by Erik Rounds
Star Wars: A New Hope – Mind Trick
Type: Active illusionist ability (unlocks at Level 11)
Chance to put an idea into the mind of target with an intelligence score of 50% or less than the caster.
Cost: 1 mana
Cooldown: 20 minutes
Labyrinth – Gravity Shift
Type: Active time mage ability (unlocks at Level 41)
Allows you to change the direction of gravity subjectively, enabling you to walk on walls.
Cost: 1 mana per 10 seconds
They were both impressive abilities. After some experimentation, she found that she only needed to watch either show for twenty minutes for the ability to be offered.
On the third day of travel, Tasha was watching the landscape go by when she saw a strange outline in the skies above. If this were Earth, she would have assumed it to be an aircraft, but that wasn’t possible in Etheria, was it?
She got Ari’s attention and pointed at it. “Ari, is that what I think it is?”
He squinted at it, trying to make out its features. “It is if you think it’s a dragon. It’s rare to see them this far to the south.”
The dragon lowered its altitude and passed right over the caravan. It was now close enough for Tasha to make out some of its details, including its red scales and long tail. It passed right over the caravan and continued on its way, disappearing into the distance a few minutes later.
Ari turned to Tasha. “Did it seem like he was looking for something? The way he flew in close.”
Tasha had no idea how dragons normally behaved, so she had no opinion on the matter. After the abrupt appearance and subsequent departure of the dragon, the rest of the morning was largely uneventful.
That morning was spent watching The Matrix on Tasha’s phone. This unlocked a new ability, which Tasha quickly accepted.
Ability Unlocked: Bullet Time (Level 0)
Type: Acrobat ability (unlocks at level 6)
When projectiles are flying toward you, you become aware of them and your perception of time slows down subjectively to 50% speed, allowing you to react.
Duration: 5 seconds
Cooldown: 15 seconds
Would you like to set this as your current ability, replacing Sprint? Yes/No
She tapped “yes,” as an ability like that could come in handy when dodging incoming arrows. The next half hour was spent with Pan throwing crumpled-up pieces of paper at Tasha in order to set off the Bullet Time ability. By the time Brightwind Keep appeared in the distance, Tasha was over a third of the way to unlocking it.
The keep itself was a shimmering skyscraper at the top of a hill in the center of a walled city. The central pillar was tall and imposing, and it was surrounded by half a dozen shorter pillars. Connecting each of the towers was a mesh of circular rings.
After detaching Denver, the trio continued on foot toward the city. They traveled along the road, but Tasha looked longingly at the grassy plains that surrounded the city. It had been days since Tasha had been able to kill anything, and she was beginning to feel the itch. She was also excited to try out some of her new fireball spells in battle.
While she enjoyed returning to her couch-potato roots, some new unfamiliar aspect of her thirsted for combat and the blood of her enemies. Her level growth had stagnated over the past few days.
“Hey, Ari, how about we go off the main road for a while? I was hoping to fight some monsters. I’m starting to feel out of practice.”
He shook his head. “I would advise against it. I’m unfamiliar with this area, and it would be bad if we encountered monsters beyond our ability. Once we reach the city, I’ll see if I can get a map that we can use for level grinding in the future.”
“All right, fine,” Tasha huffed.
“Besides, we haven’t registered with the local save point. If any of us died, we would have to travel here all the way from the outpost we last saved at.”
“That’s… also a good point,” she agreed, albeit reluctantly.
They continued walking down the paved road toward the castle. Traffic was rather heavy as all manner of people went about their business. Most of the citizens were elven, which made sense as this was an elven kingdom. Humans were clearly in the minority. Tasha passed a party of dwarves all decked out in heavy armor. She hadn’t yet seen any female dwarves, though. Maybe their females didn’t travel? Alternatively, it was also possible that female dwarves had beards and she’d already seen them without realizing it.
Slimes were fairly common travelers on the road leading to the castle. These creatures had animated, generally smiling faces, and each one was somehow distinguishable from the next either by their shape, color, or the style of hat that they wore. Slimes never wore any clothing apart from the occasional headpiece. Each of them had glowing cores surrounded by a layer of animated goo. They traveled mainly by hopping from one place to another, but she did witness one of them extending a tentacle to pick up a piece of fruit at a vendor’s stall.
A bunny woman was traveling with a party of sheep. Tasha thought she might be a shepherd until one of the sheep engaged her in conversation.
A giant, nearly as tall as a house, walked right by Tasha. She looked up and waved at him, and he tipped his enormous straw hat politely.
Eventually the trio of adventurers reached the gates of Brightwind City. A line had formed at the entrance. It was over half an hour before they reached the front of the line.
The elven customs agent at the city gate addressed them, his head resting on his arm. His posture exuded boredom and indifference.
“Oh, great. More human refugees. Just what this city needs. State your name and business, humans.”
He adjusted his glasses and took a drink from his latte.
“She’s the p-player,” said Pan.
Ari actually facepalmed when Pan said this. Maybe they should have agreed on a plan beforehand.
