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I apologize for the delay in bringing you this chapter. Final exams sucked every minute of my time for the last weeks.
I will strive to write a lot more now that i'm free of obligations.
Any suggestions and critiques are welcome. I really appreciate the feedback as I'm a complete novice when it comes to writing.
Enjoy!
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Road to Freedom by Moskatero
Chapter 4
After another twelve hour trip to reality Kyle found himself filled with apprehension as he logged back into Royal Road. In logging out he’d given Eva whole two days to work on whatever plans and machinations she had in store for him. His imagination of torture devices from the middle ages painted a grim picture.
Checking the time of day in game (IG from now on, same for IRL) to get his bearings he saw it was just after midnight. A grimace crossed his face as he realized it was just in time for the hell-bread production.
As he neared the bakery he immediately went on alert. Not a trace of the mayhem caused by the players in their rush to buy hell-bread was to be seen, and the lighting that marked the bakery at night was gone. As Kalthier silently entered the bakery he noticed that also missing was the mouthwatering smell of Eva’s cooking, indicating that she had not cooked for the whole day, an impossible occurrence in Kalthier’s short experience. But what truly clued him on the fact that something wrong must have happened was that no orders were yelled at him as he stepped through the door.
Still wary and equipping one of his iron daggers Kalthier silently made his way across the bakery. As he neared the kitchen door he began to hear voices whispering in a not very subtle tone of voice. After crouching with his ear to the door for while he started to piece together a conversation.
“So it’s ready then?” Eva’s unmistakable voice asked in an excited whisper.
“Aye, but after I fit it we’re done, no more ridiculous favors” A gruff voice came from somewhere near the kitchen counter.
“Oh? Not even for some Dragonwrought Mead?” The tone of Eva’s question was so familiar Kalthier could picture the arched eyebrow that went along with it.
“Drag….” A tingle of remembrance went through Kalthier’s mind at the name and the stranger’s reaction to it, but he ignored it and sharpened his senses, the stranger was louder now, almost screaming.
“Imposible! I have a standing offer of twelve-thousand gold pieces for any bottle entering the kingdom and enough contacts to know if someone else bought one outside of it”
Eva gave a rumbling laugh, one that, on more than one occasion, filled Kalthier with dread.
“But not for the ingredients, those went right under your nose and straight into my hands”
“But...That would mean… Did you… I need to sit down”
“Ha!, what happened to that famed dwarven constitution”
The stranger’s now had pained edge “Please Evangeline, tell me truly. Did you manage to create Dragonwrought Mead?”
“Two bottles, actually” Kalthier once again recognized Eva’s tone of voice, he could picture the grin on her chubby face as she delivered what appeared to be devastating new to the dwarf.
“...How much”
“Well you see, I had two bottles but I ended up giving one of them to my ungrateful, vagabond, eavesdropping apprentice!”
Oh, shi…
*Thud*
A meat cleaver buried itself half an inch from Kalthier’s nose, cleaving through the door almost completely. Paralyzed like a frightful rabbit Kalthier didn’t move an inch until Eva opened the door. She looked happy, only not a good kind of happy, at least not were his future was concerned.
“Um, Hi….Err... I’m back?”
“Indeed you are….” The look in her eyes caused him to cringe and the pause in her speech made him fidget where he lay half-crouching in his eavesdropping behaviour.
“A piece of advice my faithful apprentice, the next time you want to sneak somewhere do make sure you are wearing something that doesn’t stink of blood, sweat and tears. I smelled you from a block away”
Eva hauled him to his feet and pulled him into the kitchen.
“This grumpy old dwarf is the renowned blacksmith of the east. Master Uldren.”
The dwarf sitting in the counter gave Kalthier a sloppy salute with a tankard and a murmured “Well met” but his eyes were laughing, most certainly at his unique, if messy, appearance.
“And this is my apprentice Drak- Kalthier”
Damn you, you were about to call me Draky weren't you? It was totally on purpose!
“Master Uldren here has agreed *Cough* Under duress *Cought To help equipping you with what is to be your official training uniform, although at this point a burlap sack would be an improvement”
Looking down at his torn, bloodied clothes Kalthier couldn’t help to agree with her. No wonder even his fans seemed to avoid him lately.
