Chapter 9: Book 1: Chapter 5 (Part 2 of 2)

“Now, I can see I earned some equipment as well as XP for completing the quest, and Quixbix, you seem to have put it directly into my inventory. I don’t know much about the inventory function. Do you have any hints, Quixbix?” I asked.

<Yes, Torin. Just think about your inventory and I can display a list of the contents for you. As a combat class you have slots available for mana infused equipment. You get five plus an extra sixteen for having a K-grade class, for twenty-one total. You can only put one item in each slot with a maximum weight of twenty-five kilograms. Heavier gear will occupy additional slots to compensate. Anything worn or being carried is not counted as being in the inventory. You may also place any other materials or items weighing up to one hundred kilograms in a general inventory slot> he answered and continued

<Shana, Civilian is a non-combat class. You do not have any specialised equipment slots. You can, however, place up to one thousand kilograms of materials and items in your general inventory slot. Not to worry, though. I’m sure Torin will choose a nifty and lethal combat class for you> he pronounced.

God damn it Quixbix, I thought to myself.

“Shana is part of the team Quixbix. Teammates discuss that kind of thing first,” I clarified to placate the growing anger in Shana’s posture. “Can we swop gear or is it soulbound to me?”

<Yes, you can trade gear. Why wouldn’t you be able to?> he answered.

 “In some games here on Earth, you can’t. Things only work for those who earned them or used them first,” I explained.

<That’s daft. A thing is a thing, why wouldn’t it work for whoever picked it up> he scoffed.

“Okay, never mind,” I said to him absently.

I was examining my inventory and used Analyse on the gear I had acquired.

Simple Oak Bow

Ranged Weapon (M) Damage: 10 + STR Durability: 10/10

 

Simple Oak Arrows x20

Ranged Ammunition (M) Damage: no bonus (Piercing) Durability: 1/1

 

Simple Leather Quiver

Case for arrows (M) Arrows are magically held in place unless drawn. Protects contents from damage. The quiver and its contents do not use an Armour or Item Slot. Durability: 10/10

 

Bracers of the Bound

Leather Armour (M) Damage Mitigation: Low HP +30 (25) Stat +1 (Dex), Skill +5 (Archery), +5 Hit Points May only be worn by someone soulbound to Torin Carter all bonuses bar the damage mitigation are multiplied by Torin Carter’s applicable levels and only utilises one armour slot. Stat and skill bonuses are contingent on bearer’s aptitudes. Durability: 100/100 (Can always be repaired even if reduced to 0 durability)

 

There was a definite Archery vibe from these items. Which was concerning as I’d never picked up a bow in my life. The Bracers of the Bound were undoubtedly the pick of the bunch, but if I was reading the text right it would be more effective for Shana than it would be for me. I walked over to my coffee table in front of the TV and summoned the items from my inventory and set them down.

“This is what I got for completing the quest,” I mentioned to Shana.

She had still been looking at me askance, but her demeanour softened when she saw what I had laid out on the table. She walked over, a smile crept onto her face and she picked up the bow.

As the name suggested it was a simple curved wooden bow about three feet long with a grip made from coiled cloth or rope. Shana plucked the string and then took up a stance with one leg ahead of the other and drew the string back, her knuckles rested on her cheek.

“The string has good tensile strength for something so simple. It feels well crafted,” she commented after finishing her examination.

“You know how to use a bow and arrow?” I asked her immediately.

“Yes,” she said “I picked it up at summer camp one year. I was good, so I kept it up for a few years, but I stopped in high school which I regret. Some cheerleading bitches made comments about my Native American heritage and I quit hoping they would stop, they didn’t, but I always enjoyed it,” she reminisced wistfully.

“Well, I don’t think it’s a coincidence the rewards for the quest suit you as well as they do,” I observed, and tried to view her character sheet.

