New Story -- Chapter 42

Chapter 42

It turned out that using his Inventory was both easier than he thought it would be, and frustrating to the point where he again cursed the fact that he had missed out on the Training that would’ve made everything all that much simpler.

“Store? Remove? That’s it?”

“Yes, as well as picturing what you want to store or take out, as thinking about a quantity,” Sarah replied with a nod. “If there is only one item, the quantity doesn’t really matter, and if you want to store or take out everything of that item, you can simply think ‘all’.”

A few seconds of practice was all it took to get the hang of taking out and putting back some of the items already in his Inventory, which was easy and intuitive – as long as one knew the correct commands. He didn’t even have to say the words out loud, only think them, and the items appeared or disappeared without a sound; when they appeared from his Inventory, they could also appear in his hand or on a surface nearby, with just a slight adjustment in his thinking.

“Also, the process of storing or removing items from your Inventory is very difficult to do while in combat, as you need to be standing still and not casting a spell or using abilities simultaneously for it to work, though backline Classes have an easier time with this,” Diallo informed him. That didn’t really bother him all that much, because he hadn’t really needed his Inventory before this in combat, though it was still good to know for the future.

Sarah interrupted him before he could start going through all the chests and weapon racks, adding them to his rather large Inventory space, though she seemed slightly hesitant to do so. “I don’t mean to be rude, but you do know how to Identify items, right?”

Thaden managed to restrain his anger at the thought of something else he didn’t know, as he shook his head. “No, I don’t. Please explain,” he managed to get out through gritted teeth.

There was no laughter this time, thankfully, though he could see some disbelief written over the faces of his soon-to-be temporary party. Diallo took over the explanation, as Sarah seemed reluctant to continue. “Yes, well, Identify is another useful command that the Assimilation System makes available for the identification of items you will find here on Tarth and beyond.  You can only Identify items that are on your person or in your Inventory, though you can also use it on items that you are touching that are not being used by someone else. For instance, you can Identify yourrobe, but you will not be able to mine even if you’re touching it; I would need to remove it and give it to you for proper identification.

“Some of the information that you will gain from Identify can include any Class restrictions, Level restrictions, damage modifications, resistance modifications, stat alterations, and any special properties or bonuses of the item.  A few examples of special properties or bonuses can include a property that makes a sword impart additional fire-based damage in the form of flames along the edge, or a bonus to staying unnoticed for those who specialize in stealth that might be found in a cloak.”

The Lifewarden nodded along, even as he looked down at his robe. Using what he’d learned about mental commands, it only took him a second to finally Identify his Dark Abyss Robe of the Dead.

Dark Abyss Robe of the Dead

Rarity: Rare

Class Restrictions: Control, Support

Level Restriction: 15

Physical Damage Resistance: 2

Magical Damage Resistance: 5

+15 Mentality

+2 Physicality

+2 Celerity

-15 to Personality

+50% Summon Duration for Undead Summons

Ah, that makes a lot more sense now. He already knew about the increases to his Mentality, Physicality, and Celerity, but he hadn’t known just how much the robe detracted from his Personality. He had hoped it was only a few points and that he would be able to overcome the detrimental effect over time, but with a reduction of 15 to the stat, that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. He was just glad that he hadn’t spent even more of his Free Stat Points than the one he had already spent on the stat, because it would’ve been thoroughly wasted while he was wearing the robe.

There was also an extra effect that he had no idea about, which was a flat 50% Summon Duration for Undead Summons, which assumed was for a Necromancer Class or something similar. Just the thought of controlling one of the Undead that he’d killed thousands of didn’t appeal to him in the least, but he could only assume that if anyone was able to do such a thing, this robe would be highly beneficial for them.

“Thank you, Diallo,” he said absently, dismissing the window that had popped up with his use of Identify on his robe. After that, he proceeded to quickly Identify all the weapons on the weapon racks and then Store them all in his Inventory. They were only brief glances at their information, however, as all of them were not only unavailable for his own Class, but their Level restrictions were much higher.

Bone Rapier of the Crypt

Rarity: Epic

Class Restrictions: Fighter

Level Restriction: 50

Physical Damage Modifier: +80

+20 Physicality

+10 Celerity

+9% Critical Chance

+1% Chance to raise slain targets as an Undead summons for 30 minutes

The weapons he picked up were all either Rare or Epic in rarity, and all of them were spectacular in their own way. Some had additional effects that had a chance to raise up slain monsters as an Undead, while others did necrotic damage in addition to their normal weapon damage, and one dagger even had a chance to add a “Mark of Death” to a target that tripled the damage done to it while the Mark lasted.

All extremely powerful, unsuited to his Class, and beyond his current Level; in other words, they were useless to Thaden other than being sold for more money – though he was thinking about keeping a few for in the future in case he needed to trade with someone who had something he really wanted or needed. His Inventory capacity wasn’t endless, of course, but the feeling he had of it was that he could probably put at least 20 times the items that were in the treasure room in it, if not more. Sarah and Diallo had also mentioned that Inventory capacities increased as they went up in Level, so there was no reason not to keep it unless he was hurting for cash one day.

