CHAPTER 2
I awoke early before the sun had come above the horizon, the Inn was silent with only the early morning staff at work in the kitchen stoking the ovens and preparing for the day. I left the Inn and slowly walked towards the western gate, swinging my arms and rolling my shoulders, I did not feel stiff from all that I had done, but I still wanted to loosen up. In the real world, I worked out three times a week and ran at least twice a week.
Sitting on your ass working with computers could soften a person up. I tried to make sure that I was in good shape. Once I left the village I began to run slowly stretching my legs and increasing my speed. My breath came easy and I flew down the road. I wanted to know what running would be like once my stats hit the high double digits.
Eventually, I came to a clearing and stopped, finding a fallen log slightly off the road I sat down and pulled the chest from my bag. Balancing it on my knee I began to examine it. The chest was locked with what appeared to be a small padlock, there were some scuffs on the keyhole where I guessed the merchant had tried to pick the lock. Taking a closer look I noted that the steel shackle was slightly loose. I recalled breaking into Sandra Kents locker years back in high school. All I had done with slide a thin piece of metal down the side of the shackle until it pushed back the locking tab. It would be worth a try, I thought as I put the chest back in my bag. All I need is a lock pick set or a thin prong from a fork.
Feeling satisfied with what I had found I put on world chat and listened in, the players were still working away at the lesser God Janus, he was down to ten percent, the analysts expected a new group of players to be logging in to take part in the kill. Mid afternoon was when the end would come.Putting out my smoke I smiled, good luck to them all, I had my own plans. Continuing on down the road I soon came to a range of hills and looking up I observed a side trail that led off the main road and towards the hills. I turned off the road and began to scramble up the trail, soon I was going around the side of the hill and there before me was an opening, a man made cave about halfway up the hill.
The trees covered the slope of the hill but I knew that it was accessible. Scrambling up I soon came to a pathway that switchbacked all the way up to the entrance. There was a ledge in front of the entrance about fifteen feet long and ten feet wide. I stopped for a breather and to look out over the valley that was below, it was covered in trees but at the far end was a narrow lake, and going through the valley I could see a stream that fed into the lake. It was a scenic view the kind of place where you would want to build a cabin. As I thought of that it occurred to me that I could do just that, once I had cleared out the mine.
In Haven you could own property, most people preferred to buy it in one of the hub cities but a few determined players built their own home. You had to buy blue prints and follow them but this was the wild lands of the north. I could easily build a small cabin, I had the experience of doing it in the real world and I am sure that the skills would transfer over. Making a mental list of what I would need I grabbed the thick branch I had found, it was some kind of hardwood with a huge wooden knot on the end. It was a club and my only weapon, equipping it I took a deep breath and entered the cave through the shimmer at the entrance. A popup appeared and I read, “Welcome to the Larth Hills mine instance, do you wish to claim the instance?”
Accepting I continued to wait as my eyes adapted, soon I could make out the details of the bracing timbers and I could hear a faint murmur off in the distance. I crept forward trying to move as quiet as I could and looked around the corner, there I observed a small fire with three Gobbys longing around it. They were sleeping and did not wake as I crept up to them. They stood about a foot and a half tall had green skin pointed ears and slit eyes.
Taking a breath I swung the club down and then immediately stepped on the Gobby next to the one I had just smashed. His chest flattened and he was gone. Swinging the club over I caught the last Gobby on the side of the head with enough force that his neck let out a loud crack, his toes twitched once and he was gone. I stopped moving and waited for a moment, hearing nothing I bent down and waved my hand over the bodies. I looted two Gobby swords, the looked like letter openers and were dull and a small bow with ten arrows in the quiver along with a small container of poison, at least it had a skull painted on the side. I noted that the arrow tips had been dipped in the jar.
I threw everything in my bag and continued on down the passageway. I soon came upon another group, this one had four Gobbys but it ended the same way. By the time I came to the first boss at the end I had taken out about twenty groups, giving me my first level in the game and adding 1 gold to my wallet along with plenty of crap gear in my bag. I was also awarded 9 new points to use, people would be beginning to work on their class build by now. Not having a class I put three points into strength and two into agility. I then put three into wisdom and one in luck, Once I hit level five I would start working on wisdom, stamina, and luck as I had decided to become a dark priest.
Stats
Strength 10
Agility 7
Stamina 6
Wisdom 7
Charm 4
Luck 10
Closing my stats screen I crept up towards the miniboss and observed her. She was a female who stood twice as tall as the male Gobbys, her figure was actually attractive with a narrow waist and large breasts, her butt was tight and she wore an outfit that clearly showed her figure. She was holding onto a Toddler Gobby who was about 8 inches tall, kind of a cute little monster. I crept towards her keeping to the shadows, and once I was behind her I grabbed a rock from the floor and tossed it against the far wall, the fire in front of her was causing shadows to race each other on the wall.
