Collecting The Goddess (Chronicles Of KieraFreya Book 1) Read online

  Stamina: 20/30

  Active effects: Null

  Attributes (Unavailable until level 5)

  Skills

  Languages: Human

  Available Points: 0

  “Okay, so that’s somewhat useful,” she mused, looking at the numbers. “Hey, when did I lose health?”

  She focused on the button Activity Log and scanned a small list of actions that had occurred since landing.

  Ouch! Talk about a crash landing. Maybe spread some butter on your feet and you’ll land the right way next time?

  -2 HP

  It didn’t seem fair to lose 2 hit points just by entering the game? Chloe made a note to bring that up with Mia when she was next able to check in.

  She looked around the menu, searching for an area where she could keep a list of potential bugs, but she found nothing.

  What she did find, however, was an inventory. She focused, and two boxes appeared in her vision.

  Congratulations! You’ve found the inventory. From this menu, you’ll be able to see all the treasured possessions you have on your person in one place. Currently, your item number matches the number of friends you’ve made here in Obsidian. That is to say, 0.

  Well, that was unnecessary.

  Chloe blinked away the message screen and sighed. She had been hoping to find some kind of weapon in her inventory. Even a rusty dagger or a hatchet would have worked. She tried to think back to when Blake had played his games. She was sure every character had started with some kind of weapon to get the action going.

  “At this point, I’d take something as simple as a stick for a weapon.” She picked up the most pathetic stick she could find. About the length of her hand, it flopped flaccidly, as if begging to be returned to the ground. She slashed it through the air. “Take that, dragon. Feel the mighty wrath of my unbelievable blade!”

  You have a new weapon: Tiny stick

  Hey! Good work. You’ve found the very thing all enemies cower and bow down to—a small stick! Let all enemies fear and turn from your might.

  Damage: 0-1 (slashing)

  Durability: 2/5

  You’ve unlocked a new skill: Armed combat (Lv 1)

  Good job. You can now fight stuff. Y’know, so long as they’re low level, like bunnies and stuff. Let the battles begin!

  Requirements: Acquisition of first weapon

  Bonuses: +1 strength

  Chloe wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry. It seemed like interaction with anything in this game could be beneficial, even just picking up a stick. She gripped her weapon tightly in her hand and held it in front of her like a sword. Advancing on the trunk of the closest tree, she said, “I shall have at thee, maiden oak. Bow down and fear the destroyer of things,” before slashing and attacking the tree until her arms grew tired. She wasn’t sure what she was expecting from this, perhaps some more level-up gains in the skills she’d acquired. Unfortunately, that was not what happened. Instead, the stick broke in two.

  “Aw, man,” she said, taking half in each hand.

  You’ve unlocked a new skill: Dual wielding (Lv 1)

  Excellent display of swordsmanship (stickmanship?), young lady. Now you can confidently wield low-level weapons with both hands. Give yourself a pat on the back...with both hands!

  Requirements: Hold a small weapon in each hand

  Bonuses: +1 dexterity

  “Sweet!” She chuckled quietly, somehow feeling that, although the gains were small, she’d started making progress. Now, if only she could find somewhere warm and safe to sleep. The night had begun to envelop her, and upon inspection of her character sheet, she noted that she had already lost another 3HP.

  Flicking up her Activity Log, she soon discovered why.

  Ouch! It’s freezing out, and you’re wearing that? Best find somewhere warm before hypothermia sets in.

  -1 HP

  Ouch! It’s freezing out, and you’re wearing that? Best find somewhere warm before hypothermia sets in.

  -1 HP

  Ouch! It’s freezing out, and you’re wearing that? Best find somewhere warm before hypothermia sets in.

  -1 HP

  As she read through the messages, another appeared.

  Ouch! It’s freezing out, and you’re wearing that? Best find somewhere warm before hypothermia sets in.

  -1 HP

  “All right! I get it. I’ll find somewhere warm.”

