A slew of notifications popped up in front of Adam after his level.
Your attributes have increased by 1 point.
You have gained 5 unallocated attribute points.
Your hand-to-hand skill has increased to level 4.
You have received: Goblin Heart x2, Goblin Tooth x5, Small Soul Crystal x3
You have received a quest: Find the cause of the corruption - Find the source of the goblin's corruption and extinguish it.
You have a new ability to choose!
An ability, Adam thought, now that sounds interesting. As he thought about it a new menu appeared and before him were two choices.
Power Strike: Increase the damage of your next strike significantly. The effect last for 1 minute or until used whichever comes first. Cost: 10 MP Cooldown: 1 minute
This one seemed pretty normal to Adam and he quickly checked his other choice.
Combo: Strike out in a 3-hit combination dealing slightly increased damage with each landed hit. If all three hits land, increase your speed by 25% for 30 seconds. Cost: 15 MP Cooldown: 1 minute
Whoa, Combo seems pretty sick. Adam’s mind raced as he read the last part of the skill description. Images of punches coming so fast they were nothing but blurs to the untrained eye, thousand-punch combos decimating his enemies, and speeding through the battlefield like a bullet. His decision was made at that moment. He chose Combo.
Congratulations you have learned Combo!
A rush of knowledge flowed into him and he saw how to use the skill. He had only to think about it and it would activate mid punch allowing him to follow up and get the bonus if all three hits landed. Adam willed the rest of the notifications away and opened his inventory. He saw the goblin pieces stacked in the first two squares. It looked like space was limited, but for now he had plenty. He mentally chose one of the hearts bringing it out of his inventory to examine. A black heart, oozing even darker blood, appeared in his hands. He dropped it on instinct.
“Gross,” he said. He wiped his hands on his shirt trying to get the black gunk off.
Josh came jogging over. “Yo, is that a goblin heart?”
“Yeah, I didn’t think it was going to be an actual heart. That’s disgusting.”
“Can I have it? I need it for something.”
“Um, yeah of course.” Truthfully Adam was glad to be rid of the thing. He was curious though. “What exactly do you need a goblin heart for?”
“You’ll see,” said Josh. With a devilish grin he pulled the heart into his inventory. “Did you level up too?”
“Yep, level two. Did you get a skill?”
“Hell yeah I did. Power Slash for me. I’m about to slice and dice some baddies bro.”
“I wonder how much experience points we need for the next level,” said Adam.
“Looks like a thousand total. You can see it on your stat page.”
Adam thought for a moment about what Josh had said. He waited for only a second before the page appeared.
Character Statistics
Name: Adam Race: Human Level: 2 Experience: 150/750
Class:
N/A
HP: 60/60 MP: 60/60 Attributes: Str: 6 Dex: 6 Int: 6 Vit: 6 Wis: 6 Unallocated Attribute Points: 5 Skills: Hand-to-Hand: 4 Nature Magic: 1 Abilities: Combo Spells: Emerald Leaves
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Adam had actually forgotten that he had the spell. He hadn’t even taken a hit from the goblins and the fight was over so fast. This was seeming more and more like a starter zone he was akin to. He noticed Way of the Fist had been converted to Hand-to-Hand skill. He wondered what would happen as it leveled. He had a thought then.
“Hey Josh, did you take any damage in the fight?”
“Um,” Josh said, “yeah.” He looked a little embarrassed. “One of them smacked me in the ribs with its club. Hurt like a mother for a second, but it only took about seven points from my HP.”
“Are you still missing some?”
“Yeah, looks like another four left to regenerate still.”
“I’m going to try casting my healing spell on you.”
When Adam had used the skill book he had the knowledge imparted to him on exactly how to cast the spell. He closed his eyes for a moment feeling within himself. He felt the pulse of life in his core. He reached inward and willed it to move up through his body and down his right arm until it reached his finger tips. Then he released the spell as he focused on Josh. Floating green leaves appeared from his finger tips glowing with a vibrant light. They moved through the air directly to Josh flipping and twirling in the air as they traveled. As they reached him they burst into tiny little green specks that were absorbed into Josh’s body. Adam watched as his friend’s HP bar rose to full. He had completely forgotten the party menu. He’d have to keep an eye on that from now on.
