Chapter 9: Civilization

The cursing following my respawn was loud enough to draw any and every Rimefang inhabiting the forest.

You died. As you have died to a player, you will not receive any experience penalties.

You dropped {Rimefang Scythe} 1x

You dropped {Tundra wolf Flank Steak} x1

You dropped {Copper} x19

Reading these notifications only caused my cursing to become more creative. Taking a breath, I looked at my other alerts.

Your skill in One handed Swords has increased to Novice: 5.

Your skill in Evasion has increased to Novice: 5.

Your skill in Leather Armor has increased to Novice: 3.

Your skill in Leather Armor has increased to Novice: 4.

Your ability Peerless Rhythm has increased to Novice: 3.

Your ability Blade Manifestation has increased to Novice: 2.

You gained 48 experience.

You have Leveled up to level 4!

You have gained 8 free skill points!

Welcome to level 4!

My mood having improved minutely, my eyes flicked to a notification that appeared over my social tab.

I opened Sera’s message.

“Hey Locke, sorry for the late reply, I've been quite busy making sure things have been running smoothly. Unfortunately, I can’t be too specific with my answers, but it’s definitely possible!”

I typed a quick thanks, and considered where to allocate my stat points. Remembering the usefulness of Blade Manifestation, and also the moment I had run out of mana, I put 6 points into Intelligence, and 2 into wisdom. My mana now sitting at 90, I would always be able to cast 3 Blade Manifestations in a fight at the very least, likely one or two more.

Finally taking a real look at my surroundings, I realized I had resurrected at a small graveyard, tombstones covered in ice and snow surrounding me. Turning around, I noticed that I was standing on a grave, and I hurried to get off the person's resting place. Glancing at the tombstone I tensed, it read “Locke” in glowing letters. After a few seconds of staring, the letters flickered and disappeared, leaving a blank tombstone.

Creepy..

I exited the graveyard, with absolutely no idea where to go from here. Mind wandering, I thought about my death. Immediately I felt a very light tugging towards the forest in what was seemingly a random direction. This must be some kind of corpse finding mechanic I thought. I banished the idea of returning to my corpse, there was no chance they had left any of my dropped items, least of all the sword. Although… it would make it easier to navigate if I found the river again.

But no, the risk of encountering those three.. well, not three. At least not for a while. I thought, smiling.

I chose a direction opposite from where I was being tugged, and began crunching through the snow at a steady jog. The tree’s shadows stretched long across the pale snow, potentially hiding enemies in their blanket of darkness. I thought it had only been a few moments between my death and resurrection, but the twilight was nearly at an end. My pace quickened as an instinctive fear led me to question what the dark might hold. Only a few more minutes into my journey, the sun had fallen below the horizon, lowering the temperature noticeably.

The moon provided precious little light through the curtain of trees, and so I navigated the black landscape with reckless abandon. My racing thoughts ground to a halt as the crunch of my steps changed to the smack of leather on tile. I stopped, considering my surroundings. The faint moonlight shone off an ornamental metal fence, strangely bare of snow. I walked towards the fence, hope kindling in my heart. Surely someone lived here.

A very quiet sound reached my ears, the scratch of metal on stone. I squinted past the fence, hoping to see light flooding from an opening door. And while no light shone, the grinding sound slowly grew louder, and I thought I could make out sparks flying on the stone maybe 30 yards away. Hairs on my neck standing on end, I took a few hurried steps away from the fence.

Without warning, the sparks swiftly grew in intensity, accompanied by the sound of heavy footsteps on stone. Curiosity overpowering my apparently malfunctioning survival instincts, I tried to make out with my eyes what only my ears could pick up previously.

“Hello..?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper.

The fountain of showering sparks illuminated a massive metal object as the shape approached.

The silhouette of a massive figure backlit against the night sky, and with one final shower of sparks, he swung the massive object onto his shoulder.

I don’t think I'm supposed to be here.

I turned, nearly stumbling as I sprinited into the trees, heart pounding. A thunderous roar broke the silence of the night, sounding entirely inhuman.

I didn't look back as I fled, jumping over tree roots that I could barely make out in the dim light. No heavy footsteps flattened the snow behind me, so hopefully that thing was unable to leave the fenced area.

In the distance I spotted a small orange light. I cautiously allowed myself to become hopeful once more, homing in on the faint glow.

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After a couple more minutes of running through the forest, only suffering a few faceplants, the source of the light became clearer.

Brazier’s burned on top of a thick wooden wall in the near distance, whose light illuminated patrolling figures. The walls were around twice my height, and the gaps in the gate's small portcullis shown with light from inside.

I approached the wall, and clearing my throat, yelled up at the patrolling guards.

“Uhm, Hello? Can I come in?”

The guards stiffened, obviously they had not noticed my approach until I spoke.

“Celuvian, is that you?” A gruff voice asked.

It seemed they thought I was a civilian or something.

“No, my name's Locke. I'm an adventurer passing by, looking for a place to stay.”

“We can’t open the gate before sunrise. No exceptions.” the same voice answered.

A figure next to the speaker whispered a few words into his ear. I heard the first voice mutter a reply, but couldn’t make it out. They spoke in loud whispers for a few moments, before the initial speaker turned back to face me.

Muttering to himself, the man massaged his forehead.

“Alright, you can come in. Just don’t cause any trouble, or we’ll have a nice little chat.”

After a few moments, the portcullis retreated upwards just enough for me to squeeze under.

Remembering my racial passive, I pulled the hood over my head, blanketing my face in shadow. Leather armor covered the rest of my skin almost entirely. Maybe if NPC’s couldn’t tell I was a Demifiend, I wouldn’t have a lower base reputation with them. A guard approached me.

