February 14th/2023
Queens New York
To say that Morgan had a lot on his mind would be an understatement to say the least. He had been transformed into a literal RPG character and tasked with saving the city. Lives were at stake, and he even got close to death during the last little adventure he had, but right now in this moment, Morgan felt true terror run through his body and soul.
In the hallway, walking to their shared classroom. Julie Power had just asked Morgan a question that made him freeze on the spot. Luckily thanks to Gamers Mind, Morgan was able to quickly recover and speak.
"You want to go to the Prom with me?" Morgan asked with a bit of a crack in his voice before he coughed into his hand and repeated the question in what he thought was a manlier tone, causing Julie to smirk a bit.
"Yeah, Prom's coming soon. One of the dozens of Proms this school has for some reason, and I kinda like you so I wanted to know if you wanted to go with me…Like…A date." Julie said with a bit of a blush while looking away as a new quest alert appeared in front of Morgan.
[Quest Alert!
Name: Girl of your Dreams
Objective: Take Julie Power on a date at the end of the month and show her a good time.
Rewards: 300 EXP, 1x Random Skill Book, and a new girlfriend.
Do you accept this quest? Y/N?]
Morgan didn't bother wondering why he didn't see any failure repercussions with the quest, but he didn't care at the moment and mentally hit yes as fast as he could.
"Yes. I'd love to…I mean not love, but I'd like to go…Wait I didn't mean that I only like it." Morgan said as he started to trip over his own words before Julie smiled a bit more and the duo headed towards their classes together.
They weren't holding hands or anything, but they remained close to each other while they walked.
Soon after the school day came to an end, Morgan made his way home and got dressed in simple basketball shorts and a tank top as he sat on his bed thinking about what his next step should be.
He knew he had to take down the other dungeons, but he was underprepared and to say that he was a bit nervous about the training that Gaia could offer would be an understatement, however Morgan realized that right now the dungeon training would be his best bet on training right now.
"Alright I'll check out the dungeon and try to train up a bit." Morgan said before he focused and activated his perk known as Dungeon Traversal and felt the world around him change. One moment he was in his room and in the next moment, Morgan found himself in the center of what looked like an ancient Roman Colosseum with sand on the ground and stands having several people sitting down.
The place wasn't packed or anything and the people were spread out and each person was wearing a black robe. One of the robbed figures stood up in their seat before he or she suddenly vanished and reappeared in front of Morgan.
Morgan took a step back out of reflex from the recent fights with rats he has been in. The figure raised his or her hands and lowered their hood to reveal that it was a fair skinned man with raven dark hair, but the most shocking thing was that Morgan couldn't see any information floating above the man's head.
"Your passive scrying power won't work in this place young man."
"How do you know that? And how do you even know that I have such a power?" Morgan asked back as the man raised an eyebrow.
"Aside from the fact you've just told me. My name is Zod, and I am one of your predecessors. You're one of the newest champions of Gaia, and I will be one of the more talkative souls here." Zod explained confusing Morgan a bit as well as making him mentally kick himself for not realizing that Zod had easily let Morgan spill important details without even trying.
"So, you're like some kind of teacher for me?"
"In a sense. Now each champion of Gaia has developed powers differently from one another, but some of us have broad skills that can be taught. Also, there are unique skills that you can develop from learning such skills from myself or one of the other champions. However, you aren't ready for any of those skills. For now, let's see what you can do." Zod said before he turned around and raised his hand.
The arena Morgan and Zod in was massive in size, but even so, Morgan could make out other gates near the walls opening and releasing bizarre looking monsters. These monsters looked demonic. Several were humanoid size with the standard red skin and horns with sharp tails.
A few others were bulky in size with large muscles, and they seemed to be closing in towards Morgan and Zod with various weapons in their hands.
"These are nothing more than shadows. Images of demons that a Champion of Gaia has faced in battle, however that doesn't negate the danger you are in. Fight well and we will see if you have potential." Zod said before he vanished again.
[Quest Alert!
Name: Champion Training
Objective: Battle a squad of demons and prove your worth to your predecessors.
Rewards: 3,000 EXP, Unlock new potential for growth.
Failure: You won't be taught by a former champion until you grow stronger on your own and prove your worth.
Do you accept this quest? Y/N?]
