End Online: Volume 2 Read online

  End Online

  Volume 2

  Copyright

  This novel is entirely a work of fiction. Any resemblance to characters, names, locations or incidents are purely coincidental.

  Copyright © D. Wolfin 2015

  First Edition

  Paperback Edition © 2014 ISBN: 978-0-9942421-2-9

  By making the purchase of this book you have been granted non-exclusive, non-transferable, right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced in any way without the explicit permission of the author.

  Table Of Contents

  Map

  A few words from the author

  Chapter 7 – Party of Four

  Chapter 7.5 – The Christmas Update

  Chapter 8 – Farewell Glace

  Chapter 8.5 – Chronix’s Fury

  Chapter 9 – Wolf Girl

  Chapter 10 – Leaz in Trouble

  Chapter 11 – Grael’s Lair

  Chapter 12 – Two Brothers

  A few words from the author.

  Thank you all for your support and feedback to date. To be compared to some of the greats has been truly terrific. Hopefully, eventually I will be amongst them.

  All your feedback is heard, there is not a single one I don’t read.

  Unfortunately, I won’t be increasing the size of my novels, primarily based on if I was to do so it would raise the costs of printing the paperback copies and also send the price of international shipping through the roof.

  Keeping my books a short 50,000 words also allows me to get the next instalment out to all of you sooner. There are plenty of people who do not want to wait 3 months for a full novel sized piece.

  As for the price, the feedback is correct in that it is possibly a bit much for the size of the work. But I only consider that to be in comparison to other works.

  I set my price as a standard $4.99, never any more, and never any less. This method allows you to always know what you will pay for any future works, including some that will be larger in size. My concept behind this is, if you have a spare $5, why not support this author and his work.

  Yours Truly, D. Wolfin

  Chapter 7 – Party of Four

  -Lost-

  Fen shows a lot of interest in Iceridge as I show her around, although I notice that she glances behind us from time to time.

  ‘Don’t worry Fen, if the guards were going to come again they would have already done so,’ I think it just myself as I know it wouldn’t calm her.

  Of course I don’t do nothing while I walk around town, I take the little wolf through all the park areas and collect herbs as I pass through, I even manage to collect a few that I have no clue as to the effects, inspecting the item description tells me nothing too, everything shows as just ‘??’.

  For nearly an hour we explored, I even discovered a lot of new places that I didn’t know existed. They were mostly player guilds, some owning large buildings with grand entrances like ‘Blades of Winter’, and even some smaller guilds like ‘Choco Heralds’ that have buildings smaller than a private residence.

  The thing that all the guilds had in common however was out front they all had some form of message board stating what the guild was about and a mailbox for requests. A few had other stuff such as a founding members list but that seemed to be optional.

  When I arrived back in the central courtyard, I consider how odd it is that I label it as ‘central’ when it was in the north side of the Iceridge, Although most players would call it ‘central’ simply due to the fact that it was the first place new players came to, plus with all the low levelled NPC shop’s most players used this place as their centre of playing.

  There is only one place here I need to go, and that is the blacksmith.

  Inside there are only a few players browsing wares, one actually purchasing something at the counter. If I am to combat the goblins I will need better weapons, so I browse the walls for short swords.

  With less than six gold coins, there were two I could afford, there is a third but its price tag for eight gold was over my budget and it also required the player to be level 35, so that was completely out of the question. All of a sudden something in the corner of the shop catches my attention, walking over I look in a wooden crate I could have sworn was not in this shop last time I was here.

  As I get closer the contents of the box reveal themselves. Inside are countless half daggers the size of my hand, the pile must contain hundreds of them. The hilts are made of simple carved wood yet they are too small to be held properly.

  There is a sign attached to the crate which labels them as ‘Iron Throwing Knives’, and states the price of five silver coins each, or you can buy twenty five for one gold. This is exactly what I need to work with my ‘Throwing’ skill! So far I have been throwing small rocks but the progress of the skill seems to have stopped at skill level 8.

  I decide I will purchase the special deal of twenty five throwing knives for on gold and then the ‘Reinforced Steel Kodachi’, which fortunately was the same type weapon I was replacing it with, meaning I am already used to it.

  Reinforced Steel Kodachi

  A Kodachi forged from steel that has been reinforced by various secondary elements, creating a superior metal. Only a good blacksmith with decent knowledge in steel could do this.

  The blade is 41cm long.

  Requirements:

  - Level 15

  - Dex 27

  Weapon Type: Single Edge/Short Sword

  Attack: 31 - 37

  Durability: 53/53

  Weight: 2.2 lbs

  Iron Throwing Knife

  A cheap blade of iron intended as a projectile weapon, it can be retrieved and re used an unlimited number of times. But it cannot be repaired due to the low quality in the materials.

