Fjorgyn: A Rebel Rises Read online

  Rusty iron dagger with sheath. Quality: Poor. Class: Common Weapon: 3-5 DPS. Can be broken by stronger weapons.

  Flint and Steel: Can be used to start a fire. Quality: Common

  Moldy bread: Once tasty; now worthless.

  (2) flasks of fresh water

  10 copper

  I was more than pleased with this find. I claimed the dagger and tied it to my thigh. Adding the flint and steel to my inventory and taking water and the copper, I saw my own money count in my inventory increase. If this was anything like the game, 100 copper made 1 silver. And 100 silver made 1 gold. Ten copper couldn’t buy anything, but it was a start. I closed the pouch and continued to look around, mumbling to myself.

  “If I’m going to be successful here, I have to begin thinking outside the box.” Eyeing the pouch, I entertained tying it around my ‘El Capitan,' but didn’t think Vindur would count that as pants. I dumped the moldy bread out and added it to my bag. I realized then that branches and leaves didn't make the shelter. It was a bit more sophisticated. The inside roof of the tent was fabric, and the support beams were connected by a single cord of rope. Claiming both, I sat my bare ass down to examine the fabric. It was covered in sap and guano and smelled like a dirty armpit. I put on my best Macgyver hat, knowing that it could be used.

  Making a decision, I unsheathed my dagger and cut two diagonal lines in the center of the fabric large enough for my head. I then cut four slits two-thirds of the way between the center and the corners of the square cloth and fed the rope through them. Pulling it over my head, I secured the waist by tying a tight knot in the cord. Using my dagger to cut off the ends left two pieces of rope for me to slide into my inventory.

  You have created (1) Improvised Cloth Tunic. Quality: Poor. Class: Junk. Armor: Light(1). Can be destroyed by weapons. +20xp

  Congratulations! You have discovered a new skill! Tailoring.

  Your ingenuity resulted in your making a garment you can almost be proud of! Continue to utilize this skill to advance in rank and create better items. Current rank: 1.

  “Three down and two to go,” I said to myself. At this point, I needed some food. More importantly, I needed some pants. As much as I loved my dangling bits hanging out, I’m not sure Vindur appreciated it as much, although it’s hard to tell with sentient, communicative birds. At least the tunic itself covered me. It meant fewer bug bites and scratches.

  The abandoned camp treated me well, but now it was time to go. Finding an easier path, I began walking uphill for twenty minutes. The way grew wider and contained more bedrock. My feet thanked me for the relief from thorns and sharp rocks.

  Walking up the hillside was tedious and slow. No matter how hard I tried, I could not crouch while setting a fast pace.

  Congratulations! You have discovered a new skill! Stalking.

  Your dedication to self-preservation has helped you hide from many an enemy. You now have the ability to stealth through the world. Increases fatigue. Increase in rank improves hiding, reduces fatigue increase, and improves movement speed while walking silently. Current rank: 1.

  With my concerns answered, having never utilized stealth before when I used to play the game, I stood up deciding that the fatigue increase was not worth remaining hidden. And this new fatigue information must have been from Mannana ‘s curse. When I played the game, I only had health, stamina, and mana to manage. Fatigue meant I now suffered from common muscle strain, hunger, third, and exhaustion. So far, I’ve only heard birds chirping and observed the occasional squirrel. As soon as I stood up, however, I felt a sharp pain in my ankle.

  Damage received: 22

  Flying around, I saw three giant rats behind me. How did I not see them before?

  Ripping the dagger from its sheath, I adopted a fighting stance and analyzed the rats. I was grateful this game function still worked. It was limited when analyzing enemies while still proving useful.

