Tec Mage Chapter Twenty Five: Exam and Dungeon Diving

Ben had taken a break from his counterpart in game character and gotten a good nights rest and a meal before his exam was due, he needed to have a clear and stable mind before he left for his exam and rest was what Loki had suggested

Ben's character Atlas would be away from Dracken, Mary and the gnolls for 8 in game days and he didn't want those days to go to waste, one of the things Atlas had asked Mary and Dracken to do was to teach the gnolls the identification skill by using a pyramid scheme, by teaching 5 gnolls the identification skill they would go and teach a different 5 gnolls per gnoll and continue in till all the gnolls had learned it, Atlas had came to the conclusion that the identifying skill was the most widely used, from blacksmiths to sculptors they all needed to know what they were working with, even adventures who wandered the world would have a hard time if they couldn't identify safe vegetation to eat and heal their wounds

Back in real life Ben had put on his coat grabbed his details for his exam, picked up his keys and left for the leisure centre, the centre wasn't anything special, it was used for important events, sports advents and was hired out for business meetings but ever since Royal Road had entered main stream people had lost interest in it, why hold a meeting in a old centre when you could dive in to Royal Road and hold a meeting at one of the most grand building in the game for a small fee, not only that but a person didn't even need to be in the same country to talk face to face and shake hands and because of these reasons and many more most leisure centre had been turned in to day cares for children, but not today

The building it self had two floors, the 2nd floor was where paper work and the offices for the people who worked there was kept and so was out of bounds but the first floor was where Ben would take his test, when he entered the reception room to give his details he was meet with a stern looking middle age women

"Details" demanded the women

Ben handed over the list of information about him without delay, the women had a briskness about her that made people dislike her but a sort of negative charm that made you do what she asked immediately

"Do you know about the capsules that the Unicorn Corporation makes and use in the game royal road" asked the women receptionist without looking up

Ben was wandering where this line of questioning was going but none the less he answered quickly so not to anger the stern women "yes, i know of the capsules and how they work"

"Good, good, that saves me explain how they work, the Unicorn Corporation has modified their capsules for the government and the government are doing small test all around the country using the capsules for exams" the women explained

It turned out that the exam would be taken in a capsule, it made sense to Ben, if Royal Road time difference was the same as the exam's capsule then the 2 hour exam would be over in 30 minutes, Ben also heard that the capsules and the program used in royal road was near impossible to hack and it wasn't far fetched idea that the program and capsule would be used for other important things such as exams, after all Ben had read on the web that Unicorn Corporation hand their fingers in many pies, Ben had a little chuckle in his mind, if anyone managed to successfully hack the program then they would be sent to jail or be hired by Unicorn Corporation with a substantial fee

Ben was lead to a fairly large hall, along the walls were paintings that children had painted and tables that held toys, in the centre of the hall was three Unicorn Corporation capsules, Ben climbed in to one of the capsules and laid there waiting, after 5 minutes the door leading to the hall opened and in walked two people that were fidgeting, by there body language Ben could see that they were nervous and most likely to be taking the test, following behind them was the receptionist

The two people that had just walked in also climbed in to their capsule, judging that they didn't have any trouble getting in and positioned them self Ben made the deduction that they had there own capsule

"PAY ATTENTION" shouted the receptionist "when you enter the virtual world you will be given 5 minutes to accommodate your self to the world, then a bell will ring to signifier the beginning of the test

Ben listened carefully, any little detail that he missed could cause him to doubt and question what to do in the VR and that would waste time in the exam but there wasn't much to listen to

The receptionist started to fiddle around with the controls and with out warning Ben was sucked in to the VR with a blinding light, when Ben's eyes started to adjust he found him self standing in a small room with a single window and a old type desk standing alone in the centre of the room

This was a little bit like Royal Road except much cheaper feeling, there was no noise except a ticking from a clock on the wall and the smell in the room didn't even exist, the room was also too clean, no dust was floating in the air or was on the window

The window it self was a single plain and the view was a field of grass as far as the eye could see under a blue sky with no clouds

