Still a slight touchy from the guard’s conversation, L cursed his circumstances.
How would he conceal his race, if all it took was someone to just look at him? Hopefully, guards were the only ones who could observe his insides, though L doubted it would matter much for now; the guards warned the entire village anyway.
And what a pathetic village it was. It was a square thing, about a football field tall, and half a field wide. There were about 40 to 60 buildings, spaced out from each other to avoid fires. Everything here was built of wood. It was a dead horse, as far as L could tell. Though the sun was out in its fullest glories, the wind comforting and cool, few kids or conversation between the working folk occurred. The streets were mostly a muddy path interrupted by the occasional pot of shit and piss. The smell was horrible, concentrated in some areas where there was no effort to maintain any form of hygiene.
The population consisted mainly of young men and woman, and impoverished ones from what L could tell. Their limbs moved heavily, their gazes tired and disengaged from their tasks. They were probably the most desperate of the Rojenteem Empire, leaving the comfort of their homes in searches of adventure and pleasure outside of the monotone routine of village life, and to colonize unknown lands and eat foreign spices.
From the looks of it, they are quickly realizing that their lack of immortality was a great hindrance to their adventurous urges.
Their flimsy walls were probably lifted up to keep the savage beasts out, though, from some of the signs the houses were given, some beasts found no issue by passing a three-meter tall brick wall.
After making his rounds, L failed to see any type of lodging place. Typical for a village this far out from society. At some point, when the average level of the player increases in Null Online, the villages in the outskirts of the Rojenteem empire would probably develop further. For now, though, few things which L required were missing. As far as he was aware, the lack of an alchemist was the deadliest factor. There was a blacksmith, a tailor, and a headhunter, and though there was an apothecary, there was no sort of magic related profession.
It was not magic knowledge that he sought, considering his affinity for anything outside Dark Magic was horrid, but rather for their quests. Usually, mage quests tend to lean on more of the intelligence factor, seeking particular, complex solutions to certain requirements rather than a mostly simple show of brute force in hunting beasts.
The issue regarding monsters in Null Online, was that were no mobs, but only ecosystems.
Most of the hostile creatures were humanoids, consisting of societies with complex laws and power structures. Orcs, goblins, dark elves, lizardfolk, insectoids, giants, and demons are the usual threat, though the list is long and constantly expanding, usually because humans are repeatedly making a habit of taking over the lands of said creatures. There are many unknowns out there, races and creatures atypical to the environment of Null, but those are few and wide. Null made it blatantly clear that it was not made for the convenience of the player. There was no aggro range. Monsters won’t be wandering the forest aimlessly, waiting for the next party of players to hunt them.
What this means, in the simplest terms, is that there is no endless supply of level 1 bunnies to slaughter.
That particular factor of Null’s realism made starting as a lone player particularly difficult for L. While most players will be participating in village or citywide quests, such as the subjection of a new land or pruning invasive species, or even the awesome possibilities of participating in wars and loot, L could hardly do that in a deadbeat town.
Yet, even though his blood boiled to enter the dance of fallen limbs and endless slaughtering of evil forces, L still saw the potential in starting in an obscure spot. There would be other secret races, other secret classes, but what Null assured everyone, was that no journey should be the same, if the player was clever enough--something that every game just seems to promise, but rarely deliver on.
In essence, L was gambling that there was something to do here, and that that something was more worthwhile than starting as a foot soldier in an army, and risk receiving a permanent death buff, especially when you consider the absurd high penalties. Four deaths for L, and he would probably be out of the competition for good.
So far, L wasn’t finding much of anything. Most of the townsfolk avoided him like the plague, their weary eyes constantly skittering the nearest sharp object in hand’s reach.
Oh, my. Doesn’t seem like they seem very intent on conversing with you, do they?
“I dunno. Why would anyone reject a free helping hand from a kind stranger, albeit a slightly dark infested one, who just happens to practice the magic of the death and rot gods?”
That does sound odd. Here, let me run a few processes.
Ok, using the highest forms of quantum computing math numbers and geometric shapes, I have concluded that the chances behind the townsfolk aversive behavior stems directly from the singular factor of your dicky nature are very, very, very probable.
“That’s not helping much, Null.”
Let me rephrase: How about you maybe try to stop being an unlikeable bane to all life?
“But I’m only human Null! Your standards are too high.”
A few moments passed in silence as L searched for the Headhunter. He had asked for directions from the townsfolk, but he noticed that most of them purposely gave him the wrong direction, sending him sprawling all over the village.
Then again, the Headhunter would probably be, oh I don’t know, doing some type of hunting?
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
L gave up on the Headhunter, and instead followed the bouts of metal hitting metal. A loud, monotonous pounding resounded in the furthest corner of the village.
I detest the fact that I hold no rebuttal to your distasteful statement.
“Aren’t you supposed to be some type of combination of quantum computing combined with consciousness? Aren’t you supposed to be able to solve this?”
I have many consciousnesses, but that does not mean I can parallel process a task that requires task C to be completed when one A is not complete.
“You’re quite horrid at explaining this. Does that mean you can have many conscious minds, able to think about many different things, but that focusing all your conscious minds on a singular task does not...linearly increase the speed you accomplish things?”
Much wow. That is an exponentially better explanation. I bow before your ingeniousness, great mortal.
L frowned. “Alright, fine. The normal human brain is one runner. Quantum computing that integrates human brains is 10 runners. If everyone does the same race, everyone will finish the race at the same time, regardless of the number of runners. Quantum computing, on the other hand, will allow the completion of other races, something that the human runner is not able to achieve.”
Pretty much. I’m surprised you did not know this, accounting for the considerable amount of preparation you’ve had before venturing into this.
