Crystal Shards Online Omnibus 1

by Rick Scott

“Wow!” Gilly says. “I nearly leveled just from that. Let’s kill another one!”

  The excitement in her voice spurs me on, and I quickly find another black bear. We take it down just as easily.

  You defeated the Young Black Bear!

  You gain 75 experience points!

  Kill chain x 1! You gain 37 bonus experience points!

  A burst of light engulfs Gilly, and the words “Level Up!” appear above her head.

  “Awesome,” she says. “We got a kill chain. Quick, find some more.”

  I laugh at her enthusiasm as we venture deeper into the forest.

  * * *

  We spend about an hour making our way through the West Wood Forest, which eventually shifts into the Murky Woods. It gets darker as we transition from one to the other. The trees grow more densely together and become covered in creepy-looking vines. I hit Level 4 and dump the bonus point into Agility. I’ll spend my next level’s points in Dexterity to bring that up to ten, as well. I’m almost Level 5 and Gilly Level 3 by the time we reach the Murky Swamps.

  Dead trees and stumps poke out of the dark water, covered in moss and choked with tall reeds. It feels like nighttime already, as thick dark clouds blanket the sky, blotting out the sun. The air has a chill and a slight mist to it, making it hard to see more than a hundred feet or so. In the semi-darkness beyond, I can see huge shadows lumbering slowly through the swamp.

  I don’t like the feel of this.

  “The dungeon is in there?” I ask.

  “It is the dungeon,” Gilly says, and then points ahead of her. “Look, those are the NPCs we need to talk to, to enter.”

  She runs ahead of me to where an old man and woman peer into the darkness with a lantern. They straighten as they see us and plaster bright, hopeful expressions onto their dirt-covered faces.

  “Oh, kind strangers, can you please help us?” the woman says. “Our granddaughter Sarah was lured into the swamp by a dark spirit. Will you, I pray, look for her? My husband and I are both too frail to venture further than this.”

  You have been offered a Quest: Swamping for Sarah (Recommended Level 15)

  Venture into the Murky Swamp and bring Sarah back alive.

  Bonus: Destroy the dark spirit to prevent any more children from falling prey to the swamp.

  Typical fantasy quest plot, I suppose.

  “Sure,” I say, and the game interprets that as me accepting the quest.

  You have received a new quest!

  You will receive bonus experience points and items upon completion.

  “You must be careful in there,” the old man says. “Many powerful creatures roam the swamps. If you get into trouble, you can always come back here . . . where it’s safe.”

  Would you like to set your respawn point to this location?

  “Sounds like a good idea,” Gilly says, and we both set our home points. “At least if we die, we won’t have too far to run to get our tombstones.”

  I nod, and we start our way into the swamp. Tepid water soaks through my boots as we step into the muddy foot-high water. I have a feeling this will become a problem if we ever have to run from something. The game soon confirms it by placing a restricted-movement debuff on my HUD.

  “Aw, man, my slippers!” Gilly whines as she steps into the swamp behind me.

  That gives me a chuckle. “So, besides being Level 15 and spooky as heck, what’s so special about this dungeon that makes it great for leveling?”

  “Those,” Gilly says, and points ahead of me.

  I strain to make out what she’s pointing at, but soon see one of those lumbering shadows again. This time, I’m close enough to see it for what it truly is. It’s humanoid, and about as tall as Val Helena, but where she has muscle, this thing has fat. It has a pig-like face, complete with a set of tusks that protrude from its fat cheeks. Its skin is green and looks to be falling off in places, and across its body are deep wounds and cuts. Then I see its eyes and my skin grows cold. They’re dead and lifeless, milky white and glazed over. As it lumbers closer to us, I pull up its stats.

  Undead Orc Warrior

  Level: 13

  This once fearsome creature was slain, but has been raised from death to serve a new master.

  Affinity: Dark

  “Zombie orcs?!” I shoot Gilly a stare. “And it’s Level 13!”

