“This is a ruthless world and one must be ruthless to cope with it”

- Charlie Chaplin

I was sitting at a table in the Sleepy Dragon Inn, drinking some sort of bitter liquid and chewing on meat when a meaty hand clamped onto my shoulder, wrenching me out of my chair and onto the floor. Quick as a flash, I was on my feet and casting a spell. [Mana Bolt] slammed into the oaf’s face and stunned him. In his surprise, he didn’t notice my trap springing around him. 5 Earth Elementals sprinted into the inn at full speed, launching themselves at my assailant and knocking him to the ground. A few moments of meaty thwacks later, the man’s ruined body lay unmoving on the ground, dead as a doornail. I didn’t bother looting his body, I merely righted my chair and sat back down to finish my meal. My previously hidden bodyguards stood around my table, their dirt fists tinged red with absorbed blood. I took my time eating, then finished and left a gold coin as a tip. Without a word, I walked up the stairs to my room, the pressure of two dozen eyes upon my back.

As I entered my room, I relaxed my posture and collapsed into bed. I’d received a notification of a level up and a notification of a level up (point assigned to Wisdom and then my distribution was split among Wisdom and Intelligence) in addition to the rank up of my [Summon Minor Elemental] spell. Although this was exciting, as they now lasted 1% longer, I was exhausted from the day. As I drifted off to sleep, I reflected on the fact that I'd killed one man and ordered the death of 2 more. Oh well, I’d done what was necessary and nothing less.

The next morning, we ate breakfast in the eating area of the Sleepy Dragon, and I apologized to the owner for the disturbance last night. She accepted my apology graciously, and I resumed eating after giving her the last of my gold as thanks. Although I was now flat broke, I’d restored and accumulated good will with the Inn. Halfway through our meal, Father Silas approached with a grin.

“Greetings, gentlemen!” He said to us cheerfully.

“Hello, Father,” we greeted him, “what can we do for you?”

“Well, it’s not what you can do for me, it what I can do for you! I can’t help but notice that, for the most part, you’re all level 2. In accordance with your, shall we say personal, relationship with The Temple, I shall grant you access to the first level of the crypt. This should provide an opportunity for you to gather some loot from the undead as well as level up substantially. It will also clear out the crypt for us to use,” he replied, a mischievous glint in his eyes. I got the feeling that this wouldn’t be as easy as he led us to believe.

“How difficult will it be?” Aaron asked.

“Oh, nothing too difficult for adventurers of your calibre, I’m sure,” Silas said dismissively. He set a small stone down on the table. I picked it up to find that there was some kind of sigil. From my reading, I knew that this must be a [keystone].

“I assume that this keystone unlocks the crypt?” I asked for the others’ benefit.

“Yes indeed, and that’s my only one so be careful with it!” He warned us, “now I must be off, please check out the crypt today.” With that, he left.

“Is anyone else intrigued by the thought of necromancy magic?” I asked, suspecting I knew the answer. Gabriel raised his hand decisively, but he was the only one.

“I think that as long as it’s not too smelly, we will all support you,” Aaron said jokingly. Everyone laughed, but I could see that they were all slightly uncomfortable. Oh well, they’d get over it when we had scores of undead minions.

The entrance to the crypt was quite foreboding. While the rest of the Temple was white and pure-looking, the area surrounding the crypt was a dull gray. While the rest of the Temple was smooth and beautiful, the crypt was hard and violent. It was epic in a dungeon-ey sort of way. I ran my hands over the cold walls, and once again marvelled at just how real everything in this game felt. Then I had to check myself, This isn’t a game anymore. We signed on for an eternity; this is our new reality.

Banishing those thoughts, I waited as Rich pressed the keystone into the wall. A portion of the stone dissolved to mist and dispersed into the air. We readied our weapons and crept slowly into the crypt. Andrew moved faster than the rest of us, creeping quickly forward and deeper into the dark. A feeling of giddy anticipation crept over me as we waited for him to return. He came back a moment later, motioning us forward into a long hall. The walls were cool stone inset with shelves. On each shelf was a coffin, mostly made out of stone. I slowly approached one and pushed the lid aside, revealing a bleached white skeleton with arms folded across the torso. Tattered fabric clung to the corpse, and gold coins littered the bottom. I removed two gold coins from the eyes of the skeleton, and it immediately came to life. Twin balls of purple and green energy appeared in its eyes, and it moved a brittle arm to grasp at my wrist. I jumped back, launching a [Mana Bolt] into its face. Its skull slammed into the bottom of the coffin, but it attempted to exit again a moment later. I removed my staff from my back, having secured it there with a strip of fabric. Someone asked if I needed a hand as I bashed at its skull from beyond its meager range. A few strikes, and its eyes winked out. I crept forward again, telling my friends I was fine, and gently reached a hand into the coffin. After eliciting no reaction, I scooped the gold coins from the bottom of the coffin.

