The Crystal Sphere (The Neuro Book #1) LitRPG Series Read online

  The Crystal Sphere

  a novel

  by Andrei Livadny

  The Neuro

  Book#1

  Magic Dome Books

  The Neuro

  Book # 1: The Crystal Sphere

  Copyright © Andrei Livadny 2017

  Cover Art © Vladimir Manyukhin 2017

  English translation copyright © Irene Woodhead, Neil P. Mayhew 2017

  Editor: Zach Lewis

  Published by Magic Dome Books, 2017

  All Rights Reserved

  This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Amazon.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  This book is entirely a work of fiction. Any correlation with real people or events is coincidental.

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  Table of Contents:

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  The MC's stats as of the first book's end

  Chapter One

  A THUNDERSTORM raged over the metropolis.

  The thin strip of electrostatic car wipers was struggling under the torrents of rain pelting the windshield.

  My ancient Rover held the road well. The squat outlines of deserted neighborhoods whizzed past. The disabled autopilot flashed an anxious red light on the dashboard.

  I loved it. The road softly flew past. It was already dark. Flashes of lightning illuminated the urbanscape. Earlier that day, the city had been melting in its own heat, making the expected evening weather change all the more welcome.

  Gradually, the tension began to release me. The stuffy office, the bullying boss, even the realization of the fact that my own life was flashing uselessly past didn't feel as oppressive any longer. Another couple of miles, and everything would be different.

  I touched the communicator to activate it and sent a voice message,

  "Hi Christa, I'll be online in about twenty minutes. Don't be late. We have an instance to do, remember?"

  A bolt of lightning raked at the unfinished power substation building, digging into its latticework pylons and exploding in cascades of sparks. It looked both beautiful and spooky.

  Network connection temporarily unavailable

  Only a year ago, this used to be the asshole of the world. Now the whole area was already consumed by the advancing metropolis. The little town I'd grown up in was already in line for demolition, deep foundation pits gaping along both sides of the road.

  I'd been offered several relocation choices. I hadn't decided on any of them yet. I was playing for time. Tonight I might know. Once we completed the quest, I'd have a serious conversation with Christa. We'd been together for almost six months. We'd been a party, I mean, doing a complex non-linear plot line which was impossible to complete solo. We had twenty-four hours to do one final dungeon.

  And then what? Would we just disband? Was it the time to go our own ways?

  As I pondered over all of this, I hadn't even noticed the last mile flying past. A dilapidated nine-story building filled my headlights, its façade darkened with time. They weren't going to tear it down quite yet. Normally, big developers have little patience for stubborn tenants like myself — and they'd been on my case for a good ten days already. All because of Christa and the quest which had a strict deadline. Moving house really didn't fit into my immediate plans.

  Well, look for yourself. I had a nine-till-five job in the office. I couldn't very easily quit, either, considering I'd just taken out a loan to upgrade some equipment I used. Plus my bank refused to accept Middle Earth in-game currency! They'd told me, in as many words, that this legendary virtual world was rapidly becoming defunct, losing users by the minute. So they'd offered me an ultimatum: either I joined Crystal Sphere — the Infosystems Corporation's latest baby — or I'd have to use my real-world wage as security.

  I parked up by my front door. They'd already disconnected the elevator. Never mind. I could use some exercise.

  The steel door of my apartment creaked, as old as everything else was here. My parents' furniture and choice of design didn't look like much, that's for sure. Still, these modest quarters housed some of the latest cutting-edge gaming equipment.

  A U-shaped console occupied the room's center.

  "Activation," I said, heading for the kitchen.

  The fridge was empty but I wasn't that interested in food at the moment. I grabbed an energy drink and used it to wash
down an upper.

  Tomorrow I might have a proper meal. Why not? I could invite Christa to a café. A restaurant I couldn't afford, but still we needed to meet up, have a chat and celebrate. She lived somewhere nearby: we'd mentioned our respective providers once, discovering we used the same company which meant we were almost neighbors.

  I didn't give a damn about unwritten real-life meeting etiquette. Both Christa and I were responsible adults. It was probably true what they said these days about the latest technologies steering humanity toward extinction. Meaning, all relationships were rapidly becoming virtual. I disagreed entirely. My own parents had met online, and that was a fact.

  A familiar beep awoke me from my musings. The system had booted up. I finished off my drink, stripped down and changed into an elastic suit studded with emulators — a real beauty.

  Welcome to my world where a run-of-the-mill office rat was about to transform into a level-124 warrior!

  Three interlinked curved monitor screens with a built-in holographic 3D function glowed invitingly at the center of the room.

  I slumped into the seat and connected my suit's optic cables to the console.

  Reality faded into the background of my mind.

  * * *

  Middle Earth. Login

  At first, the virtual world appeared on the screens as a 2D picture. Then it expanded, acquiring depth, and enveloped me, surrounding me with high-density holograms.

  For a few more seconds I still could make out the outlines of my apartment; then they too disappeared. Tactile emulators kicked in. My hand got caught on a bramble. A thorn pierced my skin. The quiet rustle of the apartment's environment generator was drowned out by the whisper of leaves. Earthly forest smells wafted in my face. A beetle buzzed past, the sound quickly dying away in the thick shadows.

  The immersion levels were unbelievable. This was as far as the latest gaming technologies could possibly take you. Science just couldn't improve on this no matter how hard they tried.

  I was alone. Christa was late. This wasn't like her at all.

  I looked around me, taking in the small forest glade. The entrance to the dungeon was still sealed with shimmering magic symbols. A scared rabbit scampered past. The ferns next to a mossy cliff swayed.

  A mob?

  Well, what do you think?

  A Werewolf, level 105, the system informed me.