  It does not have a cross guard so if thrown with enough power and skill, it can pierce through targets.

  Be careful not to lose it.

  Requirements:

  - Level 10

  - Dex 32

  Weapon Type: Throwing Knife

  Attack: 12 - 15

  Durability: 20/20

  Weight: 0.4 lbs

  They were reasonably decent weapons and should make dealing with the goblins reasonably easier. The rugged blacksmith also sold me a leg holster for the throwing knives. It straps on to my left leg and is made from a stock standard brown leather and has five slots to place some of the knives, the rest ending up in my inventory.

  Fortunately the blacksmith agreed to dispose of my old weapon again, it held no value so I would not have been able to sell it otherwise.

  Walking outside I intend to leave the city while It is still day time in the game, but a man standing a head taller than me and fully equipped in solid steel armour which has been polished more than I could possibly imagine stands in front of me.

  “Excuse me my lord, I was wondering if you would like to join our party in hunting some kobolds?” The wavy blonde hair that I’m sure most women dream about after seeing it, it just so happens that the man in front of me is the one and only Prince Charming.

  “No, I would rather not. I already have a place to go hunting.” I already have my own plans and I plan on taking full advantage of it.

  He appears to be thinking about something quite intensely, ‘Don’t strain yourself Mr Prince, you will get wrinkles and ruin your face.’ Oh, it appears he has figured out whatever it was that was on his mind, but I am already past him and on my out of town.

  “The short sword, that voice, I know who you are! You’re Lost! Aren’t you?” I was stunned, this lady killer of a man remembers me from training? Well, I
was the centre of attention after all so I should have expected that, yet he managed to figure it out without being able to discern my face.

  “Wait, he is lost?” Turning to face Prince Charming, I notice that he has another player with in. I draw a quick intake of breath when I see the woman I noticed at the bazaar a few weeks ago, nobody could forget that beauty, even if half of it was covered by a brown hood.

  She was wearing the exact same equipment as when I last saw her, the cloak covering most of her but through the middle I could see light armour covering various parts of her figure with some strange form of dark green leather.

  “No, no. His name is Lost.“ Of course this womaniser was familiar with her.

  “Congratulations, so Prince Charming remembers who I am, what about it?” I interject in their conversation to hurry the talk up and bring it to the end. It worked as well. Prince Charming is all red in the face short of words.

  The woman let out a small giggle for some reason, the noise penetrating my ears with the sweet melody of her voice. How does someone become such a desirable person? Surely she must have done something to her character to be this way. A person like her would instantly become famous from her beauty alone.

  I snap out of my trance and go to leave but her voice ensnared me once again.

  “Well then, if you already have plans, how about we join you where you are going to go hunt?”

  I honestly hadn’t thought of that before, no doubt having a few more people would allow me to fight easier. I may get slightly less experience with more people but I will be able to go further into the dungeon, a major incentive for acquiring items I could sell for money!

  Fen let out an incredibly menacing growl and the air around me felt like it dropped a few degrees. I told Fen to stop, fearing the repercussions of her rampaging in the middle of town. She may be fun sized, but she was still a 2200lb wolf that could instantly send out deadly ice bolts.

  “Very well, then let us be off, I don’t have any time to play around.” I answer them, relieving the pressure from their pale faces while I operate my menu to invite them into my party. It takes a few moments. I can’t seem to find the invite to party option. The third time going through my menu I notice a party options tab that has the invite to party button.

  As I pressed it, the two of them in front of me began to green glow, the system pre-empting my group to be formed into a party. Accepting the selection a notification informing me the invites have been sent appears but I don’t see any of their information until the accept the request.

  Unsurprisingly the experience share in this game heavily favoured whoever killed the creature instead of the how much damage each member inflicted, so with parties the killing blow awarded seventy percent of the experience and the rest was split between the other party members. But that only worked if the player who made the kill was less than 30 levels above that person, so right now if Verde killed something then I would get no experience.

  apparently the level difference allowed gets larger the higher level the players in the party, but no one has been able to work out the system or formulae behind it.

  So Prince Charming’s actual character name was Sir Laurence, I had completely forgotten. And the lady’s name was Verde, simple, yet interesting. What surprised me the most was the health, stamina and levels that showed up in the party information, running down the left hand side of my vision.

  Their levels are respectively 47 and 72. Prince Charming even had 203 mana points, which wasn’t too impressive, but that is because I am comparing it to the boss class monster next to me. I felt embarrassed that they could see how low my level was.

  With all that done, I warn them not to steal my kills, I look directly at Verde when I speak to try to emphasise it to her particularly as we head out of town, turning south east.

  ***************************************************

  We walked in silence as the sun began to sink lower and lower in the evening sky behind us. The only sound was me calling “Analyse” on every wolf and critter that we passed by.

