“It’s good to meet you Nareth! I’m disappointed that I didn’t get a shot at you in the instance, it would have been fun.” Jimmy grinned.
“I had a bad feeling that one of your kind might be there. It seems my caution was well-placed.” Nareth responded coolly.
Jimmy shrugged. “Well, I’m good and tame now, so there’s nothing to worry about.” Jimmy looked at me askance, faking concern. “I’d watch out for Alex, though. He’s a tough one, if I didn’t know any better I’d think he was out to conquer the world.”
I rolled my eyes at Jimmy. “Come now, I’m harmless. It is getting late, though.” I turned to Nareth. “Do you have a cabin or hut where I can log off?”
Nareth frowned at me in confusion before replying. “Sure, there’s a vacant hut here in town, it should be safe for you there.” I followed Nareth to the hut with Jimmy.
“I’m not sure what happens to you when I log off, so stick around at least until then and let me know what happened when I come back.” I told Jimmy. With that I laid down on a cot and closed my eyes.
Chapter 10: Attributes
After logging out, I decided to check out the forums for the game to see if anyone else had encountered or acquired Server Resources. Surprisingly, there didn’t seem to be any info on them, which made me wonder why Jimmy knew so much. I was pretty sure he was an AI, and –
Jimmy: Whoa, what the hell is this?
Alex: What the FUCK!? How are you even here?
Panicked, I disconnected from the internet and got out of my seat.
Alex: Oh man, I hope I don’t have to scrap my setup and get another because it’s infected.
Jimmy: I’m pretty sure your chair is fine.
Alex: What in the shit? Are you still in my head somehow?
Jimmy: Well, it’s either that or you’ve legitimately gone bonkers, so, take your pick I guess?
Ignoring Jimmy, or my descent into schizophrenia, I went into the kitchen to make some food. Even after eating, the voice didn’t speak up, so I was starting to think that I was in the clear.
Jimmy: Nope. I’m still here.
Alex: It’s late, I’m going to deal with this tomorrow. If you are somehow real, please keep quiet and let me sleep.
Only silence answered me, so I went to my bedroom and promptly fell asleep. The next morning, I tried to get in touch with Dr. Carlisle, the surgeon who’d implanted my Conduit, to see if anything like this had happened before. I was answered by his secretary who informed me that he was on vacation, and she asked if I wanted to leave a message. I felt like my story sounded a little crazy, so I told her I’d try again after he got back from his trip. I wasn’t sure where else the AI could be hiding except in the Conduit, and perhaps its interaction with my spinal cord somehow let it transmit messages.
Jimmy: Good rationalization. Let’s go with that and stop worrying about it for now. Sound like a plan?
Alex: Sure. Whatever is happening, I’ll eventually get to the bottom of it, but for now I’ll accept it as the way things are.
Jimmy: Exactly, well thought.
After deciding to deal with the problem later, I had a quick breakfast of cereal with milk, took care of my bathroom needs, and logged back into the game. It was early in the game world, and I could hear birds chirping outside the hut, as well as the morning activity of the small wood elven village. I remembered that I had reached level 10, and being distracted by Jimmy had caused me to ignore several messages which were now pulsing on my interface. I selected one of them to see what I’d missed.
You have unlocked Attributes! These attributes control the size and regeneration rates of your health, mana, endurance, and psi pools. They also control the maximum proficiency of your skills. The further you are from your maximum proficiency, the faster your skills will increase.
I’d been wondering if attributes would be a part of the game or not. Perhaps the designers waited until a player reached level 10 so that more casual players who wanted to have a simple existence within the simulation could do so without getting bogged down with numbers. I had to seek out many fights, join groups, clear a dungeon and an instance, and face virtual death multiple times to reach this point. I suspected that only players truly interested in treating the world as a role-playing game would reach level 10. Regardless of the reasoning, I decided to check my attributes to see what I could learn.
LVL 10
Base
Mod
Total
Str
10
2
12
Con
10
0
10
Agi
10
0
10
Int
10
0
10
Wil
10
5
15
Cha
10
2
12
HPMAX
100
HPR/min
1.2
MPMAX
100
MPR/sec
1.5
EPMAX
120
EPR/sec
1
PPtotal
150
PPR/sec
1.2
PPlocked
0
PPMAX
150
After checking over my attributes and resource pools, I discovered that all the attributes played a role. Health points (HP) were governed by Constitution (Con), and their regeneration was controlled by Strength (Str). Mana points were controlled by Intelligence (Int) and Willpower (Wil). Endurance points were determined by Str and Agility (Agi), and Psi Points were determined by Wil and Charisma (Cha). It appeared that my base attributes started at 10, and were modified by something. After looking through my achievements and equipment, I found the discrepancies.
Packrat Achievement. For cleaning out the class selection room, you gain +5 additional carrying capacity to your backpack. Gives +2 Str.
Monstrous Will Achievement. Resisting Crystalline influences through willpower alone is no easy feat. You are now immune to psionic attacks. Gives +5 Wil.
Pendant of Leadership: +1 Architecture, can hire CLVL (10) NPCs in addition to those allowed by Leadership skill level. Gives +2 Cha.