“Anyhow. Uldy, could you stop looking so gloom and take Kalthier here to your smithy and get him fitted? I need him back in training soon. Oh, and be nice and I might consider selling you that last bottle”
With that the dwarf’s eyes gained a fevered shine and grabbing Kalthier’s hand he forcibly dragged him towards the exit. Eva’s cheerful voice trailing behind them.
“Kalthier, you have the day off, enjoy your new outfit”
Now Kalthier was scared, any time Eva was this nice was when he did something bad, and why would some clothes require a master blacksmith’s help to equip. Visions of himself in chains and irons crowded his mind as he tried not to lose an arm to the dwarf running ahead of him at a remarkable pace considering his short legs.
As he tried to keep up a piece of the conversation he’d overheard came back to him and piecing together some pieces he came to a disturbing thought.
12.000 gold…. why didn't she just let me die! That devil woman probably wanted me in her debt, if only to increase her control over me.
The worst part of it was that, being half conscious at the time, Kalthier could only remember the Dragonwrought Mead in a haze of wonderment and pain.
If this guy finds out I not only drank it, but hardly even managed to taste it, he’ll kill me, or worse, decide to train me.
As they reached a five story building, a massive construction that seemed to be inspired by both an industrial factory and a medieval fortress. more shocking still was the amount of heat, smoke and noise coming from it.
Not pausing for a second after entering the imposing building and leaving behind a couple of bewildered sentries, Uldren pulled Kalthier all the way to the top floor, receiving numerous states of shock and wonderment from dozens of people, most of them dwarves, along the way.
After closing the door and locking it the dwarf finally addressed his capti- guest.
“When I heard Eva had an apprentice I felt sorry for ye, anyone would. After all, so far the only candidates for apprenticeship she received were the result of desperation, blackmail of lost bets. But anyone who gets to drink the fabled Dragonwrought Mead is most certainly blessed by the gods, hell, if i’d known she gave her apprentices such treatment I’ve jumped on the whole cooking business and never smith nother day in my life.”
Wrong! So wrong, they all went willingly and eager to learn, she just crushed them, i’d be surprised if any of them still cooks. And what are you, a recovering alcoholic who immersed himself in blacksmithing to get over it? Is that a Dwarven trait?
“Have you had some?”
The dwarf seemed obsessed with the dragon-whatever-the-hell-it’s-name-is, so asking the question was a polite way for Kalthier to confirm his suspicions.The dreamy expression that came over Uldren at the question was not a good sign.
“Once…. Years, no decades ago. It’s taste... nearly broke me. The fact that you are standing here. in front of me. instead of frothing at the mouth and begging Evangeline for another drop speaks highly of your self control and will. I can see why she chose you. Hell, if all half-dragons are like you I could use a couple to straighten my corrupted apprentices”
It wasn't that good, was it? I mean good mead, the best I've ever tasted even while unconscious but from this guy’s description it sounds more like heroin.
“Thank you master Uldren, that means a lot coming from you. I’ll be sure to send any of my kin I meet during my travels your way”
There, nice and diplomatic. Can’t handle another teacher.
“Heh, polite and pretty to boot. Don't worry, in a year she’ll have ye cursing like a drunken sailor and happy about it. Now, just sit right there and I’ll get yer stuff”
Sitting in in a majestic chair while the burly dwarf rummaged through a chest in the corner of the room Kalthier pondered about what the blacksmith said, trying to ignore both the pretty comment and the one about training with Eva for a year.
Either she lied to him about making the mead or about giving it to me. Seeing as she would never disgrace anything that has to do with cooking and the fact that the Dragon-mead-thingy seems to drive people mad with addiction, which I truly don’t feel. I believe she gave me something from the bottom shelf, then lied to the dwarf about it all in order for him to hold me in high regard?
While that was the most logical line of thought he could come up with it was Eva he was talking about, she just didn’t do things out of the kindness of her heart. She probably lied to them both so she could use them with ease.
A gruff voice behind him distracted him from the useless line of thought. Who knew how the demonic woman’s mind worked.
“Yer master request is something I’ve never done before, it required a tremendous amount of work and the help of a powerful enchantress, hell, if anyone else had asked me to do such a thing I’d’ve buried me hammer in their skull”
So it’s powerful but terrible or evil enough to make a master blacksmith shiver in remembrance? typical Eva, this is probably going to hurt. Damn!
