“Listen, Curves’” I said. “You’ve got a whetstone on sale for CR75. Problem is, I can get one cheaper. There’s a guy in Ashenhall Forest with a little stall, and he only wants CR45 for a whetstone.”
“I’ve never heard of him,” said Curves.
“When’s the last time you visited the Killing Fields?”
“Not since I was a young lad and thought I was going to be a Halon warrior.”
“Well, then. You’ll have to take my word for it. So how about I give you an even CR50 for the whetstone?”
Curves thought about it for a few seconds, and then smiled. “Then I’d say let’s shake on it. You’ve got a deal.”
Snake Tongue ability increased by 25% (75% to level 2)
Whetstone added to inventory
Guardian point gained (Total: 2)
Ever have one of those days where everything happens at once? That’s how I felt after speaking to Curves. After I had finished talking to the armourer, I couldn’t wait to try out the whetstone.
I opened up my inventory in my mind and saw my blunt daggers and my new whetstone. Mentally, I dragged the items together. Sparks flew, and then the blades on the daggers changed. They became sharper.
Item changed!
Dagger (x2) became Sharpened Dagger
Blade Sharpen skill increased by 25% (75% to level 2)
With my new blades, I headed back over to the Killing Fields. This time the mousekin of Ashenhall Forest didn’t stand a chance, and it wasn’t long before my inventory bulged with mousekin meat, and my exp points started to pile up.
I spent hours lunging and stabbing with my sharpened daggers, and soon the sound of mousekin squeals became as normal to me as the sound of the wind whistling through the trees.
Soon I had experienced the happiness of not just one more level up, but three. As I killed my last mousekin of the day, a message appeared.
Level Up!
Next Level: 4
Exp to next level: 76
This left me with just 1 level of leeway before I had to leave Blundow, so I knew that I had to stop grinding. It was time for me to find a guild. Before that, though, I now had 6 unallocated experience points to use. I checked my stats:
Unallocated attribute points: 6
Strength: 1
Agility: 3
Intelligence: 4
Endurance: 1
Charisma: 4
HP: 95/95
Mana: 205 / 205
Stamina: 104 / 104
I decided that with 6 points to spend, I could afford to spare one of them on strength. Doing so would push my HP over the 100 mark, and would come with an added bonus of increasing my attack points. I would also spend a point on endurance, since it just felt pathetic to have an endurance of 1. I knew that other players couldn’t access your character screens, but if they did I would have been ashamed.
This left me with 4 points to spend on my core stats, the ones that would benefit my class. The problem was that I still didn’t know the class well enough. I needed someone to help me, someone with experience as a tinker. I decided that for now, I would leave the 4 points unallocated.
I spent the last couple of hours picking mushrooms from the forest. As the sky started to darken, I became aware that the snakes would soon come out. I figured that I still had a little bit of daylight left, so I carried on foraging.
As I bent down to pick up a mushroom, I felt a blinding pain in my back, and for a second I thought I had slipped a disc.
You are over-encumbered. Sell or drop items.
There wasn’t a chance in hell that I was going to drop anything. That was one of the things about me; I was stubborn. As such, I decided that I would take an agonising and slow walk back to the village square rather than throw away anything from my inventory.
My plan was to sell some of the mousekin meat, skins, and some of the mushrooms to Curves. I would then use the cash to improve my armour. I didn’t put much stock in protection that was made of cloth, and I needed to upgrade to leather at the first opportunity. Some kind of metal armour would have been ideal, but I doubted that I even had the strength to wear it.
When I got back into the town I went straight over to Curves. It seemed that my reputation had been improved with him, because he greeted me with a smile.
“Hello friend,” he said.
As I walked over to him, I pulled my inventory bag off my back and patted it.
“Have I got something for you…” I said.
But as I touched the bag, it felt strange. Before it had been so heavy that I couldn’t walk fast with it, but now it was light. I stopped and dropped it on the ground. I pulled the strings and opened it, and then I stepped back in shock.
My bag was completely empty! Somehow, someone had managed to steal all of the mousekin meat and skins from me. Not only that, but something else was missing – my whetstone.
Chapter Six
I felt a lump form in my throat. I was so angry that for a second I wished that PKing was allowed in Blundow, because I’d find the culprit and stick a dagger through their neck.
I looked around me, but I didn’t expect to find out who it was. The nature of a thief, after all, was that they tried to hide their crimes. Those who were good at it could empty your pockets without you feeling a thing, then slink off into the shadows and count their new treasures.
This was no professional thief though. Stood just yards away from me, with a big grin on her face, was Reebus. I watched as text appeared above her head.
Chaos Point Gained!
10XP Gained!