“Thanks bro,” said Josh. He went back to doing what he was doing before which Adam assumed was looking at his character statistics page. He had a slightly glazed-over look in his eyes as he stared at nothing.
The entire process took less than a second. Adam felt the healing energy reforming in his core and he knew he wouldn’t be able to cast the spell again until the minute cooldown had expired. He also saw his mana drop from 60 to 40. Another notification popped up in his vision.
Your Nature Magic skill has increased to 2
So, attributes aren’t the only thing that will affect spells and skill, thought Adam. He now had two skills on his character statistic page. Hand-to-Hand and Nature Magic. He looked at his attribute points and reflected on what he had learned.
He felt the power of his punches. They were well above what normal humans could accomplish. If he’d have to guess he was probably on the level of a professional boxer in pure strength just from his starting attribute being a five. The same went for dexterity. He had reacted to this goblin’s sword with ease. He had also enjoyed the fighting style. He could see the potential, but Emerald Leaves couldn’t be ignored either. The ability to heal oneself and others was going to be super important in a world where death meant never returning. So, he was completely stumped as to where to put his attribute points. He decided, for the time being, to just save them. Josh on the other hand. . .
“Finished,” said Josh. A triumphant smile was plastered across his demonic face.
“Finished with what?” asked Adam.
“Points bro, 2 in strength, 2 in vitality, and 1 in intelligence.”
“I’m saving mine for now.”
Josh laughed. “Of course you are.”
“Hey,” said Adam, looking hurt. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You’re literally the guy who will save a random chicken egg in a game all the way until you beat the final boss thinking it might have some use in the future. Only to find out it was just a damned chicken egg the whole time.”
“Yeah, but what if it was a magical chicken egg that hatched into a dragon-chicken that would have helped me defeat the boss.”
“Did it ever?” asked Josh.
“Not yet,” said Adam, “but you never know.”
Josh only sighed as he knew the argument was moot. His friend was more stubborn about this than a toddler refusing to eat vegetables. Adam would share anything and everything with Josh, but he wouldn’t use something on his own unless he knew he absolutely wouldn’t need it later.
Adam opened his inventory once more. He had just remembered the soul crystals. He looked and didn’t see them at first glance. His eyes drifted around until he spotted something new. There, at the bottom of the inventory box, were three images of crystals in descending order by size. The last one had the number three next to it. He pulled at it with a mental command. Three crystals fell into his hands. They were no bigger than fun sized candy bars. Each stone was a kaleidoscope of colors as they glinted in the sun. Adam focused on one of them until a window appeared.
Small Soul Crystal: These crystals are an integral part of Ethera. They are used in every craft, and are also becoming the base currency for the world. Soul crystals come in Small, medium, and large. They will stack endlessly in your inventory. You may combine ten small crystals to create a medium crystal, and another ten medium to make a large. You may also break the crystals down from large to medium to small and receive the opposite ratio.
“Yo,” said Adam, “did you get some small soul crystals?”
Josh looked over from where he was staring off into space. A crystal appeared in his hand. “This?”
“Yeah, looks like those are currency in this place or at least will be the main currency.”
“Used for crafting too.”
“Yeah,” Adam said. “I wonder what professions there are and how we get them.”
“Who knows. Did you get that quest about the goblins and corruption?”
“Yep, looks like that’s our first task. Should we ask if anyone else wants to join?”
“Like who?” asked Josh. “The NPCs?”
“Yeah man, like I said. I don’t think they’re like normal NPCs. The nexus said that they are living in this world with us.”
“If you think it’s worth a try then go for it,” said Josh.
The villagers were starting to head back. They trudged half-heartedly, some with their weapons dragging and others dropping them all together. They looked defeated already. All but one. Mina stood staring toward the mountain that the goblins came from. Her back was turned as Adam approached.
Adam cleared his throat as he came up close. “Um, hi.”
