Kingdom Come: Final Ch 1

It's been a slog, but KC is finally at the point where I feel confident to begin posting. Updates every other day until I run out of material :)

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Chapter One

It was a beautiful, crisp Fall morning in Vlachia. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and I was plummeting out of the sky on the back of a dragon, headed straight for Archemi’s unluckiest Glacier Toad.

“YEEEE-HAWW!” I clutched onto the saddle with my knees and one hand, spear gripped in the other as Karalti dove, arrow-straight, at the monsters below. “LEVEL SEVENTEEN, BITCHES! WAHOO!”

The Glacier Toads were oblivious to the doom descending on them at two hundred miles an hour. The fat blue-and-white monsters were too busy screwing up the river. Some of them were bickering with each other, their ice attacks freezing up the water. Others were rutting, or shitting in it and fouling up the stream. It was basically a metaphor for politics.

Just before we reached terminal velocity, Karalti snapped her wings out, fanned the fins of her tail, and bought us back up into a tight slingshot curve. The nearest Glacier Toad stopped humping and turned around just in time to see the dragon’s jaws gape open.

“CHAAAAARRR!” A plume of oily white flames erupted from Karalti’s throat, a sticky napalm-like stream she wielded like a bull-whip across the frog mob. Suddenly, the air was full of monstrous screams and the smell of cooked amphibian. It did not smell like chicken.

[You used a fire attack! It’s super effective! X3 damage!]

But we weren’t done yet. As Karalti pulled out of the dive and the g-forces crushing me against her back lifted, she twisted to the side, flinging me off into a controlled tumble. Like a gyroscope, I oriented mid-air and flew at the nearest flaming toad, Spear-first. Dark energy rippled along my arms and the weapon like electricity building charge around a Tesla Coil. 

“Anchors away! Fire in the hole!” I slammed the Spear of Boundless Strength down underneath me and drove the glaive-like blade into the ground, releasing the built-up Umbra Blast. The toad I hit exploded into smoking goo. The other eight were struck by twisting, thorny tentacles of shadow that exploded from the ice like the arms of the motherfucking kraken. The Glacier Toads were immune to the Freezing debuff, but it hurt them. A lot.

[Umbra Blast deals 1484 damage!]

[Glacier Toad is immune to Freezing!]

[You have killed Glacier Toad!]

“Take that, you slimy sons-of-bitches!” I yelled. “Who has the tentacles now, huh?”

The two attacks nuked the entire mob below 50% HP. Screaming, burning toads launched themselves at me, icicles erupting from their skin. I Shadow Danced out of the way, burning 10 HP to briefly disappear and dodge as they blew shards of ice in every direction. I couldn’t avoid all of them, though. As I reappeared, a couple of stray icicle shuriken impacted me in the arm and shoulder.

[You have taken 85 damage!]

[You have taken 79 damage! HP: 819/1283]

[You are Frozen!]

[You have killed Glacier Toad!]

[You have killed Glacier Toad!]

“Fuck!” Frost crawled up my arm in a crackling wave, numbing my fingers and rooting me to the spot. I snarled in frustration as the surviving toads all turned on me and opened their mouths wide. 

Whatever dastardly thing they were about to do was cut short when a cold shadow blocked the sun, and Karalti fell on the monsters like an avenging angel. The ground jolted as she landed on one toad, pulping it, then swung her head around to blast the fleeing monsters with fire.

The Frozen debuff timer disappeared, and suddenly I was free. Whooping, I sprung from the ground like a cricket and landed to the side, flanking the toads and pinning them between me and Karalti. They skidded to a halt, crashing into each other. 

“You’re not the only ones who can Jump!” I triggered my workhorse combo, dashing forward in a nimbus of scarlet-black energy with Blood Sprint, and releasing the power like a lightning bomb with Blood Storm. The Spear went through the Glacier Toads like a scythe through wheat.

[You have killed Glacier Toads!]

[You have gained 1250 EXP!]

[Quest Update: Clear Springs]

[Congratulations! Karalti is Level 8!]

Some of the toads ruptured, spilling clouds of frost onto the mossy ground. Others simply croaked it. I turned around just time to see Karalti stand up tall and close her eyes. The thick seams of brilliant opal between her black scales swelled with color and light, which flooded across her body in a rippling wave. Her slender, velociraptor-like frame swelled in size, wings and tail lengthening. Her elegant wedge-shaped head became a little sharper, her seven-horned crest longer. By the time the light passed, the dragon had put on a full ten feet of length.

