Content Warning: This chapter contains profanity and violence!

Rick opened the lid of his Gate Gear and walked down the hallway to his kitchen. As he was looking through his fridge trying to figure out what to make for dinner his cell phone began to ring. He found it on the coffee table in the living room and seen that Lily was calling him.

"So did you join the game yet?" Rick said without even greeting her.

"haha, I sure did I just disconnected a couple minutes ago and had to call you." She replied laughing.

"Tell me all about it then! What race did you pick? What skills did you end up with? How is the Eleven forest?"

Rick began excitedly bombarding her with questions about how her first day went in the game.

Lily fed off of Rick's enthusiasm and began to fondly recount the beauty of the elven settlement and the colossal hollow tree that was magically transformed into a temple where she had first arrived. Rick sat down on the couch with a smile of wonderment at he listen to her describe the many boardwalks that connected the elven shops and homes that rested high above the ground cozily amongst the tree boughs.

The two friends talked for some time about the game and school and then hung up after making plans to have lunch together on the campus. After Rick hung up, he set his oven to broil and thawed a small ribeye steak in a bowl of warm water while the oven heated up to temperature. He also decided to make a small pot of rice and wrapped a potato in tinfoil that he placed in the oven along with the rib eye steak.

He opened a tv tray in front of the couch and sat down to watch the television while he enjoyed his steak dinner with the baked potato covered in melting butter and a side of rice. He decided against rejoining the game after eating and went out to clean the kitchen and the rest of the apartment while he was at it. He vacuumed the floors and wiped everything down with paper towels and a spray cleaner. With the house once again squared away he emptied his hamper of dirty clothes started the washing machine and dishwasher and then went for a jog around the block. When he had returned to his apartment, Rick went straight to the spare room after just running and used his home gym to work out.

He took a cool shower after his work out since the washing machine and dishwasher used most of the hot water. Rick had worked up a good sweat so he didn't mind because the cool water felt like he had jumped into a swimming pool on a hot summer day. Once he was redressed and cooled down from the refreshing shower he put away the clean dishes and transferred the clean wet clothes over to the dryer and went off to bed.

When he woke up he drove up to the college and attended classes and met up with Lily like they planned and were joined by Ryan, Luke, Joel and a couple of girls who were Lily's friends she had met on campus.

Rick and Lily narrated their adventures when the topic of the game came up making everyone call out how many days they had until they would have their own Gate Gear with jealousy after hearing the tales of the two VR gamers.

Rick stopped by the town aquatic center and swam laps in one of the indoor large pools they had, and enjoyed the steam room and sauna before leaving to return home. His friend Ryan from school had always been an avid swimmer all his life and had introduced Rick to the Aquatic Center.

The Aquatic Center offered more than swimming pools to local town residents. They had an indoor track, weight lifting gym with free weights, universal machines, stair steppers and tread mills. Rick really enjoyed visiting the facility and wished it wasn't on the other side of town from where he lived.

After his brief stop, he returned to his apartment and brought in his gym bag with his wet swim trunks and towel. Rick tossed the wet trunks and towel in the washer machine and restocked his gym bag with a clean set of swim trunks and another towel that he left by the front door.

He locked the front door after dropping the gym bag next to it and went to fold and put away his clean clothes from the dryer. Rick took off the khaki pants and polo shirt he was wearing and changed into his usual bumming around the apartment outfit a pair of comfortable sweatpants and a loose cotton t-shirt. Rick sat down at his computer and went to the Kingdom Online forums and checked on his video and answered a few questions while also promoting the opening of his store and everything that he would be selling. His crystal storage lights and artisan furniture, weapons, and armor that he described drew a lot of attention among the new players who were looking to start their own kingdoms or even a simple secluded home somewhere.

Most players had been stuck to making do with simple wooden bows and iron armor and weapons. Many of them had drooled over the metal compound bows and decorative steel weapons and armor, Rick and his units used in the video battle against the human tribe. Now they all had a chance to buy these items, those who chose the human race were happy to be so close to the new store while Players of other races cursed their luck at being so far away.

Players who had chosen the Dwarf race showed some interest in his clothing and furniture. They had stated the weapons and armor available in the Dwarven Fortress were just as advanced as what Rick was currently advertising for sale. This was because Rick would not sell any of his newer more powerful weapons he and his units used. Rick did not wish to take a chance that the high powered weapons he had created would be stockpiled and one day used against him.

Once he had stirred up some excitement for his store he shut off his computer and connected to KO.

After using his outfit preset to equip his gear Rick went downstairs to find a note on the table. He read that the two elven scouts had returned from their mission and had been attached to the other units by Angelica.

Look at that, it looks like Angelica has been opening up and taking charge these past few days. I can still remember when she didn't even want to leave my side at first, now she is making friends and helping Sturm to lead and train the others.

Rick walked outside and figured since it was still early that the military units should be out back in the fitness section. He had guessed correctly and found them split into teams following the weight training experiment he had assigned them. Rick walked over to Angelica and asked her to bring the scouts over to the tower and walked back to wait for them at the long table on the first floor.

When Angelica arrived with them, Rick had them all sit down and brief him on their discoveries. The scout that he had sent to the sprawling south western forest reported that the forest had a lot of wildlife. He had seen deer, elk, foxes, wolves, bears, variant moose, and turkeys. Rick interrupted him and asked him about the variant moose. The scout explained that unlike a normal moose this variant did not live near bodies of water. He then continued to explain that these moose were omnivores. They did not hunt other animals, but if one was stupid enough to tangle with one them and died the moose would not hesitate to make a meal out of them.

The scout then continued to report that he had encountered disorganized groups of goblins, bands of orcs that had built fortified camps and huge spiders that spun thick strands of webbing between the trees to catch unwary prey. The scout handed Rick his notes and maps he had on all the trees, plants, wildlife and monsters. Rick briefly read through the information and placed it into his inventory.

He then listened to the report from the scout he had sent east to the forest and lake area. The scout reported he had also come across similar wildlife in the outskirts of the forest he scouted but found it difficult to explore the forest interior. He told Rick that he had seen and been hunted a few times by huge wild Tigers like the ones he kept around the tower. The Tigers had no fear of men or monsters and roamed freely throughout the forest.

The scout went on to tell him of the large fresh water lake region. The scout had discovered that many different types of fish could be found in the lake from small to some as long as a man. He told Rick that a large population of ducks and geese lived on and around the lake along with huge eagles that from what he described were big and strong enough that someone could fly on their back if they could ever tame one of these fierce birds. The scout narrated of how he had seen a huge eagle one early morning swoop down and grab a bedding elk that was bigger than his horse and fly off with it in his talons toward a tall mountain on the eastern side of the lake. Rick shook his head in amazement after hearing of the eagle's size and strength.

