SUMMONERS TALE
Seated at a table in the village tavern, Godric flipped through a book with his left hand while his right was used to eat the small meal of bread and soup. While he had 10 rye bread in his inventory, the bread was quite distasteful and bland, he'd much rather pay the 15 coppers for a meal at the tavern than eat that bread. The meal was much tastier than his rye bread and buying it provided him with a warm place to sit and read, it was night outside and the large trees blocked out what little moonlight there was so he couldn't read using the natural light.
'Hah, if my friends could see me now.' Godric chuckled, shaking his head in amusement. 'I'm actually paying money in order to have a place to sit and read.'
In the past, he'd quite detested reading and studying, books were an annoyance to him as he would much rather spend his time playing games or hanging out with friends. Having spent the last three years studying hard in order to earn his capsule, he'd picked up a bit of an enjoyment for reading, not so much that he preferred it to other activities but enough so that he could sit down and read a good book with no complaints.
It also helped that the information provided in these books could come in handy in the future, reading about magic and battle was fun and all but knowing that you could one day wield that very magic and participate in such battles? That filled him with indescribable enjoyment, one that made reading his library books fast and easy.
The rise in stats didn't hurt either.
Intellect has increased by 1.
Neither did the skill he'd picked up after finishing his three books and borrowing a couple from the small shelf the tavern provided for entertainment purposes.
Skill: You learned Reading Comprehension.
Reading Comprehension (Beginner Level 1 | 14%)
Increases the speed with which you acquire information through reading.
* Comprehension speed is dependent on player skill level and intellect.
* Mana Cost: 10 mp.
This was one of the more interesting skills he'd read about, it was easy to gain as you simply had to read 10 books within a short amount of time but it had great rewards. The skill leveled quickly as you simply had to read to level it and once it reached mastery, it was possible to read an entire book with a single touch. Unfortunately, using the skill wouldn't be the same as actually reading the books, he would only be able to gain any skills or quests tied to the books, he actually had to read the book to know the information contained within.
Regardless, this would be really helpful in raising his stats, if he spent as much time as possible reading to level the skill, he could max it out and use the maxed out skill to 'read' every book in the library. At the very least, he would use it on all the books and only waste time reading books that were specifically tied to magic.
'This might be easier than I first thought.' Godric grinned, closing the last book on his table. 'I might even finish before my 4 weeks are up.'
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"I see you received the capsule." a deep male voice spoke up, interrupting the silence that had previously permeated the room.
"Yes dad." Alexander replied in a low tone, using his fork to slide his meal around his plate.
"Don't waste all of your time with that thing." a feminine voice added, light but stern. "You surprised us with your grades and I expect you to keep doing well and enter a respectable college."
"Yes mom." Alex sighed.
His relationship with his parents could only be described as distant at best, they were often at work or traveling for business so he often spent much of his time alone, even when they were at home they were locked up in their respective studies. Sad to say, he had more memories of time spent with babysitters than he did of his parents, not the best of childhoods.
"Good, now stop playing with your food Alexander."
"Yes mom."
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-To Tristan, Steven and Paul: Hey, my capsule came this morning and I played a bit today, made an elf in Kur Kingdom like I planned.
Sending the text message, Alexander skimmed through a couple Royal Road forums as he awaited a response.
Bring!
The fast response didn't surprise him, his three best friends were usually free at this time so they could quickly answer his texts.
-From Paul: Nice man, about time lol. Anyways, I'm leveling my warrior's blacksmithing in Thor Kingdom, account number is 599872 so add me to friends.
Alex smiled as he memorized the short number, his friend Paul had bought the game quite a while ago, he could only play sparingly due to school and work but he'd managed to get his dwarven warrior up to level 105, not too high but it was a decent enough level. Seeing as Alex was just starting, Paul and the others had put their leveling aside and were focusing on their crafting skills, this would give him time to catch up and they would be able to improve their crafting skills.
-From Tristan: Cool, I'm still questing in Brent but we can meet up when you can leave town, can do some power leveling to get you up when you're done.
-From Tristan: Oh, my id is 365338, add me.
Tristan's id number was added to a digital note along with Pauls, he would be able to access it once he logged in and add them to his friends list. Much like Paul, Tristan had started playing Royal road a while ago, his avatar was a level 113 human priest, a very useful support class when it comes to monster hunts and dungeon crawls.
-From Steven: Aight, my id is 943120, I'm near the border of Brent and Kur so we can meet up when you finish.
The last text was from his friend Steven, the highest level in their small group with a level 117 human archer, he was taking the time to work on his woodworking which would allow him to make stronger bows and arrows in the future.
-To Tristan, Steven and Paul: I'll add you guys as soon as I'm online, gonna focus on work and RR for the next week so you guys probably wont see me for a while.
Pressing send, Alex shut off his laptop and tossed the cell on his bed, tomorrow was another day off so he could stay up and play for as long as he wanted.
