Kingdom Level Four: LitRPG

by Adam Drake

“Well, what's in there?”

  The bug didn't answer and stretched up to latch onto the upper edge, then climbed up out of sight. There didn't seem to be an immediate danger at the edge of the hole.

  Grumbling, he checked the sliver again, hoping for a different result. It was the same; pointing at the blackness.

  “Son of a...” Rob looked up at the ceiling and cursed. Why this? Why couldn't it be just be easy? Why a scary hole with a fricken black void?

  Seeing no other option, he slung his mace and hitched the buckler to his back. Then, with a silent prayer to Rita, he pulled himself into the hole.

  Feeling incredibly exposed, he slowly wiggled himself to the edge on the other side and peeked over. The rock formed a flat wall beneath him and vanished down into more blackness. It did the same to his left and right. He knew he was on the edge of a massive room or chamber which his mind couldn't comprehend.

  “My god,” he said. A noise above his head made him look up. The wall vaulted upward and he thought he could discern a ceiling, but it was difficult to tell. The Shale Mite clung to the wall, looking down at him.

  He took a few moments to grasp what he was seeing... or wasn't seeing. What the hell was this place?

  Looking down again, he saw a ledge a few feet below. It was roughly three feet wide and appeared to run the entire length of the wall, disappearing from view to both sides. Something else caught his eye. On the ledge, a dozen paces away from the hole, was a figure.

  He peered at it in surprise. It was a human skeleton, curled up on its side in a fetal position, and facing the wall. Surprised, he noticed it clutched something close to its chest. A leather sack.

  Uh oh, he thought. Carefully, he shifted himself around so he could remove the sliver. Dangling it confirmed his fears. It pointed directly at the skeleton. The Foundation Stone must have been in that sack.

  “Crap,” he said. He had to get to the skeleton. “Why don't you have a fetch command?” he grumbled at the Shale Mite. It wandered about, ignoring him.

  “Well, here goes nothing,” he said. Very carefully, he moved his body around and gently hung his legs over the edge. Then he eased himself down until his boots were on the ledge. Testing his weight on it, the ledge held. Although it was wide enough to support him, it wouldn't take much for him to tip over and fall.

  He slowly inched along the ledge, trying his best not to look out into the darkness to his right.

  Finally, he reached the skeleton. It was adult in size, but he had no idea if it was a man or woman. Nor were there any remnants of clothing or armor. Had this person crawled out here naked? How did they die?

  He leaned down. Its arms were wrapped around the leather sack. Grimacing, he pulled one of its arms away. As he did so, the skeleton shifted, its skull falling back as if to look at him. Rob froze, expecting to be attacked. He stared into its empty sockets until he was certain it wouldn't animate.

  With some coaxing, he gingerly pulled the sack free, having to use both hands to do so. It was heavy, but manageable. Tucking the sack in the crook of one arm, he slowly stood. Before he started back, he glanced at the skeleton, and froze.

  There were eyes in its sockets. Glaring at him, wide and lidless, with naked hatred.

  Mortified, Rob could only stare back in shock. What the hell?!

  From the skeleton hissed a voice, but its jaw didn't move. “Chosen One,” it said.

  Rob blinked, unable to react. He was like a deer in the headlights.

  “Chosen One,” the voice said. “You shall fail.” The words slithered through the air like snakes.

  Suddenly, Rob's temper flared, burning away his fear like a hot nova. “Fail?” he said. “I'm only getting started, bitch!”

  He angrily kicked at the skeleton, and it tumbled off the ledge. It vanished into the blackness below. He counted; One-one-thousand, two-one-thousand, three-one-thousand. The faint noise of the skeleton shattering somewhere below echoed up to him. Jesus, Rob thought. Three hundred feet.

  A little shaken, he moved down the ledge and back to the hole.

  Placing the sack inside, he shoved it further in to make room for himself. Then he felt something tickle the back of his neck. Grabbing onto the edge of the hole for dear life, he twisted around to look.

  The darkness was fading. Like a dimmer switch slowly being turned up, light began to fill the void. The blackness became a dull gloom, and from within it he could see details. He blinked in wonder.

  He was in a massive cavern, mind boggling in size. It took several seconds for him to fully grasp it all. Amazingly, he could see the other side. There, spread out along the floor of the cavern were hundreds of stone buildings and towers, each looking as if they'd been carved out of the cavern rock. A city.

  But there were no lights. Nothing to indicate anyone lived in it. He found the scene and its silence, creepy beyond words. A chill went up his spine.

  A message appeared, startling him, causing him to nearly slip.

  You have been given a quest: “Exploring You Shall Go”

  Lost to time, this city has sat undistributed for eons. What secrets might it contain? As an adventurer it is your duty to find out. Find a way into the Ruins of the Dead City.

