Chapter 3-Ervos

Morphues awoke before the crack of dawn, feeling refreshed yet hungry. He climbed down from his tree and started setting up a small fire to cook some more meat from the wreckon. Lighting a cigarette he thought about what to do today and realised he was still travelling to Ervos.

Finishing his meal he set out, keeping an eye out for danger. He calculated it would take roughly ten hours and would arrive a couple hours before the sun set. So he began running, his increase in speed put a professional sprinter to shame.

‘This is going to take a lot less than ten hours if I keep this up’ The chimera thought.

During his travels he encountered a lot of horned hares. The murder hares were in groups of two or three, shooting arrows at all of them before they even had a chance to charge. He stopped only to pick up the bodies. He would check his stats when lunch came.

Running through the forest he caught a sniff of something foul, like vomit and shit mixed together. He climbed up a tree and began to hop from trees towards the smell.

When he arrived he saw two small green men with giant heads, dragging a dead horned hare.

‘Goblins!’ he shouted in his head. ‘Of course this is fantasy, I didn’t think they smell this bad though’

(Goblin, Scout, Level 16)

(Goblin, Level 14)

The goblins were wearing only thin sheets of cloth to cover their genitals, both of them had simple rusty daggers. Morpheus hooked an arrow and pulled the strings back, but waited to observe them a little longer. The scout sniffed his nose and turned his head up to stare directly at the chimera. Without hesitation he let go of the string, the arrow hit between the goblin’s eyes. The goblin’s eyes rolled to the back of his head as he dropped dead on the ground. Still using the element of surprise he jumped from the tree, the dagger extended in both hands as he aimed for the other goblin’s heart. Morpheus must have been off as the dagger penetrated the goblin’s shoulder. He collided with the goblin who helped break his fall, both were sent tumbling. He felt slightly dazed as he brought himself up again, only to feel a tremendous amount of pain in his stomach. A rusted dagger was completely embedded into his stomach, he tried to curse but instead coughed blood. Pulling the dagger out, he focused his entire will on closing the hole. Red strings of magic from each end began to reform the skin. In a matter of seconds the hole had closed and he felt less nausiated. Looking around he saw the goblin rolling on the floor in pain, ‘Dagger of Black’ stuck in his shoulder. He picked up the rusted dagger and leapt on top of the goblin. He grabbed its neck and began stabbing it in the face, embracing the rage he felt from the pain.

The goblin was long dead by the time Morpheus stopped stabbing. The goblin's face was replaced with brain matter. Bringing himself back to reality, he threw up next to the goblin. He moved to the other side to collapse and took a deep breath.

Status

Health: 210/505

Stamina:80/585

Mana:336/440

He laid there for a moment, contemplating what just happened. He threw it to the back of his mind and got up, pulling his dagger out of the heavily deformed goblin. Removing his arrow for the other one, he stored both in his pouch. Quickly taking off, he ran for a minute before he stopped and puked again. Morpheus’s mind was still replaying the deformed head for him. He backed up against a tree and took a swig of water.

It took him a few more minutes to eventually calm down from the adrenaline. He moved a bit away from his vomit and began to make a fire. After setting up his lunch he brought up his notifications from the horned hares and the goblins.

Amazing! You have slain (Horned Hare Adolescent, Level 18)

Amazing! You have slain (Horned Hare Elder, Level 21)

...

You have levelled up Archery Level (3)

You have levelled up Marksmanship Level (3)

…

You have levelled up Archery Level (6)

You have levelled up Marksmanship Level (5)

‘Congratulations’ You have levelled up Level (13) (1 stat point available)

…

‘Congratulations’ You have levelled up Level (18) (6 stat points available)

Amazing! You have slain (Goblin Scout, Level 16)

Amazing! You have slain (Goblin, Level 14)

You have levelled up Pain Resistance (Level 2)

You have levelled up Pain Resistance (Level 3)

You have levelled up Dagger Arts (Level 2)

…

You have levelled up Dagger Arts (Level 5)

‘Congratulations’ You have levelled up Level (19) (7 stat points available)

…

‘Congratulations’ You have levelled up Level (23) (11 stat points available)

“So the goblins give a decent amount of experience” “And I went a bit overboard with the dagger” He chuckled, attempting to not be horrified with his explosive rage.