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As his first in-game week came to a close, Godric couldn't help but feel proud of his progress. He'd spent as much time as possible in the town library, reading through reams and reams of text in order to raise his stats and skills, he'd actually managed to finish an entire bookshelf worth of books. Not only did he gain a big boost to his mental stats, he'd also gained another new skill from one of the more interesting books, a skill that he planned to level as it would become quite useful in the future.
[quart=Character Name,Race]Godric,High Elf[/quart][quart=Alignment,Level]None,1[/quart][quart=Profession,Title]None,None[/quart]
Character Stats
Fame
0
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[quart=Health,Stamina]80,80[/quart]
Mana
320
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[quart=Strength,Agility]8,11[/quart][quart=Wisdom,Intellect]28,32[/quart]
Vitality
8
Luck
0
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[quart=Attack,Defense]2,0[/quart]
Magic Resistance
0
The points in intellect gave him quite a boost in mana, while the boost in wisdom helped him pick up new skills, the higher he raised his wisdom, the more skills he could pick up from his reading.
Skill: You learned Enchanting.
Enchanting (Beginner Level 1 | 0%)
Allows you to imbue mana into objects in order to give them special properties.
* Imbued properties are dependent on players wisdom and crafting component.
* Mana cost: Dependent on skill level and difficulty of enchantment.
He expected to pick up more skills in the future, especially with his wisdom rising and his Reading Comprehension skill gaining in levels.
Reading Comprehension (Beginner Level 5 | 84%)
Increases the speed with which you acquire information through reading.
* Comprehension speed is dependent on player skill level and intellect.
* Mana Cost: 10 mp.
All in all, things were looking good.
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"Have you finished another one Mr. Godric?" a familiar voice asked from his side. "That's quite a lot of books you've read, are you looking for something in particular?"
"Ah, Ms. Selena, hello." Godric quickly replied, he'd built some intimacy with the librarian over the past week but it wasn't much, just enough for her to remember his name and that he returned all his books on time. "I'm not looking for anything in particular, I'm just studying for when I select my profession."
"Oh?" the librarian asks, raising a brow in question as she glanced over the small stack of books on the desk. "I notice that you always read about the same topics, have you already decided on a profession then?"
Godric quirked a brow in confusion, the woman usually ignored him after a small greeting, she was unusually talkative today.
'Could this be a quest?' Godric wondered as this had all the classic signs of an incoming quest. 'I might have to refuse it, I don't need money and this will only get in the way of my stat grinding.'
"Yeah I have," Godric replied, deciding to move things along. "I'm planning to become a summoner."
"A summoner, how exciting!" Selena cheered, looking excited for a moment before her expression became troubled and she mumbled. "Perhaps if it's Mr. Godric..."
'Definitely a quest then.' Godric sighed. "Yes? Is there something wrong Ms. Selena?"
"Ah, yes." the woman replied, seemingly coming to a decision. "Did you hear about the passing of the hermit?"
"Er.. no, I haven't." Godric replied, he hadn't heard anything about this at all.
"It happened quite some time ago, the hermit living on the edge of the forest passed away, he was once a mage of some renown." the librarian explained, taking a seat across from him. "Having visited this building quite a lot over the years, he was grateful enough to will us his collection of rare tomes."
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"Oh, how fortunate." Godric replied, more enthused about this quest now, books that once belonged to a mage were just what he was looking for.
"Yes, it was." Selena continued with a slight frown. "Unfortunately, the guards delivering the collection of books were attacked by bandits and the books were stolen."
"Oh, that's a pity, I was about to ask if I could read one those books." Godric sighed, it was pretty easy to guess where this was going.
"I thought you would want to, that's why I hope you'll listen to my request." Selena replied, perking up. "If it's Mr. Godric, I'm sure you will become a mage of some regard and you can recover the stolen books."
[p=center]The Stolen Books[/p]
Before his death, the hermit mage Santos willed his collection of rare books to the Casak Public Library. Unfortunately, the delivery of the book collection was interrupted by the Black Suns Bandit Gang and the rare tomes stolen. The Casak village librarian, Selena, has asked that you recover these stolen books and return them to the library.
Difficulty Level: E
Quest Requirement: Read at least 100 books in the Casak Public Library.
Do you accept?
"I accept." Godric spoke up, brow furrowed in thought.
The Black Suns was a relatively small bandit mob that spawned deeper into the forest, there were often quests to eradicate them but the gang always found some way to reform, a common monster mob. The problem however, was that the average bandit was level 30, the commanders were around level 35 and the leader was level 50.
This was not a quest that he could handle anytime soon. Which was good, he had a goal to work towards and with the high levels, the reward would be well worth it.
You have accepted the quest!
"Thank you Mr. Godric, I'll leave it to you." Selena replied with a cheerful smile.
"Don't mention it."
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"Oi kid, take this over to Marlene." a gruff voice called out, surprising him and causing him to spin around, only to sigh as he recognized the owner of the voice as his direct supervisor Roy.
Having worked in the small department store for two years, Alex was on a somewhat friendly basis with the other man, they didn't speak much or meet outside of work but Roy treated him respectfully and Alex worked a tad bit harder whenever he was scheduled with the man.
