Soulstone: Awakening: A LitRPG novel (World of Ruul Book 1) Read online

  I put it on my head, and as I did, it morphed to fit me like the finest custom job. Good, now if I head-butted a goblin, I wouldn’t dash out my brains.

  It took a few minutes to find my way back to the cache, and thankfully, none of the goblins had respawned yet. A smile crossed my face as I approached the cache and studied it. There was no lock on the heavy wooden box, but that didn’t mean it didn’t have some traps. I tentatively reached down to touch it, and as my fingers brushed against the lid, it slid off and hit the ground with a heavy thud.

  I cringed backward in fear, but when I wasn’t blown to smithereens or struck by lightning, I relaxed and looked inside.

  “Sweet!” I cried as I saw a money pouch, four colored potions, and an emerald the size of my fist. I quickly scooped them up and was amazed to find thirty Rhuvians added to my inventory.

  Fortunately, unlike weapons and armor, the potions were easily identified once they were in my inventory. The green one was a haste potion while the red and orange ones were lesser and medium healing potions, respectively. The purple potion was the only anomaly. It appeared to be a “Potion of the Brave Warrior,” but I had no idea what that was so I resolved to ask Cain about that when I returned to town.

  As I spun on my heel to head back and do just that, a thought struck me. Hadn’t George chided me for not searching around well enough? I turned back and stared at the empty cache. There was nothing else inside, nor anything else in the clearing. I didn’t think I’d missed anything, but I ran my hands over every inch of the treasure box, anyway.

  “Maybe my skill isn’t high enough to find it,” I said a few minutes later. Part of me wanted to stay and check more, but I decided to just head back. The last thing I wanted was for a hundred pissed off goblins to respawn on my head.

  10

  “These are just simple goblin helmets, shields, and short swords,” Cain said, looking over the items I’d shown him. “There isn’t anything special about them.”

  Disappointment filled me to the core as I took them back. Even though they’d all been identified, their stats hadn’t changed. All the swords were still one damage to both large and small monsters, the helmet still gave one armor, and the shield still provided two armor and a fifty percent chance to block.

  None of the gear was particularly interesting, and I resolved to sell the whole lot of it save a pair of short swords and a shield. After all, while I knew how to use a scythe, it was a two-handed weapon, and who knew if I’d wind up having to dual wield or use a sword a shield for a particular quest.

  “Thanks anyway, Cain,” I said, smiling up at the old man as I pulled out the potion of the brave warrior. “By the way, do you have any idea what this does?”

  “Oh, that.” He made a face like he’d sucked on a lemon. “It’s just a potion that increases your speed on top of a haste buff for five minutes at a time. They’re not really expensive, but you can’t use them at the same time as the magic increasing potions. Speed or power, that’s the choice, eh?”

  While interesting, it was a touch irrelevant because I only had the bravery potion, and I had no magic, let alone magic-enhancing potions. Maybe it’d matter at the later levels, but at the moment, it just didn’t. Still, I’d keep it for later. If I ran into another ambush or something, it’d be nice to be able to increase my speed on top of the haste buff.

  “Thanks again, Cain. You’re a gentleman and a scholar.” I smiled at the old man as I began to move back toward the south gate. I was going to go murder some scarecrows since it was easy, and then when they were all dead, I’d head back out the north gate.

  “Say, if you’re looking to find monsters that drop better gear, the gnolls on the north side of town drop boots and armor.” He looked me up and down. “Right now, you’re only using a cloak and a helmet, so you can still equip quite a lot of stuff if you don’t mind looking a bit silly.”

  “Good to know,” I said, waving to the kindly old man. If the gnolls were like the goblins, even just killing one should reward me with whatever they dropped. A thought struck me as I exited the south gate, pausing only long enough to say hello to both Roy and Nantucket. What if all the different humanoid monsters around the newbie area were designed to drop items for particular equipment slots? Maybe the goblins dropped helmets, shields and swords, the gnolls dropped boots and armor, and something else dropped gloves and pants? It seemed reasonable. I’d have to explore it later.

