Well... You should know.
All of Lincoln's sisters wouldn't be able to play the game (Lily for example) So some chapters will be dedicated to him having scenes outside of the Vr world or just chilling with his schoolmates (At his house of course)
-Removed the courage stat because of how annoying it is to calculate dps based on emotions. It's just too frustrating.
Lincoln's Current Stats (Good thing I kept a copy)
[Character Status]
[Shadow]
[Level : 36 (678/740)]
[Health : 420/420]
[Mana : 88/88]
[Satiety : 78%]
[Class : N/A]
[Title: N/A]
[Reputation: -100]
[Character Stats]
[Strength : 64]
[Intelligence : 10]
[Dexterity : 35]
[Stamina : 46]
[Agility : 64]
[Charisma : 40]
[Stat Points : 33]
[Inventory]
[6/30 Slots Remaining]
[Harden Bone]
[Wooden Mace]
[Green Tusk Spear]
[Drey's Heirloom Ring]
[Ring Of The Wind Walker]
[Necromancy Vol. 1]
Another day where the sun forced our favourite white hair mc out of his bed. It had been a rough day yesterday, all that fighting and all but he was happy to be able to spend some quality time with his family in the afternoon. They questioned him about his time spent with his friendly 'assistant' and he responded honestly, obviously they doubted that Lynn would have actually sat down and played video games with her brother all day but they were willing to let it slide for now.
"Mm... Morning again huh?"
The teen slid out from beneath his covers and fumbled underneath his bed for his trusty crutches, seeing that he had not come into contact with the object he carefully leaned over to take a look under the bed where he spotted a multitude of objects underneath it. There were comics, an old video game system, some art tools and his trusty crutches halwalf between the jungle of obstacles and the line where the sunlight couldn't penetrate, beyond this point was total darkness but he had gotten used to it a long time ago, he opted to reach for his walking devices but soon decided that he wanted to see if his legs had healed up enough, doesn't hurt to try right?
"Eh... It's a little difficult but I should be able to make some movements around the house."
Slowly the boy dragged his feet against the floor since lifting it would have caused him to lose his balance. After reaching the door he noticed how the hallways were quiet and empty at that too.
"Wait a minute... Why is the house so quiet on a monday? Usually everyone would be hurrying off to school. I'm kinda hungry."
Just as he thought about breakfast, a familiar pattern of footsteps came from around the corner where the stairs were located. Just as he had predicted, the figure that came into view was none other than his eldest sibling Lori Loud.
"So you're finally awake and on your feet at that huh? Tough night? You been out all morning, guess the doctor's orders were to be taken seriously."
'She should have been buried in her phone by now so what's going on?'
"Uh... I'm fine just a little hungry. What time is it anyway? And where's everyone?"
"They left for school a long time ago."
"Oh." Poor Lincoln could not get up early enough to greet them either that or they left way before their time, little did he know that the problem was not his siblings early departure but his irregular sleeping patterns. "Wait what!? What time is it?"
"Eleven minutes after ten."
"Dang! I missed the perfect chance to talk to Lucy! Guess i'll have to wait till she gets home... Well why aren't you at school?"
"Someone has to look after you of course."
"I could take care of myself see?" The boy pointed to his injured leg to emphasise that he didn't need much help to move around but unbeknownst to him, he had been kneeling on the floor the very moment he started talking to Lori. "Um, don't mind that just give me a second to stand up." But his body would not let him. "Crud."
"Your health is priority Lincoln, we can't have you suffering from further injuries." Lori swept him off his feet and returned him to his sleeping quarters. "Stay here while I get your breakfast." A few minutes later the blonde returned with his breakfast in arms which comprised of eggs, toast and a cup of orange juice with a side of vegetables... A LOT of vegetables.
"Woah, by the time i'm finished eating i'll start looking like a green crayon."
"You're gonna need all the nutrients you can get if you want to recover."
"Fine."
The boy sat down on his bed to consume his portion of the breakfast specially made by his eldest sister, it took some time but he ate every grain of it and returned the tray to Lori, well at least she sees it that way but hey, at least the 'thing' under the bed would shut up for the time being. (:) )
"Time to freshen myself up and game like there's no tomorrow!" The albino got up from his bed and left for his next destination, the bathroom. It was a short distance, but not to Lincoln. Every step had to be precise as in order not to cause severe pain in his left leg, just as he was about to turn the knob, the door flew wide open missing his nose by a few centimeters.