"If that's how it is, then I won't back down." Morgan said before he quickly equipped his armor and his spear.
Honestly, he had perks and skills for both single and two-handed weapons, but the spear just felt more appropriate for his whole Spartan vibe.
Some of the foot soldiers charged at Morgan, who rushed them in return after he cast the spell Bronze Skin. Now the newly added protective spell did its job and gave Morgan some more protection as he took several hits from the demons.
Fighting Ratment is different compared to demons, and Morgan had just realized that his skills fighting against opponents similar in size to him was a bit difficult. However, with his spear and several Earth Bullet spells, Morgan managed to take down the foot soldiers before casting the Earth Wall spellin front of him to block the fireballs that were launched at him from the ranged demons.
The overly muscular demons closed in on Morgan and easily broke through the stone before one of them punched Morgan who blocked with his spear but was still sent back and rolling on the ground for a while before he got back up and realized that his shield spell had shattered from the blow.
The demons didn't let up though, the ranged demons through more fireballs while the strong demons chased him with their demonic looking halberds.
"I'm getting nowhere at this rate. So, I should change up my strategy." Morgan said before storing his spear away into his inventory before he took out a wooden club from his inventory and ran past the hulking demons to get at the ranged imps that were firing fireballs.
Morgan managed to close the distance between himself and the imps before slamming his club down on one of their heads with all the strength he could muster, but sadly the thing was tough and rolled away before Morgan had to dodge a fireball from another Imp that would have taken off his head.
"Should have expected that. So, let's try again." Morgan said before he focused and activated his Weapon Reinforcement skill before charging once again and this time when he slammed his club onto the already wounded Imp's head, he knocked it back to the ground and had it staggered, but not dead.
Sadly, the hulking demons came up behind Morgan and not only grabbed him from behind, but the demon that grabbed him, had tossed Morgan into the air for a while before he crashed hard onto the ground in pain.
"Fuck." Morgan said as his HP took a big hit from the fall and he was struggling to make it back to his feet.
"Enough!" Zod shouted as he reappeared in front of Morgan and with a wave of his hand, the demons vanished from his site.
"Wait, I can still fight." Morgan said with a groan before getting onto one knee.
"No, you can't. This fight is over." Zod said before he put a hand on Morgan's shoulder and had Morgan shrouded in a golden light that healed all of Morgan's injuries and got his HP back to full. "You're a novice with weapons and foolishly thought switching them would give you the advantage. Your physical abilities are below novice level, which means that you haven't actually trained yourself to get stronger, and you thought that you could just brute force your way through the problem. These issues can and will get you killed if left unaddressed."
"Sorry." Morgan said with his head down.
"Don't be sorry, learn from this and train. I know you're a teenager, but you have a responsibility now, and a gift that must be nurtured. You're like a seed at this stage. You need water, soil and sun to grow, but you haven't been given those things yet, and are growing far too slowly."
"But I don't have much time." Morgan said before Zod spoke again.
"All of us are aware of your quests and what you are facing, but you are not ready for a battle with a trained and organized group. Now, it's time to take your leave. Take time to learn and improve before you return here. Otherwise, this perk of yours will be locked until we see for ourselves that you have indeed gotten stronger and are taking this power seriously." Zod said before his hand appeared in front of Morgan's face and in a flash of bright light, Morgan found himself back in the real world.
"That…Was embarrassing." Morgan said to himself as he pulled up his perk list and saw the Dungeon Traversal perk was now greyed out and he couldn't interact with it.
[Quest Failed
Name: Champion Training]
"It seems that I might have been giving you a power that you weren't ready for." Gaia said as she made herself known as Morgan saw the golden tree icon appear on the back of his hand.
"I disappointed you too?"
"I'm not disappointed. I'm concerned. This power of mine works similarly to an RPG, but it is still bound by the rules of reality. You still need to eat, sleep, drink and rest like a normal person. You can still be harmed greatly and by several people in this world. And you don't have any extra lives or resets Morgan. So, stop treating this like a video game and truly accept that you need to get stronger without relying on the dungeons.
They aren't simply a place to conquer for strength, they are places that have threats and meaning behind them."
"I'm sorry…I guess I haven't been taking this as seriously as I should. I just thought that as long as I got skills and perks that I could just be fine and get things done, but I guess I was naïve. I haven't exercised or properly study things like magic or the supernatural or anything." Morgan admitted with his head lowered.
