Daniel's P.O.V.
A scream filled the air, and another grublin fell to my sword piercing its gut.
+60 Xp!
Level up!
Believing that to be enough for the time being, I put away my blade in a scabbard I had crafted and attached to my belt with some wolf pelts. On a side note, they are actually quite resistant to use, and I was grateful for having that as I didn't have to whip out my inventory at any given second.
Still, I had put away my sword, and as usual, I distributed the new points I gained. Ten days or so had passed since my meeting with Zilan, and I had amped up my training, leveling up my Create ID to the point where I could access new enemies. The grublins gave only 10 Xp more than an ape normally, but they were quite a lot, and travelled usually in big groups, so it wasn't even that hard to decimate tons of them.
My training was paying off quite well, as all of my stats passed 30 when I used my Reinforcement, which I had actually taken to keep up 24/7, as it didn't hinder me much anymore, and it was also useful to an unholy level:
Daniel Samuels
The Gamer
G: 24.487
Lv: 20 (10/100.000 Xp)
Hp: 2150/2150 (27.6/s)
Mp: 3675/3675 (47.1/s)
STR: 24 (32.8)
DEX: 30 (41.1)
VIT: 25 (35.3)
INT: 55
WIS: 32
LUK: 28
Stat points: 2
Alignment: chaotic good
Raising my INT to 50 had also brought some quite good news, as I had gained a new skill from it:
Small mana capacity (passive) Lv: max
An increased knowledge about mana allows you to store more mana into your body.
Increases Mp by 50%
Increases Mp regeneration by 50%
Basically, with that skill I had made my first steps into brokenness, even though I still had a long way to go before I could be considered unbeatable.
Making my way back to my tree once more, I wondered what I was going to do in the near future: I supposed I could try to reveal myself to the dragon village, and if that was going to work, then I could take into consideration the idea of taking a house there. After all, I was missing the idea of sleeping in an actual bed, plus the loneliness was becoming a serious problem even for Gamer's mind to contain.
"Decisions, decisions…" I muttered to myself. "Man, what I wouldn't do for someone to come around. This is just sooo boring!" I ended my complaint by letting my arms slip off of my torso and dangle lazily from the branch.
My only company was becoming the monsters I killed, and it was absolutely numbing. A stray thought was slipping in my head: maybe I really should go visit Star. After all, I still had to meet Tundra.
With a goal in mind, I calmly made my way towards the edge of the forest. As I was approaching the village, a red flag popped up in my head: something was definitely out of the norm. Closing in, I could see some sort of commotion happening in town.
Using Falcon's eye I could see a whole bunch of dragons running around. It was oblivious that they were looking for something, but what?
Straining myself I saw a figure moving from the shadows of an alley to duck under a fruit stall. It didn't stay there for long, as it kept moving, slowly but surely towards the edge of the village.
Seeing the sneak trying to escape like that, I readied myself to catch them. I climbed up the tree I was hiding behind, and prepared to give them a surprise.
Once the sneak broke through the treeline, he hid under the tree I was in, trying to regain his breath. I was about to jump, but I stopped myself noticing something important:
He wore a hoodie and a pair of jeans. That was already enough, as the locals didn't seem to know how to make a pair of jeans. Thus, only one conclusion was possible: he was just like me.
My suspects were confirmed, but even less things made sense, as I looked over his Status:
John Romano
The Gamer
G:12.684
Lv: 13 (630/4000)
Hp: 1310/1460 (+16.2/s)
Mp: 1480/1480 (+16.8/s)
STR: 15
DEX: 22
VIT: 16
INT: 18
WIS: 20
LUK:18
Stat points: 0
Alignment: neutral good
John Romano. Motherfucking John managed to follow me even here.
"What the fuck?!"
John was startled by my outburst, and had started looking around himself to find whoever talked.
I was thrilled that one of my friends was here, of course, but really? That was ridiculous! He would have needed to… die.
I could relate on some level, but I really hope he got something painless like me. There's no worse way of going than a long and painful death.
John had settled down by the time I finished thinking, and now he was getting up, probably planning to head deeper inside the forest. I wasn't gonna let him go alone, of course, so I jumped off the branch I was perched upon.
John whirled around when he heard me landing, and whipped out a dagger little shorter than his forearm. Noticing my face, his expression morphed from hostility to shock, and then to confusion, as he relaxed his stance a little.
