Somerset

by Aaron Oster

  “Our illustrious Overlord does not force anyone to do anything-” Gordon began.

  “He’s forcing me to play this fucking game!” Sam cut in, “so how is this any different?!”

  Gordon glared at him, then pointedly looked away.

  “Our illustrious Overlord simply gave you the best tools for survival, and the skills to go along with it. You can, of course, choose to follow a different path.”

  Sam gritted his teeth, but after a moment, decided that the dog was probably right. He really wasn’t much of a warrior, so maybe it was a good thing to start off with his attributes set in a certain way.

  Going back to his status, he opened his abilities tab next.

  ABILITY/SKILL DESCRIPTION

  When you level up or perform a certain action, you may be awarded an ability or skill. They are very important, as they will determine how long you stay alive.

  Abilities and skills are divided into 7 stages. Leveling them is a good way to increase their power, or unlock additional effects.

  Novice: 1-10

  Beginner: 11-20

  Intermediate: 21-30

  Advanced: 31-40

  Master: 41-50

  Sage: 51-99

  Pinnacle: 100

  Sam nodded to himself. He could do without the screen outright telling him that he would die, but at least it had done a good job explaining what abilities and skills were, though he had yet to see the latter tab in his status.

  He selected his abilities this time, to see what he was working with.

  ABILITIES

  Mana Shot: Fire a small beam of condensed mana.

  Damage: 3-5

  Cost: 15 MP

  Range: 10 Ft Cast Time: Instant Cooldown: 2 Seconds Mana Burn: Fire a ball of mana hot enough to burn.

  Damage: 6-8 (+10% chance to inflict +1-3 Burn Damage) Cost: 35 MP

  Range: 15 Ft Cast Time: 1 Second Cooldown: 5 Seconds

  “Now that’s more like it!”

  Sam pumped his fist, in the air, earning him an odd look from Gordon. He ignored the dog, moving to his last tab, his equipped items.

  ITEMS

  You will find all types of items while traveling through Somerset. Items are divided up by quality and rarity. The higher quality an item is, the better it will hold up, and the higher the rarity, the more powerful it is likely to be.

  Item Quality: Rated from worst to best.

  Poor, Bad, Shoddy, Okay, Basic, Good, Sturdy, Enhanced, Reinforced, Unbreakable Item Rarity: Rated from worst to best.

  Common, Uncommon, Rare, Enchanted, Epic, Legendary, Soul-Forged, Divine

  Sam let out a sigh when he saw that. He knew that items were a big part of video games, and had been hoping to at least start out with some decent gear, but from what his status told him, his gear was just as crappy as his physical attributes.

  EQUIPPED ITEMS

  Name: Wool Shirt Durability: 8/8

  Rarity: Common Quality: Okay Name: Wool Pants Durability: 8/8

  Rarity: Common Quality: Okay Name: Leather Boots Durability: 6/6

  Rarity: Common Quality: Shoddy Name: Knobby Stick Durability: 4/4

  Rarity: Common Quality: Poor

  It was just as he’d thought, Sam lamented to himself as he closed his status and examined his clothes. A set of Okay quality clothes, a pair of Shoddy boots, and some crappy stick that would break the first time he used it.

  “Hey, where is that stick by the way?” He asked, casting around for the aforementioned item.

  “About that…” Gordon said, looking just a little sheepish.

  “Oh no, what did you do with my stick?” Sam asked, feeling his heart sink at the thought of losing his only weapon, stick or not.

  Gordon bent his head, and a moment later, a half-chewed stick landed on the ground next to him.

  “What the hell, dog?” Sam exploded, lifting the stick with a look of horror. “How am I supposed to defend myself now?”

  “I have a name,” Gordon huffed, “and do calm down. You do not appear to be a very physical person. I do not miss my guess, that you sir, are more suited to being a caster than a melee fighter.”

  “Oh yeah,” Sam said, sheepishly rubbing at the back of his head. “So…” he drummed his hands against his knees, “what do we do now?”

