Chapter 14

Mom and Dad were sparring with Valerie supervising. They were using training weapons, wood with steel cores to give them heft. I was fairly certain they didn't have that kind of proficiency with swords, so I think this was my first encounter with the game's skill system.

They battled back and forth, chopping at each other. They didn't seem to want to fully commit, so the battle was probably not teaching them much. Maybe it was grinding their skills?

Mom got a lucky hit on Dad, and it looked like those training swords were heavier than I thought. Valerie stepped in and healed Dad. How come I didn't get that kind of healing when I was training?

“Hey guys.” They had decided to go mostly with younger versions of their real life bodies and faces, which wasn't too surprising. I hadn't seen many non-humans in the city, but since they hadn't been scanned for powers, they could have created a character as anything they wanted.

“Jack! I mean Adam! This is amazing!” Dad liked the game.

“I'm glad you are enjoying yourselves,” I said smiling.

Above their heads were different names. Mom was Morgana and Dad was Gabriel. “Are you going for a mage build Morgana?”

It felt weird to call them by another name, even in the game when their names were right there over their heads.

“I haven't decided. I'm told we have until level 10 before specialization is important.”

“And you Gabriel? Do you know what you are going to do?”

“I'm going to catch up to you obviously,” he said with great pompousness.

I grin. It would be good to have more party members.

Dad says, “We already have a quest to put down some goblins.”

Oh hell no. I haven't even gotten to kill goblins yet. And maybe I could test something out... “Join up and share?”

They give Valerie a look, and she nods. Apparently she is giving them the grand tour and I'm allowed to come.

Valerie has invited you to join her party. Accept?

Yes.

All three seem to startle at something.

“Adam, care to explain?”

“It's awesome right?”

* * *

I did a lot of thinking in the short time after I finished leveling up Sarah. Data Entity Conversion. Gaming The System. AI Helper.

Everything is made of data. Everything. Most importantly, both the game and I are more data than anything else. I was changing into some kind of information creature. I was able to interface with the game in a way that should not be possible. My data, that is to say, my being, was touching the game system and manipulating it. I brought items from outside that were almost certainly not programmed in, and was able to put them in the hands of other players.

The loot system went even further. It took game mechanics and turned them on their head. It forced my reality on the game. I was absolutely sure that if I killed something outside the game, it would drop a couple bucks, or at least pocket change for small bugs. I was overwriting the rules of reality. The game and reality were the same in regards to my power.

Now I was hooking into the guts of the game system in a real way. I wasn't sure how AI Helper would hook into the guts of reality, but that was tomorrow, and I was perfectly happy to procrastinate on that subject. There was something I wanted badly. I wanted to share my powers. I was sure I could. Absolutely convinced. This was happening.

I was hooked into the game. Other players were affected by my changes to the game. Now I needed to connect directly to another player and I could change them. I don't think I could just implant them with my powers, since I don't even know what my powers are, but I could make smaller changes. The HP System was simple enough. It was practically already in the game. The Loot System affected everyone around me already. The only things left that were important was skills and stats. I was sure I could overcome that, even if it took a little time.

As I was leaving the library and running over to the training grounds, it started to crystallize. I activated Focus and Slow Perception. I had done something similar when I was holding down that damn turkey platter, and it was time to do it again.

I felt it happen in slow motion. The conviction was so thorough, I knew this was going to work. There simply wasn't any doubt. The effort of thinking so hard about something vanished. It became my truth, my reality, and if reality didn't measure up, it was reality's fault.

Party System Unlocked!

Party System Level 1 (0%)

You may join a party and temporarily imprint party members with abilities. Higher Party System levels will increase the number of party members and increase the number of shared abilities. Current Party Max: 4. Current Shared Abilities: HP System, Loot System.

Hmm...seemed like I would need to level it up before party members could learn skills or increase stats. But it is exactly what I expected. I'm not ignorant of what happened. I used my willpower to force a change on the system. It didn't give me the Party System, I clawed it out on my own. Knowing this doesn't shake my faith in the absolute reality of it happening, but it does make me question exactly what my power means when a skill or system is 'unlocked.'