  “They’re supposed to be really slow and easy to dodge. Plus, they don’t have a lot of hit points. They’re spaced out in here, too, so we can face them one at a time.”

  I brace myself. “Okay. But be ready with that heal spell.”

  “Oh, wait,” Gilly says. A scroll appears in her hand. “Forgot I can use this now that I’m Level 3.”

  Gilly uses a scroll of Minor Favor of the Goddess.

  The scroll disappears from her hand as she reads it. Then she closes her eyes and casts the spell. Golden light envelopes us, and our max HP and Stamina both increase a little. “Nice! I remember Val Helena using that spell on me before.”

  “Yeah . . .” Gilly says, somewhat icily. “I guess she would have it as a Paladin.”

  Apparently, Gilly still has something against Val Helena, even after I explained everything. I try not to let the subject linger. “I feel much better going into the battle with that on.”

  I wait for my new maxes to top up, and then charge at the foul-looking beast.

  I chop into its flank with a nice, solid-feeling whack from my short sword, but remove only a tenth of its HP bar.

  Oh crap! I’m in for a fight now!

  The monster roars and regards me with its white, lifeless eyes. It takes a swing with its meaty fists. I try to move out of the way, but the sloshing water hinders me some. I take a clobbering, losing more than a third of my HP. Without Gilly’s spell, I’m sure it would have been half! I recover and get in two more hits before it punches again.

  I ram into the orc with my shoulder, stunning it for another two easy hits, taking it down to half its HP, and get a skill up in the process. Okay, maybe we can do this.

  The orc lashes out with a double attack that busts me down to just a sliver of health!

  “Reece!” Gill shouts, and frantically begins casting.

  Gilly casts Heal!

  You recover +25 HP.

  Gilly casts Heal!

  You recover +25 HP.

  Gilly casts Heal!

  You recover +25 HP.

  I’m back up to full and get another chop in, but it’s not looking at me anymore. It charges at Gilly, and she screams in fright. “Reece, help!”

  “Gilly!” I try to jump in front of her, but the orc is too fast.

  You fail to Rescue Gilly.

  Your Rescue skill increases by 0.5.

  The zombie flattens her in one hit, and I hear Gilly’s horrid death cry.

  “No!” I shout, and attack in revenge, whacking it in the back.

  Critical Hit!

  Your Sword skill increases by 0.5.

  Skill up! Your Sword skill is now 7.

  The orc backhands me as it turns about, taking another huge chunk of my life. My Health bar is down to about a quarter now. We trade blows for the next hit, until we’re both down to 10% health. I wait for it to attack again, then hit the orc with Rush, stunning it with my shoulder tackle.

  With two quick swipes of my sword, the zombie orc lets out a moan and falls face-first into the swamp with a mighty splash.

  You defeated the Undead Orc Warrior!

  You gain 1200 experience points!

  You find a Small Wooden Shield.

  You find a Bronze Beast Coin.

  Congratulations! You have gained a Level!

  You are now Level 5.

  You have gained 2 attribute points.

  You learn the ability: War Cry

  War Cry

  Release a savage war cry to draw the attention of your enemies.

  Activation: 0.2 Seconds

  Cool-down: 5 seconds.

  Cost: 5 TP

  Congratulations
! You have gained a Level!

  You are now Level 6.

  You have gained 1 attribute point.

  Whoa! Two levels?

  “Double gratz!” Gilly says, still face-down in the water.

  I laugh. “Thanks! Sorry you died, though. You didn’t get any XP.”

  “S’okay. I’ll be right back.”

  She disappears, replaced by a tombstone, and then comes running back into the swamp a few minutes later . . . in nothing but her underwear!

  “Don’t peek!” she jokes. “This is only our first date!”

  I laugh again, but can’t stop looking at her avatar. She’s clad in nothing but frilly white undergarments which compliment her fit physique. She gathers her stuff and is—much to my disappointment—soon back in her dumpy noob gear again.

