by A P Gore
“Good lord. I got to seven finally.” Noah dropped on his back, feeling the uneven surface of the smithy floor. The chilly evening wind brushed over his skin gently, soothing his sweat drenched body. It kind of sucked less than real-life work, moving between test tubes and research subjects, breathing artificially maintained air and drinking artificially nutritional water. Here, he inhaled nature’s fresh air, drank crystal clear water, and ate baked meat which tasted better than the burgers he used to eat at AcDowalds. Much better. The developers had blurred the lines between the game and reality.
“Good, I’ll teach you a couple of skills now. Let me get the skill books for it.”
“Skill books?”
Mathial returned with two books and handed them to Noah. “Close your eyes, place your hands on them, and will them to activate. They’re magical books and can teach you a skill in seconds. These are rare, but as you are a good customer, I’m offering them to you for almost free.” He smirked.
Noah closed his eyes and placed a hand on one book. He willed himself to absorb the knowledge. A dark light passed through the book to his body, and he instantly knew the knowledge of level one dagger skill. Slash Dagger. He repeated it with the second book to learn Dagger Parry. When he understood how the spell worked, he opened his eyes to give a high five to Mathial. He received a weird look instead. Too bad he didn’t understand what a high five meant.
Noah moved away from the blacksmith before could ask what a high five was. He wanted to try his new skills.
Noah held the dagger horizontally and hit the tree while willing to activate the skill, but the dagger only hit the tree trunk, taking out a piece of wood. He tried again, same result. Though the skill didn’t work, his normal dagger hitting had become easier. At least added strength had some advantage.
“Mathial, why can’t I use the skill?”
“I don’t know. That was my first time seeing someone use the skill books.” He flashed his yellow teeth.
“Damn you,” Noah whispered under his breath. He opened his character sheet to see if he would find something there. He found one new toggle appeared in front of it, ‘Delta’. He focused on it to read the description.
Delta Updates: Only show the stats that are changed from previous update.
He clicked on yes. He didn’t want to keep scrolling through the stat sheet again and again.
Name: Noah (Level 0)
Class: Cursemancer
Second Class: Zombiemancer
Stats
Strength 7
Health 215/215
Stamina 110/110 (5.25/sec)
Skills
Dagger Slash: Disabled. Rogue class required.
Dagger Parry: Disabled. Rogue class required.
What the heck? Now that was a bummer. Until he got his third class, rogue, the skills were useless—and why would he choose a rogue for that? He had wasted two gold on skills he would never use. It was a big blow to his plan. A big damn blow!
14. Level up
D ark clouds and thunderstorms covered the horizon as Noah watched the sky through the tiny open window of the cellar the next morning. The edges of the small window were still wet; it had rained overnight. But even the fresh smell of wildflowers failed to lift his spirits. No, the black clouds were better suited to his mood. Frustration and anger boiled in his belly. Even after a couple of days, he was still level 0, hunting snakes for low experience. And his clothes reeked too.
Despite the coming thunderstorm, Noah left of the inn. He needed to find a tailor, but the shop Mathial had pointed him to was closed. He asked around, and a couple of demons offered him directions to the only other shop in town. An old demon with a long beard ran the shop. The shop looked so fragile that a strong wind could knock it down any day. The tailor took his measurements, along with six silver, and asked Noah to come back in two days. Noah wished the game just laundered and returned his clothes every morning. Apparently the developers thought the gamer needed to do everything themselves. He inquired about a leather worker, but no one in town had that skill. The tailor advised him that a merchant who might have what he was looking for visited the town every fifteen days.
By the time he was done with his errands, the sun was high overhead and the black clouds had disappeared like the sun kicked their ass across the sky. Noah decided to try scoring some game to gain experience. He hoped the demon he’d faced yesterday morning wouldn't come back to kill him again today. Even the thought of the demon made him shudder a little.
