"Life is the Ultimate Game" it has been said. for one guy, this would turn out to be more true then he could have ever imagined.
I remember dying. I saved a little girl from being run over by a car. Not the worst way to go I'm sure. But now I'm in this place, all I see is a black nothing that never ends. Not sure what this place is but... What's this screen doing here?
Would you like to play again? Y/N
What the Fuck?
EDIT: Featured August 17th!! It was only for a few minutes but it was up there. Thank you guys for that. You're awesome!
EDIT: Lonelydarkness is kind enough to lend his time and effort to edit this story so be sure to thank him. I know I do.
“Where am I?” All I could see was black, I wasn’t even sure my eyes are open, it was so dark. Oddly enough, though, I didn’t feel afraid— just confused.
“Ok, think— what was I just doing…? I remember walking home after getting the milk, eggs and soy sauce for mom. It was a clear day; no clouds, calm breeze, birds singing, a kid about to be run over by a car…” My mind froze as everything clicked.
“I’m dead.” The realization didn’t hit me as hard as I thought it would. Sure I was still upset, but not to the level I assumed I’d be when I died. I was happy that that girl would live a happy life and hopefully wouldn’t run into the street anymore. I felt bad for my mom and sister, I’d miss them something fierce. I only had one real sore point about dying.
“I died a virgin, damit!” I grumbled. I’d have liked to get laid first, but them’s the breaks. Though me dying brought a thought to the forefront of my mind— What happens now? Something must’ve known what I was thinking because a rectangular screen popped into existence at that moment.
It wasn’t very big— maybe two by one foot, and slightly transparent. It just appearing wasn’t what got most of my attention, though— it was what I read on it.
Would you like to play again?
Y/N
What the actual fuck? This was a bit confusing, but I felt pressing the N wouldn’t be a good idea for me; I decided to press the Y instead.
PING!
...Calculating reincarnation algorithm,
...mapping universal plane matrices,
...initiating random world seed generation
I blinked as the first screen disappeared and this new one appeared. Underneath the words was a loading bar quickly filling up to full. I didn’t get much time to think as the bar filled rather quickly, and another ping drew my attention back to the screen.
PING!
World generation complete.
...Assigning parental organisms…
Parental organisms assigned!
Paternal Figure: Level: 37 Name: Solid Steel Occupation: Master Blacksmith Race: Minotaur Racial Attributes: Enhanced strength Bullheaded Shaper of Steel and Stone
Bio: Solid Steel is a massively built Minotaur thanks to working the forge from a young age. A master at his craft, Solid Steel works Iron and steel like an artist.
He met his wife Midnight Blaze when she came to his home city of Kol in a trade ship. They fell in love and decided to settle down and raise a family.
Solid Steel is extremely protective of his wife and son. He hopes he can pass his knowledge on to you, as a father should.
Midnight Blaze was born to a well-to-do Unicorn family in the city of Manehattan. Growing up she was found to have a near prodigal skill with enchantments and enhancement based magics.
After finishing school she left her family due to some conflict she never talks about.
Arriving in the City of Kol, she met Solid Steel, and they grew close over time— eventually to the point of marriage and having a family.
Midnight is feisty and enjoys a good prank, much to the chagrin of the pranked. She loves her husband and you completely, but she fears her past will find her and drive you apart.
That was a lot of information about my character’s parents— this should be interesting. I was drawn away from my inner thoughts as the screen shifted again.
Thank you for waiting.
Welcome to the character creation screen!
Here you can decide on the physical features and traits of your character. Please keep in mind when completed all choices are final.
I blinked again. Okay— this was weird to the extreme. The screen shifted and showed something like a status screen for a mmorpg character.
The place where one would upgrade and view their stats was blurred out, but the rest was viewable. I saw my “Character”; he was an odd one to be sure. He was covered in fur, and instead of feet, he had a pair of split hooves, like a cow, and a small spiral horn jutting out from the middle of his forehead. The fur was a dull blue and the hair and tail a sunflower yellow. A very odd default coloring and not to my liking at all.
Another two screens appeared on either side of the character screen— the one on the left had instructions, and the one on the right had a classic color wheel, with tabs that said Eye, Hair, as well as a few others.
Please choose the color of your character’s fur, eyes, mane, and tail.
I decided to push my confusion away and play along. Starting with fur color I chose a simple, earthy brown with highlights of garnet red. I picked a plain black for the hair and tail of my character— I never was one for in your face colors. For the eyes, I found I could color each differently, so I chose two colors. Gold and silver for the right and left eye respectively.
Feeling happy with my choices, I pushed the confirm button and watched the character screen shift until my character’s colors matched my choices. A few other things cleared up on the screen as well as the color changed. Another ping pulled my thoughts away from that.
Please choose three more personality traits for your character. Also please note not all traits are permanent and can change over time so choose wisely. (Note: due to parental races two traits have been automatically chosen.)
Bullheaded: Permanent “You could get a mountain to move more than this guy.” Decisive choices are easier to make Abilities such as Coercion, Silver Tongue and Trick get -5% to working on you. Diplomacy is reduced by 10%
Gregarious: Permanent “The more the Merrier! I love group hugs!” +10% to making friends “Fear of crowds” and “Introvert” traits are impossible to gain -5% chance to befriend someone with introvert trait
Trait choices left: 3
Damn, that’s a lot to look through— I have three choices left, and the screen said some can change over time. I need to be careful about this. I see one trait that I absolutely want, so I tap the “Genius” Trait and read what pops up.
Genius: Permanent
“You’re a smarty pants… What? You want a gold star?”
+10 to all stats relating to magic
+1 to all stat gains (Ex: increasing 1 point of STR would give an additional point to STR due to trait)
- Powerful trait: takes up two trait choices
HOLLY SHIT! That is so worth it! I click accept and see “Genius” added to my list of traits, as well as my trait choices go down to one. The screen changes slightly, and I notice all the positive traits are gone from the list of choices. A new screen pops up and I read that due to “Genius” being so OP I only have one trait slot left so I need to pick one more. I’ve always hated it when games were too easy so I’ll pick a negative trait to try and balance things out a bit. Looking over the negatives I weigh the pros and cons.
Many of the traits, like “Cynical” and “Greedy”, seem like they would be permanent traits, and that is something I really don’t want. After a good amount of time, I finally pick my last trait.
Weak:
“You call that a punch? A thrown piece of paper hits harder than you.”
-10 points to STR, END, and DEX
-50 HP
-20 Attack
Extra 20 points of damage taken from attacks until Weak trait is removed.
+20 chance of “Bruised” status effect becoming “Broken Bone”.
-20 relation with those who value strength until “Weak” trait is removed.
It was an ouch of a trait, but I’m certain this trait isn’t permanent. As I clicked the accept button, the character screen blurred for a moment before it was completely revealed, and I could see my stats. I still wasn’t sure what this was all for, but I just accepted it as something that was happening and went with it.
Special Status: (Passive) +10 WIS and INT due to ? heritage.
Traits: Bullheaded Weak Gregarious Genius
??? Is a blank slate, his choices will determine whether he lives happily, or not. He is destined for greatness— though what kind of greatness is uncertain. Only time will tell.
I winced at the abysmal STR, END and DEX stats. I knew I would have to work really hard to get rid of that weak trait. The rest of my stats looked okay, and I was really impressed with my high WIS stat. I did wonder what kind of heritage gave me the passive +10 to WIS, though.
Soon, the character screen was replaced by a new one.
“Uhhhh, whaz’zat?” I grumble to myself, the ping noise stirring me from my Heavenly sleep. Yawning widely I cracked my eyes to look around. Sunlight was filtering in through the sky blue curtains from my window across the room.
“Morning already? Damn, that was one really weird dream last night.” I stretched my arms wide and high, getting a few satisfying pops from my back for my efforts. Looking around, I was a bit confused. My room looked... different.
My old dresser (which had been made from that cheap, bargain-bin-tote plastic) was now made of wood. It was simple, though it seemed like it was done in an old style. It looked like it was oak, though the room was lit poorly, and it had a dark finish, so it was hard to tell. It had also moved from the right side of my room to the left.
The closet was still next to the door, but on the right side instead of the left. The open-out shutter doors hadn’t changed much, but then again, I couldn’t see inside. The popcorn ceiling (which had also been a flat green before) was now untextured, and painted to look like a slightly cloudy noon sky— complete with the sun.
A new writing desk sat in the left corner of the room, closest to the door, with a simple wooden chair pushed neatly into the leg-space beneath. A small oil lamp sat on the closest corner of the desk, though it was unlit at the moment, and a short pile of books were neatly stacked in the opposite corner, against the wall.
Shaking my head and rubbing my eyes trying to make sure nothing was affecting my vision, I blinked hard before a translucent screen, floating in front of my face, caught my attention.
You have slept in your bed.
All status effects cleared. HP and MP fully restored.
“Blink… Did I mix NyQuil and fireball again? Blink Blink…” My brain was trying to work, but all the employees said; “Fuck it, we can’t work like this no more!” and abandoned ship. I slowly reached a shaking hand toward the screen as last night's “dream” replayed in my head.
The moment my hand came into my field of vision, I felt my heart stop. The hand in front of me had three fingers and a thumb— and I clearly remember having four fingers. Also, my hand was covered in brown fur. I looked back and forth between the screen and my hand.
“It wasn’t a dream.” As I said this I clamped down on my rising panic, and started putting it all together. After a few moments of organizing my thoughts, and deep breathing, I laid everything out.
“Okay, I died— still sucks— and was reincarnated into this life, with RPG like powers. I’m no longer human, and from what I can see without a mirror, I’ve become what I made from the character creation screen.
“This is just weird.” I thought staring at my new, three fingered and fur covered hands.
“Never thought I’d miss my pinkie finger so much and why am I not freaking out about basically being reincarnated into a furries wet dream here?” I thought outloud. It is my biggest concern; why am I not freaking out? I should be losing my mind at the moment. The only reason I can think of is it has something to do with these new abilities of mine.”
PING!
Due to your problem solving, your INT goes up by 1
Okay— that was unexpected. I guess doing certain things level up certain stats? I never played a lot of RPG’s (in my past life I guess), so I don’t have a lot of knowledge to go on.
“Damn— I could use a guide right now.” I mumbled out loud.
PING!
“What now?” I looked up to see another screen. I felt a smile start to form on my face as I read the title.
Would you like to access ‘The Gamer’s Guide’?
Y/N
What kind of question is that? I pressed yes, and the screen changed.
Congratulations!
You have unlocked the Gamer’s guide! To open the guide, say ‘Guide’.
“Guide.” Seemed a bit tedious but I can’t complain too much. A new screen popped up in place of the old one.
Welcome to the guide. Please select a topic from below to view.
Introductions [!] Stat points and Stats Raising Stats Levels Quests Flaws Skills Reputation
There were more categories, but I ignored them for the first one. I wasn’t much of a gamer before, but even I knew what a glowing “!” stood for— it was a quest objective. I squirmed around on my bed to get comfortable, and pressed the ‘Introduction’ tab.
Greetings, Chosen Gamer of this world!
If you are seeing this, then Gaia has chosen you to wield this power.
“Who the hell is Gaia? Sounds like a weird fruit.” I said before I continued reading. The next line answered my question… sort of.
If you don’t know who or what Gaia is, Then read up about it in a Library. More specifically, read about the ‘Gaia Theory’. That isn’t really that important right now though. The most important fact for you to know is that you have been given an ability known as ‘The Gamer’.
“Must I really do homework again? I thought I was passed that when I died,” I groaned, slightly annoyed. I continued reading;
‘The Gamer’ is a powerful ability, given only to those deemed worthy by Gaia. Across multiple parallel universes, realities, and worlds, only a small portion of beings are deemed worthy of having this power. Consider yourself among the honored few.
“Tsk. yeah yeah, box-power is strong— get on with this already.” I heard another PING sound, but ignored it as i kept reading.
Okay, obligatory impressive speech is over. Now, we dive into the meat of the matter. ‘The Gamer’ has the ability to turn repeated actions into skills. It doesn’t matter what you do; Fire lasers, swing swords, fly, vomit acid or whatever else. Anything can be turned into skills, even something as simple and mundane as washing the dishes.
“Well… That’s extremely weird but also extremely awesome.” I smirk slightly. The song ‘Higitus Figitus” pops into my head and I smile.
Almost all aspects of ‘The Gamer’ are invoked verbally, as you probably figured out. You have at your disposal several pages with information that you can invoke simply by saying the name of the page.
First, the ‘Status’ page. This displays several things, such as: your Stats and Perks, your current level, your HP and MP, as well as your flaws, Special Status, Inventory and currently equipped gear.
Next, is the ‘Skill’ page. This displays: all the skills you have learned, their current level, a small description of what they do, and their effects.
The ‘Perks’ page shows you your current Perks and their effects
The ‘Flaws’ page shows you all of the current flaws that you have, as well as their effects— negative or otherwise.
The ’Quests’ page shows all the current Quests you are undergoing, as well as the ones you have already completed.
Finally, the ‘Reputation’ page shows you your standing with various beings, groups, clans, cities or nations.
I sighed as I rubbed the bridge of my nose. This was a lot of information to take in and I still had some to go. I wonder if I can make quests for myself? Time to test it out.
“I will discover the answer to Life, the universe and everything.” I say out loud.
PING!
Quest Alert!
In very Deep Thought
Objective: Discover the meaning of Life, the Universe and Everything
Quest Reward: ???
I’m slightly confused as to why the reward is a bunch of question marks but just roll with it.
“The answer to Life, the Universe and Everything is 42.” There is no way that this is real.
PING!
Quest Alert! - Complete
In very Deep Thought
Objective: Discover the meaning of Life, the Universe and Everything
Quest Reward: Hitchhiker’s guide to the multiverse— A towel.
I feel my eyes bug out of my head as I read the window. HOLY SHIT!! My jaw dropped in shock as my brain tried to process what had just happened. Quickly I dismissed the window and after taking a few deep breaths to calm down I continued reading.
There is one final thing to inform you of, Gamer. Every single being who has received this power has had one of three reactions: Some choose to try and ignore the power and continue on with their lives like they had before they were granted it. That never turns out well… Ever.
Some become a force for Good or Evil using their power. The majority of beings granted this power take this route, although not many survive taking the ‘Evil’ route for some reason.
The final route some choose to go down is that of the original and first wielder of this power; Survival.
Regardless of which path you choose to walk, life as you know it is gone, never to return.
“Guess sympathy in his dictionary is between shit and syphilis.” I glare slightly at the screen, but continue, since It’s almost done.
Now, that concludes the introduction. Please read the rest of the Guide for more detailed information on all that has been mentioned previously. More information will be added as you discover more aspects of your ability.
