The Warped Forest Read online

  In a way, she felt like the early humans having to carve out a piece of civilization for themselves in whatever way they could. But that didn't help her narrow down the classes.

  Arcane Mastermind seemed to have a strategic bent to the abilities, and it matched the stats and skills that she had developed the most. When she hovered her hand over the Signature Spell she saw:

  Spell: Misdirection – Tier 1

  Faez: 20 ׀ Range: 50 feet

  Effect: Divert a spell or attack from one creature into another.

  In single combat, this ability was rather useless, which suggested the class was meant to deal with larger groups of enemies. There would have been few opportunities to use this spell, but having it available might change her tactics.

  The name for the next class, Mistress of Élan, immediately appealed to her sense of style. While she'd never stoop so low as to play a bard, the idea of being able to manipulate and control others with a Machiavellian flair sounded like a class she could leverage.

  Spell: Panache – Tier 1

  Faez: 20 ׀ Duration: 1 minute

  Effect: Beguile an enemy into believing it's your friend (wears off if attacked).

  The problem was that she was stuck in the Warped Forest with few enemies to charm, and given they were higher level, she doubted she could do it easily or effectively. The class could be a great choice if she had access to a city, or larger humanoid network, but based on that, she eliminated it as a possibility.

  Which left Devious Artificer, a class meant for creating objects and creatures. As a lone adventurer in the middle of a dangerous area, that ability was mighty appealing. She imagined that she could augment her minions and herself with additional gear. She was a sucker for magical items, especially ones with unique effects.

  Spell: Masterful Creation – Tier 1

  Faez: Varies ׀ Range: Permanent

  Effect: Create a Devious Device with the supplied materials.

  She couldn't deny how important the items she'd created already had been for her survival. Without them, she'd still be level 1 and weaponless. She assumed this spell could create higher-level equipment.

  But was the class appealing because of that? Once she moved on from the Warped Forest, would it still be as useful?

  She needed to choose the class that gave her the best chance of leveraging her creativity. She'd almost beaten the Avatar of Destruction, not because of her items, but because she'd found a way to exploit the base abilities. Not that item creation couldn't facilitate that, but would the Arcane Mastermind be more effective?

  Alex hovered her hand over the Luck of the Bold ability.

  Luck of the Bold

  Passive Ability

  Gain a luck bonus when fighting against overwhelming odds

  "That pretty much sums up my experience in this game," said Alex, chuckling.

  In the end, she settled on the class she thought would be more beneficial in the long run. She had to maximize her potential to survive Gamemakers Online, and what she'd seen so far suggested that it would only get worse. Plus, it was a bonus that the two unique skills she'd already discovered fit within the class.

  "Arcane Mastermind it is," she said.

  With her class selection out of the way, Alex increased her Cunning by two and her Intelligence by one. The latter was to gain a larger faez pool so she could use Misdirection multiple times per combat.

  Alex examined her character sheet, admiring that it no longer said Undecided by the class.

  Character: Alexandria Duke

  Level: 5

  Strength: 1

  Intelligence: 3

  Cunning: 8

  Agility: 2

  Endurance: 3

  Charisma: 1

  Class: Arcane Mastermind

  Subclass: Undecided

  Health: 63/63

  Faez: 68/68

  Armor Class: 4

  Fatigue: 23%

  XP: 210,045 / 270,000

  It appeared she'd gained an increase in faez pool from choosing her class.

  Next she examined the spell she'd learned when she'd lured the gatorbear to the pit.

  Cloud Taunt – Tier 1

  Faez: 15 ׀ Duration: 30 seconds

  Dmg: 5-15

  Effect: Enrages the creature to attack you.

  It was her first spell that did direct damage, though it wasn't much, but she hoped as she leveled it up that it would do more. The taunt was a bit of a boon and a curse. She could easily imagine spots where taunting a creature would be less than advantageous. Still, being able to affect the flow of combat was important as battles got more complex. She planned on practicing it later until she had it down cold.

  Finally getting to choose her new class was exciting, but just as important were a couple of items she'd received from the gatorbear.

  Item: Jagged Gator Bones x3

  A bit of bone was something she'd been hoping to receive for quite some time. If she could use them the way she hoped, she might start making real headway in the game, and maybe—just maybe—she might be able to track down that Ghostly Cobrawasp and put an end to it stalking her.

  Chapter Twenty

  Alex had never really appreciated the benefits of a good knife until she'd lost hers over a cliff. In the real world, a simple blade could be found at any local hardware store. She bet if she scavenged through her trailer at home she could come up with a dozen of the miniature weapons.

  Having spent the past three months in the game without one had been difficult because she'd had to rely on ropes and pulleys to create her traps. So many jobs would have been easier if she'd been able to apply a sharp edge.

  So on the precipice of regaining that ability, Alex was about as nervous as she'd been in the game. Even making her weapon hadn't been as fraught.

  She placed the first jagged gator bone on her lap. The long jawbone set with sharp teeth looked ferocious, but she needed to turn it into something more utilitarian. She wrapped a strip of flexible bark that she'd stripped from a tree around the handle, pulling it tight then tucking the end back into the weave.

