Hell's Glitch (LitRPG): Into a Dark Adventure (17 page)

The smith stopped his hammering and finally looked at his two
guests.  His eyes bore down on them with nothing showing but utter contempt.

“Are you both going to chatter about, or explain to me why
you’re loitering in my workshop?”

A workshop this is not, old man.  More like an abandoned
crack castle that you’re holed up in,
Sam thought grimly to himself.

“Sir, apologies!  We have come—”

“Silence creature.  I don’t want to hear it from you.  As a
matter of fact, I don’t want to hear anything from you.  I shall talk to this
man without your presence. Be gone!”

Sedwin sighed and turned around looking very sad.  Sam
didn’t think his shoulders could slump any more than before.

“Don’t go too far Sedwin!  I still need you buddy!” Sam
called out to him.

The smith was just being a plain asshole.  Sam would have
liked to just skip through all this drama to get his weapon upgraded, but now
he had a bone to pick with this rude ass man.

“Why did you bring that loathsome creature back here with
you?  If you needed my services, you should’ve sought me out yourself.  Any
adventurer worth his ilk would be able to find me on his own.”

“That ‘loathsome creature’ wants nothing more than to be in
your service again you asshole!  Look at him!  He’s not even mad at you, just
sad because you can’t even freaking talk to him like a person.  Get off your
high horse and go apologize to him!”

“Why I—how dare you say such a thing?” Sir Barrington asked.

“Well, it’s true.”

“Bah, you don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Sir Barrington looked over at Sedwin for a long moment.

“Apprentice!”

Sedwin snapped back to face Sir Barrington.

“Yes, master?”

“Come back this way.  It can’t be helped.  I’ll have to
polish your armor.”

“Sorry, master.”

Before Sedwin was in earshot, Barrington shared a surprising
admission to Sam.

“I did miss the clink of that armor.  It’s one of my best
works.”

When Sedwin approached, Barrington pretended that he had not
just admitted to Sam that he missed his friend or his friend’s armor or
whatever the hell it was that he missed.

“Now, what is it that you both want?” Barrington asked.

“I’d like you to upgrade my weapons and armor,” said Sam.

“So you’d like something reforged and made even stronger. 
Let me see your weapons.”

Sam showed him his Rapier.

“Ahhh!  What a dangerous weapon!  It has bathed in the blood
and souls of many, so its strength is swelling.  Yes!  I can work with this
piece.  I can bring out its true potential ... if you allow me.  Hehehe.”

A menu opened up in front of Sam with the options for the
blacksmith’s shop.  Sam quickly scrolled over to the smithing screen to see his
options.

Awaken

Soul Drain

Reinforcement

With Awaken, he could use souls contained inside of his
weapons to power them up.  Soul Drain used his own held souls to do the same
thing, while Reinforcement used rare minerals to alter the properties of a
weapon and leveled them up as well.  With the amount of souls absorbed by his
sword, Sam was easily able to level the Rapier up to level ten, and so he did. 
Each level gained by the weapon had only taken five hundred souls.  The base
strength of his weapon had increased by a lot.

Rapier +10

Thrusting Sword

ATK  127

     Weapon Damage  85

S ATK  D = 8

D ATK  C+ = 34

M ATK  F = 0

B ATK  F = 0

F RAT  0

L RAT  0

D RAT  0

P RAT  0

B RAT  4

Weight: 2.2lbs

S. ABS: 18,075

“Now we can reforge the blade.  All we need is ore.  There’s
much of that to be found around these cursed lands.”

“Dammit!” Sam whispered to himself.  He knew he hadn’t
picked up anything like that yet.

“Ne’er mind.  You can go ahead and use the rest of those
souls to increase your weapon some more.  How about it?”

There was no way Sam could say no to that.  This time, each
increase to the weapon’s level cost him one thousand souls until the Rapier
reached level twenty.  But it was worth it to get the twenty extra points of
weapon damage.  Every level after twenty ended up costing him two thousand
souls a level.  He leveled the sword four times before running out of absorbed
souls.

