Chapter 4 – New Strategies, pets & secret unlocks
Day 2
Since the twins had logged out shortly after our 4 hour ogre hunt, it was just Ren and me.
I decided it was about time we had a serious discussion. We had jumped from attempted murder to sex to blood play to group sex, followed by a merciless beat down of the local Ogre population. It was about time for some first date
conversation. I had the feeling that our relationship had gone off the rails of 'normality' from the moment we met.
Once Ren had opened up the cave for us using earth magic, I said "I think it's time we have a serious talk."
"Did you want to leave me already?" Ren asked looking very much like a kicked puppy all of a sudden.
I ignored the implications of neediness in his hangdog expression to address something I considered far more important. "I just want to figure out some things, I want to know why vampires are hiding underground when I've been half of one
for a day and my stats have already risen so much."
"Oh. That. Did you want the short explanation or the long one?"
"Let's try for the short one to start off with."
"The short explanation is that there are three major reasons for us to hide underground. First reason is that vampires suffer greatly in the sun, the second is that there simply isn't enough blood to go around and the third is the church
of Helios."
"Okay I can appreciate the first reason, the daylight seriously kicked my ass but could you give me a longer explanation about the blood and the church?"
"Certainly. Back in the distant past, when humans ruled the world and there were practically no monsters to speak of, a demon named Sharn rose from the demon realm into the mortal realm. She gave the gift of her blood to several humans
who sought power and they became the first vampires. Sharn and her chosen vampires drained and killed humans with great enthusiasm, at times converting willing followers and establishing a bloody empire..."
Ren drifted off with a vague look on his face, I couldn't tell if he was reminiscing about a long lost past or had lost his train of thought. Either way I prompted him "Then what happened."
"A lot of things, more demons rose & became dark gods along with Sharn, the human population drastically decreased & the appearance of monsters became common place as Thrum the God of War & Abyss the God of Darkness summoned them from
the world's mana. Eventually the God of Light Helios chose a champion, a powerful human warrior bestowing him with divine power. That champion became the first pope of the Helios church. He anointed many holy warriors who waged a holy war against monsters, undead, vampires and the lesser demons until humanity had firmly clawed their way back from the brink of extinction. Helios also put a Divine blessing on the sun to deal damage to the undead & demons."
"I'm lost, if the sun has been set up to do damage to the undead and demons, why do I get a sunlight penalty?"
"Um, because we're part undead & demon."
"I'm so confused right now."
"When Sharn first gave her blood to humans, it turned some into undead due to the toxicity of demon blood & others turned into partial demons. Vampires were the best version of both kinds, part demon, part undead & part human, hard to
kill, with no aging & with the adaptability of humans."
"That's a weird ass backstory."
"I don't know what you mean."
"Doesn't matter, the punch line is the dhampirs are the diluted version of the originals?"
"Normally yes, they don't receive any damage from the sunlight since the demon & undead bloodline in them is weak, as such their vampire aptitude is weak."
"Is that why you're hanging out in a cave? Because you're a dhampir?"
"It's more complicated than that, dhampirs aren't discriminated against the way you might think. There's a prophecy that there will be a legendary dhampir who will lead the vampire race to a glorious new age where vampires rule supreme &
humans willingly submit to our rule."
"Sounds unlikely to me."
Ren just shrugged "I'm in a unusual situation, my father is influential so my failings as a dhampir has been offset by my social standing but vampire tradition states 'blood will out'. I will either prove myself as a useful member by
gaining power from this position on the borderline of the vampire and human world or die."
"Is that why you turned me into a dhampir, to better your odds?"
"It's one of the reasons, I was also attracted by how skilled you were."
"Flattery will get you everywhere. Well now that you have answered one of my burning questions, I should probably admit something important to you."
"What's that?" Ren asked looking anxious.
"I'm a Champion."
"That explains a lot."
"I'm about due to go back to my world & I'll be away for about 12 hours or so. Can I trust you with my body?"
A champion was what the residents of this world called Players as they were considered agents of the gods. We were also called the Blessed, Heroes or Puppets depending on the nature of the resident.
Champions had certain advantages over residents. The largest being unlimited resurrections. Residents had to offer a sacrifice to a god of their choosing, something of sufficient value to that particular god to pay for a single resurrection. This meant that only the very rich or very skilled could afford to ensure their continued existence.
Terminus the God of Death was considered the easiest to sacrifice to for adventurers as it just required the offering of corpses. Helios was the most expensive God to sacrifice to as Helios preferred offerings of gold.
The Church of Helios was more popular as their priests would offer their services in exchange for gold. The priests of Death were mostly necromancers and if you were careless they'd might turn you into an undead instead. Also when you
were resurrected by the God of Death, your alignment would switch to neutral evil.