This scout also gave Rick notes and maps he had made of the area. Then almost as an afterthought, he mentioned something strange he had come across. The scout marked a small foot hill on the eastern side of the lake and told Rick he found an ancient moss covered stone block entrance there. When he tried to enter it to explore the interior it seemed to have a magical barrier that would not let him pass through.

A barrier that repels NPCs? I haven't heard of any magic like that from the forums or website. I wonder what is hidden behind that force field? There could be new magic to be found and learned or lost treasures.

Rick had the scout make him a detailed map of where he could find this barrier that protected the stone entrance. He then thanked and dismissed the two elven scouts to Angelica's command.

I wonder how my third nekomimi scout is doing up around the other tribe. It is too bad I learned about being able to add NPCs to my friend list after sending them out. Well if all goes well he should return in the next day or so. He might be making contact with them if they are friendly and staying with the tribe to learn what he can of them.

As Rick thought of his last scout he opened a portal to his store and used his friend list to call his managers to the store. Rick had found that the carpenters had finished the shelves in the warehouse and were also just about done with the upstairs wood paneling. He rounded them all up and opened a portal to the restaurant so that they could all grab a meal. Even though he had sent them through the portal now a few times some of them still looked at the looming black doorway with apprehension, while others looked on with amazement or even excitement.

Rick told them that he would leave the portal open for them to return when they finished and they all filed through to walk out of the portal against the restaurant wall. Rick walked over to the guard units keeping watch from the second-floor window and told them to keep an eye out for Nellie and Barat that would be arriving shortly. Rick kept himself busy by cleaning up the wood shavings and piles of lumber upstairs and was soon informed of the two managers at the front door.

Rick went down to unlock the door and invited them inside. The two greeted Rick warmly as they entered and then stopped in in unison with wide eyed amazement. The first thing to catch their eye was the marble cascading fountain in the center of the wide open hallway. Then they looked past the fountain to the hallway walls. The hallway walls were covered in marble tile that water streamed down into narrow pools giving the walls an appearance of being made of a curtain of water. In between these curtains of water were large entrances that opened up to sectioned off rooms.

Rick chuckled. "I hope that every customer that enters has that same reaction. Follow me let me show you the rest of your new workplace."

Nellie and Barat followed him into a room that was lined with glass counters and displays. Inside the counters were rows of finely crafted daggers, throwing weapons, multi purpose knives, and different types of armor pieces. On the elegant wood paneled walls with their artistic wood carved scenes hung even rows of swords, spears, axes, and bows. The weapon ranged from simple iron weapons to gorgeous artisan weapons made from rare metals. Rick had added small cuts of parchment with descriptions and prices to everything while he arranged them to help his employees and customers figure out what each piece was made of and if it had any bonuses.

Rick pointed out the neatly displayed suits of armor on the armor stands and explained that they were also for sale and that he had also marked them with a price and description tags on the base of the armor stands. They continued along and were shown stylish furniture and beds with mattresses with springs that supported you while you slept. Rick showed them lights that did not need oil or fire to illuminate a room and tapestries and rugs with multi colored patterns and beautiful artistic sceneries of people and landscapes. They were shown display counters filled with expensive looking jewelry made from many varieties of metals and gemstones.

As they went from one department to the next the two managers continued to be shown wonderful things that they had never seen before. Even the displayed clothing styles were foreign but elegant and the many sexy choices of women's silk and lace undergarments made Nellie blush while secretly vowing to use part of her paychecks to purchase a couple for herself. Rick spotted her out of the corner of his eye lightly running her finger over a silky red and black lingerie and smiled knowingly without saying anything.

Once he had their heads spinning from all the new items that they would need to learn and sell he showed them their remodeled offices that were also furnished with the beautifully crafted wood desks, red velvet chairs, hand carved cabinets and matching rugs that were displayed in the furniture department. All of the office walls had also been wood paneled and carved with reliefs by the artisan carpenters. The two of them were beyond shocked at being provided with such luxurious offices that would even make a noble envious.

"Now I know this is a little unexpected and maybe a little embarrassing, but I will need to show you two the remodeled bathrooms," Rick explained and had them follow him into the women's bathroom.

"This here is a sink that is similar to the those of my world what you do is turn this knob on the faucet and water will come down a pipe from a tank on the roof and flow out like this. Rick turned the knob and let the water freely run out and down the drain.

"This is here so that you can wash your hands after using the bathroom or if they just get dirty. Now moving on, we no longer have the wooden box privies in the two bathrooms we have metal toilets that are also similar to what is used from my world." Rick led them over to the stalls and opened the door and they all stepped in.

"As you can see this is similar to the privies you sit on to do your business, but when you are done you push down on this lever." Rick pushed the lever and the water in the bowl gurgled down the drain.

"Everything in the bowl is flushed down a pipe into a tank buried deep below the store that is later burned away. Now after the toilet is flushed you use this faucet right here behind the toilet to refill this tank." He used the faucet to fill the tank up halfway and shut it off.

"Now we have to be sure to always shut these faucets off after using them or it will flood the entire bathroom with water until the huge water tank on the roof is empty," Rick instructed them.

"I am sure the toilet and sink will take some getting used to, but it is much cleaner than having all that waste sitting in those wooden boxes every day. Nellie, you will be in charge of instructing the sales girls on how to use and operate the new sink and toilet" Rick said.

Rick then led the two upstairs and introduced them to all the military guards. He explained that they would be guarding the store and that they would not have to worry about anyone starting any trouble with them around. Rick did not let them know about how he had made two noble houses vanish in one night. He did not want to take a chance of them being questioned about the incident or accidentally letting it slip out.

Rick then showed them the newly designed carriages they would be selling that he had on display and the designs for the others that were currently being built. He then pointed out how the upper storage rooms had been changed. Rick showed them the door that led to the guard's rooms and asked them to make sure that customers and employees kept out of them.

They all walked into the big storage room next that had been transformed into a Teleporter room. He told them that it led to his tower on a far off island where he was building his own city. Rick explained that it was perfectly safe for them to use and if there was ever any kind of an emergency they could use it to escape. Rick then took them to the warehouse and showed them the new shelves that would hold excess merchandise and the locked door to the basement that no one but him would have a key for.

Rick then while thinking of keys changed the lock on the front door and made a key for both of them to have. He wasn't sure of who all had a key to the store beside the previous owner so he changed it to be safe even though the store was guarded 24/7.

Rick handed them both a key and explained they would be in charge of opening the store when he wasn't around and asked them to contact the sales girls. Rick instructed his managers that he wanted them to open the store tomorrow morning and to start opening the store every morning except on the weekends that they could take off. He then took out a handful of gold coins and passed it over to them.

"I am sure you two never received the last paycheck from the previous owner since he was bankrupt so use this gold to hold you over until your first paycheck at the end of the week," Rick explained

When the two managers left the store Rick heard that the Carpenters had begun working upstairs after returning from eating. Rick locked the door and went upstairs and stepped through the still open portal into the restaurant and closed it behind him. After grabbing a quick bite he stepped outside and flew over to System Gate behind the tower.

