No, what took my breath away were all the people. Hundreds and hundreds of players stood in the town, bustling between player operated shops or chatting amongst themselves.
I could tell they were players because I could see their names above their avatars.
“Did you see that system message?” a guy dressed in full plate armor to my left said as he waved at his compatriot, a short blond girl dressed in a forest green cloak.
“I think everyone saw it, and those that didn’t will hear about it soon enough. Wynn has put a five hundred million Rhuvian bounty on the kid’s head.” The girl shook her head. “I dunno who this Kahn is, but I sure hope he’s smart enough to hide his name because everyone will be gunning for him.”
As she spoke, I suddenly felt totally conspicuous. So far no one had noticed me, but that wouldn’t take long. As I edged backward, Dark Heart put her hand on my shoulder. “You should probably hide your avatar’s name.
I nodded, unsure of how to do that, but as I was about to ask, I decided to ask someone I trusted a lot more than Dark Heart.
“Elizabeth can you please hide my avatar’s name?” I asked, and as the words left my lips, a soft glow enveloped me.
“Your player name has been hidden from view. Only members of your party will be able to see it.” As Elizabeth’s voice hit my ears I breathed a sigh of relief.
“Either way, Kahn better find a powerful guild to sponsor him, or he’s fucked. Even those who don’t especially like Wynn will want the money for themselves. After all, Wynn has been here for a few years and runs the American guild so they know he’s good for it. If he wants the soulstone, I can’t imagine some guy I’ve never heard of is going to be safe with it for long.” The guy smirked at his friend before gesturing at us. “I mean, what if it was one of these guys? They’re so low level, I bet I could kill them in one swing.”
“Please don’t,” I said, backing away from them as I looked him up and down and realized both he and the girl had their player names hidden too.
“Nah, we’re in town, and even if we weren’t, I don’t what to go chaotic for a week over the likes of you.” He shrugged. “But I wouldn’t level here if I were you guys. The Chinese like to kill newbies in this area because most of the European countries start out here, and they tend to have good gear from their sponsor countries.” He laughed again. “You all don’t look like you have that problem, but still.”
He gave us a serious look then. “Say, what country are you with?”
“Canada,” Dark Heart blurted out before we could say anything. “We’re new here.”
“So they finally got in here too. Guess everyone wants to beat the Maelstrom.” The guy smirked. “We’re with Australia, by the way.” He offered us his hand. “Good luck.” As Dark Heart shook it, the guy leaned in. “You’ll need it.”
“So where would you recommend we go if we can’t level here?” I asked, glancing at Crash who looked concerned.
“Isla Nor,” the girl said, stepping in front of her friend and flashing us a “please go away smile.” “That frozen wasteland is low enough level that you can probably kill the undead there at level ten. It’s probably good until level thirty. Like most areas it is an open Player Vs Player zone, but because of the range effect of the undead generals in the wasteland outside town, Player Killers can’t stay invisible. They’ll pop out and be disorientated so you have time to use an escape scroll. Honestly, I’d do that if anyone hits you ever until you’re like level seventy.”
“Level seventy,” I whispered, glancing at my friends, and as I did, my heart sank. It was no wonder Sabre had taken Two’ Manchu to Isla Nor. She was an in game encyclopedia. She had to know it’d be the best place to level. We’d have to go there anyway, but at the same time, I was suddenly worried about stepping out of town.
Still, we had to go because if we didn’t Two’ Manchu would die, and it didn’t seem like Wynn was going to help us.
“So what’s the plan?” George asked as the girl grabbed her friend by the shoulder before pointedly turning away from us. “Go to Isla Nor?”
“Yeah, we go there and save Two’ Manchu,” I said, nodding to the bunny, but as I did, Dark Heart took a step back from us and shook her head.
“Sorry, I can’t. If Ivan’s dead, I have to find Wynn before they unplug me.” She took a deep breath before turning on her heel and walking away. “I’m sorry.”
Party Message: Player Dark Heart has left the party.
“Wait, what?” I cried, taking a step toward her. “You can’t leave us. We’re here because of you.”
“I need to find Wynn. I’ll find you after. If I’m with you, he might put it together and realize you’re the dude with the soulstone.” She shot me a sad smile over her shoulder. “Sorry.”
“Why?” Crash asked and the emotion in that word nearly made me break. She was leaving us. With Two’ Manchu kidnapped and me with a price on my head, she was going to see the leader of the American Guild. The guy who had put a price on my head.
“Is it about the bounty?” I asked weakly, hoping it was true and knowing it wasn’t. “Are you going to try to get him to get rid of it?”
“I’ll ask, but I’m pretty sure he’ll say no. He’s stubborn that way.” She turned away from us then and began walking away. “But know I’ll try. Just go, either way, I’ll buy you some time.”
“What do you mean he’s stubborn that way?” I asked, fighting the urge to run after her because the idea of chasing after the woman who’d sent us here and pleading felt just too pathetic for me to possibly deal with it. “And why are you going to see him if he won’t help?”