The walk in the deep, thick forest didn't turn dangerous like the last day. When it came to killing snakes, his poison orb was more than sufficient. He killed 10 snakes with his poison orb in less than an hour, carefully targeting their heads to score a critical strike every few strikes. It was an effective way to kill snakes with minimal spirit spent. But even after killing 10 snakes, he was sitting at 140 experience and needed 360 more to level up.
Gosh! A long way to go.
Noah wiped sweat from his forehead. That ten point increase in stamina hadn’t added much to his walking stamina. He still needed to take a break after every 30-35 minutes of walking. On top of that, he was fed up with snakes. He needed a bigger target.
There was a saying one of his colleagues in the real world was fond of. Every day, one moment comes in everyone's life when God listens to their wish. The game gods must have been listening to him when he thought he needed a bigger target. He got what he asked for.
Just when Noah was about to head back to town, he heard a feeble cry. It came from behind a large group of closely packed palm trees. His heart sunk at the thought of more danger, but his curiosity overcame his fear. He moved through the trees, slowly and cautiously, as quietly as possible in the low-quality fur shoes he wore.
His heart thudded against his rib cage when the scene unfolded before his eyes. An orc, a seven-foot-tall orc, was fighting an injured lady demon with a small demon girl on her shoulder. The female was bleeding from countless wounds, but she clutched the orc and stabbed his body in quick succession with her tail, using it creatively to pierce the orc’s vital points. Noah wondered how much difference her attacks were making to the orc's health.
The orc’s club struck the female in the chest, and she fell on her back. The small demon girl leaped into action, wrapping her legs around the orc’s head and piercing the brute’s head with her tail. Noah thought the orc was done for. Who would survive a brain piercing tail? He was wrong. The orc tore the girl from his head and dashed her against a nearby tree.
Thankfully the female demon was back up on her feet, staring viciously at the orc. She was barely five feet tall and looked tiny in front of the hulking brute. She dashed toward the little one, scooping her up and checking her injuries. When she was done, she set the small girl down on a nearby patch of grass. The next moment, she zipped through the air, hitting the orc’s right eye with her tail, piercing it deep.
Blood sprayed out of the orc’s eye socket. He frantically waved his club, but the demoness was quicker. She ducked, avoiding his swings, and tried to move away, but her tail was stuck inside the orc’s face.
The orc grabbed her tail with his left hand, reeling her in.
Noah’s stomach dropped with dread.
The huge brute dropped his club and grabbed the female’s head, crushing it like a tomato. Only the torso of the demon female remained standing when the orc was done; her head had turned into a mess of flesh and blood.
The small girl was still lying on the ground, unconscious, and the orc advanced toward her. Noah tried to check the health of the huge brute, but a nasty message from the game insulted him once again.
Perception failed due to level difference. New skill gained: Perception. Lets you understand the workings of other humans, animals, monsters and demons. Level up the skill to increase what you can gather from the target.
He waved the notification away. He couldn't lose concentration, not right now.
The orc was still heading for
the girl, who had opened her eyes now stared at her mother’s body. “Mommy!” Her eyes turned black. Darker than black, actually. She dashed toward the orc, but he was too strong for her. He grabbed her with one hand and pierced her arm with one of his nails.
The girl howled in pain, screeching pain that tugged at Noah’s heart. The Orc’s grip was tightening, and soon the child would meet her mother’s fate. For a brief a moment, Noah saw his own daughter in the orc’s hand.
No, I can’t let this happen.
He sprinted forward, readying his poison orb. He bombarded the orc with one orb after another, targeting the head, hoping he could finish the brute off and save the girl.
With Noah’s spells pinging off his head, the orc spun in search of the new threat. When he spotted Noah, he dropped the girl and started moving toward Noah. Noah retreated but kept shooting the orc. If nothing else, he could buy the girl time to run. But the girl didn’t run, she jumped on the brute’s head and pierced his remaining eye with her tail, pushing it deep inside his brain. At the same time, one of Noah’s poison orbs hit his other eye socket, and the orc dropped to the ground, dead.