At the sound of the pebble hitting the wall, she froze then slowly lowered the sleeping toddler. Once he was down I saw the beginning of two small fireballs form with each of her hands. Damn, she is a mage I thought as I watched her toss the fireballs against the far wall. As she looked at the now brightly lit wall I made my move, leaping forward I slammed my club against her hip. With a grunt of pain, she fell to her side but I noted that she was already casting a fireball at me as I dived straight at her.
My outstretched hand became entangled in the front of her shirt and with a rip, it was torn off her. Her breasts were firm with large green nipples and were covered in some kind of a runic tattoo. Tearing my eyes up I noticed her scornful look as she flicked her wrist at me bathing my shoulder in a small fiery explosion.
That hurt I thought as I twisted to land beside her rolling onto my back so I did not land on her. It was kind of crazy I was trying to kill her, but I could not help but respond to her as a small attractive woman. This thought was driven from my brain as she jumped up and straddled me with one hand becoming covered in flames and the other pushing my chest down. I knew that if I got hit in the head my life would be done, a respawn back at the Inn awaited me. I lifted my arm and grabbed her left breast, softly squeezing it as I thrust my hips upwards this cause her fireball to explode behind my head as she dropped her weight across my waist.
Reaching out I grabbed her around the waist and attempted to throw her off me as I bucked wildly against her. She responded by grabbing my arms and squeezing her thighs against me. It was apparent that neither of us had on any underwear as my little soldier suddenly freed itself and with one thrust of our hips buried itself deep within her womanhood. Our bodies continued to move soon finding a fast rhythm, that was echoed by her ragged breath and my soft moans. After several minutes I felt my body tense and then release. Her body continued to move against mine as I looked at her. Lifting my hands I slowly began to rub her nipples as her breath caught.
She slowly opened her eyes and then said, “How did we end up making love when we were trying to kill one another?” We stared at each other for several moments and then she slowly stood up. “You have defeated me, I will leave this level and report to my queen, but be warned if you continue to go down we will be waiting now.”
I suddenly spoke without thinking, “Don’t go, stay with me or wait outside, something here has happened I am not sure what but I don’t want to fight against you.” I watched as she sadly smiled and I knew what she was going to say.
“I am the youngest daughter of the queen, and I must report what has happened. You will meet me again on the fourth level as I stand in defense of my queen. It is what it is. Take this chest as your reward for your victory. I watched as she pointed to the far wall and then observed as she grabbed the toddler and walked to a small doorway, opening it she faced me and gave a grim smile. “I am not sure what happened but it cannot happen again human.” Then she was gone and I was sitting in front of a dying fire wondering what the hell just happened.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
Shaking my head I stood and wandered over to the chest, opening it I discovered a set of sandals with plus 2 to stamina and a ring of plus three wisdom. Equipping them my stats now were
Stats
Strength 10
Agility 7
Stamina 8
Wisdom 10
Charm 4
Luck 10
At the bottom of the chest were two scrolls, opening them I stared with amazement. They were teaching scrolls, one for Fiery blast level one and one for Icy shards level one. These scrolls cost about 5 gold each in the Mage Arcanum schools and would only be sold to mages. The fact that I had them meant I could learn to use them without being a mage. They could also be sold for about two hundred gold for the pair, a vast amount at level two. This would take some thought, having access to mage class spells would be an advantage, but so would the gold.
The truth was having two spells would not make me an overpowered low-level player but it would give me a definite advantage as I leveled up. I continued to think about the scrolls and the miniboss I had just met until I approached the entrance. Stepping through the haze I observed the late afternoon light shining on the trees below me. Lighting up a smoke I stood near the entrance and then put on world chat.
Someone was giving me a running commentary on the God fight, he was down to one percent. I stood there listening as the players pressed the attack. Suddenly I the chat went silent and then was flooded with comments, “Where the hell did he go, did he die, is the quest complete?” I started to laugh after all that effort and time it sounded like the God had escaped. Shaking my head at the absurdity of it I glanced up just in time to see a body heading in my direction, moving very fast.
“What the f…” I started to say when I was suddenly hit and knocked right back into the instance. I slammed against the side wall of the tunnel and went tumbling down the passageway picking up road rash and lacerations. Once I finally stopped I could not move, my green health bar had dropped into the red zone and I saw that I had about one percent health left. I glanced up the tunnel and saw the man who had knocked my back into the mine, my gaze observed that he was almost dead to and if anything was in worse shape than me. I finally noted his name, Janus. It took me a moment and then it hit me, this was the lesser God Janus, the God that had been in combat for the last twenty-four hours.
He had escaped somehow just before he died and headed for the least populated area he could, only to land on top of me. I was doomed, this area would be swarming with players as soon as they tracked him. My thoughts raced as I slowly recovered and at about twenty percent health I slowly sat up and then stood. Limping I made my way over to Janus and observed him. He had one percent health but did not look good. I think he was dying, which left me in a real quandary.
I could get on world chat and tell everyone where he was, I might even get some rewards for doing that. I could also try to help him, having a God owe you might not be a bad thing. Last I could attempt to kill the God, the items he would drop would last me till the game ended. Not knowing what to do I decided to grab Janus and drag him closer to the entrance and make him more comfortable. I was weak and covered and blood and he was heavy and covered in blood.