All that is left is for me to wish you good luck as the chosen ‘Gamer’ of your world.
The Game Master,
Han Jee-Han
I sat there, staring at the screen and contemplating my new life and this strange ability I now had. I had my suspicions, but none of this information shed any bad light on this new power— except the possibility of dying… again. That was something I was not going to let happen any time soon.
There also didn’t seem to be a way to revoke it. It was now mine, and I didn’t have a say in the matter. I have this power now and have to deal with it. I sighed— I knew it never payed to ignore one's problems, so I guess I’m going to have to deal with it.
“Best thing to do know is to gather as much knowledge as possible.” I waved my hand through the ‘Introduction’ window and it vanished. I was about to press the ‘Stat Points and Stats’ button when Another window popped up blocking it.
Congratulations!
You've unlocked the Guide and received basic answers to your new ability!
Quest Completion Reward: +400 EXP
I swiped that one away and was highly annoyed when another popped up in its place.
Quest Alert!
Impressions are important: It’s your first day so make it a good one.
Objective: Clean up, eat breakfast and don’t be late!
Quest Completion Reward: +500 EXP, +15 REP with ???
Accept?
Y/N
First day? First day of what? My new life? I wasn’t sure what it meant, but I had a feeling I couldn’t not accept it, so I pressed the Y button. The screen disappeared and I noticed another screen floating off to my left that I hadn’t noticed before. I give it a read and I slap my hand to my face in annoyance.
Due to actions and choices made a new trait has been added.
Impatient- Non permanent
“Let’s GOOOO!!! NOWNOWNOWNOWNOWNOW!!!”
-10 REP with authority figures
-25 to decisions that require forethought, patience and contemplation
What the fuck was this bullshit? I fumed at the screen. I’m not impatient! I’m not some little, snot nosed brat who’s always hyped up on a sugar rush! I raged for a bit more before calming down, and dismissing the window with an annoyed wave after remembering I’m a little kid again.
“This sucks.” I mumbled softly. I tried to sit comfortably, but now I couldn’t seem to find a good spot— it was like I didn’t want to sit still. My brain froze as it connected the dots. That new trait I got— it actually affected me as if it were a part of my body. Damn, I needed to be careful to not get any more negative traits if they affected me like that, and that fast.
My thoughts turned back to the quest I received not moments ago. The only conclusion I could think of, that made any sort of sense, was that it was my first day of school. I doubt I could be late on my first day of a new life, so it only made sense. This topic also brought up another. What the hell am I supposed to do when I meet my new family?
“I’m pretty sure a little kid suddenly acting like an adult instantly is going to cause waves that I can’t deal with. I don’t want to get a one way ticket to the looney bin, thank you very much. I only know what I read last night about my new parents— which wasn’t much at all. What am I going to do?”
I felt an incredibly odd sensation, and the best description would be that my brain got ‘pinched’. I flinched in pain and… Started to remember? I blinked a few times as new memories started fitting into place. How the hell could I forget about mom and dad? They’re the Awesomest Parents Ever! Mom is so cool when shows off her magic, and dad lifted a HUUUGE broken tree after it fell onto a road we were on.
I remembered dad's famous pancakes that he’d make for special occasions, and that he said he’d make them for my first day of school. My mouth started drooling at just the thought.
Mom can’t cook for crap— she even burnt juice once… I don’t even know how one burns juice, but she did it.
I’m torn out of my memories by my bedroom door slamming open, and a yellow blur leaping at me and yelling.
“RISE AND SHINE!!” Mom yells at the top of her lungs.
“GAAAAHHHHHH!” I scream and leap into the air, grabbing one of the rafters in above my bed. As my heart starts to slow down I glare down at the laughing demon mare I call my mother.
“MOM! I told you not to do that!” I yell which only made her laugh harder.
“OH Sweetie! Your face! Priceless.” She gasps out as she wipes tears from her eyes. I gaze over my mother as she tries to get her laughter under control. She had a coat of daisy yellow colored fur with a blue mane and tail, with highlights of deep, almost black, blue. A spiral horn the same color as her fur jutted out from her forehead above sparkling green eyes.
PING!
I give a mental flinch. What now?
A new skill is created by a specific action
Due continuous Observations a new skill has been created!
Observe- Level 1 (15/100)
Shows information about the target.
At current level it show’s target HP, MP and a smidge of info
I was shocked slightly at this skill, and a bit disappointed. But it was a low level so I couldn’t expect much yet. Mom’s laughter started to peter out and I dismissed the window.
She got to her hooves with a few chuckles and smiled up at me.
“Want me to help you down Sweetie?” she asked. I suddenly remembered I was a good six feet in the air, hanging from a rafter. Self preservation is a powerful thing.
“Yes please.” I said softly. Mom just smiled and lit her horn with a silver aura. I felt a slight tingling as the same color aura enveloped me, slowly lowering me to the ground. From my new memories, I recalled that that was mom’s magic— specifically a telekinesis spell.
“You ready for your first day of school?” She asked me. I couldn’t help but grin; I’d always loved learning new things, and now I was going to a place that would teach me new things. I ran over to my closet and pulled out a large backpack that was near bursting at the seams with stuff.
“Yeah! I’m got everything ready last night! I packed everything I’d ever need, Paper, pen, pencils erasers, notebooks, my new schools books, a change of clothes, fishing ling and hooks, a starters camping kit a canteen of water with purifying tablets, food ration packets…” I was stopped by my mom’s hoof over my mouth. She looked completely confused.
“I can understand most of that and I can even understand the change of clothes but why on Equis do you need fishing gear ration pack and a starters camping kit?” She asks, her head cocked slightly to the side.
“You and dad say to be prepared for anything so I was making sure to have every scenario that could happen covered. Like what if on my way to school a freak storm happens and I get lost and have to find shelter? I couldn’t start a fire without the flint and steel, or get fish without a hook and line.” I told her. This was obvious stuff you needed for these kinds of situations.
I saw moms eyes twitch slightly before she shook her head and smiled softly.
“While I’m proud of you Sweetie for thinking of... every possibility, I don’t think you’ll need all of that this time.” She uses her magic and unpacks almost everything I had spent two hours cramming into my backpack. I pout slightly but I can see where she’s coming from. They were possible but not probable.
“Sorry mom, guess I’m just nervous and I want to make a good impression on the teachers and my classmates.” I say with my hand behind my back and rubbing a circle on the floor with my hoof. She just chuckles as she places everything but my school supplies back where they belong.
“It’s okay to be nervous. Now come on, your fathers almost done making pancakes and you don’t want them to…” I don’t hear the rest of what she said. I just rush out of my room and down the stairs towards the kitchen. My first day of school could wait, I had pancakes to devour and they would never escape me!
I rocketed down the stairs toward the kitchen. As my right hoof hit the last step, it caught on a single nail that I had conveniently forgotten about. I was sent flying past the kitchen door, and I admit to a slightly girly scream, as I flew straight into the wall next to the front door. Landing with a mighty crash, I saw stars as I crumpled into a dazed slump on the floor.
“Uuuggghhh,” I groaned as my senses come back to me.
PING!
“” What now?” I wondered, staring blearily at the popup window.
Through intense use, a new skill has been created.
Physical Endurance - Passive - Lv1 (27/100)
“There’s no gain without PAAAIIIIIN!”
Your body’s ability to endure physical attacks and injuries—
Current level negates 5 points of physical damage.
I got a distinct feeling that whatever gave me this ‘gamer’ power was mocking me… just a little bit. I was pulled out of my annoyance— literally— as someone pulled me to my hooves (gonna need to get used to saying that).
“You alright son? That was quite the tumble,” a soft, but strong and deep voice asked me. I looked up... and up... and up— till I felt like I was almost leaning back a little bit. I blinked at the first (kind of) sight of my father.
My dad— Solid Steel— was massive, and that’s putting it lightly. He stood, at least, over seven feet tall, and his hands looked like they could crush three skulls my size with a gentle squeeze. His broad chest and shoulders rippled with muscles upon muscles— grown and toughened like the metal he forged. His fur was a dark steel blue in color, and his eyes a sharp, bright, crisp grey. He would have been extremely intimidating— if he wasn’t wearing a bright pink frilly cooking apron.
“Mommy, why are you wearing that? You can’t cook.” I asked before my brain registered what I said. I was extremely confused, and so was dad as he raised an eyebrow (which was basically what amounted to a look of shock from him).
“Why the hell did I ask that?” I thought.
PING!
“The fuck is it now?”
Due to hitting your head— really hard— you’ve gained a status condition!
Dazed and Confused?
Effects:
Dizzy
Loss of balance
Chance of concussion increased to 20% due to WEAK perk.
Effect duration: 1 minute
“That’s complete Bullshit!” I yelled in my head, wobbling a bit. The only things keeping me upright are my Dad’s massive hands. Carefully and slowly, he leads me to the kitchen; gently, he sat me down in a chair at the table.
“Don’t you move— that knock to your head must’ve been bad if you confused my cooking for your mother's,” he said. I think I saw the corner of his lip twitch, but with the Dazed and Confused status effect, I couldn’t be sure.
“Hey, I can cook!” I heard my mother’s voice yell from the kitchen doorway. Dad just gave her a pointed look.
“You can’t even scoop ice cream into a bowl without us having the fire department on full alert, and outside our home,” he said with a stone face. Mom had the decency to look a bit sheepish.
“It was just one time,” she said, trotting in. She clambered into her chair, made specifically for her by one of dad's acquaintances with a wider seat so she’d be comfortable, across from me. A few seconds after she sat down, the world came back into focus, and I was told that the status effect was gone— with no side effects, much to my relief. I shook my head and subtly dismissed the windows.
“Sorry about mistaking your cooking for Mom’s, Dad— nobody could be that bad,” I smirked slightly at seeing my mom's pout.
“This is two against one; it’s not fair!” Mom said, giving me and dad a mock glare and shaking a hoof at us. We just exchanged a look, and in perfect sync, we answered with one of Mom’s favorite mottos.
“If you’re not cheating, you’re not trying,” we both said, faces completely blank. It was much harder to maintain on my part than my dad's. Mom’s eye twitched hard as she stared at us.
“How long have you two been practicing for that one?” She asked.
“We admit nothing,” We said again at the exact same time. My face split into a grin while my dad’s eyes just sparkled slightly. She just sighed with a smile and shook her head.
“What will I do with you two?” She asked with a soft smile.
“Love us?” We both said again, making mom frown slightly.
“Okay, now you’re both just being annoying.”
PING!
“Fuck you!” I yelled in my head as I read the window that appeared.
New skill created
Annoy- Lv 1 (10/100) (Passive/Active)
“I’m not touching you… I’m not touching you!”
+3-10% chance of making target become angry and lose their cool
While it could be a handy skill, it wasn’t something I should be proud of. I swiped it away as we waited for Dad to bring the pancakes to the table. A thought occurred to me as I sat there; Dad and I spoke together in near-perfect synchronization— one doesn’t get that kind of coordination with someone without years of knowing that person really well.
But I’d woken up this morning I’d never met them, or knew they existed. I looked over at mom and saw her gently swaying back and forth with her eyes closed, humming a soft tune to herself. I saw dad flipping his pancakes, like he was a professional juggler, as he glanced over his shoulder with a small smile as he listened to mom’s humming.
I hadn’t known them when I woke up, but now… It was like they’d always been there. I suddenly felt cold, like someone had ripped the blanket off of me on a winter morning. I shivered as an image of three people flashed in my mind. The image was burned into my mind, even though I’d only seen it for a second. It made my heart twinge in pain.
On the left was a woman in her early forties, with lightly tanned skin and dark brown hair. She wore simple blue jeans, with a white t-shirt that had ‘one hot momma’ written on it in red flames. Her eyes were closed as she laughed at the other two in the image.
The other two were a young boy and girl, roughly around twelve to fourteen years old. The boy had dirty blond hair that was straight, till it reached the back of his head— where it curled hard. He wore brown cargo shorts and a plain green t-shirt. His grey eyes were wide in fright as he jumped into the air.
The girl was behind the boy, her arms up in a classic, ‘I’m a monster who’s scaring you,’ pose. Her wheat blond hair was in a loose pigtail that reached past her shoulders. She wore a pair of overalls, and a pink shirt. Her skin was tanned like the woman’s, and she had bright, green eyes.
It was a happy picture of a family… I couldn’t think past that word as pain and grief slammed into me hard. It took every ounce of willpower I had to not just burst into tears, and collapse onto the table in sobs. Almost as soon as it struck, though, it was whisked away by a cool wave of calm and peace flowing over me.
I tried to get my thoughts together, but the image was fading fast, along with anything related to it. There was a voice in the back of my mind, telling me that something was wrong, that this didn’t make any sense, that I shouldn’t forget that image— but I couldn’t hold onto it, and it disappeared.
An odd feeling of anxiety started to creep into my mind. I just felt that whatever that was, I should just leave it alone— but I also felt like that was a bad idea. As I kept pondering this, I started to fidget.
Dad was still making pancakes? It seemed to take forever for dad to bring them in; damn that Impatient perk. Mom noticed my fidgeting but attributed it to something completely different.
“You still nervous for school?” she asked, a look of concern clear on her face. I could tell that because mom was like an open book and easily readable— but dad had the poker face of a granite slab— can’t read a damn thing. While I wasn’t squirming in my seat due to first day nerves, I just went with it because I was a bit nervous about school anyway.
“A little. I just hope I don’t run into Bulge and Break there; they both pick on me enough as it is,” I said.
It wasn’t a whole truth though; Bulging Break and Breaking Bulge were twin minotaur boys that took an unhealthy delight in tormenting me for a good amount of my years. Under their ’tender’ care, I’d heard it all. Half-breed, wimp, dork, duffus, sissy, weak-knees, glass boned trash, and those were just the common ones.
Mom’s face darkened at the mention of their names. She was familiar with them and had made her ‘grievances’ known to them about teasing me. Translated, that meant she pranked the hell out of them till they learned to not do it… at least when she was within a 100-meter radius, or within eye and earshot. They just learned to bide their time sadly, and I was still their favorite target. Starting to think the Weak trait was a really bad pick now.
“Don’t worry son, they tease you because they fear you, and they lack something you don’t. They want to make you not see it, so they feel better about their faults,” he said as he brought over a towering stack of pancakes to the table and set them down. I was a bit confused to pay attention to them though.
“What do you mean? They can obviously beat me to a pulp whenever they choose to… I’m not exactly the strongest around dad,” I answered. That was something I was going to remedy post-haste, though. He smiled but he shook his head. A kind of sweet, but annoying thing about Dad, was that he likes to make you figure out a problem completely on your own. His approach to swimming was to tell you the motions, then thrown you headfirst into the ocean and tell you to swim.