  For now, I had some scarecrows to demolish. Unfortunately, it took even less time than I’d expected, and each one only gave me one percent of my level so that by the time I was done, I was only ten percent closer to level four. Still, it was better than nothing.

  A sigh escaped me as I headed back toward town. If I wanted to level fast, I’d have to fight more monsters out in the field even if it was more dangerous. It was either that or wait here for scarecrows to respawn for the next couple of hours. No wonder Ivan hadn’t come back. If he expected me to stay here until level five, it’d take forever.

  As I re-entered the gates, Roy called out to me, “Already bored with the scarecrows? I thought you’d want to stay there after the goblins tried to whoop your ass.” A conspiratorial smile spread across his features. “Marth told me.”

  “No one ever won anything by being scared,” I said, trying to force down the anxiety swirling in my gut. So far, I’d had only a couple encounters with monsters, and they’d all been pretty horrible. This game was definitely not on the player’s side, but at the same time, I had to push past it. No one was going to help me get stronger. I had no high level friends here to give me gear. I had to do this myself and to do that, I had to push past my fear. “Say, do you know where I can sell some drops I got?”

  “Sure, Dora has a little kiosk on the west side of town beside the bakery. She’ll buy whatever you find.” With that, Roy waved at me, and I headed west to dispose of my wares.

  It didn’t take long to find Dora because the town wasn’t very large. She stood next to a giant covered wagon filled with glowing red baubles, squawking birds every color of the rainbow, and glinting weapons. A huge black cauldron bubbled off to her left and foul-smelling smoke that reminded me of burned marshmallows rose from the swirling pink liquid within.

  “Hi,” I called, waving at a tall athletic woman dressed in a tight black crop top and puffy black MC Hammer pants. “Are you Dora?”

  “Oh, a customer!” the woman replied, fancying me with a come hither smile. “I am Dora. Have you come to purchase my wares or for something else?” An eyebrow quirked up on her face as she came toward me, hips swaying.

  “Something else,” I replied, swallowing hard and shaking my head as she approached and touched my chest with one well-manicured finger.

  “Oh, whatever can I do for you?” she asked, a throaty hunger filling her voice as she spoke.

  “I have some wares to sell,” I replied, taking a step back in order to make space between us. I wasn’t quite sure what her angle was or if she was coming on to me, but either way, I wasn’t about to experiment when Ivan could see what I was doing. The thought of that fucker getting off while watching me in the virtual world was enough to make me shiver.

  “Oh, what have you brought me?” She smiled up at me and ran a hand through her long dark hair, finger-combing it over her delicate ears. “A big sword, perhaps? You seem like the type of adventurer who would have a large sword.”

  “A bunch of small ones, actually,” I said, trying not to blush as I pulled one of the short swords from my inventory and showed it to her. I still wasn’t quite used to the way things appeared and disappeared when I used my inventory window, but it was way better than rummaging around in a sack, that was for sure.

  “Goblin steel, eh?” she said, her interest in me dropping by several levels as she eyed it carefully. “I’d like you to note the pitting and dings on this blade. Goblin steel might be sharp enough to shave the hair off Satan’s ass, but it is about as durable as a wet napkin. I can give you
thirty Rhuvians for that and not a penny more.”

  “Thanks,” I said, trying to appear thankful. I wasn’t sure if that was a lot or if she was ripping me off, but I wasn’t exactly in a position to argue with her. Besides, even if she was ripping me off, I had gotten a whole lot of them, so I’d probably be able to buy some stuff, anyway. “I have thirty of them.”

  She opened her mouth to reply to me, but evidently thought better of it because she simply nodded as I dumped the rest of them on the ground at her feet.

  A few moments later, I’d managed to sell her all the shields, swords, and helmets save for the few items I’d kept and found myself a few thousand Rhuvians richer. I wasn’t sure how much a Rhuvian was actually worth, but I suddenly felt rich beyond imaging. I doubted many new players had managed to sell this many items so quickly.

