“Great” David said clapping his hands as if to signify the end of a business deal. He got up and walked over to me and placed his hand on my shoulder. “Look, I'm not gonna pretend to know how you feel about all this, but I can tell you this. There are far worse places to stuck than fantasy MMO with so much freedom it's like another world. You'll be able to make friends with the NPCs and build a life here and still be able to stay connected with everyone outside of the game” He took his hand off my shoulder and sat on top of his desk. “If you need help or have any questions just ask me whenever, ok?” He pokes a few screens I can't see.
AdminDavid wants you add you to his friends list. Do you Accept? Y/N
I slightly nod to accept the invite. I barely had enough motivation to even do that. Everything is starting to sink in a bit. I lean back into the chair and close my eyes to deal with the one thing I haven't been able to accept entirely. Even saying it in my head doesn't seem to make it real. I'm dead.
“There's gonna be some delay when I send you back while the Hardcore mods are added to your account.” David said, but I barely heard him. I'm sure there was a flash of light, but I didn't see it with my eyes closed.
Processing Account changes to “Hardcore” est. time to completion: 5 minutes
That's not too long, but then I guess it doesn't have to actually downloading anything to a TruVR set-up since... I'm.....yeah. Ok, so maybe in my situation these 5 minutes are gonna be pretty rough. I quickly try to pull up the lore logs to distract myself. Only to find that they are no longer accessible. After that I try the beginner's log that Morden and Rodrick read. Luckily those are still viewable and I start reading through them. I notice a tab labeled “Hardcore Features” and open that. Everything David talked about is listed here. I'd still be able to view my status and apply stat points on level ups, but only when I am asleep. The menu is still there, but only has access to my inventory and features used to interact with other players, like the Quest Log. So basically, unless I am grouping up with others it's literally gonna be like I am just living in another world. Both very cool and very terrifying given my situation.
Processing Complete
Another flash of bright light and I'm standing outside the Rockeater Tunnel again. “Finally,” I said, frustration oozing from voice, ”I can vent.” I march towards the tunnel. I don't remember much after that. I can remember a lot of curing and yelling and red, lots of red. When I came to, I was laying down on the corpse of a Rockeater, and everything hurt. Disoriented and unsure of how much time had passed I look around. More Rockeater bodies are piled up all over the place. I climb to my feet feeling extremely weak. I can't see it, but I'm pretty sure I have no mana and low on HP to feel like this. I was about to leave the tunnel and find a bar to get drunk in when a glint caught my eye. There was something under one of the rockeaters.
I reached down and pulled the object out. It was a metal bound book, though there was blood smeared on the cover. I'm not sure if it's mine or a Rockeater's to be honest. I wipe it off to read the title. And a screen pops up.
Skill Book: Scaled Armor. Would you like to learn this skill? Y/N
“Holy fuck, a skill book. How many Rockeaters did I kill?” I look around again, this time more clear headed. I don't see a single living Rockeater in the tunnel. So I guess “All of Them” is the correct answer. Skill books only have a .001% chance of dropping from a mob's loot table. And being a trash mob I wasn't expecting the Rockeaters to even have a loot table. I guess I'm gonna have to unlearn some of that old gamer mentality here. No more assumptions. I press yes on the screen.
Scaled Armor has synergy with Racial Skill “Stone-Skin”, would you like to merge the skills? Y/N
Wasn't expecting that to be a thing. Not sure what the merger can to for my racial skill, but I don't see how this particular merger could make it worse, so I hit yes again.
Stone-Skin has become Stone Scales as a result of the Skill Merge
Ok so what does that do. I try to access my skills only to remember that I can't until I sleep. Guess that's gonna have to wait then. I decide to look around for anymore loot these guys have dropped. I've already been wrong about them not dropping loot once. I managed to find 15 copper coins and 1 silver coin. Not much considering how many bodies I had to sift through. Not going to complain too much though since I got a Skill Book out of it. After god knows how long I finally stumble out of the tunnel and find a few guards standing around talking to each other.
Once of them, the guard who was standing at the Rockeater tunnel entrance, notices me coming out. “By tha gods ye are alive” he says as he rushes over the help me walk straight, “I 'eard a lot of terrible roars comin' from tha tunnel. I thought some kinda monster 'ad found its way inside an was on a killin spree.” He gestures for the other guards to come over. “Tell us boy, wha didja see?”
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“It was just me and the Rockeaters,” I said slowly from exhaustion, “I got some bad news earlier and needed to vent.” I point to the tunnel, “ I figured no one was gonna miss a few Rockeaters. I may have lost my head a bit though. Didn't one alive when I came to.”
“So yer sayin' the noise I 'eard was just you fightin' the vermin?” The guard asked with a skeptical look on his face. I don't blame him either, if I heard what he said he heard I'd probably think the same thing.
“Yeah,” I said exasperated, “you can check the tunnel yourself. I need to find an Inn and sleep, I'm exhausted.” The guard motions to the tunnel with a nod while looking at one of the other guards. The guard runs into the tunnel. A minute later he comes out, a shade paler than when he went in. “Nuthin' but dead vermin in there” he said, “or at least wha's left of 'em” he visibly shuddered.