  Creature: Forest rat

  Level: 1

  Class: Animal

  Health: 7

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  Creature: Forest rat

  Level: 1

  Class: Animal

  Health: 7

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  Creature: Giant forest rat

  Level: 3

  Class: Animal

  Health: 17

  Favoring my injured leg, I decided to attack the veritable ankle-biter first. The blood dripping from its mouth suggested that it had a taste for mine and the ability to inflict critical damage. I had a clumsy grip on my dagger, having never fought with one before. It wasn’t a staff, but it would have to do. The rat lunged at me despite my raised weapon, leaping through the air to attack my torso only to be dispatched by my blade. I was pleased but was very sure that most creatures wouldn’t only throw themselves on my dagger. It was a weak victory. It did substantially more damage to me than I did to it.

  Damage dealt: 8 (crit)

  Stamina reduced: -10

  You have killed a level 1 Forest Rat. +15xp

  Congratulations! You have discovered a new skill! Blades. You are now an agent of death. Continue to utilize this skill to advance in rank to increase damage when fighting with blades and reduce stamina consumption. Current rank: 1.

  Congratulations! You have discovered a new skill! Light Armor. You are proficient at wearing light armor. Wearing light armor reduces movement speed and reduces damage taken. Improve this skill to reduce speed penalty and increase damage protection. Current rank: 1.

  Damage received: 14

  Damage received: 3

  Damage received: 9

  “Fuck!” I yell at the top of my lungs as the second rat gnawed on my thigh. These notifications were distracting. Grabbing the rat by the tail, I yanked it off and launched it down the path. It landed hard on its back.

  Damage dealt: 6

  Stamina reduced: -5

  Congratulations! You have discovered a new skill! Grappling. You have learned to fight without the use of weapons. Increase this skill to increase damage when fighting in hand-to-hand combat and reduce stamina consumption. Current rank: 1.

  When I was distracted by the notifications, the level 1 rat regained its footing and ran at me. I couldn’t help but laugh at the creature. It was injured and scurried slower than a newborn kitten. When it approached, I kicked it in the face and sent it flying into the woods like a furry Frisby.

  Damage dealt: 3

  Stamina reduced: -10

  You have killed a level 1 Forest Rat. +15xp

  Before I could regain my footing from my awesome ninja-kick, the giant rat sped towards me and launched itself into the air. Similar to the first, I held up my dagger in self-defense. The stupid rat impaled itself.

  Damage dealt: 17(crit)

  Stamina reduced: -10

  You have killed a level 3 Giant Forest Rat. +35xp

  Congratulations! You have reached level 2! You have 2 attribute points to assign. You have gained 10 health, mana, and stamina. 162xp to next level.

  Instead of celebrating my victory, the weight of the rat caused me to stumble backward, tumbling down a hillside in an uncontrollable slide.

  Damage received: 5

  Damage received: 6

  Damage received: 5

  My elbow slammed into a sharp rock.

  Damage received: 15

  Damage received: 5

  Damage received: 6

  Damage received: 5

  Damage received: 5

  Finally, my free-fall-from-hell-that-causes-falling-damage adventure ended, and I rolled out of a tree line and into an open field. Severely injured with only a few health points left, the low-health and high fatigue alert flashed in my vision. I blacked out—for the second time today.

  Secret name: Slanaitheoir (savior)

  Character name: ???

  Race: Forest Elf

  Age: 27

  Class: Undefined

  Talent: Undefined

  Level 2 (162xp to next level)


  Health: 110

  Mana: 114

  Stamina: 110

  Fatigue: 0%

  Armor: -10 (you’re naked, jackass)

  Strength: 10

  Intelligence: 13

  Wisdom: 13

  Constitution: 10

  Agility: 12

  Luck: 5

  Alignment: Unknown

  Racial Traits: +5% to herbalism, +5% to all non-metal crafting, +5% to nature-based healing and damage spells, +5% to mana regeneration

  Profession: Undefined

  Company: Undefined

  Modifiers: Forest Elf (+10% movement in the forest)

  Skills:

  Novice Blades 1: The ability to deal damage with knives and blades. Drains stamina. Increase in rank reduces stamina drain and increases additional damage.

