Ubel CH1.6

"Methinks thou art not ready. Search for the quests, and they will lead thou to the dreaded lands of Carcosa. Be warned: those who fight alone die alone in those dreaded lands. Thy inhuman blood will not save thee without preparation. The Kings in art well used to battle their own kind, and thy seeds of prosperity have yet to sprout." Black Rei said.

She smirked at me before picking up a long spear that appeared after I killed the sheriff. I took it and saw a series of requirements and the spear's DPS. While it wasn't bad, I would be a fool to choose close-range combat. I found a ring that summons a mist elemental under my control. It, unfortunately, required far more charisma.

"What am I going to do?" I asked.

"Loot finds its best home in thy inventory."

"Inventory," I said, and a tear in space appeared. I stared at the tear, imagining all the stuff I could store inside it. I could store food in there, and no pests could get to it. Building supplies would remain dry year-round, and it would save so much storage space.

A list screen appeared with practically infinite space.

"Take pleasure in the luxury. No longer will thou require a pack to travel with convenience?" I picked up a wand that could be fed with mana to use a shock spell. The hardwood, slight sparks, and hum of the wand made me feel better. "Methinks my time today has come to an end. Take heed to search for quests and take on mobs to grow stronger. When thy strength reaches the coveted level of 99, search out the bosses within the caves near the Glossy River. A secret dungeon awaits thee with a foe guaranteed to bring thy level to 100 and prestige. Seach for a profession at level 20 one became available." Black Rei said.

She vanished on the spot, leaving me in the woods. With my wand in hand and a cloudy blue robe that boosts my magic resistance and casts a single barrier on me, I walked back.

Goblins jumped from the shadows in trees, dug bluffs behind hills, and from the water. Each time, I raised my wand and blasted them. Thick crystalline balls fired from the wand, opening upon a hit and shocking the green skins. Xp rolled in while I used my wand.

The protection I enjoyed riding into the forest was absent in my retreat.

Level 24 arrived when I reached the edge and slew a stout level 30 goblin. It charged me with daggers, and I blasted it. My stats made my lightning balls truly deadly. The shock spell was simple and easy to abuse by firing them rapidly.

I arrived back to see my sister's hand reaching through the rotten roof of our shack. The key was gone; the door had been opened and closed again. Someone had come here and ventured inside. Another death was my fault.

"I know you aren't here anymore. Black Rei loved to talk mostly to hear her own voice. She made it clear that when you're infected, the King in yellow takes you to his land and leaves behind a husk. Tell me that I'm wrong and there is something left of you in there. Please tell me I don't have to kill you, Marie."

Yellow talons scraped rotten wood away before the creature exposed its yellowed skin and blood-splattered mouth. Her eyes glowed in the eternal dusk that had killed so many crops.

I heard footsteps and turned around to see a man dressed in the fanciest armor I'd ever heard of. He gave me a look over before snorting. "Why bother starting a new game when the server is about to shut down?"