Chapter 10 - On Hell’s edge

I woke up with a dizzy head. Playing straight for days is certainly not healthy. I hadn’t finished the quest and logged out after the system message popped up. My muscles were all rusty. At least my back didn’t hurt from all the lying.

The capsule lock opened with a loud thump and after having some trouble with my movement I finally managed to get out. Holidays were to my advantage not over and the atmosphere of the room has not changed over all this days. I made myself something to eat and went to the toilet after I ate a gorgeous bacon sandwich. The shower was refreshing and the water helped to sort out the stiffness.

All healthy and refreshed I grabbed my bag and took out the notice from the blonde girl.

The shop was near my old home so I had to spend some time to get there. To my surprise the hundreds of meters merged into mere minutes.

The sun was already up and it was very hot for a winter. It was so hot that my skin began to be red as I got to my old home. The shop was not far from here, just around some corners.

I realized that I should have called but I was already here, so why not go there without calling and surprise her. After another short jog the shop came into my sight. To my disappointment were the windows closed and the door locked. I couldn’t see anyone inside and there was no sign of anything living in there. The opening hours clearly stated that it should be open by now. It was noon.

After waiting for some time I realised that waiting wouldn’t help me with this matter.

I got an idea. If I learned something in RoyalRoad then it is how to interrogate with other people.

Another disappointment was that there were none around here.

I went next door and used the doorbell. Sometime later I sat inside with an old lady watching my every step. “Do you want a cookie or something? If I had known that such a young and cute looking boy would be coming today, then I would have prepared something. I normally don’t get any visits...”

The old lady really seemed lonely. “Ahh, I have to say that I only wanted to ask you something. Sorry for the disappointment.”

“Kids nowadays,” she sighed but continued,”anyways, what is it that you wanted to ask of me?”

‘Oldies nowadays. First inviting me in without asking what I want and then wondering why I wouldn’t stay for long.’

“Well you see, the shop right next door, do you by any circumstances know why it is closed at the moment?” ‘It really was weird’

She turned her head around as she looked up from the oven.

“You mean the young ladies shop?”

“Yeah exactly that one. I wanted to visit her.”

She seemed to think about something.

“I sold her some of my belongings and wanted to check in if she still has them.”

Her face got happier all at once.

“Well if it’s that, then I could help you as well. The girl is my granddaughter, and the shop once belonged to me.” ‘What a surprise!’

“It’s really not that important-”

“It has to be important if you ask random people around the corner for it. So come on child, I do you no harm.” ‘What a weird lady’

As she went downstairs, I followed because I definitely had no other choice.

“So, when did you sell your stuff to my granddaughter? She’s a beautiful lady isn’t she?”

“You still haven’t answered my first question?” I lend the old lady a hand on the way down, but she just snipped it away.

“What do you think of me! Definitely I am not too old to walk alone. And the answer for your question is: that I don’t know where she is. She just... she just vanished over one night last week.”

“She just vanished? What do you mean with that”. I was speechless.

“Well, like I said, she just vanished. Don’t you read newspapers? It stood all over them. Maybe not on the front but still.”

‘Well, reading newspapers in real life is hard if you are playing straight RoyalRoad.’

“Nah, somehow I haven’t found any time for that lately.”

“How’s that?” She stood there questioningly.

“Well, how can i put it... I played a certain virtual reality game. You haven’t heard of RoyalRoad or?”

I could have slapped me for that question.

‘Everyone has heard of RoyalRoad!’

“What do you think of me... Like every other person I have heard of RoyalRoad but to some extent I am wary of these things. Which is why I haven’t played RoyalRoad yet. But as you can imagine my granddaughter played RoyalRoad. Hmm, what was her name again inside the game...?”

“Because of that I am here. She said at the door that she plays RoyalRoad as well, the funny thing is that we started in the same area or were at the same area last week.”

“Really? Ah my memories aren’t the best the last days. Unfortunately I can’t remember her name.”

There was a small break - we stood inside the doorway that lead out.

“You just said that you came here because of that? So, you don’t want your things back or?”

She chuckled as she saw my face get red.

“Ehmm, … well...”

She laughed out loud. “You don’t have to feel ashamed. My granddaughter really is beautiful and there were many guys here that I didn’t like as much as you.”

“Okay then -”

“Ah, wait. Could you help me with the trash upstairs?”

‘I definitely don’t have time for that’

“Yes, sure. I can at least offer you some help in exchange for the information. Could you call me if informations about your granddaughter comes up?”

I handed her my phone number and we went upstairs again. We entered the flat and I heard rustling sounds as she went into the kitchen. ‘That must be a lot of trash!’

“Come here and help me!”

“On my way.”

The kitchen was formally overboosting with cans, full plastic bags and other trash. At least everything was held in place in a huge box. Some things were lying beside it but the rest was entirely inside the box.

“Ehmm, what’s with this? You said taking out your trash but not taking out trash from an entire army!”

“Well, you see since we buy all the stuff from all the people around here, and I can’t deny anything, trash slowly started to pile up here and since my granddaughter left me here alone, I couldn’t do it. And then such a young and healthy man with such defined muscles as you showed up and I thought that just maybe he would be the one who helps this old lady in such a dire situation.” She looked with gleaming eyes at me as if that could change something about her flattery. She could truly convince someone to do something.