He checked his current funds and seen he still was safe after selling off all the items and jewelry to the shops in Silverhall City and decided he would make a new work crew.

I have been putting this off for a while now. I don't want to Handil to think I am trying to replace him, but it is getting to the point that I need another work crew to help around here. Rick thought.

This time, unlike Handil who is a Master builder/Architect he spawned in a dwarf that was a Master builder/Artisan. He figured that giving them the Architect class was a waste if he was constantly providing them with the buildings designs. The new dwarf gained consciousness after a brief moment and said that his name was Jerem Goldslate.

Rick explained the city construction to Jerem Goldslate and explained that he would be leading a work crew.

"I have another work crew that is lead by Handil Rockreave who is also a dwarf. Now as for the construction hierarchy I am the leader then my second in command is Handil and third in command will be you Jerem. Your crews will mainly work independently unless I have a large construction project that needs to be finished. For now, before we can do anything I need to assemble your own a crew." Rick explained as he opened up the buy units menu.

After seeing what those Carpenter/Artisan could do I think it is worth the extra money to give these new units the same setup. Rick thought as he started spawning in workers.

He spawned in six units for each class group of Stone Mason/Artisan, Stone Carver/Artisan, Wood Carver/Artisan, Brick layer/Artisan, Plumber, Roofer, Plaster, and Cottar. Rick had noticed how good the dwarves were at building and crafting so he made this new crew an all dwarven crew. This would help to also balance out the population that had a human majority.

Now, Rick had forty-nine enthusiastic dwarves after spending just over 2500 gold pieces. He happened to notice their reactions as he was spawning in more and more dwarves. Normally he was so lost in thought about who he was spawning and how he would use then that he would tune out the people around him. Now that it was like second nature to buy units he began to hear the oohs and ahhs of the workers.

Rick listened to them quietly whispering to each other.

"Is that how I got here?"

"Where are all these Dwarves coming from?"

"Is this human some kind of a God that can create dwarves from out of thin air?"

"It is odd that I don't remember where I came from, but I know my name and age. I also have all this knowledge about building for some reason."

"So do I, my name is Bole and I am twenty-two years old. I am a stone carver and an artisan. I can shape and carve stone into just about anything I can imagine."

"Is it strange that I know how to speak human and dwarven?"

"I don't know why are you asking me! I know as much as you do, blockhead!"

Rick bit his lip to stop from laughing and explained in dwarven that they would all be living here now and would be provided food and shelter. Rick walked over to Jerem Goldslate and put his hand on his shoulder.

"This is Jerem Goldslate he and another dwarf you will soon meet are your crew leaders. They will tell you where and what to build." Alright, everyone please follow me over to the tool shed and I will equip you all with the tools and gear you will need." Rick instructed.

They all marched over to the tool shed and received belts, gloves, tool pouches, hammer holders, nails, screws, screwdrivers, and any tools needed for their assigned classes. When Rick had them all prepared for work he led them out to the city. He showed them the apartment buildings that they would be soon assigned to and the restaurant they could eat for free at. They continued on over to the large paved square where Handil and his crew were constructing Faith's temple.

Rick walked over to the Handil with the large group of dwarves in tow and everyone stopped working to look at the new crew.

Rick began speaking to Handil in dwarven "Good work Handil you guys are moving right along here!"

"Thanks, Cedric it seems as we level up and advance our skills our craftsmanship quality improves along with the rate of speed that we can build" Handil replied.

"Just be sure to make sure you and your crew keep distributing your points like I showed you before and you will continue to improve even more," Rick instructed.

"Aye, I have been after them to make sure they do just that and as you can see their speed and craftsmanship is overwhelming now," Handil said gesturing toward the temple.

"Well speaking of overwhelming as you can see I brought on another work crew to help us with all of this work," Rick said as he waved over Jerem.

"This here is Jerem Goldslate he will be your second in command. I will have him lead this crew of dwarves and occasionally your two crews may work together. I know you could use him and his crew to help construct this huge temple, but I am running out of room in the island workshop and need start building a crafting district." Rick explained with a sigh.

"Don't even worry about Cedric, we have this under control and I have the wagoners constantly supplying us with resources. We even learned how to break down the treadmill crane and move it by horse and cart easily now." Handil explained.

Handil then shook hands with Jerem and welcomed him and told him that he would help find an apartment for him and his men when the work day ended and take him over to the tavern for a drink.

Rick then left Handil to get back to his crew and opened a notice while escorting Jerem and his work crew toward the apartment buildings.

Spoiler: Show Notices! Language Increase: Dwarven Language: Level 1 Intermediate 4%

He closed his notice and took the dwarves to the furthest western plot on the main street directly across from the apartment buildings.

"I am going to use magic right now to teleport off to somewhere and bring back some human carpenters that will work with your crew. Just wait here a moment and I will be right back." Rick explained to Jereme.

He opened a portal to the second floor and stepped through. The carpenters were just about finished with the wood paneling so he rounded up two-thirds of them and brought them over to work with Jerem's crew.

Rick took out a table and a couple chairs and sat down with Jereme to draw up a couple designs for him.

"This is a Horse stable that I want you to build. It will take up this whole plot we are on here. I want the building to be made of limestone blocks and the inner horse stalls will be made from plywood and two by fours. The floors in the horse stalls should be dirt and have wood plank floors put in the food and tack rooms. Once the building is built have the carpenters build a post fence around the outside of the plot to make a horse corral so the horses aren't stuck in their stalls all day." Rick instructed.

Spoiler: Horse Stable Floorplan.

As Rick was explaining the design to Jerem a Wagoner came down the road with supplies for Handil's work crew. Rick flagged him down and told him to also start working with Jerem's crew and to inform the other Wagoner of the new crew. Rick told him that they would need the same resource deliveries as they had dropped off for the apartment buildings and then sent him off to make his deliveries. Rick sat back down and completed his second design and passed it over to Jerem.

"This next design will be built just like the apartment buildings there across the street," Rick said while pointing at the Built Apartment buildings.

"The only difference will be that the interiors will be laid out different and the roofs and accents will not be blue. I want these crafting buildings to have Red roofs and accents like the restaurant." Rick explained.

Spoiler: Crafting District Building & Floor Plan.

"Go ahead and start building four of these building per plot, but first finish the front row of building along the main street and then move onto the second road once you have reached the restaurant down there," Rick said.

Rick used his recipes to make a huge pile of plywood, two by fours, posts, and planks. Then he opened a portal to the limestone quarry and stepped through to grab all the limestone blocks, limestone pillar sections, and limestone dust piles and walked back through to Jerem and unloaded all the blocks and pillar sections for them to get started. He left them cement mix and a water box to make water and showed them how to mix and spread the cement in the block joints.