“Just ignore her,” said Aralogos. “She thinks her friend is the reincarnation of the player. It’s just a game they’re playing. We’re here for work. My name is Aralogos Branford, and this is my daughter, Panela Branford.”
Tasha looked at him, surprise evident on her face. “Your name is Panela?”
“Pan,” the girl corrected. “Don’t like Panela.”
Ari continued. “This lady is our friend Tasha Singleton, who is most certainly not a player.”
“And what manner of work do you seek?” the elf asked, his face the very embodiment of disinterest.
Tasha took this moment to assert herself. “You know, adventure work. Killing mobs, delivering small packages, rescuing damsels in distress. That sort of thing.”
“There be plenty of work to be had given the recent trouble,” the customs agent said.
“What recent trouble?”
“The king’s daughter was kidnapped several days ago. There haven’t been any ransom demands. There’s a reward for her safe return or any information leading to her captors.”
“Do we have any leads?” Ari asked.
“Make your inquiries at the castle. Off with you,” he said, waving them away.
Tasha passed through the large city gates, her friends in tow. The interior of the city was both vast and crowded. It made downtown Manhattan look sparse by comparison. People of a great multitude of races filled the streets, and the foot traffic had no sense of order from what she could discern. Pedestrians had to fight the crowd to get to wherever they were going.
At this rate it would take hours to reach the castle. Movement was slow and arduous. Eventually, they left the main streets, and they could traverse with relative ease. Occasionally Tasha encountered waystones along the city streets.
That must be how they keep monsters away from settlements like this one. They weren’t everywhere, though. There were signs that warned against intentionally hunting monsters within the city limits.
It took the better part of an hour to reach the castle entrance. The door itself was immense both
in breadth and height. She wondered what kind of creature would need a door that large.
As if in answer to her internal query, a great screeching sound filled the air as four winged dragons emerged from behind the castle and landed at the entrance. Tasha instinctively pulled out her phone and snapped a photo.
The largest dragon grabbed a great cord with his mouth and pulled the great door open. Upon entering, he pulled the door shut behind him. Tasha marveled at the sight and wondered if such fantastic events were commonplace in the city.
“Well, we made it,” said Ari. “Let’s go in and meet the king.”
He didn’t seem overly fazed by the dragons.
Tasha passed through the large gate into an open courtyard which was walled off from the rest of the city and served to provide ingress to the keep. The large door that the dragons had used loomed before her on a platform out of reach. A smaller set of doors were set in the wall before her.
She led Denver to a small stable by the courtyard entrance and left him there, promising to return soon.
Statues and island gardens adorned the interior of the open courtyard. There were marble statues of elves, dwarves, dragons, and even slimes. There were no human statues, however. Tasha stopped to take in one of the more prominent elven statues. It read “Princess Kiwistafel Questgiver.” The statue was of a beautiful elven woman wearing an elegant gown. Her arms were outstretched to her sides, her palms open. The most distinctive characteristics were her smile and welcoming eyes.
Turning away from the statue, Tasha found several elven guards standing at attention around the courtyard. Ari led the way past the guards toward the smaller set of doors. The stoic guards didn’t acknowledge her presence or show any sign that they noticed the party of humans.
Standing at the entrance was a guard wielding a polearm. Tasha focused on him, and his scan results appeared as a small translucent blue box.
Kellarus Evergreen (Level 45)
Guard
There were forty hearts above his name, neatly organized into four rows of ten. If there was any trouble, she wouldn’t stand a chance. Not that Tasha was planning on making trouble, of course.
As she was about to pass through the entrance into the castle, the guard named Kellarus moved to block her entrance.
“State your business, humans.”
He said the word “humans” with an air of derision.
“We’re here to meet with the king on a matter of great urgency,” Ari said.
Kellarus smirked at them and narrowed his eyes. “The royal family is not seeing supplicants at this time. Particularly not with human refugee beggars such as yourselves. Maybe you’re aware of the oncoming apocalypse, or the kidnapping of the princess? His Majesty has other concerns beyond listening to the troubles of human rabble.”
Tasha decided that this would be a good time to add her two cents. “Actually, we’re not supplicants or beggars. I need to see the king regarding the menu countdown. I have some information for him.”
It turned out that was the wrong approach. For some reason, this guard had it in for humans and was more than willing to take it out on the three newcomers.
“A human beggar has information that is of interest to an elven king? I think not. Now get out of my sight before I decide to arrest all three of you for disturbing the peace. Maybe a few days in a cell will teach you respect for your betters.”
“She’s the p-player,” Pan interjected.
The guard laughed. “A player? Are you serious? I’ll give you this, human, that’s the most original attempt to gain entrance that I’ve ever heard. To start with, the player who defeated the Lich Queen is a man, and this is a woman.
“Besides that, someone as important as the player wouldn’t be human. Your species barely qualifies as sentient. Now get out of my sight. Your stench is fouling the air.”
Ari started moving away, pulling Tasha by the arm. “Let’s go. This is getting nowhere.”
After moving a safe distance from the guard, Tasha came to a stop. “What was that guy’s problem? Is this how humans are always treated in this country?”