"Sure thing Roy," Alex replied, taking the clipboard from the other man and leaving his section of the store, Marlene was the manager in charge of women's clothing which was located on the other end of the store from Roy's electronics department.
As he passed groups of shoppers and individual employees, Alex couldn't help but sigh.
'Four more hours and I can go home and play Royal road.'
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The time had finally come, at long last his four weeks were up and Godric could finally leave the village.
The last three weeks had been long and sometimes boring but he'd manage to meet his goal, his mental stats had been boosted by a total of 50 points, the absolute maximum he could acquire through reading, then they had been boosted even higher from leveling many of his skills. Now, the only way to boost his intellect and wisdom would be through items, skills, quests or a great deal of spell casting.
Still, it was quite the worthwhile endeavor, his current intellect and wisdom were on par with those of a level 13 character, his other stats were lacking but for a mage he was well ahead of the pack.
[quart=Character Name,Race]Godric,High Elf[/quart][quart=Alignment,Level]None,1[/quart][quart=Profession,Title]None,None[/quart]
Character Stats
Fame
0
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[/hr]
[quart=Health,Stamina]80,80[/quart]
Mana
790
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[quart=Strength,Agility]8,14[/quart][quart=Wisdom,Intellect]64,79[/quart]
Vitality
8
Luck
0
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[/hr]
[quart=Attack,Defense]2,0[/quart]
Magic Resistance
0
In addition to the boost in stats, he'd also learned a score of new skills but many of them he'd been forced to delete in order to make room for skills geared towards his future profession as profession-less characters could only learn a maximum of 10 skills. It had been a time filled with many tough decisions and he'd found himself stumped at points as there were many useful and interesting skills in those books but Godric felt quite satisfied with his choices.
A good bonus he'd found was that books pertaining to skills he already had would provide him with experience in that skill, using Reading Comprehension to 'read' every book in the library had netted him quite a lot of experience points with his current skills.
Woodworking (Beginner Level 3 | 72%)
Enables you to carve wooden weapons such as bows and arrows, staves, wands, etc.
* Requires a carving knife.
Reading Comprehension (Intermediate Level 8 | 72%)
Increases the speed with which you acquire information through reading.
* Comprehension Speed: 800 words/min.
* Increase intellect by 1 for each skill level.
* Mana Cost: 50 mp.
Enchanting (Beginner Level 4 | 90%)
Allows you to imbue mana into objects in order to give them special properties.
* Imbued properties are dependent on players wisdom and crafting component.
* Increases wisdom by 1 for each skill level.
* Mana cost: Dependent on skill level and difficulty of enchantment.
Tailoring (Beginner Level 3 | 23%)
Allows you to craft cloth and leather armor, as well as enhance them.
* Requires needle and thread.
Gem Cutting (Beginner Level 3 | 2%)
Used to cut, shape and polish gems for a variety of uses.
* Requires carving knife, polishing kit.
Gem Faceting (Beginner Level 1 | 94%)
Allows you to facet gems to objects using magic, mainly used with weapons and armor.
* Faceted gems can sometimes grant effects.
* Can be used in conjugation with enchanting skill to grant special enchantments to weapons and armor.
* Mana Cost: 100 mp.
Alchemy (Beginner Level 4 | 14%)
Allows the creation of potions through the mixing of materials.
* Requires potion crafting table.
Cooking (Beginner Level 4 | 47%)
Allows you to cook meals through the mixing of ingredients.
* Requires cooking fire.
Herb Gathering (Beginner Level 8 | 56%)
Used to gather herbs and allows you to tell poisonous plants from edible plants.
* Herbs have different uses depending on their color.
Detect Trap (Beginner Level 3 | 15%)
Can be used to seek out physical and magical traps.
* Trap detection is dependent on player skill level and agility.
* Increases agility by 1 for each skill level.
* Detection Range: 3 meters around user.
* Mana Cost: 75 mp
All in all, it was quite the lucky haul, especially the skills that were normally class specific like Detect Trap or required prerequisite skills to learn like Cooking and Gem Cutting which normally required beginner 3 Handicraft skill to learn from their respective guilds. Taking the time to read every book in the library had been well worth it.
'And now I can finally gain my class and do some actual hunting.' Godric grinned, making his way down the street.
Following his pre-made plans, he was headed to the Mages Tower to pick up the Mage class as Summoner class required much higher intellect and wisdom, not to mention that it was only taught in a few of the major cities, of which Casak Forest was not. Following that, he planned to drop by the merchants district for some decent equipment before heading out the village gates, a couple weeks grinding on rabbits, foxes and wolves would get him the levels required to join a bandit hunting party, then he could complete Selena's quest and reap the rewards.
It would be so much easier if he could get one of his friends to help but they were all busy and he wasn't a big fan of leeching, sure he would do it to gain levels but he much preferred working hard for his experience point.
With his plans in order, Godric continued towards the mages guild, the first step on his grand adventure.
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