BlackFlame Online Vol 1

by A P Gore

  “Daddy. Back.” Thia sputtered in the most innocent voice he’d heard all day.

  “Yes, sweetie. Daddy is back and brought a nice hot tea for you.” Noah lifted the small smoking cup he had brought with him while coming upstairs, but he had kept it down when he saw the little demon charging at him.

  Mathial was going to teach him how to make tea after the bar was closed. Noah was looking forward to it. After Thia finished her tea, he went downstairs. Mathial was still across the counter, serving drinks to the few remaining demons. Noah grabbed a chair for himself. Sitting cross legged, he listened to the chatter the demons were having among themselves. They were discussing the merchant and the stuff he’d brought this week. A few minutes passed and, one after another, the demons departed the inn, leaving a welcome silence behind. The night outside was already pitch black, but demons had an innate ability to see in the darkness. It was called dark vision—something Noah would love to have some day.

  When the last demon left, Mathial busied himself with cleaning up the dust and trash the demons had left behind. They were the same as humans, making and leaving junk behind for others to clean. Noah wondered if even monsters had a society to rely upon. Demons were essentially humans with tails and horns and nasty hatred toward humans. He supposed humans in the real world acted the same, hating every other religion, race, planet, and so on.

  Demons had a culture. They enjoyed socializing. They set up villages, towns, and capitals. They had a demon king, and so on… And after almost a month in town, he had started enjoying being around them. Maybe it was because of Thia and the others he’d gotten to know. Or maybe it was because of the new female he’d met today. The thought of her and the sensation of her flattened breasts against his torso still gave him goosebumps.

  He shoved the thought away and entered the kitchen to see Roderich pouring herbs into a cooking pot.

  A gust of cold surprised him, reminding him of the cold lab he used to store many specimens. He needed to use a fur coat to enter that lab.

  “High Mage Roderich. What are you doing here?”

  “I work here part time. Who do you think cooked all that tasty food for you and the inn’s other customers?” Roderich said with a crooked brow.

  Noah stood there, staring at Roderich, dumbfounded. “Part time work?”

  “Yes.” His voice turned into a bare whisper. “The town’s economy suffered a great loss after an incident a hundred years ago. Everyone works except the head demon and high priest. We have to, or else how would we feed ourselves? The inn is one of the few remaining paid jobs available.”

  “What about the other demons?” Noah asked.

  “They go out to a nearby demon town, Erith, and work in farms outside the walls. That’s the only job they can get. It doesn’t pay in gold, but they earn enough for an evening ale and snacks. It’s a tragedy of the town my friend, but you don’t have to worry too much. I’ve heard human towns treat travelers with a lot more respect, and even if you don’t get fed for few days what’s the worst that can happen? Death is not an end for you.” Roderich broke a few leaves and mixed them in the boiling liquid in the pot.

  The crackling yellow-black flames heating the pot gave Noah a new perspective. Though Roderich thought it had collapsed, the demons had a system, something he would love to know about.

  But the sadness in Roderich’s words infected Noah’s heart. Whatever had happened a hundred years back had destroyed the town economy, and there were signs everywhere, he just ignored them. “I’m sorry, High Mage. I hope your town will get out of this curse soon.” Noah sighed. The game had shown him another side of reality he had forgotten: his dad’s struggle to keep his family afloat and fund Noah’s education in the expensive mage academy. And what Noah did Noah do? He sold off the farm after his father died and never returned to the planet he grew up on. He forgot his past for the lavish perks he got from the Laxania job.

  A heavenly aroma emerged from the mixture Roderich was stirring. The mixture smelled like the masala tea Noah loved, but right now it only saddened him further. His dad too loved tea, and he hadn’t even been there when his dad was in the hospital, counting his last breaths.

  “Have you selected the second profession as cooking?” Roderich pulled Noah out of his thoughts.

  “No. I only have herbalism,” Noah said, forgetting he also had enchanter set as his profession.

