God Mode: A LitRPG Adventure (Mythrune Online Book 1)

by Derek Alan Siddoway

  - (10) Unassigned Arcane Skill Points

  - Title Awarded: Yeti-Bane

  Now that was quite a haul. I first looked at the title I’d been awarded: Yeti-Bane. I liked the sound of that. Titles came with some notoriety perks when speaking to the right NPCs, and as you made your way deeper into the game, titles bragged to other players what an official badass you were. I doubted there were many yeti slayers in the game yet, if at all.

  “Did you get the Yeti-Bane title?” I asked Leesha.

  “Yeah, so what?” Leesha said with a scoff. “It doesn’t get us in the tournament or put more money in our pockets.”

  “But it sounds awesome!” I protested.

  Leesha gave me a deadpan look. “Really? Zane Yeti-Bane sounds awesome? It sounds like the worst Scandinavian rapper name ever, or something out of a kids’ rhyme book.”

  “And here I thought you’d be all for the Yeti-Bane title.”

  “Oh, don’t worry. I’m all ’bout the Yeti-Bane title for me.”

  “But not me.”

  “No.”

  “Way to ruin that for me,” I muttered, removing the title from my name display. I’d still get the benefits of earning it, but no one would know me as the Yeti-Bane. As much as I hated to admit it, Leesha had a point — I didn’t want to be known as the rhyming Urok. I just hoped a better name would come along because plain old Zane was pretty boring.

  Luckily for me, I had a whole crap ton of Attribute and Skill Points to take away my disappointment. I began with the ten Unassigned Arcane Skill Points, excited to see what else I could unlock in the Firebrand Pursuit Sphere.

  Tier 1:

  Flaming Weapon Tier 1 (Unlocked) — Light your weapon on fire for 30 seconds, causing an additional 15% fire damage — 20% to enemies with a weakness to fire, and 0% to enemies who themselves are made of fire. (Cost: 1 arcana per second)

  Berserker’s Inferno — A fiery rage fills your soul, causing your body to burst into flames for one minute! +5% Defense, +5% Attack, Fire Damage to any enemy you come in contact with. (Cost: 50 arcana) Requires 6 Arcana Skill Points.

  Fiery Fists of Fury — Light your fists on fire for 35 seconds, causing an additional 15% fire damage — 20% to enemies with a weakness to fire, and 0% to enemies who themselves are made of fire. (Cost: 1 arcana per ten seconds) Requires 1 Arcana Skill Point.

  Tier 2:

  Flaming Weapon Tier 2 — Light your weapon on fire for 30 seconds, causing an additional 15% fire damage — 20% to enemies with a weakness to fire, and 0% to enemies who themselves are made of fire. (Cost: 1 arcana per second) Requires 2 Arcana Skill Points, Flaming Weapon Tier 1.

  Well, this was an easy decision to make. Who didn’t want to set their own body on fire? And as far as the Flaming Weapon skill went, the first one had served me well, while the upgrade only gave me five extra seconds, its cost was so small that I thought it worth the purchase. I was eager to see what other Tier 2 Skills would be unlocked as I continued to expand my fiery arsenal. I only hoped that activating Berserker’s Inferno didn’t actually make me feel like I was on fire. I shuddered to think of the potential ramifications.

  You have learned Berserker’s Inferno!

  You have learned Flaming Weapon Tier 2!

  Now came the good stuff: the Attribute Orbs. I looked at my current stats, but I didn’t need to look in order to know where I needed help. Dart had proven how crucial Speed was in some instances, and even though I was a tank, I didn’t want to min-max. I crushed both orbs in my hand. When prompted which Attributes I wanted to increase, I selected Speed and Defense.

  Speed increased by 1!

  Defense increased by 1!

  Almost immediately, I could almost feel an extra spring in my step. “Damn,” I said aloud, after reading over my stats. “So close.”

  “What?” Leesha asked, peering over from her invisible menu.

  “One more Attribute Orb to hit level six.”

  “Did you forget? We still have the haul from the yeti’s lair,” Leesha said, dumping items out of her Bag of Holding. “Might as well divide the spoils now.”