“Hell yeah! That’s how it’s done, bitch!” I punched the air, panting with effort as the last flaming toad collapsed like a sack of blue guts onto the snow. “Go Team Hector!”

“Team Hector? What do you mean ‘Team Hector’? More like Team Karalti.” The dragon huffed with irritation, stepping out of the steaming pile of mashed Glacier Toad. She made a face, and lifted her back foot to lick it, balancing on her forelimbs. “Who just saved your butt, huh?”

“Well who just spear-dived into this writhing amphibian orgy like a total boss?” I teased back. “And who got us this side quest to begin with?”

“Well who is the one that can fly all over the place to do the side-quests?”

I laughed, and began searching the corpses before they turned to dust and vanished. “Okay, fine. I guess I’m just a plate of chopped liver.”

“You will be if you keep picking on me.” Karalti shook her foot like a cat with a wet paw. She strutted out of the way and sat back on her tail to preen. “Wow, that was a good level. I feel big. Do I look bigger?”

I turned to look at her properly then, and almost swallowed my tongue. Lord have mercy: she was freaking enormous. Her head was as long as a door, her jaws easily large enough to pick up a human and swallow them in a couple of bites. “Yeah, you do. Just means there’s more of you to love.” 

She rumbled in her throat, and the preening turned coy. “Awww. You’re so sweet.”

“Sweet as sugar and just as bad for you.” I began looting the bodies like a good little adventurer. The Glacier Toads had no money, but they had parts. I liked to brew potions and could make money selling medicine, so parts suited me just fine.

[Glacier Toad Blood x 10]

[Monster hide x 4]

[Glacier Toad Eye x 6]

[Unrefined Green Mana x 2]

By the time I was finished stripping toads, there wasn’t a whole lot left over. I abandoned the skinned corpses to dissolve under the blazing white light of Archemi’s sun and bought up my holographic HUD. The first thing I did was drink an herbal potion to restore the HP I’d lost, and then I hopped over to the quest menu to check the update.

Quest Update: Clear Springs

His Majesty, Ignas Corvinus III, has issued a bounty on the monsters fouling up the glacial springs that provide Taltos with fresh water. Now that you have dealt with the problem, return to Vulkan Keep and speak with the Castellan to claim your reward.

Difficulty: Level 15-17

Reward: 500 silver rubles, +20 renown (Western Vlachia), 357 EXP.

Karalti had leveled up from the toad massacre, which was awesome, but I hadn’t. I checked my character sheet to see how much EXP I had to get, and groaned. “Oh my god, seriously?”

“Wat?” Karalti’s head reared up mid-lick. Her forked tongue stuck out between her teeth.

“I am literally seventeen points away from Level 17.” I rolled my eyes and dismissed the menu. “It’s official. God hates me.”

“Why are you angry? We’re going back to the castle. The Castellan’ll give us the quest EXP, and then you’ll level up too!” Karalti bobbed her head and went back to grooming her new tail fins.

“I wanted the quest EXP on top of the level.” Annoyed and suddenly anxious, I swiped over to the Main Quest to refresh myself for the hundredth time:

Quest Update: Unto Death

Myszno, in the south-east of Vlachia, was formerly one of the most beautiful places in the country. Now it is a ruin, blighted by undeath and ruled by a powerful vampire lord.

You accepted a grant to travel to this troubled land and reclaim it from the vampire’s claws – a terrible proposition, given how powerful he has become. But with great risk comes great reward. You could become a true Count in Vlachia, with land, property, and income. Truly a base fit for a king – and a queen.

Difficulty: Level 20+ (extraordinary)

Rewards: EXP, 60 build points, Charter to Resettle the Duchy of Myszno.

Update: The Volod of Vlachia, Ignas Corvinus III, is preparing the briefing and supplies you will need to travel to Myszno. You must wait 4 days for preparations to be completed (Day 4 of 4).

I grimaced. “’This says we have to be Level 20 and the quest is rated ‘Extreme’. We leave for Myzsno tomorrow, so-”

“I know, I know. We’ll go hunt later today.” Karalti sighed. “Don’t worry, okay? We’ve been working as hard as we can.”

“Well, obviously not hard enough.” I dismissed the HUD with a thought, staring out over the glacier toward Taltos. It was beautiful up here, cold and stark. The ground was flat and hard, spring water running through trickles carved out of ancient stone. The river had already unclogged, and was burbling happily on its path toward the valley below.

