“You’re Death?” I said, “Like, literal death? The concept itself?”
Now, seeing a beautiful woman suddenly appear in front of me claiming to be the personification of a conceptual and philosophical part of reality should have made me freak out. I probably should have sputtered and stuttered, or at least denied the possibility. It was insanity, claiming to be actual Death.
And yet, it didn’t really faze me that much at the time.
I had dealt with dungeons, stats, magic, game inventories, and ass-ugly little green humanoids murdering all of my friends, minus Richard. Coupled with the class and title I had received already, it almost made some sort of sick and twisted sense that I’d be talking to actual Death.
It was some fucked up logic, that was sure. But in the end, it was indeed logical. I was the Heir to Death, and it looked like… she… had now come to speak to me.
“I can see this isn’t too much of a surprise to you,” she said. “I assume the System has given you the title already. And well, you did pick the class once I extended my offer, obviously.”
“Your offer? So I didn’t earn the class?” That was an interesting bit of info for me. I thought I had shown my worth in that Tutorial.
“Prideful and dealing with low self-esteem are we?”
“No…”
Things were silent for a moment, this Lady Death staring intently at me until finally continuing on.
“You did earn it, which is why I sent the offer through the System,” she said. “Now be quiet and do not interrupt me.”
Her eyes flashed in their sockets for an instant and a chilling wave of pressure choked the room around me. I could tell it was barely a twitch, maybe just a flicker, but it still felt as though she could kill me outright with that bit of power alone.
I gulped.
Could I have flipped my mental switch and ignored her power display entirely, maybe. I doubted it, but maybe. But despite this, I decided not to press my luck, and simply accepted the feeling of weakness that flooded my mind.
Compared to this woman… I was a speck.
“Good, you might do well after all.”
Again, I stayed silent and waited, feeling that was what she wanted me to do, as well as what my survival instincts were telling me to be the best way to keep my squishy mortal soul well within my squishy mortal body.
“I can assume you have many questions rattling around in that mind of yours. What is happening and why? What is this System? Am I a God? Are there other Gods? What are the Dungeons? Etc.. etc…” She said this almost with a hint of scorn in her tone, as if she had heard such things a billion times before and was exhausted even from the mere memory of them.
As the entity of Death, I could only imagine the number of questions she was subjected to in her day-to-day “job” as it were. Adding all the events of the last few days on top of that… yeah I could get why she was a bit jaded.
“Push those queries to the side.” She waved a hand dismissively. “I wouldn’t answer them even should the System allow me to share such information. Not now at least, you are not ready, and there are more pressing matters for you in any case.”
I simply nodded. Even though I did have such questions, the fact she seemed unwilling, or even unable, to answer was just as interesting. If I truly was her disciple, and she my sponsor, I would think she’d want me to be powerful, prepared, ready. That is what I would assume at the very least.
But, we all know about people who make assumptions. They die horrible and bloodcurdling deaths at the hands of grimy little fucking goblins.
So I kept my mouth shut, and waited.
She peered at me with her dark eyes before the corner of her mouth rose into a tiny hint of a smile.
“Good, good.” Her hands folded in front of her, and the scythe that she appeared with, remained upright beside her, as if rooted directly into the ground. A macabre and sick flag planted in the space of reality I didn’t quite understand.
“You will get answers to all of that, and more, eventually. You, and your planet as a whole, are not ready for them.”
My mind quickly flashed to the System notification that went out to all of humanity, the declaration of Earth being in a preparation phase of some kind. And, the year long timer that went along with it.
“But, there are things you need to be taught, things you must learn. Such as how to utilize this space in which you stand currently. The Pre-Entry room of the dungeons. Normally, you may spend any amount of time you wish in a Pre-Entry area… as long as you spend the necessary credits to stay inside.” She gestured to the table and the flickering light that hovered above it. “Luckily for you, I am here. I have halted time in this area to allow you not to worry your little mortal mind about such silly things.”
“You, halted time?” It came out as a question, but I meant it more as a statement of awe. She seemed to understand this and simply ignored me.
“As your Sponsor, I will guide you with your first purchases. The System shop is a bit overwhelming, when you first use it.”
She gestured for me to come stand at the stone table and I followed without complaint, my eyes still focused on her as I moved. Her form looked so real, almost tangible. The scythe, still standing of its own accord, looked as if it had actual weight to it, the blade gleaming in the soft sourceless light of the room.
“Simply place your hand on the pedestal.”
My eyes finally moved from her to the strange glowing light, finding it was actually a small screen, similar to the ones the System showed when I brought up my status. Only this one was a bright yellow, almost white, instead of a soft blue.
Both anxiety and excitement coursed through me as I thought about the use of this interface. The presence of Death herself being there to guide me meant it could be dangerous. Yet, the idea of having access to a universal shop of magical items, weapons, and armor or scrolls, maybe even magic tomes. It was tantalizing to say the least.
I was Augustus staring directly into the chocolate river, daring myself to drink.
“Just do it already child, you won’t get hurt by it,” Death said over my shoulder, causing me to flinch ever so slightly.
