The Two Week Curse
Page 24
Erik was now wearing the full Golden Fox armor, minus the helmet.
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Golden Fox Cuirass
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Defense: 59
Weight: 7.3 kg
Charge: 23/100
Health: 47/113
Base Value: 32 Gold, 17 Silver
Slot: Takes up chest slot
Enchanted Ability: Agility increases 2% per hit, can stack a total of 5 times (5% for a total of 12 times 4/5 Golden Fox Armor Set)
Innate Ability: Reduce magical attacks effect by 5% (12% 4/5 Golden Fox Armor Set)
This is a set item. When two or more set items are combined, the abilities of the set items will increase.
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Golden Fox Greaves
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Defense: 63
Weight: 5.7 kg
Charge: 37/100
Health: 67/109
Base Value: 36 Gold, 13 Silver
Slot: Takes up leg slot
Enchantment: strength increases 4% (5% when paired with Golden Fox Cuirass)
Innate Effect: Reduce magical attacks effect by 3% (5% 4/5 Golden Fox Armor Set)
This is a set item. When two or more set items are combined, the abilities of the set items will increase.
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Golden Fox Gauntlets
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Defense: 53
Weight: 3.2 kg
Charge: 21/100
Health: 31/109
Base Value: 27 Gold, 59 Silver
Slot: Takes up arm slot
Enchantment: strength increases 4% (10% 4/5 Golden Fox Armor Set)
Innate Effect: Reduce magical attacks effect by 3% (7% 4/5 Golden Fox Armor Set)
This is a set item. When two or more set items are combined, the abilities of the set items will increase.
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Golden Fox Boots
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Defense: 72
Weight: 1.8 kg
Charge: 73/100
Health: 77/107
Base Value: 31 Gold, 13 Silver
Slot: Takes up foot slot
Enchantment: Agility increases 4% (10% 4/5 Golden Fox Armor Set)
Innate Effect: Reduce magical attacks effect by 3% (7% 4/5 Golden Fox Armor Set)
This is a set item. When two or more set items are combined, the abilities of the set items will increase.
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Erik felt his whole body had undergone an upgrade. His reaction time was almost the same as when he had taken the speed potion; his defense had a major upgrade and his strength made him feel invincible.
Erik punched forward, feeling the power rushing through his body as the formations inside the armor glowed, feeding him power.
The force of the punch threw Erik off-balance.
“Okay, damn,” Erik said.
Rugrat watched from the side, wearing his “sneaking kit,” as he called it. He looked like a cross between a sniper and a beggar with a woodland-looking archer headdress meant to help people blend into the environment around them, then a leather cuirass that had seen better days, fingerless gloves for his bow, trashed pants, and his runner shoe lookalike shoes.
Erik moved around to get used to the new power and the greater Agility.
Rugrat seemed to melt into the fabric of the square as he stayed absolutely still. Erik didn’t even notice him as he worked to get greater control over his new attributes.
Finally Erik got the hang of it to the point that he felt confident moving forward.
He looked around for Rugrat, seeing him creeping around in a corner. “What the hell are you doing?” Erik asked.
“Grinding out my stealth skill and Experience.” Rugrat shrugged. “As much fun as it is to see you fall all over the place, you want to go and see what is waiting for us inside this beast trial?”
“Proceed through the doorway to enter the Beast Mountains trial,” a powerful voice declared, coming from the doorway.
“Not like we didn’t hear it the first couple of dozen times,” Rugrat said.
The two of them stepped forward to the door. The door started to open, revealing a grassland beyond.
Erik and Rugrat passed through the door, which quickly shut behind them, as if it were scared that they might go backward.
“I’ve never met two people who care more about preparing than actually doing the trial. Most of the others have already left!” The powerful voice seemed to take on a complaining tone as Erik and Rugrat looked at each other in confusion.
“Shit!” The voice disappeared as it seemed to realize it had done something wrong.
A creature in the grasslands jumped out at Erik and Rugrat’s backs, giving them little time to react.
A rumbling roar could be heard inside Erik’s body as he used Growling Tiger Elbow.
Rugrat moved to the side, trying to pull out his pistol, but Erik was already reacting.
Erik’s elbow shot out, hitting the snake.
It exploded from the force on its body, covering Rugrat with the remainder.
“Not cool, dude. Not cool.” Rugrat wiped some blood out of his massive headdress.
Erik tried to help him as another door descended.
“Only when you pass through the door will you have completed the trial.” The voice returned again.
“Growling Tiger Elbow? What kind of made-up shit is that?” Rugrat asked.
“Well, it worked didn’t it?” Erik asked.
Rugrat looked over himself. “Kind of,” Rugrat grumbled.
Erik checked his information. There wasn’t a tombstone to be found of the creature.
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You have learned the skill: Hand-to-Hand
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You like to fight up close and personal, using your fist against theirs. You don’t need weapons as your hands are weapons.