  Then she felt a drop of water hit her shoulder. Another. A third. Within seconds, the storm came, unleashing bucketsful of rain. Chloe’s clothes soaked through as she sprinted in any direction she could, doing her best to avoid hitting trees.

  She bumped and scratched her shoulder on trunks and noted that the Activity Log notification blinked in the corner of her vision. She wasn’t sure how long she’d have before her count went to zero. She hadn’t even contemplated what that might mean for her.

  The cuts and grazes begun to burn with a real pain that she couldn’t quite explain, given that she was in a goddamn video game! If they were hurting now, what would death be like?

  “Come on, Chloe.” She was panting, her strength beginning to flag, and she slowed down. Her legs felt like they were made of lead. She gasped, drawing in as much breath as possible, noticing as she went light-headed that a small flicker of something orange had appeared through the trees ahead.

  With heavy steps, she crashed toward the fire—for a fire it was. Flickering flames lit the inside of the cave entrance. Chloe approached as cautiously as possible, wondering what kind of creature could be dwelling inside.

  Chapter Three

  The heat rolled over Chloe as she tiptoed into the cave. The walls were rough-hewn stone, and it already appeared much larger on the inside than it had from outside.

  The cave bent around a tunnel, the glowing orange of the fire flickering gently. She could hear gruff voices but couldn’t understand their speech.

  She clung to the wall, her hair dripping wet. She did her best to stay quiet, but every step echoed as if she were deliberately stomping—the same noise she used to make when she was trying to piss off her stupidly successful brother in the bedroom below hers by jumping and stamping her feet on the floorboards.

  Taking another step, she raised her leg as delicately as possible and tried her best to lower her foot without making a sound. In her head, the process went smoothly and not an iota of dust stirred. In reality…

  Her foot clapped on the floor and the sound traveled down the tunnel, echoing along its length as it raced toward the voices. For a heart-wrenching moment, the voices were silent. Chloe could feel them listening for her, until they apparently decided it was nothing, resuming their raucous talk.

  What the hell, I can’t tiptoe? What’s that about?

  Then Chloe remembered. Blake had always been fond of being a thief assassin in his run-throughs of Relic Hunter. A necessary component of that role had been spending hours and hours grinding to gain the Sneak ability.

  Chloe took another thunder-clapping step before slapping her face. How am I supposed to learn Sneak if I’m going to be caught just by walking in a cave!

  And then it struck her—the way that she had seen animals sneaking on TV documentaries. She sighed, lowered herself to her hands and knees, and began crawling along the floor.

  The shuffling sound still carried down the chamber, but it didn’t make half as much noise as when she was walking. She gritted her teeth, doing her best not to cry out or moan as small shards of rock wore away the bare skin of her knees.

  Ouch! Just in case you’ve forgotten, babies crawl. Consider getting your wittle tooshy up to avoid taking any more damage.

  -1HP

  Oh, come on!

  She knew she had to stick to crawling as her curiosity got the better of her. As she slowly made her way deeper into the cave, she flicked open her character sheet.

  Bio

  Character name: Untitled (click to select a new character name)

  Level: 1

 
Class: Null

  Race: Human

  Stats

  HP: 8/15

  MP: 15/15

  Stamina: 20/30

  Active effects: Null

  Attributes (Unavailable until level 5)

  Skills

  Languages: Human

  Creature Identification: Lv 1

  Armed Combat: Lv 1

  Dual Wielding: Lv 1

  Available Points: 0

  Damn. She’d only been in the game a couple of hours, and she’d already lost almost half of her health without even meeting a monster! If things kept on as they were, she’d be dead by the time she found a place to lie by the fire.

  She glanced at the stats one more time, making a mental note to think of a kickass name for her character when she wasn’t crawling along the floor on her way toward unknown voices. Maybe now wouldn’t be the best time to accidentally call herself something stupid.

  She didn’t even know if by selecting a name, that name would stick forever in the game. If she couldn’t customize her buxom character, what were the chances she’d be able to rename her?