"Oh, sorry Lincoln I literally didn't see you there." His older sister said nonchalantly as she walked out of the bathroom, with her eyes glued to the phone.
"Well that was close... But that won't get me down! I can't wait to start kicking butt once again!" Lincoln made his way into the shower, it took a while but he got there eventually, afterwards he continued to tidy and groom himself to prepare for the rest of the day, the virtual rest of the day.
A few Moments Later...
"Alright! Let's dive!"
[Calibrating... Please Wait]
[Welcome Back User Shadow...]
The albino's vision was bombarded with a series of colors and flashing lights, he was long used to the amazement effect such a vision used to give off but it didn't fail to revive his excitement he once had when he first played the game.
"Mmm, It's good to be back. Now where was I?" The boy surveyed his current surroundings which were no different from the last time he had left the castle.
"Nothing new, the amount of time I spent offline should've been enough to skip a few days or a week." Lincoln made his way to the once 'entrance' now 'exit'. He figured if there weren't any changes to the temple itself then nothing much should have transpired outside either.
"Here goes nothing." He pulled the doors inwards allowing the natural glow of the dungeon to infiltrate the interiors of the temple. The sight he was greeted with was by no means pleasing, in fact it was disappointing to say at the least, hopelessly scattered all over the floor were the remains of what used to be the goblin stronghold, now just a pile of rubble and ashes. The sounds of war and bloodshed between monsters was present though faint, maybe it was because the fight sank deeper into the dungeon where stronger monsters participated in the seemingly endless brawl.
"Should I... Leave? I could report this situation to the experts... Or get kidnapped along the way." The boy held his head contemplating whether death by sacrifice or meaninglessly being torn to shreds were more pleasant than the other when suddenly a rather peculiar creature entered his his vision. It's appearance resembled that of an arachnid yet it's legs were quite stubby in comparison to the overall size of its body, it's abdomen illuminated a strange blue color that did not go unnoticed by our hero however, the albino thought nothing much of it and decided that a 'little' power leveling wouldn't hurt.
[Mana Monoplegia Arachnida]
[Level 7]
[15 HP]
[Monster Description]
[A hatchling of the Arachnida Species, better cut them down while you still can]
"Quite a fancy name for a weak spider, this monster is barely half the size of a goblin, shouldn't be too much of a problem."
The strange creature had yet to notice the shadow that loomed over it as it continued to feast on the remaining corpses on the dungeon floor. In one swift movement, the sharp end of a spear wielded by our dear albino had pierced it's head killing the creature instantly.
[You Have Dealt 84 Damage]
[You Have Defeated A Lv. 7 Mana Monoplegia Arachnida]
[You Have Gained 12 Experience]
"What's with the low Exp gain all of a sudden? Was it that weak? No second transformations or anything...?" The boy cautiously eyed his surroundings not wanting to show the slightest sign of weakness, lest the 'hidden power' he had anticipated strike while he was unprepared. "Guess that's all there is to it. Due to the major time difference in the real world compared to here, Lynn should be home in about um... A lot of time. I don't want to miss her if she does happen to arrive though... Guess I'll just head deeper into the dungeon? No harm in gaining a few extra levels."
The albino headed into the deeper into the spacious cave that was once filled with battles of all sorts, now devoid of everything but scavengers. They varied in species, whether they possessed a uselessly long name and a punch worth of hp or a fragile body that hardly supported their movement. He quickly decided that it would be a waste of effort to slaughter the creatures since there wouldn't be much to benefit from, instead, his eyes fell upon a new kind of prey. A Golem? Or was it an Elemental? The mass of shining crystal stood up with two rock-like legs, it was similar to a wooden peg leg but maybe out of stone? It's height was probably around two feet? Damn it must of sucked to be so short. Two stalagmites grew from its head, probably its horns or something, it's face however contained two empty sockets where the eyeholes should have been, dull blue teeth? Well whatever that was and it didn't even have arms at all.
[Living Blue Crystal]
[Level 12]
[32 HP]
[Monster Description]
[An oddity of nature that has somehow acquired life, if it can walk then it should be worth something right?]
