(Author: Hello. Odin and Marcus have chosen their race and class, but are mysteriously swallowed by an unknown light. Where are they taken to? Are they still part of the game? By the way, making tables sure is tedious. The length of chapters for this story is how long I would have written for a published work and an experimentation on writing longer chapters. Depending on how it goes, The Necromancer King will also be similar in length minus the constant tables. Enjoy the chapter.)
-----------Chapter 2: New World--------------
"AUUUUGH!" Odin and Marcus shouted as they were swallowed by the light.
On a planet in a parallel world to the game, several summoning circles were in place all over the globe.
The kingdoms and empires of the world had begun what was soon called The Great Awakening.
A world war was breaking on the planet. The fifteen planets had entered a linear alignment, the first in over three million years. The world needed heroes, beings blessed by powers of legend, to aid them in the war. A thousand could be called and a thousand lives would be taken, not from their dimension, but from parallel worlds of other dimensions similar to theirs whether in reality or otherwise. Odin and Marcus were taken from the latter. By venturing into the game, they were chosen. All one thousand heroes were the lucky people who received the beta access for Primordial Conquest.
"It's been three days and nothing has happened since it began glowing," King Reyard muttered. "We were lucky enough to be able to summon six of the Thousand. What is taking so long?"
"Perhaps the six of the Thousand have not been decided by the Primordial Gods yet," the royal advisor, Thomas, answered. "Wait! Something is happening to the Hero Circle! They must be arriving! Knights of the realm, to your stations. Lords and ladies, please take a step back as the heroes will arrive. They might not be happy being taken from their home world."
A flash of white light emanated from an azure circle of runes on the ground and six people appeared as the light dimmed and vanished. Odin, Elgar, and four others had appeared. They had appeared in a white shirt, pants, and shoes with the body and appearance of the race they chose.
Congratulations!
You have successfully completed Quest: The Great Awakening.
All heroes of the Thousand have been summoned. All heroes have leveled to Level 1.
Please note that the class you have selected will be accessible upon reaching Level 10.
All skills learned prior to the Class change will be accessible regardless of class.
"Whoa what is that?" a male human hero asked.
"Where are we?" a female elf asked, gazing at her surroundings.
"Hey Odin you okay?" Marcus asked. "Whoa! Everything seems taller! I feel heavier too."
"These horns feel weird," Odin murmured as he blinked rapidly while his vision returned. "It said a thousand were chosen. I know a thousand players would be picked but this feels too real."
"Welcome heroes of the Thousand," a middle-aged man in a lavish crimson robe and gold crown beamed. "I am King Reyard and ruler of the Baos Kingdom. I apologize for summoning you all from your world, but the empires and kingdoms of my planet are preparing for a threat from the Chaos Planes, monstrosities that live beneath the surface of the world even deeper than the dark elven and dwarven kingdoms. We need your help. My kingdom is located next to a dwarven kingdom beneath the mountains to the west. Once that kingdom falls, the Chaos will come for my people next. We need the might of the heroes to help strengthen my kingdom's defenses and aid the dwarven kingdom when we hear their call."
"Indeed. You will defend both kingdoms. To not aid the dwarven kingdom is to further our chances of destruction by the Chaos. I am His Majesty's royal advisor. My name is Thomas. Please, take a moment to take in what you have heard," a middle-aged man in a dark cerulean robe bowed.
"Best to look up the status screen," Marcus whispered as he walked to Odin. "We seem to be in our selected races. We are also wearing black spatial rings. According to the forums from the other people who accessed the beta from other conventions, each spatial ring contains runes visible only to the owner and are unlocked on Level 10 when we get our class change. You saw the notice right? It feels just like the game but it isn't. The other four seem to know this. They must have waited for weeks like I did."
"This is such a drag," Odin sighed and shook his head as he visualized a status screen in front of him. "No other choice but to do what it takes to survive. Why do I always get dragged into Marcus's troubles all the time?"