"Daniel? Is… is that you, man?"
"Yep. It's a long story, but I believe we shouldn't stay here anymore." An idea then popped in my mind, and I extended my arm towards him. "Here, give me your hand. I'll get us out."
He was visibly confused, but decided to keep his mouth shut and listen to me, being used to my wacky ideas. Once I got hold of him, I cloaked us both with an ID. He definitely noticed something was different, as he looked at me with a suspicious expression, and said:
"What did you do? It's not the first time I see this thing, and usually it's nothing good."
I regarded him with a small smirk, and said:
"Remember when I made you read 'The Gamer'?"
He gave me an uncertain nod, yet I could see he was starting to connect the dots.
"If you haven't noticed, we are now 'Gamers', and as such, we can make IDs." I shrugged my shoulders as I continued: "At least, I know how."
John stared at me for a little while, then proceeded to facepalm and mutter:
"Why did I not think of doing that?"
He said also other things, but I'd rather not repeat that. Nonetheless, at the end of his rant he returned his attention on me and said: "Please tell me you don't know also how to use magic."
I slowly let my smirk grow, and whipped up a simple Fireball.
My friend grunted in exasperation, and said in an annoyed voice: "Ok, I'll tell you my story, you tell me yours and then you teach me how to magic."
I cocked an eyebrow hearing his wording, and asked slowly: "Uhh… don't you mean 'teach me how-"
"Teach me. How. To. Magic."
Knowing better that arguing against that tone, I lowered my hand and started walking towards my glade. In the meantime, I asked John how did he get there.
John scratched the back of his head a little, then said: "Well… it started about a week ago…"
Flashback time
John's P.O.V.
"Ugh… my everything."
I was in so much pain I could barely open my eyes, but what little I could see worried me: I saw stars, but not the normal kind: they were too many, too clear, too… bright.
Forcing myself to push against the pain, I sat up, and gave a look to my surroundings. Saying I was surprised would be an understatement: I found myself at the top of a cliff, in front of me was a lush forest, with shades of green I didn't even know existed. Behind me I could see some more trees, and not too far was a mountain chain, seemingly encompassing the valley, or at least the part that I could see.
My mind was a jumbled mess of thoughts and questions: the biggest ones being 'what is this place', 'I need to find civilization' and 'how did I get here'.
Trying to calm down, I concentrated on finding some sort of answers, so I tried remembering the events that brought to that predicament.
I could remember a bridge… and a scream. Then something hit my back… and I fell. After that, nothing more. Welp, that fixed a whole load of nothing. My body felt somewhat less sore at that point, so I got to my feet and tried to choose in which direction I should head to.
From some part of my mind I remembered the small amount of survival training I got the year before, so I followed my notions and headed towards the valley. After all, trees mean water, possibly food and some sort of shelter.
A couple hours later, I heard a small gurgle coming from my left. Moving towards it, the sound grew until I could recognize it easily: it was a small river, flowing lazily towards a slightly clearer area. Drinking my fill, I made my way following the flow of the river.
Some more hours passed, until something of note happened. Namely, everything got quiet. The sound of the water was still there, of course, but that was it. The crickets were gone. The nocturnal animals were gone. The owls were gone.
Every living being was gone from the surrounding area, yet I felt I wasn't alone. I didn't let that deter me, however, and kept going forward. Hopefully it was just the zone of something, and soon enough I would hear everything again.
A snarl got me to pay attention again on my surroundings. Looking around me, I spotted a very weird being not too far away from me. I hid behind a nearby tree before it could spot me, and started studying it.
Its body was definitely humanoid, but it was reminiscent of some sort of insect. It was small and thin, reaching my abdomen, with a huge head, similar to that of a fly. Its skin was a blueish green, and I could see a pair of insect-like wings on its back. In its hands was a dagger. The design was pretty simple, but it looked wickedly sharp. In one word, it was absolutely disgusting. Yeah, that's two words, sue me.
The monster was looking around, and I could hear it sniffing around. It was looking for me. It must have picked up on my scent, 'cause it started shambling towards my hiding spot.
My mind tried to come up with a plan. It was small, so it was probably kinda weak. With some luck I could beat it easily. So I got ready.
Once it was close enough to my hiding spot, I jumped on top of it, and punched it in the face. While it was stunned, I stole its dagger and shoved it as far as I could in its skull. It stopped moving instantly.