Noah too collapsed, exhausted. Though he wasn't injured or hit, fear crippled his muscles. He wasn't a combat mage in real life, and the fight and gore made his stomach churn. The meat sandwich he’d eaten for breakfast came surging back up.
When he could stand again, he approached the girl. She lay next to her mother's corpse, unconscious. Seeing her like that brought tears to his eyes. It didn't matter that she was a piece of code. It didn't matter that she was a demon girl. It didn't matter that he didn't even know her name. The only thing mattered was the brutality of the scene and the small girl who just lost her mother.
Noah lifted the child in his arms. She looked about four years old. She had an oval face. When he tried to wake her, he noticed blood dripping out of her head. He tried to check her health, and this time he could. She only had 110 life left from her 215 pool. She was a level 2 demon kid. She needed help, and Noah would do anything to help her.
Noah turned around and spotted a shiny blue-shaped crystal lying on the ground near the orc's meat and skin. He threw the crystal in his bag, then quickened his pace. Concern for the little one gave him strength.
He was about to drop from exhaustion when he reached Blacksmith's Inn. It was already late evening, and the bar was sparsely filled. He was panting and sweating all over when he put the girl on the bar counter. The added weight of the girl meant his stamina depleted faster, but he couldn't stop. She was bleeding and losing some life every few seconds. By the time he put her on the blacksmith's bar, her life had dropped to 50 points.
“Who is she?” Mathial carefully checked her. “A demon girl!” He shook his head violently. “Why did you bring her here, fool? She is not supposed to cross the town's boundary.”
“She is dying, Mathial. Is there anyone who can help her?” Noah's wheezed. His lungs were still recovering from depleted stamina.
“What did you do to her?” Horror painted Mathial's face red.
“Nothing! She was fighting with an orc. She dropped unconscious after that. And her mother died in the fight.” Noah bowed his head and shuddered when the picture of the orc crushing the lady demon's head appeared in his mind's eye.
“Fock the goblins! The small one fought with an orc. That must be terrible. How in the BlackFlame did she survive?” He grabbed a water jug and slowly spilled water over the girl's face. She opened her eyes and tried to stab Mathial with her tail, but he shielded his face with his hand. The girl's tail hit his hand and dropped, hanging limply over the edge of the bar.
Noah wondered how much defense the blacksmith had to be able to deflect her tail. Even the big orc couldn't do that.
“Mommy.” Tears streamed down her cheeks. She looked like a normal four-year-old girl when she wept like that. “Monster. Killed. Mommy.”
The blacksmith's face turned sad. He pulled a red vial from his bag and emptied it in the girl's mouth. Her health slowly raised and stabilized at 170 after a few seconds. “Poor child. They must have been traveling to a nearby town when the orc ambushed them.”
“Poor girl.” Noah felt sorry for her too. His wife had died when Tia was two years old, and Noah knew how hard it was to raise a child by oneself. And this girl seemed to have lost her both her parents. “Don't worry, girl, you are safe now in the Town of Demons.” His throat choked with tears.
His vision suddenly filled with a new notification, and a white light struck him from above. He felt refreshed when it hit him. Glancing down, he found he was wearing a new pair of clothes, fresh and shiny.
Congratulations! You have completed a hidden quest: Dying mother's last wish. Demon Girl’s (ask her name yourself) mother died in an orc ambush. She wished for her small girl's safety while on her final journey. This was a hidden quest, and you found it by chance. Reward: 2000 Experience. Experience halved, as you didn't kill the orc yourself.
Congratulations! You have reached level one.
You have reached the level two.
You have gained six skill points (+2/level due to goddess blessing) and 6 stat points.
He was about to open his character sheet to assign the points when the girl jumped at him and knocked him backward.
“Daddy!”
15. Demon Girl
W hen Noah came back to his senses, he felt something wet and soft all over his face. He cracked one eye open and found the demon girl licking his face with a long tongue.