  “Okay, good. Keep stirring this, and you shall learn the profession.” Roderich handed him a large tattered wooden spoon.

  Noah stared inside the huge metal pot. Water and lots of herbs were boiling inside it, and they smelled like tea. He filled his lungs with the fragrance of tea before stirring the mix.

  He stared at the brown liquid substance he stirred. After forty minutes, the liquid turned into something that looked thick and substantial, and after ninety more minutes it turned semi-solid. Stirring became harder as time passed, and after another thirty minutes he was using both of his hands to stir the solid stuff. It smelled so good that it infused energy into Noah’s hands, and he also used his spirit strengthening ability to keep going. The smell made his mouth water, and he had to hold back the urge to take a sip of the brown stuff.

  A notification popped up after two hours of stirring.

  Congratulations! Stirring mindlessly has its benefits. +1 cooking. *ERROR* Third profession detected. *ERROR* overruled by the divine quest. +1 to cooking.

  Wow! He had +2 to cooking already, and that too as a third profession. He stared at the ceiling. “Thank you, goddess. You just got yourself four more coffee cups when we meet next time.”

  You better make it five. - Sumara.

  “Why are you smiling and talking to yourself?” Roderich walked in from another room, coughing and wiping his hands on an apron-like cloth wrapped around his waist. He smelled of smoking chicken. “It looks tasty. Did you get the skill notification?” he asked.

  “Yes, +2 to cooking actually,” Noah replied, pride leaking into his voice.

  “Good. I’m surprised to see someone taking herbalism and cooking together. People are behind other professions most of the time, like enhancer, potion mastery, and so on. But it’s good to find a student. Now try to identify the substance. You should get a name.”

  Noah glanced at the pot and a new property popped up next to it.

  Herbal Pudding.

  “Good going, human. We’ll learn about the tea making process tomorrow.” Mathial patted his back, coming from the main hall. “Now, shoo! Out of my kitchen, I’ve got some work to do.” Mathial pulled him away from the pot and literally threw him out of the kitchen. But before leaving the kitchen, Noah tossed the crystal he’d received from Rihala to Roderich. He needed it for the second antidote.

  ♦ ♦ ♦

  Noah killed the sixth rat to gain the required experience for level five. A light shined on him from the heavens and charged all of his senses with ecstasy. He opened the level up notification and stared at it for a few minutes.

  Congratulations! You have learned Curse of Pain: You can curse an opponent to increase the physical pain he is feeling. Spirit cost 40. Target feels 10% more pain. -10% to target’s physical resistance.

  Congratulations! You have unlocked a new class: Necromancer. You can choose the school of specialization.

  Zombiemancer: Raise an undead army to fight by you. Can raise zombies, zombie mages and so on.

  Skelimancer: Raise skeletons to fight by you. Can raise skeletons, skelimages and so on.

  This was strange. Zombiemancer was the class he had selected, but somehow the game was giving him an option. He didn’t like skeletons, but he wasn’t familiar with zombies either. According to the guides he’d read initially, zombies were better than skeletons.

  Noah tried to remember what he had read about the class, but he didn’t recall anything useful.

  With a leap of faith, he chose Zombimancer.

  Congratulations! New class set. Zombiemancer. Select your first spell by inve
sting a point in it.

  Spell available: Raise Zombie: Raise an undead from a corpse. Raise one zombie per level in the skill. Max cap 20. Zombies can use simple melee attacks. Requires a corpse.

  Zombie life: 100 (+20/level). Zombie damage: 5 (+5/level). Zombie time: 20 minutes (+10/level)

  He spent one of the available skill points to enable the skill, followed by three more, lowering his available points to 5 but pushing his zombies to level 4. He then put 2 stat points in strength and 1 stat point in wisdom. He wanted to push his strength before going all out in wisdom. He opened his character sheet with a bright smile on his face.

