Shaman's Call- Frostburn: A Litrpg Adventure Read online

  I quickly decided that if this answered the why, I still needed to figure out the how of ending up in this predicament, but it was a question for later. My shoulder hurt, although it was getting better by the minute. Right now, survival was the most pressing issue. I wasn’t in any of the basic starting zones, so I needed to figure out how to get gear, shelter, and figure out what exactly I was.

  Further notifications were stacked up and so I glanced at those quickly.

  You have gained the skill Blunt Weapons: Basic 1. You can now bash stuff with a stick. Go you. Blunt damage increased by 3%. Attack accuracy with blunt weapons increased by 2%.

  Then the next one was pretty much the same.

  You have gained the skill Piercing Weapons: Basic 1. You can now stick the pointy end into the other guy, most of the time. Piercing damage increased by 2%, Attack accuracy with piercing weapons increased by 2%. Armor penetration with piercing weapons increased by 1%.

  Then the all-important notification that all gamers look for.

  You have killed some enemies. 3x Level 3 Snapjaws. Good thing you were an ogre. A player character would never have been able to take out that many monsters above their level. XP gained: 175 XP available: 175.

  Accept XP- Yes or No

  That part threw me for a loop. I had never had to decide about accepting XP or not before. Why would I hold back? If there was an option, then I had to assume that there might be something to be gained by not accepting it at this time. I just didn’t know what that would be. During my time playing in the closed beta, XP was just awarded. For that matter, this much XP was quite a bit for one fight, if it was consistent with how the game had worked as a player.

  Of course, if my body had truly been destroyed and my mind was stuck in the game, then was it even a game any longer. I opted not to take the XP and just sat on it for the moment.

  By now I was down to two notifications. The next one was interesting.

  Mandatory Quest Obtained: Where do I fit 1.0?

  Learn about your place in the world of Selmia. This is your home now, and it is better if you adapt to it. Don’t worry, your biological impairments are being factored. Baby steps.

  Success: XP: 250, One uncommon or greater quality item, ten silver pieces, variables dependent upon results of information gained.

  Failure: You don’t want to know.

  For now, I pushed that off as an issue for another day. It was something that I would figure out when I had some measure of safety. The final notification gave me a little more understanding.

  Initial Class Options: Due to your racial requirements you are offered three initial classes. These classes each have an automatic upgrade at level five.

  Brute- Simple and upfront. This class is about your body. Learn to overcome your weaknesses and control yourself better while still gaining your core stats. Gain +2 STR, +2 CON, +1 AGI per level. AI Usage increased by .5% per level. Gain 1 free stat point at level 5. Gain the Unarmed Combat Skill and the Overwhelm Skill. Upgrade Options- Render, Brawler.

  Mauler- This class acknowledges your weaknesses and leans entirely into your racial strengths. Gain: +3 STR, +2 CON. AI Usage increased by .25% per level. Gain 1 free stat point at level 5. Gain the Slashing Weapon Skill and the Heavy Armor Skill. Upgrade Options: Slasher, Sergeant.

  Outcast- This class defies your racial traits. You are odd and it shows in how you think as well as how others of your race view you. Gain: +1 STR, +1 CON, +2 WILL, +2 free stat points per level. Gain 1 free stat point at level 5. Learn the spells: Flameburst and the Regeneration. Upgrade Options: Oracle, Shaman. Note that mana for an Outcast is based upon the average of Mind and Will. Oracles are based on Mind and Shamans upon Will.

  Choose a class now.

  I wanted to take the time to think about this. I recognized the classes and even the upgrades from various monster types which I had fought in Legends. It was obvious that the Brute would probably give me the most immediate survival ability. The Mauler would be a close second. The spells from Outcast might or might not work, depending on what my Mind and Will stats were and assuming it even worked the same way as player characters. If I couldn’t cast them very often, then I was going to suffer for that.

  Even as I weighed the options, I knew what I was going to choose. I always preferred to play a caster, typically a mage. Now that I might be stuck here, I had to look at it differently, but I wanted the flexibility that came with this. The only issue that I saw was that the AI usage was not included with the outcast. But I wasn’t sure what that even meant, so it might not be much of a loss. The good news was that it looked like I got six stat points per level as an outcast rather than the standard three players got.

  I selected outcast and felt a surge of energy go through me as I gained my stat points. My body became minimally stronger and hardier, while my will was increased. Perhaps I was just the slightest bit more determined. Of course, that might have been a placebo effect.

  A second later I felt the stabbing pain in my head as the spells were implanted into my mind. Everything here was definitely more intense. The pain and the sensation of the sticky dried blood on my shoulder.

  Flameburst- Basic 1: Creates a burst of flame with range, area of effect and potency all controlled by your mastery level of the spell. Range: 10’+1’/level. AoE: 1’/.3/level. Damage: 1-20+1/mastery level. Cast Time: 1 sec. Mana Cost: 10+1/level.