Odin Argent Level 1
HP: 70/70
MP: 50/50
EXP: 10
Next Level: 100exp
Class: None
Gold: 10Statistics STR: 17
VIT: 24
DEX: 10
INT: 14
WIS: 19
LUCK: 10TitlesHero of the Thousand
Knight-in-Training
Enemy of Dragons
Lightning Demon
Half-Blood ScionEquipmentRune Spatial Ring (Equipped)
Hex Lance (Stored)
[tr]
Active AbilitiesHex Bolt (telekinetic energy bolt)
Dark Heal (only able to self-heal)
Comet (Insufficient Mana and details unknown)
Shadow Flare (non-elemental attack and drains half of current HP on use)
Guardian's Aura (increases defense of all party members by 20%)
Feral Lion Roar (sound wave attack that inflicts damage and instills fear)
Mad God's Slash (lance attack that ignores armor defense)Passive Abilities Fire manipulation (purple flames of a demonized dragon)
Lightning Manipulation
Immunity to fire
Immunity to lightning
Immunity to poison
Resistant to paralysis
Resistant to pain
Resistant to darkness
Resistant to curses
Resistant to illusions
Absolute weakness to light
Health regeneration 10% per second
Mana regeneration 5% per second
"As expected of a defense oriented class," Odin mused. "My physical and magic defense as well as my health are all higher than my other stats. Wisdom is magic defense and intelligence is magic attack. Too bad about Comet magic and that Shadow Flare seems like a trump card. I wonder what my stored lance does?"
Hex LanceLance given by a Primordial Beast
Capable of becoming a Legendary rank lance
Growth Weapon
Capable of transforming when infused with special crystals
Able to use hex bolts
Restriction: Odin Argent
"Wicked. No wonder so many people want to gain access to the beta," Odin grinned as he brought out Hex Lance from his ring. It was a black lance with a dark crimson energy inside, creating a strange pattern on the lance. Small sparks of lightning crackled as he held the lance. Even when he put the lance back in the ring, he was able to create small, lightning spark. Odin supposed it was because of his lineage of the demon blood in his body.
"Dude, this is definitely like the game," Marcus sighed with awe as he held a war hammer in his hands. It was shaped like a hammer, but had a white wooden handle and a brilliant square-shaped diamond mounted at the top. "Your weapon must have been given by a Primordial God right? That means we must be in a world equivalent to the Mortal Realm of the game. I bet defeating the Chaos is our God level mission to become level 100 and ascend to the Immortal Realms. I got this Divine Judgment from a Primordial Sovereign. It even has regenerative powers. I'll bet all weapons of the thousand of us here must have been given by a Primordial of some kind."
"We're really stuck in a parallel world outside our own dimension," Odin sighed. "I don't think we can go back. I can use some kind of hex bolt and other magic, but my intelligence is too low. Out of my seven abilities, only three are warrior arts."
"Whoa! Only seven abilities? I got like twenty! We must be OP because we are heroes and only we can use them. You must have a lot more passive abilities though to make up for it seeing as you chose a knight class and our toons are modeled for our selected classes beforehand," Marcus sighed. "I must have a lot of abilities as I am an assassin. I got a war hammer, which I suppose if I am discovered and no longer need to stealth myself, and a magical reloading crossbow which I haven't looked at yet but it must be OP too. I got two growth weapons! We're walking cheats man. I never saw any stats or abilities as great as ours in the forum. I guess it isn't exactly like the game."
"I am Elizabeth Strider," the female elf greeted. "I am an elf aspiring to be a cleric and received a scepter from a Primordial Healer."
"Johnny Torque's the name," the only pure human among them said. "I chose a berserker and wield a battle axe given by the Primordial of Rage. I'm guessing these Primordial Gods sent us here and gave us these weapons as compensations for kidnapping us from our world for this event."
"My name is Marcus Haunt, a half dwarf and half elf," Marcus grinned. "I chose the assassin class. I got a crossbow and a war hammer from the Primordial Sovereign. Don't know why I got the war hammer, but the crossbow is nice. This is way different from the forums."
"I am Odin Argent. I am a demi-human with demonized dragon blood," Odin nodded. "I chose the knight class for defense. I got a lance from the Primordial Beast."
"You should have gotten a shield too," Johnny frowned. "Marcus also chose a hybrid class and got two Primordial weapons. Strange."
"Maybe cuz he got it from the Primordial Sovereign? I got two items from a Primordial Sovereign too. My name is Mariko Tsuki. "I am of the beast race, particularly a polar bear. I chose to be an ranger. I got a bow with magical arrows and a short sword from the Primordial Sovereign. I can tame beasts in the future. Probably once we get our classes at level 10."
"We're only level 1. We're only OP for about five levels above us and below. I am Toshio Tsuki. I am Mariko's older brother. I chose a demi-human with orc blood so my skin is grey tinted. I might have lower intelligence but I have a lot of health and defense because of the orc blood," the last hero said. "I chose the mage class and got a staff from the Primordial of Carnage. I am guessing we, and the other Thousand, are avatars of sorts meant to represent them in the fight against the Chaos. I'm down to fight for honor and to protect my sister, but I believe our death will result in a permanent Game Over unless there's some kind of resurrection magic or item somewhere."