"Realize Morgan that I am not saying these things to hurt you, neither are the other former Champions. We are simply concerned for your life. You're still a teenager after all." Gaia said back to Morgan who took a deep breath.
"I understand. I'll act with more caution from now on."
"It is better to show actions instead of promising them. But thank you for understanding." Gaia said before the mark on Morgan's hand vanished, leaving the teenager alone to think for a moment before he decided on what to do and how he could improve himself.
He opened the Gamer Store and purchased books on magic, mythologies and the supernatural world itself. Not skill books but tomes of information. He studied those books late into the night as well as taking time to exercise at home to try and build up strength.
February 25th/2023
Queens New York
To say that Morgan has been running himself ragged would be an understatement. Morgan has been studying his books and rereading them over and over again to commit things to memory. He has also been exercising for days and during his free time. Astella was worried about her son, but he always assured her that he was fine.
His perk Gamers Body allowed him to quickly recover from soreness and muscle pains at an insane rate of speed, which allowed him to push himself harder to get more results.
Morgan has studied fitness and how to get the best results, which allowed him to learn that speed in exercise is the key. Sometimes it's better to be slow instead of fast and vice versa. So, with all he had been learning, Morgan has quickly become a much stronger version of himself, compared to the same boy who tried to fight demons and lost.
Now, Morgan was still doubting his abilities to be honest, but he was at least happy with his training and even managed to level up from his intensive training. Which is what brings us to what is happening now.
Once again Morgan waited for the night and snuck out of his home to head towards another Ratmen Den, but this time Morgan was smarter and stronger compared to his former self and was ready to go on the attack.
His time was limited to a few more days and he had to take actions, despite how unready he still feels.
Now this time the entrance to this Ratmen Den was the backdoor of an old gaming store full of all sorts of games from the Atari all the way to the newest games and consoles.
[You are about to enter 'Ratmen Den 3', and the recommended level is 15! Would you like to enter the dungeon? Y/N?]
"Let's go." Morgan said to himself before equipping all his gear including the voice altering chain around his neck before he entered the store and looked around for the possible entrance to the dungeon before he found the bosses room in the back and discovered a corpse laying down behind the desk, but this corpse was different from the ones he saw before in the dungeons.
This guy's body looked relatively flesh and just started to rot. The smell told Morgan as much, and he also noticed the strange looking knife and notebook near the guy. Morgan put both in his inventory and looked them over.
1x Ritualistic Dagger of Chaos
1x Handmade Grimoire of Chaos Magic
"I don't know what either of these things do, but I'm sure as hell not keeping them in my inventory." Morgan said before he sold both items and got an unexpectedly large amount of money for the items.
In any case Morgan examined the desk and found the hidden button in a drawer before pressing it and saw the wall behind him split open vertically, which revealed a long stone like hallway.
1
Throughout this dungeon Morgan has been focusing on mastering his spear and blunt weapon mastery skills. The Ratmen had various weapons, which gave Morgan the weapons and skill books that he sold.
This dungeon was like the previous two with dozens upon dozens of Ratmen attacking, but they didn't stop him on the first two floors as he bested them with his spear and earth-based magic along with him being able to protect himself with Bronze Skin when some Ratmen managed to get in close.
The [Earth Bullet] spell has reached MAX level!
The [Bronze Skin] spell has leveled up! Level: 3-4!
[Spear Mastery] has leveled up! Level: 9-10!
[Blunt Weapon Mastery] has leveled up! Level: 7-8-9!
[Dual-Wielding] has leveled up! Level: 5-6-7!
[Parry] has leveled up! Level: 12-13!
[Close Quarters Combat] has leveled up! Level: 9-10!
"I haven't had the chance to use Earth Wall yet, and that is a bit concerning." Morgan said to himself with curiosity before he found the staircase leading down to the next floor.
When he reached the third floor his heart stopped, and Morgan looked on in horror at what he saw wandering around.
Shambling Undead Hydra Soldier, Level: 17
The floor has several undead Hydra soldiers moving around aimlessly with their uniforms ripped in several places with blood spots all over it. The marks on the clothes reminded Morgan of a knife wound, which made something click in his head.