Champions also received another very valuable advantage over the locals. Champions could pick their first general class at level 1, specialization at level 10 & pick a new subclass at level 50. Residents would only pick their class at
level 10, influenced mostly by natural aptitudes or desperation & specialize at level 50. Their acquisition of new sub-classes was more involved than for a player, mostly involving apprenticing under someone and working with them for
years.
Of course there were some trade offs, Champions didn't live in the world full time, so it was hard for Champions to maintain positions of power over residents when they had to be logged off for a minimum of 12 hours of every 72 hours of
this world's time. Casual players may only log in for a couple of hours in the morning or evening. So Champions may be available for 6 hours to 60 hours of every 72 hours. Champions had a unique standing in the world, they were alternately hated or loved.
The backstory was we had been summoned by the 'Good Gods' & the God of the War (neutral evil) to help tip the balance in the favor of humanity. Humanity had been slowly ground down by the monsters & relegated to one continent of the world by various hostile forces.
Already the continent had two forces gathering power & influence, the Holy Empire & the Undead Empire. The Holy Empire was led by a player who gained the legacy (a divine sword) left behind by the First Pope granting them the status of the Legendary Saint. The Undead Empire was led by a player who gained the Necrominocon & could control countless undead.
Supposedly according to the game's marketing, there was a legacy for several of the classes including legendary alchemists, blacksmiths, archer, assassin & mages. No one knew if it was true or just a marketing ploy to keep players going.
It made me wonder if this dhampir race change was another hidden legacy, or something that would be as commonplace as mages at some future point.
I logged out in sleep mode, my character's body would remain sleeping until I logged back in.
Reality
I logged back into the forums, and deleted the thread about dhampirs, the last thing I wanted was to draw attention to dhampirs now that I was aware that Ren and I might be targeted by paladins of the Helios church. Ren & I had gained a lot of stats last night but I doubted it be much use if a group of holy knights were to team up against us.
It was late Thursday night & I needed to get my regular 4 hours of sleep. Some might consider spending 20 hours a day in a game world to be pathetic but I thought of it as making the most of life. In Trials of Perdition, commonly known
as Trials, I could enjoy living out a medieval fantasy world adventure and experience three times as much life as I could in reality.
Night 2
I returned to the world of Trestan.
While we waited for the twins, Ren and I had sex again. He fucked me... It felt even better than yesterday, which might have had something to do with Ren's higher stats. He pinned me down and fucked me like an animal and I couldn't resist (not that I really wanted to of course).
I glanced at his stats and it had risen to Strength: 950 Agility: 200 Stamina: 200 Dexterity: 200 Intelligence: 200 Charisma: 50 Vitality: 600
His body had firmed and toned during my absence, leaving him looking less like a skinny mage & more like a fit athlete. My own body had improved after the night's hunt, my strength and health had risen, though the effects weren't as
noticeable on me as they were on Ren, since all the swordplay had given my body a firmness already that was lacking in real life.
When Tom and Tim met up with us, Ren showed me a new vampire skill called [Blood Pact], it allowed stats to be temporarily transferred from a vampire to a Blood Thrall.
Ren used it on Tim. He literally cut himself open & concentrated his blood and let Tim drink from him. It was somewhat erotic.
[Blood Pact level 1 has been learned.] [Blood Pact level 1: 10% of the strongest stat can be transferred via the medium of blood, lasts 1 day, minute chance of a small percentage of stats remaining after time expires]
Following Ren's example I used it on Tom and transferred 10% of my strongest stat to Tom, granting him an extra 64 strength for a day. Admittedly it wasn't the most useful stat for a Mage but it would allow him to equip a heavier armor
than normal.
Tim meanwhile gained 95 strength from Ren.
I understood why humans would become Blood Thralls to vampires but I didn't immediately see the logic for a vampire to give up his stats. Ren told me it'd make sense by the end of the night.
We went hunting for Ogres again. I gave Ren some equipment I used to use when I was level 50, chain mail armor with decent defense, a long sword and some bunny boots that increased agility. I also gave Tom some old armor I hadn't sold yet, so he'd be better protected.
The Ogre hunt proceeded smoothly as the Ogres were easier to hunt now that Ren and I both had [Blockade] and greater strength than the previous night. Tom helped a lot too, as the heavier armor allowed him to be less cautious when engaging in battle. He would attack with [Wind Blades] from close and mid range.
I was the party leader again, as I had the highest level of the group & the most combat experience.
After hunting together once before, we had developed somewhat of a working rhythm, Tom would work together with me while Ren worked with Tim. Tim was used to working with a mage so he knew how to distract the Ogres with ranged attacks allowing Ren to practice his earth magic against the Ogres. Tim's extra strength gave his arrows extra stopping power.