Seeing that almost everything had a Level restriction of at least Level 45, he debated about giving his party members a few things since they wouldn’t be able to use them until later, anyways, but decided against it. They could still potentially show the weapons off even if they couldn’t use them, which would still raise some eyebrows and suspicion about where they got them.

The armor on the stands were similar, though they were full sets of matching pieces. The heavier set was only Rare even though it looked more impressive from afar, though the leather-like set – while less visually spectacular – was his first glimpse of what could be found in this world.

Royal Assassin Gloves of Despair

Rarity: Legendary

Class Restrictions: Scout

Level Restriction: 65

Physical Damage Resistance: 15

Magical Damage Resistance: 25

+15 Physicality

+55 Celerity

+12% Critical Chance

15% Harder to detect while utilizing all Stealth abilities

33% Damage increase to attacks from Stealth

Set Bonus (2): +50% Critical Damage, +120 Celerity

Set Bonus (4): All previous Set Bonuses, the wearer is 66% harder to detect with magical spells and effects, and +10 Fortuity

Set Bonus (6): All previous Set Bonuses, Stealth abilities no longer consume Mana while in use, and an additional 66% damage increase to attacks from Stealth

And those were just the gloves! The entire Legendary set was equally impressive with similar stat increases and bonuses, and when worn all together, it had a set bonuses that made whatever Scout Class that was wearing it almost impossible to detect, had an incredibly large Celerity stat meaning they were extremely fast, and did inordinate amounts of damage from attacks initiated from Stealth – which he assumed was their main way of doing damage.

Thaden decided that he might sell the other armor set at some point, but he’d keep the Legendary one for now. Thankfully, weight didn’t seem to be a factor in how much he could store in his Inventory, so even the heavy set didn’t consume more space than its volume dictated – so he didn’t have to decide anytime soon.

It was when he began opening and looting the chests that he heard one of his party members gasp behind him, though it wasn’t from what he was pulling out.

“We got Achievements! Contender World First Achievements! I never thought we would ever get something like that, but it’s true!” Sarah exclaimed, her vision looking out into space – which Thaden translated to her finally checking her message feed.

“What? Oh… oh, my. This is more than I expected,” Diallo said, his own face going slack as he read his feed – followed by the others.  Thaden was surprised it took them that long to check it, as he figured they already knew about how it didn’t give out any of the rewards until it was checked – or maybe they were just being polite. Either way, the delay while Thaden looted the treasure room was apparently boring enough that they didn’t have anything better to do.

As they moved through the feed, he could tell that something within it had affected them greatly, as each one of them – at different times, depending on when they got to it on their feed – suddenly spasmed and collapsed to their knees, gasping and shaking as if they had been dunked in frigid water and then pulled out.

“H-how? I never learned about anything like this in Training,” Sarah whispered as soon as she recovered enough to speak.

“Care to share?” Thaden asked. “Or you can keep it a secret if you want; I know how important privacy is.”

She was silent for a few moments before she looked at the others, and they simply shrugged at her look. With a sigh, she got to her feet. “We, uh, got some Achievements as Contenders. Most of them were bonuses of additional PICK, some of them almost unbelievable, but there were also a few that gave additional stat points. Going just by those bonus stat points, I’d say that we’re equivalent to someone around Level 12 or so, and if I did the calculations right, I’d say that we could probably raise our Levels up to 17 or 18 with the extra PICK we received.

“But there was another Achievement that gave us something a little different. It has to do with being the first in the world to complete a Maximal difficulty dungeon, and the bonus for that is, frankly, incredible.” She paused for a second before continuing. “In short, it gives us a +25% increase to all our stats while in a dungeon. According to our Training, flat bonuses to our stats, while not exactly a common bonus from Achievements, is well-known; a percentage bonus is unheard of. At least from what we were taught; it’s possible that some things were kept from us for some reason or another.”

Thaden was suitably impressed, and he even looked at them in the wonder they probably expected. The PICK and bonuses to his stats he was used to, but the percentage increase was something that could be a game-changer. He was halfway tempted to check his own messages at that point, but he knew that it would probably be better if he did it alone; that way, if he was equally as affected as they were, they wouldn’t see it and suspect that he was a Contender.

“That’s… incredible! I would probably keep those ‘Achievements’ a secret for now, at least until you’ve gotten some Levels under your belt, though I have a feeling that won’t take you long even if you pace yourselves.”

They nodded automatically to his suggestion, their gazes still on something only they could see. Thaden turned back to his looting, finding more weapons and armor that were useless to him, and he was disappointed not to find a better robe than the one he already had. There were a few items that he could use, however – at least eventually.

