The First Player (AlterGame Book #1) LitRPG Series

by Andrew Novak

  Right off the bat, Jack inspected his acquisition in the daylight. He organized the goblins in a single file and paced in front of them like a marshal showcasing the royal troops. His little green monsters looked no different from standard mobs. The difference was in the information window.

  Goblin.

  A dark servant with the characteristics of a combat pet.

  Health: 15

  Expertise: 1 XP

  In normal goblins, it indicated their aggro zone, but Jack's tamed goblins would fight under his orders and would not automatically attack anyone. But they didn't have any experience yet, just the one point. The standard for these kinds of mobs was about ten, but these had more leveling to do. Or maybe not! One already had two XP! A rat tail hung from the mouth of one champion, and the goblin was slowly moving its jaws. Like its brethren, it was gazing adoringly at its master.

  "So, here's my first order!" Jack barked. "Everyone on the hunt! Catch and eat a rat. In half an hour, we are leaving for our trip and the Dark Servant needs only well-fed heroes. Hop to it!"

  As the goblins scattered, Lisa remarked that goblins eating rats was disgusting.

  "Look who's talking about disgusting," Jack turned to her. "The poor little victim of evil necro-rituals! In fact, why didn’t you stand out? I mean, didn't they recognize you as Nightmare infiltrator? It doesn't show in your stats that you are a necromancer."

  "I left the guild when I ran away. How else could I have shown my face in Maxitown?"

  "That's true. But you use the rod. Which means that you managed to keep some necromantic abilities?"

  "Not all, unfortunately," Lisa sighed. "I grabbed a few of the more entertaining artifacts from the castle, I just can't shift them into a weapons slot. Some things work, some don't. From the very beginning, I was on the path to developing magical abilities. After ten experience points, I became an Herbalist. The second skill I received when I was already with Ruger, Little Witch. It gives me a set of weak curses and works everywhere, not only in Nightmare. Witches and dark mages are everywhere on Stoglav. There's nothing specifically necromantic about Little Witch. After thirty experience points is when the distinction begins. I reached thirty! Not for very long... they took a level after a fiery execution, then heavily reduced my experience. But I had reached thirty when the Rod of Despair opened up to me. That's probably why I still have the ability. Oh, look, your pet monsters are back. That was fast."

  Notices flashed before Jack:

  Attention! Your servants have completed a successful hunt. They receive 1 XP.

  For your information: it is only through active use of your dark servants will their experience grow. Your servants' experience may increase independently, but it will also grow proportionally to the experience of the master.

  Now each little green beast had 2 XP. The one that had leveled first didn't gain another, although it had dutifully gobbled up a second rat. It seemed that it was a one-time reward.

  "Listen, I can't watch them eat rats!" Eloise pleaded. "Come on, can't they at least fry their catch? I'll teach them myself. It'll be fast. Tell them to catch another rat, but not eat it."

  "So if you're trained in Cooking," Jack remarked, "then we'll go back to reality and you'll make lunch."

  "Cooking is a secondary bonus from both Herbalist and Healer," Lisa explained. "You were going to spend half an hour here anyway. Let's put it to good use."

  And she actually taught five goblins how to fry rats. Their experience rose to three and their gratitude pleased Lisa. The monsters, devouring their fried rat carcasses, hopped around their tutor and squealed, demonstrating the highest degree of happiness.

  Other creatures not included in their group scurried around the ruins and occasionally stopped to see what their kin were up to, but did not take part themselves.

  "Well, all right," Jack decided, examining his green army. "Next time, we'll teach you sewing and you'll all wear aprons with ruffles. But now it's time for us to go. Into the box."

  The goblins readily lined up in front of their master, and Jack felt for the right spot on the flat face of the box. A flash – and all his pet goblins disappeared.