“Give me yer hands”
Not really understanding what his hands had to do with clothes, but not wanting to antagonize the strong armed blacksmith Kalthier complied.
“I don’t know where she found out about this, but whoever invented it was a genius…. or mad. It should have stayed lost in the past”
Kalthier looked as Uldren took a silk pouch and one by one extracted ten black rings. They shined like pure obsidian, but instead of reflecting the light like precious stones are supposed to do these seemed to absorb it, giving the black rings a smoky quality.
“What are they made of?”
“Don’t know” Came the gruff reply. Uldren seemed pissed about it.
With that surprisingly terrifying answer the dwarf started to put a ring on each of Kalthier’s fingers, pushing them as far as they would go. They seemed to be custom made, for they fit each of his fingers perfectly. Magic most likely seeing as Uldren mentioned a enchantress.
Standing up the dwarf looked at him with a sorrowful, yet proud expression.
“Ye might want to stay sitting for the next part”
Alarms rang in Kalthier’s skull but as he moved to remove one of the rings he found it stuck to his finger. This move gave Uldren enough time to mutter the slow but powerful incantation.
Hearing the blacksmith talking in a strange language Kalthier saw as, from each of the ten rings now adoring his fingers, black smoke started to appear, slowly it started to move around his hand, covering it in smokey blackness.
Scared now, and certain that this was some sort of trap or test by Eva and Belgroth, Kalthier quickly rose to his feet, determined to get away from the dwarf before that smoke, whatever it was, did whatever it was supposed to.
As he stood Uldren finished the incantation and barked in a commanding voice “Sit down or yer gonna hurt yourself”
Now seeing the black smoke curl up his arms towards his torso, coating every inch of his arms apart from his fingers in the thick, dense vapor, Kalthier panicked.
“What did you do!? What is happening to my arms!?”
“They’re magic clothes lad, just relax and let it finish, it can’t be stopped anyway so sit down”
The feeling of the smoke slowly covering his body sent shivers down his back, it was now spreading towards his legs and circling around his back.
“What does this thing do? Why can’t I have normal-non-creepy clothes?” Kalthier moaned as the inky blackness continued to advance.
The smoke now covering every inch of his body from the neck down then started to condense, the bloody rags he was wearing disintegrating in the process. It felt surprisingly warm and, if he focused not all that different from silk.
Uldren, now wincing as he saw his dreadful creation coating the alarmed dragonling, tried to appease the young apprentice fears.
“Easy, easy, just let it finish. As far as clothes go these are among the best in the continent, nigh indestructible and environment friendly, they are a true masterpiece of craftsmanship and magic.”
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Hearing the description did indeed calm Kalthier but….
“What aren't you telling me”
“Ah, well, you see the-”
Before the dwarf could finish the smoke covering Kalthier’s body disappeared, or rather condensed to solid form, leaving him with a set of clothes that possessed the same smoky, black color.
These look aweso-
*Bang*
You have lost 50 Hitpoints. -50HP
Flat against the ground and with a bleeding nose Kalthier could do nothing but groan as something tried to bury him in the marble floor.
“....Clothes are enchanted to increase weight. What do you know about gravitational magic?”
*Groan*
“Exactly, right now your whole body, not to mention everything in you posses has effectively doubled in weight. Just focus on your body and with some effort you should be able to move”
Hearing the half-assed explanation Kalthier decided to check for himself as he tried to breath through the pressure now assaulting his lungs. Giving up on vocal command he tried a mental one.
*Grunt*
Item information
*Ghasp*
Modified Niflheim Empire Prisoner Outfit
Durability: ?/?
Defense: 6
This suit, once used to imprison the most powerful criminals that roamed the ancient Niflheim Empire, has been reforged using long lost forbidden techniques.
It uses a rare gravitational magic to severely restrict the user’s movement, Increasing the gravity that affects the user and everything they posses.
Modified by a master blacksmith and enchanter at the request of Evangeline Delacrux.
Some modifications include:
Actual bonuses in defense, granting a small measure of protection to the user.
Gravitational pull: A reduced form of the gravitational magic originally used for the prison, where it was rumored to be a thousand fold, ensuring complete imobility.
Soul Bind: Outfit binds and evolves* with user.