Ari hesitated before answering. “For the most part, yes. Most of our kind who reside in Questgivria are refugees from Zhakara, a country that these people have been at war with for many decades. When they see us, they only see the enemy.”
“That doesn’t excuse his behavior,” Tasha said. “I’m not leaving until I get us into the castle. We didn’t come this far just to back down now.”
Ari just shook his head. “Tasha, trying to force our way in would be tactically unsound.”
Tasha let him see her angry face. “Ari, I don’t need that kind of negativity.”
“Well… okay, Tasha, what do you want to do?”
She thought for several minutes, and slowly the beginnings of an idea took root in her mind. A wicked smile grew across her face.
“Follow my lead,” she said. She pulled up her menu and invoked the Stat Shuffle ability. It was time to try this ability out. Properly used, Stat Shuffle could give her the advantage she needed to gain entrance into the castle.
When she invoked the ability, a new window appeared, allowing her to reassign her stat points. There were twenty-four unallocated stat points. Without wasting any time, she put everything into charisma, bringing her up to twenty-eight charisma points.
She would need each and every point of charisma in order to pull off the level of bullshit artistry that she had in mind.
Her body changed again as a result of the stat allocation. She felt taller, more confident, her skin was smoother, and her breasts increased in size and firmness. She hadn’t expected that last bit, but it could work to her advantage.
A timer appeared at the bottom of her HUD, letting her know that she had five minutes remaining on her Stat Shuffle ability. Once it elapsed, her stat allocation would return to normal. Not wasting any time, she walked back up to the guard.
“Hey, what are you doing back, human? I thought I told you to get lost. Or are you going to insist that you’re a player again?”
Tasha shook her head. “I’m obviously not a player. A player would surely be a strong elven man like you, not a human woman. That’s assuming players even existed to begin with.”
“Right you are.” He nodded. “Which brings me back to my question: Why did you come back?”
“You’ve been very helpful, but I sense some unhappiness in you. You don’t really enjoy this line of work, do you?”
“Well…” he started, “now that you mention it, not really.”
He frowned. “It gets rather tedious standing here day after day, hour after hour.”
“That must be terribly boring.”
“Oh, it is! The highest point of my day is when I get to verbally abuse humans, but even that gets old eventually. I mean, the position pays well enough, but the endless tedium would wear on anyone after a while.”
She frowned back. “Why, that sounds just horrible. I take it things weren’t always this way for you? You have the look of someone who’s seen the world and done great deeds.”
He nodded proudly. “Well, you’re right about that, human. I once was a great adventurer. It took me centuries of training to reach my current level. I wandered the world seeking adventure and glory. But then everything changed.”
Tasha waited a moment for him to continue, but he said nothing.
“Did… you take an arrow to the knee?” she prompted experimentally.
He glanced at his knee. “What? No, of course not. Even if I had a knee injury, a healing potion would have cured it right up. What happened is that I got married. Ah, my dear Gabby. I would do anything for her. Even trade in a life of carefree adventure for a stable income. Mob hunting isn’t as lucrative as you might think.”
Tasha continued. “But as an adventurer, you would get to see new sights. You wouldn’t need to stand in the same place all day. You could fight in glorious life-or-death battles against fierce opponents.”
“What you say is true. If only…” he said with a faraway look on his face.
“Well, then, why don’t you? Just tell them that you want to quit and follow your dreams. Battle and glory awaits you, brave elf. Gabby would surely understand.”
He shook his head vehemently. “Oh, you don’t know Gabby! She would drive a knife through my heart if I quit. I mean that literally, you understand. And then when I respawned at the save point, she would do it again for good measure, just to make sure that I learned my lesson.”
Tasha could feel herself losing control of the situation. “Maybe Gabby doesn’t need to know. Just make sure you get back home before it gets too late in the evening, and she won’t know the difference. Once she sees how happy you are, it won’t matter what job you’ve been doing. You can tell her then.”
For half a minute, he just stared at her as if deep in thought. Finally he came to a decision. “You know what… you’re right! I’m wasted on guard duty. I’ll go tell the captain of the guard tomorrow.”
“Why not right now?” Tasha prompted. “Time and tide wait for no man— ELF! I meant elf.”
He was about to leave but hesitated. “Oh, but I can’t leave my post.”
Tasha smiled. “Don’t worry, friend, I’ll take over and guard this entrance while you are away.”
He looked her over and said, “A human guard to the elven keep? Well, as long as it’s only for a short amount of time, I think it would be okay. Just no sneaky letting people into the castle while I’m gone.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” she assured him.
“Thanks. You know, you aren’t so bad for a human.”
The guard entered the castle and a moment later was out of sight.
Ability Unlocked: Bullshit Artist (Level 1/50)
Type: Passive ability
Your lies will now be 5% more creative and people will have an additional 2% chance of believing them.
Ari came up to stand beside her. “I can’t believe that actually worked.”
Tasha shook her head in disbelief. “That makes two of us.”
“I wonder just how many times Gabby will kill that guard.”