Never before had I wanted to kill someone so much. Well, actually that wasn’t quite true; Herelius Rouge would always hold the first place for people I wanted to murder. Where was all of this hate coming from? Was the harsh world of Re:Fuze changing me? As I pondered a world that rewarded stealing with exp points, I knew that I would have to adapt. I was going to have to become tougher.
I decided that when I left Blundow, if I ever saw Reebus on the world map, then I would kill her. To do that, I was going to have to learn an attack that was better than swinging sharpened daggers.
As I thought on how I would go about killing a fire-wielding mage, I noticed something. In the bottom right corner of my screen, something had changed.
Viewers – 1
I didn’t know when it had happened, but somewhere along the way I had picked up a viewer. That meant that someone had taken an interest in me and was watching me play. But who? My first guess was my parents, but I knew that they couldn’t afford the net credits required to live-stream Re:Fuze. Perhaps it was the techie in the FuzeTek office, but I doubted it. They probably had the ability to watch any player they chose without it appearing on the viewing stats.
It didn’t matter. If the person ever made contact or sent me a message, then great. Until then, there was nothing I could do. I reminded myself that I had tasks to complete.
I looked across the square and I saw Percy, the town guide NPC. He was talking to a level 2 thief. I waited until they had finished, and then I walked over. When he saw me, Percy flashed me a smug smile.
“I expected you to come back to me when you hit level 1, but here you stand as a level 4. My, Janus, how you’ve grown.”
I was long beyond being polite to the portly man. “I did what you wanted,” I said. “Now how about you hold up your end of the deal?”
“Would you like to know more about the Great Guild War?”
I shook my head. “I’ve already researched that. I know all about the Serpents and Necrolor. Show me the player list.”
“But I can tell you - ”
“Just show me the list.”
“I see your manners haven’t improved. Here you go.”
My screen filled with a list of all the players currently active in the game. There was a search bar at the top. I focussed on it, and I imagined Herelius Rouge’s name filling it. Sure enough, the rest of the player names filtered out, leaving just his.
Location: Cannot be displayed to non-Serpents
Last known public location: The Agabond Marsh, 15 days ago.
So without joining the Serpents, I wasn’t going to be able to find Herelius. That made sense, I guessed. If any Halon or Merc guild members could look up Herelius’ location, they could lay an ambush for him. The problem was, I had no desire to join the Serpents. Not when one of their high-ranking officers had already killed me.
I looked at Percy. “Tell me about the Agabond Marsh,” I said.
He gave a nervous grin. “It’s no place for a level 4.”
“I didn’t ask that. Tell me about it.”
“Fine.”
The Agabond Marsh is known as the final resting place of Agabond-Ra, an orc mage who rose to the heights of the Serpent guild command. In his final battle, Agabond led a Serpent troop that held ground against a Halon battalion twenty-times their number. It is said that his mage staff shattered on the marsh, and that the one who finds the pieces and remakes the staff will receive power that he could never imagine.
Was Herelius looking for the staff, or was he just paying tribute to a fallen legend of his guild? I knew that at some point, I would have to travel there.
“Percy,” I said. “Show me the player list again.”
He frowned. “You’re one wrong word away from a Chaos point.”
I gave him my corniest smile. “Please,” I said.
The player list filled my screen again. I had found all I could about Herelius, but now there was another player I needed to locate. My brother Thomas was out there somewhere, I was sure of it. If he’d died or left the game, then surely he would have returned home by now?
The problem was that I didn’t know what his player name was. But knowing Thomas, I had an idea. It would have to be something related to Greek mythology, or Greek gods. I cycled through the player list, trying the name of every mythological figure, monster and God that I knew. I tried Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, and every other name I could think of, but nothing came up. So where was Thomas, and what was his player name?
Then I realised something. My own character name had been pre-selected for me, and it was Janus. I knew that name somewhere, but where? That was it! Janus was the God of new beginnings. The only problem was that he was Roman, not Greek. Had Thomas picked this name for me? Was he the one who sent me the login for Re:Fuze? I realised then that I missed my brother, and I desperately wanted to see him. I needed a friend in this unforgiving world.
I was sick of this. I was tired of Blundow and the forest filled with mousekin and snakes. I was sick of the sneering NPCs and the kill-stealers. I was going to leave. Guild or not, I needed to join the main map. Herelius was out there somewhere, and so was Thomas.
I walked away from the square and toward the east. As I left Blundow behind me, the wind turned cold. Even though it was daylight, the sky was darkened by shadow. As I walked further away from the newbie village my steps became harder. It felt as if something was pushing me back and willing me not to go on.
I pushed through the feeling, and eventually I came to a path that led out of Blundow. Next to it was a wooden sign.
The world map awaits and dangers are within. Are you ready?
No, I wasn’t ready, but I doubted I would ever feel completely prepared. Taking a deep breath and resolving to go on, I walked forward.
Warning: PKing allowed beyond this point.