It appeared that in additional cynical habits, an immortal cosmic entity could get bored, impatient. Which was once more interesting to me, as I would have thought that something as vast and inevitable as Death would have long become emotionally numb, like a rich absent father. Or, the son of that same, rich absent father.
I placed my hand on the table and mentally nudged the interface. It opened up, unfolding in front of me like the opening of theater curtains just before a grand performance.
Then it came barreling at me like truck-kun attempting to take me on an adventure.
Lists and lists of items, tabs filled with categories, categories filled with tabs, all of them cascaded in front of my eyes. It was endless, millions and millions of items and options showed themselves to me.
Weapons, armor, potions, trinkets and so much more. I saw buildings, titles, skills, class options, even what looked like body modifications of some sort. Things that were impossible to think of just days ago now presenting themselves as if it were the most mundane of menus at high class French restaurants. The kind favored by customers that wore lavish furs, and sat about smelling their own farts for entertainment.
“You can ignore the vast majority of these options. Not only can you not afford them, they would be useless to you and what we will hope to accomplish.” Lady Death, as I had come to call her in my mind, said as I looked through the interface.
“What do we hope to accomplish?” I asked, my eyes still focused on the display.
“For my primary job not to interfere with my duty as sponsor.” She said simply, as if stating they were planning to clean the dishes, or do the laundry.
I thought about her meaning, and found that her goals aligned perfectly with my own. I didn’t want to die, no fucking shit.
“Mentally remove options, the shop will understand your desire and follow suit.”
I did as I was told, mentally “clicking” closed tabs and categories as quickly as a teenager would at the computer after being surprised by a parent entering their room without knocking first.
As I did so, one tab did catch my eye, and before closing it I brought it up to the forefront to see some of its contents.
[Materials:
Base Elements -
Compounds -
Mana Based Substances -
Energy Types -
…]
The tabs went on and I clicked [Base elements] to see a new list unfurl in my sight. I recognized almost all the names in front of me.
[Hydrogen - 1gram - .005 Copper Credits
Helium - 1gram - .005 Copper Credits
Lithium - 1gram - .002 Copper Credits
Boron…
Carbon…]
Every base element was there, all of them for sale by volume. I scrolled down, finding Iron in the list and checking its price. 1 gram for .045 Copper Credits. There was more, silver, gold, radon, cerium, each with their own price.
My eyes widened, as I quickly did some mental math.
I quickly realized just how much this System Shop would change things on Earth. The main problem for humanity was always scarcity, the lack of resources for one project or another. And while my small pocket purse wouldn’t budge that precarious balance scale right now, I could only imagine the wealth these Dungeons would hand over to Rift Hunters who conquered them.
I may have been the first to realize this, but I wasn’t the last. And as you know, I’m sure, the shops became a focal point of the global economy in the following months and years. Merchant classes and skills being so valuable, it almost became mandatory to have someone with such a class in any guild, sect or government with which to funnel credits through.
“Merchant Mules” was the name for such people. For some it was the high-life, and for others, a notch above slavery, depending on the “employer” above you.
Regardless, I knew what things would look like on the outside once this knowledge became known.
I could imagine the controlling grasp of authority tightening even further around those who have classes, and using them for greed and personal gain under the guise of prosperity for all.
Luckily, the lives of powerful Rift Hunters became far more valuable than for sheer credit farming. But I digress.
I closed the tab, breathing heavily in reaction to the thoughts that swirled in my head. If what I thought—what I knew—was to come, then being powerful was indeed the biggest priority to me. If not to ensure I stay alive, then to ensure I don’t become a slave to the powers that be.
And right at that moment, the path to becoming powerful was following the directions given to me by the very figure standing over my shoulder to my right.
The entity deciding who lived… and who died.
My eyes closed a moment as I mentally reached into myself and flipped my switch. I would need to keep a cool head right now, emotions and fear would only have me make a stupid choice that ended up getting me killed.
Almost instantly I felt my heartbeat slow, my thoughts from before pushed back to the corner of my mind, and calmness took over. The serene, logical Adam Pierce coming to the forefront. The Adam that didn’t balk in the face of any threat, even imminent lethal pressure.
I finished closing the “useless” tabs of the shop and brought up what remained before I turned to look at Lady Death. “What next?”
“Mmm,” she looked at me with a brow raised, as if she could see the change in me. She was silent for a few seconds as I looked at her, and she, me. Eventually her face returned to the stony placid expression from before and she went on.
“Gear is your main focus right now, and probably all you can afford. I can see you already have a sword. Yes, I can review your inventory, I am your sponsor, after all.” She said quickly as my mouth opened to ask the question. “All gear has grades, just as classes do. Common gear will be the choices of most people, but you have access to other options. Pay attention now child, I will not repeat myself.”
As with any System with stats and classes, items had effects as well. Magic of some kind, I was sure, or System fuckery that operated in such a way that my understanding of it made no difference.
Lady Death explained things quickly and simply for me.
All gear had additional effects, either increasing stats, or otherwise. Any given item’s effect was limited by its grade. Common, Uncommon, Rare, etc… But further rules applied as well. Such as the fact that identical effects would not stack, with the exception of base stat enhancements.