The whole place was for one reason and that was to take a exam, by keeping it simple with hardly any details the program for this exam could be changed so different exams could be taken and being a simple program it was cheaper and easier to defend from cheats and viruses

Ben was captured by the view of the grass plains and blue sky, it had a simple beauty to it, almost something like true freedom, the bell started to ring and Ben was drawn back to the room, on the table in the room a paper had appeared with a pen

Ben sat at the table quickly as not to waste any time, one of the advise that his tutor Loki gave him was to read the paper through first and then start answering the questions, the other advise was never to leave a question unanswered, even a wrong answer was better than leaving it blank, you never know it might be correct

As Ben read trough the paper he started to fell at ease, the 2nd advise wouldn't be needed as he felt he knew all the answers

Two hours in game went in a flash and Ben was on his way home, the test felt easy but it was down to being tutored for 6 hours a day for 3 months in royal road with a tutor who knew the subject, Ben had been awake for 5 hours after having a good night sleep and still felt refreshed, he rushed home to get back on Royal road and tell Loki what had happened

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As Atlas log back in to the game he was bombarded with messages

Simple house (1,3,4,5,7,8,10) has been completed, would you like to make a model for the skill Model destruction

Long building (1,2,3,7) has been completed, would you like to make a model for the skill Model destruction

Sewers has been completed, would you like to make a model for the skill Model destruction

Holding cells has been completed, would you like to make a model for the skill Model destruction

Club house has been completed, would you like to make a model for the skill Model destruction

The list continued with more, Atlas had log back into the cave network of the gnolls home and so he spent some time checking each message and making the models, the models were made from any thing that was spare in side of Atlas pack so sometimes it was made of wood and other time it was made from stone or a combination of both

After placing the models away he wanted to find Loki and tell him how he thought the exam went but apart from the time Loki spent with Atlas in tutoring he was off mining somewhere which confused Atlas, Loki's class was a hidden one called the fool and so Loki couldn't learn passed a certain level in mining but he was continuing to mine even though he was surely at the limit

Atlas was definitely going to ask about it but first he needed to find him, using the skill Conjure Familiar Atlas made five little mana mouses and gave them orders to find Loki, the little transparent creatures made there way out like a spiders web searching for there prey, Atlas liked this skill a lot just because of the fact that the mouse seemed to understand him and possibly knew what he knew so no information had to be given, just an order

Waiting for the mouse to return would be a waste of time so Atlas made his way down to the underground lake that had a Colosseum around it, he was looking forward to seeing with his own eyes what the new building looked like and his expectation was high

As he reached the entrance to the lake cave a bright light was pouring out from it, it was clear some thing was different

Walking to the cave entrance Atlas was greeted with a dazzling sight, a small village had popped up from the last time he was there, not only that there was streets of paved stone and all around the street corners were metal lamps made from steel and moonstone, it was far from being complete but the transformation stunned Atlas where he stood

Atlas went to each freshly new built buildings checking the work of the gnolls, it wasn't bad work but that was because all the building were was a simply stone walls with logs, mud and grass ceilings, the floors of each buildings were also stone and not wood like Atlas had put on the blueprints, he forgive this little change, the gnolls just didn't have the know how or tools on making planks of wood from trees

Atlas was checking on the foundation of one of the long houses when he was greeted by passing gnolls with their terrifying smiles that were all teeth and no lip, it wasn't meant as intermediation but what can you expect from creatures who's mouths were filled with sharp pointy teeth

"Alpha Atlas" said the gnolls as they passed Atlas

It turned out that the gnolls had changed the meaning of the word to suit them self's, before Atlas they would only call the leader of the gnolls by Alpha but now it was to refer to a great leader and Atlas with all that he did for them was considered as one in there eyes, it was a new greeting to show respect to their Atlas

When he was finished with all the houses Atlas moved on to the Colosseum, it seemed that small changes had popped up, the walls were taller and thicker, there was a metal portcullis (a gate from castles that goes up and down (not in a arch)) and behind that was big log doors, there was also building made into the Colosseum walls and finally stands on top of the wall for seating