* * *

“My interface turned blue and now I have a second HP bar. What did you do?”

“I have a Party System skill now.” I grin. “You should all have access to my HP skill and my Loot System.”

“Do you even know how ridiculous that is? You just handing out powers?” Valerie looks shocked.

“I don't think it would have worked if I didn't know you all in real life and here.”

“Wait, is this another of those things that will carry over into real life?” Valerie is getting all worked up.

“I think so. Everything else does.”

“So if I log out, I'll have a HP bar in real life?”

“Yes, but you probably shouldn't test it...never mind, you can heal yourself. Go nuts.”

“I'll be right back.” Valerie leaves.

“Soooooo,” I say.

“So if we get stabbed in real life, it won't hurt us?” asks Mom, I mean Morgana.

“No, it hurts a lot. But only at skin level. Any deeper and it'll damage your HP and not your arm or whatever. If you get in a car crash, or maybe even a soft plane crash, you would be sore like nothing else, but you would walk away. Unless you run out of HP. It restores itself over time, and Valerie knows how to heal it faster.”

“That's...crazy,” says Gabriel.

“Well, more of a Tuesday evening to me, but you know, welcome to my world.”

“What else will it do?” asks Mom.

“Eventually, I think anyone who is currently partied with me will be able to level up stats and skills, both here and in real life, just like I do. Probably not Data Entity Conversion...but I don't know. Maybe. I think I might be able to turn it off. I can with the Loot System and this is just another system. But if you leave the party you lose the benefits.”

“Maybe it would be best if you turned it off for now,” says Gabriel cautiously.

“Well, that might be awkward for Valerie who's probably stabbing herself with a fork right now.”

“Oh, right.”

We stand around for a few minutes in silence, and I'm a little disappointed. I wanted everyone to be psyched about this, but only Valerie seems to get it.

“Don't you two want powers?”

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“Hon, we have powers here. We've been sword fighting without ever having picked up a sword before,” says Mom.

“Well, try turning off the loot system yourself. Just think it.”

Dad looks constipated. “It says the loot system is off now.”

I check the loot system, and it's still on for me. I guess we can each toggle the systems.

“When Valerie gets back you can probably toggle both systems off and leave the Party System on. But I don't know how this skill levels yet. It would help me out a lot if we could stay grouped up with the skills on so I can level my party skill.”

They share a glance. They aren't super comfortable with this, but dammit, I didn't want to be alone.

“Of course Jack. This is the reason we decided to remember. So we could be here for, and with, you,” says Dad.

“It's Adam in the game, it's right over my head.”

“Of course it is Jack.”

* * *

Valerie gets back a few minutes later, which means she wasn't out of the game long at all.

“It works. I can still see all of your HP bars in real life. I tried stabbing myself and only my skin was damaged. It's amazing. We have to keep it a secret.”

“Great, wait, what?” A secret? I wanted to share this with people.

“If people find out you can give out powers, you will be a target. There are a few people I trust with my, and your, life, and we can share it with them, but if the information leaks we would need to keep you locked in the LucidTech building so you don't get kidnapped.”

“It doesn't do a quarter of what I think it will. I think skills and stats will come soon if I level it up. Should I just turn it off and never mention it again?”

“Absolutely not. This is important. You don't know yet Jack, but the fights we get into in real life aren't pretty. We can keep everyone alive, mostly, but it's often a close thing. The people I mentioned I trusted? My guild. If we had just the HP System, we would be more than twice as safe out there. Stacking this power on top of another...it's beyond just powerful, and it would be terrifying to go against. Even mages are limited in the kinds of shields they can use without draining themselves.” She pauses.

“At the same time, there's no way we could risk you in the field yet. You are still only human, and that is just not good enough.”

Mom and Dad look a little alarmed by the talk about fighting in the real world, but still seem committed to sticking around.

“Maybe that's why they disabled the death penalty for me? The more danger I'm in, the faster I gain stats. Not to mention the levels.”

“Yes, that's a good idea. We'll push your training harder and put you in the field here. You've shown a lot of promise with magic, and even if you screw up so badly you kill yourself in the game, you would just respawn. We hold a meeting in two days, I don't think I could get everyone together before that.”