My mind took a little to catch up with me, but once it did, I started feeling sick. I had killed something, and since it could use a weapon, it might have had some level of intelligence.
All of that was washed away with new thoughts. After all, if I would have ran, it could have caught up, and then who knew how much trouble that could have ended up with. I had done the only thing that I knew could have ensured my survival. There wasn't much of a choice.
I was still feeling a little sick from all of that, but I chose to push that out of my mind. Feeling somewhat better, I turned my eyes to the weird being on the ground, but stopped dead in my tracks once I saw what was happening to it: it was turning to dust. Slowly nothing was left, except the dagger, which fell to the ground.
I was brought out of my reverie when a small chime played, and some floating yellow square appeared in front of me.
+60 Xp!
Level up!
Level up!
…what.
I rubbed my eyes vigorously, but it didn't help: the… notifications, for lack of a better term, were still there.
I strained myself to avoid freaking out, and started thinking logically: that situation was quite familiar, actually. Shifting trough my memories, I realized the reason: I had seen something similar in a webcomic that Daniel had shown me.
Daniel… thinking that name made me think again about the fact that he was gone. They found him dead in his bed. At least he didn't feel anything. No one knew just what happened to him… he just died.
I shook my head and returned to the present. Even if my friend was dead, that was no reason to get so down.
Remembering how the protagonist of the manga did it, I said:
"Status."
*ding*
John Romano
The Gamer
G:0
Lv: 3 (0/60 Xp)
Hp: 360/360 (+4.2/s)
Mp: 360/360 (+4.3/s)
STR: 5
DEX: 7
VIT: 6
INT: 6
WIS: 7
LUK: 8
Stat points: 10
Alignment: neutral good
Alright… that really happened. Guess that sealed the deal. I was 'the gamer'. Welp, might make use of what knowledge of RPGs I had and get strong. Who knew just what I would end up against.
After some debate, I worked mainly on my INT, VIT and DEX. I had a dagger, so I had to be quick, and I really didn't want to be an idiot.
Hp: 390/390 (+4.8/s)
Mp: 390/390 (+4.6/s)
STR: 5
DEX: 7 (+4) [11]
VIT: 6 (+3) [9]
INT: 6 (+3) [9]
WIS: 7
LUK: 8
Stat points: 0
With that of the way, I crouched to pick up the dagger, finally. Looking at it, I saw a small jagged line on one side. The blade was a little shorter that my forearm, but wasn't shiny. The opaqueness was probably intentional, as it was uniform all over.
*ding*
Trough the analysis of an item, a new skill was created:
Observe (active) Lv: Max
Information is power, and a keen eye is a very good tool to gain it.
- Displays information about an item or person
That was getting annoying quite fast. I decided to use my new skill nonetheless, and Observed my new dagger
Iron dagger
(Uncommon)
A classical dagger. The blade wasn't polished, to prevent light reflection. It has a jagged side and a sharp one.
+5% damage to unaware enemies
+5% chance to inflict bleeding status
Huh. Nice. Such an item would be suited well for a sneaky fighter. I would have rather went for a bow, as I wasn't one to get usually close and personal, but I really didn't have much of a choice to begin with.
Dagger in hand, I began my journey once more, still following the river.
Of course, 8 luck didn't translate in a safe travel. At least, I had managed to learn what those monsters were: my Observe called them grublins. Plus, I gained enough Xp to reach level seven, and some gems out of it. It seemed that they were the currency around, as they increased the counter under my name.
Stopping to set my points once more, I was amazed by how much progress I had managed to make in just a bunch of hours:
John Romano
The Gamer
G: 857
Lv: 7 (20/300 Xp)
Hp: 840/840 (+9.8/s)
Mp: 830/830 (+9.1/s)
STR: 10
DEX: 17
VIT: 14
INT: 11 (+2) [13]
WIS: 10 (+1) [11]
LUK: 8 (+2) [10]
Stat points: 0
Alignment: neutral good
Probably I should have specialized in something, but I only cared about getting better at the moment. I could worry about that at a later date.
The sun was slowly rising from the horizon, and I could see the end of the forest in sight. Hurrying my steps, I managed to spot a village in the distance. While I didn't need glasses to see, I still couldn't make out many details at that distance.
Setting aside my bad feelings for once, I walked out of the treeline and headed towards the village.
About halfway between the forest and the village, I stopped. My road was blocked by something I would have thought never existed: dragons. Honest to god dragons.