  Novice Grappling 1: The ability to deal physical damage through hand-to-hand combat.

  Novice Light Armor 1: Wearing light armor grants a bonus to damage reduction. Increase in rank improves movement speed and reduces damage taken.

  Novice Stalking 1: The ability to stealth through the world. Increases fatigue. Increase in rank improves hiding, reduces fatigue increase and improves movement speed while moving silently.

  Novice Tailoring 1: The craft of creating cloth armor and goods.

  Novice Tracking 1: The art of finding your way through nature. Useful for hunting creatures or humanoids alike. Also aids in discovering new paths.

  Chapter 3

  “Michael, wake up! Wake up, Michael!” I felt a sharp beak pecking at my forehead.

  “What happened?” I groaned. I was no longer laying on the ground. And it was no longer daytime. Instead, I was in a carriage. No—a cage being drawn by a carriage. And it was well past sunset. I was surrounded by a group of miserable looking people of various ages, races, and genders. There were ten of us in the cage, all low level.

  “You tell me,” Vindur said, his yellow eyes only inches from mine. There was a slight hint of fear in his voice. Fear and concern. His smooth coat of thick, black feathers was standing on end as though he had been run through a dryer. “One minute I was perched on a branch. The next moment I found myself resting on your beaten, bloody body in this hellish cage. And what are you wearing?”

  I looked down at my body. While my wounds were gone and my health was now full, my skin was caked in dry blood, sap, and mud. My tunic was torn to shreds. I barely had any energy. My dagger was gone, and my fatigue was now dangerously high. This caused a silent debuff that reduced my health, stamina, and mana.

  I hushed Vindur, worrying that the others in the cage might find it odd that I’m talking to an eloquent flying crow.

  “Don’t ‘hush’ me! They can’t hear me. They can’t see me. And they can’t see or hear you talking to me. I’m an agent of Balama. I have that power.”

  “Okay, okay,” I said. “I encountered… difficulties. A few hours into the hike, I found a hunter’s tent. I stripped it down and made this tunic. Learned to tailor, by the way. So don’t laugh at it! When I left the tent, I ran into some forest rats. That’s when shit went crazy. When I was fighting them, I was overwhelmed with notifications. They distracted me, but I still beat them, only... I tumbled down a hill in the process and blacked out. I woke up here.”

  After my brief recap, I couldn’t tell if Vindur was going to lash at me again or burst out laughing. He chose sarcasm instead. “Why not just turn off the notifications, soup for brains?” he asked with a pristinely patronizing tone.

  “How? I don’t have access to the menu.”

  Now he started cackling. “Just will it. You can control anything in your interface, including notifications and display information on your character screen. You can also will a health bar over your enemies and allies and turn off the damage notifications. You don’t need to see the damage you receive. You can already see it in your field of vision at all times.” He paused slightly, examining our surroundings further. As he explored the cage, he continued to talk.

  “And you can set your interface, so that skill information and fight summaries queue up to review when you’re done… or dead.” He stopped speaking to perch on the head of a taller-than-anyone humanoid while poking his head out of the top of the cage. “We’re in a slaver caravan.”

  “What?!”

  Apparently, my exclamation was not specifically targetted at Vindur, and the rest of the captives were startled. A little girl in the group began to whimper, burying her face in her mother’s breasts. Vindur lost his balance and fell to the floor.

  “Quiet in there, scum,” a guard said while cracking his sword against the bars near my head.

  “Vindur, there’s no slavery in Skos. At least not of high races.”

  “Well. This must not be Skos, then. What does your map say?”

  I opened my map and shrugged. The game map always revealed what nation you were in and relevant information about particular zones within. This map did not have those features. It was just updating where I have been. And right now all I saw was a clear, jagged line leading back to Finlyon Grotto – my only known sanctuary.

