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Chapter 13: The Selection
Game and Entertainment Media news reporter Kimmie Ren sat across from one of the Undertones game developers in a live interview. She was GEM’s go to reporter when it came to live interviews. She liked to think that she was good at her job and that the company recognized it. Lately however, it almost felt as if Undertones’ people were simply using her and GEM to tell the public what they wanted. She barely had to ask a question before they went into detail about everything they felt was important.
“So tell us the reason for the change. Why did the company decide not to reset the game after the end of the beta,” Kimmie asked with a bright smile.
“Well, first of all, we never said that we would reset the game after the so called beta, and we never intended to do so. The game had always been complete. It’s also why we didn’t limit the number of players and why we will only be making a small update to the game.”
“Then why call it a beta in the first place?”
“We wanted to test how the game would handle a high number of players and figured calling it a beta would deter some people from playing since they still had to buy the game and the system. It actually had the opposite effect and everyone wanted to play the first virtual reality game. Still, there were no problems running the game, so it worked out. ”
“Aren’t you afraid that you might make a lot of your players angry?”
“Yes, I’d imagine we’ll have annoyed many of the players, but will they really have time to be angry at us when they’re enjoying the amazing game they’re playing? With the selection happening, we suspect many of them will be preoccupied and not at all disappointed.”
“Oh really? What selection are you talking about?”
“In the lore of the game, there are gods and goddesses who pulled people into their world and created the chosen children to be born into it. These deities have some effect on the world in the game and are definitely real characters. I would compare them to lesser Roman gods in relation to power and influence. Anyway, right now, those gods have begun to choose champions and are snatching up every last worthy person who doesn’t already have a class.”
“So these deities are gathering an army?”
“More like choosing champions and giving them superior classes. Many of the gods will choose multiple champions so the game is going to get a bit more exciting.”
“Well, I’d like to thank you for answering my questions. That’s all the time we have for today. Thank you everyone for tuning in and we hope to see you again next time.”
Frost
Reid passed through the dark, twisting tunnel that accompanied logging into Dead World Online, floating through space. He opened his eyes as Frost and sat up, looking around the room he was in. He appeared to be in a cave where moonlight poured in through a large hole in the ceiling, illuminating the dark crystal walls. There was a single exit to the room he was in which was half natural, and half carved. It looked like someone was beginning to carve four pillars to create a square room but stopped in the middle of the task. Frost would have said that it was a half finished temple.
Frost stood up and dusted himself off, checking that all of his equipment was accounted for. He didn’t seem to have lost anything, as far as he could tell. He drew his sword and stuck to the shadows as he moved towards the doorway. He heard a mirthful chuckle, from the hall past the doorway, but couldn’t see anything in the shadows.
A woman’s voice echoed softly through the cavern. “Are the shadows your ally, or are they mine, young one?”
Frost looked at the shadows on the wall next to him and they seemed to writhe, producing small hands that began reaching for him. He jumped away from the wall and caught sight of the person in the hallway. Purple eyes peered out from a hood that appeared to be made of darkness. Tendrils of shadow rose from the cloak and dissipated as she walked forward into the room.
“What are you, or who are you?” Frost held his sword between them, but the woman simply sat down in a chair that appeared from a pool of darkness on the floor.
“You can put that away, now, you don’t need it here.” She pulled back her hood, revealing her face. She smiled and rested her chin in her hand, using the armrest to support her arms. “My name is Emiri, and I’m the one who saved you from the orcs.”
“Oh, thanks for that.” He sheathed his sword, feeling a bit foolish. Of course she meant no harm, since he had been rescued and brought to a safe place. “Why?”
“I’ve taken an interest in you.” She sat up straight and folded her arms. “I’ve been watching you for quite a while now. Just as I was getting bored of you, you did something quite unexpected. I’ve never heard of anyone trying to steal all the treasures of an orcish fort. I was impressed with your skill and technique for such an amateur, as well as your recklessness.”
“I was just going to let you die, but then I saw your fight with that big orc. That was quite entertaining.”
“You saved me because I was good entertainment?” Frost was a bit annoyed by her answer.
She let out a low-pitched chuckle. “Of course not. I want you to serve me. Your life is now mine.”
“I don’t know anything about you. I’ll decide what to do after I hear what you’re after. What kind of person are you? I want to understand your motivations.”
Chains of shadow erupted from the ground, attaching to Frost and pulling him to the ground, restraining him. The woman stood up and a black blade appeared in her hand. She held it up to his throat and stared him in the eyes. “I could just kill you now,” she said in a low, dangerous voice.