“You’ll figure it out, son. You’re far smarter than most kids your age, which gives you an edge they don’t have,” He said, doling out the pancakes. The conversation quickly left my mind as I watched the fluffy goodness climb higher and higher on my plate. A thought occurred to me and I decided to test it out.
“Observe,” I whispered to myself as I focused on the pancakes in front of me. A window popped up instantly after.
Dad’s Awesome Pancakes of Awesomeness!
Heals 25 HP per pancake
+5 to Vit and Str for 1 hour
I was amazed. Did they heal that much in one go? While it wouldn’t do much at higher levels, at my current level they’re awesome; that’s probably why they’re named the way they are. I couldn’t remember what my parent's stats were, and I was curious about them. I tried to observe them, but all I got was a bunch of question marks in return. I tried to think of why that was and could only deduce it was either to high a level or my Observe skill wasn’t leveled enough.
PING!
For figuring out the answer you gained +1 Wis
Nice. I swiped the screens away and dove into my pancakes. My mind nearly exploded from the deliciousness that they were made of. While I had six years' worth of memories, they were just that— memories. Here I was experiencing this for the first time in my life, and I was in heaven. I’d never had food this good, I was sure of that. I moaned slightly in pure bliss as I carved through my stack.
It didn’t take me long to finish— much to my sadness— but I did, and Mom took the dishes to the sink clean them while I ran back upstairs to change into my day clothes. From what my memories tell me, most races don’t wear much clothing— preferring to just walk around in their fur. Minotaurs however usually wore a pair of pants or shorts most of the time due to… our more exposed sex organs. Though we never wore shirts for some reason, but whatever.
I quickly pulled on a pair of grey pants and grabbed my backpack. I made my way— much more carefully this time— down the stairs and toward the door. As I descended, I started making a plan for the journey to school. I was going to grind the shit out of Observe during the trip.
I lived on the edge of the town, on the outside of Kol’s city wall. It was a massive circle of stone at the base of a large hill in an unusually flat plain area, right next to a well-sheltered bay we were in. Kol had three tiers; the ground tier, which was the market district, housing for shopkeepers and travelers, and the slums. You could find anything you wanted there— legal or otherwise. The second tier was smaller, and one rarely got to even see it unless you had friends in high places to allow you entrance.
It was supposedly made completely of marble, and had spas and fine restaurants only meant for the very rich or extremely savvy merchant. The top tier— known as the cloud scratcher by us on the third— was where the lord, his family, advisors and diplomats lived and stayed.
Kol was a powerful city-state— both martial and economically. The plain’s fertile soil was excellent for farming, and being near the ocean gave us fish for food and a trade hub. I didn’t know much else due to my age, but I hoped I’d learn more as school went on.
But back to Observe grinding. I had to pass through the market district to get to my school, which was within the city walls. The Idea of so many levels that I could gain made my face split into a massive grin.
“You look like you just made off with the cookie jar,” I heard dad’s voice call out, and I snapped back from grinding daydreams to reality. He was waiting by the door with a small sack tossed over his shoulder. Dad’s shop was further in from the where my school was— closer to the second wall. He was dropping me off on his way in. I smiled happily.
“Just excited. Come on, Dad— let’s go already!” I pulled at his pants trying to yank him toward the door faster— I had grinding to do.
PING!
“You have got to be kidding me!” I grumble in my head as I read the screen.
Annoy reaches level 2
+10-15% chance to target becoming angry and losing their cool
I stopped instantly and swiped the window away as I mentally facepalmed. Taking a deep breath, I calmed down and looked up at my dad who was nodding his head.
“Good job son— you caught yourself without me saying a thing,” he said, ruffling my hair a bit. A warm feeling bloomed in my chest hearing him, and I just smiled happily. We left the house with a goodbye to mom, and started on our way to Kol. it was a ten-minute walk to the wall— I could even see it from where we were, but it wasn’t my main focus.
My head was on a swivel, going left and right using Observe on anything or anyone I could think of. I ignored the multiple pings and windows as they popped up dismissing them and just focusing on grinding. Just as we got to the city gate a very happy me read the window that popped up.
Observe has reached level 10
Now reveals targets HP, MP, Stats, information and current thoughts
I had to restrain myself from dancing in happiness as we entered the market. I continued leveling up my Observe, but I only managed to get three more levels before we were stopped by a friend of dad’s. While they were talking, I used it on a unicorn that was passing by, and what I read nearly made my heart stop dead.
Silent Night is an assassin for hire. As per family tradition, he trained for most of his life— but is only so-so at his job. He may not be the best, but he’s still good. Show him a target and pay him upfront, and the target shall meet with a sudden accident. His current target is the young child of a powerful merchant family whom his employer wants to cave.
Thoughts: Silent night is not happy about how his skills are being wasted on a kid.
“Shit shit shit shit!” I start to feel panic creeping into my mind when a cool sense of calm falls over me and I’m able to process what I’ve just read.
“What can I do? I can’t fight that guy— he’d smoosh me like I was a bug with those kinds of stats— but I can’t just let him kill someone.” I quickly try to come to a decision, as he’ll soon be lost in the crowd. I grunt in annoyance as I reach it.
“Damn me and my hero complex.” I take one step.
PING!
Quest:
“Edge of the knife”
Objectives:
Stop the assassin from killing his target.
Make it back before your dad notices you’re gone
?
?
Rewards:
2000 XP
400 GP
Random mid-level spell book
Enchanted weapon
?
Failure:
Possible death, and death of target
Do you accept?
Y/N
My eyebrow twitches as I read the quest. It may be powerful, but God, this stuff can get annoying. I press yes and dart after the assassin, hoping beyond hope I’ll survive this shitstorm to come.
“What the hell am I doing?” I mumble to myself for what must be the dozenth time as I peek over the top of a stack of crates. I’ve been sticking to the assassin like a shadow and keeping myself low and out of sight. No one must have been paying attention, ‘cause I got a new skill in the process and leveled it up, too.
Sneak - Lv 3 (34/200)
“If I can’t see you, you can’t see me!”
The ability to move unseen or heard
10% harder to be detected while sneaking
It was definitely helping out. I’ve also been leveling up my Observe skill, as well as any scrap of information I can gain, will be able to help me. Now I just need to… Wait, where’d he go!? I looked around like crazy before spotting his tail disappearing into a nearby alley. Moving quickly to catch up, I peek around the corner and again watch his tail zip around another corner.
“This is the part in the movie where he pops up behind me and I die.” I can hear the sarcasm dripping, even in my own thoughts. I pushed all my senses to their max and continued to follow. It was the same song and dance for a few more turns. It almost ended in disaster when I nearly bumped into him as I came around a corner.
He’d come to a stop and was just standing in the shadow of the nearby wall. I was quietly flailing my arms to not fall on his flank. I luckily got my balance and didn’t reveal myself.
PING!
Lucky you— LUK increased by 3
“Now's not the time!” I thought angrily, swiping the screen away before moving back to a safe distance. As I caught my breath, I took in my surroundings. I followed Silent Night to what seems to be a small garden area. It was quite beautiful if a bit chaotic. Flowers of every shape, color, and kind grew all over the place. There was a small gazebo in the center of the garden, where flowering Ivy clung to one side.
Inside the gazebo, I could see the shape of a pony curled up on the stairs. I could just barely make out a pair of wings on its sides, marking it as a pegasus. I listened closely, and the faint sound of crying could be heard wafting through the air. I realized that it was the pony crying.
I was so caught up in my thoughts I’d missed the Assassin moving up till he was right next to the crying pony. I started to panic.
“Melody River?” I heard assassin ask, his voice cold and even. The ponies' head snapped up and big, fear-filled eyes locked onto the assassin. The fear quickly turned to anger and face became a snarl.
“What do you want!? If you’re here to take me back to father I’m not going back! I will not have my life dictated by someone who has more money than others!” A feminine voice snapped out. The assassin let out a chuckle that made me shiver.
“Don’t worry, you won’t be going back there… Alive that is.” He said before his horn ignited in a blackish aura and a very sharp looking knife appeared and hovered next to him in the air. I felt the whole world slow down to a crawl as my mind flew through ideas and plans and just as quickly discarded them.
“What the fuck am I gonna do?!” I thought before I felt what can only be described as a massive vice clamping down on my rampaging emotions and thoughts. It bestowed a chilling calm on my mind and gave me focus.
“Fuck it! Bullshitting powers to maximum!” I declared and made myself known.
“I wouldn’t do that is I were you.” My voice calm and quiet but it carried far. The assassin whipped around his eyes darting left and right before they focused on me. I slowly stepped out of the shadows, lazily strolling forward. The female Pegasus eyes widened with shock, she probably didn’t see me before.
“Who are you?” Silent night demanded brandishing his dagger at me. I cocked an eyebrow at him and let a smirk cross my lips.
“My name is of no consequence, but killing this lovely mare here, now that is,” I said placing my hands in the pockets of my pants like this was a casual meeting. I looked at the pegasus and muttered a quiet Observe on her, her information was quite interesting.
Level: 12 Name: Melody River Occupation: Merchant in training Race: Pegasus
Melody Song is the only child of prominent merchant Pay Day, one of the most powerful merchants in Kol. She’s not much older than you and enjoys reading, gardening, and music. At the moment she is upset because she’s being forced into an arranged marriage with another merchant family to increase trade and profit.
She is hoping that she’ll live through this.
“Damn, that’s rough.” I think.
PING
“ugh.”
Observe has reached Lv 15
Now reveals targets HP, MP, Stats, Information, Current thoughts, One hidden fact.
“Not ugh!” I dismissed the window and used Observe on Melody River again. I got the same info and thought but the hidden fact almost made me face vault in shock.
Melody finds you to be very handsome.
I lock that can of worms away for another day and use Observe on the assassin. His hidden fact made me crow internally for finally catching getting some leverage.
Silent night is in love and planning to marry a Diamond Dog named Ruby against his family wishes.
A plan started to take shape in my head. It would be a complete dick move but it would hopefully save this mares life. I look him straight in the eye as I speak.
“All choices have repercussions you see, given your form of employment I have no doubt you know this?” I ask I see his head give a minuscule nod in confirmation.
“Well, your employer wants this lovely lady to die…” I said with a casual wave of my hand. I see Melody stiffen and feel a twinge of sympathy.
“But we want her to live, so you can see how we have a conflict of interests.”
“Indeed,” Silent says and starts to turn around, likely to do what he was paid to do. The iron was red hot and I struck.
“How is Ruby doing these days?” I ask He froze mid-step, his eyes wide in shock.
“I’m actually surprised you and she are together, given your... family pedigree .” I put emphasis on family. He started to shake and his eyes showed a glimmer of fear in them. Now to drive it home.
“Yes, we know who you are… Silent Night.” I smirked as I saw him start to shake hard.
“It would be such a shame, to see such young love, Exposed in the light of day. It makes me wonder how your family would react.” I felt like a complete douchebag doing this. It twisted in my gut like a hot knife but I pounded the last few nails into the coffin.
“And what would become of your carrier, with such news spreading far and wide no one would ever hire you again. Such a travesty, wouldn’t you say?” I ask him. His eyes are shadowed by his mane and he’s shaking hard. I can see his teeth grinding hard as his lips are pulled back into a brutal snarl.
“How do you know this?” he growled. I can hear the anger in his voice, like a caged beast wanting to get loose. I just smile at him and put the finishing touches onto this whole story.
“The Illuminati always know. It’s what we deal in. Truth, unbiased, cold, hard, absolute truth. And the truth will out Silent night.” I said. A shady organization that deals in information to cover my complete bullshit, a match made in hell.
I blink and suddenly find myself on my back with his knife pressed hard against my throat. His eyes blazing with barely suppressed rage flashing at me. I feel panic and fear bubbling up but that same vice pushes them back down and I’m able to keep calm.
“Now now, my dear Silent Night, remember actions have consequences. Making hasty decisions based on anger could land you into trouble.” I say more calmly than I should have been able to in a situation like this. His eyes narrowed dangerously.
“And what trouble would I get into from killing a simple messenger?” He asked hotly. I felt a small prick on my neck and something warm trickle down. I just gave my best smile. It seemed to unnerve him quite a bit as the knife's pressure lessened.
“There’s a special spell attached to me, specifically to my vital signs. My heartbeat, the electrical signals of my brain, the heat my body gives off.” I explained. I see the wheels in his head-turning.
“If any of these should show signs of… me dying, just to give an example, my employers would know and they’d assume you didn’t listen to the warning and act accordingly.” I stated. I could almost see the answer click in his eyes as he paled considerably. I let my smile grow to creepy proportions as I locked eyes with him.
“As you can see it would be in your best interest to simply walk away.” Silent Night swallows hard and slowly gets off of me and I get to my hooves.
“And if I leave, this information stays hidden?” he asks carefully. I nod.
“Of course, we didn’t get to where we are today by going back on our deals,” I tell him and he nods. Neither of us taking our eyes off each other he starts to leave the garden.
“A little advice from me to you if you’ll take it,” I called out to him just before he reached the alley. He stopped and waited. I didn’t like tricking the guy like this, even if he had a sickening profession, So I’d help him out a little. I just hoped my luck held out
“When you get back to Ruby, take her and run. Keep your head down and don’t raise it for a long time. Knowing your employer, he won’t take this lying down. We’ll cover your track here so don’t dally.” I tell him He gives me an odd look before nodding his head. He started to turn but stops and looks back.
“Since I’m out of a job now, where could I find your organization? It seems like a good place to work.”
PING
Attempt at extracting information failed
“I love this power!” I cheer I my head as I lock eyes with him again. Time to be ominous.
“The Illuminati are never found when you want something… We find you.” I said staring him down hard. His gaze broke away soon after and he fled down the alley at a gallop.
PING
New skill created
Intimidation - Lv 1 (56/100)
“What did you say!”
The ability to make other cave through sheer presence alone
-20 chance at being cheated when using intimidation
+20 chance of better information when using intimidation
+15 Chance enemies will back down from a fight when using Intimidation
Okay, now this is an OP skill. I swipe the window away an focus on the alleyway for a few more moments. Now sure he was gone I turned back to Melody River and she was gawking at me with wide eyes. I used Observe again and her thought and fact changed.
She is nervous but thankful you saved her and is extremely impressed.
Melody River now has a massive crush on you
“What the FUCK?!” And why the hell isn’t my name coming up? I know it’s me the windows are referring too. It’s not that important right now. I dismiss the windows with a deep sigh and let my shoulder sag with relief. I give Melody the kindest smile I can muster at this point as whatever clamped down on my emotions let go and they came rushing back.