They were five, and were decked in armor. What surprised me was the quantity of colors: no two dragons were the same.
I could see the curiosity and wariness in their eyes, and I was pretty sure they could see the same in mine.
Our staredown lasted for no more than five minutes, after which one of them attempted to make a step towards me. Instinct overrode reason, and I bolted away.
I could hear them following me, so I did my best to get away from them: twists, sharp turns, running in circles and backtracking. I had lost sight of them, but could still hear them in the distance.
With no better ideas, I looked for a spot to hide in. Luck was on my side for once, as I saw a half-eradicated tree, with enough space underneath to hide me easily. It was also hard to spot, since I didn't even know it was there until I literally fell in it.
Keeping my breathing to a minimum, I waited in my small den for the dragons to leave. Minutes passed by, and I started feeling a tad impatient.
My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of steps nearby. I slowly peeked out of my spot, and saw one of the dragons nearby: this one was light blue, and looked very powerful. My curiosity took the better of me, and I used Observe.
*ding*
Frost Polar
Frozen nightmare
Ice dragon
Lv: 37
Hp: 4230/4230
Mp: 3980/3980
STR: 38
DEX: 45
VIT: 53
INT: 28
WIS: 21
LUK: 25
During his early years of service, he worked in Dante's freezer. From there, he showed all of his power during the war. At the end of it, he decided a change of pace was needed, so he moved with his family in the forests south of Avalar.
That… complicated matters. If all the other soldiers were around the same level, I was absolutely fucked. Just one thing left for me to do, then. Train, train, and train.
I waited for this Frost to leave, and in the meantime fiddled around with my commands. I discovered the basic commands worked also with thoughts, so that was a plus.
End flashback
"Whoa, hold up. I didn't ask for you to talk for the whole day: just summarize it a little, will ya?"
And I heard him mutter something along the lines of: "And it's not like we can spend too many chapters on this. We're already super late as it is."
I chose to ignore the last part, also because it didn't make sense, and gave Daniel a deadpan look answering:
"You asked me what brought me here. I was giving you the most exhaustive answer I could, but if you want me to be quick…"
With that, I held up a hand, and started listing on my fingers:
"Woke up, followed the river, fought a grublin, learned I was 'the gamer', fought more grublins, found the village, got followed around the forest, decided that I had to get stronger, trained for around a week, got inside the village to get an idea of where the hell I ended up, was caught, ran away again, and found you."
He was silent for a couple seconds, then shrugged and said:
"Meh. Fair enough. Now for my side of the story…"
I'll make a little time skip here, as we all know what happened.
"… and that was when I saw you. Now, I believe I promised to teach you magic? Let's get to it."
I nodded eagerly, and was about to get up, but Daniel put his hand on my shoulder and shook his head:
"Not now. First, you need to feel your magic. Sit down."
I abided by his instructions, and waited for him to tell me more.
"Alright. The best way I can think to say it is: concentrate on your core. Try to find the warm energy inside you, and get used to it. Once you are, try moving a part of it towards your hands. Like this."
As he stopped talking, his hands lit up with a light blue shine. I couldn't even get my eyes off of them, until he dropped the shine and snapped his fingers in my face.
"Concentrate. This things may very well save your life someday. Now, try it yourself."
I closed my eyes, and did as Daniel said. It took a couple minutes, but I managed to feel some sort of warm energy inside me. I tried to grasp it, only for it to avoid me. I tried again, but this time I aimed for only a small part of it: it worked, and I slowly made it trail along my arm, reaching my hand. I continued that motion until I could do it at a whim, and then opened my eyes.
Daniel was giving me a proud grin, and I was pretty sure I had one too. Looking at my hands, I could see a small golden glow all around them.
A loud chime made me return to reality, and I looked up to find the reason of the sound:
A new reality, an old friend. (story quest)
Quest completed!
Enter the dragon village [OK]
Escape the village [OK]
?-(Meet up with Daniel) [OK]
?-(Learn how to do magic) [OK]
Bonus- Leave the village within 5 minutes [OK]
Bonus- Punch Daniel for scaring you [X]
Rewards:
10.000 Xp
New Teacher (optional)
Bonus: new title
Level up!
Level up!
The last bonus was… kinda spot on. I did want to do it at first, but I noticed he was a 'Gamer' too, and he was always better than me at RPGs. It would have been a recipe for a disaster.
