Extra Credit

by J. Arthur Klein

  I asked about Necromancy in particular, and all of the other items disappeared from the list. The first set of scrolls were for spells I already had, except for one. I pulled it out and looked at it.

  Necromancy skill check – successful! “Psychometry” spell identified.

  I held up the scroll towards the mage and asked its price.

  He took a look at the scroll and pulled out a small book from the box, reading searching for something. “Psychometry, Psychometry… hmmm. Ah there it is. Rank one Necromancy, yadda yadda yadda…” he mumbled as he continued to read. “One gold.”

  I sighed and handed it back. “Sorry, I don’t have that much. Maybe once I’ve established myself on the surface, I’ll have enough to come back and get it. Thank you for your time.”

  I started to walk away when he called out to me. “Wait! You’re the first person to even ask to see the scrolls in months. I’ll tell you what. I will trade you that scroll for the Ring of Perception. Once the guild places it for sale where there is demand, the ring will probably bring in at least a gold. And I promise you that the spell will be of more use to you then a single rank in Perception. What do you say?”

  I thought about it for a moment and decided to make the deal. The increased Perception would have been nice, but a new spell seemed worth the trade.

  You have learned “Psychometry.”

  Psychometry

  Range: Touch

  Type: Divination

  Requirements: Verbal, Material (Required): Fine Sand, Channeled

  Harness the powers of the spirit world to delve into the history of the target item, gaining information on its nature and properties.

  NOTE: The longer the spell is channeled, the further into its history you may delve.

  I stood there with a wide grin on my face. It looked like I wasn’t going to need the mage’s identification services going forward, and definitely save a lot of time while adventuring.

  Shopping complete, it was time to replenish my bag of bones.

  ***

  10

  I followed the twisting tunnels back to the underground river in search of some donors to my cause. Even with the shaman dead, I could still see a good number of goblins spread through the room.

  Finding a good spot away from any of the green creatures, I reached into my bag and took out the skeleton of the Den Mother. It was almost three times the size of the normal groundhogs, and her claws and teeth looked deadly.

  I cast Minor Undead Creation and grinned as she rose to do my bidding. Her shoulders were on the same level as my head. Hell, I could probably ride her like a horse if I needed.

  Next, I started casting the binding spell and messed it up almost immediately when the interface took things to a whole new level.

  Instead of just a pair of hands going through gestures, Bind Minion introduced footwork. So not only did I need to perform the necessary hand movements and chant along with the karaoke spell, but now I had to follow a choreographed dance as well.

  It wasn’t that complex, but it was definitely a surprise, and an indication on how things could end up being super complicated later on.

  I started the spell once again, this time paying extra attention to get the footwork right. My hands traced glowing purple designs around my giant groundhog, who I decided to call Big Mama from now on.

  I chanted along with the spell, the verbal component repeated at each of the cardinal directions. “Officium tenetur ad me, tenetur in re ad me, tenetur ad me usque ad mortem.”

  When I completed a full circle, glowing sigils hung suspended in the air around my minion. I performed the final gesture of the spell, clapping my hands, and the glowing purple sigils collapsed into the skeleton, sinking into her bones and causing her eyes to glow fiercely with the dark purple magic.

  You have successfully bound the Groundhog Den Mother Skeleton (Big Mama).

  10% of your mana pool has been dedicated to maintaining this binding.

  My current mana total dropped by almost thirty-five percent, the cost of the spell itself plus the reserve cost of the binding. The binding spell, well… more like a ritual, was quite mana intensive, but now that I didn’t have to worry about my minion disappearing after a few minutes I could wait for my mana to fully regenerate.

  I cast Dark Shield on myself just in case, and we went hunting, spotting a lone Goblin Fisher sitting near the river. We approached as quietly as possible, which in Big Mama’s case was not quiet at all, until I was close to bolt range.

  I commanded Big Mama to hang back a little, and snuck closer, wanting to take advantage of the surprise attack bonus damage. I cast a Necromantic Bolt with a quick, silent gesture and it flew across the cavern and smashed into the goblin’s back, knocking it into the river.

  Sneak Attack Successful!

  Sneak Attack Damage Multiplier x2!

  “Well damn,” I said as I watched the goblin being carried away downstream, its health bar slowly diminishing as it was swallowed up by the current and swept away. So much for that skeleton.

  You have killed a Goblin Fisher! You have gained 20xp!

  I looked around for a target that wasn’t quite so close to the river and approached, opening with a Necromantic Bolt from Stealth.

  Sneak Attack Failed!

  The goblin turned around and snarled as it charged towards me. I sent Big Mama to intercept and watched her take a bite out of the goblin’s side, dropping its hit points by a quarter. A second bolt and bite from the giant groundhog and the goblin was dead.

  I dissected its skeleton and popped it into my bag. My mana was still looking pretty good, and Big Mama was barely scratched, so we continued on.

  We hunted down another four goblins, taking them out pretty easily and replenishing my collection to the tune of four skeletons, a few coppers, a Rusty Shortsword, and three scavenged Goblin Teeth.

  Restocked to my satisfaction, I headed back to the main cavern which was on the way to the Underpassage.

