Stelas relaxed on the soft cotton mattress, puffing on a cherry flavored hookah.
“Oh, my lord,” sighed the beautiful elf laying beside him, naked under the bedsheet. “That was truly divine. I’d love it if you’d just take me the same way all night long.”
“Oh really?” Stelas raised an eyebrow, setting the hookah wand on the nightstand. He turned to face the elf. “You know, Faerel, I could if you wanted me to.”
“Stelas!” she giggled. “Don’t joke like that. Go back to your hookah. Hell, even give me some.”
“What?” Stelas gritted his teeth. “Do you not think I could?”
“Stelas, I was just talking,” Faerel said, almost somberly. “Why’re you getting upset with me?”
“I’m not getting upset with you Faerel, I just think you don’t think I could, and I want to prove you wrong,” said Stelas.
“Well,” Faerel’s eyes darted from side to side, “You’ll have plenty of time to in the morning, Stelas.”
“My stm regens at five a second! Five a second, Faerel. Do you know how fast that is?” asked Stelas.
Faerel’s pupils got tiny. She began to shiver. “What do you mean, Stelas?”
“I mean what I said. My stm regens at five a second. There’s no question whether I can go again or not, because my stamina is already back at a hundred percent, Faerel,” said Stelas.
“Oh, Stelas, no. Stelas, please,” Faerel said, inching away from him. “Please tell me you didn’t do it, Stelas.”
“Do what, Faerel? Please tell you I didn’t do what?” Stelas said, looming over her.
“Stelas, you’re scaring me!” cried Faerel.
“Gods damnit!” Stelas pulled himself away from her and leapt from the comfort of the bed. He took a deep breath. Then, he looked back to Faerel. He looked into her cold, glassy eyes. “I’m going to go for a walk, Faerel. I’ll be back soon.”
“Okay, Stelas,” said Faerel. “Be careful.”
Stelas looked away from her and opened his inventory.
Inventory: Stelas Stelford
Carrying Capacity: 85.5/100
Item
Traits
Leather Armor
+2 damage, +20 carry weight
Shrouded Cowl
+1 sneak level, +1.5 carry weight
Poisoning Dagger
+1 poison, +6 damage, +1 sneak level, +1 carry weight
Leather Boots
+2 str, +1 dx, +8 carry weight
Amulet of Lesser Confusion
+3 confuse
Ring of Increased Mana
+5 mana
Flask of Whiskey
n/a
Gold (4576)
n/a
Abbreviated list based on prior use. Focus to see more items…
Already, the Overlord’s system knew him so well, picking out the items in his inventory he intended to use. Stelas focused on each item in the row.
[Leather Armor equipped]
[+2 damage]
[Shrouded Cowl equipped]
[+1 sneak level]
[Poisoning dagger equipped]
[+1 poison]
[+6 damage]
[+1 sneak level]
[Leather boots equipped]
[+2 str]
[+1 dx]
[Amulet of Lesser Confusion equipped]
[+3 confuse]
[Ring of Increased Mana equipped]
[+5 mana]
Stelas did not equip his flask at that moment, for a second picturing in his mind the system giving him a ‘+1 alcoholism’ for doing so.
“Oh, Stelas,” sighed Faerel with sorrow. “You did do it.”
“Please, just let me go on my walk, Faerel,” said Stelas, not looking back at her as he stomped towards the door.
----------------------------------------
The air was foggy in Lilaurthei’s military ward. It felt spooky, but spooky in just the way that Stelas wanted it to. It was going to be easy to blow off some steam. That is, if he could find anyone.
It looked to be much of a ghost town. The well-kept townhouse windows reflected back at him nothing but shadows and the faint outlines of the moons in the air, hidden behind thick, dark clouds. Stelas looked through his inventory for tobacco.
[Cigarette equipped]
A cigarette appeared in Stelas’ mouth.
Stelas thought, ‘Cast faint flame.’
A small flame fluttered up from his right index finger. Stelas drew it up to the cigarette, took a puff, and shook the flame out.
[Spell ‘Faint Flame’ successfully cast]
[Mana 78/80]
Stelas walked through the fog, listening to the echo of his own footsteps. It was a meditation. He could feel the anger that had bubbled up in him while talking to Faerel flowing out of his head like a small puncture in a balloon.
He was starting to feel free again. More than free, with the system. With the system, Stelas finally felt more powerful than he did afraid. All he had to do now was stay in the Overlord’s good graces, and that had never been hard, had it? Being a part of the party wasn’t a bad deal, really. If anything, the Overlord was probably a little too generous. But who in their right mind would tell him that?