Atlas started to realise that he didn't need to micro mange the gnolls any more, most of the up grades for the Colosseum was created and designed by the gnolls, this made Atlas feel pride and hope for the species as a whole, as he was thinking this a small sqweek came from his foot

All 5 mouses had returned and at the front was a single mouse looking up at Atlas, Atlas assumed that this was the mouse that had found Loki and proceeded to touch the little mouse so he could see the memory's of his creations

Would you like to witness the senses of the mouse

"yes"

Again in the corner of his vision a little screen had appeared, this was the memory's of the little mouse, Atlas could fast forward the image so he didn't waste time in the failed search effort of the mouse, after looking at the image that had been fast forward it turned out that Loki was still mining in the same cave that Atlas had found him in before

Would you like to incorporate the memory's to your own

"No" the last time Atlas did that he had the feeling to wash his hand even though he hadn't touched the floor like the memory's said he had

Now he knew where Loki was he was going to make his way there but first he picked up the little mouse and thanked it, there wasn't any weight to the little mana mouse as Atlas picked it up, none at all, a being made of pure mana it had no weight not only that the little mouses didn't respond, it was a true doll, it felt no pain or had any emotions for it self and only followed the orders of the one who created it, but even understanding that Atlas felt a little guilty just using them and then discarding them after they had been so useful

Atlas opened his enchanted tool bag and ordered the mouse in the bag, he was just about to close the bag when a nice little idea popped in to his mind, one of the characteristic of the mouses were that they knew what Atlas was saying even with out explanation

"Mouses, get me my blacksmithing hammer" ordered Atlas

A little rumbling in the bag and the 5 mouses came out with the hammer on there backs, this would save lots of time, enchanted bags that could hold more in side were a god send but it could take some time to find what your looking for but now Atlas had little helpers, it was a win win for Atlas he could use the mouse for scouting and when they returned he would place them in the enchanted bags, no mess, no waste and lots of time saved

Slinging the bag over his shoulder Atlas made his way down the long tunnel that Loki had made, the tunnels didn't have any light source and so Atlas used his mana flare, using the flare continuously made the skill reach pass intermediate level and now it hardly cost him any thing to use not only that he found that the mana flare was bigger and strong than when it was in it beginner levels, Atlas could also separate the mana flare in to smaller lights as long as it didn't exceed the original size

Making his way down the tunnel with his flare on Atlas looked at the work Loki was doing, every now and again was support beams, the walls were smother than Atlas expected, it looked like Loki was making a real effort on this, up ahead Atlas saw a light bobbing up and down, getting closer he could make out Loki and gnolls chipping down the walls with their pickaxes

"Good day" said Atlas

"SHI.." the moonstone lamp wobbled at the side of Loki leg as he jumped

Breathing heavily Loki whipped around almost taking Atlas face off with the pickaxe he held in his hands

"DON'T DO THAT" shouted Loki "did you forget this is a game off monsters and creeping up on me doesn't help me"

"Sorry, sorry i didn't think you would jump so much, you are in a safe place after all" replied Atlas

Loki sighed and started to wipe his brow with a piece of cloth

"Ok i understand, your right of course but still don't sneak up on people" Loki placed his cloth in his pocket and slung the pickaxe on to his shoulder "well tell me how the exam went"

"Lets work while we talk" Atlas opened his tool bag "mouses, pickaxe" the pickaxe slowly exited the bag, it was much heaver than a blacksmith hammer so Atlas made 10 more mana mouses to help

While mining Atlas told Loki of the new testing method and the scenery in side the capsule and the questions on Chemistry exam, he had totally forgot to ask why Loki was mining so much

"All in all it was easy" said Atlas

"mmm, it wasn't easy, you were just dedicated, my teacher once said to me that to become a master in anything you don't need to be a genius, you just have to be dedicated" replied Loki "while a genius may be able to learn fast it doesn't mean they will stay the course, while on the other hand you have some smarts and you're dedicated as well, you put in the hard work of learning almost every night with me and that was what made it seem easy when the test came around"