  Heedless of the fact that it was the middle of the night, we emptied all of our loot onto the longhouse floor.

  Tauren shook his head. “Adventurers, I’m going back to bed.”

  That was fine by us. Leesha had already started pulling out a pair of boots. I shrugged and quickly followed. When we finished, the following items were ours for the dividing:

  Six Attribute Orbs: 2 Attack, 1 Speed, 1 Agility, 1 Health, 1 Luck.

  Snowstalker’s Boots

  Description: Boots so soft and silent, you could sneak across fresh-fallen snow without leaving a trace. Functional and fashionable! +1 Sneak Skill, Decreased Detection while Sneaking, +5% Defensive Rating

  Quality: Exceptional (Can only be improved by a master craftsman)

  Bearded Axe of the Tundra

  Description: This weapon is etched in frost-covered runes. Its edge bites deeper than the coldest winter night.

  Damage: One-handed (10–12), Two-Handed (15–20)

  Quality: Masterful (Can only be improved by a paragon smith)

  Ring of Mesmerizement

  Description: The gem on this ring seems to change color with the slightest shift in lighting, captivating any who stare at it too long. Unlocks special skill Mesmer’s Deception: While the Ring of Mesmerizement is equipped, this spell allows the wearer to completely distract a player or NPC target of any level for 60 seconds. (Limit once per day.)

  Quality: Fabled (Doesn’t get any better than this!)

  There was also a Merchant’s signet ring, but because of its “Quest Item” nature, Leesha and I agreed to set it aside until we sorted through the standard items.

  The haul was very interesting — clearly tailor-made for our former party of three, as evidenced by the six attribute orbs and three items very clearly meant for Leesha, me, and Dart, respectively, based on our character builds. The Snowstalker’s Boots went to Leesha, without question, the Bearded Axe of Tundra — hell yeah! — was mine. That only left the Ring of Mesmerizement.

  I glanced over the description of the ring again, torn about who should get it. On one hand, its very nature seemed to fit Leesha’s character build, with her Underground Pursuit emphasis, but if there ever was a moment in battle where I had to pull aggro, the ring’s power would be super handy. Then again, the implication of the description seemed to signify that the ring would be best used outside of combat.

  “I think you should take it,” I said, holding it out.

  “What?” Leesha’s mouth hung open, but she quickly recovered. “I mean…we only just met and Uroks really aren’t my type. But it’s not you! It’s —”

  “Okay, smartass, I’ll keep it, then!” I said as Leesha snickered at her own joke. I faked putting the ring in my pocket, then tossed it to her. She caught it and, though she was playing it cool, I could tell how pumped she was.

  She slid the ring on her finger and held out her hand to admire it.

  “I hope you know you owe me big for this,” I said, half joking, half serious.

  Leesha nodded to the Attribute Orbs. “Have at them, dude. I’ll take the Speed Orb, you have the rest. You’re still our tank, and frankly, I feel like your tanking abilities have been subpar lately.” She gave an exaggerated sigh. “Seriously. Leaving me all by myself, dead on the ground for some yeti to trample? You had one job.”

  “Hey, no arguments here.” I scooped the five Attribute Orbs into my hands and crushed them.

  Attack increased by 2!

  Agility increased by 1!

  Health increased by 1

  Luck increased by 1!

  Level Up!

  Congratulations, you have acquired enough Attribute Points to reach Level 6. You have received one Unassigned Skill Point that may be used in any Pursuit you have already unlocked.

  I dismissed the notification with a flick of my wrist and took a deep breath. The haul had just about
made everything we’d been through in the temple worth the struggle. I pulled up my stats menu to admire my beefed-up character. Since my arcana for the Firebrand Pursuit was linked to my attack, I’d almost increased my magic reserve half over again.

