Chapter 7

  I had already been on the road for two days. Well, I say on the road, but really it was barely even a trail. Going over mountains and through dense forests. The journey so far was mostly quiet. I saw some birds that resembled a large crow, but they had staggered wings and feathers. They got spooked and flew off before I could get very close.

  Crank had stayed true to his word though, he gave me enough food and water to last me over a week out here, as well as basic camping supplies and another heating crystal. The non-perishables will have to be returned to him, of course. It does get pretty cold out here, but with the second crystal, it’s not so bad.

  I made camp the first night in an alcove with a bit of an overhang of rock to keep myself out of the wind. At that point there was still a visible footpath through the snow. The second night I made camp in a small clearing of trees, and by then I would have been wandering blind, if not for the compass.

  Crank had given me the compass along with the other supplies, and was quite adamant about its importance. It had two pointers; one red, and one black. The black one was keyed to Larkinge, so at least I always knew what direction the town was in. It wouldn’t guide me to a trail or anything, just straight to the town.

  The red pointer was keyed to the last area Crank felt like he had a solid trail on the creature I was supposed to be finding. He said he remembered feeling like he was just another day or so away from finding something big, but his supplies wouldn’t have lasted. That was the last journey he took out in search of the beast.

  As I continued walking, following the compass and trying to find the best path through the wilderness, the sun was beginning to fall in the sky. I don’t get much daylight out here, so I try to get an early start and a late stop to maximize travel distance. I probably had another hour or two of daylight and then I would have to start looking for spots to camp.

  I also kept my eyes open for any potentially dangerous animals. While I didn’t necessarily want to fight out here in the wild since help would not be coming, it would be good experience and I did want to level up some more.

  The next two hours were uneventful and I found a decent spot to camp for the night. I was in a kind of valley with mountainous terrain on either side, and the compass was leading me deeper in. It looked like the mountains may converge into a U shape in the direction I’m heading, so if the compass needs me to go further than that I will have to turn back empty handed. I didn’t have the supplies or experience to scale a mountain straight up.

  I decided after making camp to log off for a bit and spend a few hours in the real world. As I exited the VR space and reoriented myself in my room, I checked my phone. I had a bunch of notifications, but I looked at the ones for my bank first.

  ?Deposit from World Engine Studios confirmed: $500

  ?Deposit from World Engine Studios confirmed: $500

  ?Deposit from World Engine Studios confirmed: $500

  “Huh?”

  — — — —

  After the initial confusion and some more research, it seems as though I received donations thanks to my post on the forum about magic. It seems like the threshold is five hundred dollars, and once it hits that it gets transferred to my account. If that’s the case, I have to seriously consider how I want to proceed. If I can make real money through the game, I can treat it like a job and spend even more time inside. Of course, who knows how reliable it will be, but I still had some time off work to decide how I wanted to go about it.

  Sitting down at the computer and logging in to my account, I had a bunch of notifications on the forums. People had posted many things under my post, many expressing gratitude and saying that my post had helped them understand the magic system better.

  Some people even posted screenshots and small clips from inside the game of them being able to create small lights. I wasn’t sure how they were able to do that, so after some research it seems to be a setting that you can enable. The images and videos are only from your eyesight though, no 3rd person or outside camera stuff. Apparently that was in talks to be added at the development company.

  There was one sentiment above all others though in the cacophony of responses to my post…

  ?thank you great mage! :D

  ?please teach me how to be a wizard like you

  ?how far ahead must they be? i bet they can already cast a fireball

  …I’m a swordsman.

  — — — —

  Back in the game, I continued on my trek. During my travels I tried to identify and pick any herbs or plants that seemed non poisonous. There wasn’t much growth up so high in the mountains, but there was enough to get me a skill level up. I also got an additional level in my athletics skill as well.

  ?Herbology has increased to level 3?

  ?Athletics has increased to level 3?

  I didn’t bother looking at the descriptions this time. I knew they were going to be at best just flavor text and at worst vaguely insulting.

  I didn’t have as much time to practice my swordsmanship on this trip as I would have liked. Trying to practice while moving would burn too much energy and may not be very effective, and trying to have some time to do it when I make camp just didn’t seem feasible given that I need to maximize the distance I travel every day.