  Gordon waved a paw at him, and a screen flashed before his eyes with a light ping.

  QUEST AVAILABLE

  Gordon’s new stick: Gordon has destroyed his favorite stick. Find him a new one.

  Difficulty: Very Easy Objective: Find a new stick Reward: 50 XP

  QUEST DIFFICULTY

  Quest difficulty is automatically generated with each quest, based on the quest recipient’s level.

  The difficulty levels, rated from easiest to most difficult, are: Very Easy, Easy, Medium, Hard, Very Hard, Extreme, Nightmare Just from reading the difficulty level, you alone can decide if the risk will justify the rewards. Just be aware that the more difficult the quest is, the greater the danger, and the greater the reward will be.

  “Huh, guess that answers that question,” Sam said, rising slowly to his feet.

  He debated taking the chewed up stick with him, but eventually, decided against it. It would do him no good in a fight, and he was just itching to try out his new abilities.

  “So Gordon, where can I find the best sticks?”

  3

  “Tell me, Gordy, why exactly are you helping me?”

  Sam was walking through the open field, heading for the distant tree line he’d spotted before. Gordon, who was padding silently at his side, turned his head and narrowed his eyes at him.

  “Call me anything but Gordon again, and I will begin addressing you by your full name.”

  “You wouldn’t dare!” Sam gasped, wondering how this dog could have known.

  “I would. This is your first, and final, warning.”

  Sam held his hands up in surrender.

  “Alright man, I was just kidding around.” He gulped when he saw the dog’s eyes narrowing, and was quick to correct himself.

  “Alright. Gordon.”

  “Much better,” Gordon said, turning his attention back to the approaching forest.

  “And as to why I am helping you, well, that is my job. Everyone the Overlord brought has been given a guide, you just happened to luck out, and end up with the most intelligent of them all.”

  More like the most stuck up , Sam thought sourly, but didn’t dare voice his opinion out loud.

  “So there are others from my world here as well? Do you know where I can find them?”

  “Sorry, but I cannot divulge that information. As your guide, I am tasked with guiding you, not giving away the secrets of others.”

  Sam idly wondered what it would take to choke out a dog.

  “So what can you tell me?” He asked, gritting his teeth in an attempt to push down his growing anger.

  “I can give you any information you require about Somerset. For example, I can explain history, topography, quests, items, skills and so on.”

  Sam blew out a long breath. Even when the dog was speaking normally he wanted to throttle it.

  “Can you tell me where we are now?” He asked, rubbing at his temples.

  There was a light ping, and a map was suddenly superimposed on his field of view.

  “What the…!” Sam stumbled, nearly falling in surprise. “Warn me next time, damn it!” He yelled at the dog, who had a smug smile on his doggy face.

  How did a dog manage to look so smug? Sam idly wondered, examining the map.

  He could clearly see himself marked as a small blue dot in the center of a field of green. Looking further ahead, he spotted the forest they were approaching. It was marked as Goblin’s Playground and if that wasn’t a clear warning to stay away, then the creepy cave marked Lair of the Goblin King most definitely was.

  Zooming out, he could see several towns dotting the map in the surrounding landscape, as well as a larger city further east.

&
nbsp; “Hey, Gordon,” Sam said, closing the map and turning his attention back to his furry guide. “Are you sure that going to the forest is a good idea? Wouldn’t it be better to just head to the closest town?”

  “We can,” Gordon said with a nod, “but then you will fail my quest. Towns never have any good sticks; it takes a discerning eye to spot the perfect one, and these country bumpkins do not know a quality stick from their own rear ends.”

  “Ooh, getting kind of nasty there Gordon,” Sam said with a snigger.

  “Not at all. I am merely stating a fact about the fine art of stick spotting,” Gordon replied, sticking his nose up in the air and padding ahead of him.

  Sam actually had to break into a run to keep up, and as soon as he did, three colored bars flashed in the top right corner of his vision. The uppermost one was red, the middle was blue, and the bottom was yellow.