"The highest HP I have seen out of all these current monsters, still weak but it wouldn't hurt to take the system's advice."
The albino cared not for stealth since his attack was high enough for an insta-kill. The creature saw it's attacker approaching at a high speed, it seemed like it was ready to strike back but instead, turned to run for cover. Lincoln hurled the spear towards the entity with full power, it had managed to struck directly in the center of it's core before sending the creature flying towards the dungeon wall.
[Deflected]
[You Have Dealt 26 Damage]
[You Have Dealt 3 Collateral Damage]
"Sturdy fella huh? Sharp weapons put me at a disadvantage. It's practically made out of the cave's walls, smashing it should do the trick." Once again, the boy resumed his hunt, retrieving his spear that had flung some distance due to the unexpected rebound, he quickly found his way over to the crystal entity before it had to chance to escape on it's tiny legs. Feeling no way out, the monster open up its rather large jaws and oh my, more jaws and more jaws, the monster's core with was now shaking uncontrollably, shot a crystal dart in the boy's direction, which Lincoln easily dodged without even realizing what it was.
"Your long ranged? No wonder you don't have any arms. Tsk and here I was thinking of making you my follower." The boy held the creature up into air by its horn before drop kicking it into the wall.
[You Have Dealt 16 Damage]
[You Have Defeated A Lv. 12 Living Blue Crystal]
[You Have Gained 96 Experience]
[Your Level Has Risen]
No drops, not like he was expecting anything in the first place since most weapons and item drops were low for monsters under specific categories and in some cases, none. The boy glanced at the creature's carcass, it's core was shattered with visible cracks over it's hardened body but strangely enough it still remained, something he would have to investigate some time later. The boy headed into the direction where the monster was originally trying to flee, the walls were less stone, marble and granite but more crystals and dangerously large stalactites. The once spacious dungeon was slowly decreasing as he kept moving forward but space wasn't the issue here, after all he was a pretty small guy himself. Upon a few more moments of anticipation of a surprise attack, the albino came across a small opening in the wall where the radiance of the crystals doubled in comparison to the last one.
"Woah, It's like an artificial sun." The boy gazed in awe at the exceedingly large stalactite that loomed over the crystalized room. He forced himself through the hole that dropped him down at least six feet. "Okay that's gonna be hard to return to." Ignoring the problem and directing his attention once again at the luminosity of the large crystal. Having had enough of being attracted to the stalactite like a moth the boy began investigating his surroundings. There was a rather large summoning circle on the ground, well at least it looked like one, with the 'artificial sun' being in the middle. Upon closer inspection, he noticed that there were faded lines within the construct that connected a small circle that he was standing on onto another just opposite his direction, five circles in total excluding the large one that held the construct together. "I have to put something here... I have a feeling that I know what it is." His head clocked into the direction of a entity similar to the one he had fought before only smaller.
[Living Blue Crystal]
[Level 8]
[24 HP]
[Monster Description]
[An oddity of nature that has somehow acquired life, if it can walk then it should be worth something right?]
"I was told that before, now I just need to confirm that suggestion!" The boy charged the creature head on not giving it time to run.
The monster was startled by the sudden arrival of another hostile species and opened it's jaws to fire a crystal dart, due to its weaker stature and Lincoln's previously found awareness of its characteristics, the dart barely made it out of the jaws before a spear forced its way into the core. Once again, the system came on with it's causal monotone that could rival Lucy's.
[Deflected]
[You Have Dealt 27 Damage]
[You Have Defeated A Lv. 8 Living Blue Crystal]
[You Have Gained 83 Experience]
['Crystal Shard' Has Been Acquired (Stackable)]
[Description]
[Oh no George it stopped moving!]
"What the? Are the GMs not being paid enough?" With four more crystals left to go and it's uncertain drop rate, Lincoln was ready to go hunting for more 'oddities in nature' but it seemed that he didn't have to look too far.
Shik!
An unexpected crystal dart had collided into the shoulder of the distracted albino knocking him off his feet.
[You Have Suffered 22 Damage]
"Ouch! It hurts even though it isn't real! And what's with that Insanely High Damage!?" Taking a quick glance at his... Big, actually, HUGE number of crystals piling up on each other like tetris. He immediately decided to turn tail and run lest suffering a great faith of mass impalation.
