Edge of the Abyss (Respawn Trials Book #1) LitRPG Series Read online

  Many things now made sense. I could see what Savage_Hulk had been counting on. My character would have certainly experienced a succession of short and extremely painful resurrections in a place like this. Best case scenario — I would have gone mad, which is probably what had happened to Jeber_Arium.

  I had been lucky. When I died, I had been resurrected in the closest respawn circle that was located away from the grim portal. The wastewater collector no longer seemed so revolting. Everything is relative.

  In the meantime, things were changing in the cave. The portal began to glow a little brighter and a violet clump of energy appeared in the center, surrounded by black lighting. A moment later, a projection was cast from the almond shape onto the wall, with the stone surface disappearing!

  Warrior figures stepped out of the new tunnel. They were much higher than normal human beings and were encased in armor, with their helmet visors down and their faces obscured. The squad moved confidently forward, ignoring the twisted lumps of flesh. The indigenous inhabitants of the cave showed no aggression. On the contrary, they cowered closer to the ruins, afraid to get in the way of the aliens.

  There came a dull sound and pack animals followed the first squad. They were enormous lizards, boxes and parcels stacked high on their backs. The drivers were tall, humanoid creatures dressed in loose robes that obscured their figures. The caravan moved slowly and unhurriedly.

  I counted thirty lizards, about ten drivers and twenty warriors. I couldn’t read their frames but they were red in color. All I could discern were the skull symbols, which indicated their high level of hostility towards humans.

  …

  You have discovered a previously unknown NPC faction.

  New quest available: On the Path of the Abyss. Find out as much as possible about the network of portals and the creatures traveling through them.

  Reward: varies depending on the discoveries made. Unlimited time to complete.

  …

  The clump of energy in the center of the portal refocused. The tunnel closed but another one opened in the opposite wall. The caravan disappeared into the darkness, the guards following close behind.

  The projection faded a moment later and the stone looked solid again.

  Something viscous dripped from the ceiling and fell at my feet, eating a hole in the stone as it hissed and emitted toxic smoke.

  I slowly looked up.

  Damn it!

  The ceiling was covered in enormous centipedes, also altered by the Abyss. I saw the same ‘???’ in their frames as I had seen in the game logs. So that’s what had sent me into respawn!

  …

  You have discovered a new type of Abyss-altered creature! Give them a name and a description.

  Reward +1 to Fame.

  …

  Postpone!

  …

  You have been poisoned.

  Damage 10 HP/sec.

  Duration — unknown.

  …

  Without waiting for the next venomous spit, I rushed back to where I had come from. The creatures wandering aimlessly along the streets of the destroyed dwarf village spotted the movement and three balls shot off in my direction. One was woven out of greenish necrotic energies, the second hummed with fire and the third left behind a smoky trail.

  I slipped through the fissure, ran through the cave with the amber gum, reached the reassuring dark of the collector and headed for the respawn circle but collapsed before I could get there. The strong venom was quickly eroding my health.

  Everything swam before my eyes.

  I felt feverish and my thoughts were all jumbled together.

  …

  You are suffering from severe poisoning. Your Strength, Stamina and Dexterity are temporarily reduced by 3 points. Find the anti-venom.

  …

  Where? What did it look like? My strength was slipping away and I was horrified by the effects of the venom.

  I could hear a vague rustling in the gloom. There came the sound of creeping feet. Of course. Jeber_Arium wouldn’t miss his chance now. He was going to kill me, the bastard...

  I could see the zombie out of the corner of my eye. He sidled up to me, clutching a rusted dagger in one hand and something gross that he’d found in the pile of refuse in the other.

  I tried to crawl away from him but realized to my horror that I was as helpless as a baby. The debuffs caused by thirst, exhaustion and poisoning had made me an easy target.

  He leaned over me. “Weak...” his whisper raised goosebumps on my skin.

  The rusty but sharpened dagger touched my lips. Fear flooded my mind, erasing the fatigue but clearing my mind for only a second. I was still weak as I felt Jeber lever the dagger to unclench my teeth and rapidly stick something revolting in my mouth.

  My jaw cramped as my mouth was flooded with bitterness.

  …

  You have used a clump of healing moss. The poisoning has been neutralized.

  …

  Well, I certainly hadn’t expected this! I had been preparing to die another painful death.

  Everything kept swimming before my eyes while Jeber_Arium didn’t waste any time and opened my mouth again, pushing something slimy inside. I was going to be sick!

  I couldn’t spit the thing out. It dissolved in my mouth and another system message appeared before my blurry gaze.

  You have eaten a puffball.

  You are no longer hungry.

