I couldn’t control my breathing. Images of every time I could have died in the game flooded into my head. The first wolf I encountered could have easily ripped out my throat, and I could have died to the injuries on the way to town. What if Kain had decided to outright murder me instead of letting me jump down to save Yolanda? The image of BlightFang popped into my mind, his teeth ripping me to shreds. I looked down at my shaking hands. “Everything is ok Grey; think about this rationally.” Taking a deep breath, I did my very best to wrap my head around the situation.

I paced back and forth, my vision fixated on the floor, my internal monologue taking over. The way I see it, there are only two options. Option one was simple, hunker down in the starting town for the rest of my life. I might find a girlfriend; I could open a shop. Live as a simple low-level shopkeeper, never experiencing any pain or suffering or fear of death. That could be nice. Although one significant issue was in this plan, how long until someone like Kain decides to destroy the starting town? I have seen firsthand that there is no system to stop that from happening, so what would I do? Beg the attacker for mercy? Tell him, “No, if I die, I die for real!” Hell, it might not even be a player; a random event could cause a dragon to swoop down and destroy the entire continent. Not to mention the LightOath paladins might be on their way here to kill me right now!

That brings up option two. Become stronger than a continent-destroying dragon; stronger than Kain or the entire paladin order. Become so damn strong that no other player or monster could kill me. But this plan is obviously dangerous; I need to somehow level up without taking huge risks. This means I’ll have to be careful around other players; Kain is a prime example that other players could cause my death at any second. From now on, I play the game like my life depends on it, because well, it does.

I stepped out into the town square with my shopping list. The town was abuzz today; twenty new players seemingly showed up out of nowhere this morning and were running around like a bunch full of 1st graders on a field trip. I’m guessing it was because the VR devices for the game sold out immediately, and it must have taken this long for another batch to go out. The thirty new people made this small starter town feel crowded.

Shopping with all these new people around was like trying to buy drinks at a crowded bar, but despite having to throw some elbows, I managed. The gold I had leftover from Yolanda’s stash in the church was enough to buy everything I needed to leave town.

I left the shopping area and found a seat next to a group of well-geared players in the town center. I recognized them from when I entered the game, I have no idea where they all disappeared to, but from looking at their gear, these four players obviously did well for themselves. One of the men in the group had a menacing two-handed axe covered in bone and teeth; it emitted a black aura as if it had an enchantment of some kind. The others wore leather and fur armor much nicer than anything this town had in stock. The group’s female player had both hands adorned with magic rings with expensive-looking gems adorning them. I pushed past my jealousy and smiled. It was actually quite therapeutic to see players succeeding and having fun in the game. It helped remind me that the entire player base isn’t just a bunch of assholes like Kain.

Averting my gaze from the group of players, I went through my belongings, double-checking I had every item I needed:

Leather boots, gloves, jacket. Check. Cloth pants and shirt, check. Three health potions, three mana potions. Double-check. Travel rations in the form of beef jerky, Check. And finally, the most critical item, a map. Check.

The dusty parchment showed only a tiny portion of the kingdom of Keneth, but it was enough for the time being. The starting town’s name turned out to be Oakridge, and the Oldman told me to follow the main road out of town to get to FurnCrest. It was a 15-mile walk, but FurnCrest would likely have a better map or at least someone to lead me to the eastern border.

I put the map in my bag and counted up my remaining coins; this day of shopping had taken all of my gold and silver, not even enough left over for a loaf of bread. Forchenetly my first stop is BlightFangs cave; I’m sure he has all kinds of goodies lying around his nest. “I told you id come back for your loot, you damn rat!”

I got up and began to walk away towards the forest, giving another glance at the adventuring party loudly talking next to me. Suddenly, I stopped in my tracks, I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop, but I overheard something disturbing from the happy group of players.

“I still can’t believe the cave had no creatures in it!” The female player yelled to the ax-wielding man.

“I know! All this loot was just sitting around; that was a great find, Greg! I can’t believe you noticed it” The ax wielder said, putting a hand on who I assumed was Greg.