Nonetheless, what was that 'teacher' thing? I pressed it, and a small pop-up appeared in front of me:
Teachers: since it's better to learn with some guidance than alone, teachers can help you. You can only have three at a time, and each has their own specializations in which they can help. Training with them, whether by leveling up, or by grinding skills, can give you an experience bonus, plus some skills can be learned only through them.
That was oddly informative, but ok.
So, if I were to get Daniel as my teacher, I would gain a boost to what he would teach me? Hell yeah!
"Hey, man, you okay? You've been staring to those screens for a while now. Did something happen?"
I looked away from the text, and found a concerned and confused Daniel staring at me. I straightened up a tad, and nodded:
"Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry to have worried you, but something did happen. You see, 'fore I got in the village I got a quest. Half of the objectives were hidden, but it had quite a big reward, so I did it nonetheless. Still, now I completed it, and seems like the missing part was meeting you and learning magic.
"That's not all, either, as the rewards were enough Xp to dropkick me two levels forward and a Teacher. The last one's optional, but I think I'll take it."
Daniel's face had changed from worry to confusion while I talked, and He didn't waste time to ask me:
"Hold up. What do you mean with 'teacher'? Like someone that teaches you skills and helps you level them up faster?"
I gave a quick nod at that, and continued:
"Yeah, and helps also with leveling up in itself. Still, the quest said you're supposed to be my teacher, sooo… wanna teach me?"
He shrugged with a nonchalant look on his face, and responded to me:
"Why not? It's already lonely as it is here. I'll be your teacher."
With that, he extended his hand towards me, and I shook it. In that moment, another pop-up appeared.
Daniel Samuels became your teacher!
Specializations:
Swordplay
Attack magic
Special skill:
Acheomensis
Bonus:
+10% Xp when he is in your party
All specialization skills level up 10% faster
I dismissed the pop-up almost immediately, and said:
"Let's get to work, teacher."
Well, there it is. You might not be very thrilled by the fact that I added a second Gamer, but hear me out first: being in a game with a friend is more stimulant, it gives a sense of satisfaction to surpass someone, and they won't let you stay stronger forever. They'll get better, and one-up you. When that happens, you can use that as an incentive to get even better. After all, if Daniel ended up being omnipotent, the story would have become an absolute bore. So, now we have someone who will compete both with and against him.
Now, onto the second part: I'm late. I know, you know, even my dog knows. I'm sorry, but I got caught up a lot with school, family matters and the like. Plus, the chapter I had planned for… how long was it again? Whatever. The chapter that was supposedly gonna be in the place of this one didn't convince me at all, so I had to scratch everything and start off. My buddy Giux (his online nickname, even tough he's not on Fanfiction) has given me a couple ideas for the story later on, so I abided by his request of putting him in the story. The backstory was actually pretty structured out, but he wanted me to put that thing where Daniel interrupts John, so I did so.
Before you guys ask, yes, he's basically my co-writer, but I'm still the only one writing. Why? 'Cause Giux can't even speak English, let alone write it.
Giux: "Haven't you forgotten something?"
Xeno: "Oh right! If you guys have questions for any of the characters in the story, you can ask them in the reviews! We're all waiting for you!"
Giux: "Of course, you can also ask both Xeno and me anything, as long as you keep it T-rated."
Xeno: "Yeah, that too. Now, I believe we can close for this time too! Xeno out!"
Giux: "Not so fast! There's one last thing left to do! Come in everyone!"
The door on the back of the room bursts open, and we can see Daniel, John, Tundra, Star, Pyra and even Zilan behind it. Daniel and John are holding a cake, while everyone else has gifts either on their backs or in their hands.
Everyone except Xeno: "Happy late birthday!"
Xeno: "W-what? You didn't have to…"
Daniel: "Oh, come on! We're a little late, but we still didn't get the chance to party together! Now come on, let's have some fun!"
Xeno: "Alright, alright. Just let me sign off here and we can start."
Giux: "Naw, you guys go ahead. I'll do it."
Xeno is pushed out of the room by the others, which follow immediately after.
Giux: "Welp, better make this short. Sorry we can't answer the reviews, but you see how it is. If you had any questions, we'll read them and answer them in the next chapter, so don't worry. Now, 'The legend of Spyro' doesn't belong to us, the OCs belong mostly to Xeno, except John, who is mine, so review, favorite, follow and see you next time!
Giux out!