“I can’t believe that he actually bought that,” I said with a small laugh. Melody just blinked at me before I could almost hear the gears in her brain crunch as they halted. She stared wide-eyed at me before as sickly sweet smile formed on her face and I felt pure dread fill my soul. It was like someone had dumped ice water down the inside of my spine and the grim reaper had run his fingers down my back simultaneously
PING
PING
PING
New skill
Detect Bloodlust - Lv 3 (47/200)
“I can smell your fear”
Radius of 20 feet
Detect Bloodlust - Lv 4 (56/250)
Radius 25 feet
Detect Bloodlust - Lv5 (59/300)
Radius 30 feet
I just watched in stunned fear as the window kept popping up. I felt a hoof on my shoulder and I turned and saw the face of death.
“Did you just risk my life on a fib?” Her voice was sweet but behind the sweetness was the devil.
“Yes?” I squeaked out. she became enshroud in a blood-red aura. I felt the bloodlust skyrocket.
“Note to self; stop saving people— I’ll probably live longer,” I thought, sweat pouring down my forehead. My back pressed against a wall and nose to nose with a very, angry filly. If looks could kill I’d be nothing but a smear on the wall by now.
“Explain, now,” She hissed through clenched teeth.
PING!
Intimidation attempt successful
You are being intimidated
I blinked at the notification in shock before I felt like a rabbit cornered by a wolf, and I caved.
“Alright, alright! just tone it down will you please? Jeez, after being saved from an assassin, you don’t usually interrogate the one who did the saving,” I said, holding my hands up in a placating gesture. Melody snorted, but backed down, and sat on her haunches. I heaved a sigh of relief; though now I had to give her something, or she’d start all over again.
“What do I tell her? I can’t tell her the whole truth, because I’d sound insane, so what the heck do I do?” I wracked my brain for an answer. Perhaps fate decided to give me a freebie because Melody actually helped out.
“Where did you even get all that information on that stallion? I didn’t notice at the time, but looking back now, it was really personal stuff,” She asked with a raised eyebrow. A simple plan formed in my mind that gave me a good out. I took a deep breath to collect myself and explained.
“I have an… an ability that grants me certain amounts of knowledge about objects— be they a simple box, or a living pony,” I said with a casual shrug of my shoulders, trying to play it off as if it was an everyday thing. Melody gave me a blank look; she clearly didn’t believe me.
“Prove it,” she said, showing her age and doing what any normal kid would do when told a crazy thing. I sighed and dragged my hand over my face, pausing at my mouth for a second to cover my whispered Observe. I was surprised at what I read; apparently the hidden fact was something different every time I used Observe.
Melody has a small stash of porno mags she swiped from her father in a hidden wall compartment behind her bed.
My jaw fell open in complete shock as I just stared at the notification. I started to feel my left eye twitch and I pinched the bridge of my nose. Why was my power being so perverted?
“What’s the matter? Can’t learn anything about someone as pretty as me?” She teased. I opened one eye to cast an annoyed look at her and caught her with a smug smirk. Now I’m normally a ‘water off a duck’s back’ kind of person, but seeing that smirk just rubbed me the wrong way. I scoffed.
“Well, pretty filly, what’s with the porno magazines behind your bed? You didn’t have an imagination so you needed some visuals to help it along?” I snarked back. I realized it was kind of a dick move. Even though I’m physically around the same age my mind isn’t. I have the intellect of a full-grown adult and here I am picking on a little girl...filly… Ah, the same idea anyway. She may have pissed me off but that’s not really and excuse for this. I wonder if it has something to do with me basically being a kid again? I’ll have to keep an eye on it in the future.
While I was upset at myself for picking on her, I couldn’t help but feel amusement spring up as I saw her mouth opened and closed like a fish as she just stared at me. Now I was the one with the smirk on their face.
“Did I prove it, or do I need to dig a little deeper?” I asked. Melody snapped out of whatever shock she was in and glared at me while blushing violently.
“How do you know about that?! No one’s seen me with those ever!” She demanded, stomping one of her forehooves in frustration. If I wasn’t annoyed, I would have found that action to be somewhat cute.
“I told you; I have the ability to learn things about others when I look at them. It’s only if I choose to though, and the more I look, the more I learn. I don’t know how it works, I just know it does.” I wasn’t lying per se. It was an ability of my ‘Gamer’ powers so I really didn’t know how they worked.
PING!
What now?!
A half truth is still lying, brat!
New skill created!
Lying: Lv 1 (15/100)
“But I am a real boy!”
The ability to tell half and non-truths as if they were the truth.
5% chance of lying successfully
My eye started twitching violently as I read the screen. This was the most bullshit of all bullshit things to pull at this point and time! Whoever this Gaia was, if I ever found them, I’ll wring their neck till they’re blue in the face before I—
“Thank you.” I stopped my mental temper tantrum and looked at Melody confused.
“What?” I asked. She glared at me slightly but it had none of the heat it’d had before.
“For saving me… thank you,” she said, her head dipping down a bit.
“You were right; you don’t bully someone who rescued you. I’ve always had about as much patience as ‘an exploding volcano in an earthquake’ as my Dad says.” She rubs the back of her head with an embarrassed grin. I give her a small smile.
“Well, you’re welcome, and it was my pleasure. I wish we could have met under better circumstances,” I said, and I meant it, too. That quest had been stupid crazy from the get-go. I felt my blood freeze as that thought bounced around in my head.
“The quest.” was my only thought as I mumbled Quests out loud and a screen displaying both my quests popped up.
Impressions are important: It’s your first day so make it a good one.
Objective: Clean up, eat breakfast and don’t be late!
Quest Completion Reward: +500 EXP, +15 REP with ???
And the one I was on now.
“Edge of the knife”
Objectives:
Stop the assassin from killing his target.
Make it back before your Dad notices you’re gone ( 0:30)
?
?
Rewards:
2000 XP
400 GP
Random mid level spell book
Enchanted weapon
?
Failure:
Possible death and death of target
I panicked as my eyes fell onto the timer counting down on the right-hand side. I had less than thirty seconds left before Dad noticed I was gone!
“Oh crap,” was all I could say. Melody got a worried look, but I ignored her as I ran toward the garden entrance.
“WAIT! What’s wrong?!” I heard her hooves thumping behind me quickly as she ran to catch up. I didn’t have time to explain it to her, so I kept running. I made it back to the crowded main street and I frantically looked left and right, trying to get some kind of glimpse of my Dad. I hadn’t dismissed the quest screen, so I looked at the time again, and I almost started to cry. It had only eight seconds left.
“Why’d you run off like that?” Melody poked her head into my field of vision on my right side. I still had a chance to save my life, so I darted left, my eyes straining to find any sign of my Dad.
“Stop running away from me!” Melody yelled behind me. I finally reached a clear patch in the crowded street but even as I did my last hope died with a now common sound.
PING!
Quest Completed!
“Edge of the knife”
Objectives:
Stop the assassin from killing his target.
Make it back before your Dad notices you’re gone: Failed
Hidden objectives:
Stop Assassin without throwing a single punch - 1300 XP
Create a secret shadow organization - New title! - 1300XP
Rewards:
2000 XP
400 GP
Random mid level spell book - placed in inventory
Enchanted weapon - Placed in inventory
Possible future friendship with Melody Song
PING!
Level up!
I didn’t know what to think. My head was a boiling cauldron of so many emotions it felt like a liquid landfill. I didn’t know one thing though, as I grabbed my mane and stared at the ground in fear.
“I am so dead.” Was all I could say. Then I felt, FELT I TELL YOU, a large shadow loom over me.
“Not yet you’re not.” The scathingly quiet voice of my Dad said. A shiver went down my spine as I glanced up at him. His large arms were crossed over his chest and his piercing grey eyes were narrowed to slits.
“You better explain yourself, son,” he said, every syllable sounding like a hammer on my coffin nails. I give a weak chuckle and open my mouth to explain when I’m interrupted.
“Get back hereAHHHHHHH!” Was all I hear before I feel a warm body collide with my back get sent sprawling on the ground in a tangle of limbs and feathers We start struggling to get up, though it only makes it worse.
“Get your hand off my wing!”
“Well stop shoving your hoof in my eye!”
“It’s in your eye because your horn is in my ear!”
“Than stop slapping your tail in my face!
“I’ll stop when you get your fingers out of my nose!” I’m certain we would have gone on much longer but a sound, or rather a lack thereof, made us stop and look around. Every… Single… Pair of eyes were staring right at us and there were multiple snickers and snorts of barely contained laughter. In a blink, I was shoved away hard and I saw Melody Song standing there with a violent blush spread over her face.
“Huh, so that’s where you’ve been,” Dad said. My head whipped up so fast, I swear I felt a crack and was met with a ball retracting terrifying sight. My Dad with a smirk on his face. I was truly scared now. Mom may be the prankster of the family but if Dad got even the slightest bit of dirt on you, then he would tease you to death and back.
“Should your mother and I start making wedding arrangements now, or do you want to wait a few years?” He asked, his eyes practically sparkling with delight. I knew to keep my mouth shut but Melody had no such instruction.
“It’s not like that! He just saved me is all.” She said before I could clamp my hand over her mouth but the damage had already been done.
“Saved you? Really now?” His smirk only grew. I tried to get up to stop her but Murphy was being a dick, and my pack, which I hadn’t realized had fallen off my back, got tangled around my hooves and sent me back to the ground— face-first this time.
PING!
Physical Endurance - Passive - Lv2 (14/100)
“There’s no gain without PAAAIIIIIN!”
(Your body’s ability to endure physical attacks and injuries)
Current level nagates 8 points of physical damage
I vowed that if I ever found Murphy, I’d slowly boil his balls in tar, before setting them on fire!
“Yeah, he stopped an assassin from killing me by just talking to him. Then he scared him off by threatening him, and I can’t stop talking when I’m nervous.” She clamped her mouth shut with her own hooves, but the damage had already been done.
Dad’s eyes changed from mirthful to steel hard in an instant, making us both flinch. He stared at me for a few moments before frowning hard. My whole life, well lives, was starting to flash before my eyes. Could this get any worse? I wanted to slap my face so hard for thinking that, but Murphy did it for me in the form of a notification.
PING!
Quest failed
Impressions are important: It’s your first day so make it a good one.
Objective: Clean up, eat breakfast and don’t be late!
Failure: Ya get nada.
“We’re going straight back home son— your mother and I will have quite a few questions for you,” his words brokered no argument. I felt like crying. I glanced over at Melody and saw she was giving me a sad smile— that changed very quickly.
“You too missy,” Dad said as his eyes flicked over to Melody. She let out a startled ‘EEP’ and darted behind me. It would have been adorable if I wasn’t about to go face a firing squad. My Dad just gestured for both of us to start walking, and I started to trudge homeward— toward my doom.
“Well, this new life was fun while it lasted.” I thought sarcastically as my hooves dragged along the ground. Melody was doing a very good impersonation of a depressed me to my right. She leaned a bit closer and I heard her whisper.
“Your Dad’s kinda scary.” While I still felt down, I felt a small smile spread my face.
“He’s nothing, it’s my Mom I’m worried about,” I said. I saw Melody swallow the large lump down her throat with a shiver. I brought my hand over and patted her on her withers with a comforting gesture. She looked at me, and I did my best to smile reassuringly.
“Don’t worry. Mom’s not that bad and besides, think of it this way. You faced down assassin earlier, my Mother should be easy compared to that.” I told her. She gave me a small, friendly smile in return before looking ahead again.
PING!
+10 Rep With Melody Song
Well, that was a plus to this whole cluster fuck at least. I took a deep breath and did my best to steel myself for what was to come. An angry Dad, an explosive Mother, a scared filly using me as a meat shield, and me in the middle. Yep, there was only one outcome.
It wasn’t as bad as I had feared. It was worse. When we reached home and dad told mom what I had been up to she got quiet, like scary ‘i’m gonna flay you alive’ quiet. I thought I was in some horror movie as her head slowly turned to me her eyes always facing forward. The look she sent me… I can’t even describe the feeling of fear I felt. For all that is holy, I instantly gained 7 levels in Detect Bloodlust bringing it to Level 13!
She only told me two things, ‘go to your room’ and ‘I’ll talk to you later’. I only managed to stay downstairs for a bit longer by asking if they could contact Melodie's dad and letting him know she was okay. Melody wasn’t so hot on that idea until I whispered that if she told him what happened in such a way she could probably get out of that arranged marriage. She tentatively agreed to it and her dad was contacted quickly through magical means I couldn’t figure out.
I was then ordered to go upstairs. I gave Melody a sad wave and smile goodbye which she returned and shuffled upstairs and into my room. As the door clicked shut behind me, I flopped onto my bed and did my best to sort through the craziness that had probably become what my normal days would be from now on. Figuring the best place to start was to look over my stats, skills and other things I’d gotten for completing the quest and leveling.
“Status,” I said to my ceiling and read the screen as it appeared. Looked over my stats and nodded, my physical stats still sucked but they were better than before. I guess I was going to be a more magic focused character than anything else with my INT and WIS being insanely high for my age. The only problem was I had no idea how to use magic.
I sat up and focused my thoughts on how to bring out my magic. I had MP so I knew I could use it just not how. My train of thought leads me to the old tropes of how many protagonists to learn magic or some hidden power were told to meditate. I’d always written it off as a silly plot device but now that my life was a game, a silly plot device may be just what I need.
I fold my legs and place my hands on my knees, close my eyes and steady my breathing. After a minute… I can already tell meditating is going to be hell. My mind just wouldn’t focus. That damn impatient trait was kicking me in the balls hard. I wished whatever had given me a calm mind back when I faced the assassin would work now.
A wave of calm washed over me after that thought, stilling my mind and body. I was slightly surprised and decided to test something. I willed it away and I was back to near fidgeting nerves. I willed it back and my nerves calmed.
“I wonder if this is a skill I have, better check it out.”
“Skills,” I said a blue screen popped into existence and listed all my skills, what they did and their levels.
Gamer Mind - LV MAX
Gamer Body - LV MAX
Observe - LV 15
Detect Bloodlust - LV 13
Sneak - LV 4
Annoy - LV 2
Physical Endurance - LV 2
Intimidation - LV 1
Lying - LV1
I had no idea what Gamer Mind or Gamer Body was so I clicked the first one and the description came to view.
Allows the user to calmly and logically think things through. It allows a peaceful state of mind, immune to psychological status and effects.
Okay, that was seriously awesome. Guess I know what that calm feeling was now. Done with that I dismissed it and clicked Gamer Body next.
Grants the user a body that allows the user to live in the real world according to the status they possess.
That was just as overpowered at the Gamer mind. Does that mean that instead of being physically damaged I lose HP? I didn’t feel like testing that theory our just yet. I already knew the other skills so I closed the window completely. I had to give a small smile at how OP this power was. It was like a universal cheat code to life, I could do anything with this power, nothing was beyond my grasp! My plans for world domination had to wait though as I had other things to look over.