He lit a cigarette and chose to put five points in strength, three points in vitality, two points in endurance, and one in dexterity. His health has almost doubled since yesterday, Morpheus assumed that his body became more adept at taking hits and stabs. The rest of his stats pretty much explained themselves. Constitution measures the strength of your skin and also can compact your muscles if you level it up. But vitality still remained to be a mystery.

Status

Health: 680/720

Stamina:800/920

Mana:260/440

Stats

Strength: 25

Vitality: 22

Constitution: 23

Endurance: 17

Agility: 21

Dexterity: 16

Wisdom: 20

Intelligence: 21

Charisma: 23

Luck: 11

He could feel his muscles slightly expanding, it did not hurt Morpheus but it definitely felt unusual. He picked up the skewered meat, leaned against a fallen tree and tore into savouring the juicy meat.

Picking up his gear he began to move through the forest again. After an hour of travelling he saw the trees thinning out. Slowing down he began to emerge into grasslands. There was not a cloud in sight, a bright blue sky. The sun blinded him but his vision soon corrected itself. He saw a wooden windmill slowly turning and a small wooden house next to it. Around them was covered in farmland. Morpheus saw pigs and strange looking sheep in a closed off area. A dirt road ran though the farm and over the horizon.

He heard the sound of wooden wheels to his left. There was a cart emerging from the forest being drawn by what Morpheus would know as a massive komodo dragon. He ran over to the cart waving a hand. The man atop the cart pulled the reins causing the komodo dragon to stop.

(Tamed Komodo Dragon, Level 39)

“What do you want bo..Oh a chimera, han’t seen one of your kind in a long time” The man spoke.

(Farmer, Tender of Crops, Level ?)

The man was human, which he was quite thankful for. He had long white hair and a massive beard growing towards his stomach. He was wearing a simple dirty white shirt and brown trousers.

“Sorry for making you stop, do you mind if I can catch a ride towards Ervos if that’s the way your heading. I’m willing to pay.”

“Certainly boy hop on, don’t worry about payment, seeing a rare kind is more than enough.” His voice sounded rough but friendly.

Morpheus pulled himself up onto the cart and sat next to the old man as he lifted up the reins and smacked them back down again.

“What’s your name boy?” The old man asked

“Morpheus Nvos, and yours”

“You a Noble? And just call me Henry or old man” He bluntly spoke.

“Oh no, just the name I was given.” Morpheus replied.

The old man looked at him in confusion. “Only nobles have last names boy, where’d ya get it from then?”

“I have no idea actually, I woke up in the crimson forest and it was just there on my status.”

The old man still stared in confusion. “Do you have any memories at all? I heard tales me mam used to tell about the chimera.”

Morpheus knew where this was going and just looked down, pretending to not want to explain.

“Ah my apologies.” “Anyway what brings you to Ervos?”

“Hopefully some food other than horned hare.”

“Ha, I can understand that. Not bad if you put it into a stew though” The old man chuckled through his big bushy beard.

Morpheus smiled as he took in the beautiful scenery unfolding before. He had never felt this carefree, like a weight had just been lifted off his shoulders.

The old man brought out a pipe in which he lit with the ‘Spark’ spell. Morpheus smiled again and brought out his cigarettes from his side not willing to give away that he had a magical pouch. He lit it and leaned back staring at the blue sky.

“ah , shun’t smoke for your age bad for your growth boy, and is that tobacco wrapped in parchment?” The old man questioned sternly.

