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

“Thanks!” I said, smiling at him. “What do you need me to do?”

  “Just stand there and shut your eyes while I probe your mind. This will hurt a lot.” Cain grinned at me. “But only for a second.”

  “Wait, what?” I asked as Cain touched my forehead. There was a flash of light and sound and my ears popped like I’d gone up a mountain. Then indescribable agony ripped through my soul, set it on fire, rolled it in broken glass, and made it fist fight Steven Seagal.

  “You have learned the magic spell, Identify. It can be used to identify items in the field,” Elizabeth told me as I shook my head in confusion because her voice felt like someone had slugged me in the brain.

  I blinked, trying to ignore the pain throbbing in my temples because, while it was fading, it was taking its sweet time. Was learning magic really that painful? If so, I was definitely not becoming a mage. Fuck that shit.

  “See, was that so hard?” Cain asked, looking me up and down, while trying not to laugh.

  “Yes, actually,” I said, covering my ears with my hands because he was too loud, and the surrounding street was too loud, and that fucking bird overhead couldn’t keep its damned mouth shut, “but I thank you for it, anyway.” I tried to smile and failed. It hurt way too much.

  “Well, I’m glad you’re a good sport about it.” Cain shrugged and put a hand on my shoulder. “No one ever wants to learn identify. They’re just pussies though. Real men learn identify.” He pumped a fist.

  “Wait, is identify a particularly painful spell or something?” I asked, confusion filling me as I watched him gesture menacingly at nothing in particular.

  “Well, I had to download all the items in Ruul to your brain so you’d be able to recognize them. It’s a lot of stuff to keep in your brain.” He shrugged at me. “You can’t acquire that much knowledge without pain. It’s probably the single most painful spell to learn in the whole world. By a huge margin.”

  “Awesome,” I muttered, wishing I had a bottle of ibuprofen. Still, I knew the spell now, and that’d make visits to the field much easier. No pain, no gain I guess. “Well thanks for the splitting headache.” I waved to him as I made to head back to Gereng. “Mind if I catch up with you later? I need to go find a dark place and lay down for a while.”

  “Sure, have fun,” Cain said, waving to me as I moved back toward the gate. I had half a mind to sell the few items I had acquired, but it seemed pointless since it was only a little and likely not worth much baring the club. Besides, I was willing to bet a player would pay more for it. You know, assuming I could find one. So far, I hadn’t seen another player at all. Then again, maybe there weren’t that many here.

  A few minutes later, I arrived at the gate. Gereng stood there looking as sour as usual. Still, he brightened noticeably when he saw me, and I’m not sure why, but it pleased me. If everyone looked at me the way Gereng did at that moment, I’d die happy. Well, that wasn’t true, but I’d be slightly less annoyed at dying.

  “I see you’ve managed to get strong enough to help me,” Gereng said as I approached him and the cheer in his voice surprised me. I hadn’t known he had a happy mode. “Would you still like to do so?”

  “Yeah, that’s what I came to see you about,” I replied, smiling at him as I approached. As soon as I spoke, he started to beam at me. It was almost like he’d thought I’d refuse, which was weird. I mean, I might refuse, but not until after I’d heard what he wanted me to do.

  “Great!” He looked me over for another minute before taking a step closer and covering his mouth conspiratorially. “I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but there is a war going on between the demons and the undead. As they fight for dominance, our world is caught in the balance. I’ve been trying to divine a way to keep this town safe but have hit a stumbling block. See, I require a few things to make my divination a success. Will you acquire them for me?”

  I looked at him for a long time. I always hated delivery style quests because it always seemed like it took forever to go into the field, find some kind of quest item and bring it back. I mean, when I killed an ogre, it spilled tons of blood on the ground so why was ogre blood so rare?

  In Titan Gate, I’d literally killed over fifteen thousand ogres before I got one to drop a vial of blood that was supposed to be only a one in one thousand drop. I knew because I had a counter mod that kept track of the kills and drops of all the monsters I’d fought.