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Skill: Hand-to-Hand
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Level: 7 (Novice)
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No bonuses at this time. You must prove your skills first.
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You have reached Level 12
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When you sleep next, you will be able to increase your attributes by: 5 points.
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24,437/120,000 EXP till you reach Level 13
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“Damn, it’s good to kill high-leveled creatures!” Erik said.
Rugrat cleaned himself off as best as he could before they moved toward the door. Once they got to it, the door opened. Waves of heat rushed over them as if they were standing in front of a blast furnace.
They dug their feet in and strained their eyes against the hot air, looking into the depths.
Inside they saw a slumbering creature. With its scales, size, and lizard-like appearance, it seemed like a dragon without the wings.
“Well, looks like there be dragons in these realms,” Rugrat said in a pirate voice.
Erik wanted to smack him but held back. It certainly looked as if it were related to a dragon.
Maybe it’s a dragonkin? Like how there are dogs—their ancestors are wolves, but they’re just weaker versions. This one’s like a twice removed on my mother’s side, grandson from a dragon.
Erik couldn’t help but grin. He felt the thrill of fear and excitement, knowing that there were dragons in the Ten Realms.
His smile dissipated as he studied the dragon kin. It might be a weaker version of a real dragon, but it still wasn’t simple; it was certainly much stronger than him and Rugrat.
“Time to play chicken with a dragon,” Erik said.
“Ohhh, I think I just got goose bumps,” Rugrat said.
The dragon kin didn’t notice the two idiots that had wandered into its home. Instead, it continued to lie on the ground, sleeping peacefully.
Chapter: Man in Machine
Erik and Rugrat didn’t move in directly; they moved off to the side and Erik lay down to sleep and put his attribute points to work.
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You have 5 attribute points to use.
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One in Strength, one in Agility, one in Mana pool, and Mana Regen and Stamina Regen.
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Character Sheet
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Name: Erik West
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Level: 12
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Race: Human
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Titles: From the Grave
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Strength: (Base 7) +10
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170
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Agility: (Base 6) +12
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90
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Stamina: (Base 10) +1
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165
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Mana: (Base 6) +8
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140
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Mana Regeneration (Base 4) +19
5.35/s
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Stamina Regeneration: (Base 7) +15
5.15/s
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When Erik got up from where he was sleeping, he could feel the rush of new power in his body.
“All right, let’s do this lava world shit,” Erik said.
Rugrat got up from where he was. They looked over the terrain and discussed it with each other.
“Well, instead of facing it head on, why don’t we just go around?” Rugrat asked.
“What?” Erik asked, a bit stunned that such words came from Rugrat’s mouth, and also realizing that for once he was the one about to charge in and do something incredibly stupid.
“It’s on its home turf—we’re not. Maybe it’ll have buffs for being in an environment that is a greater advantage to it. Mages using fire spells get buffs when they’re in places of greater heat like volcanoes,” Rugrat said.
Erik took a step back. He had been simply thinking about the Experience that they might gain, looking at the creature as the prize. If they were fighting every beast, then they’d get tired; they might gain Experience but there was no telling that they might win.
I’m wearing this armor and I might have increased a level but it doesn’t mean that I am invincible. Far from it.
Erik took a moment to step back, looking at the situation differently.
“The voice said that we only need to get through the door on the other side,” Erik said. Unlike the trial they had just passed, they could already see the door on the other side.
“Right, so if we can skirt around the outside, not wake it up, we should be able to get to the other side without any issues,” Rugrat said.
“I’d say that it’s worth a try.”
They surveyed the area once again. Erik removed his Golden Fox armor and wore the best stealth gear Rugrat gave him.
They moved through the door slowly and carefully. It closed behind them quickly as they fought to adjust to the soaring temperatures. Both of them looked at the dragon kin as the door disappeared behind them.
There was no reaction from it as the door closed and then disappeared.
Erik followed Rugrat’s lead as they moved around the outside of the map. They had to keep drinking water the entire time as they moved, crossing over lava flows and past hot gas pockets that would shoot up poisonous gas at random intervals.
It was slow work but Rugrat forged a path through it all, with Erik following.
They reached the other door. It opened to reveal a man sitting on a chair, with a desk in front of him. His eyes glowed as he looked down on Erik and Rugrat.
Erik and Rugrat moved through the door, ready to face any threats that they might find on the other side.
“You have successfully completed the first two stages of the Beast Mountains Trial. You have shown that in times of need, you will react without hesitation; instead of charging forth into a known battle, you are willing to meekly avoid it to save your energy. Now you must pass through the remaining three trials. Do you wish to continue as a team?” the man asked.
“Yes,” Erik and Rugrat said at the same time, with no hesitation in their voices.