  Regeneration- Basic 1: Causes target to regenerate HP. Range, number of targets and potency all controlled by your mastery level of this spell. Range: Touch + 1’/level. Number of Targets: 1 + .1/level. Healing: 2 HP/sec + .5/level. Duration: 6 seconds + .5/level. Cast Time: 2 sec. Mana cost: 10+1/level.

  All that I needed to do now was look at my character sheet and then I would be ready to seek shelter. This was already taking too long, and I was exposed out here to other monsters and parties of adventurers. Given that I didn’t know what would happen to me if I died in this form, I wasn’t exactly keen on fighting again. So, I summoned up the sheet and took a look.

  Everything made more sense once I saw not just the stats, but the ugly mug that was my face now. The character screens had a display of what I looked like, so I was getting to see the avatar I was occupying from the outside. I was exactly what you would expect from an ogre.

  By that I meant not green or comical. I was a hulk like, gray-skinned brute of a creature. My size explained why the snapjaws had seemed so small. Well, that and they were weaker versions, only level three on a creature that in my experience could go up to level five.

  Thinking of the level of monsters and my ability to gain XP made me wonder how certain creatures in Legends of Selmia seemed to be at different power levels at different times. Often after a creature was killed if you tried to farm its respawn it was a lower level and you couldn’t gain the same XP or loot from them. Was that because the monsters had to level up too? Had I been setting back the progress every time I killed them? And had the monsters I was fighting been controlled by an AI or by an HI that was a former human.

  It was a lot to think about and I had to push it off for later, but I couldn’t help but remember the times that certain MOBS had acted differently than I had expected. Some had even demonstrated ingenuity and problem solving. Again though, later.

  I took in my broad nose, over extended teeth which explained why my mouth felt so odd, longer than human arms in proportion along with shorter than proportional legs. I was a stack of muscle and I was only an outcast, not one of their warriors.

  From what I knew in the game, ogres could progress to level twenty. Legends of Selmia supposedly went to level one hundred for players, although none of the beta testers had crossed level thirty yet even after months of play testing. The game was not like others. Oh, sure the lower levels were easier to gain, but only by a little bit. You had to work for every bit of XP in this game or in my new life as the case might be.

  Supposedly some raid boss monsters could hit level two hundred, but again it was
hard to separate fact from fiction when the company was keeping their information so close to the vest. Now that I knew they were taking humans to serve inside the game against their will, it made far more sense. The quest to understand my place in this seemed more ominous, considering that.

  NPC- HI 3a5.x290

  Integration: 24%

  AI Usage: 11%

  Call Name: Frank

  Monster Race: Ogre

  Ht: 9’2” Weight: 848 lbs.

  Class: Outcast

  Level: 1st

  XP to Level 2: 0/1000

  Available XP: 175

  Strength: 36

  Agility: 5

  Constitution: 31

  Mind: 10*

  Will: 13

  Unassigned Free Stat Points: 2

  HP: 304/310

  HP Regen: .3/second

  Mana: 130/130

  Mana Regen: .1/second

  Armor Rating: 8

  Physical Resistance-

  Slash: 3

  Blunt: 6

  Pierce: 2

  Fire Resistance: 5

  Cold Resistance: 30

  Electric Resistance: 0

  Acid Resistance: 0

  Necrotic Resistance: 0

  Radiant Resistance: 0

  Poison Resistance: 31%

  Disease Resistance: 31%

  Skills: (relevant)

  Blunt Weapons: Basic 1

  Piercing Weapons: Basic 1

  Spells: Flameburst (B-1), Regeneration (B-1)

  Racial Abilities:

  Starting Stats: STR: +25, CON: +20, AGI: -5, MIND: -5*, WILL: 0*

  Iron Gut: Poison and Damage Resistance equals level +30%

  Rage: 1/hour

  Frostburn Durability: increased physical, cold, and fire resistances

  Stun Immunity

  Class Abilities:

  Spell casting

  Faction:

  Players (General): Kill on Sight (-5000)

  Beasts: Hated (-3000)

  Ogres: Tolerated (-1000)

  Monster Races (General): Feared (-2000)

  The only decision I still had to make was to decide about assigning my two stat points. I ultimately figured it wasn’t enough to make a critical difference. Not that I didn’t have tons of questions. I wanted to know what the Integration and AI usage stats meant, as well as a dozen other things, but there was no Wiki to lean on and I was just gonna have to figure it out.

  Next, I looked at my attire. The inventory said I had a hide loin cloth. It seemed to be held to my waist by a leather strap. A moment of junior high curiosity struck me, and I lifted my loincloth. A smile went across my face. Childish or not, obviously there was some advantage to being an ogre.

  It was the only clothing I had. I didn’t even have so much as a pair of sandals. Good thing that the soles of my feet had calloused pads as thick as leather. Despite the lack of clothing, I was standing in the snow with the wind picking up around me, and nasty clouds overhead, without really feeling cold at all.

  The other item in his inventory was:

  Crude Wooden Short Spear- Damage: 1-8+13 (STR)

  I laughed. I broke a tree branch club and ended up with a spear. The funny part being that even though I am a caster, because of my race, I can do more damage with a short spear than my spell. So regardless of my class choice, it looked like I was gonna be sticking stuff with the pointy end of my improvised weapon for a while.