  I thought about sending a message to Lyla about the things I learned, both about magic as well as the academy in the capitol that Jakob mentioned. Unfortunately, twenty five words didn’t feel like enough to really explain much at all besides just saying that I know about these things, and I didn’t want to waste my message while I’m out in the wilderness here.

  If things did get bad and I messaged Lyla for help, it would probably be impossible for her to do anything, but at least I could let someone know. I would imagine I would respawn back in Brackenhold, as I didn’t see a church or anything of the sort in Larkinge. Of course, who knows how it works specifically, I’m just trusting what some person said on the forums. It would really suck, so hopefully everything goes alright.

  Another hour or so passed and I found myself in a clearing. The snow was still quite dense and packed here so I wasn’t sinking or pushing through it as much, but my speed was definitely impaired. As I continued walking I saw something in the distance. It was about a hundred yards or so away, but even so I could tell what it was. My heart began to beat faster as I picked up the pace and it came into view.

  Stone pillars and walls, mostly broken and collapsed. Sticking out from the snow drifts, a structure buried beneath. Footprints in the snow from an unknown creature, but too small to be the one I seek. There is only one thing this could be.

  A dungeon.

  — — — —

  After exploring the perimeter it seemed as though most of what remained of the structure was likely buried beneath the snow. Being all by my lonesome I didn’t think it was a good idea to attempt to excavate anything major, so I examined the surface for anything that might indicate an entrance or something of value.

  I found more footprints of the mystery creature, and it seemed like there were multiple of them. Following one set of tracks leads to others, but I can’t tell if they connect or not, so it’s safer to assume that there’s more than one. Whatever they were, they must be doing something with the dungeon; their tracks are all over this place.

  As I ventured further into the center of the structures, I came across something odd. The snow all around here was generally flat, besides the drifts from the wind. But near the middle of the area, there was a circular depression in the snow, about 6 feet across. Like it was sinking, almost.

  I didn’t really want to shovel any more after helping Crank a few days ago, but I figured there must be something under this snow. I pulled out a small collapsible shovel Crank had lent me with the intended purpose of digging out snow shelters. It seemed oddly modern, for a world seemingly set in a medieval fantasy period.

  As I shoveled out quite a bit of snow, to the point where the hole was deep enough so that the top could reach my chest while I was standing in it, something finally happened. I pushed my shovel under the snow to try to get another scoop out, when I felt the entire bottom of the hole shift downwards, like it was about to collapse. I quickly clambered out of the hole and looked back, to find that in the process the bottom did cave in as I had leapt out.

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  It wasn’t a huge drop, maybe six or seven feet further than where the bottom of the hole originally was. It seemed to open into a stone chamber. I didn’t think I would be able to climb out on my own if I went down unprepared, so I took some rope and tied it around one of the stone bits that were sticking up through the snow. I threw the rest of the rope down the hole, and climbed down.

  As my feet touched the stonework, I got a notification.

  ?Location discovered: Nomitani Ruins?

  I’m not sure what Nomitani means, but these were clearly ruins, I didn’t need the game to tell me that. Looking back up to the hole, it seemed like the roof of whatever this building was had partly collapsed which had caused the sinking of the snow. It probably wasn’t the smartest idea to dig straight down a sinking snow pit, but it worked out in the end.

  It was also a bit strange that I got a notification for it in the first place. I hadn't gotten notifications when I entered Brackenhold or Larkinge, which you would imagine would be points of interest since they are towns. I wasn’t aware of any map features that would mark discovered locations in the game menus either, so I guess this is just another mystery that will be revealed later on.

  Lighting up a torch and moving through the stone chamber, I couldn’t really tell what this place was supposed to be. There wasn’t any obvious furniture or a familiar layout that would indicate a specific purpose. I moved through a small hallway, making sure to remember the way I came so that I could actually make it back out of this place.

  The hallway opened up into a large chamber, with what clearly looked like a raised section with a stone podium on one end. Maybe it could have been a church or town hall? I walked over to the podium, and looked out over the chamber. There didn’t appear to be anything out of the ordinary. I finished looking around the chamber for other exits, but I didn’t find any.