“Hi Stranger, sorry about Grouwth. He’s a little stern, but he means well.” Recognizing his voice as the one who had vouched for me, I replied.

“It's no problem at all, thanks for convincing him to let me in by the way, names Locke”

He smiled, motioning for me to follow him.

“Of course, and I’m Sevanimelyn! I know it's a little bit of a mouthful though, so Sev will do. Anyways, it’s pretty late, let me show you to an inn.”

Seeing no problem with getting a bite to eat and a place to sleep, I followed wordlessly.

After a few minutes of comfortable silence we arrived at a cozy looking building, which seemed to be constructed of the wood I had spent the last hour wandering through.

Sev opened the door, standing to one side to let me pass. I nodded in thanks, and walked into the warmly lit building. The mood was lively, more than a dozen people laughing over drinks. No one seemed to notice our entry, as most eyes were focused on a man with a stringed instrument playing a jovial song in a corner, tapping his feet to the rhythm.

Making our way to the bar, a mountain of a man looked up, and greeted Sev.

“How's it going Sev, reeled another one in, did ya?” replied the man in a surprisingly gentle baritone, a wide smile breaking out across his face.

“I couldn’t let our premiere Innkeep down, could I?” Sev said, smiling back.

“He’s an adventurer who happened across our quaint town by chance, not ten minutes ago.”

“I see,” the Inkeep said, “Then I suppose you’ll want some grub, and a place to stay?”

“I would very much appreciate both”

“Wonderful, I'm Arcis by the way” he said, holding out a hand that nearly doubled my own in size.

I shook it, and looked over at Sev.

“Arcis’ll take good care of you! And welcome to Terris.” Sev said, “Oh! And come find me tomorrow if you have the itch to earn some coin.”

I nodded my agreement, and he strolled through the inn, greeting some of the patrons on his way out.

Turning back, Arcis had disappeared. After a few minutes of admiring the skill of the musician, Arcis returned, bearing a plate full of roasted vegetables and meat.

“What kind of drink can I get ya?” Arcis asked.

“Water is fine.” I said, smiling. I was not willing to risk a debilitating hangover the next morning.

Not yet at least

Arcis popped back through the swinging door, and I took some copper out of my inventory.

“How much for the meal and room by the way?” I asked, proffering a few coins.

He set a wooden tankard down, and replied.

“Food comes with the room lad, and that’s usually 5 coppers.”

“Although..” he said, scratching his stubble, “I’ve actually been having a problem recently with some nasty vermin, if you’d like to help.” Arcis asked.

A prompt popped up in my vision.

New Quest: Rodents of Unusual Size

Description: Clear out the rodents in Arcis’s basement.

Rewards: A week's Room and board at Arcis’s establishment.

Accept or Decline

My first quest! I thought in triumph. I accepted the quest, there was no way I’d decline such an easy mission. Besides, I was starting to like Arcis and didn’t want to ruin his opinion of me.

“Of course I'll help, just tell me where to find them.”

“I can respect the eagerness lad, but no, not yet. You eat your fill and get a good night's rest, then talk to me when you’re ready in the morning.” he said.

I nodded, and began to eat. The food was surprisingly flavorful, and I hurried to finish it. Daedalus Onlines predecessors all had one thing in common, and that was the way they implemented taste. The best they could manage was creating spikes of specific flavors, like salty, sweet, bitter, or sour. There were no flavor profiles, no nuance to food. I could taste the blending of different spices in the meat, as well as the roasty flavor of the vegetables.

It did not take long for me to finish my meal, and so I thanked Arcis and retired. Examining the key Arcis had given me as I walked up the stairs to my room, I thought about my plans for the future.

I hoped Terris would serve as a base of operations for my early leveling. It could act as a hub to obtain new quests, buy new equipment, and not least of all, sleep. I’d attempt the quest I'd gotten from Arcis tomorrow, as well as talk to Sev about his thinly veiled quest proffering.

A plaque with a nine carved into it marked my room. Unlocking the door, I discovered the space inside was small but homely. A large bed lay in one corner of the room, with a small desk in the other. At the foot of the bed lay a small chest, presumably to store belongings.

I walked over to the bed, and then a thought struck me.

Did I actually need to sleep..?

I shot Sera a quick message, and to my surprise, she replied after only a few seconds.

“Hey Locke! You don’t need to sleep every night, though you should know that your mind will begin to muddy after about a week in the pod without resting ingame or otherwise.

I thanked her for her quick reply, and began to leave the room.

Warning, you are leaving a rented room without having set a resurrection point.

I frowned, stopping in the doorway. Turning, I walked back over to the bed. Resting a hand on the bed, I immediately received another system notification.

Set resurrection point?

Accept Or Decline

Warning, this resurrection point will be lost upon failure to pay for room.

I mentally selected accept, and the bed glowed red for a moment, fading quickly.

Walking down the stairs, I stopped as Arcis spotted me.

“Damn adventurers can’t go three hours without finding some danger to put themselves in.” he muttered good naturedly.

I smiled, and approached.

“Yea… It seems I'm a bit restless tonight.”

“I don’t suppose you’d like to start my little mission then, would ya?”

I nodded.

“It seems the beasties have found a way into my cellar around back.” he said, nodding off to one side. “The provisions I've stored for tough times are down there, and I don’t appreciate them nibbling at it. Only trouble is, when I went down to get rid of ‘em, I couldn’t find how they’re getting in. No holes in the trap door, and it seals itself pretty well. If you could go take a look down there for me, I’d appreciate it greatly.”

I agreed, and he handed me an unlit torch and another key, this one to the cellar.