  I manage to get it all the way to level 9 thanks to my efforts up to this point, diligently using it whenever I could.

  Creature Analysis (SLvl 9, 17%) -Active

  Looking through a discerning eye for so long you have gained to skill to accurately gauge the strength of all creatures.

  The stronger this skill is the easier it is to analyze more powerful creatures.

  Cannot be used on players or NPC’s.

  SLvl 9:

  - Able to determine the name of a creature

  - Reveal the level of any monster up to 1.6 X Player Level

  “So, where are we actually heading?” Verde breaking the current silence asked me as we broke out into the low hills where the goblin encampment was.

  “Just past hill over there,” Pointing I indicate which hill I am discussing, “there is a goblin camp that we cleared out earlier there.” Maybe I should not have said we cleared it out, but I did kill one of them at least.

  “If you have cleared it out already, what is the point of going back? Monsters outside of dungeons aren’t respawned until the following day.” Prince Charming has adopted a rather arrogant attitude since he joined the party, I would like to say that this isn’t like him, but honestly, him being polite earlier was the oddity in my memory. I can still recall how he looked down on me back at the Iceridge Military Academy.

  “Because, in that encampment is a crevice that appears to lead to an underground dungeon.” I state it in a matter of fact tone, leaving Prince Charming grumbling behind.

  Verde gives a small exclamation at the surprise of the encampment where there appeared to be nothing in the hills. I lead our little expedition into the centre of the camp, taking not of all the loot boxes that have already despawned after being ignored for too long.

  Just as I remember, here is the crevice. I lead the way down a narrow icy ledge leading down into it. The path was like a ramp, going back and forth down the walls, narrow enough that one slip would inevitably lead to falling to death, with no chance to save yourself.

  The path eventually widens and goes straight into an open cavern, revealing the entrance to the dungeon.

  “Incredible,” I exclaim at the sight, standing just outside the entrance, “The walls appear almost man made at parts. Does anyone know what this dungeon is called?”

  “I honestly have no clue, it may even be undiscovered until now,” Verde looks just as astonished at the sight, pole torches are inserted into the ground in no particular order, lighting the tunnel with flickering yellow lights. Also while there is water dripping from some parts of the roof there is absolutely no ice in this cave.

  “Given how well hidden this whole place is and the fact that most players don’t tend to go more south than Iceridge, I think we may possibly be the first people here. But there is no way to be completely sure.” Verde has a point with what she says, there is also the fact this game is only a few months old too.

  “Anyway,” I decide it is time to venture in, “We need to decide on the formation for this par-“

  “Forget it!” Prince Charming cuts me off rather aggressively, “We will do what we want. My lady, please follow behind me for protection.”

  And this is exactly why I don’t like other players, selfish right to the core. Should I consider them as trying to steal my kills and just kill them now? They will not be able to find this place as I left the city in the wrong direction and slowly made course corrections to get back here. It is at this moment that Verde speak up with a compromise.

  “Well this isn’t going to work now is it. Boys and their testosterone..” Verde sighing as she shook her head, “How about we go in as two teams of two and just stick to each other. You go with your wolf, and I will stick with Prince Charming here.” She lets out a small giggle when she calls him by the nickname and his face dyes crimson.

  “I suppose that will work.” I give a small shrug. Basically we support th
em and they support us. I honestly trust Fen a lot more than them so working with just her is fine by me.

  We all head into the dungeon in no orderly fashion and with no formation. This could easily be one of the worst parties in all history. A small message appears in the corner of my vision saying ‘Entering Unknown Goblin Lair’

  Just a short walk in and we encounter our first group of goblins, about eight of them turn a corner and seem just as surprised as we are to be facing each other.

  I guess the goblins down here aren’t much different from the surface, raising various rusted weapons. One is equipped with a mace which is a little surprising, but not so much for me to worry.

  Prince Charming and Verde are the first two to make a move, dashing forward while they are still stunned to initiate the attack. I activate ‘Creature Analysis’ on them to view their information, my now level 9 skill being successful where it previously failed.

  Name: Goblin

  Level: 35

  Health: 330

  Magic: 0

  Stamina: 0

  Goblin's are known to be lacking in intelligence, but they compensate with their high strength and naturally tough skin defending them.

  They tend to travel in medium sized groups, being swarmed by one of these groups can have deadly consequences

  “Come Fen, let’s go attack too. They aren’t that tough!” I’m sure Fen is already aware of exactly how tough they are, she has killed hundreds already after all.

  The other two have just started engaging them, Prince charming at the front blocking nearly every attack with his kite shield, but a few slip past his defence and graze his armour. Verde however thanks to that did not have a scratch on her, using a pitch black dagger to slash the goblins that tried to flank around and surround them.