  When I arrived, a pair of well-armed kobolds I hadn’t noticed before approached me. “Excuse me, Adventurer, but you will have to put your minion away while in a public area.” The first guard said.

  “Can’t have the common folk being scared by that beast, can we?” the second added, gesturing to Big Mama who still had pieces of goblin stuck in her teeth.

  I looked at Big Mama and wondered how I could put her away. A prompt appeared.

  Would you like to temporarily deactivate your bound minion? (Yes/No)

  Note: Bound minions can be temporarily deactivated and then reactivated later at no cost.

  I selected yes and watched as Big Mama started to glow and blur, shrinking down until all that was left was her skull. I felt a slight rush as the mana dedicated to maintaining the bound minion was returned to me.

  I picked up the skull felt a slight tingling in my hands as I focused on it.

  < Big Mama >

  Would you like to summon Big Mama (Yes/No)? **

  I selected no and tucked the skull into my bone bag, returning the guards’ smiles as they returned to their posts.

  I left the main cavern behind me and followed my map towards the Underpassage.

  ALARM: Time to get some sleep JT!

  Oh damn, I thought, not realizing that I’d been playing for so long. Guess Sommervale will need to wait for tomorrow!

  Not wanting to log out in the middle of a tunnel, I walked the rest of the way down to the Underpassage and initiated the logout process.

  Closing Argos online in 10… 9… 8…

  The countdown finished, and the digital world slowly resolved into the inside of a VR headset.

  My eyes took a minute to get readjusted to the light as I powered down the helmet and visited the bathroom.

  I set my normal alarm clock for 8AM and got back in bed, falling into a deep sleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

  ***

  11

  I woke up the next morning to the blaring of my alarm. Yawni
ng loudly, I pulled myself out of bed and dragged myself to the shower where a quick burst of cold water woke me right up.

  While I was eating breakfast, my phone rang with a call from my wife and son.

  “Good morning, my love,” April said. “Someone was just dying to say good morning to daddy.”

  The camera panned to show my son’s face split in a goofy smile as he made grabby hands towards the camera. “Daddy!”

  “Hey buddy!” I said, followed by a string of baby talk that my toddler still seemed to love. “Having fun with grandma?”

  “Gama!” Diego exclaimed and broke into a fit of laughter, rolling backwards off camera.

  The picture panned back to my smiling wife. “Things are going well. Mom ran out to pick up some groceries so she can make pancakes for her favorite grandson. How did things go on your end?”

  “Going ok so far,” I said, making silly faces at my son who’d popped up in the bottom of the frame before focusing back on my wife’s amused face and giving her the TL/DR version of my adventures as a Kobold.

  We talked about our plans for the day and rest of the week between bouts of laughter at the antics of my son who had decided that he was the star attraction of the video call… and he wasn’t wrong. Seeing them always filled me with joy, and it was a good reminder of why I was diving into this game world.

  I wanted my family to have the best, and the best was not moving out of our dream home to a one-room apartment in a crappy neighborhood. Not when we had worked so hard to get to where we were.

  After the call, I finished my breakfast, set a timer for lunch and got comfortable in my favorite recliner. The VR headset was fully charged and ready to go, so I slipped it on, powered it up and away I went.

  Loading Argos Online…

  The game world faded back into view exactly as I’d left it, the entry to the Underpassage dead ahead. I entered the room and looked around, wondering exactly what the Underpassage was.

  At first, I was a little confused, as there didn’t seem to be anything in the room other than a small booth set into the far wall, but as I got closer, I could make out a large circle of symbols carved into the wall next to the booth. As I focused on the carvings a new message popped up.

  Perception Check - Failed – Missing necessary skill.

  I approached the booth where a wizened old kobold was sitting on a stool, gaze locked on a small book on the desk before him. As I approached, he closed the book and looked up. “Destination?” he asked in a bored tone.

  “Sommervale,” I answered, scanning the area for anything else of interest.

  “That will be five silver pieces,” he said, holding out a clawed hand.

  I counted the coins out into his hand and watched as he deposited them into a strongbox under his desk.

  “Are all destinations five silver?” I asked as he hopped off of his stool.

  He gave me a condescending look and replied, “Yes. It’s a five silver flat fee for anything on the continent,” and gesture impatiently for me to follow.

  The kobold moved over to the rune-carved wall and took out a large piece of chalk. He walked to the center of the wall and drew a series of runes that again triggered a skill failure message when I attempted to read them.

  When he was finished, he placed his palm on the center of the drawing and whispered something under his breath. The runes burst into flame and spread to the edge of the carved circle, and with a flash, the stone of the cavern wall was replaced with a glowing portal.

  The kobold gestured to the portal. “Thank you for using the Underpassage, you have 5 seconds to pass through before the portal closes. Have a nice day.”

  I jumped through the portal, eager to take the next step on my journey.

  You have discovered Sommervale. Map Updated. You have gained 50xp!

  The Underpassage had spit me out in a small cavern with a single tunnel leading upwards towards the surface. Hints of daylight flickered in from the end of the tunnel, bathing the cavern in a very dim light.