“Yikes. What are you doing, girl?” He pushed her away and sat up. Why was she licking his face?
Two brown eyes filled with hope gazed back at him. “Daddy. Thia. Daddy.” The girl growled and flung herself at him again, resuming licking his face.
Noah shook his head in disapproval. He must be dreaming. He slapped himself and tried to push the girl away, but she clung to his face, wrapped her tail around his neck, and started slapping him and laughing. “Daddy. Daddy. Daddy.” Her happiness was contradictory, given her recent loss. Maybe it was because she was a piece of code, or because she was too young to experience the grief.
He gave up and sat still, doing nothing. After a few seconds, her excitement lowered, and she jumped away from him. But her big, beautiful brown eyes remained focused on his face.
The sunrays had entered through the tiny window above the ground level. It was weird having a window in the cellar, as most of the times dust entered the room when the strong wind blew across.
How did I get here? And why is it morning? Was I out for the whole night?
It was indeed a morning, and he was lying on the floor of his cellar. Mathial must have dropped him here. But why was I out for the whole night?
“Listen, girl. Calm down. I'm not your daddy. I brought you here to save you.” He gestured with one hand while speaking, and her eyes followed along, tracking the movement—a classic example of her being just a child. Easily distractible.
She pointed at him. “Daddy.” She put her hand over her heart. “Thia.” Then she inched towaMrd, him putting her hand on his heart. “Daddy.”
Noah stared at her in frustration. She had brown eyes, an oval face, a small nose, and she reminded him of his daughter, Tia. The main differences, of course, were Thia’s tail and two small horns protruding from her head, and the eyes. She also had couple of bandages tied around her arm. That must have been Mathial's work.
“No, I'm not your daddy, little one. Look at me. I don't have horns or a tail.” He pointed to his head.
“No. Daddy. Saved. Thia.”
Realization struck Noah so hard that he forgot about the game for a moment. “Did you say ‘Thia’?” Her name was so similar to his daughter’s too.
She nodded and repeated her Daddy-Thia hand movements.
Oh, girl. You remind me of my daughter, but I'm not your daddy. How can I explain this to you?
“Let's go and meet Mathial.” Only the blacksmith could help him now.
N
oah caught up to Mathial in his smithy. The blacksmith was doing his usual work, but today Noah found a couple of interesting things in the smithy: a metal helmet and a shield. If only he was a paladin, he could have used both! But being a cursemancer restricted what he could use and wear. Damn stupid game! Who randomized a starting location just for forgetting to enter a name?
“Good Morning, Mathial.”
Mathial turned, putting his hammer down. “Now what?” The smith glared at Noah. “Why do you keep disturbing me again and again? I might have to add five copper to your rent for the extra free advice you keep asking for.” A cunning smile appeared on his face.
Has anyone ever told you how greedy you are?
“I...” Noah cast a quick glance at Thia, who was playing with the metal helmet. “The girl is calling me daddy. Can you tell her I'm not her father?”
Mathial glanced at the girl, and his cunning smile turned into a genuine one. He stepped forward, plucked the helmet from her hand, and donned it. The girl clapped her hands and tried to pull it off his head. He laughed at her and gave it back.
“I tried it yesterday, but she won't listen. She’s an adorable kid, but you shouldn’t have brought her here.” His face hardened. “You know little about our town, so here is some free advice: no woman ever dares to step within the town's boundaries. Anyway, I hope she will be safe, as she is just a child.”
“You aren't making any sense, friend.”
“Leave it. She forced her way to your cellar after I dragged you there. You were pretty exhausted and unconscious.”
“Yes, I was. I didn't even wake up once in the night. It was strange.” Had he injured his head when the girl knocked him down? He traced his hand over the back of his head, but there was no hint of injury.
“It pains me seeing one of our kind connecting with a human. But what can I do? She is a free child, and she wants to be with you.”