“Inventory.” A wide, brown screen popped up. On it was a picture of me in a classic T pose and boxes over certain parts of my body. It was a normal equipment display set up. I saw my pair of shorts in the box for my lower body. Growing curious I pulled the shorts out of the said box. Looking down I saw I was naked as the day I was born, I hadn’t even felt them come off. Putting the pants back into the equip box I watched as they appeared back on my body
“Okay, that’s cool,” I said with a smile. Never having to worry about a change of clothes ever again would be a huge boon. After that test, I looked at my actual inventory on the right side of the screen. Three rows of six boxes were displayed before me and an arrow pointing right at the bottom of the screen. I pressed the arrow and another three rows of boxes were displayed along with a counter that read 2/100.
“Okay I take it back, whoever you are Gaia, You are amazing!” I shout in my head as I almost started drooling at the possibilities of having a near-infinite amount of space to store things that could lead to. I pulled myself from my happy hoarding daydreams and went back to the first inventory screen which had the loot I’d gotten from my completed quest.
I was curious about the enchanted weapon I’d gained and clicked the image. The air in front of the screen rippled and out popped a very strange looking weapon. Its scabbard was made of wood and leather with a blackened steel cap at the end, very nondescriptive and normal looking. The hilt fit in my hand comfortably and still had plenty of room for when I got older and bigger.
The guard was actually a mix of a finger guard and a knuckle duster combination with a deep green emerald about the size of half a walnut shell set into the but of the hilt. When I drew the blade that’s when things became really interesting. The blade, if you could call it that, was made in a triangular design, with three edges that, while they looked sharp, wouldn’t cut very deep.
I could easily see this was meant for stabbing rather than cutting. I looked it over carefully as well as using Observe on it and what I read was extremely interesting
Enchanted Dagger
Name: Final Breath
Class: Rare
35 Damage (un-augmented)
Ability:
30% chance of instant kill when attacking from cover
25% chance of paralyzing enemies when struck
+10 LUK when equipped
Final Breath was once the favored weapon for renowned Thief and killer, Black Patch. Said to be his good luck charm as well as his preferred tool for killing any enemies or rivals. He was said to be so accurate with this weapon that all he had to do was poke his targets and they would bleed to death. When he was finally caught this weapon was lost before his execution and no one knows where it ended up.
My eyes were nearly bugging out of my head. I kept looking between the dagger and the info. I was extremely impressed with this weapon. I was curious about what the ‘Un-augmented’ bit was about. I clicked it and my eyebrow rose as I read.
Emerald - Decent quality - High magical capacity
Current magical charge (0/1500)
Magic type: N/A
I had a nasty grin on my face. If I’m reading this right and I think I am, This gem acted like a magical battery. You put magic in and it holds it until you want to use it. And it could contain different types of magic. I can now see why Black Patch was such a threat. I sheathed the dagger and pushed it back into the inventory slot it came from. I can’t equip it yet, it’d draw more attention than I already had or wanted.
Next, I clicked the magic book that I had gained from the quest. Another ripple effect and the book dropped into my lap. I picked it up to examine it but a new screen popped up.
PING
You have acquired a skill book for the illusion branch of magic.
Disguise
Warp your magic around you to create a shell and shape it to look like anyone.
Mana cost: 50 MP per 30 seconds
Would you like to learn Disguise?
Y/N?
Is this game stupid? Hell yes, I’d learn this! I pressed yes and the book exploded into small particles of light before being absorbed into my chest. The rush that came after, I can’t describe it. So much information flowing through my mind, you’d think it would hurt, but the closest I can get for a description is an adrenaline high.
It was amazing, it didn’t feel like I’d studied this spell over time more like I just, knew how it worked and could do it. It sadly didn’t last long and as I was coming down from the high I got a ping.
New Skill!
Disguise - LV 1 (0/100)
I dismissed the screen and heaved a happy sigh. This spell would come in handy for the future. I started to feel a nagging itch in the back of my mind though like I’d forgotten something. It wouldn’t go away so I decided to check my Quest screen to check y loot gain. There was only one quest displayed and it was the assassin one though it was dimmed, must be how it’s shown when it’s completed rewards and my eyes landed on one reward that I missed.
New Title!
I blinked. I had no idea what a Title was so no time like the present to learn. I verbally called for the guide and clicked the glowing tab labeled titles.
Titles are terms and labels of renown for doing virtuous deeds and actions or reviled deeds and actions. All titles come with boosts to certain things, an example would be a sword user gaining a title that increases his prowess with swords. You are able to equip a total of five Titles before you have to switch them out for others you acquire and wish to attach.
Current Titles:
1: -
2: -
3: -
4: -
5: -
Titles available:
Grand Master of the Illuminati: +25 to all skills and stats regarding espionage, information, and anything sneaky.
I grin split my face and it didn’t seem to want to stop growing. This was too amazing to not attach, so I clicked it and dragged it to the first slot. When it clicked into place I dismissed the screen and pulled up my status page and was quite happy with what I saw.
“Hot damn.” was all I could say as I read over these stats. My DEX was now through the roof along with my WIS and INT. If these are the way the dice are falling looks like it’d be best for me to be a sneaky magic character build, sounds fun. I was distracted from my thoughts on this by another ping.
PING
Quest:
“Be the shadow behind every throne” - (⅓)
Create an organization and control the criminal underworld and all it touches.
Objectives:
Gain underlings
Collect protection tax from three business
?
?
?
Rewards:
?
?
?
?
?
Failure:
Death of everyone you love
Accept
Y/n
I swallowed as I read what would happen if I failed. While this quest was awesome I didn’t feel it was worth the lives of everyone I love now and probably everyone I’d ever love either. I sighed and with a pout, I clicked no. Only the quest didn’t go away. I pressed no again, but the quest window stayed.
PING
This Quest is mandatory. Quest can’t be canceled
I felt a cold sweat form and I felt my stomach do a barrel roll. I couldn’t get out of this quest, but I didn’t want to do it! Almost as if my brain was responding to me, unbidden, I recalled something I’d read in the intro.
Some choose to try and ignore the power and continue on with their lives like they had before they were granted it. That never turns out well… Ever.
That last word now held a VERY different meaning to me now. I swallowed the goose egg in my throat and with a shaky hand, I accepted the quest. As the window vanished I could only say one thing about my situation.
I was still trying to process what I had just read when there was a knock on my door before my mom walked in. She still looked pissed but nowhere near as volcanic as she had been downstairs. She motioned with her hoof for me to scootch over so she could hop up on the bed with me.
I don’t know why I didn’t realize this but I’m not much taller than mom, who stands at just over four and a half feet tall. Must be me being a kid. She hops up onto the bed with me and we sit there in a one-sided awkward silence for a short. I squirmed like a worm on a hook as she calmly watched me. She heaved a soft sigh and spoke.
“What am I going to do with you?” She asked I knew better than to be a smartass at the moment so I kept my trap shut. She dragged a hoof down her face and took a deep breath before she continued.
“Your friend, Melody, told us what happened and I can say for certain we, me especially, have quite a few questions for you.” She looked at me her and I could see all her emotions in her eyes like they were words in a book. Confusion, pride, anger, happiness, fear, they all were there and they were making me very nervous. What could I tell her? What should I tell her is more accurate.
He called upon Gamer Mind and he got his thoughts in order as best he could.
“I need to tell her something. I don’t want to lie to her, she’s my mom but how the hell do you say ‘Hey mom, I’m really a reincarnated being from another universe with weird game powers and abilities. It’s really cool I level up and everything!’ Yeah, that’d go over real well. Not!” I wasn’t paying attention and my long pause had pushed mom into action. I felt her hoof on my shoulder and it snapped me out of my desperate musings.
She looked me right in the eyes and I could see the warm acceptance in her kind, green orbs.
“You don’t have to be scared of being punished for what happened. Your father and I are more upset that you rushed into such a dangerous situation without much thought. Why didn’t you tell your father about this? He could’ve helped.” Mom was doing what any good and worried parent would do, comfort their child and try to understand what happened while getting them to talk. I sighed, I couldn’t lie to her, I just didn’t have it in me.
PING
You have been successfully persuaded
I almost laughed. Guess the game thought so too. I took a deep breath and made sure Gamer Mind was active and started talking.
“First off, sorry for worrying you both so much.” I apologized and I meant it. Mom smiled at me which was a good sign she accepted.
“And I didn’t tell dad because I didn’t think he’d believe me.” While not the case it was true.
PING
Lie successful
“IT WASN’T A LIE!” I screamed at the screen in my head. I mentally willed the screen away and to my surprise, it disappeared, need to confirm that later. I saw my mom was giving me an awkward smile.
“Why would you think that?” She asked, but there was no real oomph behind the question, she already knew the answer. I gave a small huff and crossed my arms.
“Like you or dad would believe me if I’d have said we had to save someone from an assassination without proof. You’d write it off as me having an overactive imagination.” Mom had the grace to look sheepish. She knew I was right.
“Sadly true, I keep forgetting how much of a big, smart colt you are.” She said patting my head and I playfully swatted the offending appendage away and stuck out my tongue at her making her giggle. The tension that had been in the air, in the beginning, had lessened quite a bit. It was still there but no longer all-encompassing. Mom’s smile gave way to a look of confused curiosity.
“I’m a bit curious as to how you were able to save Melody from her attacker. From what she told us you used a spell to get some sensitive information about him and used that as leverage to trick him.” She gave me a pointed look and gulped sightly under her intense gaze. Mom’s an Enchantress, best I can figure it’s kind of like a scientist/engineer here. She can get a bit mad scientist like about something she finds interesting and new.
One time, she locked herself away in her workroom for a week when she got a shipment of a new kind gemstone. All I and dad heard from that room was either loud bangs and curses or manic laughter and yells of victory. Needless to say, we were both very nervous around her when she was like this.
She looked me over for a few seconds before her horn ignited in magic and I felt a tingle across my skin. It happened multiple times and her aura around her horn increased in the intensity with each time. Maybe she was using more powerful spells? She must have not found what she was looking for as her horn dimmed and she rubbed her chin with a hoof as she thought out loud.
“Hmmm, you haven’t unlocked your magic fully yet, though it is there, so It wouldn’t be a normal spell if it’s one at all. More than likely it’ll be something biological but that doesn't make any sense, nothing like that has ever been recorded in history or even legend. I know some foals show signs of what their cutie mark could be but to this extent? It would be an insanely powerful showing.”
She paused for a second before a look of deep concern and fear appeared on her face and her brow furrowed deeply as she frowned.
“Could it be that? No that’s impossible, he’s never shown any signs of 'it'.” I had no idea what she was talking about but my interest was peaked. What was 'it' and how did it involve me?
Her voice got to low for me to hear and I strained my ears to pick up her mumblings without success. I took the pause her thoughts gave to go over what I had heard and could come up with only one conclusion. Mom was smart, like scary smart. She’d almost instantly deduced it wasn’t unicorn magic based and then started putting together theories as to what it could be. I now realize if I do decide to keep most of my Gamer ability secret… It’s going to be hell trying to keep my detective mom off the case.
“Use it on me.” I was yanked back to reality by mom’s request. I stared at her in shock at the oddity of this situation. It’d be like a fish asking a person to take them out of the water, it was just odd. I studied my mom's face but she was almost as stone-faced as dad's. But not completely enough to hide the small flash of fear behind her eyes.
And it wasn’t like the fear she had before when she was worried about me, no, this was the kind of fear one has when something deadly has its attention on them. That confused me to all hell. Why is mom afraid of me? I pondered this and I realized it wasn’t me she was scared of.
“She’s scared of my observe ability, probably what it would reveal.” I realize. What would she be hiding that she doesn’t want to be revealed? I see her horn flash a few times and she’s enveloped in a form-fitting cocoon of her magic. I cock my head in confusion. Mom gives me a small smile and explains.
“What most don’t realize about being an enchantress is that while it’s about making and setting enchantments it also involves studying, removing them and breaking them. I used three different spells for detecting different forms and levels of magic. If what you do involves magic, I’ll know.” She said confidently. I slowly nodded in understanding. Lowering my head and looking at her hooves so I could cover up my mumbled “Observe” and got something a little different than when I was at breakfast.
If I hadn’t had Gamer Mind active my eyes would have bugged out of my skull. My mind was going a mile a minute.
“40,000 MP!! Who in the holy hell! How is she that powerful!” I looked up at mom and see her with her eyes closed in concentration.
“Again.” She says. She’s not looking so I do it again. Same info as before. Her horn flashes again and another shell overlaps the other spells. I find it amazing that her MP isn’t going down in the slightest. Either these spells aren’t that powerful, which I doubt very much, or mom’s MP regeneration is that high. I’m leaning more toward the later.
“One more time.” She asks and I comply, I want to see where this goes. No change in info again and mom blinks as her spells dissipate. She looks at me in silent confusion, she’s obviously thinking things through.
“You are using magic but it’s not the same as Unicorn magic.” She states obviously. Both my eyebrow shoot up in surprise.
“What? How can I use magic if I don’t even know how to use it in the first place?” I ask her. Mom just shakes her head.
“I don’t know, but I do know that what you’re doing is very similar to one of the highest tier scrying spells known, 'Absolute Reveal'. Nothing is hidden from it as the name implies, but only Alicorns and a group of five powerful unicorns working together can cast it, but you’re doing a spell that could be its twin with almost none. It just doesn’t make any sense.” She rubbed her temples with her hoof.
“You get information about the target right?” She asked a tinge of nervousness tinted her voice. I nodded.
“It varies between living things versus inanimate objects. I can use it on a piece of art and tell if it’s fake or not, how old it is who made it as so on. But if I met the artist themselves it’d be a bit of a toss-up and sometimes I don’t get everything.” I explained a bit. Mom was listening closely to every word. She hummed in thought before she asked the obvious question.
“What did you learn about me?” She asked. I kept my lips from twitching at the childlike look of curiosity that mom excluded. I decided to play a small prank. My face turned grave I gulped hard,
“Well… I learned… that…” Mom started leaning closer and closer, she was actually holding her breath. It was to easy.
“I learned how foals are made,” I said with complete childlike innocence and excitement. Mom face planted into my sheets hard before shooting up ramrod straight with a bright red, shocked face. Her pupils had shrunk to pinpricks and her mouth opened and closed like a fish. I went further, this was too good to a moment to pass up.
“Mommy, what does it mean when you said “Oh Sweet Celestia! You're so big!” to daddy?” cocking my head to the side in fake curiosity. I was so lucky I had Gamer Mind active or else I’d be nothing but a wheezing, crying, gut aching pile of laughter on the floor right now. The look of awe/horror/confusion plastered on mom's face was priceless. I decided to let her know I wasn’t serious and let up on Gamer Mind and completely lost it.