“alright, ya go go boy,” the tunnel guard says, “I recommend tha Broken Hammer Inn. It's on tha cheaper side without getting' sketchy.” He then goes on telling me how to get to the Inn. I tried to pay attention as much as I could. With a nod and a thank you I stumbled off. Everything became a blur after that. I think I remember finding the inn and paying 10 copper for a room. Not sure if I made it to the room or not though. But I know I'm asleep because I am standing in a white space after saying yes to the window that popped up asking if I wished to view my status. A couple of surprises in there too:
Duran Blackiron:
Race- Dwarf Halfblood (Hill/Deep)
Character level- 5
Exp to lvl up- 0/1600
HP: 200 HP regen: 2.4 per 5 seconds
MP: 300 MP regen: 2 per 5 seconds
STR: 28
DEX: 26
CON: 20
WIS: 20
INT: 20
VIT: 24
Stats gained per level: +4 STR, +4Dex, +2 Con, +2 Int, +2 WIS, +3 Free points to spend on any trait
Traits
Stone Scales Beginner 2: Gain 10% physical damage reduction per level when active. Drains 2 mana per second per level of Stone Scales.
Low-Quality Pure Mana core: +100 Mana
Arcane Affinity: Magic skills level 10% faster
True Darkvision: Can see clearly even in the darkest environments, magical or natural.
Primary Skills
Blacksmithing - Beginner 1: Gain knowledge and skills necessary to forge and shape metal. Skill rank determines quality and type of materials workable. [+2 STR and +2 Dex per Character lvl up]
Unarmed - Beginner 5: Can learn and used any unarmed fighting techniques. Skill rank determines damage and effectiveness. [+2 STR, +2 Dex, and +2 Con per Character lvl up]
Blackiron Heart Cultivation - Beginner 5: Functions as mana cultivation, but now provides a 10% boost to physical stats when circulating mana and the ability to learn mana techniques. Drains 5 mana per second when circulating. Skill rank determines effectiveness, power, and mana regen. [+2 INT and +2 WIS per character lvl up]
Secondary Skills
Meditation - Beginner 2: Allows for increased mana regen and active Cultivation. The higher the level the more effective
Rage - Intermediate 1: When triggered you go into a blind rage that boosts Physical Stats by 10 per level. Lasts 1 minutes and drains all Mana at the end of the duration. The Higher the level the more aware you are during the rage.
It seems a couple of skills leveled up and I gained a new one. I notice that Stone Scales only reduced the mana cost. Pretty sure the increased defense is due to it leveling up rather than the merger. The rage skill explains why I was so exhausted. Though I do wanna know how the fuck it's at the Intermediate Rank. That means the technical level of the skill is 11. I guess I really did lose myself in that tunnel, I shudder at the thought of losing control like that around other people. Though it looks like it'll get better at higher ranks. After checking through it all, I close the window and let sleep take me.
When I come to I am on a bed inside a strange room. I look around thinking that this isn't my apartment before all the memories come flooding in. “Oh yeah, Dead. God damn it” I sigh as I sit up and lower my feet to the floor. I check to make sure I still have everything by opening my inventory. Money, check. Clothes, Check. Useless dagger, check. I do a quick stretch before I open the door and find my way back to the lobby, which was apparently upstairs, instead of downstairs. Gotta love Dwarf logic, why build up when you can dig down? The smell of freshly cooked food floods the room. I walked over to the desk. “Morning” I said as cheerfully as my non-morning person self could muster.
“Mornin' lad” the Old looking dwarf behnd the counter said cheerfully, “ Ya musta been truly drained last night, had ta get my boys ta carry ya to yer room. No extra charge for tha though, happens more often than ya think. It's usually drunkards though.” I nod.
“Longest day of my life,” I said, “I don't even remember getting here. How much for Breakfast?” I began eyeing other people's plates rather hungrily.
“2 copper,” He said with a smile. I pass him the coin “Go ahead an grab a seat. Someone'll bring it out to ya.” Too hungry to even notice he didn't ask what I wanted I nodded and took my seat. The wait wasn't too long. A lady dwarf, the first I had actually seen, placed a plate of food in front me. “Enjoy” she said before walking away. I immediately started eating what I'm guess was some kind of grits, eggs, and bacon meal. It was gone before I could taste it so I'm not sure. I wished the Innkeeper farewell I stepped outside. Not sure of where I wanted to go I just started to walk around explore the city.
A few hours later I had found a series of tunnels that led to a ledge overlooking the crafting district. I sat there dangling my feet off the ledge and just watched the smoke stacks rise and listen to the distant ring of steel on steel. “So this is life now, huh?” I started talking to myself, “Could be worse I guess. My brother is probably freaking out right now. Probably cursing someone out.” I laugh at the image of him get cuffed by the cops because he didn't know when to stop cussing 'em out. “Dude always had a short fuse. I hope he contacts me soon.” With a sigh I climb to my feet. I should see if I can find a smith that'll let me work under him. I'd like to level my Blacksmithing and make some coin. A few twists and turns in the tunnels and I'm in the Crafting District proper.
I walk around looking for any help wanted signs at any of the shops. Not sure about the etiquette for job hunting in this district, but I am pretty sure going into a random shop uninvited, and without recommendation looking for work is a fast way to get laughed out of the building. After a few hours I had almost given up before I stumble on a shop with a sign in the window saying “Help Wanted”. I walk in the shop and approach the counter. “Hello, I'm here about the help wanted sign” I say the unhappy looking dwarf behind the counter.
“Out” he said curtly, “No work for half-breeds here. I have a reputation to maintain” I almost felt that troublesome skill trigger as I struggled to at least keep my face neutral.
“Well fuck you too pal,” I said rudely as I left ignoring the tirade of his response, something about not knowing my place, gotta give myself some release after all. Not gonna wanna work under someone like that anyway. I managed to find a few more signs up, but got more or less the same response, some less rude than others, some more so. I decided to take a break to cool my head when I came across a dilapidated old smithy. I walk inside and take a seat on the dusty counter and rest my head in my hands. “fucking assholes” I say to myself.