Raiya: Starter Zone - A LitRPG Saga: Archon's Chosen - Book One Read online

  Contents

  Dedication

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

  To my wife,

  Whose patience knows no bounds…

  Unless she is hungry.

  Special thanks to my Beta Readers on Reddit!

  Shaduex

  Angnomander

  Chris_XY

  Daigotsu

  Vaendryl

  Ajgoudie

  Denestra

  CHAPTER ONE

  James looked at the time in the corner of his monitor and yawned. 2:30 A.M. again. He often stayed up late into the night, watching YouTube videos or playing his favorite game, Pirates of Dark Seas or PoDs as everyone called it. Tonight, was no different and just like any other night, he knew that if he was going to wake up for his shift at work, he had to go to bed A.S.A.P.

  Of course, tonight was also the end of the one-year anniversary celebration of the launch of PoDS, so the game was having a double experience boost weekend allowing him to grind out some serious XP, so it just felt like a waste to call it when he was one level away from achieving a world first. THE world first.

  The first level 100 pirate lord on any server. He decided to say screw it and just call off to work if it took him much longer. He looked at the experience bar at the bottom of his screen

  Level 99 - 96% to Level 100

  So far no one had made it to level 100. This was due to the extreme amount of XP required and the staggering XP penalty for dying after level 90. If you died, at any point between 90-99, you were reset to level 90, with 0% xp towards level 91. So many players just gave up after hundreds or thousands of failures.

  James had a plan though and he knew if he was careful, it might work. He activated his stealth skill and crept down the gangplank of his ship, leaving his Non-Player Crew behind. He crossed the beach and crept slowly through the jungle. Even though his stealth skill was maxed, it would only provide him the barest moment to avoid detection.

  This island was inhabited entirely by grotesque abominations called Deformed Entities that were all level 100 and meant for a raid group. Here he was, solo, slinking across an island in the dark with one goal in mind. To complete his last quest. Deliver the holy Symbol of Sharktooth to its original shrine and the quest would be completed.

  Many had attempted to clear the island by fighting every monster on the way to the altar, but almost all would attract too much attention and draw so many additional monsters they couldn’t make it to the end, meaning all 20 players would die and be reset to level 90. It really was in one word… A bitch. Okay, technically two words, but still.

  But James had an idea that just might be crazy enough to work. He intended to sneak his way past all the Deformed Entities and walk right up to the shrine and place the Sharktooth symbol on its pedestal, completing the quest and reaching level 100.

  His character on screen moved methodically, avoiding the cones of vision and the detection of sound and scent. He spent the next hour and a half of his late-night creeping ever closer to the shrine and its altar.

  Eventually he cleared the trash packs and was approaching the temple proper. He knew this was one of the most critical portions of his plan. He pulled up his actions menu and triggered his skill: Mad Screaming Decoy.

  He triggered the skill three times, targeting three different points in the jungle around the temple, and sure enough the two pacing monstrosities guarding the entrance floated off at high speeds to destroy his decoys. He counted to three and activated his skill Wind Runner - giving him 200% movement speed for 15 seconds. As soon as he deactivated stealth and began running, the combat music began to play.

  He pushed harder on the keys of his keyboard as if it would make him run faster, but it was just the adrenaline pumping in his veins. Sure, this was just a game, but to James, this was an accomplishment unlike anything in his normal life. He would be immortalized forever in the halls of gaming history!

  A prompt flashed on his screen - DECOY Destroyed followed quickly by a second prompt - DECOY Destroyed.

  “Shit shit shit,” James said out loud into the darkness of his bedroom. He couldn't turn back now so he kept running. He passed through the doors of the shrine and descended down a ramp. The hallway narrowed, and he entered into a large round room that was poorly lit. He didn't know where to go from here as his raid group had never made it this far.

  He spun his camera around and saw the two monstrosities were unable to make down the hallway and had begun swinging wildly with their thick tentacles and screeching in high pitched wails in their desperation to reach him.

  Always nice to take advantage of object geometry and pathing in these games. After two minutes of not taking damage the encounter reset and he was alone in the shrine. He took a moment to look around and saw that there was a healing font - a single use item meant to restore max health, mana and stamina for an entire raid group.

  This room was more than likely meant as a resting spot for a raid group to recover and plan for the boss battle in the next room. Since he was undamaged, he really didn't need to use the font, but he was a little low on stamina after using his Wind Runner skill.

  His character drank from the font and his stamina returned to 100% and he gained a curious buff - one he had not seen before.

  Blessed Water of Sharktooth

  You have passed the Trials of the Island and have reached the inner Sanctum of the Sharktooth Shrine. +50 to all stats for 10 minutes. Increased regeneration to all resources and health for 10 minutes.