"What the heck! How am I supposed to fight so many ranged monsters when I don't even have a skill myself?" The boy slid behind a crystal pillar and calculated his do's and don'ts while occasionally dodging a lucky shot if it ricocheted off of the floor. "Dammit I can barely see the crystals when they shoot them all at once! I need to be faster! Stats!"
[Character Stats]
[Strength : 64]
[Intelligence : 10]
[Dexterity : 35]
[Stamina : 46]
[Agility : 64]
[Charisma : 40]
[Courage : 3]
[Stat Points : 36]
"Twenty into agility! Ten into Strength!"
[Remaining Stat Points : 6]
"Inventory!"
[Inventory]
[7/40 Slots Remaining]
[Harden Bone]
[Wooden Mace]
[Green Tusk Spear]
[Drey's Heirloom Ring]
[Ring Of The Wind Walker]
[Necromancy Vol. 1]
"Equip both of the rings!"
[Drey's Heirloom Ring (Equipped)]
[+5 Defense]
[+2 Stamina]
[Ring Of The Wind Walker (Equipped)]
[Movement Speed is increased by 10% Under Windy Weather Conditions]
[+5 Agility]
"Not what I wanted but I'll just have to rely on my own ideals from here on out." The boy waited for the creatures to recharged their crystalized assault before making a made dash towards the smallest group of Living Crystals huddled together by a large pillar, this was a lucky encounter, this way he didn't have to worry about getting ambushed from his side since the creatures' movement speed was rather slow due to it's stubby legs.
Lincoln had managed to evade the oncoming crystals fired by the crowd of jaws, jaws and more jaws. With a quick sidestepping maneuver, the albino brought his spear down unto the horde and swung it in a full circle motion, knocking and immobilising each of the creatures.
[Weapon Durability Has Greatly Decreased]
"Not now!"
One of the creatures had managed to roll itself over, quickly recovering from the immobilization tactic, opening its jaws once again to fire another round of crystal darts. "All those teeth and all you can do is shoot? Use them for their intended purposes!" With a swift leg movement comparable to blasting a soccer ball, the small entity on the floor received it's collision head on with Lincoln's shoe and found itself stuck into the jaws of it's ally, only to have it's crystal shattered in mere moments.
"Bullseye!" Following up on his previous attack, Lincoln launched himself off the floor with the rear end of his spear and rammed it directly into the undefended core, however it seemed as if the attack was not enough to finish it off in one blow, noting this, the albino swung his swear the monster still impaled unto it and slammed it into the nearest entity, causing them both to shatter into pieces.
At this time, Lincoln had managed to eliminate all of the annoyances around him and paced around the spacious floor for a chance to isolate a few of them from the rest of the crowd, a hit and run tactic. It was not an easy task, every now and then he would barely deflect a crystal from piercing his chest but he would manage to accomplish it... somehow.
-50 Intense Minutes Later
"I *Huff *Huff am so damn... Exhausted!" The albino laid flat out on the floor, trying to occupy as much space as his body would let him. His weapon had been destroyed in the process of executing his plans but he anticipated that since it was dumb to use a 'Goblin's defective tool' like a greatsword to block and counter projectiles, at least it worked anyway.
He opened his inventory to check his winnings.
[Character Status]
[Shadow]
[Level : 44 (52/900)]
[Health : 524/580]
[Mana : 104/104]
[Satiety : 48%]
[Class : N/A]
[Title: N/A]
[Reputation: -100]
[Character Stats]
[Strength : 82]
[Intelligence : 10]
[Dexterity : 43]
[Stamina : 56]
[Agility : 92]
[Charisma : 40]
[Stat Points : 30]
[Inventory]
[7/30 Slots Remaining]
[Harden Bone]
[Wooden Mace]
[Unstable Crystal Core x 17]
[Crystal Shard x 208]
[Drey's Heirloom Ring]
[Ring Of The Wind Walker]
[Necromancy Vol. 1]
"Limited inventory space? How come i've only noticed this now? At least I got... Way more cores that I went for, crystal shards should be worth something. Besides that, these numbers are lookin' fine~" Finished with his admirations, He gazed into the direction of the summoning circle but quickly put down the thoughts in his head before they caused him to do something unnecessary.