“Why do you trust these people in the game with your life?” asks Mom.

“Because we are a team, both here and in the real world. When there needs to be a fight, we are the ones that get sent. As a power that grows over time, Jack would have joined us eventually, but this just means we need to speed up his growth as much as possible.”

“I've been pushing pretty hard already. Running laps like I did today felt like dying every 30 minutes. The guitar wasn't as bad, but there are only so many hours in the day, and I have a lot of stuff to do.”

“We are the best fighters the company has, and you are already under one of the best trainers. Trust me, we can speed things up without breaking you.”

“I am touched by your concern.”

“You jest, but I will protect you.”

The mood slowly turned amiable and we were just four people going to hunt some gobs.

I got my padded and fancy clothes from the tailor, and we headed to the blacksmith's quarter. We picked up armor for the three of us, my custom leather and off the rack for my parents. No one wanted the heavy stuff yet. Valerie directed us to a swordsmith for weapons. We were measured and tested for skill, and we took what they gave us. Mine was another longsword, a dagger, and a skinning knife. I didn't know when I would have use of skins, but it seemed like a good idea to pick it up. Dad got a short sword and a dagger. Mom decided she wasn't suited for swords, and we found a more general shop. She picked up a metal staff, and I picked up a two handed warhammer for later training.

The trip to get to the goblins was short, Valerie gated us most of the way and we only had a short walk to get to the cave they were infesting. There were only a couple scouts, just standing there instead of really scouting. They were ugly bastards. Green skin sure enough, wrinkled all over like they had shrunken down to half their normal size. Or maybe they were supposed to evolve into double their current size? Their ears stuck out so much they looked like they were falling off, and the less said about their teeth, the better.

I did kind of want to alarm the goblins inside so we could fight them at the entrance. Who knew what kind of bullshit they had rigged up inside for intruders, and I didn't think I would enjoy sharing a confined space with them anyway.

Valerie was playing support, only to step in if our hp fell below half and we needed help. I decided I could take one with lightning, and my parents could take the other. Really these would only be dangerous for us if they came with more than three at a time. One crack of lightning, and one crack of a metal staff later, we were down two goblins and the ones inside were panicking.

I think they were starting to psych themselves up for a charge when a much louder voice stopped them and pulled them back into the cave. I don't think that was a regular goblin. Maybe a chief or something not goblin at all.

I did, in fact, have wind spells unlocked, but had never seen the point. They were just as simple as water or fire, but lacked the punch of water. In this case though, we wanted them out and we didn't want to take all day about it. If only we had something to smoke them out with, like burning plastic...

I walked a dozen feet into the cave and filled my hands with fire mana. The coffee maker was technically not on fire while it was inside my inventory, as there was no time passing and no air. That said, the moment I took it out, the overheated device immediately caught fire again. I dropped it and ran for the entrance.

The smoke seemed to be going evenly in and out of the cave. I started with the lowest power wind spell I could and ramped up from there. At first there wasn't a need to blow great gusts of wind. Only a small bit near the roof was coming out, and I only needed to provide a barrier to keep it in. Eventually, as the smoke began to thicken and fill more of the cave, I decided it was time. I dumped about a quarter of my mana into a wind spell, and blew the smoke wildly into the cave. Hopefully that should mix things up enough to get them all breathing it.

They were either stubborn about it, or could tolerate burning plastic better than humans. They still came out coughing, and it was trivial to cut them down. They would have had a better chance if they had rushed out at the start. There were little piles of cash around us, weighted down with goblin ears.

With no sign of whatever had rallied them in the beginning, we picked up the cash, put it into my inventory and converted it back out into gold, splitting it four ways despite Valerie's protests. The ears went in a bag to satisfy the quest. I hadn't even thought of that. I'm glad the loot system did the thinking for me. We had fulfilled the quest objective, but there was more to do. I wanted to loot the cave and that meant going against the big guy who could withstand smoke.

