Shaman's Call- Chapter 4 (Patreon)

Chapter 4- No Place Like Home?

It was immediately obvious that the AI network liked my idea of playing with the monsters. So much so that if I failed, they were going to respawn me as a sewer rat. Gah, I didn’t even want to think about what sewer rats had to eat. That was not how I was going to spend my digital eternity.

“Okay, well, I guess I’m ready to go. Can you tell me about the fortress of Malgrim and the village of Ghazban? I guess I need to pick a bind spot.”

 X4.XI replied, “Malgrim is no longer a viable location. It is not part of the active beta test, and you would have no contact with players till that expansion goes live sometime long after beta testing is over. No, you will bind in the village of Ghazban.”

 “It is the only ogre settlement larger than a single family which is within travel range of the low-level player zones. Fortunately for you it is at the foothills outside of Duladeen, a dwarven city and between the Forest of Laments, which is home to gray elves and the human kingdom of Belchor. You should be able to try your luck with each of the races.”

 “Great, well, send me there,” I said.

 “No, you need to read your notifications and decide which options you want to absorb. Once you leave the loading matrix, you will lose any gains that you might have made to skills.”

 I didn’t need to be told twice and had already tuned him out while looking at my stack of notifications. They were of varying importance.

You have successfully resisted a fear effect with Ogre’s Rage. Rage controlled 72%. Increased in offensive tendencies without loss of casting ability.

That explained the way I had been trembling at the bear-pede’s roar. It was a clutch save. Glad to not have died pissing myself as I ran away.

Illegal target- this spell may not be formed inside of another creature’s body unless the space used is open on at least one side.

 Apparently inside its open mouth was treated differently than inside the eye. I thought I had come up with a way to exploit the spell. It would have made for some epic kills. The next notification was a bit more troubling.

You have died. Sending for respawn.

 Loss of all levels and XP back to the last threshold past.

 Beast Faction: -50

Sub Faction: Bear-pedes  -1000.

 Zero levels and zero XP lost- you return as a level 1: 0/1000 XP. Maybe you should try gaining some XP or something.

 Integration: +.2% (24.2% currently)


 So if I read that correctly, then dying really sucked. It looked like I would lose any XP I gained and end up back at level 1 every time I died. I only hoped that whatever thresholds were, it meant that I could reach certain levels, after which I would never be sent back below that level. It worried me enough to stop looking at my notifications and ask X4.X1.

 His answer was reassuring while making the entire leveling process seem much more complicated. At least I now understood why there was an option not to claim XP at the time you earned. It looked like I would need to bank enough XP to make it through the first threshold.

 “The first threshold is level 5, then 10, 20, 30, 50, 70, 90, 100, 125, 150, 175, and finally 200. In the beginning it won’t be so bad but losing XP at some of those higher levels is almost too much to bear. Make sure you prepare yourself well.”

 After that I returned to looking at my notifications. There were only a couple others that mattered.

 Flameburst spell has leveled to mastery level Basic: 3   +1 for usage, +1 for creative if failed stratagems.

  Piercing Weapons has leveled to: Proficient 13. You can stick the pointy end into the other guy, most of the time. Piercing damage increased by 66%, Attack accuracy with piercing weapons increased by 66%. Armor penetration with piercing weapons increased by 33%   +1 for usage, +31 for delivering a critical hit against a level 58 bear-pede as level 1 ogre.

Perk for gaining proficiency- obtain a new spear tailored to your use.

 Adept’s Spear of Casting. Quality: Enchanted  Demand: Low to Nil
 
 Wt: 4.7 lbs.  Length: 8’ Piercing Damage: 4-24 +13 Strength.

 Spells of Proficient Tier 2 or lower cost 30% less mana to cast and have the potency increased by 30%.

I wasn’t exactly thrilled to be put back into the situation where I was gonna have to go all pokey stabby kill kill, but I couldn’t deny that the spear thrust had been my best attack. I wanted to be a magic user but had to evaluate if I had what it took.

 The last notification was the most thrilling. So, dying might suck, but there were at least some minimal perks. Seeing what I got for 10% XP made me want to figure out how to hunt down some high-level monsters. I just needed to find the right exploit. Time to gather some data and crunch the numbers.

You have gained XP. Only Monsters may gain XP in death because this is your purpose. Gain 10% of the XP that would have been gained for slaying the bear pede. XP Gained: 570     XP Available: 745

 Do you wish to absorb available XP upon completion of respawn?

 I quickly said no to that last part. An instant later it was as if everything moved around me in a blur and then spat me out. I was back in the loin cloth standing at the edge of a village. It was crude by any standard I had ever seen about primitives on the History or Travel channels, but it gave me a place to start. Now, I needed to find the ogre in charge.

 Unfortunately, I wasn’t alone. There was an old woman staring at me. “Get up. Youz be outcast. Can’t be lounging around. Must be proving yourz worth. Followz old Shemi, youz do. Or if chief find youz, hez put youz to work at grinding mill. And if head warrior finds youz, hez turn youz into a training dummy for what hez calls the real ogres.”

 I stared up at her and realized that she had a faint red aura around her. Clearly not someone I wanted to piss off no matter what her eccentric ideas might be. I tried to use assess, a basic skill that every player had and much to my relief monsters had it too. Of course, I also kicked myself for not trying to assess the other monsters I had run into.

 You have activated the skill Assess- Basic:1 Allows you to learn information about items and creatures beyond their basic prompt. Chance of success is 50% + 1%/mastery level +/- 3% per level difference, +1% per Mind score over 20.