“Knowledge takes gold, bud. That knowledge is not publicly disclosed, though I’m sure its cheap, considering you blabbed all about it. God, I’m dying to kill something.
Which one?
“What?”
There are many Gods. Which one are you praying to?
L let a tired moan escape his mouth, whispering curses under his breath as he entered the blacksmith’s work area.
The blacksmith was an enormous man, as was expected. Rough, heavily black skin covered bulging muscles. L was not spared a glance as the hammer came down, reshaping a spade.
Not that I expected it, anyway.
Something told L that he would have to earn the privilege of speaking with someone. From what the guard said, no typical townsfolk would dare go against his word, meaning that the only people he could make a relationship were either in the dark, or ones where not even the village guard could question.
So L stood there, watching the giant man swing his hammer. It was a test of patience, of humility. It would be horribly inappropriate to disturb another’s work for one’s own benefit.
But L being L, he got tired of that shit real quickly.
Picking a dingy corner, furthest away from the fire and the sun, L sat down with his back against the wall, practicing his newfound powers. He reached for the darkness, willing in a way you would will a limb into moving. It was relatively easy, considering he already had the skills.
Darkling Rank C Dark Weaver
The darkness to a Darkling is like an ocean to a shark. You are able to bend the dark to your will.
The two other proficiencies also greatly helped. Darkling Rank C Dark Mana Circuits granted him a significant 50% mana efficiency rating, and a 25% capacity to dark mana usage per second, virtually allowing him to bring out more power per mana point, allowing the usage of more taxing magic codes. Darkling Rank C Dark Mana Storage increased his dark mana storage by a hefty 150%.
L believed the skill starting on an Elf gave 100% increased mana storage, with Mana Circuits having a 25% efficiency rating and a 10% mana usage per second, but they still had the early and late advantage, considering that they were able to use mana from any source and God, allowing them to be extremely versatile. Then again, Darklings were no mages. While his starter race probably allowed for a magic focused evolution, a path combining mage and close-quarters fighting skills was probably going to be L’s style. It was best to play to all the pros while avoiding the cons--a very obvious but extremely difficult thing to do.
Hours passed as L explored the uses and future possibilities of Dark Weaver. The most important aspect of Dark Weaver was regarding the type of things he was able to create. Increasing the density of the mana around him, L was able to decrease his visibility by converging the darkness to his position. After a while, creating a heavy liquid like texture was feasible. It required quite a bit of mana from his reserves, but he was also able to add the texture sticky into it, allowing it to stick, and the squishy command, allowing it to extend and flex. A bunch of other commands were possible, too, such as slippery, smooth, warm, cold, soft, and sturdy, though adding more than two caused the magic to go haywire.
L attempted to create a string, which proved quite a bit challenging. Instead of mana reserves, L felt his Mana Circuits contracting more, straining under the precise nature of combing mana into small objects connecting blocks. Creating a string felt too difficult, so instead L fathomed a fistful ball of squishy darkness, flattened it out, and then rolled it up, and added the sturdy texture. Doing that, L was able to reduce to string to a cementer wide. Making it any smaller was beyond his current skill. While he had no mana bar to judge the amount of mana making a 10 feet string had cost him, L reckoned it was about a quarter of his mana, an amount that rejuvenated in a ten minutes breath. The process of making the string took a few minutes of relentless focus. Any distraction or carelessness in feeding the spell the correct amounts of mana caused it to lose shape and disperse. L noticed an important factor then; right after a creation he created dispersed, the mana he used from his body to create the object did not simply vanish. Instead, it made the surrounding area rich in mana, allowing L to not only create objects with much more ease, but also increase his regeneration. The ratio of mana was probably around 30-50%, the same as his Mana Circuit bonuses.
Interestingly enough, until he thought of the finish command, the things he created began to vanish once he stopped feeding them mana. Once completed, however, the objects he made lasted longer in proportion to how well the object was created, what type of object it was, and the amount of darkness near the spot in which L left it in. Obviously, higher density creations generally lasted a few minutes in dark spots, while lighter, less mana infused creations lasted a few seconds in the sun. L could feed mana to the darkness, and allow it to exist in light, but that siphoned painful amounts of mana from him. L also found out that releasing mana into his creations prolonged their life, without requiring the same amount of mana it took to create it, meaning that once an object is completed, it was relatively cheap to pay the upkeep price.
L sought to create something slightly more creative then. It took him half an hours time, to create, charge, and then to take a break, but L was able to create and up-keep six different 1 CM strings, each five meters long.
Since he couldn’t stretch them the full distance in the dark, L instead looped them around him, tightly holding them together as he twisted them upon each other. Then, starting from one end to another, L released sticky mana around the cup of his hand, allowing his palm to act as an adhesive.
It took a dangerous amount of mana. L was only half-way through before he felt his previously full reserves of mana now emptying. Strength left L’s body as a layer of sweat covered him, his mind dulling and eyes weighing down on him.
Having no other choice, L had to release the finish command.
Congratulations! You have created your first forbidden item, Rank D rank, “Badly Made Masochist’s Wimpy Whip.”
Oh no.
Oooh yesss.
Beckoning his tired mind to open the status screen of his item, L gazed at the horror he had created.
Forbidden Poor Masochist’s Wimpy Whip
The Darklings have many secrets that should never see the light. Their sexual fantasies are one of those.
Though this is considered a Whip, it is ridiculously large with ends too soft to do anything but tickle its victim's back-- or there more precarious regions. This is such a horribly created item, that only a masochist would use it to torture his victims.
You have gained -1 fame for creating such a poorly made item.
L slowly lowered his back to the cool, hard floor, and tried his very best to not cry.