Grants Sneak skill, if user already has it lvl +1
Endure Elements: Adapts to weather conferring a very basic level of protection from the elements.
Clothing made from the suit will repair itself as the user is healed
Cursed
Equip:
+5 STR
+10 AGI
+5 END
Body weight and encumberance x2
Requirements:
Can only be equipped or unequipped by a skilled blacksmith (Advanced Blacksmithing Lvl 1 Required)
Further manipulation and information of the suit requires arcane knowledge.
*(Suit evolves with the user. All stats increase and new ones may appear)
(Is considered basic clothing and as such may wear any equipment over it)
(Ring slots per finger -1, can still wear multiple rings per finger as long as their effects stack.)
Now breathing easier, but by no means normal Kalthier started laughing. Feeling a dejected feeling of Deja-vu he wondered if all his future experiences in Eva’s care would entitle things like this. As his vision started to dim due to lack of oxygen he slowly stopped laughing, the effort such an action required crushing his spirits.
Slowly extending his awareness to his muscles Kalthier started to exert them, slowly starting to move them but making no effort to stand.
For close to two hours Kalthier just laid there, eyes closed as he felt how each and every one of his muscles felt and worked under the new-found strain. Once he was satisfied with the knowledge of how his muscles worked when laying down he strained and sweated until he was sitting down, almost falling on his face once again when unexpected clapping broke his concentration.
“Amazing, truly amazing, to be able to move under such conditions after such a short time, remarkable.”
Straining to keep his sitting position Kalthier forgot all about diplomacy.
“Uldren?”
“Aye?”
“Shut up”
Seeing the dwarf comply to his gasping request, talking was barely easier than laughing, Kalthier returned to the task at hand.
Once again Kalthier spent some time feeling his body, contracting and relaxing his muscles one at a time, getting the feel of how each of them worked under pressure.
Soon Kalthier found himself standing, breathing heavily and sweating profusely but with a grin on his face. Soon he started on a new experimentation. Feeling how his muscles, joints, tendons and ligaments worked, what every movement required and how to perform it using the least amount of effort. For hours Kalthier worked on this, only stopping to turn off the system notifications they disrupted his concentration.
Somehow, no matter what position he was in, the part of his body was touching the ground received constant blunt damage. More than that, it seemed to suspiciously and perfectly offset his health regeneration. The pain however was surprisingly easy to ignore.
Day off my ass, twelve hours and I haven’t moved from this spot.
Keeping on his trance like experimentation he was surprised when a message broke through his settings as everything from damage to stats gained was being ignored.
You have gained a new Skill: Body Awareness. Beginner Lvl 1 (0%)
Now capable of laboured speaking Kalthier spoke with a smile.
"Skill info…. Body Awareness…."
Body Awareness. Beginner Lvl 1 (0%) (Passive)
Due to your instinctive knowledge of how every piece of your body moves and works you are able to increase it’s effectiveness.
Different types of awareness provide different bonuses.
Movement: You are able to remove unnecessary movements and effort from your actions gaining fluidity and speed to your movements while reducing the stamina required to perform them.
Movement speed +5%
Attack Speed +5%
Stamina consumption -5%
(Deeper knowledge, being instinctive or instructed of how your body works provides more varied bonuses)
Extremely happy with his new skill and now more comfortable with his movements Kalthier decided to distract himself as he moved and worked his body, feeling strange when he discovered he could move his tail with much less effort that the rest of his body, probably due to the fact that he was still not used to it and mostly moved it unconsciously, for the first time he realized how strong his new appendage was.
Seeing the awestruck dwarf that had somehow remained in absolute silence for the last six hours Kalthier homed in on his distraction as he wagged his tail and tried some yoga stretching.
“Explain”
“Well, first of all ye should know that I didn't have much of a choice in the matter, what would you do if our roles were reversed?” It was a useless question, everyone obeyed Eva of faced the consequences.
“The suit is designed to make everything you do harder, allowing you to grow at an exponential rate….If you can move enough to do something in the first place”
Damn, I hate it when they do something evil to me and it works, now I really can’t complain about this bloody suit, that skill alone is worth months of training.
“Could’ve…. warned me” Talking was still hard and his voice was deeper, his vocal chords stretching under the twofold gravity.
To his surprise the dwarf laughed, a deep rumbling sound that seemed to come from the earth itself.
