BladeDust Online: A LitRPG Adventure (Book 1) Page 11

  Rusty Dagger

  Slot: Left or Right Hand

  Level: 1(Beginner)

  Weight: 4 lbs

  Damage: 3

  Awesome! In my mind, a jump from 1 to 3 in damage was huge. Sure, I was still weak, but at least I could kill a goblin much quicker. In the past, I had gotten addicted to leveling up in certain MMORPGS. It would sometimes literally take over my life once I got started. I could feel that same urge beginning to come back to me. I wanted to kill some more goblins, but I knew Todd needed me. I looked ahead and saw Stan fighting two goblins at once. Cosmo ran to his side and gave him some help. “Hey guys,” I yelled. “Can we go after you kill that goblin?”

  “Sure thing,” Cosmo yelled back while delivering the fatal blow to the goblin. Then, they both walked towards me. “Did you level up?”

  “Yea. I hit level 3.”

  “The first few levels are the best,” Cosmo said with a chuckle.

  I turned around and looked for Tommy. Where was he? Then, I saw him. He was propped against a dirt wall sleeping. I walked over to him and kicked his leg. “Are you seriously sleeping?”

  His eyes flew open. “Sorry,” he replied. “I'm so sleepy. I didn't get much sleep because that weird elf haunted me. He kept me up all night.”

  “Haunted you? A player you killed?” Cosmo asked.

  “Not really. His own cousin killed him.”

  “Were you carrying a personal item of his when he haunted you? Maybe a sword or another weapon?”

  “No,” Tommy replied. “I was sleeping in his bed.”

  “That explains it,” Cosmo replied. “A lost soul can actually haunt someone who sleeps with one of their personal items. It actually isn't easy to do though. Whoever is haunting you, must have a passion for it. Most players cannot pull that off. It makes sense though, a bed would qualify as a personal item. What were you doing sleeping in his bed anyways? That's kinda weird.”

  “It's a nice bed,” Tommy replied.

  Cosmo rolled his eyes. “If we are going to leave, then let's get going.”

  We climbed the stairs out of the dungeon. Once we arrived on the main land, I knew it was time to get busy building our army.

  Chapter Fifteen

  We stood right outside of the dungeon door. The sun had been replaced with clouds, and the wind was blowing really hard. Dust flew up around us as I shielded my eyes. “Is there a storm coming?”

  “It happens from time to time,” Cosmo casually replied.

  We began to walk, and the wind stopped. I waited for it to come back, but it didn't. Everything was calm. “What's up with the weather here?”

  “I think that might have been a glitch.”

  “Speaking of glitches,” I replied. “When do you think they will fix the exit button glitch?”

  “I think it's bullshit,” Cosmo replied. “Somethings going on that they aren't telling us about.”

  “I heard they are never going to fix it,” Stan yelled from behind us.

  “Who said that?” I asked.

  Stan shrugged his shoulders. “It's just what I've been hearing.”

  Never going to be fixed? How could the company do that? Wouldn't they be sued or something? Stan looked at Tommy, me and then at Cosmo. “Alright. I'm out. It was fun and all, but I gotta get back to doing what I do best. Relaxing.”

  “Okay. I will be in touch,” Cosmo replied with a fist pound.

  Stan ran off into the distance as I got straight to business. “Okay. Let's start an army. We gotta go to the peasant village and give them some gold. They said they would fight for me.”

  “Peasants? Yes, they will fight for near nothing. That is true. But, they will also die very quickly without the proper armor and weapons. You really just want to send them into battle with only straw hats?”

  I had to admit. I wasn't impressed with the physical condition of the peasants I had seen. They were really pathetic looking. “But I don't have enough gold for that,” I replied.

  “Me either,” Tommy shouted.

  Cosmo took in a deep breath and crossed both of his arms. He squinted his eyes as it looked like the dragon tattoo on the side of his face was doing a little dance. “You two really caught me at a good time,” he replied. “I usually wouldn't even consider starting an army with newer players. But, there's something about that climb that I miss. That zero to hero feeling you get when you build something from scratch. You know what I mean?”

  “I'm just starting to feel it,” I replied. “It's a great feeling.”

  “And I hope I can feel it one day,” Tommy replied.

  Cosmo turned around and pointed at a small set of hills. “In between those two hills, is a small valley. Well, it's actually where a shallow creek runs. If we follow that creek, it will run right into an old wooden shack.”

  We began to walk away from the dungeon and down a steep hill covered in dead grass. As we walked, I grabbed a few dead trees to help stabilize my balance just to make sure I didn't fall. “So what's in this shack?”

  “The guy's a bit weird,” Cosmo replied while carefully climbing down the hill. “But he has what we need. Overall he's a good guy, but you just gotta keep your cool around him.”

  “So he has weapons? Weapons that we can afford?”

  Tommy stumbled next to me and hit the stump of a tree with his left leg. He swayed to his side before grabbing my arm. “I'm gonna fall,” he complained as he regained his balance.