Ren used an interesting combination against the Ogres, he'd raise stone walls against the enemies who had gotten too close with [Earthen construction], use it to buy him a couple of seconds to retreat to a safe distance before using [Rock Break] to strike them with mana infused rocks.
Meanwhile I'd attack Ogres with my sword or fangs from up close, draining them and killing them with Tom providing support by using [Heal] & [Haste]. He'd also use [Wind blades] to keep the other Ogres off me while I was drinking.
After draining 100 Ogres each, I had gained another 400 strength and 200 vitality & Ren had gained 400 vitality, 800 strength & 100 stamina. It took half the time it did the previous night to complete the mission so we continued
slaughtering our way through the Ogres until Tim & Tom reached level 62.
Tom put his extra points into intelligence as befitted a mage.
Tom's status page showed up as
Level 62 Mage, specialization Wind Magic, sub-class Magic Scholar
Strength: 50 + (64) Dexterity: 50 Agility: 50 Intelligence: 320 Stamina: 50 Charisma: 50 Vitality: 150
Spells Level 4 Wind blade level 3 Fireball
Level 3 Heal Level 5 Haste Level 2 Tornado Level 2 Wind Armor
Class Bonuses Magic's Bounty – Intelligence results in ten times the mana Masterful Mana Recovery – Mana recovers ten times faster Polymath – Reduced Requirements for spell acquisition, intelligence gained faster
Tim chose to put his extra stats into strength.
Tim Level 62 Warrior, specialization Archer, sub class Marksman
Strength: 150 + 95 Dexterity: 150 Agility: 150 Intelligence: 50 Stamina: 50 Charisma: 20 Vitality: 150
Level 4 Hawk's Eye Level 5 Archery Level 3 Poison Arrow
Class Bonuses Warrior's Health – Vitality results in ten times the health Warrior's Regeneration – vitality is restored ten times faster than an average person Archer's Quiver – When quiver runs low, automatically refills arrows from inventory Marksmanship – Projectile weapons have increased accuracy & firepower
After the hunt was finished Ren & I carried 2 unconscious & undrained Ogres back home to drink tomorrow while Tom & Tim covered us as we progressed to Ren's cave.
I understood why pumping 10% of my strength into Tom was a good idea, it allowed Tom to be a much more useful ally. As a dhampir, losing stats wasn't too big of a deal, I lost 64 strength at the start of the night and gained 400 strength
in return.
After the Ogres had been entombed, Ren asked Tom & Tim whether they would like to stay in the cave as it was roughly midway between the town & the Capitol and close to the hunting grounds. They accepted and after a round of sex, they disappeared after setting the cave as their save point.
When we were alone, Ren said " There's another important reason to use Blood Pact, it helps raise it's skill proficiency and help to raise our blood mastery. At level 2, the effects would last longer & take less out of me & include my second highest stat."
"So two of my stats will be used. How is that a good thing?"
"The more powerful your blood thralls are, the easier they gain levels & the more use they can be in the long run."
"That's a pretty cold blooded way of thinking of the twins."
He shrugged. "It's not like they lose anything from the arrangement, they gain power & when they level we can drink from them again."
"Wait, if that's true then why didn't we drink from them after their levels rose?"
"Not really worth it, we need to wait until their stats are higher & your blood digestion has leveled up. You still have a lot to learn about being a vampire first."
"Like what?" I asked started to feel a little frustrated by Ren's tone of smug superiority.
"Like when a vampire reaches level 5 blood mastery they can resurrect themselves from a drop of blood. The higher the level, the less the penalty would be. If you could get to level 10 blood mastery you apparently become God like."
I decided that it was about time to end the conversation while it was still civil.
My stats at the end of the night were Strength: 976 Dexterity: 210 Agility: 210 Intelligence: 53 Stamina: 210 Charisma: 10 Vitality: 611
Ren's stats were Strength: 1655 Dexterity: 200 Agility: 200 Intelligence: 200 Stamina: 300 Charisma: 50 Vitality: 1000
Day 3 (Game Time) I spent 4 hours in the real world putting in a token effort doing my low maintenance real estate management job. I was a trust fund brat, my dad had scored me a job where I didn't have to put in too many hours and I could still be paid
quite well. It was something to do in between killing virtual monsters.
Night 3
We went somewhere different for a hunt this time as Tim & Tom couldn't come with us this time as they were busy with real world stuff (college classes or drinking, it was unclear as to which one was more likely).
