Ascend Online

by Luke Chmilenko

  I sighed, while rubbing my forehead. “Yet another problem for the future then…”

  I leaned back in my seat as I looked over the group. “Okay… first things first. Let’s grab you all a bite of food.”

  I pulled out a [Beetle Soup] out of my inventory for everyone and was met with cheers.

  “Ah!” Drace exclaimed at the sight of food.

  “Oh… we needed that.” Constantine sighed with relief as he inhaled the soup.

  “Did you cook this?” Sierra asked between sips. “It’s good!”

  “Yeah. I learned the recipe from one of the cooks here.” I explained. “Managed to get a few other Tradeskills too.”

  “Hah!” Constantine laughed. “Spawned days away from the starting area, and here we thought you’d be behind. What level are you?”

  “Uh. I just hit level 9 yesterday, and now I need to train my skills before I qualify for the Spellsword class requirements.” I motioned to my hand, summoning a Flare momentarily before canceling the spell.

  The group looked at me blankly for a moment.

  “You’re… level 9… of course you are.” Sierra barked a short laugh. “We just hit level 7.”

  “How the hell have you hit level 9 already?!” Caius hissed. “We’ve been killing monsters the whole way here and haven’t seen anything higher than level 5!”

  “Well…” I started.

  “Yeah, what gives Lyr?” Constantine broke in. “You somehow spawned here and now, you’re level 9. I see you have some fancy new armor you’re wearing… and I noticed how those guards deferred to you at the gate. You start a cult?”

  “Hah. It’s been a busy few days…” I gave the group a rundown of everything since I spawned in the middle of the goblin attack, not leaving anything out. By the end of my story, the group was shaking their heads.

  “Well… you certainly don’t waste time.” Halcyon was the first to speak after I finished my story, the rest of the group was silently admiring Razor, which I had brought out to show off.

  “Don’t worry, I thought of you guys too.” I stood up and started pulling the items I had crafted earlier from my pack, handing out the set of Bronze Studded Leather armor and weapons I’d crafted earlier onto the party. “I ran out of materials for bracers and shoulder pads. I figured you’d all appreciate some weapons instead.”

  There was another round of excitement as everyone discarded some remnants of their old gear or simply slipped the new gear atop the clothes they already wore. Drace and Sierra grabbed the two Longswords, Constantine and Caius split the pair of Shortswords which left Halcyon holding the mace.

  “Unfortunately I can’t make bows, Sierra,” I said while handing the weapons out. “I haven’t learned that tradeskill.”

  “No worries, I actually can.” Sierra smiled back at me while fastening her new sword onto her belt. “We were all given a choice of two Tradeskills in Eberia. I chose Carpentry and Mining.”

  “Great! What did everyone else get?” I couldn’t help but already start planning a Trade Empire if I could get everyone else on board with crafting.

  Having finished putting on his new equipment the quickest, Halcyon filled me in on the group’s choices. “I picked up Tailoring and Herbalism. Caius chose Alchemy and Herbalism, Drace and Constantine both took Mining and Logging.”

  “There are a few other advanced tradeskills we didn’t qualify for just yet, but might be interesting.” Caius added “Runecrafting, Enchanting, Gemcutting, and Spellcraft. Though I don’t know what the requirements are to learn them.”

  “Hmm. We’ll have to keep an eye out.” I nodded at Caius. “We’ll need to have all the core trades covered.”

  “You said you ran out of materials for the armor? What do you need to make more?” Drace asked me while pulling his new chest piece on.

  “Metals mostly. I have a fair bit of leather, but I’ll need more of that as well if I start mass producing stuff,” I replied taking a quick look through my inventory. “A lot more.”

  “We have a decent amount of leather… not that much ore though.” Reaching into his pack Drace pulled out a few items and set them on the table. “Is this any help?”

  [Copper Ore] x 14

  [Tin Ore] x 4

  [Puma Pelt] x 17

  [Fox Pelt] x 67

  [Snake Skin] x 76

  “Perfect!” I exclaimed looking over the materials. “We’ll need to find more metal, but I’ll be able to find a use for all of this!”

  Grabbing the items, I put them in my backpack. I’d find some time to sort through all of it later.

  “So,” Constantine began once everyone had finished putting on their new gear. “What’s our plan now?”

  I thought for a moment before answering, an idea forming in my head.

  “Have any of you tried to learn how to Cook?” I asked while motioning for us to move towards a communal fire pit just outside the Town Hall.

  “I burned water once.” Halcyon shrugged. “I stick to pre-packs now.”

  “Ugh.” I shook my head as grabbed a few pieces of wood from a stack and tossed them into the pit. I carefully lit it with a Flare and kindled a small fire. “I meant in game.”

  “Sorry Lyr, haven’t had the chance.” I was met with shrugs, and negative head shakes from the others.

  “Well, that’s going to end now. Like you all know… you can start a fire easily enough.” I brought out the [Copper Frying Pan] I crafted the other day and handed it to Constantine. “Not having food, means not regenerating.”