By the time I made it to the entrance I was very glad that blood illness was not in the game. Laying Janus down I left the instance and made my way down to the nearest trees. Stripping off as much foliage as I could I entered the mine and made a depression and the placed all the leaves in the hole. I then managed to get Janus stretched out on the floor with the greenery providing a small mat for him to rest on.
At about this time I began to feel funny, both hot and cold, I could feel currents of electrical energy running inside my body. Looking down I observed what looked like sparks and little flickers of lightning darting from laceration to laceration over my whole body. “What the heck,” I said and then fell down onto my side leaning against Janus. Once I awoke I noted that my health was back to one hundred and I felt great.
Looking at Janus I saw that his health was still one percent and he looked worse than ever. I could see that it was morning outside and realized I must have passed out all night. Ths confused me because I would have thought that the area outside the mine would have been covered in players waiting for me to come out and then invite them in to finish the God. I may not be the sharpest marble in the bag but I usually figure things out a little quicker. No one knew where Janus was when he flew into me and knocked us both into the mine it blocked all player attempts to track him. The mine was a low-level dungeon, a world unto itself.
Janus was perfectly hidden and no player would ever locate him until he left the mine and as long as I claimed the mine no one else could enter it and discover him. The problem was how did he enter the mine, only me and someone in my party should have been able to enter the mine after I claimed it. On the other hand, he was a God and if a god wanted to enter an instance I am sure he could.
I grabbed my papers and rolled a smoke to give me time to think, this was an opportunity here, yet somehow I could not bring myself to alert the thousands of players that were porting all over the world searching for the lesser God. Nor could I bring myself to kill him, he was a wounded and broken figure. I just did not have it in me. Sitting down I stared at Janus and said, “You have put me in a pretty pickle. Probably half the game world is looking for you to finish you and here you are sleeping, I hope you are worth it because if anyone finds out what I have done by hiding you my life will be short and painful.
I was surprised when his eyes opened and he spoke, “Your life is will be worth as much as mine eh? The truth is we are now joined together with blood when I die you will die.” I stared open-mouthed at him and finally said, “What the hell are you talking about?” Now normally I would be a lot more respectful but I was in shock, Janus who I thought was dying now slowly stood up with his health at ninety percent.
We stared at each other for a moment and then Janus spoke, “When you moved me somehow we shared blood, some of my divine blood now flows within you and some of your human blood is now pumping through me. I am not sure how this happened but there you are, it was actually fortunate for me, I believe exposure to your blood helped to save me, and my blood has wrought changed in you. More than a human but less than a God. What strange times we are in. Tell me mortal why did your people attack me?”
I thought for a moment before replying, what the hell did he mean more than a mortal but less than a God? Focussing my thoughts I bowed and said, “Pardon my rudeness, I was startled I thought you were at death's door. My understanding of what happened is lacking but I believe the guild Grief found an artifact which they used to summon you. The goal was to kill you to get the Keys of Heaven which would enable them to open up a new land. This would allow them to gather riches and grow in power.
They aligned themselves with other guilds and summoned you. The battle raged on and more people joined in, I guess they found out killing a God is not an easy task. Just before your demise, you vanished and then showed up here, knocking us both back into this dungeon. This has hidden you from the players who are searching for you.”
We stared at each other for a moment after I finished speaking, then with a smile, Janus said, “Guess that it that, I had warned the other Gods that mankind would turn on them one day.” Thrusting out his hand he offered me a brilliant gem that flickered from red to gold to blue. Grabbing my hand he said, “Take it,” and then pushed it onto my palm. Holding my hand he smiled at me and said, “Human this is going to hurt, only due to the fact that you have the blood of a God mixed in with your blood will allow you to survive.”
“What is it?” I cried as the first wave of pain hit me. It literally felt as if some one were taking a drill and putting it into the palm of my hand. The pain was more than I had ever felt, and the game limited pain to what they called ten percent of the norm. I blacked out for a moment only to reawaken as Janus slapped my face. “What the,” I gasped as the waves of pain began to depart.
“Mortal I have gifted you the Keys of heaven, for saving me,” Janus said with a savage grin. However, know this. There is no love lost between me and you.” I stared at the lesser God in shock the pain dampening my brain. Still holding my hand we both suddenly disappeared into a blackness and then I reappeared in an alley. Janus was gone, but staring at my hand I could see the jewel was now embedded in the flesh and while the pain was fading the memory of it was still fresh.
Opening my map I saw that I was now in the hub city of Centralport. As I rocked back a window suddenly opened and I read, “ Congratulations you have completed the hidden quest, To save a God. You have been awarded ten levels and now must choose your class, also your bonus points are available to be assigned. Well done player.”
I quickly went through my interface hiding all the details of my character. I needed to find a set of gloves to hide my hands and then arrange a portal back to the village of Timberlake. Swearing softly to myself I noted that I also had received a permanent buff. The blood of a God, it increased all my abilities by twenty percent and would scale up as I leveled. Better than nothing, I thought as I began to walk out of the alley.