“Yeah it’s called a cigarette. This may come as a surprise to you but I’m no boy” Morpheus spoke, he always hated being treated like a kid.

“Why, you look young. About eighteen I’d say?” The old man questioned.

“I'm actually twenty-five, before...This happened” Morpheus lied with a hint of sadness in his voice.

“Ah, my apologies yet again” The old man said.

“Want one?”

“Sure why not, I hope it ain't some new drug that’ll stop me art” The old man chuckled as he took the cigarette from Morpheus.

He lit the end and inhaled. His eyes bulged as he tried not to cough.

“Hah, an old man like you can’t even take a young’ins tobacco” Morpheus jokes.

“That shit is strong me boy, where’s it from?” The old man asked.

“A place called Earth, very far from here. That’s the only place where I think I’m from.” Morpheus replied.

“Ah, strange name that. I’d love to retire there.” The old man grinned at Morpheus and he smiled back, thankful that this old man had believed his story.

“Keep the place called Earth to yourself if you don’t mind.” Morpheus said sternly.

“I swear by Odin.” The old man said with a straight face.

Questions he wanted to ask the man popped into his head.

“What pantheons are most worshipped in Ervos?” Morpheus asked.

“Ah well Norse is the biggest of all, shortly followed by Greek. Then you got Roman, Aztec and Celtic. Those have gotten temples in Ervos.” “Smaller ones I know little about but I might grab a book about them when I’m in Ervos next.” The old man said.

Morpheus paused then asked “What do you think about Loki?”

“Alright fella from what I've heard about him from others. The old tales tell me he’s a sneaky bastard, changing into other people and hiding in the shadows.” “Strong shadow and illusion magic user as well. Why do you ask?” the old man questioned

“I heard the man likes to do deals.” Morpheus performed a Loki grin and the man smiled back. He felt a warm feeling above his collar bone, knowing full well that Loki was watching through his tattoo.

“Yes he do my man, he loves the offerings.” “Ha greedy bastard, at least he’s doing something nowadays.” The old man said.

“Why do you say that?” Morpheus asked curiously.

“No reason to be honest, just there's only been stories about Loki and Osiris recently.”

“What’s been going on with Osiris?” Morpheus asked again.

“You really like questions bo... Don’t you.“ The old man chuckled.

“Well, to be honest I have no idea what's been going on or how long I’ve been away. Nice to catch up on the gossip of the gods” Morpheus said.

“You’re right there, ladies love that stuff.” The man paused and threw away the butt end of the cigarette like he’d seen Morpheus do.

“Some lucky necromancer got the mark of osiris over his ankles. Giving him increased affinity over bone and blood magic. I heard he got some other perks but can’t be too sure to be honest.”

Morpheus paused taking the information in.

“Ah I heard he ain’t that bad, just that often people see you differently with a mark.” The old man added in.

“Aren’t necromancers banned in cities?” Morpheus asked.

“Nope there is no magic that is frowned upon in Ervos. That's why it's the capital of the Land of the Free. You gotta remember there is no bad magic, only bad people. Well except using soul magic for chimeras.” He said giving Morpheus a side eye.

“It’s fine I don’t remember getting turned, thankfully.” Morpheus said.

“Ain’t you a lucky bastard.” He chuckled.

Morpheus handed him another cigarette and lit himself one too.

As the cart rolled over a hill, Morpheus could finally see the Capital Kingdom of the Land of the free. Giant stone walls roughly twenty metres with wooden watch towers on top. He could see a slightly taller set of walls just behind, yet again littered with wooden watch towers. With the advantage of the hill he could see all the olden medieval style buildings. Clock towers and temple steppes poking out and above the rest of the buildings. If Morpheus could guess, around three-hundred thousand people lived here. Not including some of the smaller towns he could see very far off in the distance. The whole layout was of a giant octagon, encompassing around the small mountain in which the King’s castle lay. Surrounded with walls twice as high and thick as the double layered outside wall. The giant octagon seemed to break out towards the west where the giant harbour integrated itself with the walls. Smaller walls surrounding the harbour encompassed many hundreds of building’s on either side. There was a massive wall stretching out from the embankment which was met by another wall on the other side. There was a giant metal gate easily allowing several ships to sail through the. Some slowed down to check with a guard Morhpues could not see. He saw a fleet of ships, covered in blue and silver lining. Roughly two-hundred of them. Morpheus knew that this was a navy of some sorts. He was roughly half a mile away from the when the old man stopped.