Rapier +24

Thrusting Sword

ATK  155

     Weapon Damage  113

S ATK  D = 8

D ATK  C+ = 34

M ATK  F = 0

B ATK  F = 0

F RAT  0

L RAT  0

D RAT  0

P RAT  0

B RAT  4

Weight: 2.2lbs

S. ABS: 75

“For your weapon, I recommend getting some ores for it soon. 
If you fancy it, that is.  I sell generic pieces of ore.  It’s mostly good for
weaker weapons and basic armor sets.”

“Can I upgrade my armor with it right now?”

“Yes, we can reforge your armor here and now if you want. 
It’ll be a much sturdier piece.”

Sam checked out the blacksmith’s shop menu and bought all ten
of the Mithril Pieces that the blacksmith held.  He also had enough to buy a
stylish Frayed Cloak, which didn’t have a lot of defensive value, but did look
cool as hell.  It mainly offered decent protection against ailments.  There was
also a boatload of new weapons that actually looked useful and an item called a
Synthesis Stone that was expensive as hell.  Buying it would leave Sam with
next to no souls.  Sam read its description.

Synthesis Stone

Used for armor synthesis.

An enchanted stone composed of rare exotic materials.  No
one knows where these unique stones come from, but their benefits are widely
known.  Most blacksmiths seem to disdain them however.  For many adventurers
with this stone in their possession frequently make silly requests, like
permanently fusing together two sets of armor.

Sam wondered if he read that right.  Did the description
mean that he could fuse together two sets of armor himself?  He backed out of
the menu and asked Barrington to upgrade his armor with the Mithril Pieces. 
Barrington was able to do so, all the way to level ten, but could go no further
since Sam lacked the necessary materials.  The process had taken no longer than
a few seconds thanks to the magic of video games.  No wait times required.

“Ahh, now your armor can be properly reforged.  You’ll need
some bigger pieces of ore to get the job done,” explained Barrington.

“What about that Synthesis Stone?”

The smith looked repulsed by Sam’s question.

“Oh that thing?  It’s just a silly trinket.”

“Can I use it to reforge my armor?”

“Yes, but I don’t see why you’d want to.  There are much
better ores out there, if you can find them.  This stone just helps you make
piecemeal armor.  Nothing but silly trinkets.”

“Ah, I see,” Sam said disappointedly.  He thought about all
the possibilities of armor fusion as he walked quietly over near Sedwin.  He
made eye contact and curtly nodded at the bear and Sedwin nodded back.  Sam activated
the Soul Beacon and rested at it for a brief sojourn, unable to get the idea of
armor fusion out of his mind.  With his imagination racing, he got up and went
back to Barrington.  He bought the Synthesis Stone and with it in hand, he
presented it to Barrington.  The blacksmith looked at him disappointedly.

“So you really want this armor to be synthesized?  It can’t
be helped then, if you’re willing to pay for it.  It’s a waste of souls, but
it’s a waste of your souls.”

Sam motioned in the air for the smith to get on with it. 
Sir Barrington looked offended, which gave Sam some satisfaction.

“What will you combine with this set?” Barrington asked.

He was referring to Sam’s Twilight Armor.  Sam only had one
thing he could really combine with it and that was the Frayed Cloak he had just
bought.  He had the smith combine the two.  The smith made him decide which
part of the thick cloak to apply to his current armor set.  Sam, of course,
chose the long swooping frayed cape along with some other odds and ends that he
thought looked cool.  It all resulted in his own Twilight gear getting even
more of a badass treatment.  His status screen allowed him to glimpse how his
character looked and he had to say that now he looked like some crazy badass
dark fantasy superhero.  His rambling thoughts were interrupted by Sir
Barrington.

“Would you like to name this thing you’ve had me create?  I
offer that option to everything that I reforge, even ... this.”