  As is, the jagged bone could serve as a simple weapon, but she wanted more than that. She needed a tool.

  Alex took a deep breath before summoning the faez that lurked in her mind, flooding it into the item as she cast the Minor Creation spell.

  Her hands grew warm as the magical energy passed through her. A tingling anticipation traveled up her spine.

  When the transformation happened, a spike of ozone hit her nose.

  You have received: Jagged Bone Knife

  Alex leaned her head back and said to the rocky ceiling, "Oh, thank Merlin."

  Item: Jagged Bone Knife

  Dmg: 5-15 ׀ 25/25 Durability

  Slices so thin you can't even see it

  The gaps between the teeth had filled in, smoothing to a razor edge, while the handle fit perfectly in her grip. Alex slashed it through the air, feeling the way it shifted beneath her grasp. The balance was decent, but she wasn't planning on using it as a weapon.

  Filled with possibilities, the first thing she did was pull out the bark hide she'd scavenged from the Sprouting Barkhippo. So far, she'd been unsuccessful in making armor from the various hides and skins she'd recovered. She hoped that the blade would bridge that gap, allowing her to shape the items she wanted to create.

  Alex wasn't a seamstress, but she knew enough from her mother's ramblings how to size a shirt. After drawing an outline on the bark hide with a piece of crumbling chalk-line stone, she sawed through the tough material.

  When she was finished, she'd turned the bark hide into the two halves of a shirt.

  Before she attempted to make armor out of it, Alex searched through her Handysack for anything that might increase its effectiveness.

  Item: Screechlion Heart

  The screechlion had been a terrible foe with feathers like a barn owl across the body of a stocky lion. Its dreadful screech had nearly ruined her trap when the sonic
noise knocked her minions from the sky.

  After a tense showdown, she'd managed to kill it, earning the heart. She hadn't known what to do with it, since it didn’t give any hints to its use, but Alex decided it would be a good addition to her armor.

  Alex set it in the middle of the bark shirt. The bloody heart pumped slowly as she prepared her spell.

  When she cast the Transference spell, a series of nodes and lines appeared on the screechlion heart connected to the bark hide. Alex studied the lines, trying to find a path that went between the two without crossing. When she saw the connection, she traced the path and the heart disappeared into the hide in a flash, leaving a chimeric stone behind. The bark hide glowed faintly.

  You have gained a skill point: +1 Transference

  Alex waited until her faez pool had regened before placing her hands onto the hides, imagining a shirt of armor, and pushing her faez into it with the Minor Creation spell.

  Her efforts were rewarded with an audible pop. A shirt of barkskin armor appeared in the middle of the rocky cave floor.

  Quest Completed: Create a piece of magical armor

  You have gained experience: 5,000 XP

  Item: Screechlion Barkskin Jerkin

  AC: 12 ׀ Durability 90/90

  Effect: Once per day immobilize foe for 10 seconds with Debilitating Screech (No more than five levels above)

  Earplugs not included

  Alex pumped her fist into the air before examining her new creation. She was worried that the armor would be rough on her skin, but the inner surface was soft with fuzz like the downy underhairs of a screech owl.

  After she put it on, she checked her stat sheet because she was curious why she'd gained points in the Transference spell with so few uses. As she hovered her hand over the spell, she was presented with information that she'd never seen before. The additional information was probably from the tier two analyze skill.

  Transference

  Base Ability: Cunning

  Max Skill = Level + Base Ability

  Hovering over base ability told her that it was responsible for the chance of increasing, as well as spell effectiveness. Then as she checked Minor Creation, she saw why the spell was only a few points higher despite the fact she’d cast it hundreds of times duplicating minor items.

  Minor Creation

  Base Ability: Endurance

  Max Skill = Level + Base Ability

  Alex switched to her skills to see if they had hidden information as well.

  One-handed Whip

  Base Ability: Agility

  Max Skill = Level + Base Ability

  Her level was five and her base Agility was two, which meant her One-handed Whip could only reach a skill of seven currently. This changed things considerably. She would have to prioritize her skills based on the max level possible. She was also a little disappointed when she checked her unique skills.

  Cunning Strategist

  Base Ability: Cunning

  Max Skill = Level

  The unique parts of her class were limited by level, which would keep them smaller, and it would take longer to reach tier two. She assumed the longer wait would be worth it.

  A few of the general skills like Cooking, Analyze, and Sense Direction used her main stat as the base ability, which was good since every player needed them.

  Wearing her new Screechlion Barkskin Jerkin, Alex headed to the small pond near her camp. Dragonflies skimmed across the mirrored surface of the water, leaving faint lines. Lily pads clustered in the corner near an old log that she used for collecting water.

  With a walking stick for balance, Alex moved to the edge, looking down at herself in the water. The log's motion created tiny waves, making her reflection blurry, but eventually it smoothed out, revealing a person that startled her.