"That ritual knife I sold…Something like that was used to turn these people into zombies, or maybe it was the knife itself, but it was relatively clean, and these zombies seem…Fresh just like the man in the boss room on the top floor." Morgan said to himself before he summoned a wooden club in both hands and prepared for combat.
"Bronze Skin. Weapon Reinforcement-Right. Weapon Reinforcement-Left." Morgan cast his spells as he enhanced both weapons and himself with magic before he rushed in and started clubbing the undead zombies.
Being a zombie is usually unfixable unless you're in a Resident Evil game or movie, but Morgan didn't know if those rules applied in real life.
Days ago, Morgan would think of these Zombies as trash mobs, but now Morgan feels a strange weight in his heart as he put these Zombies down. The fact that they are Hydra agents helped mitigate the guilty feeling along with the perk Gamers Mind. However, it didn't stop the guilt from recurring again and again whenever it was squashed down.
"These people are monsters, but I don't think anyone deserves to suffer like this." Morgan said to himself as he sold all the loot he got from the undead.
The skill books sold for a lot since they were dark magic skills, and Morgan wasn't going to go down the path of a necromancer or anything like that. The thought alone made him uneasy.
"That's the last one." Morgan said to himself as he cleared out the last zombie in the hallway. "Now I just have to deal with what's behind this door." Morgan said to himself before he walked up to the large doors at the end of the hallway.
Before he entered the room, Morgan bought up several things. A few HP and MP potions that he used to top himself off, as well as two new skills to add to his skillset.
[Longstride, Active Level: 1
Tier: 1
Type: Alteration
While maintaining your concentration you can focus your mana into your legs and move at double your DEX speed.
This skill stacks with any DEX based skills and perks!
Duration: Active while you maintain concentration.
Cost: 50 MP with a 30 MP upkeep cost per minute.]
[Earth Javelin, Active Level: 1
Tier: 2
Type: Elemental
You can conjure a small javelin of condensed earth to throw at your enemies to deal significant damage to anyone you're fighting.
Duration: 45 Seconds.
Cost: 125 MP.]
"That new earth spell costs a lot of MP, even with my passive abilities that lessen the earth magic skill cost. At least this will help passively enhance my connection with Earth magic." Morgan said as he thought about his Earth movement skill and the possibilities that it gave him, but he needs to practice with the skill first.
So, for now, Morgan has no issue with buying spells for Earth magic.
"Is there anything else I need?" Morgan asked as he still had active access to his Gamer Store and was thinking about what he could possibly need. "I could get a few backup spears. The one I have is on its last legs."
Morgan soon bought a few normal spears from the store made from steel as he stored his clubs away and opened the door to the boss room.
The room had space, but it wasn't terribly wide and on the ground were several dead Hydra members.
"Not what I was expecting." Morgan said as he saw the door at the end of the room open and saw a person walking towards him, covered in a black robe. "That's close enough."
The person stopped a few steps in front of Morgan.
"What an unexpected site. I didn't think I'd see some random person wander into this den of monsters. Then again, I am the one who made it this way." The person said with a chuckle and their own distorted voice.
"Who are you?" Morgan asked as he glanced at above the head of the individual and saw a bizarre and frightening site.
Seira, Level: N/A
(Title Unavailable without a scrying spell above Tier 8)
"Who I am matters little to you boy. But I am in a good mood so I will tell you this. Your world will soon come to a sudden and I will enjoy ruling this world." Seira said before he or she snaped their fingers and appearing in the space between Morgan and Seira was a black puddle of bubbling ooze.
The ooze started to take form as Morgan took a few steps back in mild shock as he looked on at the sight before him. The monster in front of him was at least eight feet tall. Its body was wide and muscular, but it didn't have skin, instead its body seemed to be made from a mixture of dark robes and metal armor pieces. Its head was a black shadowy mist with two crimson red eyes, there were several weapons piercing and coming out of its body in various spots. Its right arm from the elbow down is a jagged blade, and its left arm was a bloodied mace.
Fledgling Golem of War, Level: 22
"A weak toy of mine, but it should be enough to break you. Enjoy." Seira said before he or she vanished in an instant, leaving Morgan alone with the monster in front of him.
Thankfully the monster wasn't too fast as it got closer and tried to impale Morgan with its blade arm, but Morgan managed to dodge out of the way and take several steps away from the monster to get some space.