I could barely breathe I was laughing so hard, making weird squeaking noises one would expect out of a mouse or rat rather than a child. Through the tears, I saw the look of shock, confusion than comprehension flash over her face. Her face was cherry red as she glared at me.
“You know I’m telling your father about this.” She said and my laughter stopped cold, just like someone had just dumped a bucket of ice water on a fire. I was going to be in deep trouble for that prank. Totally worth it though. I gave her my best apologetic smile and rubbed the back of my head in nervousness.
“You left yourself wide open for that, you can’t expect to toss me a freebie like that and not strike while the iron is hot.” I retorted getting an annoyed huff and a pout in return.
“Oh, woe is me! My own son strikes at my heart. Where did I go wrong in raising you?” mom said pulling a drama faint, hoof to the forehead and all. I just snort in amusement.
“Blame yourself, mom, you’re the one who taught me all the in and outs of a good prank, can’t take the heat get out of the kitchen.” I made a subtle jab at her lack of cooking skills. Mom’s sweet smile she sent my way made me very, VERY, nervous.
“Heat huh? I’ll show you heat.” Her horn ignited and I instantly felt as if there were dozens of feathers rubbing and tickling every ticklish spot I had at once. Low blow mom!
“Okay! Okay! HAHAHA! I give I giiiiiiiiIIIIIVE! HAHAHA!” After what felt like an eternity, mom finally stopped the torture. After I got my breathing and giggles under control mom’s smug smile lessens slightly.
“So, what did you really see?” I sighed, guess she hadn’t forgotten, damn it.
“Not as much as I can see from others. When I observe others I learn things about them. It changes from one pony to the next and the information varies.” I said getting mom to nod.
“From you… All I can get is that you’re powerful mom, way more than a regular Unicorn normally is, like crazy powerful. You did all those spells earlier and it was barely a drop in the ocean.” I spread my arms wide as an example to show her the massive amount of magic she had. The look on mom's face was a mix of pride, happiness and, much to my surprise and interest, guilt. Why the hell was she guilty about having so much magic? It didn’t make sense to me. I need to cheer her up, she’s my mom after all.
“It’s so AWESOME! I have the best mom and dad in the world! You guys are like super parents, dad is super strong and mom had super magic!” I was being completely honest. Mom’s mana pool was huge as was her control. I could only hope I’d be as powerful as her someday.
PING
Quest!
“Learn from and surpass the Master”
Objectives:
Learn the art of Enchantments from your mom
Make at least three grade A enchantments
?
?
Rewards:
2500 XP
Enchantment skill
Access to high grade gems
Accept?
Y/N
I clicked yes and thought about how I’d ask my mom to teach me. My thoughts were interrupted by a loud bang and a yell from downstairs.
I heard a mare's voice yell from downstairs. Mom quickly ran out of my room with me not far behind her. When we made it downstairs I saw Melody getting what I assumed was supposed to be a hug but ended up being a crushing strangle from the way her eyes were bugging out. The one doing said strangling was a sobbing earth pony mare with a light brown coat and a deep red mane.
“I was so worried about you Lullubee when you ran off and we couldn’t find you.” She cried as Melody struggled for her life.
“Mom… need… oxygen!” Melody managed to wheeze out as her face started going blue. A calm voice got the mare’s attention.
“I know you were worried love but if you keep hugging her like that we won’t have a daughter to worry about anymore.” The voice had a slight British like accent and belonged to a pegasus stallion standing in our doorway. His fur was the same yellow as Melodies but his mane and tail were dark blues with some stripes of steel grey. I used Observe on him first and got some interesting info.
Level: 38 Name: Pay Day Occupation: Merchant/Tradesman Race: Pegasus Title: The one with gilded pockets ( +25 to speech, intimidation, bargaining and persuasion. 15% better deals when buying or selling)
Pay Day is a very influential merchant whose wings stretch far and wide and his products wanted by many more. He is the Father of Melody Song and the husband of Golden Harvest both of whom he loves dearly. He tries to be the best father and husband he can but his work keeps him away and sometimes taints his choices and actions. He is a realist and carefully picks his choices, considering all possible outcomes to pick the best.
Current thoughts:
He is worried that his attempt to marry his daughter into a marriage that would set her up for life might have caused this to happen.
Hidden fact:
While he is in command during business and most outings, he enjoys being dominated by his wife in the bedroom
I felt my jaw fall open as I read his info. I felt like clawing my eyes out after I read the hidden fact. I didn’t need to know that! I was almost too scared to Observe Melody’s mother but my curiosity was burning strong. I just prayed the hidden fact wasn’t so… intimate this time.
Level: 39 Name Golden Harvest Occupation: Potter Title: Mother of all Mother Bears - Grants user +60 to STR and END when defending her loved ones, even if they aren’t in danger in the first place.
HP: 6400 MP: 4300 STR: 64 END: 79 DEX: 57 INT:43 WIS: 58 LUK: 50/50 - Rare - some are born with the odd case of having their luck flip flop.
Golden Harvest is the Mother of Melody Song and the wife of Pay Day. She is fiercely protective of her family, especially her only daughter, going so far as to blow situations far out of proportion if she even perceives a threat to Melody. She dotes on Melody and only wishes her the best, but what she wishes and what Melody wishes don’t always line up. Golden is extremely stubborn, once she sets her mind to something she won’t stop for much.
Current Thoughts:
Golden Harvest is relieved Melody is okay and wants to strangle whoever tried to harm her daughter till their head pops off.
Hidden Fact:
Chocolate, of any kind, consumed by Golden Harvest acts like a powerful truth serum mixed with alcohol, making her unable to keep any secrets safe, as well as her food down.
I tried to wrap my brain around how chocolate could be a truth serum but my brain started to hurt so I just gave up. Golden Harvest released Melody letting her daughter gulp in life-giving air but continued to fuss over her like here like a mother hen and pepper her with questions.
“Are you okay? Did they hurt you? If they harmed a single mane hair… Oh, look at your mane! It’s all messed up, and we had it so pretty this morning!” Golden was switching subjects faster than I could keep up with them making my head spin. Melody looked like she wanted to be anywhere else than at the mercy of her mother’s “tender” ministrations.
“Mom I’m fine, you don’t need to be such a worrywart,” Melody grumbled, completely ignored by her mother who continued to fuss away. I glanced at my mom and saw a small smirk of amusement on her face. Of course, she’d be enjoying this kind of torture. Can’t say I blame her though, as long as it’s not me, I’m enjoying it too. I froze stiff as that thought passed through my brain. I’d just tempted fate and knowing my track record of luck… I done goofed
“We were worried sick Melody until we got that Spell Note we didn’t know where you were or what had happened. How did you get all the way here, outside the city walls?” Payday asked. Melody quickly wiggled out of her mom’s grip, somehow, and told them about what had happened and how I’d saved her.
It didn’t take long till Golden Harvest’s head looked my way, her eyes starting to glisten with tears of gratitude.
PING
+50 reputation with Golden Harvest
Normally that’d be a good thing but not this time. I felt Gamer Mind clamp down hard on my fast rising fear.
“Y-you saved m-my baby?” Her voice cracked with emotion and her lower lips quivered harshly, her tears threatening to spill over any second. I looked at mom, silently pleading with her to save me, but the smirk she wore told me I’d been betrayed.
“Well, answer her son, It’s rude to keep a mare waiting.” I heard dad say after a few seconds of silence. I looked at him leaning on the door frame of the kitchen.
“Et Tu dad?” I thought as I stared at his blank face, but his eyes sparkled with repressed humor. I sighed, they’d won this round.
“Yes ma’am, I was able to keep Melody safe,” I said bracing myself. I wasn’t disappointed when a brown and red blur slammed into me and I felt like I was in a trash compactor, while suffocating.
“THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!” She said as I did my best to escape her stranglehold and survive with all my bones intact.
PING
Physical Endurance had reached level 4
“Fuck you too Murphey!” I yelled in my head as I felt my bones bend to almost the breaking point. I was saved by Pay Day as it seemed mom was trying to hard not to laugh to help me.
“Don’t strangle our daughter's savior dear, how can we thank him properly if he’s unconscious?” He said it so calmly like that had happened many times before. Oh god, I hope not! But thankfully it did the trick as I was released from the clutches of the organic hydraulic press that was Melody’s mom. Golden blushed slightly in embarrassment.
“Sorry, sometimes I go a little overboard.” She rubbed the back of her head sheepishly.
“A little?” was all I could think as my lungs somehow managed to re-inflate with air and allow me to breathe normally. Payday gently put a wing around Melody and nuzzled his cheek to hers. I could see she was still upset with him but she nuzzled back regardless.
“While I’m not so… Zealous in my thanking as my wife, I am deeply grateful to you for keeping my Melody safe. She means the world to us.” His voice was as sincere as any can get.
“If there is anything I can do to repay you for saving my little song, please, Money, land or objects just say the word and I’ll do it.” He said his face becoming serious, must be his business face. I glanced at Melody trying to gauge what she wanted and I almost facepalmed. I could just use Observe and learn her thoughts.
I did and made a point to ignore the new Hidden fact, with how it was being perverted. From what I read she wanted me to help her keep suitors at bay and me to be an actual friend and not one just to get close to her family. Not that hard to agree to in my opinion. I looked back to Pay Day and locked eyes with him before I spoke.
“I’m just glad that Melody is safe and didn’t get hurt sir, No need to go so far as that,” I said with a small smile. His shoulders relaxed somewhat. It seems while he was willing to do so he didn’t really want to. Made sense, he’s a businessman, he can’t just go around giving away money and such. He looked like he was about to speak but I cut him off.
“But, if it’s alright with you and Melody’s mom, I’d like to keep in contact with Melody. She’s the first friend I’ve ever made and I want to see her again.” I gave Melody a warm smile, making her blush slightly and shuffle on her hooves while her eyes kept flicking between the floor and mine. It was super adorable. Pay Day glanced between Melody and me a few times before locking eyes with Golden.
It was interesting to watch a couple have a completely silent conversation. After a few seconds, and it was so small I almost missed it, there was a tiny nod from Pay making Golden smile beam as she turned to me.
“That’s more than doable. Our little Lulubee has finally started making friends! Oh, I’m so proud of you baby girl.” Golden pulled Melody into another hug, only this one didn’t threaten to crack her spine in two.
“Mooooom, you’re embarrassing me,” Melody whined but made absolutely no effort to get away this time and actually snuggled into Golden's hug. I smiled at the sweetness of it.
“Damn, if this is normal for them, then I’m gonna need a dentist soon for all my future sweetness induced cavities.” I thought as I watched them. Pay Day cleared his throat getting their attention.
“We should get going love, While she appears fine I want Melody to see a doctor just to be sure.” He said. Golden’s face shifted to shocked at the thought.
“Your right dear!” She said squishing Melody’s cheeks between her forehooves as she rapidly looked her face over.
“What if she has internal bleeding that we can’t see? Or broken bone! If I find out that assassin hurt my Melody I’ll break him!” Golden and gone from sweet to terrifying in just under two seconds. While she was raging she had unknowingly started strangling Melody again. The way said daughter’s eyes were bulging out of her skull would have been funny if not for the ever closer creeping issue of a broken spine.
Pay Day just face hoofed, hard, before speaking.
“Please dear, stop strangling our daughter before she gets an actual injury.” His calm voice broke Golden out of her rage to see the limp form of Melody in her hooves. I swear I saw what could be classified as an anime ghost/spirit slowly rising from Melody’s mouth. Golden Harvest let out a cry of shock.
“MELODY NO! Don’t worry, mommy will get you to the doctor and make it all better!” She shouted as she flipped Melody onto her back and galloped out the front door at breakneck speeds. Pay Day just looked at the door with a completely blank face before turning to my dad and asking.
“Do you mind if I use the door frame for a few moments?” Dad was a bit confused but nodded his agreement. Pay Day walked over and started smashing his head into the door frame… hard… over and over again while saying ‘Stupid’ repeatedly. After a few seconds, he stopped and faced us again.
“Sorry about that, sometimes I forget that I have to be careful what I say around Golden as she takes some things far to seriously.” He explained. We all just nodded, to confused to speak. He faced me again and smiled.
“Thank you again for saving my daughter…” He blinked a few times in confusion before giving me an embarrassed smile.
“Forgive me but I haven’t learned your name young colt. what is your name?” He asked. I blinked… everything had frozen. There was not a single sound to be heard. I rapidly looked around and found my mom and dad had been frozen as well. Nothing was moving.
A familiar blue screen popped up, but what was odd was there was now a keyboard with it as well.
PING
Please name yourself
…. …. …. “What?” I felt my left eye start to twitch violently. It’s asking me to name myself? Now? Why didn’t it ask me that when at the beginning? I commanded Gamer Mind to lift and let all my pent up emotions explode.
“YOUR MOTHER WAS A $#@@%$$#@$$#@ ALUMINIUM ^%$^%&*^&^%$%##@$$# REPUBLICAN *^%$#$$#$^^&**^@$!!%*&^* WITH DONALD TRUMPS HAIR ^%$^%#^% IN A CASTLE FAR AWAY WHERE NO ONE CAN HEAR YOU *%^%#%$^)*&%%@$%&%$&^ SOUP ^&$@%^&*^& WITH A BUCKET OF ^^^&^%&**^$%#$#!$%$@ MICKEY MOUSE ^%$!#$#@#!@$%&$@%^&*%$ WITH BILL CLINTON’S *^$#$%@#!%^*&^$@$#!%%$#% SHOELACES^$#@@#$@!%%$##@$^&^%$ FARTKNOCKER!!!!!!!!” I screamed at the top of my lungs ranting and cursing. After a few minutes, I stood there panting hard all of my rage, annoyance, fear, confusion and any other emotion that had been held back had now been released.
After taking a few deep breaths I started to give some thought as to what my name would be. My old name was Conrad but I had a feeling in a world where names like Pay Day and Midnight Blaze where normal Conrad would be a bit weird. Besides that life was gone so I’d need a new name anyway.
What should my name be, I want to deviate from the norm but…” A blast of inspiration hit me and I typed it into the keyboard. I looked it over and smiled, a perfect mix, I hit enter. The screen blinked away and I watched as the world started up again. I locked eyes with Pay Day and gave him his answer with a smile.
“My name is Deviant Play, and you’re welcome sir.”
A unicorn quickly trotted through a dimly lit hall. He had a report to give, he only hoped he could catch his boss in a forgiving mood. The assassin his boss had paid failed to kill his target. The unicorn gulp as he came up to the large set of oak double doors leading to his boss's office.