“This be it for my journey, may you seek what you lookin’ for in Ervos.” The old man said.

“Thank you for the lift.” Morpheus sounded most sincere. He left a silver coin and five cigarettes next to the old man who just stared at them as he began to jog towards the south gate.

“Boy, this is a week's worth of work!” He heard the old man exclaim.

“You’re a nice old man, buy yourself some books or a nice lass” He shouted back laughing.

The journey was only a small ten minutes to the gate with his new speed. He passed a lot of carriages and people all of different shapes and colours. He saw lizard people, dog people, people with horns, dwarfs, dark-skinned elves and…’YES CAT-GIRLS!’ he laughed internally at this joke which reminded him of Loki. Morpheus did not have a fetish for cat-girls, but they were undeniably stunning.

He approached the gate and began to fall in line to pay the toll. He began to enhance his vision at the multiple guards in silver, blue and black coloured robes and armour they sported. Roughly five of them could be seen at the top of the gate and there were seven down on the ground around a portable little shed which he guessed was where you pay the toll.

(Mage, Level ??)

(Warrior, Level ??)

(Scout, Level ?)

(Scout, Watcher of Ervos, Level ??)

(Warrior, Guard of Ervos Level ??)

You have levelled up Lifeform Identification Level (5)

The young chimera could still not identify any of them. He guessed that the ‘??’ was based at around one to two hundred levels. Even then they were most probably all ten times stronger than he was. By this time he was at the toll window.

“Toll is three coppers, state your name and business” The man said like a droid, without moving his head up.

“Morpheus, visiting to sell some monsters” He said as casually as he could, while putting three coppers on the table.

“Ok just…” the man paused looking up. “Ah sorry to bother your trip son, but would you mind walking round back, you’re in nought trouble but we could you use some information if you don’t mind.”

“Yeah sure” Morpheus reluctantly said as the man got up and shouted for another desk jockey to take up his place.

Morpheus walked around the back and the man led him into a room with a few chairs around a table.

“Sorry to keep you, I understand the torment you’ve been through and offer my condolences on behalf of Ervos. If you don’t mind.” The man said.

(Scribe, Level 71)

“Thank you, can I ask why I’m here?”

“Yes, I’ve sent someone to fetch the Guard Captain. He will give you an explanation and also ask some questions, is that ok?” The scribe said.

“That’s fine.”

Roughly ten minutes later a big burly man ducked his head under the door.

(Brawler, Level ??)

“Good afternoon, I’m Davos the Guard Captain of the walls.” he outstretched his hand.

Morpheus lent into the hand shake reluctantly, but thankfully Davos did not squeeze it to death only being firm. “Morpheus.” The young chimera said.

“Thank you for not kicking up a fuss, the scribes often have to deal with a lot of arseholes” “I’m just going to ask you a few questions if that’s ok.”

“That’s fine,” Morpheus repeated again.

“Brilliant let us sit.”

“May I ask where you were created?” Davos said.

“I have no idea, I woke up in the crimson forest a couple days ago with no memory of how or when I got there.”

Davos looked at him puzzled but carried on “You don’t seem to be lying, that's very strange. So you have no idea of your origins.”

“Yes, I have vague memories of being a lot older than I currently am.”