Name: Shana Colton		Species:		Human (Tier 1)
Level	1	Class		Civilian (Z Grade)
Physical		Mental				Social
Strength	3	Acuity		3		Appearance		4
Stamina	7	Perception		5		Charisma		3
Speed	8	Willpower		4		Appeal		4
Dexterity	2	Mental Resistance		1		Leadership		1
Agility	4	Mana Capacity		20		Dominance		0
Constitution	8	Mana Absorption		20		Empathy		3
Hit Points	60	Health		9		Mana Pool		200
Unused XP	0	XP to next Level		1,000		Lifetime XP gained		0
Armour Slots	5	Weapon Slots		1		Item Slots		2
Upgrade Points		Spec	0	Class	0	Hrm	0	Path	0
Framework Currency		PP	0	GP	2	SP	50	CP	50
Notoriety	102 (Current XP multiplier is x1.02)
Titles	Soulbound
Species Abilities and Benefits You are reading story Corsairs & Cataclysms at novel35.com
Human: Health +1, HP +50 (+5 per level), Armour Slot +1
Class Abilities and Benefits
Civilian: Levels in class = 1 (Z grade class) Level up grants +1 to most used Physical, Mental and Social stat, HP +10 Crafting: Can complete ‘job’ quests and learn trade skills. Increased inventory capacity but no combat equipment slots.

 

There was a bit more in the other sections that said she had access to Quixbix and would benefit from my Notoriety. Also, when she got to one thousand experience and could level up, she could instead use her unallocated potential to redo her character.

Which was good as Shana only had sixty Hit Points compared to my four hundred and ten. The Z-grade Civilian class was really poor compared to mine. Civilians would need fifteen or more levels to match me at level one and even then, I would likely win as a Frostbinder Acheronian. I couldn’t get cocky, though. Numbers counted for a lot and they would have more.

Images of pitchfork-wielding villagers flitted across my mind.

However, Shana was the one who definitely needed the boost from the gear.

“Shana, I want you to equip all of this. You’ve used a bow before, and I haven’t. And it looks like you could really use the extra hit points from the Bracers,” I told her.

“If you think so, Torin, but what will you use?” she inquired.

She made a good point. Then I remembered how I had despatched Victor and willed a three-foot-long Ice Blade into existence in my hand. The blade had a crescent shape similar to a scimitar.

-15 Mana (Ice Blade construction)

I swished the blade about in front of me experimentally and then analysed it.

Ice Blade Construct

Bladed Weapon (M) Damage: 10 +STR (Piercing), 12 (10) (Cold) Long Blade skill +10 Made from Impervious Ice this blade is as strong as Steel. (This includes only melting at temperatures that would melt Steel.) Does not cause cold damage if held by the grip. Durability 1/1

 

I was impressed with the stats for a sword I made for myself. I summoned a second one for my left hand and struck a few poses. Drizzt would be eating his heart out if he could see me. Sadly, the person who could see me, Shana, struggled to contain her mirth from my antics. I stopped slaying imaginary foes, coughed lightly, and put my swords down.

Quixbix chose that moment to interject.

<Now you have finished distributing your booty, are you ready for your next quest? That was a trick question as this one is mandatory. This quest is for Torin only, but I’ll show you as well, Shana, as you will be aiding him.>

The Corsair’s Canon 1 (Kx4)

What is a Dungeon Corsair Captain without a ship? What is a Corsair’s ship without a dungeon core to power it? Worthless? Irrelevant? Perhaps these are questions you don’t want the answers to. Open your senses, locate a suitable dungeon, plumb its depths, and claim the core for yourself.

(Due to the unusually low level and circumstances of Torin Carter, the rewards for this quest have been quadrupled)

Success: Claim the core of a completed dungeon.

Rewards: 13,600 XP and future The Corsair’s Canon quests.

Soul Collar, Helm of the Bound, Leggings of the Bound, Gloves of the Bound.

Failure: If this quest goes incomplete the rest of this quest chain will remain locked and unavailable.

I dismissed the quest text from my vision.

“What is that all about?” Shana asked.

“It’s a requirement of my character class. As a corsair, I need a ship, but as the quest suggests not just any ship will do. We are going to have to complete a dungeon first, seize the core that powers it and then fuse that core to a vessel. I have a week to secure one before suffering penalties to my XP gains,” I admitted, and then added a bit sheepishly. “Yeah, and now that we are bonded, you’ll get the same penalty.”

Shana’s pretty lips parted to unleash some rather less pretty verbiage in my direction, but the world slowed to a stop.

<Time to find your dungeon, Torin. I’ve activated ‘action mode’ to block out other distractions, otherwise, it can be overwhelming when you open yourself up like this> he advised.

Thank you, Quixbix. How do I do this? I asked.