  Still, this wasn’t Titan Gate, and most monsters here seemed to drop everything they had on them when they died. If I needed gnome nut sacks, I could just cut them off a gnome, assuming, of course, it didn’t burst into shards upon death. Besides, who knew what I’d get for helping?

  “I’d be happy to help. In fact, I’ve been looking forward to it,” I said, nodding at him as I spoke. I wasn’t sure what the war between the undead and the demons had to do with anything, but I filed it away for later. “What do you need?”

  “I require the skull of a skeleton, the nail of a ghoul, the claw of an imp, and the tail of a devil,” Gereng said, cringing like he thought those monsters would scare me. Truthfully, he might have if I knew anything about them. I mean, I’d fought raging ghouls and twilight skeletons in the Tower of Punishment, but that was a pretty high level area. This was a newbie zone.

  “Well, I’d be happy to try to find those things for you. Hopefully, it won’t take too long,” I said, hoping he’d elaborate on the difficulty of the quest.

  Instead, he steepled his fingers. “I’ll understand if you’ll want to get a bit stronger before you complete my task. All of those monsters are stronger than you. Imps are the lowest level creature and they are level eight.”

  “If that’s the case, why did you want me to be level four before taking it on? I mean, I’m actually level five now,” I said, kind of annoyed with the guy. I mean, I’d exceeded his quest prerequisites, and I was still too weak? Lame. Guess I should have stayed with the gnolls. I mean, I could probably take an imp, but if it was the weakest one, this wasn’t going to be completed anytime soon.

  “Oh, that’s right, I almost forgot,” Gereng said, smirking at me like an absentminded grandfather. “Because of your wisdom, you can learn level one spells, right? I want to be able to teach you some magic before you went off. That way you’d be more likely to succeed.”

  “Wait, you’re going to teach me some magic?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at the old man. Part of me was worried. After the deal with identify, I was hesitant to learn anything. Still, that was the worst one right?

  “Yes, I fancy myself as something of a teacher.” Gereng shrugged and gave me the look my teachers often did when I didn’t understand some complicated concept they’d been doing for a decade.

  “That’s great!” I exclaimed excitedly.

  In Titan Gate you couldn’t mix magic and skills very much. Each class had their own stuff, but evidently that wasn’t the case here since there weren’t classes in the traditional sense. This game seemed to be all about stats. I knew players would probably focus on one thing and allocate their skills accordingly. Knowing a lot of different things would leave you room to master none.

  I wasn’t in that boat, at least not yet, anyway. I had equal ability at everything thanks to my perfect stats. I could likely become a strong mage and a strong warrior!

  “It’s really not that hard to learn beginner spells. I just touch your forehead, turn your brains into mush, and you learn magic. Easy as pie. Well, an easy pie like chocolate cream, not a complicated one like lemon meringue.”

  “Um… okay,” I said because I’d never made any pies and had no idea how hard it was to make either one. Still, his thought made me glance at my stomach. So far I hadn’t had to eat anything or sleep thanks to my constant leveling, both my stamina and satiety gauges were constantly refilled. I guess eventually I would have to learn how to cook or find someone who did to stay full, but at the same time I was a brain in a box. Out in the real world, I was probably being fed a delightful nutrient solution. />
  Still, I made a mental note to ask Dora about buying some food when I sold her the drops I’d acquired. For now though, it was time to learn magic.

  “Ready?” Gereng asked, reaching out and touching my forehead. As his wrinkled fingers pressed against my flesh, heat like a bad sunburn exploded across my skin. I shrieked slightly as Gereng’s grin filled the entirety of my vision. Then images flashed through my brain so quickly it was crazy. It was like watching one of those training montages in fast forward, only I was doing the movements, so that by the end of it, I was winded.

  As I stood there huffing breath, I decided I didn’t want to be winded. Admittedly, it was mostly me being an ass to the game, but just like that, I wasn’t tired anymore. Crazy

  “You have learned the magic spell, Heal,” Elizabeth said, a surprisingly pleasurable note in her voice. “It can be used to restore a percentage of your health. You have learned the magic spell, Energy Bolt. This spell fires a small projectile of air-type magic at a single opponent. You have learned the magic spell, light. It can be used to light up a darkened room. The light will follow you as you move.”