So an item that increased my overall mana pool would not stack with a similar item, only the most powerful one would have their effect applied.
Further, items could never increase a person’s stat by more than 10%, any enhancement beyond that limit would be essentially “lost” until one’s base stat increased to allow a larger enhancement limit.
Simple and straight forward.
But there were more complicated issues at play as well. Such as with Set-Items, and their effects. Some pieces of gear were a “set”, usually armor, or paired rings or necklaces. Set bonuses were treated differently than normal effects by the System. Each was handled uniquely, and interacted strangely with titles, or class abilities, or even other items.
“Be careful equipping a powerful armor set with purification effects, and then trying to equip a weapon with a corruption ability. You might not live long enough to realize that you’ve fucked up,” Lady Death had said.
Other details, she simply said that she couldn’t answer at the moment. Such as why I was limited to only two ring slots if I had ten fingers. Or how the System handled someone who had no hands with which to wear those rings.
“Such questions waste time, and are not pivotal to your survival, so let’s move on.”
A curious answer given that she had said she halted time for us in the room anyway. But what did I know? I was just a squishy little human mortal.
Most of the options I had “access” to from my class and titles included things I couldn’t afford. Almost every Uncommon grade item fell into that camp. But apparently having Silver Credits at level ten meant I was better off than most.
I made my choices and confirmed my purchases in the shop.
[Medium Leather Armor - Common - (+1 Vit)
Medium Leather Boots - Common - (+1 Dex)
Shoddy Band of Speed - Common - (+1 Dex)
Shoddy Band of Speed - Common - (+1 Dex)
Fine Shade Cloak - Uncommon - (+1 Dex, + 1 WIllpower); Increased effect of [Stealth] skills (minor).
Total - 300 Copper, 5 Silver
Confirm?
Yes/No]
I confirmed the purchase and the items were transferred into my inventory immediately. It was rather efficient, and I was pleased that the shop even gave me minor control in how the items looked, even if it was just in deciding their color.
With a mental flick, I activated my inventory and “equipped” my items. The clothes I wore when entering the rift vanished in a small flash of dimmed light, and just as quickly I was adorned in my chosen purchases.
Black leather armor, including chest pieces, bracers, and pants, all appeared on my body. Each item fit snuggly and was perfectly sized. Again, I assumed the System had a hand in that. I was glad for it, as I winced at the idea of having to run around in items that were too small or too large, chaffing in places that I best not mention.
The boots and cloak were also a dark black, with the cloak itself looking to be a much nicer material than the shoddy common items.
My rings appeared on my right hand, each a small silverish band with blue runic script on the outside. Magic items truly were amazing.
“Good. Now listen once more, I have spent too much of my attention on you as it is.” Death’s words promptly pulled me from my mental admiration of my new threads. “All dungeons have an objective to be completed, a Quest. Completing it will mean completing the Dungeon, and getting a reward. But there are other objectives within Dungeons. Tasks and feats you may accomplish to earn additional items, skills, titles, and more.”
“And the Dungeon I am about to enter?” I asked.
“More that I cannot tell you. At least not yet. Just heed my words and keep them in mind. Do as I say, and you might end up being worth what I’ve invested in you,” she said.
“Can you at least tell me about my skills and—”
“Enough. You are as ready as I can make you. Don’t fail me. When we meet again you might have earned more from me. Don’t die, Adam Pierce.” With those final words, she stepped forward and grasped the shaft of her scythe once more, and lifted it from the ground.
In the same moment, the world around me stuttered and shifted. A notification sprung in front of my eyes.
[Exiting Pre-Entry area.
Additional time purchase: 1 minute - 1 Gold Credit
Denied.
Entering Dungeon…]
“Fuck,” that single utterance was all I managed to utter before everything vanished.
“Hey man, there you are!” Barry’s voice was the first thing I heard as I was thrust into yet another large forested area. “Oh, nice gear, medium armor huh? Good middle choice.”
I looked around, finding I was indeed still wearing my equipped items, sword in hand.
Barry stood across from me in what looked to be some heavy armor. He had a steel breastplate and greaves, rounded pauldron shoulders and white cloak clipped about his neck flowing behind him. He looked all the image of a Paladin, befitting his class name.
The others were similarly kitted, Francis, the rage warrior that he was, had leather armor on his legs and arms, though his chest lay bare showing a somewhat decent physique despite not being at chiseled Conan-level of impressive.
In his hand was a large axe which looked to be designed to be wielded with two hands even though he seemed quite comfortable grasping it in one.
Vasquez wore a rather boring set of blue robes and carried a gnarled wooden stick in his hand. The stick was some kind of wand, I surmised, making him look like some sort of British boy ready to catch a train.
Plain white robes covered Norton, or at least tried to, given his immense frame and size the robes were doing a rather decent job even if they strained against his muscles with every movement. He carried nothing in his hands, but a small pendant shown around his neck in the vague shape of crescent.
Huwett held her bow with a quiver tied to her hip while standing in tight brown leathers of her own.
We all were ready. Or at least we thought we were.
[ You have entered a Common Dungeon
Quest: Hunt down and slay the Lord of the Wood]
1.09 Dungeon Capitalism