  “You'll live,” I replied. “So how much gold is this gonna cost?”

  “Don't worry about it,” Cosmo replied. “I got it. He will give me a good deal.”

  After many minutes of walking, we arrived at the small creek. Then, out of nowhere, a group of three players approached us. Two of the players wore mostly red leather while the other one was dressed in all brown. The character in brown had brown hair that matched his outfit. He was also the ugliest of the three and was super thin. In fact, he looked a lot like a broomstick. It was weird because I had never seen anyone that actually looked like a broomstick before. Truthfully, I didn't even know it was possible to look the way he did. The broomstick looking guy walked closer to us. He put one hand out in front of him. “Who goes here?”

  “We do,” Cosmo replied.

  The other two characters came closer to us. “This is property of the Dragon Eye Army.”

  Cosmo laughed. “Is that right?”

  “Yea,” one of the characters replied.

  Cosmo walked closer to the group. He itched his nose. “Let's see here. A level 2, 7 and a 4? Do you really want to lose your bodies today? I don't think you do. Being a lost soul is no fun. You should ask around about that before rushing into it. Don't you think?”

  “You're not much of an army,” Tommy replied from behind me.

  I laughed. It made me realize how pathetic it looked to have a small so called “army.” This was not the look I wanted to have. Just a couple of kids pretending to be “tough” when they were obviously not. Truthfully, I was weaker than all of them. It was sad in a way. But, I wouldn't be for long. I wasn't going to be like this group of losers. No I wasn't. “You three better get out of here,” I said with a calm voice.

  The ugly broom stick looking guy mocked me. “You better get out of here,” he laughed with both arms into the air. Then, he walked closer until he was right in my face. His lips curled upwards and they twitched. They continued to twitch until some words finally left his mouth. “You better shut your mouth.”

  I laughed.

  “What's so funny. Laugh again and I'll slap it right off your face!”

  I looked straight into his eyes. Yea, he was serious. Peer pressure was getting the best of him. His friends watched with excitement before one of them cheered him on. “Knock him to the ground and stomp his head into the dirt. Don't stop stomping until his head pops! Yes, he will be the first victim of the Dragon Eye Army!”

  What level was he? If he was one of the lower levels, I knew I could take him. I looked at
his display stats. Yes! He was the level 2! I squinted my eyes. “You know what I love to do?”

  His eyes became serious. “What? What do you love to do?”

  “I like to laugh,” I yelled with a burst of laughter.

  His eyes widened with shock. Then, there was a pop as he slapped me across the face. Damn, he had caught me off guard. How much damage did his slap do? I looked at my health bar and saw my level had dropped down to 13/14. One point? This little sissy was weaker than a rat. Knowing that, I decided I was going to kick his ass. “You just screwed up big time,” I yelled while pulling my dagger out. “I'm gonna show your little buddies here how much of a punk you really are.”

  He licked both hands before pulling out a long silver sword. Crap, where did he get that from? Cosmo ran closer to me. “I got your back.”

  “Thanks. But I don't need it,” I replied.

  I wasn't going to let this little punk get away with slapping me. In fact, I was going to slap him back. I raised my dagger into the air as he raised his sword into the air. Our eyes met each other. He was scared, I could see it. Then it hit me. He wasn't a goblin or a rat. He was an actual real player. What if he was a lot tougher than I had thought? I didn't know, but I was about to find out. I wasn't going to let him get the first swing. I lunged forward but was met with a knee to the chest. There was a thud as I stumbled backwards. I held my chest and struggled to breathe. Without warning, I fell to my knees and began to gag. “You look like a fly who was just sprayed with poison,” he laughed. “Is that all you got?”

  I checked my health bar. Damn! 6/12? That did way more damage than the last attack. It must have been something he had learned. Tommy walked over to me and tried to help me. “Stop it,” I said while pushing him away. “I don't need any help.”

  “Okay. I just wanted to try and help you this time,” he replied.

  I climbed to my feet. He was expecting me to say something, but I didn't. Instead, I just ran full force at him as he went back to swing. But, it was too late. I had knocked him to the ground. “Enjoy these slaps broomstick boy,” I yelled over and over while slapping his face.

  “Stop it,” he screamed. “Please!”

  I looked up at his friends while I continued to slap him. “His new name is Slappy. Slappy, Slappy, Slappy,” I yelled as my slaps grew in frequency.

  I looked back down at his face as my hand went from side to side. Man, I was getting good at this. It was almost as if I was creating some sort of art. My emotions did the work while my mind watched. I slapped him over and over until my slaps turned into closed fist. One after another until his face was covered in blood. Crap. All I saw was blood. Where was his face? Had I seriously destroyed his pathetic little face? Suddenly, his body shriveled up and disappeared. Oh wow. I killed him? I killed the walking talking broomstick? Oh well. Might as well get his loot:

  Rubber Marbles

  Value: 0.0 Gold

  Weight: 0.35 lb

  Rubber Marbles? What kind of a weirdo plays with rubber marbles? I tossed the marbles on the ground. Cosmo gave me a high five. “That was awesome dude. I've never seen someone slap someone to death.”