<Like everything else just think about it and it will happen> he replied.

Alright, here goes nothing, I sighed.

I tried to sit down but couldn’t as I was physically frozen. Brushing that annoyance from my mind I focused instead on opening myself up to my dungeon sense.

Allowing the information to flow into me was remarkably easy. Trying to digest the inrush of that data was not. It was a swirling morass of knowledge, feelings and impressions all hitting me simultaneously. All the different strands tried to imprint on my awareness at once and managed to get in each other’s way.

If my eyes could water, they would be streaming right now. The sensation wasn’t painful as such, but it was incredibly irritating and disorienting. Blessedly, the whole thing only lasted for what felt like a few seconds.

I could sense what I’d gathered pulse in my mind, but it resembled a tangled ball of yarn. Useful eventually if you had the time or the will to sort through it, untangling as you went first.

This may take longer than fifteen minutes, I thought.

<What a mess. Didn’t you apply any filters before you imported the dungeon records?> Quixbix snarked.

There was an unmistakable underlying amusement in Quixbix’s mental communication. The little shit deliberately didn’t warn me. I was angry, yes, but it also served as another sliver of evidence that reinforced my suspicions that Quixbix could make my life exceedingly difficult if he chose to.

You made no mention of applying a filter. Only that I should open myself up. I remarked with barely restrained anger.

His initial response was a hearty chortle, confirming my earlier suspicion of his complicity.

<Sorry, Torin. I couldn’t resist. Never fear, I wouldn’t prank you if I couldn’t fix it. Voila, I’ve sorted it into something usable> he promised.

I grumped internally but had a fresh interface in front of me with two tabs. The first was a summary of what I had learned.

Dungeon Scan radius is 100 miles.

Dungeons Located: 72

Average level: 27

Unconquered Dungeons: 72

Successfully Marked Dungeons: 4

This was a short summary page. I was a bit surprised by the number of dungeons I had detected. Seventy-two was a lot, but as I thought it over a one-hundred-mile radius did incorporate most of the southern half of Michigan. The average level was concerning, though.

Quixbix, I understand the dungeons are all unconquered as we’ve only been in the Framework for ten minutes. What are the Successfully Marked Dungeons? I asked.

<You are only level one, Torin. Your sense alerts you to the existence of every dungeon in the one-hundred-mile radius. Most of them are too high a level to reveal their exact location. Dungeons will naturally attempt to resist detection by classes that might enslave them. You will know the general direction of most of those who have resisted you, but not their precise locations. The most powerful dungeons have been able to conceal everything about themselves from you, barring that they exist somewhere within one hundred miles> he explained and continued.

<As you grow in power, fewer dungeons will be successful at hiding from you and you will learn more. Currently, only four of them are low-level or weak enough for you to mark their position accurately.>

Dean left that little tidbit out. There were only four viable possibilities, but I shouldn’t have been surprised when the average level of dungeons in range was twenty-seven. I opened the second tab which listed the four marked dungeons.

The Buried Burrows (Dungeon Core)
Fighter (W) 5
Potential: Low	Value: N/A
Threat: Very High	20,000 XP
Location: Near Ortonville (21 miles)

 

The Jade Catacombs (Dungeon Core)
Trader (X) 6
Potential: Low	Value: N/A
Threat: Very High	18,000 XP
Location: Near Bad Axe (91 miles)

 

The Ogre Delves (Dungeon Core)
Barbarian (U) 3
Potential: Moderate	Value: N/A
Threat: Almost Impossible	21,000 XP
Location: Near Bunker Hill (49 miles)

 

Anastasia Ruslanovna (Dungeon Core)
Lifeforce Enchantress (N) 1
Potential: Very High	Value: N/A
Threat: Moderate	24,000 XP
Location: Near Ionia (87 miles)

 

A quick review of the four dungeons revealed only one of them was level one.

Anastasia Ruslanovna is a strange name for a dungeon. All the others are distinctly more dungeony, I expressed.

<I don’t know what to tell you, Torin, some of the Framework programs aren’t very imaginative. The higher-level dungeons have probably been imported or straight up cloned from existing dungeons on other worlds. That one is a brand-new dungeon unformed until a few minutes ago. They probably got lazy and just named it after a nearby grave marker or something. Over time as the dungeon develops its own style, it will adopt a more fitting moniker> he lectured.