  You are no longer thirsty.

  HP regeneration speed has increased by 1%.

  …

  A few minutes later, I managed to raise myself off the ground, crawl to the wall and sit there, leaning against its rough surface.

  An unexpected turn of events, to put it mildly.

  Jeber_Arium stood hunched over by the stream and wasn’t even looking in my direction.

  The pity he’d shown me… was it an echo of his past personality or had he really changed his attitude towards me?

  It was an important question. If we became friends, I’d be able to exit cyberspace without worrying about my character. It would also be easier to level up, as well as looking for a way out of here.

  Once I felt better, I hobbled over to the respawn circle. “Jeb, come here and we’ll talk!”

  He didn’t even turn to look at me. Back to being completely withdrawn.

  Alright, I wasn’t going to insist. I had to be careful with him.

  What were my chances of getting out of here? There were only two unexplored tunnels left. Circumstances were forcing me onto a certain path. Publishing my discoveries in the Game Encyclopedia would help me to go up to the minimum required level. I did wonder what the ‘price of Fame’ was though.

  There were still a couple of hours left until the rats respawned so I started looking.

  * * *

  The necessary information was clear and easily accessible.

  Fame was one of the secondary characteristics, clearly undervalued by the modern community of the Edge of the Abyss.

  One could increase Fame using different methods. For example, ‘Famous Explorer’, ‘Famous Naturalist’, ‘Famous Warrior’, and as the opposite, ‘Famous Conqueror’, ‘Famous Thief’, ‘Famous Assassin’, etc.

  The second component (determined exclusively by the actions that led to the Fame) directly affected the obtained effects and bonuses.

  Any discovery could be used in different ways.

  Option 1: You find previously unknown plants or creatures, discover new locations, activate new respawn circles but don’t share the obtained information. You won’t gain any Fame points, but you can sell the information from your map or travel diary (where all the important gaming moments are automatically recorded).

  Option 2: You publish your discoveries in the Game Encyclopedia. The Fame and Experience points (25% of what is required to advance to the next level) are added immediately. When you obtain 25 points of Fame, you get the option to broadcast your adventures live (which can be a source of income)
. When you gain 50 points, you receive an Aura of Fame. Representatives of any NPC faction will then refrain from attacking you immediately but will try to get a closer look at you (this doesn’t include wild creatures).

  Five hundred points of Fame allow you to activate an Aura of Immunity that lasts 2 minutes and takes 24 hours to regenerate. Nobody attacks you when you’re using it but any aggressive behavior from you will immediately dispel it.

  One thousand points of Fame make any NPC faction that you meet neutral towards you and allow you to travel safely through their lands for one hour. After that time, only key NPCs in the location will remain neutral to you while the others (including bandits) will respond to you as normal.

  The Aura of Fame can have different shades. It’s tinted depending on the balance of good and bad actions that you performed to gain this characteristic, as well as your kill rating.

  Importantly, if your discoveries lead to a large-scale gaming event, you gain additional Fame points and (optionally) a unique ability (depending on the scale and direction of the event).

  The opinions on the forums disagreed completely with the Wiki article. There was one post that I found especially interesting.

  I don’t recommend leveling up Fame. Firstly, all these auras are complete garbage. Secondly, always being in the center of attention isn’t great. For example, you can no longer use Stealth and other similar skills. If you’ve reached the edge of the Dark Frontier (all the tastiest discoveries are there), it’s better to sell the information than to publish it.

  I sat and thought it over.

  It was indeed a dubious characteristic for a beginner player. The experience (in my case, 375 Exp) that I would get for 1 point of Fame could be obtained from killing rats. But the higher a character’s level, the slower and harder the leveling up. I estimated that starting from around Level 50, the 25% became worth it. Surely, if you needed 100,000 Exp to reach the next level, it was nice to get a quarter of them by writing in the Wiki about some weird plant or mob that you’ve encountered.

  It was clear what the admins were counting on. High-level players capable of reaching the Dark Frontier had to be motivated to publish their discoveries. Considering that the content mutations caused by the Abyss couldn’t be removed, they needed to be classified as quickly as possible, and under the present conditions, the easiest way to do it was using players.

  I was in a unique position but my level was low. It was better to save the discoveries and publish them later, when every point of Fame would provide a sizeable contribution to the development of my character.

  As I mused about this, my health bar recovered completely.

  There were six hours of darkness left. I still had two unexplored tunnels but I didn’t want to venture in there by myself. There was a chance that Jeber_Arium would accompany me and we’d manage faster and easier if we were together.

  I looked around but he was nowhere to be seen.