  Jack checked his map and located the nearest portal. Fortunately, it wasn't in a city, but a large village. Meaning, no defensive walls or NPC guards. Which also meant that players rushing to the war wouldn't linger long there. The downside of it was that Ruger Eckerhart might descend on it with his necro-army. He wasn't, after all, waging this war according to strategy, but was aiming to cause maximum damage. It was a form of blackmail so that Maxitor would be forced to return his runaway servant.

  But the village district was quiet. No light forces and no skeletons to be found. A couple of times, players on flying mounts flitted across the sky, but none approached or dropped down far enough to identify the necromancer.

  Jack and Eloise entered the village. The girl activated a "wipe" in advance and now her stats wouldn’t appear. The spell duration was supposed to last for ten minutes. They needed much less than that to cross the village since all the main landmarks of such a small settlement would be concentrated in the center square.

  The behavior of the locals made it easy to tell exactly who was a living player and who was an NPC, even without reading their stats popup. Nervousness could be felt in the players' behavior. Everyone feared an attack from the necromancers. If a person had chosen a peaceful profession in Alterra, then it was a natural reaction. It would have been wiser to exit the game and wait until the war ended. But for many ghetto inhabitants, farming in Alterra was their only source of income and they had to take the risk.

  Therefore, everyone looked at the newcomers. A couple of times, Jack, who looked like a warrior, was asked if he knew how the war was going and where the necromancers were now.

  They came to the square in the center of the village. The market, a temple of Chronos, a tavern... Jack turned his head looking for the interlocking hearts of Astra. The same symbol that marked the portals and shops of the Wanderer mages with them. Lisa trailed helplessly behind him. At her height, it was impossible to make out anything on the other side of the square because the market occupied half of the available area and turned out to be pretty crowded.

  Ah, there was a familiar icon above the roof! Jack rushed toward the Wanderer's shop. He had already seen the mage NPC waiting for clients at the doorway of his building... and in front of him, making it difficult to pass, two players emerged. Jack jerked to the side to walk around. He didn't understand what was going on at first or why these two were behaving this way, but did see right away the guild name in their stats – Brotherhood of Gravediggers. He'd forgotten all about them!

  Fleeing from the necromancers, Jack had ended up a short distance away from Dargoth. Was the methodical and thorough Weaver Lund going out, putting watchers at all the portals in the region? It seemed so. But what could they do? It was a PvE zone inside the settlement. The Gravediggers couldn't attack here... What a shame. Jack would mop the floor with these two. But he couldn't.

  "People, look!" shouted one of the Gravediggers. "These two are necromancer spies! Enemy spies! Don't let them escape! Call the guard!"

  The throng of NPCs instantly appeared around them as if out of nowhere. That was, of course, from the market. In this case, they had some script included that ordered them to block "infiltrators". A ring closed in around the outsiders. No one attacked, but they wouldn't allow Jack and Lisa to leave. They would simply stand in the way. In PvE mode, this was an insurmountable obstacle.

  In the event of a military raid, a different scenario would have triggered. Then the NPCs would flee screaming, but "enemy spies" could not attack. And there was no doubt that the guard was about to show up. Of course, there would not be any serious trouble in the first minute. The guards would be polite... but firm. The proceedings would begin, the explanations, then Lisa's "wipe" would end. That’s when the situation would become really uncomfortable.

  Furthermore, no fewer than
ten players had pushed into the crowd of NPCs surrounding Lisa and Jack. They absolutely should not see Eloise, for whom Ruger Eckerhart had promised a thousand gold. That was big money for a hardworking farmer.

  "Hold the spies!" the Gravedigger continued. "Don't let them go, or they'll bring an enemy unit to the village!"

  Eloise was confused and tried to convince the others that they were not spies. She might have been able to prove it to the NPCs, but the living players knew perfectly well that her lack of stats and exotic appearance was incredibly suspicious.