  “Holy shit!” He exclaimed as he read the word on his character page. This was the strongest buff he had ever seen.

  Then it hit him. If this buff was meant for an entire raid, then what the hell was up ahead? There was no way he could face it alone and survive.

  “Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained!” He said with self-reassuring enthusiasm. He pressed on, his virtual character moving forward and approaching the only door in the room. This really didn't look like a normal door, not even for a raid. It was massive! It took up his entire screen and had a depiction of Sharktooth in high detail.

  The twenty-foot-tall god of the sea - an impossibly jacked body of a man with the horrifying visage of a great white shark. It was pretty ridiculous to think of a man with a shark head as a real thing but in the game, anything was possible.

  He clicked on the door and it began to slide open, a blinding white light poure
d out from the door and a prompt appeared:

  You stand before the great destroyer’s chamber. Recommended party Size: 20 players Current party size: 1 player. Do you wish to proceed?

  James stared at the screen and low growl of profanity left his mouth. “Fuuuuuuuck.”

  “Well, I've made it this far, I am pretty much screwed no matter which way I go from here.” He thought and clicked yes.

  The screen flared a brilliant white and then it faded. As the setting faded in, he spun his camera around, looking for the raid boss that was about to devour him in a few hits but there was nothing but a raised dais in the center of a rough hewn cave. The walls glittered as if they had shiny gems embedded in the stone but other than that, the room was empty.

  He took a step forward, towards the shrine and looked around again. Nothing.

  “Huh…” James muttered. “Well onto the shrine I suppose.” He urged his character forward toward the shrine and still the room was silent. No music played, no warnings sounded, nothing. He ascended the first set of stairs, fully expecting a horrible monster or something to rise from the darkness or fall from the ceiling by this point, but still just silence.

  He moved his character all the way to the top of the shrine and carefully inspected the shrine. There were three hollows - all identical in shape. Beneath each one was a few words in a script that obviously wasn't meant to be read so he clicked on the shrine and a prompt appeared.

  “You have made it to the center of the Sharktooth Shrine. The benevolent god Sharktooth has decided to take mercy on you for your bravery… or stupidity, depending on how you look at it. You have braved the Warped Isle and circumvented all combat encounters. You have shown great wisdom in avoiding the battle with the Gibbering Horde.”

  James read the words carefully, confused. This was not generally a scripted event. Normally when you entered a raid boss room, combat started immediately, and you were thrown against the most powerful monster PoDS had to offer, not to mention the fact this prompt appeared to be insulting him for his clever idea or was at least doing so sarcastically. Sarcasm never translates well in text. He continued reading.

  “Though the trials were meant to be cleared by only the most skilled players and the dedicated grinders in the game, you have thrown caution to the wind and did the unthinkable. You thought outside of the box, something Sharktooth really appreciates in mortals. Before you are three possible slots for the holy symbol of Sharktooth but know this your choice will have a tremendous impact on the beginning of your next quest. Choose carefully…”

  James leaned back from the screen, somewhat confused. According to the wikis and forums he had visited frequently, everyone knew that the quest “Release the Sharktooth” was the final quest in the game. Of course, no one had ever completed it so he thought it might make sense that could be an epilogue quest or something.

  The three options appeared before him on the screen. All three options were hexagonal depressions and each one had an image in the center. They were highly detailed but offered absolutely no context. Option A was a small village, surrounded by lovely forests that looked very peaceful. Option B was a beautiful Island scene that looked as if it had never been inhabited by civilization. Option C was a scene of a major metropolis that reminded him of one of the games capital cities.

  “God, is this some kind of BuzzFeed quiz? Will this tell me which Kardashian I am?” He asked to the silence of his empty room.

  He looked over the images again, this time looking for anything that stood out but again, they were just pictures of places. No more context to be gained here. He just said screw it and picked option B. Just like he did on multiple choice questions in grade school.

  He clicked the jungle covered island and an animation of the Holy symbol clicking into place played across the screen. It settled into place and then… nothing happened.

  Growling in frustration, he spun his camera around looking to see if anything had changed but as he expected, it was just a dark cave and he was just a solo character standing at an altar. He mashed the space bar a few times, his character on screen jumping up and down repeatedly. He waited for a few more minutes and decided that the quest must be bugged or something.

  He brought up his inventory and pulled out his captain’s sigil - an item that would return him to his quarters on his ship, the S.S. Bitcoin. He always got a chuckle when he looked at that. Everyone else had names like the Pridewind or the Derringer but he was a big fan of digital cryptocurrencies and had a tidy sum of Bitcoins his friends said would never be worth anything. Since it reached 6500 dollars, they had always been pissed to see his ship, an obvious taunt that was akin to waving his digital junk in their face.