  “I think I just got something that will prevent that from happening again,” I say.

  “Good,” she says. “Because we won’t get far if I die on every monster.”

  I equip the shield and check it out.

  A Small Wooden Shield.

  +1 armor

  Light and small, it doesn’t offer much protection, but it’s better than nothing.

  “Nice,” Gilly says when she sees it appear on my arm.

  She recasts Minor Favor, and then we’re off looking for another orc. A few minutes later, we find one, milling about near a huge hollowed-out log.

  “Hey, you!” I shout, activating War Cry.

  The orc turns swiftly toward me, lets out a groan, and charges me like a bull.

  Oh geez!

  I raise my shield against its first hit.

  Congratulations! You have unlocked Block!

  Your Block skill increases by 0.2.

  The extra defense from the shield does little difference, though. I take nearly the same amount of damage as without it. I’ll need a better shield if I’m going to be doing that. But then I strike back with a swiftness I don’t expect.

  Congratulations! You have unlocked Retaliation Strike!

  Retaliation Strike

  Perform an attack with extra damage after a successful Block or Parry.

  Nice! My hit took about 15% off the orc’s health. I stun its next attack with Rush, and then chop it down with a couple more swings before it gets a good hit in on me. Gilly tops me up with Heal, and I use War Cry again to keep its attention.

  “Eyes on me, ugly!”

  The orc stays glued to me, even through another heal, and after a few more hits, the beast finally crashes into the marsh.

  You defeated the Undead Orc Warrior!

  You gain 600 experience points!

  Gilly gains a Level!

  Gilly gains a Level!

  “Whoa! Double gratz to you, too!” I tell her.

  “Thanks.” She beams. “Let’s keep this going!”

  We do, venturing deeper into the marsh.

  We take down another four undead orcs, and even manage to get a kill chain on the last two. Gilly hits Level 7, and I reach Level 9. At Level 5, Gilly learns a new spell called Regeneration that slowly recovers my HP over time. About 2 HP a second. It really helps speed up our kills, as there’s less rest time between each fight.

  We’re battling our fifth zombie orc and have it down to about half health when a scream rings out: “Help! Please! Help me!”

  I look over to see a tall elf in nothing but his boxers running full tilt through the marsh—or as fast as the water will let him run, anyway. Right behind him is an orc with a spear. The creature jabs it into him every few steps.

  Fredric requests to join your party.

  Do you wish to accept? (Y/N)

  I hit yes, and his stats appear in the party list.

  Fredric Level 8 Archer (weakened)

  HP 12/39

  STAM: 17/30

  TP: 25/25

  Geez, he’s about to die!

  I use War Cry on the Orc that’s chasing him. The huge beast stops giving chase, and charges toward me. And then the one I’m already fighting knocks me down to under half health.

  Uh oh . . .

  I raise my shield to block a spear attack from the second orc and fail.

  Critical Hit! You take -40 damage.

  I check my HP bar. 18/112 HP!

  I’m about to die from a punch from the first orc when Gilly throws me a double heal, bringing me back to 50%.

  “Reece, what are you thinking?” Gilly cries. “We can’t fight two of these at once!”

  “I wasn’t thinking!” I admit freely. “But I couldn’t just let the guy die.”

  The guy in question reappears and runs right past us. “Thanks, guys!”

  What the heck? “Where’s he going?”

  “What a jerk,” Gilly says as she throws another heal. “Just pay attention. Make sure you don’t die!”

  I need to focus, get one of these things killed—and quick.

  I stun the orc with the spear, and then take the first orc down to a quarter health with two chops from my sword. I raise my shield to block its attack and get lucky.

  You Block the attack!

  Your Block skill increases by 0.3.

  I hit the orc with a retaliation strike and kill it. But the spear orc gets another good jab at me, taking me down to 20% health. Meanwhile, its Health bar’s still at full. Gilly gives me another heal, but I’m only back to half.