“Because Wynn is my older brother, and I came here to pull him out.”
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Glossary
This is a list of skills, spells, and terms used in the book, followed by a short description of them.
Bind to Crystal – A skill used to bind spirits into a crystal.
Blade Rush – A skill used by sprinting toward an opponent and swinging one’s weapon for extra damage.
Blessing of Courage – A passive buff that gives increased health to party members.
Body to Soul – A skill used to convert health to mana at a three to one ratio.
Bone Shield – A skill that absorbs damage done to a user.
Buff – An effect that generally helps a player.
Chaotic – When a player kills a non-flagged player, his alignment will change from Lawful or Neutral to Chaotic. A chaotic player can be killed with no penalties, but gains a stat boost based on the amount of players killed.
Chaotic River – A skill that summons skeletons from the abyss to do your bidding.
Charge – A skill used by sprinting toward an opponent and swinging one’s weapon for extra damage. This costs health to do, but all damage done to the target is regenerated as health if the attack is successful.
Concussive Arrow – An attack that charges an arrow with explosive power.
Cone of Ice – An ice spell that does massive damage and freezes the opponent.
Control Undead – A skill that allows the user to control an undead creature while it is still active.
Cure – A spell used to remove poison from the target.
Debuff – An effect that generally hurts a player. Also known as a curse.
Defying Guard – A defensive skill that has yet to be revealed.
Detect Lesser Traps – A skill used to detect traps within a given area. Not as effective as Detect Trap.
Detect Trap – A skill used to detect traps within a given area.
Disarm Trap – A skill used to disarm traps.
Dispel – A skill used to remove curses from a victim.
Divine Hammer – A skill used to increase damage done by an attack by infusing it with holy magic.
Earth Resist – A type of element
al resistance that affects Earth type magic as well as natural fire.
Elemental Resistance – Resistance to the elements, both magical and natural.
Energy Bolt – A spell that allows the user to throw a small amount of magical energy at an opponent. It is not particularly powerful.
Fire Resist – A type of elemental resistance that affects Fire type magic as well as natural fire.
Heal – A spell that allows the user to increase the target’s health at a cost of one mana per health.
Health – This is the resource that allows players to live. Once a player’s health reaches zero, they die. It will regenerate slowly during combat, and will regenerate much quicker out of combat.
Heroic Leap – A skill that allows a player to leap through the air and attack for significant damage.
Homing Arrow – A skill that allows arrows shot from a bow to lock onto their target so they have a reduced chance of missing.
Kidney Punch – A skill used to stun an opponent by punching them in the kidney.
Killing Tempest – A skill that reduces a player’s health and mana to one, but does the players health and mana in damage to a group of opponents.
Lawful – When a player kills a monster, he gains a small number of alignment points. Once enough alignment points have been gained, a player’s alignment becomes lawful. A lawful player gains a stat boost based upon how many lawful points he has.
Level – In Soulstone players gain levels, which increases their strength by giving them more health and mana and a host of other bonuses.
Magic Resistance – Resistance to all types of magic.
Mana – This is the resource that allows players to use skills and magic. It will regenerate slowly during combat, and will regenerate much quicker out of combat.
Mana Drain – A skill that drains mana from the target.
Neutral – This is the default alignment of a player. There are no bonuses incurred. A player can become Lawful by killing monsters and can become Chaotic by killing players.
NPC – Non-player character. These are people generated by the game for players to interact with.
Party – A group of players who have joined together.
Pass The Blame – A skill that allows agro to be passed from the user to a friendly creature or player.
PK – When a player kills another player.
Power Strike – A skill that allows a player to do increased damage with their attack. This costs health to do, but all damage done to the target is regenerated as health if the attack is successful.
Provoke – A skill that allows the user to make the target monster attack them.
PVP – Player vs player combat. When a player becomes flagged for PVP, they can be killed without any negative penalties to the killer.
Raise Golem – A skill that turns miscellaneous materials into a golem that will do the user’s bidding.
Raise Undead – A skill that allows the user to raise a vanquished monster to do his bidding.
Reflecting Fog – A skill that reflects all damage done to a user back at the damage dealer.
Revering Vendetta – A skill that allows the user to concentrate mana into his weapons for a single, massive attack.
Shadow Blade – An offensive skill that has yet to be revealed.
Sidestep – A skill that allows a user to take full damage from an attack in exchange for appearing behind them to counter attack.
Skull Crush – A skill that stuns an opponent as well as deals damage to them.
Sparkle Death – An offensive skill that has yet to be revealed.
Star Scream – A skill that blasts an opponent for deals 350% weapon damage.
Stun Shock – A skill that stuns the opponent.
Water Resist – A type of elemental resistance that affects Water type magic as well as natural fire.
Weaken Armor – A curse that causes the target to take increasingly more damage.
Wind Resist – A type of elemental resistance that affects Wind type magic as well as natural fire.
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Cursed
My name is Mac Brennan and that's the only thing I can remember about myself. Not why I woke up in a dumpster. Not why my right arm is as black as pitch and covered in glowing red tattoos, and certainly not why a vicious death cult is after me.