“Interesting,” I said, “I believe that removing the gold coins on their eyes causes them to wake up.”

“Do you have any proof? How do you know that removing any of their possessions doesn’t elicit the same result?” Tom asked. In response, I walked to the next coffin and pushed the lid open. I reached in and removed a single gold coin from the bottom of the coffin, pausing for dramatic effect once my hand was above the rim of the coffin.

“See? Nothing happens,” I said with a smirk.

“Well great, we can just loot all the coffins,” Drew said.

“But we also kind of need the experience,” Rich argued.

“I agree with Rich, we need to level up quickly if we’re going to be leaders,” Aaron concurred.

“I mean, I’m fine with the loot,” Gabriel added on, siding with Drew.

“I don’t really care what we do, as long as I don’t die again,” said Greg.

“I’m fine with whatever, I just like seeing the undead,” I laughed. We all looked to Tom for the deciding vote.

“Well, how about we start off by looting the coffins and move farther into the crypt. That way, if it gets more difficult, we aren’t too worn out. Then, if we have time and energy on the way out, we can raise and destroy them for the experience,” he posited.

We considered it a moment, then agreed that his plan sounded like a reasonable course of action. After looting all the coffins, we found a total of 800 gold. After collecting the gold, we moved to open the door to the next chamber. On a three count, we kicked it open and Andrew lunged inside, falling into a roll after a few feet to dodge any arrows that may be forthcoming. After his initial acrobatics, he stood there for a moment listening. Upon hearing nothing, he motioned us to follow. We congregated in the entrance to the room and looked around; the walls were smooth black stone, upright coffins lined up and down the sides perpendicular to the door. In the middle of the floor was a stone table, a single glowing rune engraved into its surface. I started forward to examine it, Gabriel hot on my heels. I crouched down so that it was at eye level to study it, and Gabe reached out a finger to poke it. I called out in warning just as his skin touched the stone, and it flared brightly before winking out.

The doors on each coffin fell to the floor, angry skeletons climbing out of their stone confines. I launched a mana bolt at an approaching skeleton, knocking it to the ground. Aaron jumped forward and hacked at the bony creature, nearly shattering its hand. It clacked its jaw angrily at him, slamming a skeletal claw into his throat. He let out a cry as a finger bone pierced his shoulder, and Tom came to his rescue. His staff cracked down, shattering the arm of the skeleton attacking Aaron. It reeled back even as another one joined it. I completed the casting time on my summoning spell and a small whirlwind came to life. I directed it to defend me as I swooned from using so much mana; I was almost completely depleted from my exertion. As I waited for it to refill, I focused my energy on twirling the staff around me to ward off any attackers. I winced and gasped in pain as an arrow buried itself in my thigh. Why the hell do skeletons have bows? I thought. Oh well, I guess that at the heart of it, this was still a dungeon inside of a game.

My health took a dip and I could see a small drop of blood with a lightning bolt through it underneath the red bar. I broke the arrow off at the exits to the wound, and crouched down. I gritted my teeth as a dull pain overtook my senses, but a moment later the pain dwindled down to the point that I could focus on other tasks. I’d regenerated about 10 mana, so I launched another mana bolt at a skeleton, blowing off a rib. I surveyed the scene around me; Aaron was hacking at two skeletons at once, Rich was holding his own against a skeleton assailant. Tom whirled a staff around in circles, smashing bones and skulls. Greg backpedalled furiously as his arrows bounced off of two skeletons advancing towards him. Drew leapt around the room, slashing at foes and kicking legs out from beneath their owners.

I came to Rich’s aid, smashing my staff into his opponent’s skull. There was a sickening crunch as the cranium gave way and the undead foe clattered to the floor. I motioned to my leg, and Rich healed me with a word. The arrow seemed to dissolve away as my leg healed, and my health shot up 8%. I thanked him and leapt into the fray once again. I rushed to help Greg as the skeletons reached him, but they tore at his chest, carving deep furrows in his skin and tearing his shirt. I knocked aside one skeleton and kicked at the other, catching it off balance. The first skeleton lunged toward me, but I jumped back and smashed its face with my stuff. I called for help as I fended off the second skeleton, and Rich made his way over to aid me. A few slashes from his sword and another battering from my staff destroyed the skeleton, and I rushed to aid Aaron as Rich healed Greg.

We made short work of the melee skeletons, but two archers in the back of the room gave us trouble. Arrows rocketed towards us, and we made little progress due to the dodging and ducking. Finally, Drew sprinted towards the archers and tackled one around the ribs. Greg stood and launched an arrow at the other skeleton, causing it to stagger before it could target Drew. We rushed to aid our friend, bashing the skeletons to pieces in moments. We gave a cheer and quickly looted the room, obtaining another 110 gold, a battered wooden bow, 20 arrows, and a rusty sword. I was especially keen to take a closer look at the table, so we saved that for last.