“What do you want?” There was nothing but steel in her voice. She didn’t even turn around.
“Well,” said Adam, covering his eyes from the sun that shone down. “My friend and I got a quest to find the source of the goblin corruption and we’re wondering if you got the same quest.”
Mina turned on him and moved close. “I do and that is where I’m heading now. I shall be their deathbringer or they shall finally take what’s left of me.”
“Do you mind if we tag along?” asked Adam. He regretted his decision the moment the words left his mouth. She seemed crazy, but a tank was a tank, and from what Adam saw she fit the role.
“It will most likely mean your death.” She finally turned to face him.
“I think we’ll try to avoid that, but we’d like to join you if you’re heading up the mountain.”
“Who exactly are you two?”
Adam wasn’t sure where to start so he decided the truth about the nexus and everything would be the easiest. “We come from a different world. One where–” he was interrupted by a screen blinking in his face.
Warning: This NPC’s level is too low to comprehend this information without interfering with their mental wellbeing. Once NPCs are level 30 or above they will be able to handle such information due to natural attribute increases. For the time being they will not be able to understand anything you say relating to the Nexus.
“What did you say?” asked Mina. She looked as confused as Adam felt.
“Um, w-we’re not sure how we got here actually, but we’re here now and willing to help.”
Mina nodded. “Keep your secrets then. You fought well enough. Let us be on our way.”
Adam sent a party invitation to Mina and she accepted. Her name, HP and MP bars showed up in the top left of his view. He noticed her hit points were much higher than his sitting at 120. It confirmed his suspicion that she was headed down some sort of tank path, or at the very least she’d be able to take a lot more hits and he and Josh at the moment.
“So,” said Josh. He had finished looking at his stat page and came jogging over. “We going to kill some more goblins?”
“Yes,” said Mina.
“Do you guys mind if I summon a demon first?” Josh was sheepish as he looked between Adam and Mina.
“What do you mean ‘summon a demon’?” asked Mina.
“I’m going to summon a–” Josh stopped speaking and stared off into the distance with the increasingly common stat page look on his face. “Lesser underworld spawn.”
Mina looked between the two. “You two seem like an odd pair.”
“We are,” they both said simultaneously.
Josh took that for confirmation and moved toward a clear area of short grass. Adam and Mina stood by while he worked. Josh pulled out one of the goblin hearts and held out in front of him with one hand. He then proceeded to crush it making black goop leak out across the grass. Where the blood fell the grass turned dark and withered as if burnt. A moment later Josh pulled out another heart and continued his work. After the fifth heart ran out of juice there was a clear image in the grass. It was in the shape of a circle with lines running throughout in a complex, flowing pattern that Adam knew Josh must have learned from his demonology book. He was never much of an artist.
Josh stood on the outside of the circle and raised his hands to the air. He started to speak in a language that Adam didn’t recognize. It was guttural and echoed through the clearing like it was being amplified. The circle flashed a bright red in an instant and black smoke bellowed from within. The circle contained the smoke with ease making it shoot straight up to the sky in a cylindrical mass.
“WHAT MORTAL DARES CALL ME FROM THE PITS OF THE UNDERWORLD!” screamed a mountainous voice. It made the ground underneath shake and Adam and Mina struggled to stay standing.
Josh finished his incantation dropping his arms. The smoke dissipated as fast as it had arrived. Mina had her sword drawn ready to fight, and Adam stood next to her crouched in a fighting position. As the smoke cleared the booming voice was revealed.
In the middle of the circle, standing no more than a foot tall, was a teddy bear. It was brown with black buttons for eyes. The bear’s hands, feet, and belly were all a beige color with a shiny black ball for a nose. It had a red mohawk sticking out of the top of its head, a small yellow backpack strapped to its back, and the only intimidating thing about it was its mouth which had two rows of sharp teeth.
“It’s so cute!” Mina squeaked before she covered her mouth. Adam looked over to see her cheeks were red.
“I AM DROX THE CONQUEROR,” yelled the Teddy Bear. “AND I AM NOT CUTE!” Its little arms that ended in soft round circles were waving in the air in anger.