Once the crew had the hang of using the cement, Rick put Jerem's name on his friend list and sent him a voice chat and message to get him familiarized with the system. He then called Handil and had him send over his plumbers and roofers to teach Jerem's plumbers how to run pipes and hook up toilets and sinks and for the roofers to learn how to install the clay roof singles and color them with paint sticks.

Rick then let Jerem's work crew get started while he examined the map the scout gave him of the barrier sealed tunnel entrance. When he had a good idea of where to find the entrance he stored the map packed up the table and chairs then jumped up to fly off toward the east. The new dwarves all jumped up in surprise when Rick flew off while pointing at his distancing figure and calling out to one another.

As he flew east Rick started to see small herds of horses on the open plain. Rick flew down lower to then look for other animals. During his flight, he came across Rabbits, Caribou, Buffalo, and animals that looked similar to earth's cattle but were even bigger than the buffalo.

Viewing the different animals along the way helped him to pass the time and before he knew it he had reached the lone Foothill on the west side of the lake. Rick circled around it and easily found the entrance from the shimmering barrier that covered the entrance.

He landed in front of the barrier and cautiously reached out to touch the barrier, but his hand passed right through it.

What the hell? Now that is weird the scout NPC couldn't cross the barrier but a player can?

Rick took a deep breath and stepped forward through the barrier without any problems at all and continued forward into the entrance. He walked forward for about thirty feet and found a set of stairs descending into the darkness. Rick activated his Night Sight and equipped his sword and shield to defend himself against anything that might be hiding below.

When he reached the bottom of the steps and placed his foot on the floor a row of torches along a long narrow hallway suddenly began to ignite one by one. Rick deactivated his Night Sight and was ready to step forward when a window popped open without him opening it.

World Announcement!

The Player Cedric Crownguard has just discovered Gorezar's Orc Lair Dungeon!

This is the first dungeon discovered in Kingdoms Online!

For this discovery, the Player Cedric Crownguard has been awarded the title: Explorer of the Unknown

Aah fuck! Please don't tell me that announcement just went out to every player in the game!

I will have players hounding me from here to eternity wanting to know where this goddamn dungeon is located from now on.

There is no way I can tell anybody either since it is located only a few miles from my city.

Well, I guess this is a blessing and a curse to find this dungeon.

I now have a place to hunt with respawning monsters, and it will help to advertise my store by getting my name out there.

I will have to dodge a thousand questions because of it though. Rick angrily thought to himself.

Rick stopped to calm down and opened his flashing icon notice.

Spoiler: Show Notices! New Title Notice!

Through your hard work and courage, you were the first Player to discover and enter a dungeon.

You have been awarded the title: Explorer of the Unknown

Fame: + 10,000

Honor: + 10,000

You have been given the option to lead NPC units under your command into any dungeon in lands of Kingdoms Online.

Currently Displaying: Benevolent Leader

All awarded titles stack with the currently displayed title.

Oh? I can take my units into any dungeon with this title. Then that barrier that blocked the scout from entering must be at the entrance of every dungeon.

Maybe it is to prevent the people of the game world from wandering into dungeons and to keep the monsters in the dungeons from wandering outside?

This is a good option to have I can portal my military units over here and let them use this dungeon to train and level up in occasionally.

Spoiler: Show Status!

Cedric Crownguard Strength: 105 Level: (31%) 13 Stamina: 70 Health: 850 Vitality: 85 Mana: 1160 Intelligence: 116 Piety: +175 Wisdom: 59 Fame: +20125 (locally respected) Agility: 38 Honor: +21000 (village hero) Charisma: 20 Allignment: +4000 Leadership: 35 Satiety: 97% Luck: 10 Class: Druidic Mage Health Regen/Sec: 5.0 Mana Regen/Sec: 5.5 Feudal Domain: 2600 Race: Chosen Human Feuadal Title: Count Unused Points: 0 Awarded Titles Title: The White Knight Alignment +/- +1000 Title: The Honor Guard Alignment +/- +1000 Title: The Duelist Alignment +/- +1000 Title: Black Hand Interrogator Alignment +/- -1000 Title: Benevolent Leader Alignment +/- +1000 Title: Explorer of the Unknown Alignment +/- -none-

I am a level thirteen with 31% to my next level. My fame and honor have now doubled from that new title. My alignment didn't go up at all from the new title, hmm.

Maybe because it is a neutral type title it wasn't awarded for doing anything good or bad?

Equip Stealth Gear!

Rick was now armed and prepared he closed out his menus and activated stealth and cast Mist walk. Mist Walk transformed him into a cloudlike vapor that could move 3x faster for thirty seconds. He quietly zipped down the hall and came to a wood door. He gently lifted the handle and gradually inched the door open a little at a time. The inside of the room looked like a large hall with rickety tables and chairs. Through the partially open door, he could see ten orcs sitting at the tables eating and drinking.

Rick cast project image and an exact copy of him suddenly appeared in the middle of the room and the room exploded with angry cries and guttural shouts at the discovery of a human intruder. The orcs all drew their weapons and charged and surrounded Cedric's image. As they swung their weapons at the image they passed right through it some even over swung through the image and struck adjacent allies.

When Rick saw that the orcs had all clumped around his image he cast Reverse Gravity on the group. He threw his shoulder into the door drew the two gladii from his back harness and charged the floating group of orcs. Rick made his way around the gravity field stabbing and slashing until he had killed them all off. He deactivated the field and the dead orcs clatter to the floor. Rick searched the room and collected all the crude iron weapons and cut off any iron armor from the corpses.

Rick went on down the hall and found two doors across from one another he opened the one door and repeated what he did in the first room. Everything was going to plan as he focused on killing the floating orcs when he unexpectedly dropped to one knee with a stabbing sharp pain in the back of his thigh. Standing in the doorway was an orc holding a bow and a group of other armed orcs began forming up behind the orc bowman preparing to rush the room. It seemed the orcs in the room across the hall heard the fight and rushed out into the hallway.

Fighting back the pain Rick cast Wall of Flames across the doorway to hold back the orcs. The orc bowman was caught in the flame wall and cried out as the flames began to engulf him. Rick flipped a table and sat down behind it, grabbing the arrow shaft he ripped it out of his leg and ground his teeth to keep from yelling out. He held his hand over the bleeding wound and cast Nature's Blessing and the arrow puncture closed off and the pain faded away. When Rick felt he could stand again he drew out his bow and quiver and nocked an arrow. He stood up from behind the table and began zipping arrows across the room into the orcs trying to get around the flame wall.

When the last two orcs saw their allies dropping from the hail of arrows they took cover out of sight and peeked around the corner to see what Cedric was up to. With no way to hit these two orcs hiding in cover Cedric pointed toward them and cast Chain Lighting on the doorway and the bolts of electricity jumped and danced around catching the two hidden orcs off guard. they both violently shook from the high voltage that ran through them and fell to the ground. Unsure if they were dead Rick charged the door as the time limit ran out on the Wall of Flames and drove his swords into both of the stunned orcs.