“Wow!  I get to name it too?”

Sam opened his menu and was stumped by what he should name
his new armor.  He didn’t want it to be named the Twilight Armor since it
reminded him of these old lame 3D movies from the past that his sister liked to
watch.  He went with “Bloody Sunday’s Best” and grinned at his supposed
cleverness.  He looked at his new armor’s stats as well and saw that they had
improved, though only marginally.

“I look freakin’ good!  Now excuse me gentleman and
gentlebear, I have a bastard in black to kill.”

18
Stumpy and Grumpy

“By the way, have you two seen any Cutthroats in this area? 
Besides myself, I mean?”

The bear and the smith both shook their heads.

“No, not at all.  Cutthroats wouldn’t be interested in this
part of the forest anyway.  Most folks stay away for fear of running into that
gigantic forest beast.”  The bulky blacksmith rubbed his beard.

“Gigantic forest beast?” asked Sam.

“Aye, the one that flies.  Like most beasts of its ilk, it
feeds on men and their souls.  What they don’t know is that the beast only
attacks when you get near its lair.  The parts of the forest close to here are
a safe haven.  The cliffs however are not, that’s where it roosts.  I pray you
don’t find yourself near one of those, lest you end your life as a morsel.  Hahahaha.”

Sam was unsettled by the smith’s revelations, but he wasn’t
completely put off by them.  The northern part of the forest sounded like a
suitable place to find some useful items, maybe something to help with his
inevitable fight against Rondo and his Cutthroats.  Before Sam left the duo of
Sedwin and his master, Barrington, he bought an item called Phoenix Floo.

Phoenix Floo

Teleport to last Soul Beacon rested at.

A potent mixture of ashen remains and soul power creates
the floo.  The ashen remains are typically collected from the fiery beacons
that dot the land of the undead.  Phoenix Floo was so named because of the
resonant feeling it brings to the undead who use it.  They feel reborn from the
fiery ash of the Soul Beacons every time they travel through the cinders.

Sam was glad to finally be able to have the option to
teleport back to base.  He knew that would come in handy.  Before he exited, he
eyed an expensive tool called Soul Bound Refinement Kit.

Soul Bound Refinement Kit

Upgrade weapons at a Soul Beacon.

Talented blacksmiths have become a rarity in the world,
even moreso in the land of the undead.  Because of this, warriors have
desperately tried their hand at the art with mixed results.  This smithing kit
comprises their best efforts at invention.  The tools within the kit are
capable of manipulating the souls within a weapon and nothing more.

Barrington explained to Sam that the kit allowed him to
upgrade his weapons whenever he rested at a Soul Beacon and that the upgrading
was limited to soul drain and awakening.  Sam could only upgrade with any ore
he’d collected with a real blacksmith.  The kit was too expensive to purchase
now, but Sam made a mental note to buy it later.

He left Sedwin’s camp and headed further north, into the
forest.  As he traveled along the path, he rigorously hunted for treasure
chests.  He didn’t find much along the way.  He did get something called a
Warrior’s Soul from a corpse he’d come across lying under a tree and three
Decoy Souls from a corpse near that.  He didn’t want to stop to read the
descriptions now because he knew he’d read them later anyway.  He continued to
walk under the tall trees, carefully looking around for any threats and
treasure.  He jumped backwards when some kind of giant coconut fell in front of
him.

“What the hell?” he wondered out loud.

He looked up at the tall tree and didn’t see any other
hazards, unless the massive branches decided to fall off.  As he was looking up
something ran right into his legs and knocked him over.

