[INVENTORY[-]
[HEALTH PILL MINOR 3
[HEALTH PILL EPIC 1
[LETTER FROM GRANDMA 1
[OLD BEER COASTER 1
[G: Also Mike, you can communicate with me using your thoughts alone. You don't have to speak out loud. The commuters appear uncomfortable. That doesn't matter. But later where we're going, talking may be dangerous. Just think. I will hear you.
That is completely creepy, thought Mike.
In his vision, he saw:
[M: That is completely creepy.
[G: See? I heard that. There is a letter from your Grandma in your inventory.
Of course! Mike had forgotten all about it. The inventory. He had seen a letter in there from his Grandma briefly yesterday before he passed out.
He took it out eagerly, right there on the bus, and read it.
Dearest Michael,
With heartfelt thanks from me, your ever loving Grandma.
If you are reading this letter, it's because you found Grandpa's inventory, and that means you're soulbound. I'm sorry if you had other aspirations; a career, a girlfriend, or any sort of life.
Mike paused reading the letter. Nope, not really. he thought.
[M: Nope, not really.
He saw.
[G: Do not fear, Mike. We will get a career, a girl, and a life for you. I am competent in all these capacities.
Mike ignored that and kept reading.
This may come as a surprise to you, but your Grandpa was a great warrior. He and Goblin were defeated in an epic sword battle against an enchanted Hobgoblin King. It didn't kill him, but after that no amount of health pills could renew his mind's connection to his body.
He wasn't lost though, I was still able to communicate with him through his connection with Goblin, through a magic letter just like this one you're reading, and I was there right up until his very last moment.
He always loved your visits, though he feared your taste in films was concerning, and he wanted me to tell you that “You’re shit at one-man chess.” Sorry Michael, I'm not one for cussing, but he insisted I pass that on. I'm not even sure how anyone could NOT be shit at one-man chess, so don't take it to heart.
Mike laughed. And cried a little bit. He was shit at one-man chess. He would have loved the chance to play actual chess against his Grandpa.
Although you may not have been able to get to know him, your Grandpa assuredly got to know you. Every one sided conversation you had with him, he heard. And he loved you for it, Michael. You were the only one who cared. But more than that, he got to see that you were becoming a man of character. A man who had the potential to wield a great sword. And that's why he left you Goblin. Because you have the fight in you. Even if you don't know it yet. You'll do his legacy proud.
Mike wasn't sure he agreed he had any fight. He read on.
I understand it's a lot to take in, I was once where you are now, trying to understand and comprehend something so seemingly impossible. But I also get the impression you're the kind of kid who usually skips the tutorial, so I'll get to the point.
He paused and thought about that. He had definitely told Grandpa that on a few occasions. Grandma was right. He almost always skipped the tutorial. He was more of a ‘figure it out as you go’ kind of guy.
Your Grandpa and I, and a few of our friends, are Divers. Since the late sixties we've been protecting reality as you know it from the perils of the dungeon dimension. Our world crosses over with that other dimension, a magical place of monsters and madness that you wouldn't believe. Magical tears in the fabric of reality let the monsters through, and we, as Divers, battle them at the rifts, and when necessary, go in and destroy them in the dungeons.
Goblin is a magic sword, and you're stuck with it. While it probably looks like something the cat dragged in, don't be fooled. A soulbound weapon is a valuable and powerful tool. The soulbind progresses with the wielder, so you will become great together. The bind will only ever be broken on the death of the wielder or the destruction of the sword. When your Grandpa wielded Goblin, they started where you are starting, but in the end, they were truly a force to be reckoned with. When he died, the bind was broken and Goblin immediately regressed to Level 0.
You will start to encounter magical creatures, and you must kill them. They are always there, today more than ever before, lurking in the shadows, preying on the vulnerable. They will take life wherever they can, and when they do, they grow more powerful.
So will you and Goblin when you defeat them.
Your skill as a warrior will increase with practice and experience. Goblin’s power will also increase with the incorporation of magical materials.
You will determine your's and Goblin's path. While Goblin will always be a sword, there are many, many forms that it can take, and there are as many ways and more you can wield it. Its Grade and your Class will develop together according to the techniques you work on defeating monsters together, and the materials you find and incorporate into it. As a start, I have enclosed a sprig of common wormwood. Common wormwood is an effective basic magical repellent that will cause fear in low level magical monsters; so a good starter advantage for you and Goblin to begin your progression together. Simply place the herb into one of the slots in Goblin's pommel. Goblin will do the rest. There is no limit to what materials you might like to incorporate into your soulbound. Try everything! I'm sure Goblin will tell you if it doesn't want what you're offering.
Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.
Mike examined the plant cutting that had been pressed flat between the folds of the letter. It didn't look magical or special. It was just like a fragile little brown herb. It looked a bit like old parsley.
Then he looked at Goblin's pommel. It was a rounded bulb of metal at the butt of the sword's handle. There were five small round holes there, so inconspicuous that he hadn't even noticed them before. He scrunched up the herb and fed it into one of the holes.
[G/SLOT POPULATED WORMWOOD SPRIG
[G/+1GRADE
[G/LEVEL UP. GOBLIN IS NOW LEVEL 1.