  Disappointed, I began walking back to the entrance. While this was neat, I was hoping to get something physical. Dungeons and ruins are supposed to have loot, you know? Maybe an ancient relic, or a magical sword, or even just some coin. Although, if this world really is as simulated and immersive as it seems, I suppose most of the ruins would already have been looted. I can’t argue that’s not realistic, but it didn’t feel particularly great from a game design perspective.

  As I was mulling things over while I walked, I turned the corner to the entrance of the room I entered from and felt quite the shock. As I stood in the doorway, I was staring directly at two figures. They looked as shocked as I felt, if that could even be displayed on their bony faces.

  Skeletons. Real, walking skeletons. They had a blue fire in their eyes, and wore tattered armor. One was standing off to the side of the hole, and another was in the process of using my rope to climb down. They had both froze when I turned the corner, almost like they got caught doing something they weren’t supposed to.

  After my initial shock wore off, I decided to act first. I drew my sword and charged at the one on the ground. That seemed to break them out of their stupor as well, and the skeleton fumbled a bit trying to draw its weapon, which seemed to be some sort of mace. I closed the distance and swung with an overhead swing that I had been practicing, but it was blocked as the opponent gained its composure and brought the long handle of its weapon to intercept.

  The clash broke and we both stepped back. To the side, I saw out of the corner of my eye the second skeleton that was still half way up the rope jump off and immediately break one of its legs as it hit the ground. Even still, I didn’t know exactly what these things were capable of so I wanted to use this time where it was still generally one versus one to take down the first skeleton.

  Refocusing on the main opponent, it let out a clatter and charged, although it was more of a shuffle. It seemed like while they were strong enough to hold their own weight, whatever force was allowing them to move was not as robust as actually having muscles and tendons. It brought its mace swinging in from the side, and while it was fast, I could see it coming.

  I ducked and lunged forward, stabbing my sword directly into its chest. When the blade had pierced about halfway I realized I had probably made a mistake, as it harmlessly went through the ribcage of this thing. I had momentum though, so I figured I might as well keep pushing. I continued and eventually the hilt of my sword made solid contact with bone, and a nasty crack echoed through the room.

  I pulled back and put some distance between me and the skeletons. One recoiling from the injuries on its chest, the other recovering from its fall. It seemed like I was finally outnumbered, but with the injuries they had sustained I liked my chances.

  In the middle of this standoff, I knew from experience playing other games that skeletons usually were weak to blunt weapons. I only had this sword, which I could try to whack them with the flat of the blade, but I had never practiced swinging it like that. Glancing down, I saw in the rubble of the caved in roof, many large chunks of bricks.

  Quickly grabbing one without taking my eyes off the skeletons, I readied myself. They looked at each other and seemed to prepare in their own way. It sounded like they communicated, but all I could hear was the clacking of teeth and the rattling of bone.

  It seemed they came to the conclusion that just charging at me at the same time was best. I can’t really blame them, they literally have no brains. Before they could get too close, I launched the brick I was holding towards the one that I had struck with my blade. I was aiming for center mass, but I wasn’t much of a pitcher on my little league team back in grade school.

  The brick struck about midway through the thigh, which I guess would just be the femur in this case. It completely shattered on impact, and if a skull could look shocked and appalled, I think that would be an apt description of its face as it fell to the ground. The fall itself seemed to deal enough damage to finish it off, as I got a notification. I ignored it for the moment and focused on the other skeleton.

  It was going a bit slower, as it really only had one functional leg. It was kind of hopping, kind of dragging the broken leg behind it. It wielded a bent sword with rust marks along the blade. It was quite slow, given the state it was in, so I dove forward and launched a strike directly for its neck. It tried to intercept, but I was too fast for it and my blade struck true. The fire in its eye sockets went out as it fell to the ground.

  I searched the skeletons, but they really only had old and broken equipment. I considered staying in the ruin to take a break and go over my notifications, but decided against it. I didn’t want to get ambushed again if there were more of those things. I climbed out of the hole and walked off away from the ruins a bit.

  After making a little shelter, just throwing a tarp over some low branches and putting some rocks to hold it down, I finally checked my notifications.

  ?You have defeated a Skeletal Minion?

  ?You have defeated a Skeletal Minion?

  ?You gained 212 experience points?

  ?Your level has increased to 4?

  ?One Handed Swordsmanship has increased to level 4?

  ?You have gained the skill Throwing?