  “Wow, thanks!” I said, glancing at my skill window. Energy bolt seemed like it was definitely going to be useful for targeting difficult monsters, but I was really excited about Heal. It only cost four mana and would drastically help me face more difficult monsters. Yep, I was definitely going to track down the imps, and who knew, maybe I’d level up faster.

  “You’re very welcome.” Gereng said and moved like he was going to walk away. “When you come back, I have some more spells I’ll teach you.”

  “Or you could teach me them now and further ensure my chances of success,” I replied without thinking. For a second, I was worried he’d get mad at me, but instead, he just looked at me like the idea had never occurred to him.

  “Actually, that’s an excellent idea,” Gereng said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “But if I did that, there wouldn’t be much of a reward for when you finish.”

  “Well, what if you give me all the level one spells you can, and then when I finish, you give me level two spells?” I smiled at him as best I could. “I’m sure a mage as talented as you knows level two spells as well.”

  “Yes, actually, I could teach you level three spells if you were strong enough. Unfortunately, that is my limit. No mage can transfer the knowledge of spells past level three. For that, you’d have to find a magical spell book…” Gereng took a deep breath as he mulled it over. “Very well, I shall give you the remaining level one spells I know, and as a reward, when you complete this, if you are at least level eight, I will give you level two spells.”

  “Excellent!” I said, making a mental note to stay on the lookout for spell books. Even if I didn’t use them, I was willing to bet they’d be quite valuable.

  “I’m glad we could come to an agreement,” Gereng said, reaching out toward me once more. “But please, make sure you succeed. All others who have tried have failed. It is of the utmost importance that you succeed. The balance of the Town of Silver Gables depends on it.”

  As I studied the old man, I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. I mean, I was in the Town of Silver Gables, but it was a newbie area. Surely, I’d be able to leave the town before whatever it was happened. Then again, this seemed like exactly the type of long chain quest people would skip in order to progress to other areas of the game. If I really wanted to find all the soul stones, I couldn’t afford to leave even a single stone unturned. No, I’d have to try and finish this quest.

  “I will succeed,” I said as Gereng touched my head. There was more heat, but like last time it was over in a flash. This was nothing compared to learning identify. Maybe I would be a mage after all.

  “You have learned the magic spell, shield. It allows you to place a magical shield worth one armor around yourself. This spell will automatically renew itself every thirty minutes at a cost of one mana,” Elizabeth told me. “You have learned the magic spell, Holy. It will allow you to increase the damage of your weapon by one and increase the chance to hit by ten percent. This spell will automatically renew itself every thirty minutes at a cost of ten mana.”

  “Wow, thanks!” I said, hastily casting both on myself. Two icons appeared next to the haste icon in the periphery of my vision.

  My mana dropped, but not that much since I now had almost a hundred and twenty mana. Besides, it’d regen shortly. The downside to using both spells would be if I happened to need the mana when they renewed, but at my level it seemed unlikely. Still, maybe I should have staggered them fifteen minutes apart. If I learned more, I’d definitely have to do that. “I can’t believe you don’t have adventurers learn these to start your quest. These are really helpful at my level.”

  “I guess,” Gereng said, shrugging his bony shoulders. “Those spells are good for most fighters, but fighters don’t typically have the mana to use them effectively. The ones who can use them tend to be magic users who don’t hit stuff and therefore don’t engage in melee. I’ll be honest, they’re really not very good rewards.”

  I laughed. “For others maybe, but for me, they’re great.”

  “Good. Now go succeed where others have failed,” Gereng said, offering me a small piece of parchment. “This is a map that marks the location of skeletons, ghouls, and imps,” he added as I took it from him.

  “Well, I guess I’m on my way now,” I said, glancing at the map, and as I did, it disappeared and appeared in my HUD with four glowing red dots spread out in the wilderness beyond the gate. Guess it was time to get to it.