  Off in the background, I heard a loud roaring. I wasn’t sure just from the sound what type of monster it was, but it sounded a hell of a lot bigger than the snapjaws. Time to get a move on it. I needed to find a cave for the night. Preferably one not infested with snapjaws.

  So off into the snow I trudged. I was walking quickly, trying not to look back at where the roaring had come from. But suddenly I was struck by the realization that my butt itched something fierce. The loin cloth was easy enough to push aside, and it dawned on me that I had been periodically scratching my backside without even realizing it. Oh, being an ogre was gonna be lovely.

  Chapter 2- Death Sucks

  The cold was getting to me as I wandered around. Or maybe it wasn’t the cold. Maybe it was the darkness, yet I could see just fine. Apparently, another racial trait. The game had definitely made it a valuable aspect of being elven or dwarven. Except, I needed to stop thinking of this as a game.

  Assuming it wasn’t a very vivid bad dream, this was my life now. Some freaking UN Decree had screwed me over royally. Truthfully, I guess it could be worse. My parents were dead. The one brother I had was someone I hadn’t talked to since our parents’ funeral five years ago. At thirty I hadn’t exactly rung the bell but I had been doing fine for myself and was content with it. Certainly, I wouldn’t have volunteered to have my body destroyed.

  I had been studying AI construction. Unable to get into one of the few universities left; I was mostly self-taught. I hadn’t relied on the stuff uploaded to our cortical implants, instead going old- school with digital files that were stored off the holo-net. A gaming buddy owned a bunch of them. They were contraband now, but it wasn’t truly prosecuted.

  Beyond that, I was able to snag a beta tester spot in LoS when it came out. That turned out to be a poor decision. Oh well, water under the bridge. Being dead wasn’t great, but it could have been worse. I mean I technically spent most of my days inside a game, so this wouldn’t be that different.

  I stopped walking as I realized that was at least the fourth time I had thought something which should have pissed me off. But instead, I was mildly annoyed and then moved on. Definitely something I was going to have explore more, but again, a problem for later.

  Being a monster wasn’t ideal. As a gamer, I was never into PvP. I was more into developing small team tactics for PvE. Some guys lived for the thrill of the kill and some lived for huge raids with seventy-two players all coordinated.

  To me the first was just too much about reaction speed. I didn’t have the quickest reflexes. The second was always about luck. With that many people involved, you had to hope the wrong person didn’t get disconnected, or that you didn’t find out your tank was actually nine years old and hacked in on his dad’s gear until his mom caught him.

  With small team tactics, it was about working with a limited number of resources. If you didn’t have enough healing, it was about learning ways to mitigate damage. If you weren’t strong enough, it was about finding ways to debuff the monster. Best of all it was about synergy, and I loved finding that whether it was with a regular team or with a pickup group.

  Now I was the monster. But that wasn’t the worst of it. Or maybe it was. It wasn’t the thing that stopped me in my tracks; that was the sudden fear of what Integration might mean. The AI could be controlling my emotions to some extent. I had that outburst of anger against the snapjaws. Rather than freezing up, I had gone all berserker.

  It was also keeping me from caring too much. There was a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach that said the other shoe hadn’t even landed yet. Or was that rumbling in my stomach hunger?

  It was making it hard to focus. Suddenly, all I could think about was eating. I thought about going back and eating the snapjaws. The image of me biting into them and tearing away chunks of raw flesh with my strong teeth went through my head. I even had a sense of how good it would taste.

  I just shook my head. I certainly didn’t want to eat the snapjaws. They looked disgusting. Then another minor notification popped up:

  Ogre’s Hunger Resisted- you have been 94% successful at resisting the urge to eat now. Be sure to sate your hunger before it takes control of you.

  I read the notification three times before swiping it to the side. It was then that I realized; it was neither having the AI mess with my head nor being a monster that was the worst. It was having the AI trying to turn me into a monster that I had to worry about.

  I really needed to get my bearings and figure out where I was going. Food was gonna become my top priori
ty, followed closely by shelter. I could endure the environment, but I would need a place to sleep. That assumed that HI’s sleep. Hmm..., not something to test now. After that, I needed gear. That part of this brought a smile to my face. As long as I didn’t turn into some wild beast, this might be fun.

  The roar sounded again and this time it was closer, like much closer. I started running or at least doing my best impression. Why had I never noticed that ogre legs were bowed before? It would have been amusing if I didn’t hear a tree behind me snap while the ground was dug up.

  I certainly didn’t know every monster in Eastern Kimira. Without Wiki’s it was impossible to know them all, but I knew of only one monster capable of tearing up the ground like this. And knowing that was enough to get me running, bow legged or not. I moved as fast as I could across the snow. With my strength, two feet of snow did little to impair me.

  Unfortunately it did even less to impair the ice wurm behind me. That was the name it had been assigned by the AI. It would likely be renamed eventually because the name did nothing to actually describe it. But that would happen later. It was the highest-level monster in this zone, at least level thirty.