  The skeletons being called minions seem to indicate that something or someone was in fact animating them. Although I can’t be sure for now, it’s probably best not to get involved. I was able to handle those two fine, but a necromancer or something would probably have a lot more, and would most likely be a lot stronger than I currently am.

  With my level up, I decided to even out my strength and dexterity stats at 12. Putting most of my points in those stats seems to be working so far, so I see no reason to change it. My swordsmanship skill also leveled up, so it seems like my thought process of actually using the skill in combat gains more experience compared to just practicing seems to be true.

  The throwing skill seems obvious, although I’m kind of surprised that it’s a skill at all. It feels a bit too simple, but maybe later on it will become worth something. After going over my stats and skills for a bit while I rested, I decided to move on from the ruins and continue on my quest. I can’t imagine the place where Crank wanted me to go was much further.

  After travelling for another hour or so, the environment began to change. It was subtle, but the familiar snowy landscape that I had gotten used to on this journey began to shift. The first thing I noticed was the occasional dark spot. Not like the snow was discolored, but like it was in the shade, even though there was nothing around that would be casting a shadow.

  The next thing I noticed was that, while I was walking towards the convergence of the mountains, it seemed as though they were never getting any closer. I walked for an hour and didn’t seem any closer than I was originally. Getting spooked now, I decided to check the compass.

  It was going haywire. The red pointer, the one that was supposed to be pointing me to the last area Crank felt like he was on the trail of the creature, would spin around, stop, move slowly, and then spin fast again. The black pointer, the one keyed to Larkinge, was thankfully stable.

  Does that mean I’m in the right place? Or does it just mean that whatever was affecting the environment was also affecting the compass? I couldn’t tell, but as I mulled over these thoughts, I noticed a shimmer in the distance. Something glistened in the light up ahead.

  I slowly approached, trying to stay low, uncertain if the creature I was seeking was around or other beasts that inhabit this place. As I got closer, I could make out more of what the object was. There was a small clearing in the snow, with a raised stone. It looked fairly natural, not like a hand carved stone platform. Roughly spherical, with sharper edges than a normal sphere, and about eight feet from one side to the next. It came up to about my stomach, as it seemed most of it was buried beneath the snow.

  The stone was dark, like actually dark and not just in the shade. Not quite black, but closer to it than gray. Embedded in the stone, was the object that glistened. A small gemstone, small enough to fit in my palm, rested within the stone. It looked almost like a diamond, but there was some discoloration inside it. I got a notification.

  ?You have found a ||||||||||||||||?

  ?Would you like to extract essence??

  That’s a bit odd, the notification isn’t able to display what this thing is, but it’s still offering me a choice. I don’t seem to have a way to figure out if this would be good or bad for me, and I’d rather not die in my first week in the game. On the other hand, if this is really good, then it would be great to get it right now, and if it were to go bad, dying this early in the game might be the best case scenario compared to if I tried and failed later.

  Having made up my mind, I decided to attempt to extract the essence. But, before I could, something else happened. The notifications glitched and shifted, as a piercing noise echoed throughout the valley. Almost like a whale call, a low reverberating groan moved through the space. A sharp pain bounced around my head, and my vision blurred.

  Looking up, grabbing my head and squinting my eyes, something emerged from the trees in the distance. As soon as I saw it, I was certain it was the creature Crank had tasked me to find, but it was nothing like it was drawn in the book or described by Crank himself. It looked a bit like a moose, not unlike the Elafos I fought on my first day in Aevum. But this thing stood at least twenty feet tall.

  It had pure white fur, with huge antlers that had icicles coming down from the bottoms. Its eyes seemed to glow in the same way the gemstone did, refracting the sunlight, but they had a blue hue. As it stepped forward, still a distance away, another groaning sound came through the valley, although its mouth never opened. The notifications stopped glitching and combined, creating an amalgamation of elements.

  ?Are you the one??

  At this point, the only thing on my mind was escaping. Whatever that thing is, I would stand no chance against it. I took off running as fast as I could leaving behind whatever that gem was and whatever power it held within. Something truly unnatural, even for a game, had just occurred, and it filled me with dread.

  As I ran, another groan emanated from behind me, and it sounded as if I got a notification, but I didn’t bother to look. I had to get away.

  ?…you are not the one.?