“Hector...” Karalti snaked her head toward me, eyes narrowed. “HOW many sidequests have we done in four days?”

“Four, once we wrap up this one, but-”

“And HOW many levels have we gained since Ignas became king?”

“Almost four levels for me, two for you.” I ran my hand back over my braided hair. “But-”

“And HOW much experience did we earn?”

“Uhh... a little bit under seven K?”

“What about the stat points we gained from training? And skill points?”

Restless, I bought up my character sheet again. “I could stand to gain some more stamina. Now that I think about it, this would be a great place to train Stamina. It’s cold as balls up here.”

“Do you have to?” The dragon yawned wide, flashing a mottled blue-and-black throat and twin rows of razor-sharp teeth. “I’m really hungry.”

“You’ll live. Watch the Spear for me.” I stuck the end of the weapon into a patch of moss, leaving it upright, and unequipped all of my clothes except for my underwear. Then, before I could rethink my life choices, I ran across the frozen ground to the river and dive-bombed in. The regret was instantaneous. It was like jumping into a pit of needles, and when I surfaced, it was with a girly little scream and a lot of flailing. “Holy fuckballs! Cold! Cooollld!” 

Karalti laughed, a chucking, yarping sound she made by tossing her head and inflating her throat.

“Oh god, my nuts!” I splashed my way to the bank and clambered out into the cold wind, clutching myself and dancing from foot to foot. “Fuckity fucking-UGGH, this game!”

Karalti only laughed harder, rocking back on her tail.

[You earned a new Feat: Skinny Dipper]

[Warning! You are at risk of Hypothermia!]

[You are hungry! HP will no longer regenerate.]

[You are thirsty! No HP regeneration]

[You are fatigued! -5% to skill checks.]

I brushed the notifications away like mosquitoes. To level Stamina, I had to stick out the discomfort. Ten seconds, then twenty... and finally, a little red arrow appeared to one side, pulsing upright over three letters, ‘STA’. As soon as I saw it, I reequipped my armor. It was like wrapping myself in a warm towel. The debuff disappeared, though I was still chilled to the bone. Teeth chattering, I dropped down and began to do clap pushups, right there on the ice.

Stats were leveled by training them. And for the first time since my upload into Archemi, we’d had the option to just grind, and grind, and grind. When I’d first entered the game, there’d been a level cap and an EXP penalty system that had crippled all attempts at leveling. After that, I couldn’t take quests because I was a fugitive, and after that, I’d juggled raising a needy hatchling with a time-sensitive, urban story quest that had sucked up all my energy and resources. But now, EXP gain was back to normal, Karalti was mostly grown, and we – that being me, Karalti, Suri and our friend Rin – had four free days to just play the goddamned game and get swole.

And we had been. My mornings began with training: strength training, agility training, stamina training, combat skill training. I hung from railings by my fingertips, ran and vaulted over the crenellations of Vulkan Keep, sat under cold waterfalls and wailed on training dummies until I saw those stats go up. Then it was quest time. Karalti and I had picked up four side-quests in four days, starting with hunting down some weird monsters stealing children from a village outside Taltos. We’d slain a caravan of bandits, killed a lesser vampire in the Lethos Cellar complex beneath the city, and now we’d just de-frogged Taltos’ water supply. I was low on food, water and sleep, but in the days after we killed the old corrupt king and installed his brother on the throne, we’d stacked on more EXP than we had in the last six weeks. It felt good. But it still wasn’t enough.

“Hector, come on.” Karalti ducked her head, crooning in her throat. “That’s enough. Let’s go home.”

“Our main quest says it’s for Level 20 plus,” I thought to Karalti in between claps. I was battling the debuffs, and sweat poured down my forehead. “I’m only Level 16, and you just hit Level 8.”

“So? We’re way stronger than normal players.” 

“Never assume that, Tidbit. We’re going to a warzone.”

“We are stronger! And I’m not just Level 8. I’m almost at Level 9 already. Once we get the EXP from the Castle Guy, I’ll level up with our next battle?”

“You will?” Heaving for breath, I shakily wrapped up a set of fifty pushups and stumbled to my feet. The burn in my arms felt very real as I unequipped my armor again, standing back in the cold wind. The little red arrow appeared again. One point gained to strength. But then I sniffled. And then, I coughed.

[You have contracted Common Cold! -5% to your Perception.]

“Fuck!” My throat began to feel raw, and I sneezed. Fear coursed through me, rooting me to the spot. “Shit... shit...”

