Necromancer

A Royal Road Fan Fiction

By: Halosty

Chapter 8

The first part of the plan that didn’t involve killing anyone went very well. Quietus visited the morgue (everyone there was already dead so they didn’t count). Then he went to the alchemists to pick up some ingredients to practice with. Practice was going very well, until he was significantly a little careless with the mixing of some things. The last thing that he remembered before dying in the toxic fumes was that it smelled vaguely like mint.

This, then, was the second death of Quietus. Although technically his plans were still fine, because although he didn’t plan to kill anyone at that time, he didn’t specifically plan to not kill anyone. However, it did kind of ruin the part in which he would be playing Royal Road. Instead, plans changed to sleep.

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In the morning, over breakfast, Mortimer informed his parents of the sport he wished to partake in. Well, if he had to participate in anything at all. He was actually hoping it was obscure enough that he wouldn’t be able to do it. If his parents couldn’t meet his “request” he would likely not be required to do anything sport like. Even if they somehow found someone to teach him the “sport” he had requested, well, at least he wasn’t entirely uninterested in it.

After a normal day at school(well, normal for Mortimer anyway), Mortimer attended to his homework, which went significantly faster now that he wasn’t making up for about a week’s work at once. Dying may not be good for his fun, but it was turning out to be good for his grades, and indirectly his parent’s approval. If they were happy with him, he could do whatever he wanted, which was to play Royal Road. He wasn’t sure why it was so fun, except that it was not real life. That, and he also got to learn interesting things without consequences to his actual well being.

Then, it had been twenty-four hours after his death. Mortimer only had a few hours to play, because he had to start late, but that translated to much longer in the game.

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Although he was again back to level 1, Quietus was excited about his time today. It was a special occasion. Specifically, he could now leave the city. Nothing would distract his attention from his goal, to kill a rabbit. Or whatever it was that was out there. He was focused, and his great concentration wouldn’t be interrupted by anything, not even- well, okay. Maybe that bard.

The bard appeared to have found a group of people to adventure with, at least that is what it looked like from over where Quietus was hiding standing. They moved together towards the gates of the city, talking to each other, so it was a logical assumption. Quietus followed them. He had no reason not to, because he was stalking the bard could observe their killing techniques. Thus, he unobtrusively followed them.

Quietus did, in fact, observe their combat techniques. Perhaps not as carefully as he could have, but he was distracted by the bard’s skimpy clothes quite a distance away.

His unwavering focus wasn’t entirely distracted from his original goal either, because he saw a rabbit nearby. He thought it would be fun to try combat again, although his one combat had been rather short and bloody. Fun, though.

He knew that rabbits in this game were significantly more dangerous than in real life, since no one could lose a fight to a rabbit in real life. Well, perhaps sickly, paralyzed grandmothers could, but perhaps they would just lose to life itself. Anyway, he decided that he should study the movements of the rabbit to find a good time to strike.

Thus, he lay on the ground some distance away from the rabbit and hid himself (more than he normally did). He watched it hop around with an intense stare. Eventually, he felt confident that he could strike a good blow. However, he wanted to be extra cautious, so he moved to where he thought it might be going, to prepare an ambush. His first few attempts failed, as the rabbit turned off course, but eventually he found the perfect moment.

The rabbit hopped in front of him, almost buried in the tall grass. His dagger, which had been held at the ready, snapped down behind it’s long, fluffy ears with perfect aim and timing.

The rabbit, as most new players would have been surprised to learn, died. Quietus, however, had spent all his money on a dagger, and with his skill in anatomy, the critical hit that happened was even more powerful. Most players would also have been surprised that he spent a few hours watching a rabbit before even trying a swing. Quietus might have been surprised at the time it had taken him too, since he had been so absorbed in the task.

Agility rises by 1 point. (+1 AGI)

You have gained a level!

All at once, Quietus obtained another point of agility and got his level back. He was surprised at the level, but he shouldn’t have been. He had been just on the verge of third level before he died, and was thus a miniscule bit away from second level afterwards. He had, after all, successfully killed a player, and completed a quest. Some quests were even known to give multiple levels, depending on their difficulty.

Quietus now went through the familiar process of distributing points to dexterity and luck, again. This time, he thought, this time they would stay there, and he would get more levels. In fact, it would be quite easy for him to gain more levels by killing rabbits, although probably not at the pace he usually adopted. Still, with practice his speed would increase significantly.

Before he did anything else, however, Quietus indulged his curiosity. He had learned about humans at the morgue, but since monsters were more common in Royal Road than humanoids, he would have to learn what made things different. Thus, he started with the rabbit. A while later, he was satisfied that he had found all it’s major organs, and had a good idea of how it worked. At least, as a base.

Level Up: Anatomy [4]

Increases critical hit damage when striking a vulnerable location by 20%

Now he could go back to killing rabbits and leveling up properly. Thus, obviously, he decided to kill something besides rabbits. Well, obvious to himself only, perhaps. He now considered himself far above rabbits, having slain one in a single blow. He would move on to the next level. Perhaps foxes. He was pretty sure those were next.

Quietus followed the same pattern with the rabbit, hiding and observing, before waiting for it to approach for a fatal blow. It happened much the same as with the rabbit. The dagger swung down, and there was a satisfying sound of it piercing the fox.

Except, it wasn’t. The sound of a rabbit being stabbed is apparently remarkable similar to the ground being stabbed at the same time as a fox bites into soft, fleshy neck. Quietus immediately, although unsteadily, stood up to put up a proper fight. He was quite a bit lower on health than he wished he were. As he was deciding where to place his next blow, the fox bit him again. And again. And again. None of the bites were incredibly dangerous, except the first one. However, together, they added up. Quietus had no armor, and very low amounts of health.

Quietus felt a rather familiar sensation. This is turning into a bad habit, he thought as he died a third time. Oh well, at least I learned something.

End Chapter 8

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