  Name : Noah

  Class : Cursemancer

  Second Class : Zombiemancer

  Level : 5

  Stats

  Strength 14

  Dexterity 8

  Constitution 15

  Wisdom 31

  Intelligence7

  Charisma 6

  Chance 5

  Health: 450/450

  Stamina: 260(7.25/sec)

  Spirit: 310(14.61/sec)

  Mana 70(5.49/sec)

  Skills

  Poison Shield (Level 4): Absorb 40 damage. Maintenance cost: 6 spirit/sec. Skill Progression: 10%

  Poison Orb (Level 5): Damage 32.5. Require 25 spirit per cast. Skill Progression: 60%

  Curse of Fire Ball (Level 1): Damage 65. Requires 100 spirit per cast. Skill Progression: 60% Charges: 23/50

  Spirit Cycling (Level 8)

  Micro Spirit Cycling (Level 1)

  Spirit strengthening (Level 1)

  Spirit Run (Level 1)

  Raise Zombie (Level 4): Raise 4 zombies simultaneously.

  Herbalism (Level 4)

  Cooking (Level 2)

  Current Experience: 13010/19000

  11. Collar

  Noah picked up his pace when he spotted rubber trees. The air was hot today, a welcome change from the rain and thunderstorms that visited the town of Sumara like the daily customers of Blacksmith’s Inn. Thia had been sleeping peacefully in their room when he headed out with the first ray of morning sunlight—after having a smoking hot cup of Mathial’s tea. Satisfyingly good tea.

  Sweat formed inside his leather armor. His gray starter shirt was glued to his skin, which had started itching half an hour ago. For a moment, he’d thought about taking off his leather armor and shirt and walking naked instead, but fear of the hooded demon, always lurking at the back of his mind, kept him from it.

  As he approached the expansion site, he encountered a strange animal; it looked like a monkey but had no fur on its body. The animal reminded him of a lesson from his academy days: the evolution of homo sapiens. It was hard back then to believe the mighty humans evolved from a lowly animal like a monkey, but it had been scientifically proven. Now, seeing an ancestor running through the trees made him feel good for some reason.

  Noah stopped when a pop-up appeared in his vision. He had set all pop-ups related to expansion site on SHOW mode. He glanced at the time and his dirty shoes. The road to the expansion site wasn’t an easy one. He’d had to cross a muddy path, and there was no escaping it since moving through the dark, dense forest of trees that surrounded the path wasn’t an option. There was no end to the muddy path, or if there was one it was far off down the road.

  The white stones he had placed at the boundary of the expansion site were still there, undisturbed. He passed the boundary, and all the chirping of the birds stopped. The world went utterly silent, like someone had installed a soundproof wall around the expansion site. Noah stepped outside the boundary, and the birdsong resumed.

  Why didn’t I notice this back when I fought with the goblins?

  Noah accessed the menu of the expansion site, but it was worthless. He didn’t know what BP was or how to get them. He had none, and he had no worker, so it was useless to him right now. He decided to walk around and map the area. He started walking around the stone circle he had prepared. The stone circle wasn’t a big one, maybe 10 meters in diameter. Along with the silence, there was one other strange thing about the expansion site: the trees. There were no trees around the border of the expansion site, nor within a one-meter ring around the area. It was like someone had cut down the forest and placed the expansion site. He kneeled down, rubbing the soil between his fingers, smelling it. There was no difference. The soil was the same in the empty space as it was below the trees. There was something he could find that should prevent the trees growing around the expansion site.

  Noah crossed the boundary again and walked toward the center of the expansion site. The trees got thicker as he advanced, and eventually becoming so dense that Noah couldn’t see what was beyond them. The trees literally formed a wall of branches and trunks. Noah tried to slash a couple with his knife, but with his low score in strength and dexterity he could only scratch the surface of the wood.

  With frustration he threw his knife down and looked around, trying to find something to do. The wall of wood wouldn’t allow him to enter, and he had come here in hope of solving the mystery of his expansion site. There was something at its heart, and he wanted to see it with his own eyes.