We had to wait about fifteen minutes for the smoke to clear. Even then, we made makeshift cloth masks to lessen any fumes that were left over, and Valerie provided lighting, as all the torches had been smothered. The coffee maker had melted into a puddle. There were little metal bits here and there, but nothing whole and all of it a mess. I kicked some dirt over it and left it for some other adventurers to puzzle over.

We found out why the leader hadn't come out with the rest of the goblins. There was a door. Of course a door would keep out smoke. There was no telling what was behind it, but it was a safe bet it was at least the leader, if not a horde of goblins with him. We had something you might call a plan. We would quickly open and close the door. I had a couple spell-images ready for mana infusion, and depending on what we saw I would pick one. Either a relatively small and insanely powerful fireball, or a wave of fire to set everything and everyone alight.

We opened the door. The ones that ran out must have only done so because there was no room left for them. And there was a lot of room. Plan wave of fire is a go. I poured about three-quarters of my mana in, told everyone to get way the hell back, and opened the door again. Three arrows come whistling out, but only one hits me. My shoulder takes a punch, and I get turned a little bit, so my wave of fire clips the doorway.

I'm on fire again. Dammit. The portion of the spell that clipped the door set it on fire, but also blew back onto me. Thankfully I was already partially full of fire natured mana, and filling the rest of me up wasn't a big deal. I ran back towards my parents and yelled, “Cover me!”

I went about five feet behind them in the cave and did the stop drop and roll bit. It got most of the fire, and I cast a water ball at the ceiling. One impromptu shower later, I was back on the front line.

The goblins came in two varieties, half melted and whole. It seems I took out about half, and the rest were ready to make sure it wasn't something we would repeat. They were limited by having to run through a burning door frame, but it didn't slow them down enough to make it easy. It was a struggle, especially as we couldn't even stack corpses to make a wall. There was just tons of money being kicked around.

I still had that arrow in my shoulder, but it didn't even take a quarter of my life. We were unpracticed at fighting side by side in close quarters, but it would have been suicide to move back while being pressed. I took cuts to my legs, but the leather did its job. They only managed to take another third of my HP. I was just below half health when we finished the goblin horde. Most of the actual kills were mine, both in the wave of fire and the melee. I hadn't been training for kicks and giggles.

All the experience from the goblins put me over the top to level four.  I wasn't sure what the point was when I wouldn't be spending the points anytime soon.

There was one enemy missing. Even inside the room that I set on fire, he wasn't there. At least, I don't think he was. I only ever heard his voice. Valerie finally had to point out there was a hidden door made of rock. It was pretty obvious after she pointed it out. We must have missed it because we were tired. Thinking that, I popped out the stamina canteen, and offered my parents a shot. They accepted.

“It's sure got a kick,” said Dad.

“Says the heavyweight champion. After we are done here I'm going to use my winnings to drink you under the table,” said Mom.

“You can't drink more than 7 of these in a short period or you die,” I mention.

“Seven it is!”

Stop embarrassing me.

We split the loot so far, and I decide we're rested enough. I pop open the door. It appears to be a treasure room, if you count a bunch of dirty junk as treasure.

There, standing in the middle of it all, is what looks like a hobgoblin, maybe an evolved variant instead of born. Instead of his skin looking wrinkled, it looks stretched, like he only has half of what he's supposed to have. He's tall, heavily muscled, and looks mean. He has an iron or steel mace, hard to tell, and roars at us.

Dad rushes in and performs a perfect flying tackle, coming down very hard on the beast's chest. From the cracking sound and Dad's HP bar dropping a tad, I'd say they both broke ribs. Dad rolls off away from the mace, and Mom steps in. She swings the staff like a baseball bat and hits him in the groin. I see a chunk of his health drop off his HP bar.

Thoroughly stunned, he isn't in any position to resist as Mom and Dad take turns kicking him in the head. They turn it into a little game, but too soon he's dead. Strangely, the head is left behind on top of the money, along with a small stone, and a book.

Jack Ambrose Webb's Statistics

Strength

37

Wisdom

27

Agility

56 (+4)

Charisma

37

Dexterity

56 (+5)

Luck

13 (+5)

Vitality

46 (+3)

Transcend

8

Intelligence

66 (+1)

Unallocated

15 (+10)