“Come on, guys, The game didn’t even hide it; you give me too much credit! All I did was follow the river. The cave wasn’t even hidden; anyone could have found it!”

My heart sank; These guys stole my loot! I never was the type to cause a scene or even confront someone I was mad at, but this was different, all the pain and agony I went through in that cave. The trauma I endured watching a mutant rat skewer my priestess! They needed to know. They needed to pay. They needed to give me my loot!

I took an aggressive step forward led by rage. I opened my mouth to get the thieves’ attention, but oddly enough, my anger subsided instantly. A memory popped into my head of the first time I played an RPG and how it took my mind off of my horrible everyday life. I stared at the friends who were giddy with excitement over their newfound treasure; I couldn’t take that away from them. Hell, I didn’t even kill BlightFang; Yolanda did. They have just as much claim to the loot as my useless ass. Taking a deep breath, I smiled at them and walked off out of town.

Once I was far away enough from the village, I pulled out my spellbook. I’m not entirely sure why I waited so long to try resummoning Romeo. I looked up at the sky as if trying to find an answer. Maybe I was afraid he was gone for good after dying to BlightFang? Honestly, it’s possible with my arcane spells getting transformed that I lost the ability to summon him back altogether. I shuttered at the thought of losing another friend.

Well, better late than never, buddy. “Summon Familiar!” Sure enough, a blue portal opened in front of me, but something was off about it. Green tendrils of mana surged around it, pulsating and pulling the portal in odd shapes until a familiar-looking serpent came out. The creature was identical to Romeo, but the blue plasma that surrounded him was now a sickly green color. Also, his body was now covered in a thin white exoskeleton with vine-like bones surrounding his body. I scanned him with my gaze, attempting to figure out if he was indeed my original companion. As if sensing my question, He flew into my chest and nuzzled me while making what I can only describe as happy snake noises; yep, he was Romeo.

‘Alert: Lesser Mana Wyrm has evolved into Lesser Bone Wyrm due to Necromancer Class.’

“Well, isn’t that interesting, Romeo,” I said while scratching under his chin. Romeo took his usual position above my head, and I began following the road, next stop FurnCrest.

I walked for a couple of miles, enjoying the scenery. Birds chirped overhead, and a cool breeze blew through the trees. Occasionally Romeo would tug my mana to alert me to creatures nearby, but so far, nothing had jumped out to attack. Still, I had my spellbook at the ready. I kept walking at a decent pace until something came into view up ahead.

On the side of the road were three human men. Two sat down in the shade, and one leaned against a large oak tree, smoking a long wooden pipe. The two men sitting on the ground wore matching grey chain armor and helmets; they both had a small square shield and sword at their hips. As I got closer, they made eye contact with me and stood up. Are they soldiers from FurnCrest? I thought to myself. Before, one of the youngest-looking soldiers jogged at me, hand in the air waving.

“Good afternoon, adventurer! Beautiful day today, isn’t it!” The soldier said, a large fake smile plastered on his face. I couldn’t help but notice his teeth were crooked and yellow as if he hadn’t brushed them in his entire life.

“What can I do for you guys?” I said back to him. I don’t know what it was, but these soldiers made me feel uneasy; I felt an overwhelming urge to run away as fast as possible. Romeo lightly tugged on my mana, confirming he also felt something was off.

“What can YOU do for us? No, no, no adventurer. Ask me what WE can do for you! You see, we guard this road; keep it nice and safe-like for folks, folks like you, adventurer. Bet you haven’t seen one monster the entire time you been walking, all thanks to us, that is.” The soldier beamed with pride. While we talked, the other soldier had circled behind me, the third still smoking his pipe against the tree. I had no idea what to say.

“thank you?” I said, glancing at the man a bit closer. Now that he was up close, I noticed his armor was a bit rusty and old. The pants he had on had holes and mud all over them. Nothing too unusual for soldiers fighting monsters, but the way this soldier acted made me nervous. The three of them seemed more like bandits than soldiers.