We went to the Doom
Wolves territory, an area with a low tree density dominated by the level 50 Doom Wolves, where level 1-20 demon bunnies abound. This area was popular for raids as the Doom Wolves provided useful materials to make dexterity & agility
boosting items. The level 20 demon bunnies provided material for level 20 bunny boots which increase agility, strength and vitality. It's also a good area to pick up low to mid level mana stones.
Mana stones are items that can occasionally be retrieved when you kill a monster, depending on the type of monster it can be a one in ten chance to one in a thousand chance.
As level 10 demon bunnies are considered boss monsters in the beast forests, the likelihood of them having a mana stone is fairly high when they're level 20.
Mana stones have many uses, they can recover a certain amount of mana instantly, be used to enhance weapons and armors and even recover health or grant temporary effects to players.
The average level 50 Doom Wolves had stats of Strength: 100 Dexterity: 200 Agility: 200 Intelligence: 100 Stamina: 100 Charisma: 50 Vitality: 100
While they didn't improve strength or vitality as much as the ogres did, they did provide small boosts to most other stats. Each Doom Wolf provided 1 strength, 2 agility, 1 stamina, 2 dexterity, 1 vitality and most useful of all 1 intelligence to me. Ren gained 2 strength, 4 agility, 2 stamina, 4 dexterity, 2 intelligence, 1 charisma & 2 vitality for each Doom Wolf.
Ren told me that he was most interested in the intelligence boost as that was the most useful for him as a mage.
Without Tom and Tim around it was a lot more difficult to effectively isolate & pin down & drain the Doom Wolves considering their high agility & tendency to travel in packs. We were also limited in strategies, resorting to a very basic strategy of me tanking with my sword while Ren used earthen construction to create stone walls to obstruct them & protect me and rock break to injure the Doom Wolves.
Ren after using [Earthen Construction] so often to create stone walls learned a new spell [Stone Wall]
[Stone Wall learned] [Stone Wall: raises a wall of earth to defend against enemies or obstruct their path.]
The level 50 Doom Wolves had the ability to use [Gigantism] which tripled their size for 30 seconds, increasing damage proportionately. If they were led by an level 60 Alpha Doomwolf with [Alpha's Roar] which doubled ally's attack power
they became even more dangerous. A pack of 6 Doom Wolves led by an Alpha could wipe out an average player party quite easily.
I used [Heal] on Ren on several occasions and he learned it off me. It was good to know that it could work both ways so I didn't feel like I was just taking from him all the time. We alternated using [Heal] on each other to help counteract the damage we received from being deep into enemy territory with less backup than usual.
After a couple of hours we only managed to drain 50 Doom Wolves each, the bastards were too fast to be easily dealt with in large groups. I gained 50 strength, 100 agility, 50 stamina, 100 dexterity, 50 vitality and 50 intelligence. Ren
gained 100 strength, 200 agility, 100 stamina, 200 dexterity, 100 intelligence, 50 charisma & 100 vitality.
After draining the 50th Doom Wolf I got a surprising message
[You have unlocked Mage class due to meeting special conditions]
I checked out the special conditions, getting another subclass without reaching level 100 was unusual.
Special conditions met Over a hundred intelligence 10 spells learned Taught someone else a spell Become the apprentice of a Mage
I had gained Apprentice class mage as a new subclass, as a result I gained the first benefit of the mage class given to level 1 or 10 (npcs) apprentice mages. However since it was a subclass rather than my main I only gained half the
benefit.
Magic Bounty – Intelligence results in five times the mana
I could also pick a specialization at level 100, such as Blood mage or Earth mage.
My mana pool had grown from 103 to 515, which meant that I didn't need to rely on Ren any more to open up the cave for me.
Ren after discovering my sudden class acquisition said we should celebrate by getting ourselves a couple of pets.
We captured a mated pair of Doom Wolves.
Ren showed me how to use [Soul Contract] & [Blood Pact] in combination to create a Doom Wolf blood thrall. It only cost me 10% of my boosted strength and a lower percentage of experience during raids. (increases it's strength by 102)
[Soul Contract] [Binds a monster to serve as a companion. If treated poorly, it may rebel or abandon user] [Takes 50% of the master's combat experience as it's own, can be resurrected by the master for an equivalent amount of experience] [Can be stored in summon inventory and recalled as necessary.]
His Doom Wolf gained 175 strength
Now we both had our own Doom Wolf Blood Thrall to help us in our next fight. We'd still have to increase their loyalty by feeding them and treating them well.
Ren's stats made mine look pathetic in comparison...
My stats Strength: 924 Dexterity: 310 Agility: 310 Intelligence: 103 Stamina: 260 Charisma: 10 Vitality: 661
Ren's stats Strength: 1580 Agility: 400 Stamina: 400 Dexterity: 400 Intelligence: 300 Charisma: 100 Vitality: 1100