The system message also said that my maximum skill proficiency would increase along with my attributes. I checked them as well.
Skills
Proficiencies
Current
Max
Swordcasting(Int/Str)
4.1
7
Architecture (Int, Cha)
2.8
7
Leadership (Cha, Wil)
3.8
9
Swordsmanship (Str, Agi)
3.5
8
Shield Use (Agi, Con)
2.1
7
Heavy Armor (Con, Str)
2.6
7
Psionic Sight (Wil, Int)
1.0
9
Psionic Lash (Wil, Agi)
1.0
9
3 free
After checking my skills, I saw that they were capped at their primary attribute divided by two, plus their secondary attribute divided by five, rounded to the nearest whole number. Furthermore, the interface showed that a new ability would be unlocked when a skill reached level 5. I still had more practice ahead, but I was excited to soon be wielding new abilities! After checking my skills, I noticed there was another insistent icon flashing on my interface.
You have become familiar enough with Magic to learn a new Word! Please choose one of the following.
Fire, Earth, Water, Air.
Excellent! I was wondering when I’d get access to the other elements. I was tempted to choose fire, but I was planning to return to the Village on the Lake and meet up with Gina, who already had access to the fire element. After my close call with the
spiders, I felt that increasing my defensive capability was important. I chose Earth hoping that it would meld well with my force shields, while potentially adding a punch to my force bolt as well. The new Word had a verbal component of “Sheladun” and a gesturing component of scraping a circle into the ground and striking the center of it. To cast it with a sword I needed to kneel, which I realized was another hidden downside to my class. Regardless, I was xcited to try it out, so I chanted “Sheladun Newtunus Protektas” made the requisite gestures, and nothing happened. A message appeared on my interface.
You lack the skill “Combine Elements” and cannot cast your spell.
I had three free skills available, so I used one of them to pick up “Combine Elements”. I tried casting earth force shield again, and it worked! The normal force shield is shimmering and transparent, like a soap bubble, but my new shield had lines of earthen browns and greens running through it like cracks on an eggshell. The spell cost 45 mana, nearly half of my reserves. However, dismissing the undamaged shield refunded my mana. Now that my resource pools had numerical values, I tried an experiment and cast rapid earth force shield. The shield was slightly dimmer and cost only 30 mana. I guessed that each syllable cost 5 mana, and checked my spellbook to confirm.
Words
Mana cost
Mastery
Bolt
15
41%
Shield
15
48%
Force
15
88%
Rapid
0
24%
Earth
15
2%
I wasn’t sure what “Mastery” was, but it looked to increase depending on how much I’d used each word. After looking more closely at the percentages, another message appeared.
Mastery: When a word reaches 100% mastery, the mana cost for that word will decrease and new words will be unlocked.
I was already very close to mastery of the word “Force” since it was a part of every spell I cast. As interested as I was to try out the “Earth” word in combat, it would probably be best to reach mastery in Force first.
Jimmy: Are you done screwing around yet? I’m bored.
Alex: I keep forgetting you’re in there when you’re so quiet. Come on out.
I summoned the crystalline avatar and could immediately sense Jimmy moving into it.
Jimmy rotated his neck, cracking it. “Ah, that’s better. I don’t like being cooped up. I want to punch something.”
I looked at him quizzically, “I thought monks were fairly peaceful, but all you seem to want to do is swear, fight, and complain.”
Jimmy threw a quick jab at my midsection, and I flinched, but his fist stopped short. “Fuck that’s annoying, I can’t even hit you.” Even though Jimmy was inhabiting the avatar, it seemed that it was essentially an extension of my will, and as such couldn’t harm me unless I wanted it to. I wondered how much control I could exert, and forced Jimmy to dance a little jig. It worked, though my PP started to drain again.
While I was laughing, Jimmy looked horrified. “Dude, cut it out. I’ll play nice I swear.”
I let him control the avatar again. “You would have done worse to me. You’re a guest in my head, so when you’re outside of it don’t throw punches at me.”
Jimmy still looked a little scared. Good. “I swear I won’t, just don’t do that again, I’m begging you.”
I rolled my eyes at him, “It’s fine, I won’t. It’s a little cruel to control someone else’s movements, I just wanted to see if I could do it.”
Now that I had a grasp on my abilities, skills, and spells, it was time to seize the day! Jimmy and I left the cabin and were hit with the smell of cookfires and roasting meat. I didn’t see Alicia or Nareth nearby, so I approached a nearby fire. The NPCs were cooking venison, and I asked if I could share.
“Sure! Have your fill.” The NPC responded happily. I took some of the venison and broke my fast.
Jimmy watched me curiously. “Hey, could I try some of that?” Shrugging, I nodded my assent and handed him a piece of cooked venison. He brought it to his mouth, smelled it, and started to eat. “Oh man, I’ve never experienced anything like this before!” he exclaimed. The venison was tasty, but I wouldn’t call it amazing, so I didn’t understand his reaction.
“It’s just venison, what’s so exciting about it?” I asked.
Between bites, he replied. “I’ve actually never eaten before. I was used to being shuffled about, but I’ve never been in a flesh and blood body with a sense of taste and smell.”