  I moved forwards slowly and paused, allowing my eyes to adjust to the dim light. Behind me was a flash of light and then the sound of wooden wheels on stone. “Move! Move!”

  I dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding being crushed by a wooden pushcart as it rolled past. The owner shot me an angry glare as he continued upwards, his golden eyes glowing in the light cast by the lantern attached to the top of his cart. The lupin bared his teeth in a snarl and continued, “Dallying right in front of the portal is a good way to become someone’s boots, lizard man.”

  The lupin continued on his way towards the light, and I followed close behind, not wanting to have my first death be to a glorified traffic accident.

  My eyes slowly adjusted to the daylight as I got closer to the surface, but I still wasn’t fully prepared for stepping out of the cave. The sunlight was painfully bright.

  I cringed and squinted against the glare, barely able to register what was going on around me. I had a vague sense of the lupin chatting with a sun elf at the mouth of another tunnel so I covered my eyes and stumbled over.

  “There he is,” the lupin said, a small smile playing about his lips. “Thought he might have gotten cold feet and headed back to the deep. Almost didn’t see him standing there when I came through from Jaellia.”

  “Sorry.” I said, “First time to the surface and was unprepared for the light,” my S’s a little less pronounced.

  “Not a problem, Adventurer,” the lupin replied. “Welcome to Sommervale! I’m Wryn, humble merchant. I run the general store here in town. I’m sure we’ll meet again.”

  With a nod to the elf, he grabbed his cart and continued on his way, winking at me as he turned away. Lupin were Argos’s werewolf equivalent. Most of the time they appeared human, except for a few telling features. Golden eyes, slightly pointed ears, and black fingernails, which became full blown claws when they shifted into their lycanthrope form.

  I looked up at the sun elf who was watching me closely, taking note of the racial features I’d only read about. They were the smallest of the elven races, usually topping out at five feet tall, which was still twice my height.

  Sun elves had golden skin and hair, the traditional elven pointed ears, and star shaped pupils. Sun elves were the subspecies the most attuned to magic, so it made sense that one would be in charge of the magical transport system.

  My current example was pretty typical of his people, clad in red silk robes that just screamed “Mage”. Behind him was a tunnel that led back underground, but instead of a circle carved into the face of the cave there was a raised stone platform with a circle carved into its base, likely the equivalent travel system for the surface.

  “Can I help you, Adventurer?” the sun elf said. “Would you like to buy passage to another location?”

  “No thank you,” I replied and followed after the lupin merchant, checking my map to see how far away the guildhall was located.

  I let out a long sigh. The quest waypoint, and thus the guildhouse was way off in the distance with a large swath of fog of war concealed terrain between me and it.

  Luckily, the road the lupin had taken was headed in the right direction, and after a short while the trees overhead cast enough shade to give my eyes some relief.

  I wondered if I could get some sunglasses or something, but settled for pulling my hood up far enough to cast enough shade over my eyes to keep them from burning.

  Eventually the pathway led out of the woods, through a small wooden palisade and into the Sommervale proper. Rows of rustic looking storefronts lined the main road, each with signage proclaiming their trade.

  Human, lupin, and elven children played ball in the town square, being chased playfully by a village stray. All in all, it seemed like a pretty good place to put down some roots.

  ***

  12

  I walked through town, making sure to keep an eye out for other pedestrians after the second time I was almost stepped on by a random townspers
on.

  Most of the locals gave me strange looks, likely not used to seeing many kobolds, but they were looks of curiosity and not those of hostility that I could have encountered in most of the other starting towns.

  I followed my mini-map, looking for the Harvest Moon guildhall. I moved out from the center of town, heading towards the outskirts. I passed by a warriors guild, conjurers guild, and several small temples, and then finally the beacon on my map: a small, well repaired building.

  I double checked my map and looked closer at the building. A small sign hung above the door: a crescent moon with a single drop of blood dripping from the lower point, and the words “Harvest Moon” engraved below.

  I walked up to the door and knocked, waiting for a few seconds before the door swung open to reveal a small foyer. A human man, dressed in a more elaborate version of my own robes sat behind a small desk, reading from a large book while taking notes in another.

  He looked up as the door opened then stood in confusion, finally catching sight of me below the level of his desk. “Oh, there you are. I thought one of the spirits must have gotten lose. How may I help you, Apprentice?” he said, taking in my robes.

  “Greetings, Guildmaster,” I said, handing the sealed letter to the human. “Master Balaka gave me this letter to present at the guildhall.”

  He took the letter and opened it, quickly reading through its contents. “I see. Well, I’m not sure why you chose to come to this remote location, but welcome, nonetheless. It will be good to not be the only necromancer here.”

  “Well, let’s get down to business,” he said, brushing off his robes. “I am Guildmaster Lucas Garr. You may address me as Guildmaster, or Master Garr. You may stay here in the guild if you wish. There is a spare room that you can use upstairs for one silver piece a night, or you may avail yourselves of the local inn.”

  “I will occasionally have tasks for you to perform. Items to gather, services to render, and the like, and in return I will see to your training and advancement within the guild,” he continued, looking down at me with a welcoming smile. “Welcome to the Harvest Moon, Apprentice Kababala.”