  Reward: 1,000 Experience Points

  “Yeah, right,” Rob said, turning away and pulling himself into the hole. Quickly, he climbed through, back into the tunnel, Shale Mite in tow.

  Safely standing in the tunnel, he opened the sack. Inside was a gray rectangular block of stone. Just to confirm he hadn't wasted his time, he pulled off a glove and touched it.

  Town Foundation Stone

  Required to initiate Town Phase One.

  Value: Unknown

  Finally. He closed up the sack and glanced back in the hole. The gloom grew darker, and in seconds the soul-sucking blackness returned.

  “I haven't failed!” he shouted. “And I don't intend to! You hear me! I'm going to win this damn game!”

  With that, he turned away and walked back up the tunnel with renewed determination.

  He had an empire to build.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  The morning sun had started to peek over the Eastern Mountains when he arrived back at the village. People were just waking up and stumbling from their shanties and tents, in search of some kind of breakfast. Without a resupply of goods, the selection would be meager.

  Rob was very much aware of this as his own stomach growled incessantly since the day before. He'd visit Zuthus after a quick rest, now that he had gold to spend. The thought bolstered his confidence on many levels, but as he passed the people who sleepily stood by the road to greet him, he could see their gauntness. Okay, maybe he wouldn't wait until later. He'd head to the trading post after he placed the Foundation Stone.

  He patted the leather sack held close to his chest. What a strange quest that was. The stone hadn't even been guarded, only hidden in an odd way. What was the story behind all that? He knew there was more to the situation, but couldn't fathom what it could be. Granted, had it not been for the sliver, he'd be searching aimlessly around the valley at that very moment.

  Still, something didn't feel right about how he got the stone, but decided not to worry about it. He had it now.

  Before entering the village, he dismissed the Shale Mite, so as not to frighten anyone. Besides, he'd had enough of bugs for a while. The huge insect instantly vanished, like it had never existed to begin with.

  As he approached the stone circle, Saif appeared from around the hill and approached. Rob had a lot of questions for the Sage and resolved to ask them later.

  “My Lord, you have returned to us!” Saif said, a pleasant smile tugging at his silver goatee. He spotted the leather sack. “And is that what I think it is?”

  “If you think it's a new oar, you'd be mistaken,” Rob said. He opened the sack to show him.

  “Fantastic!” Saif said, clapping his hands, elated. “I'm amazed you returned so quickly with it. I didn't expect you back for weeks.�
�

  So he didn't know about the sliver, Rob thought. Fearing an argument, he said, “Lady luck smiled upon me. I snagged this in some caves beneath the swamp.”

  Saif's eyebrows crawled up his forehead. “Interesting,” he said, with a touch of concern. “Was it difficult?”

  “Actually, no, not at all,” Rob said, removing the stone from the sack. “But grinding to level six to gain access to it was.”

  Village folk were gathering around the edges of the circle, sensing something was about to happen. They whispered to each other in anticipation.

  “Well, nothing happened here, as you can tell,” Saif said. “Fenton did arrive with a group of new kingdom folk. He said you and he eliminated a group of goblins.”

  “Yeah, we did. The kid was great, too. A real natural fighter,” Rob looked around. “Where is he?”

  Saif frowned. “Oh, Fenton and his father had a falling out shortly after he arrived. I'm not certain how that turned out.”

  Rob would speak to Trenton and try to smooth things over. No need for the kid to take all the heat.

  “Oh, which reminds me,” Saif said. “The castle is complete.”

  “Really?” Rob looked up the hill. The walls no longer had any gaps, and a set of huge wooden doors sat ajar at the gate. The tower looked impressive from down here, even though he'd hoped it would be bigger. But why look a gift-horse in the mouth? He had his castle, finally. Next up would be phase two.

  Erwin appeared at his elbow, his face plastered with a wide, expectant smile. “My Lord! You're back! Did you get the oar?”

  “Oh, for the love of the gods,” Saif said, rolling his eyes.

  “No, no oar,” Rob said. When the dockmaster's face collapsed into a sulk, he added, “But now we have the money to buy ten oars, if you want.”

  “Really?” Erwin brightened. “We're rich now?”

  “Are we rich now?” Saif said, arching a brow.

  Rob handed him the money sack, and laughed at the Sage's expression when he examined it. “What do you think?”

  “Oh, this is wonderful, sire,” Saif said. “We can pay for a lot of supplies with these. As well as the final payment for the castle.”

  “Should we get this over with?” Rob said as he walked over to the hole at the center of the circle. Looking at it he realized it was the exact shape as the Foundation Stone. Kneeling down, he carefully eased it inside. The stone slid into place with a grinding noise, then clicked into place.

  Quest Complete! “A Great City Begins With One Stone”

  When nothing immediately happened, Rob removed his gloves and placed his hand on the stone.

  Do you wish to progress this village to Town Phase One?

  Yes/No?

  “Yes,” Rob said.

  Congratulations! Town Phase One initiated.