"Earth Javelin!" Morgan cast his spell and created a Javelin of rock in his hand that he threw at the monster. It stuck the being right in the chest, which did make it take a step back and start bleeding some gross black blood, but it didn't seem to stop the goliath as it aimed its mace arm at Morgan, who barely dodged when the mace was sent flying towards him.
"That's not a mace, that's a fucking flail!" Morgan shouted as he saw the chain connected the mace to the monster's elbow. However, Morgan didn't waste the chance and quickly summoned one of his metal spears instead of a club and stabbed it straight down onto the chain of the flail.
Luckily thanks to his training, he was actually strong enough to break the chain of the thing, which angered the monster as it let out a shriek of rage.
"Earth Bullet!" Morgan cast again as he fired several rock projectiles at the monster's dominant right leg, or specifically the knee cap. Thankfully the idea worked, and the monster fell onto its bad knee.
Morgan didn't bask in the glory of taking down such a monster, and instead he reclaimed his spear and buffed it with Weapon Reinforcement before he charged in like a track star and impaled the monster's chest, causing it to scream out in agony as more black blood poured out of the wound of where Morgan stabbed.
A golem doesn't typically have organs unless it is a flesh golem or a homunculus. But, despite its name, this monster hardly seemed like a normal golem, so Morgan decided to be cautious and simply weaken it before taking it down.
"Bronze Skin." Morgan quickly cast as he bent backwards to avoid the blade swing from the monster's other arm. The blade clashed with Morgan's shield and shattered it easily before Morgan took two leaps backwards for space.
The steel spear he abandoned was absorbed into the body of the monster, but the wound remained, showing that it was still wounded as it tried to prop itself up with its blade arm.
"Sorry, but you're not going to win this fight." Morgan said before he downed another MP potion from his inventory. "Earth Javelin!"
Morgan threw another javelin of magical rock at the monster and aimed at its opened wound with surprising accuracy. The javelin went through its body making it wail in pain as Morgan noticed a large organ had been stuck to the javelin and exited the body of the monster.
Presumably its heart as the best fell forwards onto the ground unmoving.
You have leveled up! Level: 10-11-12! You have earned 15 SP and 3 PP for a total of 15 SP and 4 PP! Your HP and MP has been fully restored!
You have earned one of three possible rewards to choose from!
1x Necklace of the Damned
1x Mace of Suffering
1x Ring of Shadows
Each one of the rewards was something edgy and dark, but Morgan knew that he shouldn't expect something else from such a dark and edgy enemy. The necklace doubled his EXP gain but at the cost of him suffering double the damage from attacks of any kind. The Mace will literally steal souls from beings that it kills. And the ring allowed Morgan to blend into dark environments and shadows to become stealthier.
He wasn't invisible by any means, but he would become harder to see, and something like that was useful, and the least evil thing that Morgan could pick. So, he chose the ring and saw it appear on his pointer finger.
It was in the shape of a silver skull and its ability could be activated passively by using the MP stored within the ring, which passively absorbs MP from the environment.
[Ring of Shadows
MP: 1/3,000]
"So, I could use this ring a lot it seems. But I can worry about that later." Morgan said before he walked towards the room that Seira emerged from and saw that it was a meeting room of sorts.
The place was scrubbed clean of documents, most likely done by Seira herself, but Morgan did notice something in one of the dead Hydra members pockets. The woman's head was missing, which made this a lot more difficult to stomach, but Morgan grabbed the item from the woman's pocket and saw that it was a flash drive with the Hydra symbol on it.
"This is the jackpot. Now, I just have to figure out how I can possibly tell a superhero about what I've discovered." Morgan said to himself before he exited the dungeon and made his way back home.
2
February 27th/2023
Queens New York
"This is quite possibly the stupidest idea I have ever had." Morgan said to himself as he used his Parkour skills to stand at the top of a rooftop near the Fantastic Four's skyscraper.
His goal was to get the attention of the Fantastic Four or the Power Pack. Which is why he bought a flare gun from the Gamer Store and was prepared to fire it. If things got bad, he could just use the ring.
Not only did it let him blend into shadows, but it had a nice safety feature/ability. He could mark shadow locations and teleport between them if his ring had enough charge, which it did thankfully. He had a mark put in his room and was ready to run if things went south.