  As I turned to go back to check the scarecrows once again before heading off to kick some gnoll ass, Dora stopped me with a hand on my shoulder. “Say, would you like to spend some of that hard earned cash? I have quite a few things that might interest you.”

  “Like what?” I asked, turning and glancing at her warily. “Honestly, I’m not even sure what would be worth buying at my level, and I’m not really in a position to part with any money for fun.”

  “Very well.” She nodded at me. “I can see you’ve thought this through, which is why I’m not going to show you any weapons or armor. Anyone who can bring me that many goblin swords, clearly doesn’t need it. Instead, I think you might be more interested in my scroll collection.”

  “Scroll collection?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

  “Well,” she said, drawing the word out as she held out a scroll with an orange arrow painted across the yellow parchment. “This one is called a scroll of return to town. If you invoke it during battle, you will immediately be teleported to the closest town. It can be quite handy if you need to escape death in a hurry.”

  “Oh, that seems rather useful,” I replied, eyeing the scroll greedily. If I had that and things got tough, I’d be able to use it to get away safely instead of dying. Now that I knew about it, I felt sort of silly for having adventured outside the gates without it. Worse, had Ivan really neglected to tell me about an item that could have kept me from risking my life so carelessly? I mean, he’d called me expendable, but that didn’t mean he shouldn’t want me to stay alive as long as possible, right?

  “It is useful and is my most popular scroll. Sure, once people get richer, they buy some of the other scrolls, but this is definitely the one people always carry.” Dora smiled at me. “Would you like to buy one?”

  “How much is it?” I asked, glancing at my wallet. I had about five thousand Rhuvians thanks to selling all those items. I hadn’t sold the emerald which was valued at five hundred Rhuvians, but I guess I could if I needed to. Still, in Titan Gate, gems were used for gambling for rare items with dwarves, so I was going to try to hoard as many as possible in case it was the same here.

  It was sort of weird because while things in Titan Gate definitely seemed to be modeled after Ruul, this place was different enough to make me think they hadn’t had very much information about it when they’d made Titan Gate. I was willing to bet the farther I progressed, the more differences I’d find like the scroll of return to town.

  Then again, there hadn’t been any need to escape in a hurry because in Titan Gate, death didn’t really make you lose anything. That was definitely different from here.

  “A hundred and fifty Rhuvians.” Dora crossed her arms over her chest like it cost too much, and maybe for other players it would have, but I’d just made a boatload of Rhuvians. A hundred and fifty Rhuvians to spare me the chance of dying? I’d do that all damned day.

  “Awesome, I’ll take ten,” I said, and her mouth fell open like she didn’t remember she’d literally just paid me almost five times that amount.

  “Very well,” she said, eyeing me like she should have quoted a higher price. A moment later, my pocket was noticeably lighter and ten scrolls appeared in my inventory. When I walked back toward the south gate, I noticed she was too busy counting her money to stop me.

  11

  With the scarecrows defeated once more and with another ten percent experience under my belt, I headed back toward the north side of gate so I could try taking on some gnolls. Hopefully they weren’t as bad as the goblins.

  “Hey, Gereng, fancy buffing me?” I asked as I walked up to the old man. My haste buff was just about out, and while I could have used the haste potion I’d gotten as a drop, I wanted to save it in case the buff ran out while I was in the field, or you know, sell it.

  “Man, seriously, again?” Gereng glared at me and my clothing started to smolder again, but I tanked it because he was an NPC designed to help me. “I hope this isn’t going to be a thing.”

  “I just can’t help it, Gereng. Your buffs are the best. I’d totally have died without your help,” I replied, smiling brightly at him because it was always best to meet grumpiness with unwavering cheer. “I just fell off the turnip truck, so you’re pretty much the only thing keeping me alive.”

  “Well,” Gereng said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully as he eyed me, and I could almost watch the ice around his heart melt slightly. Did flattery work on him? Interesting. “I guess I could help you once more.”

  He waggled his fingers at me, adding another thirty minutes to my haste buff. As he did it, I smiled like an infatuated schoolboy and bounced a little on the balls of my feet.