Actually, that last part isn't true. I know why the death cult is after me. It's because I saved that damned girl from them. I didn't know who she was at the time, but I'd have done it anyway. I just don't like it when girls get beat up, call me old fashioned.
Still, I can tell she's hiding something behind those devilish eyes, and if I want to find out what it is, I'll have to help her.
My name is Mac Brennan. I have no memory, and I'm a werewolf-hunting, hellfire-flinging version of Faust himself.
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Cursed
Chapter 1
The sound of punishing hydraulics snapped me from sleep. My eyes shot open, but I couldn’t see much of anything through the closed lids of the dumpster. The stink of rotten eggs and festering meat filled my nostrils, turning my stomach as I struggled to find my bearings but succeeded only in burying myself further beneath gobs of slimy debris. I reached out, trying to claw my way through the plastic trash bags piled on top of me as the whole world shuddered up and to the left, covering me in dirty diapers, rotten tuna fish, and moldy cheese.
My right hand lashed out with a mind of its own, trying to grip on the inside of the steel dumpster as it began to tilt, dousing the back of my neck in warm, sticky fluid that smelled of rancid beer. Bile rose up in my throat as my fingers scrapped against the paint-chipped metal, desperate for purchase that would not come.
The sound of a garbage truck’s crushing hydraulics filled my ears, reverberating deep down in my gut as a snake of fear twisted inside. I tried to scream, to cry out for them to stop as gravity, the bitch that she is, began pulling me toward my inevitable demise.
The lids beneath me fell open then, smacking against the metal side with a sound like a gunshot. The sudden glare of sunlight was nearly blinding, but it was the flash of a trash-filled pit that threw me into a panic. I scrambled to grab onto something, anything that could arrest my fall before I tumbled into the gaping maw of the trash truck.
As my feet cleared the edge of the dumpster and my fingers slid off the metal, a wave of rancid, curdled milk crashed against my face, filling my nostrils with fetid goo and cutting off my air supply. Without thinking, I opened my mouth to suck in a breath before my lungs exploded. Milk spilled down my throat, and while I tried to curse in rage and horror, the only sound that came out was a hoarse, bubbling gag that would never be heard over the noise.
Even if I could have managed to cry out, there was no way for someone to hear me scream over the roar of the punishing hydraulics destined to compact me into pulp. Not that it mattered. If I survived the fall into the metal jaws below, I was going to be pretty damned dead about a second later when the automated press punched my teeth through my brain.
If the driver saw me now, it would probably be too late for him to stop his truck from killing me. As the dumpster upended itself, I fell backward, scrabbling against the metal like a pathetic lizard as the lower part of my body cleared the edge. My heart hammered in my chest like a goddamned bass drum as I tumbled ass over elbows. My right hand shot up, reaching for one last desperate handhold. A stream of crimson light, so bright it was blinding even over the sunlight streaming into the alley from above, burst from the tattoos emblazoned on my arm.
With that last desperate lunge, my fingertips brushed at the edge of the heavy plastic dumpster lid, and I jerked to a stop that damned near dislocated my shoulder. A
howl of pain ripped from my throat as I hung there, trash cascading down around me from the dumpster like rain from a hideous, disgusting storm cloud.
As I hung there, watching the metal jaws of the compactor crush the trash into the back of the truck, part of me marveled the driver hadn’t seen me. The other part of me was thanking any and all gods for letting me live, even though I wasn’t sure how that was possible. I ought to be dead.
I craned my head upward, shielding my eyes from the still falling trash as best I could. My right arm was as black as pitch. Scarlet symbols I didn’t recognize glowed with feverish light across its entire length, but what was even weirder was how my fingers clung to the heavy plastic lid like I was Spiderman. I mean, hey, I’m not complaining because I was pretty sure I’d been about to die in a hail of old beer bottles and half-eaten sandwiches, but still, it was a little weird, especially because the rest of my skin was so pale I could have blended in with a milk display.
Before I could begin to figure out what the hell was going on, the dumpster began to tilt back the other direction. Momentum and gravity took turns slamming me into the metal belly of the dumpster before the lids fell back into place, leaving me shrouded in darkness. My hand released its grip on the lid, and I fell against the steel bottom hard enough to make my teeth rattle in my skull. Agony shot through my back as a sickening crack of my spine against metal filled my ears. I lay there, struggling to breathe until well after the dumpster was back on the ground.
I was tempted to lay there and rest for a while, to try and figure out what the hell had happened, but what if I passed out? Sure, I’d somehow survived this time, but I might not survive the next time. Besides, the idea of being covered in garbage wasn’t exactly appealing. In the unlikely event people who regularly dumped trash in here decided to glance inside first, they would probably notice me taking a nap inside and call the cops. I was pretty sure I wasn’t exactly friendly with the police. Call it a hunch, but I don’t think cops looked kindly upon people who slept in dumpsters.
Soulstone: The Skeleton King: A LitRPG Novel (World of Ruul Book 2) Page 32