On the western edge of the Forest of Change, there stood a town by the name of Loksha, surrounded by a stone wall, with a gate on the opposite side. This wall was there, of course, to keep monsters from the forest out. The Forest of Change got its name from the monsters that lived within. While there were many monsters in the world that would much rather kill their enemy than transform them, the Forest of Change was unique in that every monster within would transform a downed victim.
Not that it mattered too much to the residents of Loksha. The stone wall that protected it did its job quite well, and the western area was one where the population of monsters was much thinner than the other areas, meaning that the likelihood of monsters gathering in enough numbers to actually breach the walls was next to impossible. With this knowledge in mind, the people of Loksha went about their business assured of their completely safety.
Today was no different than any other peaceful day for this city. That is, the alarm bell on the eastern wall was wrung for the first time in living memory. Most residents, having forgotten what it just stood watching it. A grave mistake, it turned out, as the eastern wall suddenly cracked and gave in in several places, allowing a horde of monsters to flood through the openings.
Normally the bell would have been rung far sooner, but the horde had come charging out of the forest at full speed. Almost as if they had been chasing something…
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About half a mile east of the town, Ignix was pulling himself out of a hidden burrow that he tripped into as soon as he had managed to get out of the site of the monsters chasing him. The horde had thankfully not noticed it, and had continued running west.
He wanted to think of himself as lucky, but he knew it wasn’t the case, and that with his luck, he had probably woken up whatever lived here. For the moment, however he was being left alone so he decided to make the most of it but pulling out some of the bread that was given to all starting players. He sat down, munching on it to refill his health, stamina, and satiety, while he tried to figure out why his health and mana were so low now by checking his logs.
For charming a large number of creatures at once, you have gained the Charming Presence Skill! Charming Presence PassiveBasic Lv 5Your mere presence allows you to charm anyone aware of it.Everyone in your presence has a chance to be inflicted with the “Charm” status effect for each minute they’re aware of you.
Success depends on skill level, CHA, LUC, and level difference.
For running constantly for a long period of time, you have gained the Running Proficiency!RunningBasic Lv 1+5% movement speed and stamina
You are out of stamina! Any further running will result in the needed stamina being taken from your total health instead.
You have gain the following Stat Points!STR: 11VIT: 14AGI: 18CHA: 27
Ignix just stared at everything for a while, trembling in anger. He already had enough trouble with what he had already gotten, and this Charming Presence skill would only bring more of it.
“I swear…Someday…Somehow…I’ll get back at those two otaku gods…”
Ping!
You have gained a Title!Irene’s Ally (Unique)In the hopes that you will become someone she can rely on to help keep Clarissa and Lucas in line, the Goddess of Intelligence and patron deity of the elves, Irene has decided to help you along your journey.+25 INT per level.+10 affinity with Residents belonging the Elven Race Race.Mana costs for all magic based abilities are halved.Favored by Irene trait.Irene will be watching you closely from now on.
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At least it’s nice to have an ally up there… he thought, before looking back to the burrow. Nothing had come out after all this time, which probably meant something nothing lived there. Remembering that the Lucas’s Toy title promised him something good after every misfortune, he decided it may be worth checking out. Lighting a torch from the “Beginner’s Survival Package” that every new play received, he slid back down to check it out.
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A few hours later, he was continuing to descend a hidden spiral staircase that he had found after about half an hour of searching the burrow. He was a little concerned about what he would find so deep underground, and begun to suspect that coming down here out of curiosity and without preparation was a bad idea. Before he could turn around and head back up, however, the staircase finally reached its end.
Before him was a single roomed cavern, bathed in an azure light by the crystals forming from its walls. At the very back was an altar of some kind, too worn by time for anything about it to be recognized as a proper shape. Set into the altar was a crystal with the same azure color as the others, only this one was dimly blinking as if it was losing power.
He began to approach it, cautiously watching and listening for anything dangerous that might try to surprise him. When he was directly in front of the altar, he stretched his hand out, reaching for the crystal.
As soon as his fingers touched the crystal’s surface, it shattered and a burst of a strange azure wind knocked him backwards several feet, resulting in him landing face up on the cavern floor. When he sat up to check on the effects on his surroundings, a sharp pain in his hand drew his attention. When he looked to it, he was shocked to find it had become the same shade of blue that was so prominent in the cavern. What’s more, the color was slowly spreading up his arm, and he felt his strength slowly fade as it did.
Dammit…I shouldn’t have pushed my luck… were Ignix’s last thoughts before he blacked out.
[table]
You are being transformed! You have come into contact with all that remains of the soul of what was once a proud and powerful member of the Kitsune Race. Due to her misdeeds, she was sealed here long ago, creating the Forest of Change as a last act of malevolence before she was imprisoned. Though her personality and will have long since withered away, a shred of her power has survived the long years, waiting to turn the next being to come along into a suitable vessel to continue on within. You are unconscious! You have lost consciousness for the next 24 in game hours.
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Irene face palmed as Clarissa, Lucas, and Aurora high fiving each other.
“How could he have not realized that touching something unknown and glowing in an underground cavern was a bad idea?!” the elven goddess exclaimed.
Clarissa put her arms around Lucas and Aurora’s shoulders, saying “Score one for the ‘manga loving idiots’; zero for the frumpy prude!”
Several of the others gave a laugh at this, and Irene buried her head in her hands, trying to hide her face which was red with embarrassment.
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Author Corner
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Phew! That wraps up what will hopefully be the first of many chapters! This one and the one after it will mainly be setting up for some key events that'll really get the story rolling.
I’ve gotten some pretty good feedback so far and thanks to that I’ve been able to come up with several ideas for the story. I was even graced with a comment from the writer of Insania Online, one of my favorite Royal Road fictions one of the works that inspired me to try my hand at writing a story myself, Warhawx!
I feel so lucky so far, and I’ll do my best to entertain you guys!
I’ll cya then!
GrandFinale, over and out!