  Well, I’d wait until morning. In the meantime, I had some unfinished business to attend to. I headed towards the green glow coming through the toxic cloud.

  The dead end illuminated by the luminescent moss still provoked an involuntary tremble, but I wanted to check what was hidden in the cocoons under the ceiling. Perhaps some of the objects carried by the victims had survived?

  I took a deep breath and tried to knock down the first of the growths with a long stick that I had found earlier. It tore open and greenish debris rained down on me with a clang of metal fragments. A rotting wooden shield dropped down, nearly hitting me on the head, and shattered against the rocks.

  Nothing useful. Fine. Let’s try the next one.

  After a lot of effort, all the cocoons had been knocked down or split open. My head was hurting and my armor was covered in dirt. There wasn’t much loot. My hope of scoring something major hadn’t come true. The tip of a naginata, a broken staff, a bow with no bowstring, several arrows, plenty of bones, a silver amulet on a thin chain and a two leather items consisting of a shoulder piece and quite a curious glove, and that was all.

  Time to go. The aura hovering over this place was starting to make me seriously uncomfortable.

  * * *

  It was cold and damp by the respawn circle.

  Well, let’s have a look. I sat on the respawn stone, which looked like an ancient grinding stone covered in runes. The amulet and glove warranted further study.

  The delicate piece of jewelry on a thin chain glittered mysteriously. I concentrated on it, trying to read its properties.

  …

  Thread of Time Amulet. Item for invocation. Hang it around your neck and touch it in a moment of danger. Perhaps one of the ancient creatures that used to live here will respond?

  Requirements: Intellect 20.

  Warning, if your characteristic is too low or you lack the skill ‘Concentration’, the amulet’s action is not blocked but occurs randomly. Be careful! Read ancient books about how to correctly perform invocations. If you know and can imagine a specific creature, you will achieve a better result.

  …

  I thought about it and decided not to activate the amulet. What if it really worked? I wouldn’t have minded some help, of course, but the chance of a wonderful intervention was abysmally small and it could cause me grief instead. It would be better if I discovered more about invocations and then decided whether I should risk wearing this thing around my neck.

  I examined the glove.

  …

  Incarnation of Flame. A master artifact made from salamander skin.

  Requirements: Intellect 10, the skills ‘Concentration 5’ and ‘Elemental Control 5’.

  Item abilities: Favor.

  Put on the glove and check if you have the potential to obtain the right abilities.

  …

  Of course, I decided to try this.

  The skin of the mythical lizard had become dry and wrinkled from such long and careless storage. The fingers on my left hand felt like something was gripping them hard but then came the sensation of warmth and a new message appeared,

  You have gained the ability ‘Start a Fire’.

  Fire has been known to humans since ancient times. You cannot use the powerful magical potential of the item but you can start a fire to dispel the dark and to warm up.

  You have successfully used the item’s special ability. You have received 150 Exp.

  …

  I immediately started looking around for firewood. I was so sick of the chilly dampness of the dungeon! I didn’t know if I’d ever be able to use the full power of the glove but the ability to start a fire was a priceless gift.

  * * *

  I gathered some dried twigs and tried to get a fire going.

  Jeb appeared on the other side of the creek and watched me from a distance. He was obviously wondering what I was doing but fear and distrust remained stronger than curiosity.

  I arranged the twigs in a teepee and stretched my hand out over it, concentrating on the image of fire as my intuition suggested.

  Nothing.

  My fingers trembled. Perhaps I needed to utter a special word? Or was I rushing ahead and it was better to read some guides first?

  My hand was suddenly pierced by a sharp pain. Glowing streaks spread over the glove and my mind went briefly fuzzy. My Life, Stamina and Mana bars shuddered and dropped slightly but then...

  A timid flame licked the gathered twigs, went out, reappeared again and grew stronger, throwing up sparks. The fire gathered in strength and began to emit heat.

  Lengthening shadows leaped along the underground walls. I sat down by the fire, feeling blessedly warm.

  I sent Sasha a description of the item and naturally asked, ‘Is it normal that I can use it?’

  A reply came soon after, ‘Yep! Such finds are rare! Use them more often and maybe you’ll discover something more.’

  ‘But I’m not a mage!’

  ‘It doesn’t matter. They’re items, get it? They’re specifically created fo
r character classes that don’t possess magic. Different scrolls, for example. Anyone can use them. The amulet and glove suit you fine. Once you raise your Intellect, you’ll be sweet! You’ll be able to use elemental fire in battle!’

  ‘Right. What about the amulet?’

  ‘Squeeze it in your hand and try to concentrate, then tell me what happens. How’s your leveling up going, by the way?’