  Something rustled behind him. He spun, readying a poison orb. A demon in black leather armor walked toward him. Her hips swayed with every step, and so did his eyes, focused on the perfect legs that were heading toward him.

  “Rihala, what are you doing here?” He lifted his eyes to her face, stopping for a brief moment on her breasts. There was something in her that he found attractive on a primal level.

  “Human. I didn’t expect to see you on the sacred site of the fire dragon. My mom says to stay away from any dragon site.”

  “Fire Dragon?” Noah’s wandering eyes jumped back to her face. She wore a sweet smile. But below that smile, on her long neck, there was a thin black collar that didn’t suit her looks.

  “Yes,” she said. “Didn’t your companion tell you about this?”

  “This is an expansion site, which I claimed.”

  Her lavender eyes widened. “You claimed this one? How foolish can you be, human?” Fear lurked in her voice. “In the name of Zedusa, what have you done, human? My mom says don’t ever step inside the dragon site. They are cursed. And you claimed it? Why?” Her tail sprang at Noah like a snake. She grabbed it and pulled it back, wrapping it around her waist.

  “First, call me Noah,” Noah said.

  “Naha.” She fumbled with the pronunciation of his name in a cute way.

  “N-o-a-a-h.”

  “Noha,” she repeated.

  “No-ah.” He chuckled. “Anyway, about claiming the site, what’s the problem?” He quickly went through his character sheet, but everything looked okay. There was no debuff.

  She pointed at a big stone sitting nearby, below a thick pine tree. “Come outside of the boundary, and we’ll talk.”

  Noah realized she’d been standing outside the boundary all along. Noah nodded and joined her.

  “Tell me now.” Noah grabbed a place next to her on the makeshift bench. She smelled exotic today, and the fresh smell of the forest couldn’t mask it. Or maybe it was because he was sitting just inches away from the she demon. He was getting a close look at her features now, specially her face and cherry red lips. “Do you use lip shades?”

  She tilted her head, staring in his eyes. “What is lip shades?”

  “Nothing, a traveler’s term.”

  “Let me apologize for the incident yesterday.” Her sad eyes lowered. “I don’t have a good control of my body. When I went back to Xynnar, I couldn’t sleep for few hours thinking that I killed you. I’m sorry human.”

  “That’s okay,” Noah said. His most recent death was actually a funny and sensual moment for him. His eyes automatically went to her breasts, imagining how soft they were.

  She steered the conversation back to the expansion site. “Actually, no one, other than a high priest or higher, can claim it. I don't understand how you did it. Our land was ruled by gods many million year
s ago. Even before the humans and travelers came to our lands. History says that dragons too lived in that time period, and they used to walk on earth along with the gods. There were hundreds of them, and when the War of Faiths happened, dragons perished and god’s left the land. At the site of a dragon’s death, a sacred site emerged. This one is called the sacred site of the fire dragon. High Priest Jethro says these are cursed sites, and no one should claim them or live there.”

  “Okay.” Noah pulled his eyes from her face and studied the thick wall of woods at the center of the expansion site. “What else do you know about the expansion site… sorry, the sacred site?”

  “Nothing. We demons don’t visit this site, as we get a fire resistance penalty applied when we try to enter it.”

  “Hmm. If you ask me, it’s a myth. Anyway, why do you have a collar around your neck?”

  Rihala jumped to her feet and pulled out her bow, nocking an arrow and pointing it at his face. Her eyes turned dark too, and her tail jumped ahead, trying to hit him.

  Noah jumped back, activating his poison shield. “What?”

  Rihala pulled her tail back and tucked it inside a cloth wrapped around her waist. “Do not try to buy me, human. I'm not a pet.”

  Anger coated her words, and then she vanished into the bushes.

  12. Killing ground

  A dreaded long metal pole stained in blood towered over him. The smell of death and rotten flesh made his stomach lurch, trying to push out the beef he had eaten that morning. But spitting it out now would mean spitting on his own body. That would have been disgusting, even though he was incapacitated by the ropes tying him to the metal hooks placed in the ground.