  Eventually, Chloe peeked around a sharp corner and found the source of the fire. The bend led to an open chamber about the size of a small house with a bonfire in the middle. Sitting around the bonfire, silhouetted by the flames, were two creatures she recognized instantly.

  Goblins.

  She had seen them before. They were Blake’s favorite blade fodder, a great way to gain experience at the lower levels due to their stupidity and low HP. Chloe studied them for a moment, almost recoiling at the smell that accompanied each wave of heat pushed toward her. They had long, wide ears that protruded from the sides of their heads. Their skin was a darkish green, with patches of black fur here and there. They wore stained and torn loincloths that barely covered their private bits.

  Chloe pulled in a deep breath of disgust. The sound was much louder than she’d liked.

  She ducked behind the wall as the goblins turned to face her.

  “You ‘ear that?” one of the goblins croaked.

  Chloe heard a slap. “Jus’ the wind, idiot. You ain’t scared o’ the wind, are ya?”

  The first goblin sniffled. “Heeeey, don’ hit me.”

  A chuckle. “Quit your whining, Skud, or I’ll give ya somethin’ to whine about.”

  Chloe waited a moment before poking her head back around the corner.

  You’ve unlocked a new skill: Sneak (Lv 1)

  Who goes there? Oh, it must have been nothing…

  With every level of the sneak skill, you will dissolve more into shadow. Monsters and enemies will have a harder time detecting your presence with each level gained. Don’t get cocky though, kid. Remember, you’ve only just made Lv. 1.

  Requirements: Avoid detection from a low-level monster

  Bonuses: +1 dexterity

  Nice! Another skill gained. Chloe glanced at her HP. Damn, but another 2HP down… And another 10 stamina? At this rate, she was going to be too exhausted to move before she could find a place to safely rest.

  Chloe blinked away her notifications, wondering if she’d be able to find a setting later that might make the pop-ups a little less intrusive. This one had surprised her, and it would probably make the difference between life and death if she was unable to see because she’d gained a skill at the moment when she should’ve been stabbing a goblin’s face.

  Not only that, she wasn’t sure she liked the tone of these notifications. She thought she remembered that Blake’s messages had been a lot more friendly and straight-talking. With every message and notification received, Chloe was feeling more and more like she was being teased by her siblings.

  Shaking away the thought, Chloe scoured her character sheet and spotted the Creature Identification skill.

  Right! That could be useful. Let’s test this baby out.

  Chloe focused her attention on the first goblin, and somehow she knew how to use the skill. A small pop-up box appeared above the goblin’s head.

  Goblin.

  That was all that it said. Nothing more. Nothing less.

  Are you friggin’ kidding me? I know it’s a goblin.

  She moved her focus to the second goblin.

  Skud (Goblin).

  Great. At least I know this one’s name. I’m sure that’ll come in useful.

  Chloe backed away and weighed her options. The way that she saw it, she could do one of three things. She could find a way to sneak around the goblins and get closer to the fire, testing her new sneak ability, she could charge in there and take her chances using her pieces of floppy stick as a weapon, or she could head back out into the rain and try to find somewhere safer.

  Well, the whole point of this game was to learn to be more confident and take control, right? No point hiding and whining like a baby.

  Chloe unconsciously rubbed the scratches on her arms, hoping that if the goblins did attack, the pain wouldn’t be anything like she had already felt. Surely it wouldn’t in a game like this, right?

  Chloe stepped around the corner into the firelight. “Good evening, gentlemen.”

  The goblins turned and jumped to their feet, mouths agape.

  Skud took a step back. “Intruder!”

  “No, no.” Chloe waved her hands in front of her. “No, I’m not an intruder, I’m just looking for somewhere to dry off.”

  The second goblin reached into his pocket and withdrew a crooked dagger. “Intruder! Get her, Skud!”

  Skud looked from Chloe to the other goblin, his lip quivering with fear. He nodded, reached into his own pocket, and pulled out a stick.

  “Hey!” Chloe said brightly. “We’ve got the same weapon—”

  “Aaaargh!” Skud roared as he ran at Chloe, her mind only now registering that his stick had been tapered to a sharp point.

