God Mode: A LitRPG Adventure (Mythrune Online Book 1) Read online

  In order to solo, I would need to go all-in on the Warrior Pursuits, specifically Heavy Armor and Two-Handed Battle Axe. Although there were no predetermined classes in MythRune, I was definitely going for a tank build — a player who could take a pounding (even if it was just long enough to run away). No glass cannon character for me — I wasn’t planning on finesse.

  Adventuring was another potential focal point. The Looting, Trap Detection, Camp Creation, and Tracking Pursuits could all be helpful. It’d be a heck of a lot of work, but the reality here was that I was in this alone. While the rest of MythRune could party up and work together (especially since the tournament almost seemed to encourage this), my hack made it necessary to stay to myself and avoid the risk of being discovered.

  Plus, there was no way in hell I was entrusting the life of my brother to some stranger. I had to find a way to do this myself.

  It wasn’t long before I came upon the cave Durfa told me about. A sandstone rock formation jutted out of the ground, forming a triangle entrance into the side of a steep shale-covered hill. Golden plains stretched out for as far as I could see to the north. To the south, the hills bore more trees than scrub brush and still had a tinge of green in spite of the apparent autumn season weather. My heart sank as I took in my surroundings.

  None of it looked familiar. It seemed Tournia truly was a brand-new continent.

  The mouth of the cave was roughly ten feet high and nearly as wide. The sandstone slabs leaned against one another like some kind of stone tent — a formation that would never have existed in the real world.

  I stared at the intimidating entrance of the dungeon. Sure, this was just a low-level dungeon, but there was always a certain amount of unease I had when entering an unknown place. The fact that I would be feeling actual pain on a substantial level kept me from going all Leeroy Jenkins, that was for sure.

  An unlit torch was shoved into a crack in the rocks near the entrance, as if it had been waiting just for me. I analyzed the torch and was greeted with a Firestarter prompt that instructed me to create a fire using dried grass, a piece of tree trunk, and a stick.

  Would you like to keep an eye out for these items? Yes or No?

  There was no way I’d be heading into the dungeon without a light source, so I selected Yes without hesitation.

  I glanced around the mouth of the cave, and almost immediately, I saw the remains of a juniper tree that looked to have been blasted apart by a lightning strike. A red box surrounded a length of wood about as wide as my hand and as long as my forearm. I also conveniently snapped a decent-size stick from the branch, once again admiring how the bark felt in my hand. I was really roughing it while somehow sitting inside a plastic egg in my living room.

  Firestarter: You have acquired 2/3 of the required materials.

  A glance over to the dry grass, and my vision was filled with a flood of red boxes. I gathered up a whole mess of the stuff until the Firestarter prompt seemed satisfied and the indicators disappeared.

  Firestarter: You have acquired 3/3 of the required materials. Would you like to start a fire? Yes or No?

  I made my way back over to the torch on the ground before selecting Yes. A brief window popped up with simple instructions on how to position the grass on the piece of trunk and how to rub the stick against it to generate friction and start the fire. Unlike real life, it only took me a few seconds of work to produce a tiny wisp of smoke. From there, I lifted the piece of wood up and gently blew on the dry grass. A small flame burst to life. I’d never been so proud. Who needed the Boy Scouts? A notification popped up.

  +1 Survival Skill Point

  I picked up the torch and hovered it over the flames. It caught almost instantly.

  +1 Survival Skill Point

  In the game, as you executed actions, Skill Points would slowly accumulate.

  With that done, I held my torch out in front of me and took my first step into the cave. Almost at once, the air grew cooler and the sun seemed a much more distant memory than the few steps behind me where it still shone. The tunnel remained the same width as the entrance, sandstone pressing down on me from both sides. My bare foot knocked a piece of shale, and the sounds of rock scraping on rock reverberated.