  Character Stats

  Name: Zane

  Title: Yeti-Bane (hidden)

  Race: Urok, male

  Level: 6

  Total Attribute Points: 34

  Attribute Points needed for next level: 1

  Health: 8 (190/190) (Base 160, +30 Torc)

  Attack: 7 (Arcana 140/140)

  Defense: 8

  Speed: 4

  Agility: 3

  Intelligence: 2

  Luck: 2

  “Damn,” I said again.

  “What is it this time?” Leesha said, half-listening.

  “One more Attribute Orb until I level up again.”

  Leesha rolled her eyes. “I feel like we’ve had this conversation before.”

  With stats out of the way, I drew my Urok Iron Battle Axe and turned it over in my hands. It had served me well, but didn’t hold a candle to my shiny new Bearded Axe of the Tundra. I opened my Bag of Holding and dropped the old weapon inside. Then I picked up my new axe for the first time.

  A chill of adrenaline ran through me as I hefted the weapon and gave it an experimental swing. The air behind the axe-head glittered with a trail of ice crystals. I swung it a few more times, feeling just like I had when I’d gotten my first baseball bat as a birthday present when I was six.

  “Boys and their toys,” Leesha said, shaking her head.

  I just grinned like an idiot and held the weapon up to admire it. Runes ran up the handle and the axe-head itself, which was one-sided but featured a long wicked swoop that made it a “bearded” axe. A faint aura surrounded the axe blade, the same cool blue as a flame. Which made me wonder…

  By default, my new weapon acted as an ice elemental weapon, dealing out frost damage in addition to physical. That left me wondering how the axe would work with my Flaming Weapon. Gripping the enchanted axe in both hands, I triggered Flaming Weapon. Instead of the usual orange fire, the axe-head burst into icy blue flames.

  I laughed and swung the axe a few more times, watching the flames dance and waver in the dim light of the longhouse. When the spell ran its course, I dropped the weapon in a loop at my belt.

  “Happy?” Leesha asked, with a raised eyebrow.

  It was all I could do not to giggle. “That was totally badass! I’m pretty sure the ice and fire damage stack when I use Flaming Weapon!”

  This wasn’t just an improvement from my previous Battle Axe. The Bearded Axe of the Tundra was the first item I had that would scale with me as a character. Hopefully I’d be able to run into a paragon smith in our travels, as that was the only way to improve it.

  “That is pretty awesome,” Leesha admitted. “Just try not to catch yourself on fire, eh? Now how about we look at that ring?”

  I grabbed the last item from our haul and pulled up the description.

  Merchant’s Signet Ring (Quest Item)

  Description: The ring of a high-ranking member of a merchant guild, used to seal official documents. The emblem is a hand held palm up. But what was it doing in the Hoarfrost Temple?

  Quality: Indestructible

  Before Leesha and I could speculate, another notification popped up.

  Quest: Hands of Gold (Party Quest)

  You have discovered a strange ring within the bowels of the Hoarfrost Temple. Its previous owner was likely eaten by the yeti protector. Could the ring have come from one of the Eedari working with the Blue Hand Raiders? Another merchant might be able to identify the emblem.

  (Because this is a party quest, all members of your group who were present during the triggering event — in this case, slaying the Temple Protector — will receive this quest.)

  Objective: Take the signet ring to your contact in the Lucas Sevenday Trading Company. If you hurry, they may still be trading at the Horuk camp.

  “How slow are these traders, anyway?” Leesha said when she’d finished reading. “It’s been days since we last left them.”

  “Well, we should thank the devs for that; otherwise, we’d be screwed.”

  “Guess I can’t argue with that logic. But what about that part in parentheses? Did us grabbing this thing trigger the quest for that tool, Dart, too?”

  I reread the section in question out loud. “Yep, sounds like it. That freaking leech is still benefiting from us! Maybe we could turn him in to the mods or something.”

  Leesha snorted and shook her head. “Ugh, you sound like those losers I screwed with early on. It’s not like he’s, you know, hacking the game to have an edge. What he did is technically within the game’s parameters. It just so happened that screwing us over fit within those parameters. It sucks, but it’s not against the rules.”

  I’d almost forgotten about all the players the Sylvad had ripped off before we teamed up. “Losers, huh? Is that what you’re calling the party you stole from?”