“I won’t bow down to evil, even if my life is at stake.” It wasn’t like he couldn’t afford to die. It would just be annoying. Besides, he hated bullies and didn’t want to work for some entitled bitch. Frost glared back, annoyed that she was just wasting his time if she was going to kill him anyway.
The sword disappeared along with the chains and her smile returned as he stood up. “Good. Your resolve to hold strong in the face of death is what I need. Relax, I have no desire to watch the world burn. I am one of the deities of balance in this world, and one of the ones who created the chosen children of this world. That’s you. The other gods and goddesses of this world have many servants and champions, but I have none. Firstborn, I will make you my champion and give you a portion of my power. However, I am weakened and can only do so much to aid you.”
Frost realized then that she meant he was about to get a unique class. There were normal classes that pretty much anyone could get if they met the requirements or passed a simple test. Secret classes were rare and more difficult to acquire. They had to be discovered, the requirements had to be met, and a difficult test had to be overcome.
Unique classes were a bit more special and there were a few different types. It was extremely unlikely that more than one person would have the same unique class, but it was possible. In general, there were two different types of unique classes. One type was simply a powerful class that had unique abilities. The second type, which was also a type of secret class, was a weak class with few abilities. However, the class could grow in strength and develop strong unique abilities. A unique class that grew in strength had the highest potential of any class in the game.
“Out of all the people you could have chosen for this, why did you choose me? I still don’t understand anything.”
“As I said, I have been watching you. I have also been watching many others. I have compared you to them and have found the others to be lacking in some way or another, not that you yourself are in any way perfect. However, you are also the firstborn of the chosen, and that has its…uses.” Effectively, she was saying that he was the best out of everyone that she was watching, and the most worthy of them.
“Will you accept my offering of power and be my champion?”
“Yes.” Frost would have been a fool to accept her offer, even if he didn’t understand her motives. However, he was afraid that the woman was trying to give him a spell casting class, which would be bad. He had only seventy five percent mana and none of his stat distributions were tailored to fit a mage class. If she did give him a mage class he would have to find a way to replace it.
Emiri pulled out a rolled up paper and handed it to him as he sat on the ground. “Sign this contract with your blood and serve me as my champion.”
Frost unrolled the paper and used the needle attached to the contract by a string to prick his thumb, which he pressed against the paper. The contract rolled itself up and shot into Emiri’s hand. She motioned for him to step forward and then shadows coalesced around her hand. She put that hand on his forehead and the shadows on her arm began to flow into him. At the end of the process, he felt powerful, as if he was full of energy.
*Ding*
You have obtained a class: Shadow EaterA Shadow Eater has the ability to gain strengths and abilities tied to the shadows. Devouring the shadows of strong opponents can unlock abilities and increase the strengths of the shadow eater.
Effects: All class skills and abilities are based on Shadow Energy and Shadow Tether. Mana is lost and stats related to mana now apply to shadow energy though with a lesser effect. Skills that used mana now use shadow energy.
New Stat gained: Shadow Energy (SE)
+100 Shadow Energy
+10 Strength
+10 Vitality
+10 Stamina
+10 Intelligence
+10 Agility
+10 Luck
Getting fifty stat points was common for a class, with the lowest possible total gains for a class being 30 stat points. It wasn’t anything special. If he thought about it though, he also got the 100 SE points so he technically gained 160 stat points, which was a ridiculous amount. He didn’t have time to think about it though, as the goddess kept talking and more windows appeared one by one.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
“You are my champion now. You will come when I call, do as I ask, and serve me to the best of your ability. Should you decide to relinquish the class, I will consider you an enemy and will send forces to strike you down.”
Ability gained: Shadow Tether
Shadow Tether can be activated when the user touches a target, target’s shadow, or target’s equipment. Lasts until target or user dies. Inactivates 100 meters away from target. Multiple enemies can be tethered at the same time.
No cost.
“You are my sword.”
Ability gained: Shadow Cutting
Attacking target’s shadow will apply damage to target. Damage ignores armor. Target must be tethered.
Duration: 10 seconds
Cost: 10 Shadow Energy
“You are my hands”
Ability gained: Dark Infusion
Charge your weapon with dark energy. Applies Shadow tether to enemies that are hit.
+10% Damage (Dark)
Duration: 1 minute
Cost: 20 Shadow Energy
“Together, we will restore this world.”
Ability gained: Shadow Eating
When you defeat an enemy that is a higher level than you, you may devour it’s shadow to attempt to gain power. Target must have been tethered.
Cost: 5 Shadow Energy
Frost could definitely see some potential in this class, but he would need more of its abilities to make it truly great. At least it wasn’t a mana based spell caster. On the other hand, he would be weak to long range attacks. Hopefully, he would be able to develop abilities that would counter long-range attacks.