Tell me something I don’t know, I thought. Ignoring the message, I walked further into the main map. I was barely five minutes out of Blundow when I came to a bridge.
Location discovered: Brigand Bridge.
15 exp gained!
The bridge was made of cobblestones, and it swerved over a babbling stream. At the end of it was a green hedge with thorns sticking out from the leaves. I walked over the bridge but just as I reached the end, a man stepped out.
Dracol, Warrior, Level 15.
He held a sword in one hand and a shield in the other, and his face was marked by cuts and scratches. I knew from his expression that he meant me harm, and I realised from his level that I would have no chance against him. I turned to walk away, when I saw another figure blocking the other side of the bridge behind me.
Red Leroy, Shaman, Level 11
I took stock of them. Both were levels ahead of me, and they sported weapons that I knew would slice me into pieces. I wondered if they had weaknesses that I could somehow exploit. I focussed on their faces, staring deep into their eyes and tried to see into their souls.
Skill gained: Appraiser of Men. You can look deep into a man and see what is in his heart. You can tell his strengths and weaknesses with merely a glance.
Do you accept?
Well it wasn’t necessarily a pro-active combat ability, but it was a useful one none-the-less. Brawn was never going to be my thing, so I was going to have to rely on brains. I accepted the ability, and felt a warmth spread through me as it was added to my character sheet.
I looked at the figures on the bridge and tried to use my new ability. I focused first on the warrior, Dracol.
Dracol, Warrior, Level 15.
Strength: Melee attack
Weakness: ???
Damn. It seemed I was going to have to level up my appraiser skill before it became of much use. I didn’t have much time to think about how to do this before I felt a hand grip my shoulder and send a shiver of pain through me. The shaman had grabbed me from behind, and he held me in place while Dracol stared at me.
I was trapped. The two of them closed in on me from both sides without saying a word, and it was only when they were within a foot of me that one of them spoke. It was Dracol.
As I looked at him, I saw a symbol next to his name above his head. It was a golden halo with a sword running through it. These two were part of the Halon guild, I realised.
“It’s going to cost you CR20,” said Dracol, his voice as rough as crushed stone.
“Excuse me?”
“This is our bridge. If you want to cross it, it’s going to cost you.”
I already knew that I had no CR to give, and my inventory had been emptied when Reebus stole from me. I realised that these two men weren’t going to let me go. If I didn’t pay up they were going to kill me and send me back to the real world.
What was I going to do? With nothing to give and no hope of winning a fight, I had to come up with something else. I decided to use my Snake Tongue.
“Your blade looks rusty,” I said, nodding at the sword he gripped in his hand. “I’ve got a whetstone back in the village. Let me go back and get it, and then I’ll come here and improve your stats.”
I felt the grip on my shoulder tighten. Behind me, Red Leroy laughed.
“Naïve little tinker. You think we’ll let you go back?”
“It’s in your interest,” I said.
Dracol shook his head. “What’s a level 4 doing here, anyway? Shouldn’t you be fighting mousekin, or jumping through hoops to join a guild?”
“You're part of the Halons, aren’t you?” I said.
“You’re a perceptive one.”
“Do you just stay on this bridge all the time?”
The shaman spoke. “It’s a lucrative spot,” he said. “Most newbies pass through here when they leave Blundow. At CR20 a time, it can be quite a good place to stay.”
I needed to do something. I couldn’t die yet, I wasn’t ready. I knew that if I did, there wasn’t a hope in hell of me ever getting back into Re:Fuze. I needed to think of something.
“How about this?” I said. “Let me go back to the village. I’ll have to leave at level 5, and when I do, I’ll pass through here again. Instead of giving you CR20, I’ll double it.”
Dracol shook his head. He gripped his sword tighter.
“Triple it, then. Come on, that’s got to be worth it. Kill me now, and you get nothing. Let me go, and you triple your earnings from me.”
The warrior t
hought about it. His forehead screwed up as he pondered, and I couldn’t help but think that even the simplest of things confused him. Perhaps that was why he travelled with the Shaman.
“You’ve got a deal,” said Red Leroy.
I sighed with relief. The deal didn’t mean anything to me. Once I hit level 5 and had to leave Blundow, I would just go a different direction. In such a gigantic game world, they’d never find me.
“Don’t go thinking you can weasel out of this,” said the Shaman. “I have ways of finding you.”
Marker added. Dracol and Red Leroy can now find your location on the world map.
Damn it. If luck had been an attribute, then mine would surely have been zero. There was nothing for it. I was going to have to come up with CR60 to give to the brigands once I reached level 5 and left Blundow. On top of that, I somehow needed to find the money to replace my whetstone and get new armour. I’d heard the phrase ‘beginners luck before’, but I sure wasn’t getting any of it.
Difficulty: Legendary (LitRPG Series Book 1) (Difficulty:Legendary) Page 6