Casket Ring of the Undead

Rarity: Epic

Class Restrictions: Support

Level Restriction: 30

+40 Mentality

-10 to Personality

+95% Chance that all Undead will ignore your presence unless directly attacked

When used along with his Robe, there was absolutely no reason not to wear the Casket Ring of the Undead, as it gave him an extra 40 Mentality, because the hit to his Personality stat did nothing but keep it at 1. The 95% chance that all Undead would ignore him was interesting and he wondered how that would work in a dungeon – though it didn’t really matter all that much since he would just kill any Undead that he saw anyway. He assumed it was designed for Support Classes who stayed in the back, as it would theoretically prevent them from being targeted while they healed – he always remembered that being a healer in a game caused a lot of aggro if they were too quick on the heals. That didn’t matter too much for him, of course.

The other item was a necklace that he kept for later, as it had a slightly higher Level requirement, though he expected that he had already reached it as soon as he checked his message feed.

Shadow Necklace of the Grave

Rarity: Rare

Class Restrictions: All

Level Restriction: 45

+5 Physicality

+5 Celerity

+5 Mentality

Makes wearer 66% harder to detect in low-light conditions by blending into the shadows

It wasn’t extremely powerful, but extra stats were always nice, and being able to blend into darker environment was something that could come in handy in the future. All he had to do was wait until he was Level 45 before he could put it on.

Unfortunately, that was it. Out of a total of 47 items – plus two sets of armor – he picked up throughout dungeon and the treasure room, all but a pair of them were useless to him. He did manage to acquire another 50 gold from one of the chests, which he allowed to be divvied up between the party because he had more than enough for now and it would help them in the future without being too obvious. It was a disappointing haul for him, but he was used to it by now; he consoled himself with the fact that he could at least take it all with him now instead of having to leave it behind.

As soon as Thaden loaded everything up in his Inventory, he turned to see the others had recovered from their sudden inundation of messages – though they all had smiles on their faces as he gestured for them that he was ready to go. The far wall of the treasure room was easily shifted ahead of them, leading them outside of the Mausoleum of Despair – as he had expected. The others seemed surprised to be out already, but especially since it was still dark outside. They had gotten through the dungeon before dawn came upon the world, and he could see the exhaustion in the faces and bearings of his party. While he felt similar, he also had experience with this kind of thing, so he didn’t let him affect him too much.

“It’s not smart to linger around here after dark, so let’s get back to town.”

They nodded and huddled close to him, looking around the dark, scary dead forest that he led them through. They were attacked a dozen times by Phantasmal Spawn, all around Level 8 to 10, but Thaden was able to kill the ghostly Undead within seconds with some simple flexing of his healing spells. Thankfully, after about an hour of navigating their way slowly through the trees and having to reorient himself a few times so that they didn’t get lost, they were back on the path toward Ashcleft. Dawn started to break upon the horizon as they saw the grasslands and then the farm fields after that, with the Lifewarden protecting them from all the different threats that attacked the low-Level party along the way.

“I don’t know about all of you, but I need some sleep after all that,” he told them as they walked toward the town gate in the distance. “After that, I’ll look to see if I can help find you a Support Class Contender to join your party, and then you’ll be all set. With your accumulated PICK and bonuses from those Achievements of yours, there shouldn’t be any reason why you can’t absolutely devastate all the monsters you come across, and it wouldn’t surprise me if your Level passes by most if not all of the other Contenders here in the first few days.”

After a few seconds of silence, Sarah asked, “What are your plans after this? Now that you know more about what is going on and all.”

Thaden thought about it for a few seconds, but he could only shake his head. “I’m not exactly sure,” he admitted. “I’m still trying to process everything you’ve told me about Contenders and Earth and the Adversary, so I can’t really say.”

“That’s fair enough, I suppose. I know it took most of us at least a week before we came to terms with what was happening, and as I told you before, there are those that never could accept what was happening to them. They’re brokenfor more than one reason, but that’s the main culprit to blame their current state, as far as I know.”

As they got to the gates, the Town Guard on duty – not Virlo, thank goodness – let them in after suspiciously looking at Thaden for nearly a minute without a word. As they proceeded though the near-empty streets, Thaden removed himself from the party and let them go ahead of him, so as not to arrive at the Coalition building together. As they raced ahead to their beds, he took his time to think about the question Sarah had asked him earlier, but he still didn’t know what it was he wanted to do. He’d been awaiting this day ever since he’d been told when the Contenders would arrive, but he hadn’t really thought about what he would do afterward. The knowledge he’d been given about everything going on had changed what little thoughts he had on the subject, but he had trouble even thinking about the future and what he should do about, well, anything.

He eventually decided that he was too tired to consider it more than as something he’d have to think long and hard about over the coming days, because right now he was a bit lost. With that resolve in mind, he made it to the Coalition and proceeded upstairs to his room, with very few people inside the lobby at that time of day. He only saw a few of the “broken” Sara had mentioned earlier, still in the same places they were when he saw them earlier, a few Coalition staff members, and all five of the Class Representatives standing in exactly the same places they were the day before. Do they even sleep? Do they have to sleep?

He didn’t know enough about them to know, but he was too tired to care at the moment. Instead, he got to his room and collapsed into bed. It was only as he was drifting off to sleep that he remembered that he had wanted to check his message feed, but his exhaustion vetoed that idea and rescheduled it for after he woke up.