“Hector?” Karalti stood up in alarm and paced toward me. Her dark, opalescent wings flicked along her sides with agitation. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m sick!” I sneezed again.

“It’s okay! It’s not the flu. It’s just a cold!”

I knew she was right – I’d heard the fucking notification – but I couldn’t stop the panic. The flu had killed me. I still remembered the fever, the rash, the swollen joints and the weight of fluid in my lungs. I reached out to her, and was relieved when my hand found her hot scales. Rumbling, Karalti mantled a wing around us, sheltering me from the wind.

“Sorry.” I wheezed. Heat radiated against my face, warm and soothing. “Can’t help it. It’ll pass.”

“Yeah. But we need to go back to the castle and rest.”

“Okay... okay just... let me check your sheet first.” Wiping my nose, I reopened my HUD and squinted at the holographic display through running eyes:

Karalti – Queen Dragon

Level 8 Sub-Adult Queen Dragon

Strength: 60

Dexterity: 76

Stamina: 55

Will: 32

Wisdom: 18

Intelligence: 22

HP: 1271

MP: 80

Affinity: Darkness/Life (Path of Alacrity)

EXP: 7941 (419 to next level)

Lexica: 18 

Spells: 5

Skills:

Acrobatics: 12

- Aerial Acrobatics: 15

Dive: 10

Laden Flight: 15

Perception: 20 (+5 with rider)

Abilities:

Gift of the Blood: Allows a dragon to utilize magic and other supernatural abilities.

Eviscerate: A power attack with the front claws.

Ghost Fire: 249-344 Fire damage; sticky fire that burns underwater and deals ongoing damage to enemies (86 Fire damage per round for 5 rounds).

Bite: 511-255 damage.

Gore: A dragon’s unarmed attacks do double damage and cause Bleeding.

Tail Attack: Blunt-force strike that flings enemies under 400lb

Split Turn: Burn 5 mana points per second to immediately change momentum while rolling. This allows for 90 degree and 180 degree turns in any direction. 2 bonus Lexica.

Spells:

Bioscope: Analyze an enemy and learn their strengths and weaknesses. (4 MP, 10 sec cooldown)

Sense Aether: Detect and assess magical effects, artifacts, and locations. (4 MP, 5 sec cooldown)

Dark Focus II: Triple power of next magical attack. (18 MP, 25 sec cooldown)

Dirge: A curse that slowly damages enemies every turn and has a chance to cause the Deaf and Mute debuffs. (16 MP, 25 sec cooldown)

Haste II: Dramatically increases speed for 1 min per spell level (16 MP, 30 sec cooldown)

“Holy shit,” I said. “You’re right.”

“Uh-huh.” The dragon gently rested her jaw on my shoulder “We’ve been working too hard. Let’s go home.”

“There’s no such thing as working too hard, Tidbit.” My stomach growled, and I rolled my shoulders to try and distract myself from the pangs. “You get your next Path Ability at Level 10. Come on: if we kill one monster, we’ll go up again and be that much closer to our goal.”

“Hector. No. Just no.” Karalti couldn’t roll her eyes – like a bird, she had to turn her head to look in different directions. Instead, she slid her inner eyelids in, flickering them rapidly with irritation. “We’re going back to the castle, and you’re going to go to bed and eat some food while I go out and hunt.”

“But we-” Whatever I was about to say was cut off by a vibration in my ear. The curved holographic screen still hanging in front of me read: [Incoming PM: Suri].

“Hello, light of my life.” I tried not to sniff after picking up the call. “What’s up?”

“Nothing good.” My girlfriend’s lovely honey-and-smoke voice was tight with stress. “We have a situation. Where are you?”

“We were grinding up on the plateau-” I turned my head to cough as Karalti perked up in alarm. “-’S’cuse me, sorry about that. We’re four miles north of Vulkan Keep.”

“Two full-grown dragons with riders just appeared over Taltos,” Suri said grimly. “They’ve got a hostage, and they’re demanding to speak with you.”

A nasty, icy thrill that had nothing to do with the cold crawled down through my guts. Dragon Knights. There was only one thing they were here for. I looked up at Karalti.

“Hector?” Her horns flattened against her skull, even as she crouched and extended a wing to let me onto her back. “What’s wrong?”

“The Order’s caught up with us.” All thoughts of leveling vanished as I caught the saddle straps and hauled myself up. “We have to go back to Vulkan Keep, now.”