  As he was channeling the 10 second cast time - the altar erupted in a beam of light and the screen began to shake. He quickly cancelled the recall spell and looked at the radiant white light now illuminating the cave. Water began pouring from the ceiling and a massive figure plummeted to the ground with the thunderous boom. He approached the slumped form that was oddly man shaped and realized with a start - it was Sharktooth reborn!

  “Holy shit it worked!” He exclaimed, banging his knee on the desk leg in front of him. He grabbed his knee and hissed, slowly rocking back and forth as the massive Sharktooth NPC began to stand up.

  “Thank you, James, for setting me free, I am Sharktooth God of the Dark Seas. You have freed me from this prison of stone and released my powers back into the world. For this I offer you an opportunity.”

  James had to do a double take. The prompt said, “Thank you James,” which didn't make any sense. His character was named The Skree, and all quests always just used your character name. Your IRL name should not appear in the game ever. It's like a violation of privacy or something.

  The text continued to scroll despite his confusion.

  “As the first player to free me from my bondage, you have been offered the chance to be the very first Alpha Tester for Pirates of Dark Sea 2: Danger Zone (working title). Would you like to be the very first person to be granted access to the Alpha and receive the first come, first served character bonus?”

  YES or NO

  James, still rubbing his banged-up knee, read the prompt several more times. What the hell was PoDS 2: Danger Zone? He had never heard of a sequel. Hell, they hadn't even released the first expansion for this game yet.

  Never one to miss an opportunity to be one the first people to play a hot new game he clicked yes. The prompt closed, and a sound rang out as his character was surrounded by a swirl of colored lights.

  James clapped his hands together in excitement. He had done it, and the screen read “Achievement Unlocked: The Penultimate Pirate”

  Congratulations, you have reached Level 100. For centuries your name will ring out in taverns across the isles of men. You will be celebrated and feared for decades to come. You are player #1 out of 18.1 million to achieve this milestone.

  He smiled to himself.

  “YEAH BABY!” He exclaimed and began to chant, “I’m number one! I’m number one!”

  The Shark Headed god turned to look at him. Not his character though, Sharktooth was looking directly at him, like he was looking through the monitor at him for real.

  “Good luck James.” Sharktooth said, and he vanished in a wink of light, leaving James staring astounded at the screen. “What the…”

  CHAPTER TWO

  James groaned and threw his arm over his face. Why was the sun shining in through his windows? With a start, he sat up in a panic.

  “Son of a…” he muttered in confusion. “Did I miss my alarm?” He reached for his phone and realized as he felt around he wasn't feeling the plush 800 thread-count Egyptian cotton sheets, he looked down at his hand and realized he was wrist deep in pale yellow sand.

  He screamed and scurried backward, kicking sand in his panic to stand up. He stopped freaking out for just long enough to look around in sheer befuddlement. Stretching before him was a brilliant blue ocean, th
e sun just above the horizon. To his left and right the beach continued for a way before curving out of view.

  With a twist of his neck he whipped around saw a massive jungle, with a high mountain peak ascending into the clouds in the distance.

  “Okay, don’t panic, don’t panic, don’t panic…” taking a deep breath, he looked around again, his eyes going wide and his beating so hard it felt like he was going to die. “Nope! Panicking, I am definitely, pant shittingly panicking.”

  “Hey there!” Said a friendly voice from behind him.

  Of course, the sudden sound of another person’s voice startled him and in his already panicked state he honest to god nearly crapped his pants. He scrambled away from the sound and turned himself around, getting sand in all of his bits. ALL of his bits. With a new, even more ridiculous realization, he saw he was stark naked.

  Looking up from his naked body, he took in the owner of the voice that had spoken to him. Standing there in a pair of flowing silk pants and no shirt was Sharktooth, the freaky god with a Shark’s head and man’s body.

  James felt a sudden rush of dizziness and muttered “Sharktooth?” just before he passed out from shock.

  A splash of water to his face brought James roaring back to consciousness. He sat up again, much like before but this time, the very first thing he saw was Sharktooth, still standing there shirtless, arms crossed looking amused.

  “Ahh you’re awake! Good, good. Welcome to Pirates of Dark Seas 2, you are the very first Alpha player who has ever set foot in this world. Thanks to your efforts, you have released me from my thousand-year imprisonment. So as a reward, I have brought you into this exciting new plane of existence!” Sharktooth explained.

  “Plane of… What?” James asked more confused than ever. “You… I’m… but….” he couldn’t think of what to say or ask. He just slumped back on the sand, head spinning, staring up at the sky as his mind struggled to catch up.

  “Okay so it looks like the shift in planar locations has possibly had a worse effect on your fragile human form than I expected. Are you seeing in black in white? Do you have an unreasonable urge to eat pickles?” Sharktooth asked with honest concern in his voice.