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Atlas would have to agree, in real life he had reconstructed home after home in till he could easily live off the money the rent pulled in and apart from his skills he had learned it was mostly down to his dedication

Loki Coughed and Atlas attention was brought back to Loki

"I think you could do with some time away from the books as a reward" said Loki "by chance my guild has just uncovered a dungeon and will go exploring it in a weeks time"

"Why are you taking so long to go exploring" asked Atlas

Loki's hand raised and started to rub the back of his head "well... it's like this, our guild is a sort of like a crafting guild, meaning we don't really have a lot of members that have skills in the attack, in fact i'm considered to be quite strong even though i only have buffs to increase my stats"

Atlas waited for Loki to finish what he was trying to say

"This means we have to hire people to help us explore dungeons and you have to get back ground checks on the hired help to make sure they are trust worthy" explained Loki

"Can't you hire a different guild maybe a warriors guild to save time" asked Atlas

"Definitely not, they are just the worst, if a stronger guild found out about this new dungeon they would most likely forcibly take it over and charge money to enter, that's why we do back ground checks on the people we hire" replied Loki

"I don't really want to go and kill things for no better reason than to explore, this game is just so real that i feel guilty" Atlas was sticking to his morels, apart from the fish men that was used for food and didn't have any intelligence and a single rabbit that started the whole thing Atlas had stayed away from killing for no reason

"That's ok, my guild says they have seen undead coming from the dungeon so it's most likely monsters who are all ready dead and just reanimated corpses" explained Loki

Atlas was still unsure, being dead in this game didn't mean you didn't want to survive

"How about this, you can be support for my group, no killing or destroying just looking after us and maybe if you see fit attack as well" pointed out Loki

Truthfully Atlas did want to go exploring, it sounded fun and he had been working hard helping the gnolls and studying for his exam

"Ok, but don't expect me to kill any thing" said Atlas

"Great" even though Loki needed more attack based people in the group he knew he could count on Atlas and wouldn't regret having him there

"Wh... where are you going" asked Loki, Atlas had started to walk away

"To prepare for the dungeon" replied Atlas

"But that's a week away" said Loki

"I know, it's just about the right amount of time to get ready" said Atlas as he walked away

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1 week later

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Out side the dungeon that the tutors guild had discovered was a group a little above 30 players, even a size this big was keeping quiet so they could avoid drawing attention from beasts and other players passing by

The head of the whole expedition was tall rough looking warrior in full steel plate armour, his level was just over 100 which they believed to be sufficient for this dungeon, the tutors guild had set up a deal with this man so that instead of money exchanging hands a different more fair deal was set up, this man had dealing with some of the players from the tutors guild and so his reputation was good, he was to lead the raid in the tutors guilds place because of his high leadership stat, this didn't mean that the tutors guild wouldn't take part but instead would be supporting roll with the fighting players, this would mean exploration and levelling up with a smaller chance of losing levels from being killed

The rough looking man climbed up a small dirt hill so he could stand above all and have them see him, he took a deep breath in and in a audible whisper that carried to all the members of the party started to speak

"I'm Tork and i'm going to lead you in to this dungeon, first of all i want to tell you about the dungeon, it looks to be some kind of maze and because of that we will be separating in to smaller party's so exploration will be easier" Tork took a new breath in an carried on

"At least one person from my team will join each group, they will be participating in the fight as well but also analysing everything that's going on, for short they will be known as CORE members, any special drops will be pooled together and at the end and the people who put the most effort in will get first choice, this includes support, healing, and any thing that CORE members seems fit to add"

Tork cleared his voice with a grunt "urhg, finally any common loot is for the taking, help your self to drops and money that the creatures may drop but 50% of the money at the end of the dungeon in chests or protected by bosses will be taken by the tutors guild and the rest will be evenly distributed to the remainder of living players, if you die you only get what you have picked up"

Tork had almost finished "now its up to you to get in to your own party's, just remember if you have a week team you might not survive"

In quite whispers people started to make their own party's, the healers got first pick then the tanks and damage dealers, if it wasn't for the tutors guild giving the orders then they would of been left out of the more stronger groups, Tork moved around the groups putting a single person form his team in to the new groups