  When the stone beneath his feet shifted, he quickly stepped back, alarmed.

  Suddenly, a narrow stone dais rose up from the middle of the circle several feet high, the Foundation Stone cradled at its center. A stone plaque appeared on the side.

  Rob watched in fascination as words were magically etched into it. It read, 'TOWN OF ___'

  Town of what? Rob thought, then a message appeared as if in response.

  Name of this town?

  Geez, what to name it? Rob thought. His eyes went to all the people around him. Despite the difficulties they'd been through one emotion stood out amongst their expressions.

  “Hope,” Rob said, finally. “The town of Hope.”

  The scrawl finished on the plaque. TOWN OF HOPE.

  A cheer erupted from the crowd, with a smattering of applause. But it quickly changed to gasps of surprise.

  Around them the village changed. Stunned, Rob watched as the crummy buildings faded out of existence. The muddy path that led through the village suddenly became a flagstone road which extended out of sight to the north and south.

  More gasps as whole buildings slowly appeared. As they solidified, Rob could see they were small houses made of wood and stone. Each were topped by a slanted wooden roof.

  As this all occurred, Rob could see something worrying. There were many gaps between the houses where no buildings appeared although the ground in those areas were flattened out. Each of the empty lots had an impression of a building outlined in the dirt.

  Within a few minutes the entire village had been transformed into a completely different place.

  The gasps from the people turned into cheers of joy and laughter. They scurried forward to lay claim to one of the dozens of houses as their new home.

  “Whoa,” Rob said, amazed.

  “Indeed,” Saif said. “And this is only the beginning, my Lord. Those empty lots are for specialty buildings. Once you have enough of those, and advanced them enough, you will be ready to expand the town into phase two.”

  “Phase two?” Rob said, half-listening. He was enjoy the looks of pure joy on the people's faces as the explored their new town.

  “Yes,” Saif said. “At phase two you will be given access to other types of buildings not found in phase one. Then, much later you can progress to phase three.”

  This snapped Rob out of his pleasant mood. “Wait a second. How many phases are there?”

  “I don't know, sire,” Saif said. “No two towns are exactly alike. Only by progressing can you learn what the next phase will be. But I do know that once the town reaches a certain size, it will be time to progress to City Phase One.”

  It never ends, Rob realized. Just as he got done accomplishing something, it wasn't enough. It had to get bigger and better. He sighed. So be it. This was how the game worked, after all. No use fighting it.

  Curious, he walked over to one of the empty plots of land. A long rectangular outline could be seen in the ground. Lines of string stretched out between wooden stakes around the entire area, marking the edges of the property.

  “What's this all about?” Rob said, then a message appeared.

  Place building deed?

  “Uh, yes,” Rob said.

  Building deed required for this property. Action canceled.

  “What?” Rob said, annoyed.

  “My Lord, I'm afraid deeds will need to be acquired to create the various specialty buildings. Once that is done, building materials will have to be used to construct them.”

  Rob frowned. Should he have expected anything less? Nothing was easy around here. “And where do I get these deeds? No, don't tell me. Quests, right?”

  “Uh, for some, yes,” Saif said. “But craftsmen and merchants, as well as those with a unique skill-set to bring to the town, should have deeds of their own. All that is needed is the incentive to draw them here. Then their deeds can be placed.”

  Rob's to-do list grew longer and longer by the second. It was getting to be a little overwhelming.

  Seeing Rob's expression, Saif said, “But there are buildings and other structures that don't require deeds. These should be found in your Kingdom menu.”

  “Oh?” Rob said, perking up at this news. He called up the menu and found a new option labeled Towns. Selecting it brought up a Town List, of which Hope was the only one. Selecting Hope showed a collapsed list of Buildings and Structures. “Holy crap!” he said. “What are these?”

  He selected Defensive Structures and was given another list; Walls, battlements, watch towers. There was even a moat listed. Curious, he selected Watch Towers and a single name appeared: Wooden Watch Tower (Upgradable)

  Pulling up the information on this brought a set of requirements to build one.

  Wooden Watch Tower Level 1

  Allows guards to keep watch over a wide area, and spot distant enemies or threats.

  Requirements:

  Lumber x 280

  Stone x 20

  Iron x 10

  Cost: 40 Gold Pieces

  Rob read out the list to Saif.

  “Ah, the lumber we have in ample supply, thanks to Jace and his judicious use of his axe. But the stone will have t
o be gathered at a quarry, and the iron must be mined.”

  “I have to get a quarry?” Rob said.

  “Not get, my Lord. Find. Once a suitable spot of stone is found the quarry will have to be built, at its own cost, too.”

  Rob felt another headache coming on. “What the hell does a wooden tower need stone for, anyway?”

  “Most likely to secure the base of the tower's structure.”

  “And the iron?”

  “That would be for nails and brackets. Those will have to be forged, first, as well.”