[Mana 80/80]
Stelas felt a chill. There was someone walking towards him in the street, holding a faint lamp. The fog made it near impossible to make out their shape, but it was clear they’d seen him.
“Hello there,” said the figure. They stepped forward. Stelas saw it was a Lilaurthei guard. “Doing alright this evening, sir?”
“Oh, yes,” said Stelas. “I was just going on a walk to blow off some steam.”
“Ah. Women?” replied the guard with a smirk.
“I don’t feel like talking about it,” said Stelas.
“Oh, nobody ever does,” said the guard. “But you know, we men, at some point we do have to. You can’t just keep it bottled up forever.”
“I’m not bottling anything up,” said Stelas cooly.
“Isn’t that what we’d all like to tell ourselves,” said the guard. “Oh, I remember when I was as young and naiive as you. Hah! Alas, no longer. No, for I can now say I know the ways of women.”
“I appreciate your concern for me. Have a good night,” said Stelas, preparing to walk away.
“No! For the love of the gods, son, don’t just dismiss your own feelings! I can see in your eyes that you’re hurting! Please, listen to me. Life can be difficult, it is true. But if you would only—”
[Combat mode activated]
Stelas snapped around, grabbed the guard by the throat and rushed forward, smashing him into the stone wall of a nearby barracks building.
[Sneak attack]
[85 damage dealt]
[Stamina 95%]
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
“Don’t fucking tell me what to do, you stupid old man,” Stelas said to the guard, pressing him harder against the wall. “I don’t want or need any of your stupid fucking advice. You don’t understand me, and you never will.”
“What are you doing?” said the guard, choking.
Stelas pulled his fist back and then punched the guard in the face. Blood poured from his nose.
[25 damage dealt]
[Stamina 87%]
“Please, stop,” said the guard.
Stelas pulled him fist back again, this time punching twice in rapid succession.
[52 damage dealt]
[Stamina 76%]
“Please, listen to me, don’t kill me, I have a wife and five daughters,” said the guard through coughs of blood.
Fucking hypocrite.
Stelas drew his Poisoning Dagger and stabbed the guard up through the middle of his chin, jerking the dagger around in his brain a little bit just to be sure there was nothing left of him.
[280 damage dealt]
[‘Lilaurthei Guard’ is dead]
[Stamina 65%]
Stelas pulled the dagger out of the guard’s head and wiped it off his his hands, taking deep, labored breaths as he felt adrenaline course through his veins.
[Combat mode deactivated]
Stelas wiped his brow and sighed, sitting on a nearby barrel and staring at the guard’s dead corpse. He hadn’t necessarily intended for it to happen, but it was quite satisfying.
[Cigarette equipped]
A cigarette appeared in Stelas’ mouth.
Stelas thought, ‘Cast faint flame.’
A small flame fluttered up from his right index finger. Stelas drew it up to the cigarette, took a puff, and shook the flame out.
[Spell ‘Faint Flame’ successfully cast]
[Mana 78/80]
[Stamina 100%]
Stelas sat there and smoked, thinking about nothing, watching his smoke unfurl and mingle with the fog in the air.
He saw two torchlights in the distance. Shit. It was too late to hide the body, but as long as he got far enough away, it wouldn’t really matter. Stelas looked around, seeing an edge of the stone wall of the barracks that looked wide enough for him to grip. He leapt up towards it.
[Stamina 90%]
Stelas successful connected with the edge, gripping it tightly. The torchlights were growing closer, so he had to hurry. He squinted, focusing on the top of the barracks. It didn’t look like he could scale the wall all the way to the top easily, but what he could do was scale about three stories up and then leap to the top of the adjacent mess hall. Stelas went for it, climbing up with force and assurance briskly and then kicking off the side of the wall, backflipping over and landing on his feet atop the mess hall.
[Stamina 65%]
Now Stelas could crouch down.
[Current visibility: 0/500]
Excellent. Stelas crept forward, looking down to see whether the torches would ever grow near enough to find his victim.
Indeed, they did, and it seemed Stelas hadn’t scurried up the wall a second too early, for there they were: two guards, circling around their fallen coworker mumbling words of concern.
One looked up absentmindedly in Stelas’ direction. Shit. He crawled backwards, hoping to hide.
[Current visibility: 250/500]
Fuck. They must’ve been extra suspicious considering the circumstances. Stelas could hear the guards talking with one another about a figure up of the roof. He had to get out of there.
At immediate glance, the obvious route was to jump up to the back of the barracks’ roof and then slide down the other side of that wall, then weaving through the tightly packed streets on its other side. However, Stelas could see a sentry standing in a tower facing that area, and if he went that route and wasn’t careful, he’d definitely get spotted.