  “And not regenerating can mean death,” Sierra finished with a nod looking at the rest of the men. “We’ve been down that road.”

  Over the next half hour, I showed everyone the basics of Cooking or at least Ascend Online’s version of it. It only took a few minutes of frying meat for Constantine to learn the basics of the craft, but when he did a wonderful message appeared in my vision.

  You have successfully taught Constantine the basics of Cooking!

  You have gained Tradeskill Experience!

  “Ah!” I exclaimed at the same time Constantine did. “I just got experience for teaching you how to cook!”

  “Neat! I didn’t know you could do that!”

  “Neither did I! I was hoping it would work, though!” I took a moment to think about the skills I had acquired so far. “There’s so little we know about this game, hell. You could probably make a living just being a teacher in this game!”

  “It makes sense,” Sierra said taking the frying pan from Constantine. “This world is huge, how often would you run across an NPC with the skills you wanted? Let alone one willing to teach you.”

  “Good point,” I said thinking about the implications, especially with my Open Minded trait. Would I be able to teach others the same skills I learned?

  Just as I finished teaching Drace the basics of cooking, Shelia came walking by, still dressed in her formal robes from her morning prayers. “Good morning Lyrian! I just heard about your friends arriving. Ah! Are you putting them to work already?!”

  “Hah! Just introducing them to the realities of frontier life!” I laughed as I introduced everyone to the priestess.

  “No doubt! Aldford welcomes you all!” Shelia smiled at the group. “I understand you have all come from the City? Do you wish to have your Souls bound to this village?”

  I cocked my head at the odd question. “Bound?”

  “Oh yes.” Shelia nodded. “We know you Adventurers are gifted with the ability to return from death, to wherever your soul is anchored. I sense yours is bound here Lyrian, but your allies, they are bound far to the southwest. It could be problematic to return to life so many days of travel away.”

  We all exchanged confused glances before Caius shrugged and stepped forward. “I don’t want to make the trek here again! Please, bind my soul.”

  “Of course!” Shelia clasped a small sunburst symbol and murmured a prayer causing a cool blue aura to briefly envelop Caius before fading away. �
�It is done.”

  With Caius leading the way, the rest of the party quickly jumped at the chance to ensure their respawn at Aldford.

  “We are all happy to have a trustworthy group of Adventurers watching our village,” Shelia spoke as she bound the party to Aldford. “Not all Adventurers are so kind, some think their ability to return from death makes them better than those who cannot.”

  “We’ve seen a few like that.” Constantine nodded. “Though they quickly learned the consequences, if they weren’t lucky enough to be cut down where they stood.”

  “Perhaps they will learn,” Shelia mused, then shuddered. “At times I wonder if returning from death is truly a gift. Adventurers don’t tend to die peaceful deaths.”

  Conversation stalled a moment as Shelia’s words echoed in our minds. Thankfully the arrival of Jenkins broke us from our mental spiral.

  “Morning, Shelia, Lyrian.” Jenkins looked exhausted as he half-heartedly waved to the group. “This must be the other Adventurers I heard about.”

  Jenkin’s distrust of Adventurers could barely be felt through the sheer exhaustion his body projected. His glazed eyes merely nodding at the party as introductions were made.

  “You look exhausted dear!” Shelia fussed over Jenkins. “You’re going to work yourself into the ground!”

  “No way about it.” Jenkins sighed. “Not enough bodies to cover the night watches, or help with the work around the village.”

  “How much sleep did you get tonight?” On seeing Jenkins, Shelia had fallen into ‘healer mode’ as she peered into his eyes.

  “I finished my watch at third bell… I think maybe three hours? Can’t sleep anymore, though, need to make some bows for the guard.” Rubbing his face, Jenkins muttered. “All we have to throw at an enemy outside the village is harsh language.”

  “I think not!” Shelia grabbed Jenkins by the arm. “If you pick up a tool in this state, I’ll be sewing your fingers back on by the end of the day. You’re going to get something to eat, and get some more sleep.”

  “Shelia…” Jenkins began. “I have so much to do…”

  “I’ve heard enough!” Shelia started to pull the overworked man into the Town Hall. “One more word and I’ll hex you to sleep!”

  “Nice meeting you all and I hope to see you around!” Shelia waved back at us dragging a semi-compliant Jenkins. “I need to make sure this dolt takes care of himself before he hurts something!”

  “That man looked dead on his feet,” Drace mused as he ate a freshly cooked piece of meat.

  “He’s the only crafter the village has.” I shrugged, turning back to the group. “Also probably their second best fighter too.”

  “Shit, really?”

  I nodded at Drace as I put the Copper Pan back into my pack and motioned everyone to get moving. “Alright, you guys up for heading back out in the wild? I want to get you all introduced to the area and see if we can get you caught up to me today.”