Tork came to a group that was a little different, in total there were 4 people

One had a mix of different armour on from fur to metal and a massive pickaxe as a weapon, then there was what looked like two young adults, one boy and one girl, the boy had some unique items on, he was equipped with black leather armour, twin short swords and a metal looking net with a lasso attached to his hip, there was also two bandolier going from each shoulder down across he's chest resting on his hip, one was full of throwing knifes that looked like kunai and on the other bandolier was filled with different coloured vials of potions, if Tork had to say he would say that this boy was a well equipped rouge or assassin

The girl on the other hand had flaming red hair and full plate steel armour that had sharp spikes on the suit, under that Tork could see chain mail and leather, the whole set was being worn by a young girl, in contrast Tork had seen impressive tanks wearing plate and leather but not all three at this level, she also had the potion bandolier and a small spiked hammer at her waist but what was the most impressive thing about the girl was the massive war hammer she wielded, it was almost as tall as she was and looked deadly, it was likely a rare drop in Tork's opinion

Then there was the fourth party member, he was a tall broad man who was checking a list, Tork had to have a second look at the man because he couldn't work out what kind of player he was, the man was wearing a dark blue witch hat that had an old green ribbon tied just above the rim, at this Tork fought he was a wizard or mage but as his eyes went down he changed his mind

No longer did Tork think this man was a mage, for a start he was wearing dark blue leather jacket and matching trousers and boots with thin spikes, this man had lots of unique items on him like his gauntlets that held different coloured liquids on his left and spike gauntlets on his right a rare drop Tork thought, on each wrist was a bracelet made off metal balls the size golf balls, this man also had the bandolier of potions but there was a different belt that went over his shoulders and under his legs, on the belt was a lion with it's mouth open and tied on that belt was small pouches and what looked like a big metal flower with closed petals

Even though the man was completely still and reading his notes he was sweating a little and that was in Tork's opinion because of the three bags on his back, two of them looked to be full and the 3rd was empty but had 6 iron spears attached to the bag by a piece of leather and his weapon seemed to be a spear but it could be a staff, in the end Tork just couldn't decide what class this person was, he looked like a mage but his physical build said tank but then again he's suit hinted to rouge and the weapon said damage dealer maybe and he didn't know what to think about the gauntlets

Without hesitation Tork introduced him self to the party

"Hello, my name is Tork as you may already know"

The tall board man flipped his not pad closed and turned to face Tork "yes, we heard what you said on that grassy hill, my name is Atlas and this is Loki"

"Hi"

Atlas pointed at the girl "Mary"

"Hi"

"And finally Dracken" Atlas pointed at the boy

Dracken didn't say any thing, in his mind people didn't introduce them self unless they wanted some thing

Tork mentally put the names of the people with there faces and stored them in his memory

"I just thought i'll come round and introduce your team to it's CORE member" Tork sent a whisper and with in moments a man in complete metal armour pushed his way past the other groups, the man in iron was with a taller man in leather

"Yes boss what do you need" said the man in leather

"This is the team you will be the CORE member for" said Tork

The man in leather looked hard in to the face of Atlas, he couldn't quite remember but he was sure he knew him, he was just about to give up when the man in metal armour started to shout

"YOU..YOU.. I'LL... YOU" stuttered the man in metal armour

"What is it Paul" said the man in leather

"DON'T CALL ME THAT, MY NAME IS CONAN"

"If you don't keep your voice down i'll call you stupid and plant my foot in your ass" replied the man in leather

Conan realised he was being to loud and quickly lowered his voice "but Ash that's the guy who took my sword that time"

Conan was referring to the 2 vs 1 fight Atlas had won against them when they had followed him

"Oh really" Ash looked at the face of Atlas, with the realisation of who he was looking at Ash raised his hands together and clasped them together while bowing slightly "i'm sorry, i didn't know the whole story"

Atlas was shocked, he was sure that Ash was going to lash out but instead he apologized, it turned out after a little explaining out side the game Ash realised that his brother was in the wrong