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
"I do not know what these forums or levels are but I do know how to gauge someone's strength," Thomas interrupted. "If you say you are level 1 heroes then I can surely tell you based on your strength that the weakest of the Chaos are around level 50. However, the weakest of the Chaos always travel in hordes of dozens, hundreds, and thousands. You may train with us and strengthen our defenses or head to the dwarven kingdom to aid them while risking your life to level faster. The choice is yours. We are not like other kingdoms and know how to make allies better than enemies. Please, take your time amongst yourselves to choose. When the Chaos attack in any part of the world, you will be teleported to the Hero Circle below you. Once the attack is over, you will be returned to the nearest city of your original location. I know it seems suspicious, but there are one thousand heroes. Someone will choose to fight and defeat the Chaos."
"I am staying," Elizabeth said. "I'm a cleric so I can help these people and heal the sick like a true noble. Back in England, I was the daughter of a noble, but the only noble thing I did was donate to charity. I could also learn some self-defense while I am here."
"Toshio and I are staying here too. We could learn a lot from the people here in the palace," Mariko agreed while Toshio sighed as it was his duty to protect his younger sibling so he had to stay.
"Well I'm going to the dwarven kingdom," Johnny grinned. "I'll level up faster there and see what I'm up against with my own eyes. I could kill some of the allies of the Chaos to level and see how they operate."
"I will join the adventurer's guild and explore the world. I'll fight the Chaos once I get more battle experience," Marcus said. "Odin? What'll you do? If you're doing something different, we gotta be on each other's friend list so we can send mail to each other. It should work."
"Weird getting mail like this," Odin observed after they added each other and sent a mail to experiment. "I'm going to travel the world and face strong opponents like in the books I read. I could learn some things while exchanging pointers as well as the strengths, weaknesses, habitats, and monsters from outside sources. I'll probably go to the library first and read some maps."
"Then it is decided. Wonderful! Three of you chose to stay. More than I hoped," the king laughed. "The other three of you are free to do as you like. As for the three heroes who chose to stay, we must begin your training at once. We don't know when the dwarven kingdom will fall, but they are a stubborn, battle-hardened race of veterans. They may struggle, but they will endure for a time."
Odin, Marcus, and Johnny received spare clothing, five gold, and some food for their journey. They left the palace and stopped in front of the palace gates after they received a royal insignia. The royal insignia meant that they were under the protection of the king and would grant them many favors while in his kingdom. Johnny added Marcus and Odin to his friend list, telling them that he would notify them if he needed help or if the dwarven kingdom fell.
"Those three who stayed behind probably take the safer route when playing games and never went into any dangerous dungeons," Johnny explained. "It is no use making friends with them. If we don't die and meet again by some chance, we'll probably be a heck of a lot stronger than them. Good luck guys. Hopefully we meet again in the Hero Circle when the Chaos attack."
"I'm heading back inside to read in the imperial library. I know we can learn any skill regardless of class until level 10 and there might be a skill book in there somewhere," Odin said. "I won't be there to back you up when you get caught in another mess."
"What are you? My butler? Geez. I am a second degree black belt. I may not be confident with the crossbow or war hammer yet, but I do have nine weapons: two fists, two elbows, two knees, two feet, and good old fashioned MMO experience," Marcus laughed as he bumped fists with Odin. "I'll learn a lot of skills easily by joining a guild. Not that the twenty I have aren't OP anyway. It is good you're going to the library. You said only three of your seven abilities are warrior arts. Reading will increase your intelligence in some MMO. Good luck man. Thanks for always having my back and sorry for dragging you into this. I may not miss my folks as they were never there, but I'll miss the housemaids and butler who were. You'll miss your parents. Sorry man."
"It's the Primordial Gods who chose us that have to be sorry. We just got an unlucky draw," Odin said. "Try not to die on your first mission. Try to join a party with a healer. You probably have weak defense and health due to your class. We'll see ach other again."
"You're the one who has to be worried. You're the dangerous one. Don't think I don't know what books you read. You always liked the books where the bad guys made major accomplishments," Marcus warned. "You'll probably find some way to experiment on the Chaos as they have power. Don't get yourself killed bro. You're the only one I can trust with my back no matter what happens. You'll never betray me and I won't betray you, but others will. Watch your back with those heroes if you ever meet the other of the Thousand. Most of them have played MMOs for sure and we both know how ruthless true MMO gamers are."