"I should take this moment to upgrade myself a bit." Morgan said before he summoned his stats in front of him.
[Status Screen
Name: Morgan Waylen, Race: Human, Age: 17
Title: The Gamer, Karma: Neutral, Level: 12 [848/9,500]
HP: 1,120/1,120, MP: 300/300
Strength: 27, Constitution: 29, Vitality: 25
Dexterity: 25, Intelligence: 22, Wisdom: 20
Charisma: 22, Luck: 30
Stat Points: 15, Perk Points: 4
End]
"Okay. I figured out that my level is tied to my HP and MP pools, but it's still important to level them up." Morgan said before he allocated his stat points accordingly.
[Status Screen
Name: Morgan Waylen, Race: Human, Age: 17
Title: The Gamer, Karma: Neutral, Level: 12 [848/9,500]
HP: 1,120/1,120, MP: 620/620
Strength: 27, Constitution: 29, Vitality: 25
Dexterity: 25, Intelligence: 27, Wisdom: 30
Charisma: 22, Luck: 30
Stat Points: 0, Perk Points: 4
End]
"Just like I thought. INT and WIS are both connected to my MP pool, unlike other systems where they are separate." Morgan said with a smile before he went to work on his perks.
[Slugger, Passive Rank-1
You have a gift for wielding two-handed weapons of all categories and now all your two-handed weapons deal 15% more damage and ignore 15% of enemy armor]
[Slugger] has ranked up! It is now Rank 2!
[Natural Armor] has ranked up! It is now Rank 3!
[Natural Armor] has ranked up! It is now MAXED!
"More protection for me in case my only protection spell wears off at a bad time…I should probably buy another one." Morgan said to himself before he noticed two beings flying around the skyscraper, which was his que to fire his flare.
Morgan ignored the skill alert he got from the action and simply waited before the duo landed on the roof across from him.
Johnny Storm and Julie herself aka the Human Torch and Lightspeed.
Morgan knew the identities thanks to his powers, along with the fact that Johnny is a party animal and doesn't mind showing off what he can do. But that's a story for the tabloids.
"I've got to say its weird seeing a flare come from a spartan cosplayer." Johnny said jokingly and Morgan rolled his eyes a bit but smiled behind his helmet. The mask protects and shields his face while the necklace around his waist hides his voice. So, they won't know who they are talking to. Morgan considered it a good thing since he didn't want Julie to know about this secrete life he is living.
It's almost ironic since he knew about her secrets.
"Sorry about the flare but I didn't know how else I could get your attention. I won't beat around the bush here. An attack is coming to New York at the hands of Hydra. I've gathered evidence of the attack and I felt it right that the Fantastic Four should be made aware of it." Morgan explained before he summoned all the files and paperwork from the dungeons and placed them on the ground with the flash drive on top of the pile.
"How do we know you're telling the truth? Or that you're not with Hydra giving us the run around? You're a total stranger to us." Julie replied and Morgan took a moment to respond.
"It's because this place is my home. If the attack spreads into the streets, I'll try and help, but if I can't that means that something has happened to me or that something else urgent has come up. In any case I'm not a villain trying to make a name for himself here. Have Reed Richards look over the files and the flash drive. It might help us save the city." Morgan said before he turned around to leave via his ring.
"Who are you? A new vigilante like the wall crawler?" Johnny asked before Morgan came up with a comeback.
"I'm nothing like the Ghost Spider. I'm a true warrior of the old blood. My name is Gladiator. Hopefully we can speak again under less intense circumstances." Morgan said before he activated his ring and sunk into the shadow underneath his feet and vanished from the duo of shocked heroes.
"Damn that's awesome." Johnny said back in amazement.
"Do you really think that Hydra is going to attack the city?" Julie asked as she picked up the files and the flash drive while Johnny shrugged in response.
"Who knows, but Reed will have a cow if we didn't run this kind of information by him. Besides if worse comes to worse, this was a bad guy doing a terrible job at misdirection." Johnny said before he morphed his body into flames and took to the sky with Julie behind him as they gave all the paperwork and the drive to Reed Richards who was in his massive lab.
END!
A/N: And so, our hero has come up with a name for himself and has given the information he gathered to the Fantastic Four. He didn't clear out the Rat Dens though, or at least not yet. So, who knows what's going to happen on the next episode of Marvel Odysseys.