  The ground sloped gently then leveled out after a few hundred steps. I took each step carefully, holding my torch above my head and in front of my body so that it lit the area ahead without blinding my vision. It was intricacies like this that the brand-new players would only learn through trial and error. But even as prepared as I was, I almost didn’t see the attack coming before it was too late.

  An ear-piercing screech sounded from my left. Swinging my free arm in that direction, my fisted hand batted something bony against the wall.

  Congratulations! You have unlocked the One-Handed Battle Axe Pursuit Sphere! Open your Pursuits Menu for more information.

  The notification +1 One-Handed Battle Axe Skill Point appeared as well. Without waiting to see what I’d struck, I drew my new battle axe with my free hand and smashed the flat side of the head into the stunned creature on the ground.

  Bone crunched and my would-be assailant went still after a single angry squeak. I’d have to look into my Pursuit Spheres in a bit, but for now, I took the opportunity to shed some light on my attacker.

  It was not a pretty picture.

  The creature resembled an emaciated rat, its death grimace revealing long rows of sharklike teeth. The thing had albino white wrinkled skin and no fur to speak of. Although the glimmer of life had faded from them, its pink eyes still unnerved me. Compared to an actual rat, this thing had powerful hind legs, like a kangaroo; its anatomy allowed it to literally attempt to get the jump on me.

  A notification drew my attention from the mangled monster.

  Lesser Cave Ghouls Killed: 1/20

  Ah, so this guy was actually one of the aforementioned cave ghouls. That certainly explained the zombielike appearance. I only hoped these guys didn’t come back to life, and briefly contemplated setting it on fire, until the thought of what barbecued lesser cave ghoul must smell like hit me. The good news was they seemed to die pretty easily. Just to be sure I wouldn’t be facing this little guy again, though, I gave it another hearty smack with my axe. The result was something akin to a rabbit getting hit by a semi, but better safe than sorry, right?

  If all of the lesser cave ghouls went down this easily, my quest would be a piece of cake. I’d have a map in my back pocket in no time.

  Now came the gross part. I placed my hand on the creature and was treated with a pop-up menu of items to be looted. All that could be found in this guy was “Lesser Ghoul Skin” — not exactly a prized commodity in MythRune. All the same, I retrieved it and tucked the albino hide away. You never knew when you’d come across some witch or sorcerer with exotic needs.

  I continued down the tunnel, eyes scanning from wall to wall. At random intervals, small beams of sunlight shone down through cracks in the rock. The light was bright enough that I decided to douse and stash my torch, realizing how little good it was doing now that I’d passed the first dark section of the cave. After a moment’s hesitation, I stored the torch on my back, pleased that it held the same way a weapon would. I wished I could have kept it burning but didn’t relish the thought of a flaming mohawk. Still, I preferred to have both hands free to work on my two-handed axe moves.

  And I was happy I did. Just a few steps later, three more lesser cave ghouls sprang out of the shadows. In one swing, I managed to smack one with the side of my weapon and was greeted with a rewarding squeak. Another tried to attack from my right side, but I pivoted and dispatched it with another hefty swing. This wasn’t so bad. I actually kicked the last one, sending it flying into the cavern wall like a soccer ball — a soccer ball that hissed and was covered in sharp bits, anyway.

  My Pursuit Sphere didn’t recognize muscle memory, but after playing for dozens of hours in beta, I was starting to remember some of my old moves — even if the game didn’t c
ount them as special attacks. After collecting a Two-Handed Battle Axe Skill Point, I continued my way down the long tunnel.

  Four down.

  I soon learned that the first lesser ghoul seemed to have been an out-of-the-ordinary loner. The others attacked me in groups of two or three at a time. Luckily for me, they were all one-hit wonders — although one of them managed to sink its nasty little fangs into my arm before I could dispatch him. The resulting pain was enough for me to practice a bit more caution.