I laughed. “You’re not exactly flesh and blood, but I get the idea.” As we ate, something sharp poked me in the back and my flesh crawled. Ready to respond to an attack, I spun around and halfway drew my sword before seeing Alicia holding a stick and wearing a shit-eating grin.
“You’re so jumpy, you really need to learn to relax!” she said with a look of concern that was almost certainly a fabrication. “Anyways, after you’re done stuffing your face, suit up.” Rubbing her hands greedily, she continued. “Nareth’s scouts found a cave nearby, and they’re almost certain that it’s the source of the spiders.” Before I could reply an alert popped up in my field of vision.
New Quest Alert! Enter the nearby cave and eliminate the spiders within.
Given how generous quests were with experience, I was eager to investigate. I finished my breakfast and gave Jimmy a light rap on the back of the head to snap him out of his reverie, eliciting a “What the fuck, dude?” Surprisingly, he didn’t choke on his meal.
I turned back to Alicia. “I’m as eager as you are to check this out. Have you seen Nareth?” I felt another sharp object jab me in the back. Wincing, I looked behind me and saw Nareth holding the same stick Alicia had discarded.
“You should be nicer to Jimmy.” He admonished.
My eyes widened with indignation. “I am nice, I gave the little pest a body, didn’t I?”
Jimmy flexed his muscles. “Yeah, he’s not so bad. A bit annoying but it’s to be expected from someone as weak as him.”
Remembering that I’d just rapped him on the head, and earlier forced him to dance a little jig, I decided to let this one pass. Ignoring Jimmy, I addressed Nareth. “So, there’s apparently a cave full of spiders nearby. Ready for a little revenge?”
“Absolutely.” Nareth led us to the scouts who’d found the cave, and they told us that it was an instance designed for 6 players of level 10 or higher. I knew that Nareth and I were level 10 already, but I wasn’t sure about Alicia.
Rolling her eyes, Alicia again pre-empted my question. “Of course I’m level 10, while you were getting your ass kicked I was out murdering innocent forest creatures.” She paused, grinning. “And other less innocent eight-legged monsters that are too much for others to handle.”
Working out the plan in my head, I spoke up. “Ok, so that’s three of us, we need-“
“HEY!” Jimmy got our attention with a yell. “I’m a person too, we’ve got four.”
I looked at him skeptically. “Well, you’re essentially a part of me, so I’m not sure if-“
“I. Am. My. Own. Person.” He paused for emphasis. “Period.”
Not wanting to deal with Jimmy’s whining, I acquiesced. “Okay, okay, we’ve got four. I’d love to have another caster, preferably a healer, as well as someone else wearing armor to help take hits if we run into a boss like we did in the last dungeon.” I knew we’d need to rely on NPCs to fill the last two slots, so I asked Nareth who was available.
“We do have an NPC healer in the village. We don’t have any wood elves wearing heavy armor, but our warriors in their boiled leather can take a beating, so we can bring one of them along as well. I’ll go get them and meet you at the cave.” With that, Nareth strode into the village to find the NPCs while Alicia, Jimmy, and I followed the scouts into the forest to see the dungeon for ourselves.
Chapter 11: Spider cave
; After reaching the cave, I examined the entrance and confirmed the scouts’ report.
6-player dungeon. Recommended level 10+
Just in case we needed to exit quickly and rest, we built a small campsite near the entrance, finishing just as Nareth arrived with two wood elf NPCs. I looked at them, and above their heads appeared “Level 10 wood elf healer” and “Level 10 wood elf warrior”. The nomenclature was consistent with other NPCs I’d encountered, but I wanted to give them nicknames. I looked at the healer, then the warrior. The healer was a woman with deep green eyes and long, dark hair, while the male stood in contrast to her, bearing various battle scars and a worn appearance. “I’m going to call you Emera, and you can be Grith.” As I said their names, a searing pain flashed through my head, and I fell to my knees, crying out. I felt Alicia’s hand on my shoulder.
“Are you okay?” I opened my eyes and nodded, standing up. Alicia wore her telltale smirk as she patted me on the back. “Good, because you black out every day and I’m starting to feel like your mother. Do you want me to cook you some soup? I’ll put extra bear ass in it for you.” Chuckling at Alicia’s antics, I noticed a message on my interface, as well as the fact that two-thirds of my psionic power bar was greyed out.
You have received a free Skill: Imbue sentience! You can spend 50 PP to permanently convert an NPC to an AI. PP spent in this way will recover at 50 PP per level, and until you recover, your maximum PP will be limited by the power spent using this Skill.
Imbue sentience? In my time browsing the forums I hadn’t seen any similar accounts of this happening. I looked at the two wood elves, newly christened Emera and Grith. They were behaving oddly, looking around with a mixed look of fear and wonder while absently rubbing their skin.
I snapped my fingers. “Hey, are you two okay?”
Emera turned her emerald eyes to me. “Everything, it feels…” She paused, trying to find the words. “I can feel everything!” With that, she no longer seemed scared, as she happily twirled with her arms in the air. I looked at Nareth, who was watching the pair, and noticed that a single tear had left a wet trail down his cheek.
The Conduit Page 8