"If this is a boss fight, there's no way I'm going in without a good weapon." Refusing to fight, the boy returned back to the hole where he entered the area from, getting up was no issue since he could naturally jump higher with his strength.
'I gotta admit, Lynn might be too busy for another adventure, so... It wouldn't hurt to get a better weapon and maybe some armour right?' The boy voiced in his head as he casually strolled outside of the dungeon. It was dangerous to be heading back to town with his equipment but what about his raw stats? Since a player generally couldn't evaluate another player's statistics, the smurfs and troll population should be high on the rise.
Surprisingly, the trail on the way back to the starting town was far easier than he had expected. There were a few passerbys every now and then, though most of them were either NPCs or players complaining about choosing the wrong spawn. Like them, Lincoln had bore a similar dislike for the predicament at first but then he realized how advantageous it was to be in this continent, not thoroughly since he hadn't heard that much stories of the other continents.
[Ping!]
[Incoming Voice Call]
[Call Has Been Accepted]
"What the?"
{Hey kid! Been a while hasn't it?}
"Uhmm, no it hasn't, are you going to share more secret information about the game that no else knows about?"
{Nice one, you know I'm not allowed to do something like that but I do have news for you that could be good or bad depending on your performance.}
"What is it about?"
{You see, our company has made significant progress with our game and decided that it is time to start advertising to internationally!}
"Uh, yay?"
{I knew you would be excited! So we updated our AI units to balance the game. With so many classes! Skills! What can't you do in this game!?}
"Apparently everything because I'm level 44 and still can't get a class quest, much less a skill, not even a decent weapon, the game is not the problem, this scam country is one big debuff, like did you have to put a unique rating on a stick!?"
{*Cough my apologies, that was a bug. The leveling system won't change for that continent but all others will be updated to match it's difficulty so if you've already adapted to the abnormal creatures then good for you!}
"You want a good update? Nerf the starter quest."
{Uhh... Sure we'll work on that.}
[Call Ended]
'Was I too harsh? Maybe I'll apologize and ask for some leveling tips later.' Lincoln resumed his journey back to the starting town which only lasted a couple of seconds before he arrived at the city walls, there were two men standing close to the gate in leather clothing. This situation came across as odd to Lincoln since there weren't any when he had first left with his sister.
"Halt! What is your business here?" One of the soldier's raised a spear in front of him while the other reached for his sword.
[Village Hunter]
[Level 30]
[200/200 HP]
[Class: Spearmen, ?, ?]
Lincoln did not dare to respond negatively to their actions without understanding the situation first, though he could not believe what he had seen. 'The heck!? A level 30 hunter has three classes!?'
"Um, hello sir, I'm just returning from my monster hunt." The two soldiers looked between each before the other one spoke up.
"Which denomination do you belong to? Are you an adventurer?" The soldiers now seemed less intimidating than before.
"Yes I haven't joined a guild as yet though." He awkwardly scratched his head while trying to look away at the two hunters, it was hard to play it cool when everyone was taller or just about the same height of his parents, it just felt he was being babied wherever he went.
"That's fine, it is not required but we were hoping that you'd have some form of identification because there have been some recent incidents involving foreign mercenaries, once this gets out of hand the king will just send his soldiers to get the situation under control but if this mess is bigger than we thought it was then he'll just wipe our town off the grid, so we're trying to keep the spread of the news as much as possible." The other hunter seemed to tense up at the mention of the king, perhaps the ruler of the nation was not a friendly individual at all.
"But, isn't it the king's duty to help his people?" Lincoln took a shot at his question knowing that the response would not have been a pleasant one since the other guard actually started to whisper in response.
"Our king is one of the cruelest rulers right next to those Dexor cultists, he executes anyone who dares to slander him and it's one of the reasons why all the nobles around him are so corrupt in power. But if you think that's bad, the queen has actually been suspected of running a underground cult for the Neron demon worshippers and she has eyes in every city."
"Now that you mention it, some children has been going missing lately and you err... might fit the description of that kidnapping list." The hunter quickly made an evaluation of Lincoln's current gear. "Well, maybe you could protect yourself well enough... I recommend you join a guild and get some protection, maybe if you are widely recognised by the villagers they might leave you alone." The hunters parted from the gate to allow him to pass through.