  Leesha shrugged. “You know, those guys actually did tell a moderator about me. From what I understand, they were basically told that if I wasn’t cheating or being racist, homophobic, transphobic, sexist, or extremely violent, the mods wouldn’t do anything. I think the goal of the whole experience is full immersion. You don’t necessarily want the mods coming in and ruining all the fun every time some snowflake gets upset.”

  I let out a long exhale and squeezed my fists. “But what if he tries to ambush us again? This quest could lead him straight to us!”

  “Stop.”

  I looked at Leesha, confused and a bit alarmed by her sudden seriousness. “Stop what?”

  “Did you just hear yourself? It goes both ways: this quest could lead us straight to him!”

  I could see Leesha’s wheels spinning. A plan started to form in my mind as well. “You think he’d be that dumb?”

  She shrugged. “You said it yourself. Hunting down a player with a token is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. There’s always the chance that Dart doesn’t even act on this new quest thread. But if he does… It might be the best chance we’ve got.”

  I found myself nodding. Leesha was right — there were no guarantees, but it was probably our best shot. And, if we could pull it off, not only we would get our hands on a token, but we could get revenge, too. My lips curled over my Urok fangs in a hungry, vengeful grin at the thought.

  “That…could work.”

  44

  Rest Mode

  Z: How’re you doing?

  B: Dude, I’m *fine*

  B: How’re things going on your end? You clear that temple?

  Z: You want the good news or the bad news first?

  B: ???

  Z: We found a token

  Z: and then lost it

  B: No joke?

  Z: I WISH

  B: WTF?! What happened?

  Z: Some asshat took it. Apparently, the same player who snaked the other token away from us in the first place.

  B: Ah, so you were the victim of the Reverse Cuckoo

  Z: The hell’s a reverse cuckoo?

  B: You know how cuckoos push other birds’ eggs out of their own nest and put their own there?

  Z: Who would know that?

  B: Well, it’s the exact opposite

  B: instead of pushing stuff out, they’re pulling out items that belong to someone

  Z: That’s the stupidest, most confusing analogy I’ve ever heard

  B: That’s what they’re calling it online!

  Z: you’re telling me this is a case of mass hysteria, then

  B: I hate you

  Z: Don’t hate me yet. L and I have some stuff to return to the Horuk village, and then we have a plan to get another token. Or get our token back, possibly

  B: “L”? You guys have nicknames for each other now? That’s cute

  Z: I don’t call her that in-game.

  B: Real question. Do
es she call you Z?

  Z: I’m not having this conversation.

  B: Ha! she totally does.

  Z: Aren’t you supposed to be scanning the forums and whatever? Weren’t you also supposed to look up stuff on Leesha like ten years ago?

  B: Oh yeah. update on that. i found nothing. turns out it’s not super easy to find out details about someone you have zero info on.

  Z: You’re exhausting. And what about general MythRune stuff? What’d you find? Anything that can help us out here?

  B: I’m too sick to look up stuff. *cough* *cough*

  Z: very funny

  B: hey, i told you about the Reverse Cuckoo thing.

  Z: Maybe you really are sick. you’re saying stupid stuff again.

  B: In all seriousness, there’s not a lot to go off of. The token finds continue to be random

  B: People are still stealing from each other. the board featuring the names hasn’t been updated.

  B: People think the devs realized it pretty much put targets on their backs.

  Z: So that makes our link to Dart that much more important.

  B: Who?

  Z: The guy who stole it from us. We may know where he’s going to be next.

  B: Oh yeah? And where’s that?

  45

  The Livermoor Merchant Guild

  Day 11 — Nine Days to Tournament Start

  “Well, this is…unexpected.”

  Leesha was putting it mildly. We’d arrived at the old Horuk camp only to find it completely empty and devoid of life. With everything that had transpired over the last couple of days, it took me a few minutes to realize what had transpired: the Urok tribe had resettled in their new, permanent home outside the caves I’d cleared of ghouls. And Chief Ugola’s tribe had been busy.