After clearing the two rooms located one across from the other he went around and collected all the iron based weapons, armor, and items. He learned a painful lesson from his last encounter and began closing the doors behind him as he charged into the rooms to kill off the groups of floating orcs. Soon he had fought his way through every room and found another staircase that went down further into the dungeon.

Rick used Mist walk to descend the stairs and unlike the first floor that was divided up into rooms, the second floor was one large open room with supporting stone pillars. The light levels were lower on the second floor and he had trouble seeing more than ten feet. He activated Night Sight to see two large orcs flanking around him with wicked looking spiked swords.

When he looked directly at the two orcs they realized they had been revealed and both instantly went on the attack. Rick just barely raised his gladii in time to block the incoming attack of one of the two orcs but received a huge blow across the back of his armor from the other. Even though his Astral armor stopped the sword slash the sheer blunt force was enough to strip away some of his hp. Staggering forward from the blow with his swords tangled up with the orcs large spiked sword he used his psionic power Mind Blast for the first time.

The orc let out a yelp and dropped its sword to cradle its head in its hands. While the orc was trying to recover Rick used his fire elemental affinity to ignite his arms and blades with flames like he had practiced before. Rick spun around with his blazing swords and caught the surprised orc behind him with a strong slash across the elbow. His sword bit through to flesh and bone severing the orcs arm. The arm and sword dropped to the ground as his foe screamed out in agony clutching the gushing stumped arm.

Rick pulled both arms back like he was stretching and swung them down into each side of the screaming orc's neck. The scream was cut off to a gurgling sound from the orc whose neck had almost been cut through from both sides. As the dead orc slid off his blades to the floor he took another hit from behind. The orc he had used Mind Blast on had recovered its sword and struck him across the back of his helmet. The blow ripped out the leather chin straps holding the helmet on his head and sent it careening off into the center of the room.

He staggered forward from the blow and used his off balance momentum to perform a forward roll to distance himself from his attacker. He rose up and turned to block and incoming swing and used Mind Blast once again on the orc. With his head throbbing and pissed off from the blow he focused on the flames licking off of him. The flames and heat increased that surrounded him as reached out and gave the stunned orc a bear hug.

Rick concentrated on increasing the flames and squeezing the orc tighter. The orc beat its first against Rick's armor as it screamed and struggled in a panic to break free. The growing flames quickly cooked the orc and filled the room with the smell of burning flesh. It's struggling soon came to an end and Rick let the charred corpse fall to the floor.

Those two were some tough SOBs. If I wasn't wearing armor the swings would of just about cut me in half. Rick thought while he cast his heal spell on the back of his lumped head.

Rick reached down and placed his hand on the corpse and used Identify.

Spoiler: Identify! Orc Trooper Wielding long spiked swords these veteran fighters enjoy making their foes suffer while they skillfully toy with them.

Toy with my ass that one tried taking my head clean off my shoulders. Rick thought as he rubbed the back of his head.

Rick closed the menu and collected the spiked swords and went off to find his helmet. The helmet had a long indentation across the back of it and the leather straps were hanging in shreds. There was no way to possibly wear it unless he cast repair on it so he stored it away for now. He went through his inventory and found his original military style helmet he made and strapped it on for the time being.

Rick decided to quickly check his notices now that he had the general area around him secure.

Spoiler: Show Notices! New Level Notice!

You Gained A Level!

Level 14

You have five unused points to distribute.

New Level Notice!

You Gained A Level!

Level 15

You have five unused points to distribute.

Rick activated Stealth and Mist Walk to continue further into the large room. He saw a flash of movement ahead of him and stopped behind a stone pillar just before the Mist Walk time expired. He activated Far Sight and looked out to where he had seen movement. Roughly forty yards away in the darkness he spied an Orc wearing a black hooded robe while caring a staff with a large shimmering gem on top of it.

Equip Battle Gear!

He changed his armor over to his enchanted armor with spell reflection. Everything he observed about this Orc said that he was a magic caster of some type.

Instead of charging him and getting bombarded with spells I think I will try something new.

Rick took out his bow and quiver and with Far Sight activated he aimed about four inches above the orc mage's head. He released the string and sent his arrow across the pitch black room.

Thap!

He heard the arrow make a smacking sound when it drilled through the throat of the mage. The hooded orc pitch backward and the staff was sent skidding across the floor.

That was the first time I tried to shoot a bow with Far Sight it was like aiming down range through a rifle scope. I wanted to hit him in the head but my arrow dropped more than I thought it would. Well, it's fine with that throat shot he will be dead after a minute either way. Rick thought as he remained hidden in cover behind the stone pillar.

He let a couple minutes pass then he stalked out of his hidden spot with a throwing dart in his hand and prepared to cast a spell with his empty hand. Rick carefully made his way over to the fallen orc while scanning his surrounding. when he was with fifteen feet he threw the dart and it drilled into the orc's leg. There was no response from the orc who lay dead where it fell. He came up to the corpse and used identify.

Spoiler: Identify! Orc Shaman The magic casters among the orcs. The Shaman supports their allies from the back lines with offensive magic spells.

So you were a Shaman, I wonder what kind of spells you knew. Not that I want them cast at me to find out though. Rick thought.

Rick left the dead orc behind and went off to grab the staff it dropped. He found it a couple yards away from the body and also used Identify on it.

Spoiler: Identify! Staff of Binding Attack: 10-15 Durability: 76/200 Quality: exotic Bonuses: Magical restraint spell Spell Duration: 30 seconds Uses: 10/10 A wooden staff with an enchanted Sapphire gem. This staff can shoot out a rope of mana that binds the target for 30 seconds.

This is a new spell and weapon type I haven't come across yet, a staff that can bind the target for thirty seconds.

Rick began to cast Read Magic on the staff and kept failing with each attempt. Even though he was failing to learn the spell his Read Magic spell level increased.

After a few minutes of fails, he was eventually successful.

Spoiler: Show Notices! Spell Increase: Read Magic: Level 8 Beginner 2% New Spell Notice!

You Have Learned a New Spell!

Mana Bind: Level 1 (Beginner 0%)

You can cast a rope of mana to bind a targeted foe.

Higher levels increase bind duration and casting distance.

New Recipe Notice!

You Have Learned a New Recipe!

Enchanted Staff

This recipe allows you to instantly create an Enchanted Shaman Staff when proper resources are provided.

New Level Notice!

You Gained A Level!

Level 16

You have five unused points to distribute.

Did Read Magic just help me to learn how to make a magic staff and teach me the spell? It would of have to be Read Magic.

Spoiler: Show Read Magic! Read Magic

Allows you the ability to translate and decipher magic spells, inscriptions, enchantments and magic physics from books, items, and objects.