Stelas’ other option was to take a big downward leap, hopefully land in one piece, and then run across the tops of the nearby townhouses towards the district of Cattlehill, where he could easily disappear amongst the rural landscape until the heat went down a little.
Yes, the more Stelas thought about it, that was what he had to try for. It was just going to be a little tricky to stick the initial landing.
[Current visibility: 300/500]
Shit! Someone had spotted him again. Stelas crawled further down the roof. He had to jump now or he’d have a much messier situation on his hands. One that he probably couldn’t get out of alone.
Stelas prepared. Then, he remembered something. Checking his inventory didn’t take too much time, did it?
Inventory: Stelas Stelford
Carrying Capacity: 85.5/100
Item
Traits
Leather Armor
+2 damage, +20 carry weight
Shrouded Cowl
+1 sneak level, +1.5 carry weight
Poisoning Dagger
+1 poison, +6 damage, +1 sneak level, +1 carry weight
Leather Boots
+2 str, +1 dx, +8 carry weight
Amulet of Lesser Confusion
+3 confuse
Ring of Increased Mana
+5 mana
Flask of Whiskey
n/a
Gold (4576)
n/a
Abbreviated list based on prior use. Focus to see more items…
Ugh, none of that was helpful…he focused on seeing more items, specifically, he wanted to see if he had anything that would improve his const or dx.
Inventory: Stelas Stelford
Carrying Capacity: 85.5/100
Item
Traits
Boots of Lizard’s Leap
+5 const, +12 carry weight
Ring of Greater Dx
+10 dx
Focus to see more items…
Fuck yes.
[Boots of Lizard’s Leap equipped]
[+5 const]
[Ring of Greater Dx equipped]
[+10 dx]
It just showed what Faerel knew, not wanting Stelas to join the Overlord’s party. And it pained Stelas, because he cared for her so much, but he couldn’t help but think Faerel was more than a little foolish. Didn’t she realize how useful and powerful the system was?
[Current visibility: 350/500]
Fuck. Stelas had to get out of his head. He looked to the townhouse roof below. He pushed himself up to his feet, leaned back a little, and took the leap.
The wind wooshed in his ears, which popped as Stelas shot down, down, down. With a loud thump and thwack he hit the roof and landed into a roll, which he quickly controlled to pull himself to a halt.
[-3 hp]
[Stamina 43%]
Stelas stood up and brushed himself off, cracking his knuckles. That wasn’t too bad.
[Current visibility: 220/500]
Great. They were losing sight of him. Now Stelas just had to get it together and start running.
[Current visibility: 160/500]
[Stamina 40%]
It only used a little bit of stm to pick up the pace and jump across the rooftops a little faster.
[Stamina 38%]
[Current visibility: 80/500]
Thank the gods. The guards’ attempts to find him were essentially hopeless now, as long as Stelas kept going in the same direction.
[Current visibility: 45/500]
[Stamina 36%]
He almost felt a little guilty about getting away with it. Almost.
[Current visibility: 10/500]
[Stamina 34%]
Stelas stopped and hopped off the back of the current rooftop, landing in a murky back alley.
[Current visibility: 0/500]
[Stamina 25%]
Perfect. Now he just needed to take it easy and let his stamina recharge.
[Cigarette equipped]
A cigarette appeared in Stelas’ mouth.
Stelas thought, ‘Cast faint flame.’
A small flame fluttered up from his right index finger. Stelas drew it up to the cigarette, took a puff, and shook the flame out.
[Spell ‘Faint Flame’ successfully cast]
[Mana 78/80]
As Stelas walked down the alleyway and puffed, he glanced to the rotting posters stuck up on the newsstands and walls. One looked fresh, and almost immediately caught his eye.
“Huh,” said Stelas, walking towards the poster. As he read it, the system provided him with a quest dialog.
Quest: Locate the new player
Description: A new player has spawned in Beaubinte. Location unknown. Anyone able to find the location of this new player and bring either information or the player themself to the Overlord will recieve a gracious bounty payment.
Reward: 5000000 gold
Activate? Y/N
Stelas had to blink a few times to make sure what he was reading was accurate. Then, he pinched himself. Yet, there it was. 5000000 gold.
Stelas thought yes.
[Quest ‘Locate the New Player’ activated]
[Loading quest]
[…]
[…]
[Quest prepared]
[Talk to some town criers to see if they’ve heard anything about the new player]
Stelas smiled. This was the beauty of the system. And to think, Faerel had try to make him feel bad, shameful even, for joining it. Without the system, such a request would be aimless, useless, futile. But with an active quest, things often worked in your favor.
Stelas would have to put off going home to Ul-Sindryn. Faerel wouldn’t be happy about that, either. But he could tell her that in the morning.