  Normally in games, she used outrageous avatars that showcased impossible physiologies. There was something freeing about playing as a character that really couldn't exist in the real world. But in Gamemakers Online, she was playing as herself. Sure, the game augmented her abilities, turning her into a magical force, but it was still her beneath the magic.

  After four months in game, she wore a barkskin jerkin, carried a wicked black whip, and her hair had grown past her shoulders, but it wasn't the equipment that had startled her but the look in her own eyes. She put a hand to her cheek, expecting to pull away a mask but it was all her. She still had her chubby cheeks, but the hungry, almost feral look made her feel like Princess Mononoke from her favorite Miyazaki movie. It also reminded her of when she went deep into the woods with her dad on hunting expeditions.

  In honor of her father, Alex crouched on the log, scooped up the rich black mud with her finger, and drew lines beneath her eyes. He'd never really understood her fascination with video games, but she hoped he'd be proud of her survival in this brutal game world. When she finished surveying herself, Alex headed back to camp to prepare for the next hunt.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  High in the forest canopy, Alex watched for her minions. She'd sent Inky to the west and Clyde to the east, each wearing custom harnesses she'd made with her knife that allowed a single minion to carry bait.

  Because she'd moved deeper into the woods, she couldn't rely on the pit trap she'd dug weeks ago. Alex knew she had to find a way to kill the mobs without it, and this was her first test of her new strategy.

  When she saw a tall birdlike creature with a huge beak and rough brown fur sprinting through the undergrowth, making dizzying leaps at the fresh meat hanging beneath her minion Inky, she analyzed it.

  Angry Ostrizzle, Warped Animal, Level 13

  Ability: Leaping Rake

  "An ostrich crossed with a grizzly bear," said Alex, shaking her head. "What a nightmare."

  It didn't get any better when she saw a spotted brown four-legged creature the size of a mastiff with mottled wings racing with short sprints followed by a few wing thrusts for speed from the other direction.

  Ferocious Hyenature, Warped Animal, Level 13

  Ability: Scavenging Claws

  Standing on her perch high above the forest floor, Alex realized quickly that she wasn't out of danger. The ostrizzle and hyenature both had means of reaching her location through either jumping or short flight. She'd thought that staying high in the trees would let her exploit the terrain, but it appeared that wasn't going to work. But she didn't want to give up the time that had gone into tracking them down.

  Alex nudged Inky to drag the ostrizzle past her tree, since it was going to reach the clearing first. From her outstretched hands, a gray cloud crackling with electricity snaked through the air.

  You have hit an angry ostrizzle with Cloud Taunt for 8 damage!

  The two-legged bird veered towards her tree right as the hyenature busted through the undergrowth. Alex cast Misdirection on it, but the spell fizzled.

  You have gained a skill point: +1 Misdirection

  "Shit," she said as the ostrizzle came leaping towards her perch. She didn't think it could reach her, but it kept soaring towards her, forcing her to leap off the branch and grab the descending rope, which carried her safely to a lower branch.

  The ostrizzle landed heavily on a small tree, snapping it with its powerful legs before its momentum carried it away. The ostrizzle made an earsplitting screech as it circled wide, giving her a chance to deal with the hyenature that had locked onto her.

  Alex threw a Dewdrop Orb at it, catching the spotted and winged dog with a watery muzzle, forcing it to slow its charge.

  As the hyenature shook its head, trying to dislodge the suffocating ball of water, she checked her faez pool. It was slightly over fifty percent, and in combat faez regen was slow. She had barely enough magic to cast Misdirection again. If it failed, she’d have to find a way to evade two level 13 mobs without dying.

  Alex waited as long as she could to cast again, timing the spell right as it leapt.

  You have hit an angry ostrizzle with Misdirection!

  Inste
ad of crashing into her with two angry, clawed feet, and probably killing her outright, it veered right into the hyenature.

  The angry ostrizzle hits the ferocious hyenature with Leaping Rake for 75 damage!

  The angry ostrizzle hits the ferocious hyenature with Leaping Rake for 91 damage!

  After ripping the backside off the hyenature with its two feet, the ostrizzle landed in the grass, reorienting itself towards her.

  With her faez pool nearly empty, there would be no more spells that would save her butt. Nor was she going to be able to outrun it. Whatever happened next would tell the tale of the battle.

  Alex grabbed her whip in the hopes of getting a skill increase before she died.

  Right as the ostrizzle stretched its neck and snapped its beak at her, the hyenature, having regained its feet, leapt onto the large bird.

  The two creatures fell into a clawing, scratching melee, demolishing the purple-hued saprolings and blue-green grass that made up the undergrowth. The trampled foliage released sharp ammonia-like smells.

  The ostrizzle seemed to have the upper hand on the hyenature, which left Alex wondering if she could take it wounded, or if she'd even receive the experience.

  She checked with her minions that hovered in the air above the battle. Blinky was high in the canopy, serving as her eyes in the sky.

  While they fought, Alex watched her faez pool regen slowly. It wasn't moving fast enough to let her blast it with magic from afar.