‘What a PERSUADING old lady she is. Really persuading.’

“Well if it’s just this then I could do it.”

“Just this? Ah, yeah I didn’t show you the garage downstairs.” She covered her face with her hands.

“Hmph.”

The work I had to do wasn’t easy. But somehow the pilled up trash wasn’t as heavy as I thought it would be. Surprisingly it was quite easy even though I hadn’t done any workouts. It still took some time to throw out the accumulated trash.

The grandma thanked me one last time, and gave me some cookies. Very grateful.

As I still had no real clue as where to look, I went back to my current home. Well, as far as you could call your school home.

I logged back in.

And got confronted with the vampire popup. I had totally forgotten about it. Let’s see ... I get an agility boost and a night vision skill? Or is it permanent? On top of that I can replenish my health.

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You got infected with Vampirism.

The first stage will give you bonuses on night vision and agility.

+25% Nightvision

Agility +5

You may suck blood to replenish health.

The longer you stay a vampire, the more do the effects do.

Beware!

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What an awesome skill. Wait. It said beware. Beware what? If it only gets better than it shouldn’t be that bad. But normally vampires can’t walk through sunlight or get weakened by it. But on the contrary they get stronger during the night but at night monsters are strengthened as well. So complicated. Either way I couldn’t change anything about it so I wouldn’t think about it. A philosophy that really helps in life.

Now that my condition was stable again and my health replenished I moved forward. The former darkness around me became through my new night vision new dimensions and I could clearly see. The walls were covered with moss at the other side of the hall which meant that somewhere around here is water. My canteen was empty. I had to refill it otherwise I would die not through sharp claws or grotesque traps but due to a dehydration. What a shame would that be!

Time went by as I wandered down the seemingly endless floors and corridors. Some skeletons came upon my way and were bitterly defeated. Did I say bitterly? I meant the way you defeat someone when you don’t want to talk about it afterwards because it would shame the enemy further even in death. Slowly I got the hang with the weapon. Clearly not a master but the beginner time is coming to an end and history. The shining blade coupled with the hilt are an extension of my arm.

A mysterious blue light engulfed the walls at the end of the corridor. It was inviting. It seemed to whisper something nice in your ear, something you wanted to hear for a very long time. I couldn’t identify what it was but...

As I thought about it my body began to move on it’s own. Step after step without my notice. The weird thing was that I laggardly came to the conclusion that the blue light became bigger over the time but didn’t know why. My mind was in a state of - of what? I couldn’t remember. It seemed like the light was hypnotizing me. My mind wandered everywhere but here and as I stood inside the light I couldn’t react in time. A video appeared before my eyes. Not exactly a video but a sequenz inside the game where I could see myself like I am actually inside the movie but couldn’t do anything. Like the grumpy old man who was visited by the three ghosts.

The light begun to cover my entire body. It swept through all my pores and used me as a resonance body. My skin shone bright in a blue tone. My eyes had an even brighter color and were shining too brightly to watch. As if that was not enough did my body began to let out weird steam.

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As I came to my mind, I felt light. Too light exactly and I couldn’t see a thing. Everything was black and white. Tones of gray flickered through my sight but I couldn’t do a thing. Slowly an idea formed inside my head or better said my mind. That’s was my conclusion to this situation. I couldn’t move my head nor could I see my body.

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New Profession: Holy Swordsman

Description: From this holy place of ancient times many strong warriors emerged.

They were holy warriors and fought for the old god Hebereus. But over the flow of time

Hebereus was forgotten. The glory of the past vanished and now only this ruin remains

Do you want to take up the challenge to spread the word of Hebereus?

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‘Splendid. I am a vampire and on top of that a holy swordsman if I accept. That would be hilarious!’

“Accept! I want to take up the challenge .”

‘You can’t accept this offer due your status of undead’

“I said accept! Come on!”

‘You can’t accept this offer due to your status of undead”

‘Goddamnit!

‘Normally this is a place of holiness. But you have disturbed the peace of

this catacombs. As an undead you won’t get the chance to up the profession of a

holy swordsman. Instead the old god Hebereus curses you!’

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Undeniable profession: Unholy Swordsman

Description: As an undead you couldn’t become a holy swordsman and got cursed.

As an undead knight you can cast curses on other beings and use your dark might

to fight the holiness.

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‘What the -’

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Acquired profession: Unholy Swordsman

Functions: All stats + 5, strength + 10, Fame is resetted,

Infamy + 50, your unholy aura disturbs the peace of living beings.

New stat: Fearsome

As an undead being with an unholy aura, you inflict fear on living beings.

The higher the stat, the higher the effect of Fearsome.

Cannot put extra stat points on this stat.

New skill: Curse (Beginner 1)

Enemies being cursed have lowered morale(-10%, -1% per level) and luck(-10%).

The reduction of luck won’t raise as you level up. The curse may be lifted by a priest.

Incorrect treatment may harm the victim. If left untouched, will dafe after one hour ( +5 Minutes per level)

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