  “Go with God,” he said and hasted me a few more times. Guess he really wanted this quest to succeed.

  14

  As I stepped out the gate, a big burly guy who sort of looked like Zangief dressed in boots and a red He-Man banana-hammock burst from the brush with a zillion goblins chasing him. It looked like he had planned on dragging them to the guards like I had, but as my mouth fell open and my heart hammered in my chest, I realized how stupid a plan it had been. There were so many goblins chasing him that even the smallest misstep could potentially get him killed.

  “Get out of the way!” he cried, seeing me for the first time, his eyes widening in surprise. As his gaze moved to me, he slipped on the slick grass and crashed to the ground with the goblin horde right behind him. A scream of terror ripped from my mouth as I saw him try to scramble to his feet. Only he wasn’t going to be fast enough. Fuck!

  Without thinking, I sucked in a breath and used Blade Rush on the goblin closest to him. I flew through the air, and as the goblin leapt at Zangief’s back, I slashed it out of the air with my scythe, reducing it to glittering shards. My experience bar lurched upward as I grabbed ahold of Zangief and hoisted him to his feet.

  “Fucking run!” I cried, pushing him a few steps as more goblins leapt at him, and I realized they were avoiding me because he had agro. Thank God for small blessings.

  Zangief made it another couple steps as I killed two more goblins, but a third got by me. It stabbed him in the thigh with its short sword, causing him to crash to the ground. More were coming as Zangief kicked at the goblin. His red boot crashed into the goblin with enough force to knock it onto its ass. He tore the blade from his own leg while scooting backward.

  I took down a few more goblins, but I was like a rock in the middle of a river and it was only a matter of time before they flowed past me and took down Zangief. He was totally fucked, and once he was gone, I’d be next.

  No! I wouldn’t let either of us die. Blood covered the ground where the big warrior had fallen, and while he swung his stolen sword, driving the goblins back, I knew it wouldn’t be long before they rushed in.

  I spun on my heel and blade rushed the goblin closest to him. My attack caught it in the back, killing it instantly, and as I arrived next to him, I prepped a Heal spell. My hand shot out as I focused on the warrior’s leg. Golden light wrapped around the wound as he backed up more, which was when I realized he wasn�
��t hasted either.

  No wonder he hadn’t been able to outrun the goblins by the distance I had. Then again, if he hadn’t fallen, he might have made it. Hell, he probably would have if not for me distracting him. Damn, that meant I was responsible for the big lug.

  “Thanks!” he said in a strangely familiar voice as we moved backward together with a horde of goblins.

  “What are you waiting for?” a goblin cried. “Charge! Bury them beneath our bodies!”

  As his war cry hit his compadres, understanding rippled through the horde. The war drums started beating again, and I realized we’d never make it to the guards in time. Not without him hasted.

  “Run!” the warrior cried, turning tail and sprinting with all his slow ass speed. In fact, he was so slow, I could keep up with him jogging backward, which allowed me to drop another goblin as it leapt at us. Unfortunately, no matter how many I killed this way, we were definitely going to be overrun in a couple seconds, and once that happened we’d both be dead in a matter of seconds. I might be able to reach the gate, but he never would, even with his leg healed.

  “It won’t work,” I growled, reaching into my inventory and pulling out one of the escape to town scrolls. I shoved it into his hands. “Use this!”

  “What is it?” the warrior said, taking it from me, and as he did, it glowed with purple flame. There was a loud pop, and he vanished in a flare of purple light which was totally awesome because it left me facing a horde of angry goblins who immediately switched their agro to me.

  “Die!” they cried as I spun on my heel and ran as fast and hard as I could. The gates weren’t that far, and I was much faster than the warrior had been thanks to my haste buff. My feet pounded against the grass as I approached the gate just in time to see Marth standing inside. He watched me with horror in his eyes while urging me to hurry.

  “Watch out!” the guard cried, and as I glanced over my shoulder in time to see a goblin fling his sword at me. I tried to dodge, but the monster was way too close. His sword pierced the back of my knee.