Higher spell levels will allow you to learn more complex magic while needing less provided information.

If I am reading this right this spell not only helps me to learn spells but also magic physics. Then this spell can dissect an item or object to learn how it converts mana into a spell or an enchantment. I will be able to learn how to make magic items or weapons I find around the game world if I increase this spell's level. Rick thought as he opened the new spell Mana Bind.

Spoiler: Show Mana Bind! Mana Bind

You transform your mana into a tangible substance.

Any target within 20 feet can be bound for 10 seconds.

Each level increase adds +1 to the spells distance and duration.

Rick closed out his menus and deposited the Shaman Staff into his inventory. With stealth still active, he ventured on deeper into the large room soon to find the layout of the room gradually change. The large open room with scattered stone pillars soon made way to dividing walls that ran at every angle and direction.

This floor is starting to look like a maze. There are so many blind spots and corners that cut my line of sight down to only a few feet.

He made his way carefully stalking through the crisis crossing walls while peaking corners. Rick came across another lone shaman wandering through the open maze of stone walls. Not having much time before the hooded figure vanished from his sight to be lost behind the surrounding walls, Rick took out his bow and launched an arrow at the orc's back.

Rick thought if he injured the orc with an arrow it would stop it long enough to charge in and finish it off as it struggled to fight back the painful wound. The arrow hit the orc just under the right shoulder blade and drilled through puncturing the orc's lung. The painful wound caused the orc to let out an agonizing scream as its knees buckled under it. Rick was only a few steps behind when the orc slumped down. He wound back with his sword as he reached the mage and slashed the blades deep into the orc's neck promptly killing it.

He began to scan the ground around him to find the weapon the orc had been carrying when an animal like roar startled him. He spun around to and found that a large orc covered in scars was charging him at a full sprint. Before he could even react the orc launched itself like a spear directly into Rick.

Rick and his attacker hit the ground hard the impact caused him to lose grip of his swords. He had the wind knocked out of him by the fall and as he struggled to breathe the crazed orc crawled over and started pounding its fists on his armor and was attempting to bite his exposed face. Reaching up Rick grabbed the orc by the armor and pushed up while igniting his hands and arms his scorching flames.

The orc unperturbed by the fire that charred its exposed skin continued the frenzied attack. Rick had expected the flames to cause the orc and back off from him and when it didn't work he simply gripped the orc tighter and rolled to his side and threw the orc off with the built up momentum.

He jumped to his feet and grabbed at one of the gladius swords closest to him. The wild orc seemed to have had the same idea and was rising from the floor with a large axe it had dropped in the initial collision. Rick quickly cast his new spell as the orc stood up.

Mana Bind!

Transparent ghost like ropes of mana wrapped around the attacker's torso binding his arms to its sides. Rick recovered his second weapon even though he only had a small window to attack before the spell duration expired. Now with both swords in-hand, he stepped forward to swing both blades at the neck of the orc. Halfway into his swings, he felt something bite the back of his leg throwing him off balance his blade slashes went astray.

The blades cut deep into the orcs shoulders to injure it, but leave it very much alive and even more crazed. Rick stepped back and reached down to the pain in his leg instinctively. He thought he would feel a bite wound, but instead, he found a wooden arrow shaft buried in his leg.

"You gotta be fucking kidding me! The same goddamn leg and spot twice in a row!" Rick screamed out.

Now thoroughly pissed he spun around and launched a fireball at the orc bowman some thirty feet away. As the fireball exploded on the orc's chest and ignited the armor and clothing it wore, he followed it up with a bolt of chain lightning.

Having spent too much time venting his anger on the bowman the bound orc was released from his spell and struck him in the back with the axe. The powerful unguarded axe blow chopped midway through his Orichalcum armor and bit into his flesh. Rick's armor trapped the axe squeezing it tightly as he pitched forward. The orc lost its grip on the lodged axe while Rick stumbled forward and caught himself before he fell.

Unable to raise his right arm from the pain of the axe digging into him as he moved, he had to rely on magic. He immediately cast Reverse Gravity behind him as the orc was once again launching itself to tackle him to the ground. The orc was caught mid dive and began to float and tumble in the air as it lashed out to try and reach Rick.

The orc now like a fly in a spider's web fought to free itself as Rick limped over.

"Looks like you still don't want to give up. Fine then let me give you a little gift for this axe you buried in my back." Rick said aloud.

He grabbed the struggling orc by the ankle with his left hand and Cast [Poisonous Touch]. This was a spell he hadn't used until now, that mimicked the deadly venom used by poisonous creatures.

Where he had held the orc's leg a black mark in the shape of his hand appeared. The blackness of the skin began to crawl through the veins in the orc's leg and spread out through the entire body. The orc stopped struggling and began to convulse and foam at the mouth. When the venom had run its course throughout the entire circulatory system the orc at last went still.

Rick reached back with his good left arm and pulled out the arrow shaft and cast Nature's Blessing to heal the wound. He then opened his inventory and took out a rope, he looped it and held both ends with his left hand and tossed it over his right shoulder. After a couple painful attempts, he lassoed the axe handle with the rope loop. With a couple quick jerks he pulled the axe free from his back and armor.

After he unequipped his armor and under armor, he reached back and healed the bleeding gash wound. Rick made a quick recovery after a few heals and deactivated the gravity field that held the dead orc aloft. He brought out his damaged armor and under armor and cast repair on them until they were as good as new.

Equip Stealth Gear!

Rick picked up the large iron axe the orc stuck in his back and placed it in his inventory. He then knelt down and cast Identify on the orc corpse.

Spoiler: Identify! Orc Berserker The common orc is a frightening foe, more terrifying still are the Orc Berserkers who lose themselves in the heat of battle, becoming crazed wild animals.

Basically a crazed wild dog. I need to keep these crazy bastards at arm's length from now on.

Rick got himself stowed away and went back to the shaman corpse to continue his interrupted search. He looked around for a couple minutes for a staff and couldn't seem to locate it. Then he spotted what appeared to be an arrow on the floor against a wall. He picked it up and discovered that there were was no fletching and the arrow point was a gem.

Is this thing a magic wand? He thought while examining the item in his hand.

Spoiler: Identify! Wand of Acid Bolts Attack: 15-20 Durability: 89/100 Quality: Exotic Bonuses: Corrosive Acid Bolt Spell Duration: 10 seconds Uses: 12/25 A wooden wand with an enchanted amethyst. This wand can shoot bolts of corrosive acid up to 20 feet away. The corrosive effect last for ten seconds.

Corrosive acid blots, now that sounds nasty. When they hit I wonder if it will eat away at the flesh and armor?

Rick once again used Read Magic with a few fails until he was successful.

Spoiler: Show Notices!! Spell Increase: Read Magic: Level 9 Beginner 71% Acid Bolt

You Have Learned a New Spell!