  The yellow was draining at a rapid rate, and Sam was beginning to wonder what it could be, when the yellow bar completely emptied. The next second, he fell flat on his face. The red bar flashed as a small portion vanished, and a new message flashed before his eyes.

  -4 HP (falling damage).

  “What the fuck!” Sam yelled, trying to move, but finding that he was unable to.

  A moment later, four black and brown paws came into his vision, and he swore he could hear the dog laughing at him.

  “Your Stamina ran out. I would recommend you stay still until it recovers enough for you to stand.”

  So that was what the yellow bar had been!

  Sam could have smacked himself, or he would have it could have moved.

  “Am I going to fall down like this, every time I try to run more than a few feet?” he asked as the Stamina bar began to slowly refill itself.

  “Your Endurance is abysmally low, but not to worry, you will receive attribute points each time you level up, and there are ways to raise your Endurance without leveling.”

  “How can I do that?” He asked, finding that he could finally move again, and slowly pushed himself back to his feet.

  “By continually performing actions that drain it,” Gordon replied.

  “Great, so I guess that means more running,” Sam said with a sigh.

  “More running!” Gordon replied, a lot more enthusiastically.

  So Sam spent the next few hours continually running until his Stamina bar had nearly drained, then walking until it refilled itself, only to repeat the process as soon as it did. Finally, when the sun was high in the sky, and the once-distant tree line was now looming before him, he got the notification.

  +1 Endurance +1 Constitution +1 Agility

  +1 Charisma

  Sam gaped. He knew that he was supposed to receive a point in Endurance, and probably Agility , for all that running. He could even understand why he’d gotten a point in

  Constitution . What he didn’t understand though, was where the point in Charisma had come from. That wasn’t all he got, though. As soon as the message vanished, a new screen popped up.

  CONGRATULATIONS!

  Through hard work and no small amount of running, you have gained a new skill!

  Sprint: Run like the wind Level: Novice 1 (49%) Effect: -10% to Stamina consumption while running or jogging

  Closing the window, he gave Gordon an odd look.

  “I thought that the running was supposed to increase my Endurance and Agility . Why did both my Constitution and Charisma increase as well?”

  “Those are the mysteries of this world,” Gordon said in a wistful tone, his black nose twitching as he scented the air.

  “The increase in Constitution isn’t unexpected, as yours is already quite low, but Charisma is an attribute that can be quite tricky to raise outside of using an attribute point. The system that our illustrious Overlord has put in charge of this world must have decided that your perseverance would impress someone.”

  “Did it really though?” Sam asked dryly. “Not that I’m complaining about the extra points, I just don’t see who out here I could have impressed…” He trailed off as it dawned on him.

  “You didn’t think I could do it, did you?” he asked, his good mood fading away in an instant.

  “Well…” Gordon had the good grace to look embarrassed. “I must admit that I believed you to be a slothful person, so I was quite surprised when, after all your foul-mouthed complaining, you actually put in the work for self-improvement.”

  Sam wasn’t sure whether to be annoyed or pleased. So he instead decided to just ignore the dog’s comment and continue on.

  “The forest is close, we’ll be able to get you a stick there.”

  Sam was about to start walking again, when something white flashed through the green of the endless, swaying grass.

  “Did you see that?” he excitedly asked, eyes roaming around and trying to pick out the animal he knew to be there.

  “See what?” Gordon asked, turning his head to look in the indicated direction, and sniffing at the air.

  There was another flash of white, and Sam excitedly pointed again, now clearly seeing the white, fluffy bunny, nibbling on a stalk of grass.

  “Right over there!” he whispered, very loudly.

  Gordon took an exaggerated step away from him, then very deliberately swiped a paw over his nose, before sniffing at the air and finally locking onto the bunny.

  “Ha, ha, very funny,” Sam said, rolling his eyes.

  He did, however, give a surreptitious sniff under his arm when the dog was looking the other way and wrinkled his nose at the stench.

  The dog had been right, of course. He needed a bath.

  “Whatever,” he said, turning his eyes back on the bunny. “This’ll be the perfect opportunity to try out my two abilities.”