  “I’m out of TP,” she cries. “That was my last heal.”

  Oh man!

  I get two hits in and bring the orc to 80% health before it thrusts its spear toward me. I raise my shield at the last minute and return a Retaliation Strike. I take damage, though, and I almost don’t want to look at my HP. It’s just a sliver now, flashing an angry red.

  I go for another hit, but my arm feels like lead.

  0/72 STAM!

  Crap!

  The orc is about to kill me when an arrow lands in its shoulder and it cries out.

  Fredric uses Paralyzing Shot.

  The Undead Orc Warrior is paralyzed.

  I see another arrow hit. It takes a whopping 25% health off the monster’s HP bar.

  Whoa!

  I manage to recover a couple points of Stamina and swing for an easy hit.

  It’s down to 20% now!

  I use the last of my TP to Rush it and stun its next attack, right before another arrow comes in to finish it off. We get a kill chain and both Gilly and I level from it.

  Congratulations! You have gained a Level!

  You are now Level 10.

  You have gained 1 attribute point.

  You unlock a new ability: Power Attack

  Power Attack

  Build your rage meter by landing and taking hits. Once full, you can unleash a deadly power attack. Can build up to 300% potency.

  My gauges are instantly replenished to full by my new level; if not, I’d probably be collapsing into the swamp from exhaustion. “Talk about close!” I say.

  “Any drops?” asks the new guy, Fredric, as he nonchalantly strolls toward us, placing his bow across his back. He has pretty nice-looking gear for his level, and his bow is a +3. No wonder he was hitting so hard. I wonder if it’s time to upgrade my weapon already.

  “Yeah, the two of us nearly dropped dead,” Gilly says snarkily. “All thanks to you.”

  “Huh?” Fredric says, clearly not understanding.

  “Thanks for that Paralyzing Shot,” I say. “It was about to cream me.”

  “Yeah, no worries. Thanks for pulling it off me. I died out here and was trying to get back to my tombstone when I aggro-ed it. Are you guys here for the boss?”

  “You know where it is?” Gilly asks.

  “Yeah, it’s close. I was trying to get to Level 12 or so to see if I could take it on, but these things are pretty tough. If you’re going after it, do you mind if I join you?”

  I shrug. “The more, the merrier, I guess.”

  Gilly sends me a PM: You sure, Reece? XP will be split 3 ways now.

  I consider it for a mome
nt.

  Me: Well, if the boss is harder than these things, this guy will probably be good help.

  Gilly: Okay, just making sure. I know you’re on a time line. Plus, this is supposed to be a date, remember? : P

  Oh man, I completely forgot about that!

  Me: Sorry, I know it hasn’t been too romantic. :D I promise to make it up to you.

  Gilly: You’d better! <3

  Gilly and I share a private grin before I turn to Fredric. “Okay, let’s go for the boss. You lead the way.”

  Chapter 15: First Boss

  We kill another zombie orc as a trio, and Fredric reaches Level 9. I’m itching to see what this new Power Attack does, but my new Rage meter only got up to 50% full from the battle. We come to an island that’s sticking up out of the marsh. In the center is a small hut, and just in front of it is a slab of stone that’s been turned into a crude-looking altar. Strapped to the altar and held down by vines is a girl that looks to be around twelve. Sarah.

  Two zombie orcs with spears stand guard next to the altar. When I check them, I see they’re both Level 15. From out of the hut comes a third orc, but this one is apparently female and old, judging by the mop of stringy white hair that stems from its balding head.

  Orc Witch

  Level: 17

  Wielding magic as foul as her stench, this orc seeks a vessel for her true master to inhabit. The tribe that once banished her for her dark practices now serves as her undead guardians.

  Affinity: Dark

  The orc witch begins chanting over the young girl.

  “Okay, so . . . I guess we need to interrupt the ceremony to save Sarah,” I say.