Acid Bolt: Level 1 (Beginner 0%)

Allows you to launch a corrosive bolt of acid up to 20 feet. This spells effect last for 10 seconds.

Each level increase adds +1 to the spells distance and duration.

New Recipe Notice!

You Have Learned a New Recipe!

Enchanted Wand

This recipe allows you to instantly create an Enchanted Shaman Staff when proper resources are provided.

New Level Notice!

You Gained A Level!

Level 17

You have five unused points to distribute.

This helps to make up for the pain I went through. A new spell and a new recipe along with a level-up! I belive I have twenty unused points now to distribute. I should take care of them now so I don't forget to do it later.

Spoiler: Show Status!!

Cedric Crownguard Strength: 105 Level: (47%) 17 Stamina: 70 Health: 850 Vitality: 85 Mana: 1160 Intelligence: 116 Piety: +175 Wisdom: 59 Fame: +20125 (locally respected) Agility: 38 Honor: +21000 (village hero) Charisma: 20 Allignment: +4000 Leadership: 35 Satiety: 81% Luck: 10 Class: Druidic Mage Health Regen/Sec: 5.0 Mana Regen/Sec: 5.5 Feudal Domain: 2600 Race: Chosen Human Feuadal Title: Count Unused Points: 20 Awarded Titles Title: The White Knight Alignment +/- +1000 Title: The Honor Guard Alignment +/- +1000 Title: The Duelist Alignment +/- +1000 Title: Black Hand Interrogator Alignment +/- -1000 Title: Benevolent Leader Alignment +/- +1000 Title: Explorer of the Unknown Alignment +/- -none-

Before I spend these points I should do a quick recap of the major attributes. Rick thought as he clicked on strength.

Strength

Strength determines how much a player can physically pick up and/or carry.

Strength also works in conjunction with melee skill levels to determine attack damage.

Stamina

Stamina determines how you can fight, run, or swim before you become winded.

Stamina is also a measure of how much pain you can resist. The higher your stamina the less pain you will feel.

Intelligence

Intelligence determines how fast you can process information.

Intelligence is a measure of your ability to also learn new languages and comprehend magic.

Intelligence also works in conjunction with spell levels to determine their attack damage.

Wisdom

Wisdom determines common sense and problem-solving abilities.

Wisdom is a measure of your abilities to use psionic powers.

Wisdom is also a measure of your mental resistance against mind attacks.

Agility

Agility determines your jump height and ability to dodge attacks.

Agility is a measure of your melee swing speed and accuracy.

Agility is also a measure of your ranged attack speed and accuracy.

Charisma

Charisma influences how NPCs view you. The higher your Charisma the more they will like you.

Charisma will also influence your physical appearance in the eyes of NPCs. The higher your Charisma the more handsome or beautiful you will appear.

High Charisma can also influence prices while trading and NPCs.

This is a tough decision since my strength and intelligence are both above one hundred I could put the points toward stamina or agility. Stamina will help me to feel less pain when I take damage and help me keep going without tiring. Agility will help me to dodge before I get hit and improve my weapon speeds and accuracies. Then there is charisma that has me curious if I raise it enough will I be able to sell items at my store for higher prices and get better deals from what I buy?

I have the fitness area on Tower Island to help build up strength and vitality and I can always read the books in my room to gain Intelligence. Then again I could also start running whenever I first connect to the game to build up stamina. Wait now that I think back I gained agility when I ran an jumped to the forest north of Silverhall CIty.

Well, screw it I will split the points up since charisma is so difficult to raise I will toss ten points into it and ten points into agility. Then I will use the run and jump technique going back to the tower from here and try to make up for ten points I put into Charisma.

Cedric Crownguard Strength: 105 Level: (47%) 17 Stamina: 70 Health: 850 Vitality: 85 Mana: 1160 Intelligence: 116 Piety: +175 Wisdom: 59 Fame: +20125 (locally respected) Agility: 48 Honor: +21000 (village hero) Charisma: 30 Allignment: +4000 Leadership: 35 Satiety: 81% Luck: 10 Class: Druidic Mage Health Regen/Sec: 5.0 Mana Regen/Sec: 5.5 Feudal Domain: 2600 Race: Chosen Human Feuadal Title: Count Unused Points: 0 Awarded Titles Title: The White Knight Alignment +/- +1000 Title: The Honor Guard Alignment +/- +1000 Title: The Duelist Alignment +/- +1000 Title: Black Hand Interrogator Alignment +/- -1000 Title: Benevolent Leader Alignment +/- +1000 Title: Explorer of the Unknown Alignment +/- -none-

Enough of all that time to press on a little further.

Rick walked over to orc bowman and took his quiver of black arrows and found his bow and placed them into his inventory and activated Stealth and Mist Walk. He moved through the cluster of walls without discovering any more enemies to find the back of the room. In the back wall was an entrance that had another set of stairs that went deeper down into the earth. Rick walked down the flight of stairs to a landing where he found a large wooden chest. Rick approached the chest with caution unsure if it was a trap and lightly touched it with his fingertips.

Spoiler: Identify!! A wooden Treasure Chest

An unlocked wooden treasure chest. You can find treasure chests often arranged around dungeons.

They will drop random items that are based on the difficulty of the dungeon and floor they are found on.

Not all treasure chests are unlocked and may even be trapped.

A classic dungeon chest that could be locked or trapped. Here goes nothing.

Rick brought out his shield and held it in front of him while he squatted down behind it in front of the chest. Rick answered yes to the prompt to open it and a fireball shot out striking his shield and engulfing him in flames.

I take it this was a trapped one with that huge ass explosion! This is only between the second and third floor of a dungeon are they nuts setting up something that nasty here? If I didn't have such a high resistance to fire I'd be taking a one way trip to the nearest NPC temple right now. Rick thought while shaking his head.

Rick peeked inside the chest from behind his shield now wary of the chest before him and saw a piece of paper shimmer into existence inside of it. He picked up the battered looking paper from the chest and a window popped open.

Spoiler: Battered Paper. A torn page from an ancient book of elemental magic. You have found an ancient page torn from a magic tome. Do you wish to learn the information on this page? Yes No

Before Rick clicked yes he wanted to try an experiment. He cast the spell Read Magic on the ancient page and after a quite a few fails he was successful. Rick then clicked yes and opened his blinking notice icon.

Spoiler: New Notices! Spell Increase: Read Magic: Level 2 Intermediate 8% New Elemental Affinity Notice!

You Have Learned A New Affinity!

Space Affinity: Level 6 (Beginner 82%)

The magic ability to wield and resist an elemental affinity.

Higher levels increase overall control and resistance.

New Spell Notice!

You Have Learned A New Spell!

Time Reduction: Level 1 (Beginner 0%)

Time Reduction allows you to slow time around you without it affecting you.

You can slow down time in a circumference of ten feet around you for ten seconds.

Each level increase adds +1 to the spells distance and duration.