I approached the stone table and surveyed its contents. There was a single book resting in the center. I picked it up and focused. Identify

Name: Jagor’s Book, Creation of and Protection against Undead

Rarity: Legendary

Type: Spell Tome

Durability: 2/4

Function: Use this spell tome to learn the following spells: [Rune of Undead Warding], [Create Skeleton], [Weak Turn Undead], [Animate Corpse]

Yes! I excitedly told my friends about my discovery. I opened up to the first page and a notification appeared in my vision:

Apologies, Adventurer! This Spell Tome has already been used to learn [Rune of Undead Warning], and cannot be used again!

Oh well, I wasn’t too interested in preventing the creation of undead anyways. I turned a couple dozen pages to the next section and received a different message:

Greetings, Sage! Dost thou pursue the knowledge that lie within these ancient pages, the unholy spell [Create Skeleton]?

[Yes] [No]

Hell yes!

Warning, aspiring necromancer! The path of the undead ruler is fraught with danger, but has power abundant! Rule your minions with an iron fist, or succumb to their undying hunger!

You have been warned! Do you still wish to continue?

[Yes] [No]

I hesitated a moment, but I still agreed. The book glowed a sickening green, and that same colored energy swirled around me. My comrades gasped and stumbled back in surprise, but the energy faded after a moment, and my mind was filled with knowledge!

Congratulations! You have learned the spell [Create Skeleton]!

[Create Skeleton]

Type: Active Spell (Summon)

Level: Beginner(0)

Cost/Cooldown:

90 mana/60 seconds

Casting Time: 20 Seconds

Duration: Until Dispelled

Creature Stats:

12 Constitution 9 Dexterity 4 Wisdom 2 Intelligence 11 Strength 4 Charisma

Description:

The user reanimates a pile of bones, creating a skeletal humanoid to do its master’s bidding. This spell will last until dispelled or the skeleton is destroyed. The user cannot reanimate a destroyed skeleton. Skeletons and other undead cannot be healed by spells affiliated with Life magic. Verbal commands must be given until this spell reaches a higher level. The skeleton will have the base stats of the spell and can wear equipment as though they were a human aligned with Death magic.

Attention, Necromancer! You have now aligned yourself with Death Magic. Creatures and people aligned with Life Magic will be unsettled by you and more open to attacking; on the other hand, creatures and people aligned with Death Magic will be more open to reason and to alliance. Use your newfound affiliation and power for your own game!

Current alignment: 1 (Death)

Congratulations, frontrunner! You are the first player to achieve a Death alignment. A global announcement has been sent to everyone, regaling them of your accomplishment. All those around you have been elevated one level, and you have been elevated two! Due to your accomplishment, your alignment has progressed to 2 (Death) and your physical appearance has taken on a gaunt hue. Living creatures will find you intimidating, and the undead will not be able to sense your aura of health.

Congratulations! You have learned the spell [Animate Corpse]!

[Animate Corpse]

Type: Active Spell (Summon)

Level: Beginner(0)

Cost/Cooldown:

75 mana/60 seconds

Casting Time: 1 Second

Duration: 72 Hours (renewable)

Creature Stats:

5 Constitution 6 Dexterity 5 Wisdom 5 Intelligence 6 Strength 4 Charisma

Description:

The user reanimates a corpse within range (20 feet), creating a zombie bound to the user’s will. Zombies and other undead cannot be healed by spells affiliated with Life magic. Verbal commands must be given until this spell reaches a higher level. The Zombie will have the base stats of the spell in addition to 10% of the victim’s stats in life, and can wear equipment as though it is a human aligned with Death magic. The Zombie will also know some of the skills that the corpse possessed.

Congratulations!

You have reached levels 4 and 5 for defeating [Skeleton Archer]!

Because of your accomplishment, you have been awarded two points to Wisdom, and given 8 points to distribute between stats.

70% to next level.

In addition, you may now access guild functions as a result of becoming level 5. Think ‘guild’ to activate the menu.

My mind was reeling from all the notifications I’d received. This was amazing! We could form a guild now! I quickly thought guild, but nothing happened. A prompt appeared telling me that I could not form a guild unless I had at least 3 other members of at least 5th level. Although disappointing, I wasn’t particularly surprised. What good was a guild with one person, especially if there were benefits associated with it?

I informed my friends of the changes, dumped 7 points into wisdom and 1 into intelligence, then immediately began casting [Create Skeleton]. Upon completion, bones from various corpses swirled through the air, forming a humanoid soldier completely subject to my will. My undead soldier snapped to attention when the final bone flew into place. I punched the air and gave a shout of delight. I waited for the cooldown to expire and cast my spell again. Once more, a skeleton formed nearby. I ordered my new soldiers to march around the room, my eyes following them with delight. I cast my spell again and again, a total of 6 times before the bones ran out. Apparently, I couldn’t use broken bones to form skeletons.