I wasn’t convinced. But of my four possible targets, it was by far the most promising.

Is its newness the reason it is only listed as a moderate threat? I questioned the imp.

<An astute observation, Torin. The danger will increase over the next few days. The dungeon has a very high potential and will likely be incredibly deadly for level one parties soon. If that is where you are headed, you need to get there within the next few days before the dungeon has a chance to fulfil that potential. The threat meter factor’s Shana’s inclusion in your party. Although as a Civilian she doesn’t contribute much, you will want to reforge her character as soon as possible. Probably best before you go on your dungeon dive.>

Speaking of Shana, can she hear us right now? I asked.

<No, Torin. I can’t link your minds in ‘Action mode’> he responded.

What does this Soul Collar I get for completing this quest do? I asked next.

<It will allow you to bring an avatar of the dungeon core as an additional character with you when you leave the ship. Super useful don’t you think> he answered.

I didn’t push any harder on that, though I suspected there was more to it.

Last question. How often can I update or absorb more information on dungeons?

<As often as you want. Although what you gather won’t change much unless you level up or move a significant distance. Your radius is always based on your current location> he advised. <Are you ready to return to real-time?>

Can you hold me here for as long as you can please? I want to strategise for a few minutes. I requested.

<Sure, no problem, Torin. I’ll keep you in ‘Action mode’ so you can come up with a plan and not look like a clueless noob in front of the honey. You do know you don’t need to impress her right? You can just order her to fu…> he counselled.

Bugger off, Quixbix. I interrupted him before he could finish.

<Fine. But I know, that you know, that I’m right> he huffed.

Unfortunately, Quixbix parting retort left me stewing for a few minutes and I wasted that time. Then I managed to mentally shrug it off and got down to the nitty-gritty of formulating our next steps. Quixbix hadn’t been right, this wasn’t about impressing Shana. Okay, this wasn’t just about impressing Shana.

By binding her I had effectively taken on responsibility for her welfare as well as my own and the weight of that decision was only now becoming apparent. I could make the excuse that I was still reeling from the world-changing revelations and hadn’t been thinking things through, but that sounded weak, even to me. If I flaked out now, I wouldn’t just doom me, but her too.

Unless I killed myself.

Yeah, not happening.

That meant no more procrastinating. Something I’d heard on a rerun of the TV show Angel resonated with me right now. If you try to save everybody you will end up saving nobody.

If I tried to be a hero, the good guy, and save the world I would fail. I simply wasn’t built for it.

As contradictory as it may sound I could do more good by being a villain. I could protect those who owed their allegiance to me. Build a base of power and strength, a place they could thrive.

The history of monarchs, leaders, and powerful nation states was rarley a tale of peace, love, and harmony. It was a litany of war, hate, chaos and those who had risen to power in its midst. I wasn’t excusing the great wrongs that were committed by those who held power, but those wrongs were the foundation of the better world humanity built atop them.

And we would indeed need to build anew.

One other undeniable fact was that during turmoil scum always rose to the top. Did I trust anyone else to be that scum but me?

No, I didn’t. I was the master of my destiny and I wouldn’t entrust it to anybody else.

My decision was made. I would act in my best interests with the desire that this would trickle down to those who followed in my wake. The true challenge I faced would be utilising the right balance of violence and ruthlessness to achieve the desired ends without becoming a parasite that drained all life from the community.

And if I happened to accumulate women, loot, and glory in the process, well, great deeds shouldn’t go unrewarded.

My ruminations weren’t really a plan per se, more of a resolution of my intent. I would embrace being a Dungeon Corsair Captain. Many may hate me for what I’d do, but they’d be alive to do the hating and I could live with that.

Quixbix had told me most of his owners got fifteen minutes in ‘Action mode’. I’d used most of that but had long enough before real-time kicked back in that I had a plan of action in mind as I transitioned back to the world at normal speed.

“What the fuck do you mean by that?” Shana snapped crossly.

Ah, yes, she had been in mid-rant when Quixbix intervened. I put my hand up to forestall any further angry questions.

“Hold-up. I’ve been thinking it over,” I said, and Shana’s eyes narrowed in confusion. “I have a plan of action. Which I will explain in due course, but I think it’s time we finally got out of this apartment and explore what has happened to the world.”

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