I must have learned the space elemental affinity at a higher level through casting Read Magic on this page, because that must be the books knowledge level needed to use this Time Reduction Spell.

Time Reduction allows me to slow everything down around me without it affecting me. If I raise this spell to a high level it would be an incredible crowd control spell like Reverse Gravity. Rick contemplated.

When he began to continue down the stairs halfway down with Stealth activated he noticed a couple orcs with long spears at the bottom scanning the area.

These two orcs look like they have been alerted. They must have been close enough to hear that trap go off and are now trying to figure out where it came from.

Rick took out his bow and cast Gravity Field on the two orcs standing side by side. When they lifted off their feet he sent out two arrows for each of them and waited for them to stop moving before dropping them to the floor. He walked down the steps and collected his arrows and their long spears and cast identify on one of the dead orcs.

Spoiler: Identify!! Orc Impaler Most orcs like to rush wildly at foes with swords or axes and tear them to pieces, but some prefer the use of spears for their increased reach.

Rick shut the menu window and continued on from what he could make out he was in a large cavern and could see light up ahead that looked like the exit of the cavern to the outside.

How can that be an exit to the outside? I would guess I am near a hundred feet under the lake by how far I have gone down and forward.

He had a few more uneventful encounters with regular orcs that he took care of quickly. When had made his way to the cavern exit he peered out from behind a rock. What he saw were huge crystals hanging from the ceiling that emitted light. The outside was actually an enormous extension of the cavern that he couldn't see where it ended.

The cavern was covered in grass with strange fruit trees that grew near where he hid. He activated his far sight and saw that the orcs had built a camp with wooden log walls some distance out in the illuminated cavern. Rick scanned the area and then snuck out to one of the fruit trees and plucked some fruit and took a few cuttings from its branches to take back to Daisia.

He began to make his way around the perimeter of the cavern while using his Stealth and Mist Walk to travel between cover. Rick then came across a patrolling Orc that was covered in iron plate armor and had a black sword on its back that looked too heavy to even be able to wield. Rick watched the orc and had a bad feeling about it. For some reason, he could tell that this orc was extremely dangerous.

Rick stay hidden behind a large tree wondering if he should tangle with this orc.

If I want to beat this guy I am going to have to play dirty and ambush him with everything I got. If I can get him into a reverse gravity field then I can take care of him without too much trouble.

Making his mind up Rick moved from tree to tree until he was as close as he could get without drawing attention to himself. He scanned the area and found a tree not far from the armored orc. Rick began casting Spike Traps around the tree and then he took out his bow and cast Project image. He made an image of himself half hidden holding a bow behind the tree he had spread Spike Traps around and then launched an arrow at the Orc's armored back.

As soon as he released the arrow he cast Mist walk to hide. He turned into a fog like vapor as the orc ripped the gigantic sword from its back and began looking around. It the spotted his projected image and charged after it without making a sound. When the orc was in range to swing the sword a Spike Trap was set off.

A few pointed earthen spikes shot out of the ground and one pierced through the orcs foot. While the orc was temporarily pinned to the ground Rick ran out toward the orc and cast gravity field when he was in range. The orc was pulled up into the air off of the spike, but unlike others who he had trapped with this spell, the armored orc did not float around randomly out of control. The orc stood calmly in the gravity field able to keep itself floating upright with its sword held ready.

Rick stopped before he reached the orc when he saw that there was no way he could now approach it without being cut in half by that sword.

Holy crap this orc is a bad ass! Look at that he is just floating in that field waiting for me to step closer. Too bad for you that isn't going to happen though.

Rick went into mage mode and decided to attack from a distance. He cast Mana Bind then fire wall directly under the orc. The orc struggled against the binding spell while the flames rose to cook him. The orc didn't waste time panicking or howling in pain it just focused on breaking free while staring directly at Rick watching his every move.

Becoming nervous at the orcs calm demeanor, Rick feared he may somehow break loose. Rick then stepped up his magic attacks and began casting fireball and chain lightning and then remembered acid bolt as he was waiting on the recharge times.

Rick stepped just within the ten-foot distance and launched an acid bolt into the orcs face just as the mana bind was wearing off. A short lance of green liquid shot out at splashed across the face of the orc and covered its entire head with the green substance. The acid immediately began melting the flesh off the orc's head like wax held over a flame.

With the combination of all the spells and the acid bolt, the orc dropped its giant sword and pitched forward floating horizontally around in the reverse gravity field. When the acid bolt dispersed Rick could see parts of the orcs skull and melted flesh giving it a zombie appearance.

Rick didn't take any chances and used his sword to cut off the orc's head before dropping the gravity field. He bent over and used identify to find out what kind of orc this guy had been.

Spoiler: Identify!! Orc Warlord

The most powerful and skilled among the orcs.

Orc warlords have been known to clear out entire enemy camps single handedly.

Rick thought he had felt a small shiver run up his back as he read the description. If I didn't know magic and tried to fight this guy I would have been diced up in seconds. I need to be careful bringing my units in here if they fought just one of these Orc Warlords I would definitely lose a few of them.

After looking over the description he unbuckled the orcs plate armor and stored it with the giant sword that he could hardly raise above his waist level.

Well, I think I should leave on that note for now. Rick thought as he cast Portal to the outside dungeon entrance.

He began sprinting west toward the city and Tower Island while he jumped from left to right while zigzagging from side to side to simulate dodging. After running for just over an hour while fully armored he made it back to the city construction area he laid down on the ground near the castle foundation to recover his stamina. After resting for a few minutes he sat up and opened his new notices.

Spoiler: New Notices!! Attribute Increase: Vitality +5 Attribute Increase: Stamina +15 Attribute Increace: Agility +12 Attribut Increase: Strength +10 Spoiler: Show Status!!

Cedric Crownguard Strength: 115 Level: (47%) 17 Stamina: 85 Health: 850 Vitality: 90 Mana: 1160 Intelligence: 116 Piety: +175 Wisdom: 59 Fame: +20125 (locally respected) Agility: 60 Honor: +21000 (village hero) Charisma: 30 Allignment: +4000 Leadership: 35 Satiety: 81% Luck: 10 Class: Druidic Mage Health Regen/Sec: 5.0 Mana Regen/Sec: 5.5 Feudal Domain: 2600 Race: Chosen Human Feuadal Title: Count Unused Points: 0 Awarded Titles Title: The White Knight Alignment +/- +1000 Title: The Honor Guard Alignment +/- +1000 Title: The Duelist Alignment +/- +1000 Title: Black Hand Interrogator Alignment +/- -1000 Title: Benevolent Leader Alignment +/- +1000 Title: Explorer of the Unknown Alignment +/- -none-

Nice, Nice, my stats are starting to look good. Rick thought while closing his menus.

Rick stood up and looked around him. "Okay, what should I do now?" Rick said quietly as he began walking down the west main street.