“Hmmm, well anyway thank you for speaking to me. I’ll have your name put on the registry of known chimeras in the city. There's only about a couple dozen of you here. May you seek what you are looking for.” The big man said getting up and exiting.

Morpheus followed him out, the man walked into the castle walls and disappeared up to a flight of stairs.

He walked through the large iron gate. Into a large area filled with groups of people. All with a large variety of different weapons. He assumed these were adventures or a part of some guild as they all sported the same metal badge but in different colours.

Walking through the second gate he eventually came into the city. He pulled his hood over the top of his face so he wouldn’t draw too much attention. He walked through the main street which seemed to lead all the way up to the gate of the royal palace. Hearing the shouts of people bartering, and the smells of various foods filling his nose he smiled. Happy that this place was so full of life. He walked over to a lion man selling goblin meat sticks.

‘Goblin Meat Stick-2 coppers’

He bought two and began to munch on them both as he walked on the cobblestone paths. The meat bland and gamey yet it filled him up. He got a few curious looks but thankfully none hostile.

‘I’m here now, what do I do’ He thought to himself. ‘Ask where the adventurer guild is, buy some new clothes and maybe a new weapon, and find a place to to stay’. He mentally took down his notes as he walked into the nearest closing store. It didn’t look poor or wealthy so he felt it suited him. The sign said ‘Miranda’s Tailoring’. He walked in to be greeted by a middle aged lady.

“By Odin, the first chimera to step into my shop.” The lady spoke. “I’m Miranda. Sorry, didn’t mean to be rude, what can I do for you.”

“I’d like some clothes please, something comfy and not very fancy.” Morpheus said.

“Brilliant what’s your price range?”

“I’m new to the city, what are the rates?” He asked.

“Well, usually between one to three silvers for a pre-made outfit. Four to six for a personally fitted one and the prices can all depend on the materials and how fancy the tailoring is.”

Morpheus thought it sounded like a fair price. He also had to take into account that this world did not have automated machines constantly making clothes.

“I’d like to buy a three silver outfit, preferably black or grey if you don’t mind. I get enough attention as it is.” Morpheus said.

“Brilliant would you like to have a look?”

“Would you mind picking an outfit for me, my sense of fashion is terrible.”

The lady giggled and nodded, walking through a door in the back of the shop. A few minutes later she came back out holding a few folded clothes and some comfy-looking shoes on top.

“If you’d like to try them on there's a seat over there.” Miranda pointed to the left side of the room. There were no curtains or even a wall for that matter, just a bench and a hook. He looked over to the lady and didn’t notice any change on her face. So being the confident man he tried to be, he strolled over and began to change letting ‘everything’ flap about. The woman looked at him and said, “Oh the poor woman who bedded you.” Looking at his dick and winking.

“Troll dick.” he said with a straight face, attempting to make the women laugh. Which thankfully, she did.

He finished putting on his new comfy outfit and looked at himself in the mirror. The outfit included a grey shirt with a black blazer of sorts and black trousers. The boots felt better than his previous ones which he was glad about. Just because Morpheus could heal doesn’t mean he can’t feel pain.

“You really look the part of someone who doesn’t want attention. What do you think?” Miranda said.

“I’ll take it.” Morpheus said.

“Brilliant, that’ll be two silvers and fifty coppers then please.”

Morpheus put his old armour in his pouch which surprised her. He felt the bag was beginning to get full. He definitely needed to sell those monsters.

“Do you recommend any inns? Somewhere decently priced.” He asked, handing her three silvers which she pocketed fast.

“My sister’s friend works in the Dashing Horse Inn on the north side. It's one silver a night which is on the more expensive side but it’s well worth the money.” Miranda said.

“Oh and do you know where the adventuring guild is?” Morpheus added.

“Yep on the north side as well, about a ten minute walk from the Inn.”

“Thank you, I’ll probably be coming back at a later date.” He said with a wink walking out the door.

Walking out of the door he noticed it was getting late. So he headed towards the northern district.