  “Well, fried chicken, you best quietly ask these people here. I’m going to explore a little.” Vindur seemed proud of his “fried chicken” joke. I didn’t find a joke about my prior death hilarious. Okay. It was a little funny. “Too soon,” I mumbled.

  Examining the people in the cage with more care, I could tell that many of them were like me: low-level individuals who were struggling to get by. They were all dirty, but I felt as though they all knew one another. Half were young; half were old. Many were women and children with only three men in the group, one of them appearing to be half-giant. The rest were Nissean, elves, or Trisian. I didn’t see any dwarves, lizardfolk, or catkin. Like me, none of them had a company, class, or profession. And like me, they all had an aura of desperation about them.

  Congratulations! You have discovered a new skill! Observation. You have become keenly aware of your surroundings. You can glean useful information from people and the world around you to aid in your understand of your world. Practice this skill, and you will find yourself well on your way towards understanding how the world works. Current rank: 1.

  I quickly dismissed the notification, turning my attention towards a young woman closest to me. In an almost inaudible whisper, I asked her if she knew who our captors were and where in the world we happened to be.

  She shot me a surprised expression, looked me up and down, shivered a non-verbal “go away” and turned from me. She must have thought me a wild elf. I certainly looked the part of a crazed lunatic – like Tarzan, only without the loincloth.

  “We’re in Vros,” a Trisian captive whispered. “Heading to the slave markets in Elatha.” A second guard beat his pummel against the cage, silencing us all. The man was defiant. Without drawing attention to himself, he passed me a pair of pants and a shirt one of them had in their inventory.

  Homespun Cotton Trousers. Quality: Good. Class: Common. Armor: Light(2). Can be destroyed by weapons.

  Homespun Cotton Shirt. Quality: Good. Class: Common. Armor: Light(2). Can be destroyed by weapons.

  I put on my best smile and slipped the pants and shirt, discarding my blood-soaked rags, but keeping the rope. The clothing was comfortable – the first experience of comfort I have had since my rebirth.

  Vindur soon returned and settled on my shoulder, shaking his wing in my ear to announce his arrival. He gestured to my bag without saying anything. I examined my inventory and found a dozen servings of ripe bananas and a dozen of salted cashews.

  “How did you –“

  “I can add things I find to your inventory myself. I don’t have to be here. I liberated these from the guards.”

  Thanking Vindur with a profuse smile, I passed the food around in silence, leaving two servings of both for my companion and me. We ate the food and drank the fresh water in my inventory. I was shocked that Vindur was able to stuff down all of it. I could feel my fa
tigue reducing. When I took the last bite, I received an immediate notification.

  You have completed the quest: “Shake that moneymaker!”

  Reward: +95xp

  Bonus reward: +40xp for good quality clothing.

  Bonus reward: +30xp for a two-ingredient meal.

  Congratulations! You have reached level 3! You have 2 attribute points to assign. 273xp until next level.

  Congratulations! You have put your own safety at risk to provide food to a group of hungry and scared people. In doing so, you have stood against the realm’s established laws and protocols for the proper actions of slaves. People will recognize this goodness in you and respond appropriately in all future social interaction. Your actions have rewards. They also have consequences. This expression of goodness may also vilify those around you who pursue evil. Your actions may also distance those who wish to follow the rule of law.

  Without hesitation, I opened my character interface and saw my four free attribute points instead of the expected two. Thinking back on level one and mulling over my experiences so far, I realized that my previous path of magic was not going to be nearly as easy in this manifestation of Fjorgyn. I had to get stronger and I needed more health. I had plenty of time. I could always increase my wisdom and intelligence later. I allocated two points to strength, two points to Constitution. When I submitted my changes, I felt new health within me. I was more vibrant. My muscles felt more capable and sturdy. I was more flexible and physically fit.

  The rest of the captives had finished eating and were all eyeballing me with looks of surprise and confusion. Whispering among themselves, they questioned how I had managed to level up when locked in a cage. “What is your name, stranger?” the Trisian man asked me.