“Boss won’t be too happy about this. I just pray it doesn't come out of my hide… literally.” He thought with a shudder. Steeling himself he knocked on the door.
“Enter.” He heard. Bracing himself he pushed the doors open. The inside of his bosses office was a large circular room with a decent-sized fireplace on the left with the boss’s desk on the far right. He never understood why it was like that sense usually you would want to be closer to the warmth. But then again his boss was nowhere near normal.
"I don’t have all day Chrome.” He heard his boss soft voice. A shiver of fear ran down his spine and he quickly made his way to the center of the room and faced his boss's desk. Keeping his eyes to the floor, as per his boss's rules, he spoke.
“I have the report from Kol Boss.” He said. The only noise he heard was the crackle of the fire and it was nerve-wracking.
“And?” The boss's voice sounded bored and a bored boss meant a dead messenger so he quickly continued.
“I’m sorry to report that the assassin you hired, one Silent Night, failed to kill his target.” The seconds that passed felt like an eternity. He felt sweat start to bead up on his fur. He could feel the boss's eyes boring into him like he was nothing more than an insect under a magnifying glass.
“Good.” it was the last thing he expected to hear from his boss and in his shock, his head snapped up.
“What?” He asked before he could stop himself. He panicked as he saw a pair of cold, glowing, golden eyes just staring at him from the deep shadows cast by the flickering light of the fire. Praying for mercy he slammed his face into the floor and begged.
“Please forgive me! I didn't mean to break your rules, I was just shocked that you weren’t angry, please spare me!” he begged, tears falling onto the floor. His quiet sobs echoed in the room.
“I understand. Some of my rules are hard to follow so don’t worry, you will be spared.” He was amazed that his boss would show a simple stallion like him mercy.
“Thank you, Thank you” He praised, his soul feeling light from relief.
“And to answer your question, I had intended for the assassination to fail. My plans are still on schedule. Though it is true, with the girl dead it would be easier to push my plans forward but I always look for a challenge. So nothing has failed in the slightest” His boss said calmly
“Was there anything else of note about the report?” his boss asked quickly making him answer.
“Yes, the watcher stated that while the assassination failed, it wasn’t due to him being captured or driven off by guards. The watcher said Silent Night seemed to be running out of fear without any kind of pursuit.” He explained. His boss hummed, the only sign that the boss was listening so he continued.
“After Silent Night left, The watcher also so said he saw the target in the company of a hybrid, Minotaur and Unicorn mix if the description is true, no older than 9 years. The watcher eavesdropped on a conversation the two had with what was deduced to be the Hybrid's father and heard it was this hybrids actions that drove the assassin off.” He waited with bated breath hoping beyond hope this info would put him back in his boss’s good graces.
“Interesting… Very interesting indeed… Thank you for delivering the report Chrome Caster, you are dismissed.” Chrome let out the breath he’d been holding. Standing to his hooves and making sure to keep his eyes down he turned to leave. A massive, searing pain erupted in his side and he crumpled to the floor.
He looked and there was a gaping hole, going through his entire body, spilling his guts out all over the stone floor. Gurgling as blood poured from his mouth he saw his bosses golden eyes watching him like one would watch a spider catch a fly.
“B-b-but… Spa-spare…”Was all he said before his sight turned black and his heart stopped beating.
“And I did.” The boss said cooly like it was basic knowledge.
“I spared you from ever breaking the rules again. It’s quite generous of me if I do say so myself, after all, to run an empire one must make sure the rules are followed rigorously.” The fireplace sputtered slightly as a river of blood hit the hot coles and the boss sighed.
“Now look what you’ve done. Not only have you broken the rules you’ve gone and made a mess of my office. Sigh Sometimes I’m just too nice for my subordinates own good. Poor Gwen will have her work cut out for her when she comes to clean but that’s what I pay her for.” The pair of eyes turned and left the room, leaving a still-warm corpse of his subordinates to cool before this maid came to clean
Pay Day left soon after I named myself, quickly taking to the sky to follow after his wife and daughter. Dad soon followed as he still had to get to the forge for work. Saying his goodbyes he gave me a flat stare before telling me to behave for mom. I wholeheartedly agreed, there’d been enough crazy today and I didn’t want to add any more to it. After giving mom a kiss he left, leaving me and mom at home.
Not sure what to do with myself at the moment I followed mom into her enchanting workshop which was the basement for our home. It was quite spacious, high enough for dad to stand comfortably with multiple tables covered in different tools, chisels, various metals, bottles of ink, quills, and paper is all strewn haphazardly around. Mom definitely had the mad scientist vibe going on here.
“Sorry about the mess sweety, I’ve been working on an important project for a client and they keep trying to rush me.” Mom apologized as her magic quickly grabbed multiple items and organized them into their rightful places.
“It’s okay mom. What are you working on?” I asked, genuinely curious about what she was doing. She looked at me for a second, her forehead furrowed in thought before she spoke.
“I’ve been contacted by a merchant company. Their caravans keep getting attacked by bandits and they’re losing goods and money so they’ve asked me to find a way to protect their caravans from harm.” She said, looking through a folder of papers while she talked.
“But it’s extremely tricky and I’ve been having trouble. They want a shield to encompass their wagons to stop the bandits from even getting close. The problem is shield spells require regular adjustments and upkeep or else they start to fall apart and can only be adjusted by the unicorn that cast the spell since every unicorn's magic is different.” She explained.
It made sense, from some of the few lessons on magic mom taught me magic was like a fingerprint, you can’t fake it and certain enchantments were kind of like finger scanners. If the spell was cast and wasn’t the caster with the right signature, it wouldn’t work. Mom sighed as she put the papers back in the folder and sat down.
“It’s more of a problem than it’s worth. It’d be cheaper to hire a unicorn to travel with the caravans but they want something permanent so they came to me but honestly, I’ve hit a roadblock and don’t know what to do.” She sighed in defeat as her shoulders slumped.
PING
Quest!
“Problem Solver”
Objective:
Find another solution to you mother’s problem
Give your mother inspiration for her project
Rewards:
250 XP
+15 Rep with Midnight Blaze
Failure:
Permanent -20 rep with future contractors for Midnight Blaze
Midnight will receive no payment
Accept?
Y/N
I gulped and pressed yes. No pressure, no pressure at all. I started wracking my brain for a way to help mom fix this. Like she explained to me the shield was out, since it could only be used by the caster, so what else was there. Mom started working again while I leaned against the door frame trying to think of a new answer.
After fifteen minutes I was no closer to an answer and now very aggravated that I couldn’t think of one. I shook my head, being frustrated wasn’t going to help me so I need to keep calm. I saw mom walking back and forth between the different tables with a slightly annoyed look on her face.
“Now where did I put my jeweler's loupe? I swear that thing has a mind of its own with how often it's disappeared,” she grumbled as she ducked under one table in her search. I glanced around the room and saw it, somehow, nestled in the far corner, hidden away.
I opened my mouth to let her know but paused as mulled over mom’s words and what I had just thought.
“Disappeared... Hidden… not shielded but covered by…” All the gears clicked into place and my eyes widened.
“An illusion,” I said out loud. A bang and a soft curse drew my attention to mom she had found the loupe but had smacked her head on one of the table corners when she stood up.
“What’d you say, Deviant?” Mom asked me. I smiled widely at her.
“Mom do illusion enchantments have the same problem you’ve been trying to tackle with the shield enchantments?” I asked. Mom gave me a confused look but answered my question.
“Not that I’m aware of, while shields need constant management an illusion just needs a set of parameters to meet and the magic to maintain it, why do you ask?” This was just what I wanted to hear.
“Maybe you’re going about solving this problem wrong mom, maybe instead of giving the caravans a solid barrier between them and harm, you need to hide them from problems altogether,” I said. Mom rubbed her chin in thought, the gears in her head-turning. She didn’t outright dismiss my idea so that was good.
“Go on.” She said, clearly interested as walking over and sitting next to me her eyes focused and her ears perked straight up as she wanted to catch every word.
“Well it came to me when you were looking for your loupe, you were annoyed how it always seems to disappear and it got me to think that you should try to hide the caravan instead of shielding them.” I paused to think about how best to explain my idea.
“If you want to hide, you make others think you’re not there. I’m thinking a screen or dome the covers the wagons and shows the surrounding area around it, but leaves the image of the wagon out, rendering them invisible.”
As I waited for mom’s response a small smile sprouted on her face and grew larger and larger by the second. I did a mental fist pump in victory. I was brought out of my mental victory dance by mom giving me a big hug.
“That’s brilliant Deviant! While it doesn’t solve everything it gives me a place to start from.” I hugged her back happily.
PING
Quest Complete!
“Problem Solver”
Objective:
Find another solution to you mother’s problem
Give your mother inspiration for her project
Rewards:
250 XP
+15 Rep with Midnight Blaze
Failure:
Permanent -20 rep with future contractors for Midnight Blaze
Midnight will receive no payment
I willed window away, not really caring much for the quest gains, just happy with helping my mom out. I noted that her fur smelled of blueberries and lavender, it was a comforting smell. She released me from the hug and quickly trotted to her workbench, levitating multiple items and tools around her in a storm of movement.
“Thanks for the help Sweetie but now it’s time for mommy to get to work. Go outside and play while I get this done.” She said with a determined look on her face. I voiced my agreement and goodbye before quickly climbing the stairs and heading outside. I’d learned early on, never disturb mom while she’s working, if you value your soul… ever. But I found myself in every child’s worst nightmare. I didn’t know what to do.
Boredom was my mortal enemy, in this life and my last and I was not going to let it get the upper hand again. I slowly spun in a circle as I thought, hoping something I saw would trigger an idea. It worked because soon my eyes landed on the small wood about half a mile behind the house.
It wasn’t very large by any means. At most, it was around 250 acres if you wanted to stretch it a little. While not large the trees grew thick and it always had this aura of mystery to it, making you want to explore and find what was hidden. Or that could just be my 'kid-level' sense of curiosity that’s talking, I’m not sure.
I began a slow jog in its direction, exploring it would give me something to do for a while. I remembered searching through a small portion when I was a bit younger and finding some flowers to bring to mom but I never went in far.
About a minute later I was standing on the outskirts of the wood. The trees were taller than I remembered, reaching around sixty to seventy feet in height at their tallest. I peered as far into the wood as I could trying to see if I could spot anything interesting but I couldn’t see far with the thick undergrowth. With a shrug, I took my first step into the wood.
PING
Huh?
Natural Dungeon Discovered!
Natural dungeon [?] - Small forest Dungeon LV 1-10
Do you wish to enter?
Y/N
I saw the question mark and pressed it wondering what it was about. A screen popped up in front of me and I read it quickly.
Guide has been updated!
New category “Dungeons” has been added
I waved it away and opened my guide window and saw that there was indeed a new tab for dungeons clicking it I was shown a description and list of dungeons.
Dungeons:
Dungeons are areas in the world where monsters, creatures and all manner of things gather. They are usually created by someone or thing and can be as simple as a large network of mining tunnels to complex sewers and catacombs. They have a higher chance of dropping loot in the forms of weapons, armor, clothes and all manner of hand made things. The bigger the settlement the larger the dungeon, the stronger the enemies.
Natural dungeons:
Natural Dungeons are areas in the world where monsters, creatures and all manner of things gather. Unlike their counterparts, Dungeons, which are made by someone, Natural dungeons are usually centered around magical hot spots, where the world’s magic is stronger than normal. The stronger the magical hot spot, the bigger the natural dungeon, the stronger the creatures and beings inside.
Natural dungeons are rare as not many Magical hot spots exist and have been discovered. They have a higher chance of dropping loot in the forms of plants, building materials, natural resources and all manner of things found in nature.
Dungeons Discovered:
-
Small Forest Dungeon
I was very excited about this. Even if it was small I had just discovered a natural dungeon! Talk about luck. I waved the info screen away and pressed yes, eager to enter and see what I could find. The screen disappeared and I walked into the woods.
As I walked I kept my head on a swivel, not wanting to miss anything that might be interesting. I started using observe on most of the vegetation around me but didn’t get much since they were just regular plants and trees.
Minutes passed and I was starting to get annoyed. Where were all the monsters? I had never played many RPG’s but weren’t dungeons supposed to be filled with monsters to fight? I’d heard some people complain on forums about how some dungeons you couldn’t take two steps without getting into a battle.
This was frustrating, not to mention boring. Murphey’s such a jerk. When I don’t want something to happen he throws everything and the kitchen sink at me but when I want something to happen he’s as quiet as a dormouse. Well, Screw you, Murphey!
With a grunt of annoyance, I turn to head back in the direction of my home. After the first step a loud scream of pain echos in my ears, making them snap up and twist to find the direction it’s coming from. A loud thumping sound is coming from further in so I make like a bee and head straight for it.
I soon burst into a clearing filled with flowers of nearly every color in the spectrum A few butterflies are fluttering around, not caring about the noise as they flit from flower to flower. All this was a stark contrast to what drew my attention. There were two creatures on the opposite side of the clearing.
One was this kind of small pig/imp thing with dark brown skin, large, pointy, floppy ears, small beady black eyes, and a pig's nose. It was wearing a dirty loincloth and had a small wooden club in its hand. It raised its arms in the air and gave a victory bellow.
I looked around near it and saw a small mass of light green and white next to a tree. Said tree had a good-sized crack in it and I guess the thumping was it being slammed into the tree multiple times. Using Observe on the imp thing first, I got the rundown on the situation. And I was very upset with the info.
Mobunga is a Moblin, a weak race of monsters. They typically hunt in small groups hoping to overwhelm their prey with numbers but some can be found alone. Moblin's aren’t smart and will blindly chase after their chosen prey, even if it’s off a cliff.
Current thoughts
He is happy he can eat his prey alive this time
Hidden fact
Mobunga’s only survived till adulthood because of his high luck for a Moblin.
I was disgusted. I wasn’t above killing something for sustenance, that was just part of nature and how the world worked. But to eat something while it was still alive and could feel everything? That was just sick. I opened my inventory and pulled out Last Breath. I went into sneak mode and crept up behind the cheering Moblin.
I was right behind him, close enough that I could smell his stench of piss and rotten food. I felt this morning's breakfast threaten to venture back outside my stomach but barely managed to keep it down.
Placing both hands on the hilt I brought it next to my right hip before thrusting it forward. I was surprised when the Moblin jumped to his left. I guess he wasn’t the luckiest Moblin for nothing. But his luck didn’t beat mine since my dagger still stabbed him, it just wasn’t anything fatal.
I got him on his right side and it didn’t help him any since his momentum ripped the blade out, tearing a chunk of his side with it. He left out a yell of pain and clutched his side as he rolled away from me. He looked at me with shock and anger as I stood between him and whatever he was trying to kill.