  Jack stepped to one side, then the other – everywhere there were farmers and small-time merchants from the market. They were pressing closer, blocking escape, until Jack and Lisa were standing in the middle of the mob on an island five feet in diameter. What rotten little tricks the Gravediggers had! Jack, gritting his teeth in anger, checked the small icon in the corner of his vision again. It was PvE, after all! If he attacked the NPCs, who were represented as peaceful civilians, then he would become an enemy to the kingdom. No, by no means was that an option. Then the Maxitorian portals couldn't be used and Sartorius would have problems on a massive scale. He was the Master of their guild... Seconds ticked by, the duration of the "wipe" was running out, and the guard would emerge from the portal at any moment.

  Well, you wanted to fight the dark forces, thought Jack, so let's fight!

  Chapter Thirteen. Great River

  JACK TOOK a closer look at the faces of the villagers. NPCs, being true to their programmed behavior, were relatively calm, but the farmer players couldn’t conceal their gloating, although these blockheads should have known that real spies of Ruger Eckerhart wouldn’t waste their time on a dump of a village like this. The Gravediggers openly grinned, seemingly satisfied with their trick. Now, now… Jack pulled the box out of his inventory and pressed the bottom to let the goblins out.

  This, of course, did not fit into the typical, planned scenarios in Alterra. Goblins usually sat in their locations and waited for strangers. They would rush them with vile cries and then heroically perish. They did not come to the villages. Regardless, they were still hostile forces to the peasants.

  The little green monsters were a far cry from the necromancers’ army, but there were enough of them that the mode switched to PvP. The village turned to an “enemy raid” scenario, and the NPCs posing as residents scattered in all directions with loud screams. Jack’s pocket goblins would not have attacked without an order, but they did notice that the bad people who surrounded their adored master with obviously hostile intentions were fleeing. Inspired by this, the creatures began to jump, squeal, bare their fangs and try to look threatening in every feasible way. It scared the real players too, but Jack was only interested in the Gravediggers. Before they realized that the PvE mode had changed, the Shadow of the King was in his hand.

  The Gravediggers’ bodies still were fading, but Jack had already herded the goblins back into the box. He then rushed across the deserted square to the portal. The portal mage had taken refuge in his shop during the enemy raid. Where else could he go, anyway? He was stuck to his mini-lock. That’s why he didn’t take part in the full-scale spy hunt.

  Jack stormed into the shop, looked around and slammed his fist on the counter; strong enough to make the disorderly pile of scrolls bounce up. This, of course, did not actually happen, because the scrolls on the table were a mere decoration, part of a single block of texture.

  “Two teleports to the port of Vincent!” barked Jack. “And be quick, good man, I’m in a hurry!”

  “I beg your pardon, kind traveler,” said the mage from behind the half-open door. He was hiding somewhere deep inside his shop. “I can’t…”

  Something blinked in front of Jack. Oh, yeah, the mode icon changed, and the game canceled the PvP zone. Was the spy-catching script even turned on for the Wanderer? If the game canceled the last script, then the previous one could be activated by default. No, of course not. The mage gracefully entered the room and took his place behind the counter. He was a sort of handsome old man with a gray beard down to his waist.

  “Right away, honorable traveler,” he announced. “Always glad to help those who need to get on the road. Here are your teleport scrolls to the port of Vincent. May I ask you kindly to pay one hundred gold, please?”

  Jack’s mood worsened, but there was no choice.

  You have made a payment in the amount of 100 gold.

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

  You have 442 gold in your account.

  Do you want to perform another transaction? Yes / No

  Jack grabbed the scrolls and dragged Lisa to the portal, not paying attention to her babbling about how she needed to give him money since this was all because of her...

  “Was it you who turned me and the Gravediggers against each other?” he snapped. “Stop that nonsense! Get inside the circle. Close to me. Closer!”

  Lisa obeyed the order with such diligence, that they were transported to the port of Vincent in an embrace.