  Soon after, I’d earned one Unassigned Warrior Skill Point, one One-Handed Battle Axe Skill Point, and three Two-Handed Battle Axe Skill Points. When the twelfth lesser ghoul died beneath a particularly skillful swing of my axe that cleaved the little bastard in half, a glowing Attribute Orb appeared on the cavern floor. Now this was a reward worthy of a mighty ghoul slayer such as myself.

  While the Skill Points were automatically attributed to you in a similar fashion to experience in other RPGs, Attribute Orbs were physical items you had to pick up to gain. I reached down and wrapped my beefy Urok fingers around the small orb.

  Congratulations! You have received an Attack Attribute Orb!

  Description: Use this orb to increase your Attack attribute.

  Golden light shone between my fingers as I held it out before me…and then crushed it with a single motion. Another notification popped up in my field of vision.

  Attack increased by 1!

  Level Up! Congratulations, you have acquired enough Attribute Points to reach level 2!

  Character Stats

  Name: Zane

  Title: None

  Race: Urok, male

  Level: 2

  Total Attribute Points: 10

  Attribute Points to next level: 5

  Health: 2 (40/40 Hit Points)

  Attack: 2

  Defense: 3

  Speed: 1

  Agility: 1

  Intelligence: 1

  Luck: 0

  +1 Unassigned Skill Point: You may use this in ANY Pursuit Sphere within any of the six Pursuits.

  I was glad to see that one thing hadn’t changed. Just as in beta, whenever you raised your attributes enough to level up, you received one Unassigned Skill Point with no limits on it. As long as you’d already unlocked that Pursuit Sphere, you could spend this Skill Point there like any other.

  Unfortunately, as I hacked my way through these low-level monsters, I would get fewer and fewer Two-Handed Battle Axe Skill Points and even fewer Attribute Orbs. Like in every RPG, leveling up meant I needed to find tougher opponents. While these beginner quests would do for now, I was going to have to start challenging myself as soon as I could unlock a couple of skills and outfit myself in some basic armor. I wasn’t just playing for fun, I needed to power-level for the tournament, which meant no cruise-control play for me.

  I hefted my battle axe and went to work, carving my way deeper and deeper into the cave with each lesser cave ghoul I struck down. I found another eight in almost no time. As I’d feared, the spoils grew fewer and farther in between. I earned only one more Two-Handed Battle Axe Skill Point by the time I’d completed my quest.

  Quest Update: You have slain 20 lesser cave ghouls. Head back to Durfa and see what reward she has in store for you.

  I stared down the long tunnel that lay before me, debating if I should keep pushing deeper into the cave since I was already there. In the end, I turned back for the entrance, mostly due to the fact that my armor and weapons amounted to a thankfully indestructible loincloth and an axe that could have been crafted by a caveman. Durfa would likely have more challenging quests to throw my way. Or someone in the tribe would, anyway.

  That settled it. Time to return to the hunting camp. But just in case Durfa didn’t send me back to the cave, I wanted to mark this thing so I could easily find it to return later. As I exited, I took a moment to survey my surroundings before sticking a juniper branch in the crack where I’d found the torch. There were enough sandstone outcrops in the surrounding area that I wanted to make sure I found my cave again.

  Congratulations! You have unlocked the Exploring Pursuit Sphere! Open up your Pursuits Menu for more information.

  I followed the prompt and hovered over Exploring Pursuit, which fell under Adventuring Pursuits.

  Exploring: Intrepid explorers are able to uncover forgotten ruins, make detailed maps, and find the best path through any kind of terrain. They are known for searching every nook and cranny and often find things casual wanderers glance right past.

  That was one of the great things about MythRune. It often rewarded players for thinking outside the box. I looked forward to learning more about the different skills I could learn within Adventuring Pursuits, but right now, I had spoils to collect.

  6

  Skilled Labor

  The journey back to the hunting camp seemed to take half as long as it did on the way to the cave. No longer stopping to take in the view, I was able to make it back in less than twenty minutes, my Urok body striding with ease. While I might have been a weak noob as far as the game was concerned, I was leaps and bounds more athletic than I ever was, even at my peak in high school.