A panicked look showed on his face and he reared his head back and let out a bellowing screech. I didn’t wait for him to finish as I rushed in and thrust my dagger into his throat as his screech lost volume.
citricial strike - 35 + 195 = 230
It wasn’t enough so I pulled my dagger out and stabbed him again in the chest where I thought his heart was.
Critical strike - 35 = 195 = 230
With a third and final stab, the Moblin fell to the ground with a dull thud, his luck finally had run out. I panted, not from physical exertion, as this fight hadn’t been very hard, but from the fact that I had just killed. I had just taken a life, regardless of the fact if he was a monster or not, I had just snuffed his life out like a candle. I… I wasn’t sure how to process this.
PING
Mandatory Quest!
“It's a Mob!”
Objectives:
Moblin's killed - 0/5
Protect injured creature from attackers
?
Rewards:
1500 XP
Rare loot drop
?
As soon as I read the quest I heard multiple yells getting closer and closer by the second. It seems the Moblin I killed called for backup. I tightened my grip on my dagger. I asked Murphey to give me something and he delivered. I really need to learn to keep my big mouth shut.
It didn’t take very long for my would-be attackers to leap out of the woods. They consisted of twelve, by my count, moblin's of varying sizes, the tallest being just over half of mine. All carrying wooden clubs or sharpened sticks as spears and all wore dirty loincloths. I quickly muttered Observe multiple times over all of them and found they were all between levels 2-4 with around 400 HP each.
What really got my attention was the ability they had.
Relentless “I will never stop hunting you” Grants the user the ability to instinctively know where their target is and pursue their target anywhere they go, regardless of sight or distance.
What the Hell! That was so broken not even duct tape could fix that! I clamped down on my thoughts with Gamer's mind and carefully thought things through. I was faster and more flexible than they were so I could dodge their weapons, if you could call them that, relatively easily. They relied on swarm tactics so as long as I could keep out of their reach I’d be fine.
But that was also a downside since my weapon of choice needed me to get in close. I really wish I had a long-range combat spell. Wait, that’s it! I prayed to whatever was listening to me that this would work.
“Disguise,” I mumbled. I felt a weird drain from my gut. The world shimmered around me for a split second before everything got a lot bigger. I looked at myself and saw I had small thin arms with two fingers and a thumb. I was wearing a dirty loincloth and nothing else.
I really had to control myself from jumping with joy. It had actually worked, I had disguised myself as a Moblin. But I didn’t think my perception would change to that of a Moblin's, it was odd. As if hearing me a screen popped up in front of me.
Due to creative spell use the Disguise spell has evolved.
New Spell!
Solid Illusion - Lev 1 (15/100)
Creates solid transformation of anything the castor chooses.
Grants +20 to sneak
100 MP per 30 seconds
“That explains it.” I thought as I willed the screen away. I had to focus if the MP cost is that high I’ve got maybe two minutes before all my MP is gone. My plan won’t last that long but I’d better be quick about this.
I jogged over toward the Moblin group as they gathered around the dead moblin's body.
“What happen?” one with a sharpened stick asked, scratching his head.
“No know, hear a call, run for prey.” Another said with a grunt. I had to resist so hard to not grin widely. This was just to perfect.
“Prey There!” I yelled and pointed in the direction they had come from. All their heads snapped to me than to where I was pointing before they yelled and ran into back into the woods with me just lagging behind them.
I had to be quick before most of them noticed and before I got lost. I started with the farthest one back, quickly jumping on him and stabbing his neck three times. With a critical strike of 230 with each hit, the Moblin went down fast and quietly. I managed to get five this way and pounced on a sixth before the rest of the moblin's caught on to what was happening. My 6th kill was dead before the rest came to a stop.
“Prey Stealer!” One with a pointed stick yelled as he lunged at me clumsily. I twisted around the stick and stabbed him three times in the chest, killing him. Sadly this is when things got hairy. As its body fell, my MP ran dry and my illusion disappeared like a set of rims at a puff daddy concert.
The moblin's blinked before screaming rage and charging at me. They were on me like white on rice with a glass of milk on a paper plate in a snowstorm! I back peddled hard so I didn’t get smacked in the face with a club. I may have killed seven but there were still five left and they all wanted my balls for trophies.
I kept jumping away keeping as much distance and trees between me and them as possible as I tried to think of what to do. There were two stick welders and three holding clubs. While I was faster they were relentless and didn’t seem to tire as I would eventually do. I guess hit and run attacks are the best way to go here.
I slowed my pace and two of the moblin's got close, both had clubs so it was easier. I dodged their clumsy swings and made two quick stabs one on each of their shoulders. Dealing, sadly, a regular 35 points of damage. It made them drop their weapons though but I had to jump away before I got impaled on a stick by one of the three to my left.
I felt a sharp pain in my right side as I jumped making me yell in pain a and a new display came up.
75 damage
I looked to my right and found one of the spear moblin's snarling and his spear sticking into my side. How the hell did he get behind my right without me seeing him? I jumped away again, removing the spear from my side, luckily it wasn’t a deep wound. A scream of rage drew my attention and I just managed to duck in time as a clawed hand whizzed over my head in a blur, just missing my horn. I was thoroughly spooked. I used my superior speed and got some distance and used Observe. I felt a cold sweat form as I read the info.
Relentless “I will never stop hunting you” Grants the user the ability to instinctively know where their target is and pursue their target anywhere they go, regardless of sight or distance.
Boiling Blood Rage “I KILL YOU TILL YOU’RE DEAD! AND THAT’S WORSE!!” Grants +7 to all physical stats till the target of rage is destroyed or the user is knocked out or killed. Physical Stat bonus increases the more the user is injured but not killed or knocked out INT and WIS become 0 till the end of Boiling Blood Rage
Standard Moblin hunting party. Nothing more to say except they want to TEAR YOUR HEAD OFF AND TAKE A DUMP DOWN YOUR NECK!! RUN!!
Current thoughts
Total annihilation of the prey stealer
I nearly tripped over a tree root in my shock. I was so screwed if I didn’t find a way to take them all out quickly. While my DEX was higher than theirs my STR and END were well below, Meaning I’d run out of juice long before they did. I started putting that crazy high INT and WIS of mine to use as I clamped down on my panic with Gamer mind and tried to think of a solution.
As I ran ahead of the moblin's I went through my options. I could hit them head-on… and get pummeled to death by their greater strength. I wouldn’t last a second against them all at once and with that annoying Relentless perk, they’d never separate. I needed something else.
A flash of light through the dense forest canopy caught my attention and I went toward it, the screaming moblins hot on my trail. Leaping out into another clearing I see was looks like a large, steep-sided bowl of sand in the middle of the clearing with a beautiful flower in the middle. If I wasn’t running for my life I’d have stopped and tried to pick it and take it home to mom as a gift.
But I was running for my life and now I had the most basic and stupid plan ever. Taunt the enemy into falling into the pit. Under normal circumstances with normal enemies, it wouldn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of working but with the Moblin's Relentless perk and 0 INT and WIS I was certain it would. I charged full speed at the bowl and made a mighty leap into the air, hoping to clear it.
I seemed to have made a stupid choice, I misjudged how wide this thing was as even with my high DEX of 32 I only made it halfway across before I started to fall back down. I did what most anime characters tried to do in this situation, jumping again mid-air trying to futilely save myself from falling to my doom. The only difference was instead of falling down to my death I rocketed toward the other side of the sand bowl and plowed into the ground hard on the other side.
I groaned into the dirt and I was sure some of my ribs were cracked. I flopped onto my back and my ears were greeted by a sound I was truly starting to hate.
PING
Physical endurance has risen by 3 levels!
New Skill created!
Double Jump! LV - 1 (15/100) “Jump Good!” You can jump a second time while in the air by your magic creating a small, invisible pocket of air beneath your hooves.
20MP per jump
Grants doubled jump height every twenty levels
Dex Relates to the jump speed, angle, and height.
Okay, I’ll be first to admit, that is kind of bad-ass, I just wish it wasn’t so painful. Screams of rage snapped my head back toward the way I came and I saw the Moblin's chasing me charge out of the forest. My idea was spot on, they saw me and didn’t even try to go around the pit and charged over the side. I smirked as I stumbled to my hooves and hobbled over to the edge, looking down as the Moblin's futilely clawed and scrambled to get at me. With a triumphant grin, I decided to add insult to injury.
“Hey, guys! Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!” I yelled in a bad French accent.
PING
Annoy has risen to level 3
Target has been driven into an insane rage.
I watched as the Moblin's started foaming at the mouth and slowly started making progress up toward me with how hard and fast they were scrambling. I gulped, maybe insulting them wasn’t such a good idea. I didn’t get to think much more as the beautiful flower in the pit disappeared under the sand in a flash. I blinked in confusion till an eruption of dirt, sand, and earth blasted into the air and a deafening roar made me clap my hands over my ears and fall down.
I stared in horror as the Moblin's were crunched into a bloody spray in the gigantic, maw of some kind of giant insect. It had a long neck, like a snake with a massive bulbous lower body with two pairs of spindly legs that I could see. Its body was covered in tan interlocking plates of chitlin and a large amount of stiff hair sticking straight out in all directions.
Long, black, spindly spines flared outward around its milky white eyes that sat on the side of the reverse arrowhead-shaped head. Megalodon sized jaws, flanked by 6 foot long spiked mandibles and filled with needle-sharp teeth, still crunched and chewing the Moblin's, dripped saliva, blood and small chunks of flesh and bone onto the sand, making me shake as every bone screamed at me to run.
It stopped chewing and its head swiveled, slowly, till it was staring directly at me. I didn’t wait for an invite, I put my knees to the breeze, scrambling to my hooves and ran faster than I thought possible away from that monstrous horror, too afraid to even scream.
I heard its mighty roar once again and it shook the ground just with the sound alone! I prayed to whatever deity was listening to me that... that… that thing couldn’t chase me. I ran and ran, never letting up at all, legs pumping and burning with strain. I just wanted to put as much distance between me and that horror as fast as possible. I somehow made it back to the clearing where all this shit started and I collapsed into an exhausted, sweat-drenched, adrenalin crashed wreck onto the ground.
“Please let this be over.” I thought/pleaded as I gulped in the air by the bucket load.
PING
Quest Complete!
“It’s a Mob!”
Objectives:
Moblin's killed - 7/5!! - 350 XP
Protect injured creature from attackers
Kill all moblin's and take no damage - Failed
Rewards:
1500 XP
Pokeball - Placed in Inventory
Full restore - Placed in inventory
100 GP
New skill created!
Sprinting LV 1 (67/100) “Run Forest Run!!” +100% Maximum running speed when active for 4 seconds +5 to DEX when activated +5% increase in awareness while sprint is active
PING
Due to running like the proverbial chicken away from the fox your DEX has risen by 3 and your END by 2.
I just ignored the screen for now. I was too relieved and damn tired to read everything till I caught my breath. After what seemed like an eternity of heaving my lungs to get as much life-giving air as possible, I was able to breathe and think normally. I wasn’t sure what that creature was but I was absolutely certain it was the boss of this dungeon, it had to be. If it wasn’t then I would piss myself when I met the said boss.
I filed that away for another time and looked over my notice screens. While the remark about the parallels between me and the chicken was highly unneeded I was happy with the increase to my DEX and END. I wonder what other kinds of exercises would increase what stats? Another thing for a later time. I was also annoyed that the 1850 XP I’d gained was 150 XP shy of the 2000 mark I needed to level up. Eh, what can you do?
My eyes drifted to the second objective and my head snapped over to the tree, where the body of the creature the Moblins wanted to eat, still lay unmoving. I rushed over, kneeling down and trying to check and see if it was okay. I used Observe and was shocked.
Level: 5 Name: unnamed Occupation: N/A Race: Ralts Title: The feeling Pokemon - Gives +4 to INT, WIS and LUK Status: Unconscious HP: 65/500 MP: 400 STR: 15 END: 15 DEX: 25 INT: 25 (+4) = 29 WIS: 25 (+4) = 29 LUK: Matches trainers luck stat (+4)
Growl: User lets loose a fierce and intimidating growl at their opponent Lowers an opponent STR by 3 when used (is stackable)
Confusion: A weak psychic attack that may cause opponents to become confused and disoriented Base damage: 75- 125 - Deals higher amounts of damage if users INT is greater than their opponent by 25 20% chance of opponent gaining the Disoriented De-buff 20 MP per use
Ralts are known to be very empathic, able to sense the emotions of animals and people alike with high accuracy. If they sense hostile emotions they hide until the hostile emotions leave, if they sense happy emotions, a Ralts might come closer to investigate. This Ralts has no idea how it got here when it was sneak attacked and beaten by a Moblin, leaving it highly injured and unconscious.
Current thoughts:
N/A - Target is unconscious moron
Hidden fact:
This Ralts has only just left its mother to set out on its own and wants to find a Pokemon trainer to help it become strong so it can protect the ones precious to it.
My brain would have short-circuited if I hadn’t slammed Gamers Mind down. A Pokemon?! Here?! Anyone who had three brain cells had at least heard of Pokemon in my past life, I’d even played a few of the games to pass some lazy days but wasn’t much of a major player. My eyes watched as the tiny chest of the Ralts slowly rose and fell. At least it was breathing which was a relief.
As my mind absorbed the info I realized that I was responsible for bringing this poor creature here. My powers as ‘The Gamer’ yanked it here against its will and it had gotten hurt because of them. Guilt ate at my gut as I thought about this. I couldn’t leave this creature here, my powers brought it here, it was now my responsibility to help it and keep it safe.
As my resolve hardened I remembered the rest of the loot from the quest. Opening my inventory I pulled out what looked like a dark purple spray bottle. I used Observe on it.
Full Heal - Rare Item Quality Capable of completely healing any and all wounds Completely restores HP and removes all physical status effects. Uses - 3/3
I couldn't believe my flip-floppy luck as I carefully started spraying a fine mist of the potion over the injured Ralt's entire body. After applying the potion I watched in fascination as the cuts slowly sealed themselves shut leaving fully healed, unscared, white skin underneath, as if they’d never been there. The Ralts breathing eased and a peaceful smile formed on its face making it look absolutely adorable.
I carefully picked it up, cradling it in my arms. The Ralts stiffened for a second before it relaxed and snuggled deeper into my chest fur with a softly drawn out and mumbled sigh of “Ralts”. I felt a strong, un-manly urge to Squee my heart out at this adorable creature. I can now understand why those poke-lovers in the games were always going on and on about their cute Pokemon. This tiny thing could start a Cute-apocalypse if it kept this up.
I started walking back in the direction of my home when a thought hit me like a bullet train.
You're awesome!