“Take a few minutes to prepare yourself, then come talk to me when you’re ready.”
‘Status.’ Frost nodded and went to look at his stats He had gained two levels from defeating the orc boss and was now level sixteen. He was well on his way to level seventeen as well. As a test to see if anything would happen, he raised his agility to one hundred. He also put some points into intelligence and wisdom since they were now useful stats. Already, the effects of Hero’s Burden could be seen. While others were approaching higher levels, Frost was becoming an extremely powerful character at a low level.
Frost Winterstorm Lvl 16Health 550Shadow Energy 145/145Stamina 510/510Strength80Vitality65Dexterity45Stamina62Wisdom25Intelligence45Agility100Luck40Health Regeneration0.75/sEnergy Regeneration0.25/s
*Ding*
Ability gained: Burst of speed
Speed +50%
Duration: 1 minute
Cost: 50 Stamina
Apparently, a skill would be generated when a character reached a hundred stat points in any attribute. Frost finished looking at his new abilities and closed all of the open windows with a swipe of his hand. He walked over to Emiri and spoke, “What happens next?”
“Isn’t that obvious? I’m going to test you.” Seeing the look of surprise on his face, a wicked grin split hers. “You didn’t think I would just give you power and not see how you handled it, did you? Oh no. I’m going to test you, and if you fail, I will tear away the power I have given you and put you back right where I found you. I have no time for a champion that cannot overcome increasingly difficult tasks. You have barely met the requirements to become a Shadow Eater. Now you must earn the right to remain one.”
He should have known that it wouldn’t be that simple. Here have a unique class just because I picked you? Whatever tasks she had for him to prove himself would be a trial much harder than he had ever undertaken. Frost frowned as he tried to think of what challenge could possibly be before him.
“The test is quite simple actually. All you have to do is make it through this dungeon and defeat the boss at the end.” She pointed to the hallway she had come through.
“That’s it?” There was no way that there wasn’t a catch.
“That’s it.” She continued to smile knowingly, hinting that it was not, in fact, as simple as she had said.
‘There’s definitely more to it than that.’ He sat down on the ground and began thinking about what he needed to do to complete her test.
“Any questions?”
“Nope. I’ll figure it out.”
“Hmm. Good, then I shall take my leave.” The shadows swallowed her and her chair, seemingly pulling them into the ground. When the shadows disappeared, there was nothing left but Frost and the room. He knew that it was more than just a simple dungeon. First the monsters would likely be stronger than a normal dungeon. Second, completing the dungeon would somehow revolve around him using his new powers against the creatures within. Third and finally, because this was a special dungeon, it was unpredictable and he couldn’t think of it as though it were just another dungeon.
Well, whatever he faced, he wouldn’t really know what to do until he started. Frost stood up and drew his sword, taking a step towards the hallway. Realization dawned on him and he suddenly sat back down again, emptying his bag. He organized the loot from the orc village and began examining each item. In total, there were twelve rings, two pendants, two hats, three suits of light armor, three daggers, two axes, a hammer, four swords, a helmet, a pair of heavy gauntlets, some rare ores, three wands, and the bags of Dunari. The amount totaled to 433 gold, 2 silver and 7 copper pieces as well as a bag of gems he couldn’t appraise.
In one day, Frost had most likely become the richest player in the game, and if not, he was definitely close. He would have preferred to have been able to identify whether or not any of the items were magical, but he had no way to do so. He equipped the helmet, the studded leather armor and put everything else in his bag but a dagger that had a faint blue outline, the rings, and the pendants.
He switched the dagger with his own and chose to wear the pendant he thought looked better. It was a simple silver pendant with a sapphire embedded in the center. One of the rings was a simple silver band with a red outline and one had a silver shield design. He chose to wear those and put everything else in the bag. He could wear eight rings but it was too uncomfortable and interfered with grip as well as finger dexterity.
Magic items could affect the user but the user wouldn’t actually know what the effect was unless they saw the item’s effects or read an effect description. However, as long as they weren’t the rare negative effects equipment, there was no problem with wearing them. The helmet didn’t even obscure his view, though it was a full head helmet and should have decreased his vision.
Frost moved on from the small room, into the darkness of the hallway. He held a hand on the right wall and walked straight until he came into an area with a high ceiling. It was a large dome with rough walls and it was lit by two rings of torches in sconces at different heights around the room. In the center of the room was a tall golem that looked to be made of interconnected boulders in a relatively humanoid form.
‘A boss fight right out of the gate? Alright. Let’s get started.’