“Ow!  What the—”

His health drained by a tenth and whatever had attacked was
quickly approaching again.  He rolled out of the way and looked for the thing
that was attacking.  He turned around and saw that the thing had bumped into a
tree and knocked down another identical looking creature.  They were strange
looking creatures, both covered in some sort of giant brown shell with stumpy arms
and legs and a tiny head.  They both stood and wobbled around like they were
dizzy.  Neither was tall enough to reach above Sam’s knee.  He quickly ran up
and attacked, while they were dizzy, with quick thrusts to their fleshy heads with
his Rapier.  Luckily the two didn’t have much HP, so he dispatched them quite
easily and got two hundred souls from each.

“Oh yeah, I upgraded my sword!  Damn, it’s strong!”

The coconut looking enemies were both covered in a faint
white glow that signified that they were lootable (items can be taken from
their corpses).  Sam looted both and gained a Stim Plant from each.

“Thank you Stumpy and Dumpy!  Your sacrifices will not go in
vain.”

He bowed his head in a mock prayer to the slain creatures
and moved forward without reading the description of his new item.  Once again some
enemies dropped down from above his head.  This time two of the “Stumpies,” as
Sam had taken to calling them, had dropped down at once.  Each of them briefly
poked their tiny blue heads out of their shells and began to roll towards Sam
in tandem.  Sam dodged to the side to avoid them.  Another Stumpy fell from the
tree behind him.

“Listen fellas, time out please!  I’m just looking for some
cool items, then I want to kill a scumbag named Rondo.  None of that has
anything to do with any of you coconut-bros, right?”

Two of the Stumpies turned around and immediately rolled
towards Sam.  The third began its roll after the other two and Sam was
effectively trapped.  He dodged one rolling attack only to be struck with two
consecutively from the side and back.  That quick, he lost one-third of his HP.

“Why the hell does everything in this game want to kill me? 
Even evil-freakin’-baby-midget-coconuts.  I never liked nasty coconuts anyway
you ugly bastards!”

He rose to his feet and ran to a tree, putting his back to
it as the three coconut-bros revved then took off towards him.  He dodged out
of the way at the last possible minute.  One of the Stumpies in the rear had
clipped him, but they all collided with the tree, knocking a fourth Stumpy
down.  All were dizzy and stunned, so Sam quickly let loose all he had, killing
all four with one heavy strike apiece.

“You hear that?  Coconut is nasty!  I hate it, just like I
hate you!”

He looted all of them and got a Stim Plant from each then
quickly took a drink from his Soul Fire to heal the damage he had taken.

He looked up at the trees and branches above him.  There
were coconut-bro bastards hanging everywhere.  As soon as he stepped further
into the forest he would quickly find himself overwhelmed by them.

“Oh, hahaha—no!  Looks like I won’t be going that way.”

In the distance, beyond the trees there was some type of
giant gateway leading to what looked to be a giant cliff side.  It was the same
one he noticed when he had encroached IMMORtAL_Kalika the second time, only now
it was closer.  Sam looked up to see if it were possible to fight each of the
coconut enemies one at a time so that he could get through without losing any
HP.  It was possible, though some looked like they would automatically drop two
at a time.  But that would take too long.  He still had more glitches to find.

“Hold on ... what’s that?”

Some of the branches were empty and some of them led to
other empty branches on other trees.  Looking closely enough, Sam could see
that there was a potential path into the forest that bypassed all the Stumpies. 
He couldn’t see the path all the way through the forest, but he decided to at
least go as far as he could see.  He hoped the path would lead him to that
gateway or at least to some cool loot.  The gateway would most likely have his
first boss.  Sam was eager to see what a boss would actually look like up close
in VR.  The bosses in The Death Planes were impressive enough in plain 3D, but
in full immersion they’d be absolutely terrifying.

Following the empty branches proved to be a very good idea.  Sam
found himself nearly out of the forest without a single fight.  Finally, the
giant gateway was looming just up ahead.

Not far from there, he heard a growl coming from the forest.
 Soon, a giant lumbering creature slowly walked onto the path he was heading
down and sat down near the forest exit at the end of the path.  It looked just
like the undead bear that he came across when he’d encroached IMMORtAL_Kalika
earlier.  As a Walker, the bears wouldn’t attack him then, though he wouldn’t
be so lucky this time.