“Your very welcome, friend! It’s so nice to be appreciated for once, ye know? I hate to ask this, I really do, but we forgot to pack extra rations. You wouldn’t have any spare food in that pack of yours, would you?” As he spoke, he put a hand on my bag.

I recoiled away. “No, I don’t. I’m sorry.” I attempted to step around him when the man smoking his pipe walked over. He was in his mid-forties or fifties and had scars all over his face. He wore the same chain armor but also wore large fur shoulder guards. On his side was an intimidating-looking butcherknife; He looked like trouble, my skin covered in goosebumps just from his presence. He looked me up and down while taking a long inhale from his pipe. He exhaled, shooting a large cloud of smoke at me causing me to cough uncontrollably. His mouth shot up into a crooked smile.

“Just kill him, lads.”

I immediately jumped back at his words and readied my spell, “Blight Bolt!” A green missile shot out and impaled the talkative solder. The bolt didn’t pierce his armor, but it did cause the other two men to become distracted momentarily. The Blight bolt exploded and left a residual green goo on his armor and skin that started to spread across his body, causing flesh and metal alike to sizzle and burn.

“It burns; help it burns! Get it off!” The soldier screamed as he attempted to take his armor and clothing off his body. So that’s what blight does, I thought, smiling.

After that display, the other two were on me, I managed to evade a short sword swing, but I was not fast enough to dodge the boss’s strike. The butchers’ knife cleaved into my side, causing pain to erupt from my body. I delivered a swift kick to him to make some distance; and ran backward.

“Bone Shackles!” Three skeletal arms shot out of the ground digging pointed fingers into the other soldier’s ankles. Additional arms clawed out of the earth as he fell, digging pointed fingers into his torso, head, and arms, pinning him in place. As he screamed, I felt the pain in my side lessen, and my HP shoot up.

“That’s some interesting magic you got there. Ain’t never seen anything like it.” The boss said after looking at both his incapacitated comrades.

“You wouldn’t have seen anything like it if you didn’t try and rob me!” I yelled as I sent a mental command to Romeo to attack; the small floating snake glowed greener than usual and sent a thick, pointed bone projectile toward the boss. The boss swung upward with the knife and cut it in half mid-air. A wicked smile crossed his face as he charged.

“Blight Bolt!” The green projectile shot towards him. He went to slice it again, but that just caused it to explode in the air. Shooting the green goo all over his body and face. But It didn’t stop him. I could smell the burning flesh and metal as he body-slammed me. The force of his hit sent me five feet back onto the ground. I tried to cast again but couldn’t get enough air back into my lungs to say the spell’s name.

The boss then jumped at me, attempting to finish me off, but Romeo interrupted his advance. The wyrm shot a thick bone projectile into the man’s thigh, causing him to keel over from the muscle damage. Luckily this moment was all I needed to turn the tide of the fight. “Blight bolt” I shot the spell not at the boss but at the soldier who was just beginning to recover from the first blight bolt I shot at him. Since the soldier had shed his armor, the attack met no resistance and impaled his chest cavity, killing him instantly. Having planned for it to instakill him, I quickly followed it up. “Animate dead!”

The body of the annoyingly friendly soldier rose to its feet. All the veins on its chest glowing green from the blight debuff. “Kill that one!” I yelled, pointing at the other soldier who was just now getting out of my bone shackles spell. The zombie pounced on him like a puma. The soldier screamed in agony as his former comrade tore into his neck. The Boss looked at me in horror as he deflected another of Romeos attacks.

“You’re a fucking necromancer! Monster! Unholy swine! I’ll kill you!” The boss yelled as he ran at me again. I took my dagger off my belt I prepared for his charge.

“You’re calling me a monster? Who tried to rob and murder who again?” I said as I deflected his first strike. Observing his swing, I noticed his hand was blistered and oozing green blood; I could win this easily. He went in for an overhand chop which I deflected, but I didn’t account for his left hand, which grabbed me by the neck. He held me off the ground choking me with one hand. His right hand almost unusable from the poison and blight. How freaking strong do you have to be to pull that off? I thought while attempting to pry his hand off my neck.