"I tired to find you in the city and the surrounding towns but i couldn't find you to say sorry" Ash still had his hands together like he was preying to god

Atlas remembered the time he had pinned down the two brothers and how quick Ash had adapted to the situation, he had the smarts to apologize when he was wrong

"That's fine, it was a little while ago but thank you anyway" said Atlas

Tork looked a little confused "that's good to hear that you already know each other, this will make everything smother" said Tork even though he wasn't sure

"I don't want to party with him" said Conan

Ash pointed his finger under his brothers noise, Conan stepped back to get away from the finger but it followed him

"You were in the wrong and you pulled me in to your unjustified grudge and now you are saying things like that" the finger under Conan noise was now twisting ever closer

"I'm the leader for this party, so you will join and like it" said Ash "that is if he allows it" the finger under the noise of Conan was now pointing at Atlas

Atlas was put on the spot "mmm sure why not" Atlas didn't completely fill this way but Ash had seen his error and said sorry and so Atlas felt like he should give him a 2nd chance but that didn't mean he wouldn't keep an eye on them

"But brother" said Conan

Ash turned around slowly to face Conan like he was on a turn table "do you want more of this finger" Ash's finger was raised and pointing at Conan

"NO, NO i don't want it" screeched Conan

What could Ash possibly do to Conan with a single finger that would cause a panic like that thought Atlas, he didn't want to ask

With the group complete Tork sent a whisper to Ash

Keep a good eye on them, they seem different

Tork moved back on to the little dirt hill and started to talk to the group as a whole

"If you are all ready, lets go" said Tork

The whole group of teams moved as one in to the dungeon, as soon as they passed the entrance they all got a message

You have entered the dungeon "Sunken Crypt"

It would appear that Loki was right when he said that this was most likely a undead base if the name went by anything and it also seemed that someone had already been hear seeing as there was no bonuses for discovering the dungeon

As they moved along the crypt the whole group stopped at a big hall filled with bones that branched out in to many different directions, at this point the smaller teams started to branch out in to there own different directions

"Wait" called out Atlas to his group "i need to check on some things first"

The group of 5 crowed around Atlas as he pulled out his list and flipped the pages to the desired page, Atlas was looking at a list and he was ticking them off

Alchemy's Big Boy Travelling Companion...tick

Florem Lucis....tick

Materials....tick

Ammo...tick

Potions...tick

Lamp Of Growth...tick

Box Of Seeds...tick

Food...tick

Atlas continued to check the list in till he was satisfied, when he was finished he flipped the note book closed

"Right, before we go i want to give some of are new group members a potion" said Atlas

Conan shoulders squared and he started to thump his chest "i'm a powerful warrior, are you trying to say i'm so weak to need a potion to save my self"

Ash sighed out heavily "why are you refusing a free potion, can't you tell this is a great idea"

"What, why are you taking his side" pleaded Conan

Ash wondered if his parents had dropped his brother on his head when he was young "we are in a pinch here, without a healer we could very well die but with a potion each one of us can work as our own healer with out being distracted for the well being of the rest of the group"

Conan was nodding his head at the explanation his brother had given "ahh yes of course, i..i was just testing you, of course i knew that"

"Did you also know my foot hungers for you butt" Ash was slapping his leg with his hands

This whole thing between the two brothers was completely different to what Atlas had experienced in the game before, most of the time he spent in the games was serious and seeing this behaviour was kind of fun and different to watch

"That's enough lads" Atlas raised his hand behind his neck and reached in to his bag "mouses, two healing potions"

Out popped two red liquid flasks in to the hand of Atlas, he handed them to the brothers "when you run out of potion came to me for more"

The whole group now had the ability to heal them self, Loki, Mary and Dracken already saw Atlas as the leader but now so did Ash and maybe deep down Conan also knew....maybe, very deep down

Atlas slapped his hands together "let's get started"

The group of six walked off in a direction that no one had taken yet and in the darkness all that could be heard was dripping water falling from the ceiling and a very quite sigh

End Of Chapter Twenty Five