  They stood on the top of a hill with a breathtaking view opening before them. The city of Vincent stood on two hills, separated by a small river flowing into the Great Chand. Ten bridges interconnected both parts of the city, encircled by neat white walls with turrets, and the streets clambered along the slopes. The mouth of the river became a port, and on the Great River you could see dozens of boats gliding leisurely in both directions. The breeze was filling sails of all colors and styles, the oars of the galleys frothing the blue waters of the Chand. Fantastic!

  “Oh, how beautiful,” said Eloise. “I’ve never seen anything like this before.”

  Jack recalled the last time he was in Vincent, the only difference was that he had come here not by portal, but afoot. That time, he didn’t have a reason to climb up the hill where the temples of all Alterra’s gods were located. The temple of Astra where the portal was attached was also on the hill. It was beautiful. Yet, it was still not the sea. He said as much to his companion.

  “It’s still not the sea. Just wait till we finish the quest and take the schooner of Bacchus, you’ll see the difference yourself. Well, let’s go! Let’s take a closer look.”

  They headed for the port. The street zig-zagged and twisted along the slope, the city buildings here were not as big and nice looking as in the southern cities, like Svetlograd and Maxitor. Vincent was considered to be a free city ruled by the citizens’ council, although it was situated on Havian lands. It was far away from Maxitor, where the war was going on. Nobody here knew about the thousand gold promised by Ruger for catching the runaway girl, and besides, no one here worried about the necromancers anyway. It all was far away from here. The life of port cities like Vincent was dependent on the Great River nearby. All news, dangers and income came on the waves of the Chand, which went almost through the whole continent.

  This place was quite close to the border of Javatti, the northernmost of the Lahitte states. If you sailed the river Chand any further, you could get to the country of the Taunites, the mysterious people who worshiped Faceless, the God of Questions. Their land was divided into small principalities, either merged into unions or fighting amongst one another.

  There, the Chand split into two branches, one turning east, going to the ocean, the other one flowing north, into the Fasheer marshes, the land of monsters and secrets of the past. Where the eastern branch of the Chand flowed into the ocean, was Mal-Zaire, a thousand islets with palaces, temples, markets and the most heinous thieves’ dens you could find in Alterra. Mal-Zaire was the home of the Achaeans, whose god was Zaratos, the Lord of Answers. And as in any city large enough, there was a ghetto, which was inhabited by the Areuts, the ancestral descendants of Stoglav. The descendants of the vanquished.

  This was how the Great River stitched together all the people of Alterra. As for the necromancers with their Nightmare, it was simply a far away place, not heard of here.

  On the way, Jack noticed a weapon
smith’s shop and dropped in to sell his loot. After the battle with the Twilights, he had collected a lot of junk, including some decent pieces with bonuses. Nothing special. Over many years of gaming, Jack had picked up more effective gear. Eloise was not interested in the trophies either, although Jack offered her some pieces he thought would fit her specialization.

  “Oh, no,” Lisa wrinkled her nose and shook her head, “sell it all! As for artifacts and gear for dark magic, there’s much more to choose from at Ruger Castle. Now I wish I hadn’t been so greedy and had taken only what I needed. Some things require a higher necromancer specialization, others have a level restriction. But what works for me is much better than your pieces. You will see for yourself. I still haven’t put it on, to avoid embarrassing the people of Maxitor. So, go and sell it!”

  Jack was already in high spirits, but the visit to the weaponsmith’s shop made him feel even better.

  It’s always nice to read something like this:

  A deposit of 214 gold has been made to your account.

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

  You have 656 gold in your account.

  Do you want to perform another transaction? Yes / No

  Now they could reunite with the Master of their guild, and he would cover all their future expenses. Jack checked the chat – no, the mage was still out of reach. His icon was grayed out, which meant he was still on the road. Jack pictured Sartorius, as he rode along a dusty road, wearing a blue robe embroidered with stars. Must be a spectacular show.

  Just in case, he wrote a message to the mage:

  We are already in Vincent, waiting for you.