  Chapter 14

  I noticed an extra spring of confidence from my friends as we walked out of Aldford and back into the wild. A half hour of relaxation, some new gear, along with a decent meal went a long way to cure the beaten down and tired looking adventurers that arrived earlier.

  “Yo, party up.” Constantine’s voice broke my thoughts as a notice appeared in my vision.

  Constantine has invited you to the group.

  “Sure.” I mentally accepted the invite with a nod. A moment later I felt a new awareness emerge from the back of my mind. I could vaguely tell what direction everyone was from me, along with a general understanding of their health.

  Gone are the days of seeing everyone’s health bars, I guess, I thought to myself as a pair of alerts appeared in my vision.

  You are now the Party Leader.

  You now have access to the Leadership menu.

  “Passed you Party Lead,” Constantine said at the same time as the new notices appeared. “So, where are we off to? You must have found a good spot to hit level 9 so fast!”

  “Yea - ah!” I stumbled on a rock as I instinctively opened the Leadership menu mid conversation – only to have my vision be taken over by a wall of text.

  Congratulations on forming your first Adventuring Party! You have taken the first step in developing your Leadership skills! Leadership skills are Passive Skills that will benefit all members of the party. In order for Leadership abilities to take effect and to earn Leadership experience, you must be in a party of 6 or more players. All effects immediately end if the Leader is knocked unconscious, killed, or moves out of range of the party.

  In order to develop Leadership skills, you must devote a portion of Adventuring experience earned to unlock a Leadership Skill Point. You cannot have more Leadership Skill Points than 5 times your level.

  The current rate is set to: 10%

  Next Leadership Skill Point: 0/1000 XP

  Current Leadership Skills Available:

  Increased Health Regeneration – Increase amount of Health Regenerated by 1. 0/10

  Increased Mana Regeneration – Increase amount of Mana Regenerated by 1. 0/10

  Increased Stamina Regeneration – Increase amount of Stamina Regenerated by 1. 0/10

  Increased Movement – Increase mounted and unmounted speed by 1%. 0/10

  Additional Leadership Skills may become available when certain Adventure Levels and/or Skills are met.

  “Sorry.” I blinked furiously as I mentally moved the wall of text into a corner of my vision. “When you made me Party Leader, it unlocked the Leadership Menu for me.”

  “Hm?” Caius asked as everyone stopped to look back at me. “What’s that?”

  I quickly explained to the party what the menu outlined and the options we had, getting more excited as I read. “This is pretty awesome!”

  “No kidding!” Halcyon grinned. “Movement speed should be our first priority!”

  “Definitely!” Drace agreed. “We’re going to be constantly on the move, especially with overland travel.”

  “The extra regeneration will help with downtime eventually too,” Caius chimed in. “But yeah… with how far we had to travel to get here, anything that has us moving faster is a plus.”

  I nodded as I adjusted the Leadership experience rate to 100%, I wasn’t gaining any experience right now – due to being locked at level 9 until I finished my Base Class requirements, I might as well put it towards something useful.

  “So…” Constantine asked again once we resumed walking. “Where are we off to?”

  “There’s a lake not far from here that I’ll show you all.” I motioned in the direction we were walking while explaining how I first found the Lake, as well as briefly describing the underground ruins that I’d fallen into. “I think there must have been something where the Lake is now, at least something that would explain why the ruins existed.”

  “Sounds like it may have been a supply tunnel to get in or out of whatever used to be there,” Constantine suggested.

  “Good explanation as any.” I shrugged. “It’s definitely been ages since whatever it was, happened.”

  “Is there anything worth exploring there?” Sierra asked.

  “Not sure to be honest.” I explained the general layout of the ruin and the fight with the skeleton guardian. “There was a blocked off section, but we’d need to dig through it all, or get a team of NPCs to excavate it.”

  Sensing that no one was eager to spend the day digging, I continued on with my original plan. “I was actually going to take you to the Webwood. We should be able to get all of you up to Level 9 quickly, so we can figure out our Base Classes.”

  A thought struck me as I walked, I didn’t really know what everyone was attempting to build class wise. “Hey, what races did you all choose, and how are you building your characters? Have you found out what Base Classes are available yet?”

  “Yeah.” Constantine was the first to answer. “During our ‘Tutorial’ in Eberia, they had us jumping through a few hoop
s which gave us a few recommended classes based on our playstyle.”

  “I’m Half-Eberian and Half-High Elf, and I’m planning on taking the Rogue class since I have fairly good growth in Agility and Intelligence,” Constantine continued. “Plus, I’m all about the sneaky, stabby, thief-in-the-night thing. I also have an elf racial ability that gives low-light vision. I didn’t expect how much we’d need it in this game.”

  “I hear you there.” I told Constantine, just as Sierra spoke up.

  “Since I’m enjoying archery more than I thought I would, I’m planning on taking the Scout class,” Sierra said excitedly. “I choose pure High-Elf for my race, which gives me a strong Agility and Intelligence as well along with low-light vision too.”