  Before Chloe could register what was happening, the stick found its mark in her stomach. She clutched at the wound, looking down in disbelief. White-hot pain bolted through her insides. With wide eyes, she raised her head and saw a flash of rusted silver as the second goblin slashed at her neck.

  There was a final electric pulse of immense pain before her vision faded to black. The pain immediately subsided.

  Wup-wup. You’re dead.

  Perhaps you should look before you leap. Walk before you run. Swim before you sink. What we’re trying to say is, maybe don’t approach hostile goblins while holding nothing but a stick.

  -50n experience (where n equals your character’s level)

  -1/2 your equipment

  Time to respawn: 2 hours

  “Hey! I had two sticks!” Chloe blinked as she opened her eyes in the whitest room she had ever seen.

  The room was empty apart from the chair she found herself sitting in, a desk with a 90s-style computer on top, and an old rotary telephone. On the far wall was a large countdown timer, now reading 01:59:24.

  Chloe instinctively reached for the computer’s mouse before she suddenly remembered what had brought her here. She pulled up her pristine white t-shirt and checked her stomach, then ran a hand across her neck. There was no sign of the goblin attack. A quick examination of her knees and arms revealed that they were as clean as whistles.

  What a strange system this is, Chloe mused, trying not to think too much about the pain she had felt as the goblin’s stick pierced her flesh. It had felt so real. She had experienced every single prod and poke, and when the second goblin had sliced her throat…

  She shuddered, looking around for something—anything—to distract her from her thoughts.

  She turned on the old computer, grimacing as a dial-up modem screeched and beeped. When the computer loaded, she found only an icon for exploring the internet.

  With curious fingers, she typed the words “Obsidian game help,” wondering if anyone else was online and had started adding information on the game to potential players. Mia had said that they would be piloting the game with more than just Chloe; they just needed her to get the bankroll
going.

  Maybe she’d find that some of these players had already died before her and uploaded useful tips.

  The searches came back empty, just a rudimentary splash page on the Praxis Games website announcing the up-and-coming title.

  “I wonder if I get a new skill or ability by being the first ever in the game to die.” She pouted, then jumped when the phone began to ring.

  Chloe picked up the phone. “Good morning, Haversham Dogs’ Home. If you’re looking to re-house your canine, please press 1.”

  Demetri’s spoke on the other side. “Chloe? Is that you?”

  Chloe smirked. “I’m sorry, I don’t understand that command. Would you like to re-listen to the options?”

  Demetri exhaled loudly. “Ha-ha. Very funny. I’m glad to hear the game hasn’t wiped out your sense of humor. Goblins, huh? That looked like a painful way to go.”

  Chloe’s eyebrow raised. “Wait, you saw that? And, hold on…is this what you were talking about with ‘conditions’? I have to die to be able to talk to you?”

  “Yeah.” Demetri sighed. “Not ideal, we know, but it’s the only way to maintain the illusion of the game while you’re in play. Nice work, by the way. We’ve been watching every step of your journey. Mia’s wired the game so we can watch a livestream of your play-through. Way to go attacking that tree with a stick. That oak was definitely asking for it.”

  Chloe found herself blushing. “I was getting to grips with the game, okay? If Mia is still there, perhaps you might suggest that new players shouldn’t be thrown into the ass-end of nowhere with literally nothing on them to help them survive. Oh, and for that matter, she might want to think about smoothing out the onboarding process. Forget about the fact that I was thrown into this world after she panicked and forgot to pass on the safety instructions, but that fall! I don’t think I’ll ever get rid of the bruise on my ass from the landing.”

  Chloe rubbed her behind, noticing once again that all the pain and marks had gone. “Huh. What do you know?”

  “See?” Mia’s voice came on as if he had just seen her. “The pain isn’t real. It’s all simulated by the full-emersion VR. State-of-the-art. It’s fantastic, right?” A pause. “Sorry the onboarding wasn’t as smooth as we wanted, but every new game has its bugs, right?”