Odin unknowingly felt like a huge burden was lifted as he saw Marcus walk away. He turned and followed one of the knights to the imperial library. Odin spent many days reading books on languages and maps. Thanks to his ability to experience the world as a Virtual MMO, he was able to automatically learn the languages as soon as he finished the books as well as increase his world map.
Due to reading for so many days, you have received the following title
Dedicated Scholar
SYSTEM NOTICETitles cannot be unequipped.
Permanent stat increase.
+1 DEX
+5 INT
+2 LUCK
Level Up Every level will reward 5 assignable stat points.
Skills become stronger with every level
2 bonus stats will be rewarded based on class. Non-assignable.
Class: None
HP increases by 17
MP increases by 25
4 bonus stats will be rewarded based on racial lineage. Non-assignable.
+1 STR due to Dragon lineage
+1 WIS due to Demon lineage
+1 LUCK and DEX due to human lineage
"Not as much as I hoped but the languages and expansion of the world map is worth it. I just need more skills," Odin sighed. "Thankfully, I only increased one level. I need to find a skill book before I go. To think I gain so many stat bonuses. Maybe it is because I am a hero. Otherwise, why else would heroes be so overpowered and respected regardless of their abilities and items?"
"Done reading young man?" the librarian asked as he saw Odin leave.
"Yes. Sorry about coming here every day. Do you happen to know where I can find some skill books? They're kind of like books that describe how to use spells or perform warrior arts."
"Yes I do. As one of the Thousand and a recipient of the royal insignia, you are allowed access into the vault of the imperial library,' the elderly man smiled. "Follow the knight into the basement where you can access the vault. Please note that you are only allowed to learn one of any kind of spell or warrior art. As you are a dedicated scholar, you may learn one more. It is well within my power to grant you that as the imperial librarian. Choose wisely hero. Your actions from this day forth will affect many people, whether immediately or otherwise."
"Thank you for your kindness," Odin bowed and entered the vault after ten minutes. Most of the skill books were spells. There were a few good warrior arts but not very many. He picked one summoning spell to aid him in battle and one warrior art.
[table]
Golem Creation A legendary inanimate creature made of clay and stone.
Permanently summon 1 golem for entire current MP.
MP will not regenerate for four hours upon creation.
Golem will evolve as user levels up.
50% Magic resistance
50% Physical resistance
Stats based on the user
Maximum minions controllable: 3
Minions currently controlled: 0Received title: Golemancer Due to learning Golem Creation, you receive stat bonuses.
Golems will favor you and fairies will distrust you.
+3 VIT
+1 STR
+1 WIS
+10 Health
"No way! It's like I gained a level. I suppose learning summoning magic gives you a title. You gain and lose favor though. I should choose wisely on my remaining summoning magic," Odin observed, happy with the sudden increase. "These stats are perfect for a knight. I should get another defensive warrior art. I guess this world is like a few other MMOs where mana is used for both spells and warrior arts."
Gravity Repulse Imbues mana into the user's shield.
Repels and damages foes.
Restriction: Shield
"Nothing gained here. I guess the only way to gain bonus stats is through titles and summoning magic. My lance didn't seem to add any stats. I guess armor, weapons, and items, will give passive or active abilities when equipped if it is special. Well, it's more balanced this way," Odin said.
"Welcome back. Did you choose well?" the old librarian asked as Odin returned.
"Yes I did. Thank you. Do you know where strong knights go to compete against one another? I aim to become the greatest of knights and want to observe how they fight and catch a few pointers from the veterans," Odin asked.
"Oh, then you would have to head to Matran City in the Kingdom of Frildor. Many warriors from all over the continent participate in various tournaments and competitions there. Many famous knights also go there to test their skills," the librarian said. "Good luck young hero. The journey is long and there are many bandits. A mountain range exists between our two kingdoms so many dangers lurk there. Take the armor of the imperial guard and a shield with you. It should serve you well and deter some who would attack you."
"Thank you so much for all your help," Odin said as he changed into silver armor with azure cloth with the emblem of a griffon on his chest. He looked like a knight. All he needed now was to actually get the class. He thought he would get a quest and realized that this MMO only cared about the main story line.
Odin returned to the palace to sleep over night before he would begin his journey. He summoned a golem and a black and dark brown humanoid appeared at around four feet. It had no distinctive features save for a large dark violet colored oval clay where a face would be. Odin took a bath before changing into plain clothes and went to sleep.