“Ooooh man, this is shit.  They would put a damn bear right
at the exit.  That’s the only way out of here as far as I can tell.  If I leave
this path then the asshole coconuts gang up and kill me.  If I go down this
path, I have to fight a goddamn zombie bear somehow without leaving this path. 
As soon as I leave, I’ll be ganged by the coconut assholes anyway.  I forgot
how goddamn cheap this game is.  It’s so frustrating!  I hate it!  I love it! 
I want more dammit!”

Sam ran forward like a maniac, straight at the undead bear
in his path.  The bear slowly rose to its feet as Sam approached, its red eyes
glowing in the dark and some sort of creepy haze coming from its sharp-fanged
open maw.

Sam ran around the nightmarish creature, evoking the ire of
the Stumpies above.  Sam heard about six of them fall down behind him as he
cleared the forest and found himself in a more open aired setting.  He was on a
huge open cliff.  Exactly where he probably didn’t want to be, from
Barrington’s earlier advice but behind him was a growing threat that he really
didn’t want to deal with, so he pressed forward recklessly.

He could hear the Stumpies begin their rolling attacks and
he heard the pissed off undead bear roaring its anger into the sky.  None of
that sounded particularly appetizing, so he kept on running to the huge cliff. 
He ran in an unorthodox zigzag pattern, like someone trying to avoid bullets. 
One of the Stumpies had rolled right past him followed by another.

He was right at the gate now, and up close it was way bigger
than he had expected.  He didn’t have time to marvel at its architecture.  He
narrowly avoided another Stumpy attack from behind.  Getting hit even once
would knock him down and allow the enemies to catch up to him.

He eyed his stamina gauge and saw it close to depleting
fully.  He had to slow down just a little so that he wouldn’t fully deplete it. 
As soon as he reached the gateway, he plowed right into it, not even bothering
to read the inscriptions scrawled across it.  He passed through some sort of
mysterious barrier, something that obscured the view to the other side of it. 
The barrier seemed to be composed of the same spiritual white mist as the souls
that Sam had frequently absorbed.

On the other side of the barrier, his stamina had faded all
the way down to nothing and he was forced to stop and take in all the air that
he could.  It was a sort of stunned state where he couldn’t move until at least
a tiny portion of his stamina gauge recovered.  Ahead of him was a wide open
stone and grass covered area.  It was a perfect place for a boss encounter, so
Sam was savvy enough to know what to expect next.

He took the time to slow down a little bit, to let some of
his adrenaline wear down, and to think of his next couple of moves.  The boss
hadn’t yet activated, so Sam quickly looked behind him, and stared deeply into
the barrier.  If one got really close to it, they could actually see through
the barrier.  At a distance it looked vaguely like a mirror, but now Sam could
see the enemies that he’d left behind walking back into the forest.  They’d
known not to cross the barrier or perhaps they couldn’t.  Either way, Sam was
grateful.  Now though, his mind was on the challenge ahead.

“My first boss.”

He looked at the wide open sky of the cliff face ahead, it
was beautiful.  It was still night time in the game and Sam had to wonder if
perhaps daylight would never come to the game world.  But he could definitely
see that they were on a big mountain.  The mountain lingered above him, mostly
on the right side and he knew at that moment that the whole forest was set on a
large mountain.  He stopped and thought about this part of the game in the old
Death Planes version.  Milner and his crew had changed up some of the things in
the forest, maybe just to throw the testers off.  The characters were different
and some of the enemies were changed from the game before, but this part was
unmistakable.

This was the area that led, from the City of the Dead to the
Assassin’s Forest.  And the boss here was unmistakable as well.  It was a boss
that made Sam nearly give up on the prospect of traveling to the Assassin’s Forest
all those years ago.

“Here we go!  Time to fight the Forest Dragon.”