  “Wow, this is great!” I exclaimed, filling my voice with exuberance. “I think I’m even faster than last time! How did you get so good?”

  “No one ever notices the effort I put in. They just want their haste buff so they can move on.” Gereng plumped up with pride like a prized turkey. “It’s getting to the point where I sort of hate adventurers.”

  “Well, I appreciate it,” I said, smiling brightly at him. “If there’s anything I can ever do for you, please let me know. I’d be happy to repay the favor.”

  “Really?” Gereng said, and the look of glee that spread across his face scared me a little. It was like no one had ever offered to do something for him before. That might not end well. Still, I didn’t want Gereng to dislike me since the haste buff was pretty valuable. I’d noticed I was almost fifty percent faster when hasted.

  “Really,” I affirmed, walking toward him and offering him my hand. “Is there something in particular you need?”

  “Yes, actually.” He looked me up and down and sighed, the smile dropping from his face as he stared at my hand. “But you’re not actually strong enough to help me. If you can, please come back when you’ve reached level four. I’ve got a surprise for you.” With that he cackled eerily.

  “All right,” I said, shaking my head at the old man as I dropped my hand to my side. “I’ll come back once I’ve reached level four.”

  “Thank you!” Gereng beamed at me, and then before I could say anything, he cast haste on me two more times. The timer in the corner shot up, adding another hour of haste to the time I had. Sweet!

  “You’re the best!” I replied, glad my flattery was working. Now I’d just need to level up and come back. Hopefully whatever he wanted wouldn’t be too hard, but at the same time, I was willing to bet if it was too difficult, I could just level up until it was easier. Even if I couldn’t do it, this was the newbie area. Chances were good that once I left the Town of Silver Gables, I’d never see Gereng again.

  “I know, but I do like hearing it,” Gereng said as I moved past him and waved to Madagascar and Marth, the gate guards.

  “Please try not to bring us anymore goblins,” Madagascar said as I stepped foot onto the grassy plain outside the gate. “It’s not cool. Seriously.”

  “Will do,” I said, nodding to each of them by way of acknowledgement. “Also, which direction are the gnolls?”

  “They’re that way,” Marth responded, pointing to my left where a dirt trail weaved off into some brush.
“Just go about half a mile down the path until you come to the mud flats, and you’ll find their encampment. Be careful though. They’re tribal, so if you hit one, all the ones who see you will attack.”

  “The kobolds are also tribal, but they won’t help the gnolls and vice versa,” Madagascar added helpfully.

  “Cool, thanks guys,” I said, waving at them once more and moving on to find the gnolls. It didn’t take long for me to follow the trail to a clearing where gnolls and kobolds wandered around. The grass had ended long ago, leaving a barren wasteland of mud that squelched with every step the creatures took.

  From where I stood on the edge of the path, there were three kobolds and about six gnolls. I wasn’t sure what level they were exactly, and I couldn’t remember from Titan Gate. A sigh escaped me because I really wished Ivan would have given me more information. He was seriously the worst handler ever. Next time I saw him, I was going to get the down low on every monster in the area.

  Still, I’d taken on three goblins by myself with relative ease before I’d gotten jumped and had to resort to having the guards help me. Unlike then, I had another level and a helmet. I was going to try my luck with the kobolds. If things went south, I’d use my scroll of return to town.

  I stepped off the path, trying to make myself look as unimposing as possible, but I needn’t have bothered because the gnolls and kobolds barely even glanced in my direction. It was a stark contrast to how the goblins had acted, but then again, maybe this was where I’d supposed to be hunting?

  As I pulled my scythe off my shoulder and settled into a fighting stance, a thought struck me. When I’d used my scythe on my rogue, I’d had a skill called Blade Rush. Basically, I pointed one hand at the enemy while gripping the scythe high over my head and rushing forward. With every step I took, power would get concentrated in the weapon causing it to all get unleashed in a massive swing. It was sort of a bad skill because it left you totally open to attack while doing it, but I’d used it a lot as an opener on both raid bosses and normal monsters because they weren’t attacking me when combat began.