  My peripheral eyesight blurred, framed with a smudged crimson line as combat mode kicked in. The Fury points counter quivered, gaining momentum. Fury points could only be generated in combat in order to perform various combos. They could also be used by certain unique creative abilities only available in combat mode.

  The werewolf howled and leaped out of the shadows into the moonlight. This was a strong and sinewy veteran. His gray hair bristled. His eyes glowed; his jaws emitted a long low growl.

  He wasn't much for me level-wise. He didn't offer much XP but could do a nasty job on my armor. He had this ability called Fire Claw.

  But still... better that than nothing at all. I took cover behind my battered full-length shield which received the first hits. It worked! My Fury bar soared to half way up. The shield's Durability plummeted, but the mob's Energy had its limits too. He leaped back, his flanks heaving. Now was the time to counterattack.

  I let go of the shield. As it thumped onto the rocks, I whipped out my two single-handed swords, stripping the werewolf of half his Life, and rolled back to the safety of the mossy cliff, picking up the shield on my way — it could still take another couple of hits.

  I parried again, building up my Fury count. I could use every point of it later tonight. We were looking at a long, hard session.

  With a ripping sound, the mob broke through my defenses. His fiery claws dug deep into the rock, stripping the moss away and leaving deep scores in the stone. I recoiled just in time, diving aside, then moved swiftly behind him.

  By then, his Life bar was barely glowing: I'd had a Bleed debuff cast over both my swords. After another whack from me, the werewolf convulsed on the ground, wheezing.

  Now I had to act double quick. I had a dozen seconds at the most.

  I always kept a special sharp-edged crystal in a quick access slot. Ripping off the glove, I laid it in my hand, then activated my unique ability, available only to players of my class starting at level 100.

  My Fury bar plummeted as the energy I'd accumulated during the fight was now being channeled into the transparent crystal. Bright red lights flickered, casting their glow over my face. The tips of my fingers prickled.

  You've received an item: Crystal of Fury

  Phew. I'd done it. All that practice had finally brought some results. The ability had a two-hour cooldown.

  The precious stone I'd just created could be used in two different ways. I could either install it into my weapon slot or use it in combat when the going got really tough to retrieve its energy, maxing out my Fury count.

  Weapons with dedicated slots were in fact quite rare. You needed an experienced bladesmith to make one. If you tried to build it yourself, the result could be what you least expected — useless or even harmful — courtesy of Lady Luck.

  With this one, I had five Crystals of Fury — and still I had a gut feeling I might need each and every one of them tonight. The quest chain that Christa and I had been completing over the last six months was obliged to culminate in the mother of all battles. Whom with, I didn't yet know. Those who'd done this dungeon before us had been remarkably secretive about it.

  In the meantime, the werewolf stopped convulsing. The combat mode switched off automatically. I cast a look around, searching for any more mobs, and decided to check the monster for any loot. One never knew, he might drop something worth my while.

  A familiar popping sound filled the air.

  "Hi, Christa. You're late," I picked up the werewolf's heart — a rare ingredient used in alchemy — and turned round only to see a new system message,

  Christa, a level 128 Sorceress, has left your group!

  You no longer belong to any players association.

  I froze in dumb surprise, watching as interference distorted her face. Her name tag modified, then disappeared.

  I was facing a strange woman. This new avatar had nothing to do with Christa even though lots of little details of her clothing and gear were screaming her name. Like the runic bracelet on her wrist. This was a relic item you could neither lose, sell, nor give away. These kinds of items never parted from the player. She'd gotten it off the last dungeon boss we'd smoked. I could still remember her eyes shining with pleasure as she'd read its stats.

  I pulled myself together. "What's going on?"

  "Just finalizing a few things," she replied coldly.

  "Christa, this is the final instance! If you've decided to go solo or join a clan, be my guest, I'm not staying in your way! But we need to close this quest!"

  "I'm not Christa. I'm not interested in her commitments," she quipped, apparently about to log out.

  "Wait! Can't you explain?"

  The sorceress turned round and looked me over. With a sigh, she acquiesced. "I've just bought this account."

  "Why?" I asked mechanically. That wasn't what I was thinking about. Christa had been successfully leveling up for the last two years, point by grueling point. Why would she want to sell her account? I knew how precious she was about her online identity. Oh no: I could smell a rat from where I stood.

  "You're not a newsy person, are you?" she asked indifferently. "There's an action about to be launched in Crystal Sphere. The game developers have made it possible to transfer other fantasy game accounts there. Unfortunately, they cut your levels down but you do get to keep all your gear, skills and abilities. As you level up, they become available to you again. Clear enough?"

  She must have misunderstood my hesitation as she added, "Look it up. I'm off now. Too many things to do."

  With another popping sound, she disappeared.

  * * *

  F
or a while, I sat by the cliff looking up into the starry sky as I tried to digest what had just happened.

  So the final dungeon wasn't meant to be. Six months of gaming down the drain. Apart from the levels gained, that is.

  Christa! Why, or why would you do such a thing? You should have told me! Why would you sell your own account, of all things?

  I just couldn't wrap my head around it. Only last night we'd been busy making plans for the future. Whatever could have happened in the last twelve hours?

  I had no idea what to do. Anger and desperation were marring my judgment.

  Couldn't she have waited another twenty-four hours? We'd invested so much time, effort and money into doing this particular plot line! We'd had high hopes about this final dungeon — and what for? No, no, no. I shouldn't be thinking like that. Something must have happened to her. Christa couldn't have done this to me.

  Then again, why not? What did I really know about her?

  Still, why would she sell out?

  The most logical answer would be: she needed money really badly. A lot of it, too.

  I stood up and looked around me. Pointlessly I touched the slab of rock barring the entrance to the dungeon and ran my fingers over the familiar sequence of magic symbols that opened it.

  You can't enter a dungeon on your own, the system reported.

  * * *