"I'll think about that offer, thanks for informing me. Oh, and my name is Shadow so if I get kidnapped you guys can remember me." The albino strolled away without any intentions of actually joining a guild.
"Was that a joke?"
"Kids and dark humor these days."
"So... What was it you were saying about Abby?
"Oh man, that's a long story."
A few minutes had gone by since Lincoln had been standing inside the village when something had caught his attention.
[Training Hall]
"What the hell is this!?" Thankfully a fellow adventure was there just in time to answer that question.
"Oh you haven't heard about the newest balancing update? The leveling speed has decreased in all the other continents and these training halls had been added for new players to allow them to get to level 15 then select a class before they can begin their first quest." The friendly adventures explained, pointing and using gestures to get his point through, maybe a lot of gestures, if someone needed to be persuaded definitely call this guy.
"Are you kidding me? What did I work so hard for!? Please tell me the job option is still available?"
"Well, you can't go back in after level 15 so probably not, you could just go to the training schools and work yourself to death, like the one behind me." The adventurer pointed to the large building where a few others were busy rambling about their classes or lying on the floor crying.
"What is this one about?" He took a interest at the offer of a class quest.
"This one is the uh? Swordsman class?" He wasn't even too sure of the information he had given to the younger adventure. "I'm not too sure, i'm only level 12 but I recommend you try other classes in the other regions because these guys don't even specialize in what their teaching. Kid?"
The albino entered the building before the adventurer had even managed to finish his sentence, since he was more interested in defeating his classless lifestyle. His first encounter was a woman at the receptionist table.
"Welcome! What weapon would you like to specialize in?" The woman question first, she then scribbled some information into a book before moving over to the magic orb.
'Well I have a lot of speed right? Something light and fast might suit me, I don't like getting hit either, let's go with the rapier class.' "I would like to learn the rapier."
"I'm sorry, our rapier instructor was recently summoned away on a mission to the countryside"
"Then I'll go with the spear." The boy sighed in defeat.
"I'm sorry, our last spear instructor went missing recently."
'What the hell lady! Then what am I supposed to do!?' "Oh that's really something HUH?"
"If you would, please place your hand on this magical crystal ball and I will find a weapon that suits your stature." Lincoln did as he was told, it was a funny but short feeling, it was as if the crystal was heating up rapidly but the heat was later replaced by caterpillars crawling on the palms of your hand. "Well, the only light weapons we have at the moment would be the assassins class, an assassin will most likely use daggers, throwing knives or crossbows which are weapons that require training and perfect handling for maximum effect, I think this class might suit you best since it does go in hand with speed."
"That's true, where can I go to meet my instructor?"
"He hasn't had any students for a while but he hasn't lost the air of professionalism ever since. I guarantee you'll take a liking to him rather quickly. Whenever he returns of course." The smile on her face was very reassuring but Lincoln was by all means ready to receive any class at this point in time. Just then the academy's door opened and a party of three came in merrily chatting about their encounter except for one who seemed to been sleep deprived for decades, judging from the dark bags under his eyes .
"Who would've expect that you could've been paid so much for exterminating a few pesky boars? Haha, makes me want to become a countryside guard." A blonde adventurer that looked about his mid-twenties came in fully dressed in radiating silver armour.
"Perfect timing there's your instructor and the err... Friends." The receptionist acted strangely in front of the instructors but which one was his?
"Is he the blonde guy?" He asked with a little bit of hope in his eyes.
"Err no that's the... Spear instructor..." She chuckled nervously in front of the albino. Lincoln asked once again but a little more resentment in his tone.
"Does that guy? Have a rapier at his side? MISS?"
"Y-Yes he does... It would appear so."
"So the sleep deprived old man is my instructor?"
"Hehe..." The receptionist was really in an awkward position right now but Lincoln knew there was no way she could've actually known when they would have returned so he chose to go with the flow instead.
"Hello Instructor, My name is shadow, I wish to learn the ways of the assassin." The instructor took a look at the boy's physique and quickly made note of his current equipment.
"Well we shall see about that..."
[Incoming Class Quest!]
Here we are once again,
Waiting and waiting and waiting and...
What are we waiting for again?
?