The Royal Army passed the bushes where Jack and Lisa were hiding. A motley crowd of players walked behind it. These were able to notice the watchers, so they had to slowly move farther into the forest.

  Jack's chat icon started blinking. Sartorius had come into the game.

  Where are you? Where did you disappear to? Did something happen?

  Jack wasn't pleased that the mage wasn't asking about Eloise. But he decided not to point this out.

  Have you heard about the necromancer invasion? We had to run from Maxitown because they're hunting her. But this doesn't change our plan. Are you ready to go to the demon city?

  A minute passed before Sartorius began to type his answer – a tiny pencil began to move next to the icon.

  I'm ready. I'll be in Alterra all day tomorrow.

  Another message came later.

  I'm worried about Eloise. We may have problems with her. I saw that Ruger put a reward out for her.

  Relax, Jack replied, she can take care of herself. Honestly, I'm more worried about you. Let's think about our next step. When and where are we meeting?

  "What's up?" Lisa asked. "You're scowling."

  "I'm chatting with our Master," Jack explained. "Hold on, I'll be right back...
"

  Where are you? Are you together? another message from Sartorius.

  We're northwest of the capital. If you want to know our exact location – we're sitting in some bushes. I think we need to choose a port on the Chand and meet there. Have you ever been to a city like that? Can you use a teleport?

  Nope. I need two days to get... hold on, I'm looking at the map. I don’t want to waste time.

  "We have a small setback. He's never been to the coast of the Chand," Jack said to his companion. "And you?"

  "No," Lisa shook her head, "Ruger never took his raids that far. Not when he brought me, anyway."

  Jack glanced at the chat icon. The pencil wasn't moving. A thorough man, this Sartorius. He'd been studying the map for a while. Jack had been to the great river, himself, even to a few of the ports that the Stargazer guild could depart from. But, better let their leader choose.

  Sartorius finally reached a decision:

  You got the map in front of you? What do you think about Port Vincent? I'll be able to get there by tomorrow afternoon. First by teleport to Etheria, on the northern border of Maxitor, Lahitte wranglers lead their horses there to sell. I'll buy a horse and be in Vincent by evening.

  Jack consulted the map. He had been in Vincent, although he didn't quite remember it. The map showed that the port was large enough that they would be able to hire a vessel there.

  All right, he said to the mage, I can reach Vincent by teleport, but I'll need to find a portal here first. Let's meet tomorrow evening in Vincent. I'll check my chat. When you get there, write me. If I get there first, I'll do the same.

  Jack waited for confirmation and closed the chat box. He tossed his head up and looked at the sky. No black gryphons to be seen, which was, of course, a good sign. However, the sky was already starting to fill with the heavy, dark blue color of evening time.