  “I really didn't mean to kill him,” I replied.

  “You were like a crazed animal,” Tommy yelled.

  I chuckled. It was true. In a way, I couldn't believe what had just happened. As I looked at his two friends, I could tell they were scared. I walked closer to them. “Your leader is dead.”

  “You're going to pay for what you did,” one yelled with his fist in the air.

  “We gotta hurry,” the other replied. “We gotta find his body before someone captures his soul. He's our leader. Without him, our army is nothing.”

  A strange thought came to my mind. What if they actually joined our army? I shook my head. That was a bad idea. Or was it? I elbowed Cosmo. “Think we could train them?”

  “Train them? Are you out of your mind?”

  “Why not? They are better than the peasants aren't they?”

  “Because we can't trust them. That's why.”

  Maybe he was right. How could we trust them? I looked at them while having a mental debate with myself. Could they be trusted? I didn't know. My eyes locked on both of the characters. One was very skinny while the other was slightly overweight. They had potential. There were real living players while the peasants were just NPCS. But, they were sneaky. Could they be trusted? All of a sudden, blood splashed on to me. “What the hell?” I yelled while looking at my bloody hands. “What just happened?”

  My eyes darted around with panic. Then, I saw it. One of the characters wearing red leather pants had an arrow stuck in his head. “Pull it out,” he muttered with broken words. “I got an arrow in my head.”

  Wow. He was still alive. If I had a camera, I would have taken a picture. It was something that you just didn't see every day. Still, the poor soul suggested that I extract his arrow. “Just pull on it. It'll slide right out I think.”

  “How bad does that hurt? Like, on a scale of 1-10. Just how bad is it?” Tommy asked.

  I bit my lip. I didn't have any arrow removal experience. But, I knew I needed to help him. Sure we had our differences, but no man deserved to have an arrow sticking out of his head. I grabbed the arrow and tried to pull it out. Man, it was really stuck in there. Again, I yanked on it. Suddenly, it slid right out. “I did it. The arrow has been removed,” I yelled while holding it into the air. The character collapsed. His body began to go into a seizure, and then he died. He dropped some loot. I really didn't want to take it, but still, I wanted to see what he had.

  Rubber Marbles

  Value: 0.0 Gold

  Weight: 0.35 lb

  Rubber marbles again? Well, I guess his day of playing rubber marbles with broom stick boy were over. I threw the marbles on the ground. “They are coming,” Cosmo yelled while pointing at a group of characters in the far distance. There were maybe seven or eight characters dressed in all white. They walked slowly in a “V” pattern as if they didn't have a care in the world.

  “Why did they shoot him?”

  “It's a pack of Soul Flies,” Cosmo replied. “We gotta get out of here!”

  Soul Flies? I didn't know what that meant, but it didn't sound like good news. Tommy and Cosmo ran ahead of me towards the creek in between the hills. I started to run, but then I realized the other character in red leather pants was all alone. My eyes met his. “What do we do?” he asked.

  I rolled my eyes. “Just come with us,” I yelled as I began to run.

  “Are you guys going to kill me?” he asked with worried eyes.

  “No,” I replied. “Not if you don't try anything stupid.”

  We both began to run down the creek. “Wait up,” I yelled to Cosmo. “We are coming.”

  Tommy and Cosmo slowed down so that we could catch up with them. “Why are the Soul Flies walking so slow?” I asked.

  “It doesn't matter. They will catch up. Trust me,” Cosmo replied with short breath.

  Our footsteps splashed in the shallow creek as we made our way closer and closer to the shack. “It's not far,” Cosmo yelled while pointing ahead.

  Within five minutes, we had arrived at a shack constructed with tree limbs. On top of it, was a thick layer of mud. Cosmo pounded on the door. There was no answer. Again, he pounded. Still, no answer. “What are we going to do?” I asked with panic.

  Cosmo didn't reply. Instead, he continued to pound on the door. “It's me Cosmo,” he yelled.

  The door burst open. “You got gold? You better have some gold this time,” a dark shadow replied.

  “Of course,” Cosmo said while pulling us into the shack.

  The door slammed shut. I looked at the character. He was old. In fact, I would say he looked to be at least eighty years old. “Did you bring your whole blasted family with ya? Is that what this is?”

  He had a very hoarse voice. Like he had smoked over ten thousand packs of cigarettes or something. “We are all friends,” I repl
ied with a smile.

  “That guy isn't our friend,” Tommy replied with his finger out. “He's pretty much our enemy.”

  I looked over at the character in red leather pants and examined his face. He had a very sneaky look to him. Almost like he was up to something at that very moment. He brushed his brown hair away from his eyes. “My name is Ronald.”

  Ronald? What sort of mom names her kid after a clown known for burgers? “Nice to meet you Ronald,” I said with my hand out.