“If I kill you ill be a hero!” He said while his face gushed out green blood and puss. I felt my life leaving my body as I struggled for air, suddenly my face became wet with blood, and the boss weakened his grip. Romeo shot another bone projectile into the boss’s neck. Not quite killing him but doing enough damage to set me free.

No mana and weaponless, I called out for my zombie. “Kill him,” I said in a raspy voice. My words took a second to register but suddenly, both of the leader’s comrades piled on top of him, gnawing and tearing his flesh. I watched as the man fought for his life in vain, screaming until he couldn’t scream anymore.

‘Level up! Character Level 9 acquired. You have unspent skill points.’

‘Apprentice Necromancy is now level 8.’

‘New Necromancy spell learned: Blight touch. You imbue your hand with magic inflicting blight on whatever you next touch. Mana cost 15, cast time Instant.’

“Thank god, it’s over!” I said, catching my breath. Why were people this strong outside the starting town? Who cares though, I won!

After closing all my messages and looking at my new spell, I noticed the boss had stood up as a new zombie. “I guess zombies can multiply? cool!” The three of them stood in front of me, awaiting orders. What do I do with you three? I can’t take them to town with me, I’m sure the locals will attack me, thinking I’m some kind of evil sorcerer if I tried. But I also cant ignore the fact that they give me a pretty significant combat advantage. “Screw it; I’m bringing them along!”

Continuing my journey, I decided to have my zombie companions follow me while staying hidden in the tree line, Just in case I came across anyone else. Worst case, I could have them pretend to attack me if someone saw them and questioned why they were following me.

It was early evening when I finally saw the front gate to Furncrest. The town was at least four, maybe five times as large as the Oakridge. A large wood wall stood surrounding the town with multiple wooden watchtowers operated by archers. Stepping off the road, I told my zombies to lay down in a large bush and not move under any circumstances. I approached the gate where two burley-looking soldiers stood. They had on the same grey armor as the bandits, but this time had thick green insignias depicting leaves painted on their chest plates and shields.

I approached the guard, who glanced at me up and down. “Another adventure, aye? State your business,” he said sternly.

“I come seeking lodging and work. I have traveled from Oakridge and mean no trouble.” I said as confidently as I could.

He paused, looking at me up and down again before speaking, “Ok fine, you may enter, head down the road, and when you see a sign with a rabbit on it, you are at the local inn. Curfew is in a few hours.”

He glanced at Romeo. “Your familiar, I presume? You need to dismiss him while in the town. Town policy says no magical creatures. And don’t go summoning him back when you get inside; this is your only warning.”

I nodded to the guard and gave the bone wyrm a mental command to wait with the zombies. No sense wasting mana to dismiss then summon him back. Upon Romeo flying away, he opened the wooden gate for me. The inside of the town was impressive, to say the least. On both sides of me were rows of two-story wooden houses. A couple of them hanging for sale signs in the window. Under me was a well-laid cobblestone street, and multiple wooden lamp posts stood all around. As I walked, I noticed groups of players chatting and conversing with the townsfolk; A burly-looking dwarf attempted to flirt with a cute black-haired elf, getting rejected instantly. All his friends then laughed at him. I came to the town square where thirty or forty adventurers stood talking and trading with each other. Vendor stands lined the square selling food, weapons, and goods to eager adventurers. The items sold were many steps above the quality and selection of the starting towns; the best part was none of these are even proper stores! I felt a flow of excitement enter my body as I thought about what exciting items I could find in this town.

I walked through the town square, admiring the number of players present. I kept looking around and sure enough, on my left was a three-story stone building. A large wooden sign depicted a rabbit sitting on top of a beer glass. Painted on it said “The Drunken Bunny Inn” The sound of laughing and shouting poured out from the closed door of the establishment. Taking another look at the sign, I chuckled at the absurd name and walked inside.