[M/SLOT POPULATED FEAR 1
[GOBLIN | LEVEL 1 | STATE 2:12
[SOULBOUND SWORD | RUSTY THRUSTER
[FORCE 1:2 | GRADE 1:2
[WORMWOOD SPRIG | SLOT | SLOT | SLOT | SLOT
[MIKE | LEVEL 1 | HEALTH 78:120 | ENERGY 9:20
[SOULBOUND SWORD WIELDER | FIRST INHERITOR
[READ 1:5 | FIGHT 1:5 | POWER 2:5 | SPEED 2:5
[FEAR 1 | SLOT | SLOT | SLOT | SLOT
[INVENTORY[-]
[G: Well, that's a start.
This letter is magical. If you need advice, even if it's just to have someone besides Goblin explain all the weird stats you keep seeing, just think it through and open up this letter. It's a letter like this that allowed your Grandpa and I to talk together after he lost his mind, right up until the end; you can write to me as often as you need. As for me, I'm imprisoned in a magic-proof dungeon in the Hobgoblin King's lair with the other Grandma Divers. My soulbound is a bow named Selphie. She's hanging on the wall just to the left of the King's gibbet cage. Just in case you ever decide to drop in to visit your dear old Grandma, could you pop over and pick it up for me?
But don't rush it, dear. We're alright for now. I saw the King take your Grandpa from me, I'd like you to please ensure you're in a position to sever the disgusting creature’s tiny little head from it's big fat shoulders when you get here.
Much love and blessings, and I'm so sorry that I haven’t been around for you all these years Michael,
Grandma.
P.S. The map on the back of the beer coaster is also magical. It will always get you to the closest dimensional rift. If anyone ever questions you, just say ‘Diving’. It will get you in every time.
P.P.S. The locket that your sister, Alexis, inherited is a Mages Amulet. See if you can get her to put it on. She might be a lost cause, but, she also might not be.
Mike put the letter back in his inventory. His brain was reeling again. As if his experiences of the last day hadn't been enough to have blown his mind, now there was a whole other layer of existence he had to try and get his head around.
But he did accept it. If Grandma said it, it was the truth. This was actually happening, and it was real. It was suddenly more real than his actual real life! For the first time in a long time, he even felt… excited about life!
He had to toughen up. Fast. He had to get a grip. He had to learn how to fight. He was going to be a full on monster-slaying sword-swinging dungeon diver.
Hell, he thought, I'm going to go all in and become the BEST monster-slaying sword-swinging dungeon diver!
“SHIT YEAH!” he exclaimed out loud. The other commuters tried not to look at him again.
“OH SHIT!” It was his stop, and the bus was about to pull away. He threw himself out of the closing bus doors with a mumbled apology to the driver.
----------------------------------------
“Mikey! Nice of you to turn up toda–hey… what the hell happened to you? You look like shit, man!?” it was Mike's boss, Bernard. He was pretty cool. He'd be alright about Mike being late. It didn't happen every day.
“Sorry B, didn't get much sleep last night. Had the funeral yesterday, you know? I mentioned it on Friday. It was always going to be a big day.”
“Yeah, but what else happened, man? You don't get beat up at any funeral I been to… You got bruises on bruises! And you look totally wrecked, did you even sleep? You sure you should be here?”
“Ah, yeah, well. This other thing happened. Long story. I'm good, Boss, really.”
Bernard looked at him very skeptically. “Alright, man, if you're good, I'm good. Just, you know, if you need someone to talk to…”
“Thanks B. Like I said, I'm good.”
He turned to walk to his desk.
“Hey what's that sticking up out of your bag, man?” asked Bernard.
Mike's heart skipped a beat. The cross guard of Goblin’s hilt was sticking out of the side of his backpack.
[G: I'm a religious icon.
He turned back to Bernard and crossed himself, tapping his forehead, his belt, then each shoulder.
“Oh, okay, like a religious thing? That's cool man, that's cool.” said Bernard with a wave. Satisfied, he turned and walked back to his office.
[M: How did you even know that would work!?
[G: Mike, most people only ever see what they're expecting to see. Always remember that.
Mike flung his backpack down next to his desk, woke up his desktop, and immediately typed Dungeon Dimension into the search bar.
[G: I would advise against searching that up, Mike.
Mike's finger was poised over the ENTER key.
[M: Why?
[G: Your enemies monitor that channel.
[M: Enemies?
[G: Necromancers, Verminlords, Orc Warbosses, Hive Queens. That sort of thing. Anyway, there is nothing about the dungeon dimension online. Do your work.
[M: Seriously, are you my boss?
[G: When working, work. All other times, grind. Yes, I am your Boss.
Mike pressed ENTER anyway. The idea that magical bosses from another dimension were monitoring aggregated internet search results was beyond ridiculous. He scrolled for a few minutes. He had to admit Goblin was right about one thing though: what results there were, and there weren't many, were the ramblings of ttrpg players, online crazies and conspiracy theorists.
[G: You should have listened to me, Mike. I give you five minutes. Tops.
“Hey Mike?” It was Bernard, he was calling across the office, hanging out his door by the door frame, “Someone's downstairs asking for you. Official looking. Could be important.”
[G: I told you so, Mike. You should leave. Now. And not through the lobby. It will get ugly.