  He held out a hand, not really sure how he was supposed to use them, and just taking his best guess, targeting the rabbit in his mind, and thinking the word ‘Mana Shot.’

  To his complete shock, it actually worked. The moment he thought of the spell, the three colored bars appeared again, and the blue one in the center dropped by 15 points. A thin blue beam of energy shot from his hand and struck the rabbit in the rear; prompting a squeak of pain from the small, fuzzy creature.

  You deal: -5 Damage to fluffy bunny (Mana shot).

  “Booyah!” Sam yelled, waving away the annoying message that popped into his view as soon as he attacked. “Did you see that Gordon! How awesome am I?”

  “You should probably watch your back,” Gordon said, turning his head and biting at something on his rump.

  “What are you… Mother fucker!”

  Sam yelled as something very sharp, and very painful, dug into his right hand.

  Fluffy bunny bites you for -7 damage.

  Fluffy bunny bites you for -4 damage.

  Fluffy bunny bites you for -6 damage.

  Sam frantically shook his hand, as the seemingly harmless bunny latched onto it and began shaving off massive chunks of his health.

  “Get off me you fucker!” He screamed, punching the bunny in the head.

  You deal: -1 Damage to fluffy bunny (Blunt).

  Fluffy bunny bites you for -8 damage.

  Fluffy bunny bites you for -9 damage.

  Sam actually began to panic then, as the small creature had nearly taken half his health already. He pounded a fist into it again, only dealing another -1 damage. The bunny stayed latched onto his hand, which was now bleeding profusely and felt like it was on fire.

  His abilities!

  Not for the first time, Sam felt like slapping himself. He grabbed the bunny by the hea and used Mana Burn. A second later, there was a blue flash, followed by the smell of burning fur.

  You deal: -8 Damage to fluffy bunny (Mana Burn).

  You deal: -3 Damage to fluffy bunny (Mana Shot).

  You deal: -2 Damage to fluffy bunny (Kick).

  Fluffy bunny dies. +31 XP

  Sam let out a relieved sigh when he saw that last message and slumped tiredly to the ground. Checki
ng his health, he winced as he saw that he only had about 20 points left.

  “That was way too close for…”

  A gong-like sound interrupted him, and a red screen flashed before his eyes.

  DIVINE CURSE

  You have broken a rule, and have been struck by a divine curse.

  Effect: All attributes reduced to 1

  Duration: H 5: M 59: S 59

  “What the fuck?” Sam yelled, as his entire body suddenly felt extremely weak, and his legs began shaking. “Gordon! What’s going on?!”

  “Ah. It would appear that you’ve broken a rule. I did warn you about that.” Gordon said, padding over and sitting down next to him.

  “Come on! Isn’t reducing all my attributes to 1 for the next 6 hours a little extreme? All I did was kill a bunny!”

  “A rule is a rule,” Gordon replied.

  Sam, now on the verge of panic, quickly pulled open his status.

  CHARACTER STATUS

  Name: Sam Race: Human Level: 1

  XP: 31/100

  Class: None HP: 31/70 (10/10) (Regen 0.7 Per Second) MP: 93/130 (10/10) (Regen 1.2 Per Second) STA: 22/50 (10/10) (Regen 0.5 Per Second)

  ATTRIBUTES

  Strength: 5 (1)

  Constitution: 7 (1)

  Agility: 6 (1)

  Endurance: 5 (1)

  Intelligence: 13 (1)

  Wisdom: 12 (1)

  Charisma: 11 (1)

  Luck: 8 (1)

  ABILITIES

  Mana Shot: Novice LV - 1 (66%) Mana Burn: Novice LV - 1 (33%)

  SKILLS

  Sprint: Novice LV - 2 (92%)

  EQUIPPED ITEMS

  Wool Shirt Wool Pants Leather Boots

  RULE OF THE DAY

  Do not kill any bunnies, or bunny-like creatures (Broken) Divine Curse Effect: All Attributes reduced to 1