The man looked at them both. It was as if they stood before a veteran non-commissioned officer; there was nothing that they could hide. They stood up straighter, as if readying themselves for whatever trial was to come next.
What test had they gone through together and not had to suffer through until the end? They weren’t going to just give up now.
Their fighting spirit was ignited. They were going to win this trial.
“Good.” The man smiled as they disappeared.
Erik and Rugrat were covered in white light. Erik saw himself as a child, then growing up through elementary school, the high school, onto the army and training, the different war zones, the different people, the failed marriages, the lost experiences and time.
The pain and hell he had been through. Erik was panting, his emotions a jumble as the white faded away and he appeared in another space. Another flash of light appeared next to him as Rugrat was revealed. They nodded to each other and looked away, getting themselves focused and not wanting the other to see the tears and pain in their eyes.
“You have passed the test of character. Pick one of the workshop masters in front of you to judge your item. You can both attempt this trial or only one,” the door voice said as they were looking at several men and women who looked at them with blank expressions.
Erik and Rugrat looked at each other.
“I’ll give smithing a shot,” Rugrat said.
“Sounds good to me.” Erik wanted to be an alchemist but he hadn’t ever tried it out before, only read about it. Rugrat, although he had only tried smithing out for a short period of time, knew much more of the basic working with metal than Erik knew of working with magical ingredients. It was one thing to harvest them, another thing entirely if he was thinking about trying to make it.
“I’ll do smithing,” Rugrat said. All of the people went dim except one woman who stepped forward, looking at Rugrat and spitting on the floor.
“Well, this should be good,” the woman said in a gravelly voice that came with working around smoke and hot metal for most of one’s life.
“Can I ask questions?” Rugrat asked.
“Yes, you are free to do so,” the woman replied.
“Any question related to smithing?” Rugrat asked.
Erik didn’t know what the other was thinking but by the look in his eye, it wasn’t simple.
“That’s correct, as long as it pertains to the item you want to build,” the smithing lady said.
“What if you aren’t able to answer the question?” Rugrat asked.
“Then I’ll freely admit you’ve passed.” The woman laughed, not caring for Rugrat’s words.
“Even if there was a time limit of, say, five minutes?” Rugrat asked.
“Even if there was a time limit of five minutes,” the woman droned on. She seemed interested in Rugrat’s mysterious words.
“Right, how do I build this?” Rugrat directly pulled out his pistol and displayed it to the woman.
The woman’s smile stilled on her lips. Her brows came together and she moved forward.
Rugrat emptied the pistol, pulling out the magazine and storing the round in the chamber.
“No formations to add abilities, made from simple Mortal steel, multiple parts working together in different fashions. Could you take it apart for me?” the woman asked, intrigued.
“Sure.” Rugrat quickly disassembled the pistol, putting the pieces on the groun
d.
“The workmanship on this is exquisite—few to no flaws. And the different processes to create these parts… There is specialized metal coating this cylinder here and there’s exact grooving down it. Whoever made this must have spent hours to put all of these pieces together.” The woman sighed.
“What if I was to tell you that this was made with a batch of weapons, hundreds of them, all of them the exact same,” Rugrat said.
“What? That’s impossible! It would take hundreds of people to make these and to do it the same way. That’s not even in the realm of possible,” she argued. Suddenly it was as if a bolt of lightning had gone off in her head. “You’re a new arrival! You’re not originally from the Ten Realms!”
She seemed to get excited and wary at the same time as she looked at them both closely again.
“Merrin.” The door’s voice seemed to remind her of the task at hand.
“Okay, so this, well, the main body you would need to cut out from Mortal steel, possibly even Earth steel. I’m talking about the basic version, that is. The parts would similarly be made with Earth grade steel, though you would need to shape it with different machines, from this here, to this.” Merrin started to get into greater depth as Rugrat hung on every word, writing it all down.
Erik, seeing that they wouldn’t be done anytime soon, sat down and got comfortable.
Rugrat went into a greater depth, talking about how one would form the ingot, refine it and then use that to form the pistol between them.
***
To Rugrat, it was as though he’d wandered into the damn candy store. Merrin talked about the processes that one might refine an ingot. Adding in different kinds of ingredients could actually increase the attributes of a normal steel ingot; this could, in turn, form the innate ability of the weapon. Certain ingredients were resistant to fire, some to ice or lightning and so on.
Then, from creating the ingot, one would have to then form it into their desired shape, or turn it into a sheet and then cut it to the needed shape.
The thing was that the Ten Realms didn’t really have measurements. There were rules that were made when making certain things, but centimeters and meters were a foreign concept. When Rugrat told Merrin about it, she nodded, as if understanding it.
“When making complicated smaller machines, as you call them, then it would be necessary. We’re building much larger items here, or one-offs. Even with blueprints, the final product isn’t the exact same as the materials used and the shape that it comes out has been altered by the crafter.