Minor Success-

Shemi the Ogress              Class: Shaman              Level:?
Occupation:?                     HP:?                              Mana Points:?
Highest Stat: ?                   Resistances/Immunities: ?

 So, yeah, I got her name and class. I guess that was better than before. She just looked back at me, “Youz coming with mez? Or something wrong with head?”

 “Sorry Mistress Shemi, I’m coming,” I replied quickly and stumbled up from the ground.

 She cackled. “Mistress Shemi, mez likes that. Showz respectz. Maybe mez make youz prentice. Unless youz dumbhead like otherz.”

 I was following her now because talking or not, she wasn’t waiting for me. Instead, we seemed to follow a small game trail that led out of the village. Hopefully, she wasn’t taking me out to kill me, or worse. “My name is Frank, Mistress.”

 “Goodz, mez learnz yourz name after youz pass first threshold. Waste of time till then. For now, mez callz youz Ooglie,” she said while pushing aside a small branch to reveal a clearing. It wasn’t far from the rest of the village while still being in its own space.

 I saw a hut probably big enough for half a dozen ogres to fit inside. Then there were some rows of plants growing, a pair of animals tied up next to the shed that looked like nothing so much as boars, if such a thing could stand four feet at the shoulder and weigh nearly two tons. There was a smaller ogre or maybe ogress, since she had a half shirt on tending the rows of plants and a pair of male ogres sitting on the steps of the hut in a heated argument.

 “What’s ooglie?” I asked, confused.

 Shemi looked at the two ogres on her stairs, snorted, and shook her head. Then looking back at me. “Something wrong in head. Ooglie, youz is ooglie. Didn’t youz momma tellz youz?”

 That time she had tried to enunciate the word more clearly, but I still had no idea what she meant. She must have realized because then she added, “Youz head not round enough, nose too pointy, not pretty and squished.” She pointed at her own face to illustrate.

 I just realized that a freaking ogre, and an old woman ogre at that, was calling me ugly. “No, my name is Frank,” I said. “I don’t call you old.”

 Her eyes narrowed, and I wondered if I had pissed her off. Maybe I was about to be sent for respawn again. But then her head tilted back, and she let out a raucous laugh. “Mez likez youz. Still smash if get out of line but likez youz. So mez call youz Oogliefrank.”

 I nodded at her, but just about that time, one of the younger male ogres had come running into me. He leapt through the air for the last few feet and drove his shoulder into me like only someone wearing full pads would typically do. That or a complete idiot.

 -7 HP

 I was staggered back by the blow, but the damage seemed less than impressive. My assailant had landed on the ground at my feet. He was shaking his head because, well, like I said, he didn’t have a full set of pads on. The other young ogre had walked up beside Shemi. “Ooglie one bugging youz? Want uz to take care of himz?”

 She laughed. “Az much fun az it would be to let youz two whelpz fight with himz, mez want youz off me land. How many timez do mez have to tell youz? Next time mez gonna dose youz with stinkweed. Now getz and stop staring at me niecez backside.” Shemi looked over at the girl tending the plants as she said that.

 Then she signaled me to follow her into the hut, after which she turned and walked inside. The only door to the hut was a large pelt hanging as a curtain. Inside it was just as dim as I had expected, but there were all kinds of herbs and plants hanging while being dried. I almost thought there might be some weed or something like that there, because when I walked into the hut, I felt a wave of euphoria come over me.

 She turned and looked at me. “Thankz forz not smashing dem boyz. Theyz don’t be knowing any better. All piss and vinegar at themz age. Theyz be zero spawnz.” Then she pushed her finger into my chest and started punctuating each word with another prod. “But if youz do that in the village, all da otherz be thinking youz is weak or coward. Ogre way is to be strong.”

 “Yes, Mistress Shemi,” I replied. I figured now was a better time to listen and learn.

 “Spiritz test mez. Comez and tellz mez theyz sending a new ogre with strange thoughtz in hiz head. Tellz mez to make youz strongz and dat it will helpz the village. Youz better be worth it. Now take that pointy stick of yourz and escort me niece, Kittikork. Shez needz collect some herbz. Be back beforez dark. Too weak for forest beastz at night,” Shemi said.

 As she finished speaking, I got another notification.

 Because of your new status, you are now allowed to collect quests from either monsters or player race NPC’s. Not all MOBS/NPC’s can give quests but any of them can ask something of you. Only quests recognized by the AI network will receive an official notification.

 Escort the Alchemist’s Niece- You have been asked to guard Kittikork, the niece of Mistress Shemi, into the forest so that she may gather herbs for her aunt. Primary success requires that she returns alive. Secondary factors include returning prior to sunset and how many herbs as well as the quality that she can gather.

 Reward: Faction with Ogres (general), Ghazban Village, and Shemi. Apprenticeship with Shemi dependent upon degree of success. 100 XP.

 Failure: Probably respawn.

 Do you Accept? Yes or No

 Well, at least this time I got to decide if I wanted to do the quest. I quickly triggered yes and as if on cue, Kittikork put her head into the hut and asked if she could go gathering. Her aunt introduced me and explained that I would guard her. She also warned her niece to let her know if I tried any funny business.

 Looking at the little mini tusks, flat squished face, beady eyes, and overall ogre features, I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. God help me if I ever got that desperate. Of course, then the thought crossed my mind that I might feel differently after a few decades trapped here in the game as an ogre. More than anything else up to this point, that convinced me I needed to figure out a way to change my stars, so to speak.