“Ah, lad. Only Eva’s apprentice could put on such a cursed object and only be mildly annoyed”
Hearing this Kalthier realized it was true. The suit sucked and it was a torture device on itself and yet, he didn’t particularly mind, not even enough for his Bloodlust Aura to activate. The fact that Eva could go to such extremes against after only a week, and that he would just take with a shrug did piss him off, activating the traitorous skill that until that point didn't seem to mind the curse inflicted on him.
Uldren flinched as his comment seemed to enrage the young half-dragon. Thinking on his feet he quickly opened a cabinet door, revealing a full-length mirror.
“Look, before the guards come storming through the door, just look at yourself!”
With small steps and some effort Kalthier turned until he was looking at the mirror.
“Woa...”
Having only had a brief look before Kalthier had so far only noticed the main details. Now though he could see that the suit had created individual pieces of clothing, all made of the same inky dark material but to the naked eye appearing to be something completely different. A long-sleeved ‘cotton’ shirt covered his torso, if he focused Kalthier realized that it actualy felt like cotton, moving his hands to one of the buttons he left nothing but sleek wood. The shirt was covered by a ‘leather’ vest, the dark color giving it a truly unique colour and yet retaining all the qualities of regular leather. On his hips rested a leather belt containing the daggers that were previously in his inventory and under them a pair of simple leggings that, while appearing to be extremely thin leather, allowed for near perfect mobility, plus they had a whole on the back for his tail to pass through.
Resting his fingerless leather gloves on the pommels of his dagger Kalthier took his time to absorb his image. Everything was the same deep, smoky black and yet every piece of clothing was easily distinguishable. Together with his red skin, horns and tail the suit made him look like pretty badass (Ignoring the appearance of said appendages not to mention his face. Badass looking Draky is still cute. Denial is a wonderful thing)
Grinning at the sight Kalthier turned towards the blacksmith. Bloodlust Aura now completely gone.
“Not bad huh?”
“For now you will have to wear it as it is, latter you can learn to control it, reverting whatever piece of clothing you wish to remove into smoke and sending it back into the rings. you can also create new shapes and clothing from it. The effects I'm afraid, won't differ no matter which form you make it into.”
“So I can end up with nothing but the rings?”
“Yeah. That reminds me, in order to control the suit you will need to learn how to manipulate the smoke since since the suit is, in effect, magic. As soon as you feel like walking go to the library and ask old Pleandra for books on mana manipulation, after you have the skill come back here and I’ll ask the woman who helped me with the suit teach you the affinity to control the suit.”
Kalthier spent a couple of hours getting used to the new gravity. Falling on his ass and face multiple times when he tried extravagant moves, much to Uldren’s amusement. The dwarf seemed determined not to let him out of his sight until Kalthier could move properly or at least exit the room unaided. That however, didn’t stop him from laughing his ass off as Kalthier fell on his.
Having blocked the stat gain and damage messages Kalthier could only judge his progress by how it felt to move around. When Kalthier started practicing moves and stances with his daggers Uldren started telling him stories of drunken escapades in his younger days and how Eva was a saint compared to his master of old.
“Well lad, since I was part of this whole mess and seeing as you will be wearing that thing for a long time I have an offer to make you”
Turning towards the blacksmith in a jerky but surprisingly fast motion, Kalthier almost jumped in joy, thinking that Uldren was going to promise to remove the rings after a certain time or something like it.
“As you saw only a blacksmith with advanced skills may remove those rings safely and, as such, I will happily teach you my skills so that one day you may remove it yourself. Otherwise I believe Eva will forever deny you the chance”
Another teacher…. Fuck!
Not seeing much of a choice and taking the slim chance of hope that was extended to him Kalthier agreed.
Chapter 4 END
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Well, i'm trying to adapt the chapter length to match a scene. But please, let me know weather you guys prefer longer or shorter chaps as I can adapt what I've already written to the consensus as I edit it.
This bit of the story is turning up a bit longer than i'd planed so the planed (and written) side chapter will have to be delayed until it fits chronologically.
Once again any thoughts and advice are heavily welcomed.
Hope you enjoyed reading it as much as i did writing it.
{[999aba}] "Nevermore"
PS: To anyone interested the infinity sign is written in windows as ATL+236 ????