  As if to test the game’s immersion, I took an especially high jump and landed on my left leg. Hard. My knee took the full weight of my oversized body without a hitch.

  Man, I miss this, I thought.

  By the time I made it back to the Horuk village, Durfa had moved on from laundry and had a large pot hanging over a fire. Durk had moved on from his work chopping wood and was now seated on a stool by the fire. I admired the attention to detail the devs put into Durfa’s outdoor workspace. The clothes hadn’t simply vanished, but could be seen hanging behind her on a long line. There was some real thought put into the day-to-day actions of these characters, NPC or not.

  Durfa smiled as soon as she saw me. It wasn’t a smile of gratitude I made out on her face, but one that seemed to hold a devious secret. I briefly wondered what she had up her dirty, wolf-hide sleeve, but before I could dwell on it, she held up the wooden spoon, free hand hovering underneath to catch the drips.

  “What do you think?” she said, raising it to my lips.

  I opened my mouth to protest, but she only saw that as an invitation to ladle in the hot soup. And while it was uncomfortably hot, the worst part was the sharp, tangy taste of blackened, overspiced meat.

  “Holy —” I gasped, gagging and coughing.

  Durfa’s mouth wrinkled to the side in thought. “Yeah, you’re right, I think it needs more salt.”

  It needs a lot more than salt, I thought, though I kept that to myself. I wasn’t here to give cooking tips.

  “So, did you do what I asked?” she asked as she salted the soup and stirred it in.

  “I sure did,” I said, growing suspicious. Between her knowing smile before and her tone now, I was starting to think maybe I didn’t fully understand what the quest was. With Durk’s quest earlier, my “Quest Complete” prompt had popped up almost immediately.

  “So you cleared out the cave?”

  “Well…” I cleared my throat, feigning a cough from the soup fiasco only moments before. “You said twenty lesser cave ghouls, right?”

  Smack!

  I didn’t even have a chance to dodge. Durfa whipped around and smacked me upside the head with her wooden spoon. My HP bar popped up in my HUD, signaling a drop of 3 HP. Man, she packed a wallop. And the pain was as real as any of the cave ghoul bites.

  “Bwahaha!” I turned to find Durk had fallen off his stool and was literally rolling around on the ground.

  “Quiet, Durk!” Durfa’s already-sharp tone grew sharper, and she raised the spoon above her head again. I didn’t envy Durk having her for a mother. Maybe his problem was she’d hit him over the head too much as a kid?

  Durk’s laughter stopped immediately and he flinched from the sight of the spoon. Looked like my guess was on track. I wasn’t sure if I should be laughing or horrified by the apparent PTSD that woman had gi
ven him, let alone the fact that some dev had coded it into the game in the first place.

  “But he funny,” Durk said, confused. “You hit him on head.”

  Durfa ignored her son and shot me a withering glare. “Hmm, you did the bare minimum, but right you are. I asked you to clear out twenty lesser cave ghouls, so I guess that’s worth something. Didn’t think I was working with someone as thick in the head as my son, though.”

  He’d have to be thick in the head to survive being your son, I thought, but wisely didn’t say.

  Durfa reached behind her back and pulled out a familiar glowing orb. I resisted a grin at the sight. The golden glow marked it as yet another Attribute Orb, but when Durfa placed it in my hand, I was even more excited than when I’d looted the orb in the cave.

  Congratulations! You have received an Unassigned Attribute Orb!

  Unassigned Attribute Orb

  Description: Use this orb to increase any one of six attributes (Health, Attack, Defense, Speed, Agility, Intelligence) by one. Cannot be used to increase Luck.

  This was easy enough. I crushed the orb in my hand and was greeted with the prompt:

  Which Attribute would you like to increase?

  Health?

  Attack?

  Defense?

  Speed?

  Agility?

  Intelligence?

  I selected Defense. I’d already selected my race based on the idea of going full tank-mode, so it only made sense.