Darin opened his reward package, eager to equip his near gear. He’d expected some kind of backpack, or a leg pouch like the adults used. In truth, it looked more like the love child of bondage gear and a utility belt for a dog. His excitement, died on the spot. A few moments later he managed to mumble, “identify.”

{Personal}{Unbreakable}{Unique}Pet Cargo Pack.

Slot: Torso

Restrictions: All medium sized pets, or Primal Dragons.

Weight: 5 stones

Effects: Creates an accessible inventory your pet(or you) can wear. Grants +15 stones to max carry weight. Contains a separate coin pouch. All stowed items weigh 50% less. Stowed coins have no weight.

Special: Soul-bound. Reduced item drop on death.

"It was the best I could provide you, at least I didn’t start with the pink one."

“Thank you.” He managed to say, after letting out a rather long sigh. Rather then trying to figure out how to slip into it, he opened his inventory and slapped it into his bandoleer slot. It wasn’t great for immersion, but it saved him trying to figure out how to put it on. Blood Claw gave Greed a rather questioning look, to which he shrugged.

“It’s a backpack he can wear, and he really needs one.” Greed pleaded, trying to defend his handiwork. The dragoness looked at him in disbelief. Well, I do really need a pack. And the stats are nice, but still, Darin pondered.

“Oh, then what shall we give him for his next quest?” She asked, with a false sweetness in her voice. “Perhaps a dragoness in high heels, with a fondness of whips. Maybe a unique beak shaped ball gag.” She suggested, her voice full of sarcasm. Even Darin cringed when he heard that. Greed seemed to go pale for a moment, not an easy task for a black scaled dragon.

“I. I, uh…had not considered that.” He stated in a rather shaken tone. “Oh right, I promised an improved reward. Ahem. For returning to complete your quest so quickly.” He opened a system window, pointed at the bondage-baggy and started typing. A minute or so later, he looked satisfied and saved his work. The pack dissolved into mist and reformed in its new shape, a much more humble looking contraption. A belt above Darin’s hips held a moderate sized pack on his lower back, along with two small pouches on the front. Across his torso, there was a single diagonal strip, connecting belt to shoulder and back again. There were no pouches along the sash section, but there were mounting points, which was interesting.

“That looks a bit better dear, what did you do?” Blood Claw asked. Not waiting for an answer, she examined the item herself. “Interesting, very creative. It’s not as nice for now, but that will be quite handy in time. If nothing else, it doesn’t look nearly as kinky.” She purred.

“Not as nice for now? But it looks a lot better, okay wait. Identify.” Darin mumbled, starting to grow concerned.

{Personal}{Unbreakable}{Unique}Primal Backpack.

Slot: Torso (Bandoleer and Belt)

Restrictions: Primal Dragons.

Weight: 5 stones

Effects: Functions as a backpack, coin purse and inventory. Grants 5 + (LEVEL / 10) stones to max carry weight. Includes a coin pouch. Stowed items weigh 50% less. Stowed coins have no weight. Grants +1 Defense.

Special: Soul-bound. Reduced item drop on death. Pack can be modified by user, scope of modifications are limited by the user’s level.

"Given by Greed at Level 2, after you earned his respect."

Both AIs watched him as he examined the new equipment, and changed the color to an off-white. It was about the only change he could make at his current level. The loss of +10 max weight hurt. It would have almost doubled his capacity. “Well, it looks better.” He said, earning a sign of relief from the merchant.

“Don’t fret about the carry difference, you’ll get it back in time and more.” Greed stated, sounding quite proud of his work. Well, better he takes pride in this version. The dragoness seemed to agree with him.

“I guess so. If I ever reach level 100. It’s taken me days to even reach level 2.” Darin grumbled.

“Got better plans for the next few hundred years?” Blood Claw asked, while raising the ridge over her right eye. He spent the next next several seconds in shock, his beak hanging wide open. She chuckled at his surprise, while he recovered.

“No. As long as I don’t work another shift top-side, or get tired of ‘Dreams’ and go elsewhere. I expect that I’ll be playing for quite a while.” He agreed.

“Your new pack has other perks too.” Greed reminded him.

“The point of Defense, or the ability to change it’s color?”

“It has a lot more than that.” Greed declared, he almost sounded offended. “The scope of modifications increases with your level. In time you’ll be able to add to it, increasing carry weight. Or maybe you’ll upgrade the stat bonuses. Sure, at level 2 you can change the color. But a few years from now, you might be very glad you got that pack. Besides, it will never break, wear out, be outgrown or out dated.” He really was a merchant at heart.

“In other words, shut up and say thanks.” Blood Claw suggested, being rather blunt.

“Oh, right. Greed, thank you for the gift. I expect to get a lot of use out of it.” He said, careful to keep his tone formal. The shop keeper nodded in response.

“You had other questions?” The dragoness asked. Darin thought back to the visions he’d seen, and the questions that lingered.

“Can you teach me where the mouth of the cave is?” He asked with a long sigh. “I need to see what’s become of the world I knew.” He explained. His mentors looked at each other a moment, trying to decide where to even begin.

“We can, but not quite yet. Can you tell me what you meant when you said the ‘world you knew’ ?” Greed asked. There was an odd note of tension in his voice.

“I spent a lot of time there, maybe days. His memories were so clear, it felt like I was living in them.” Darin explained. He could see concern and confusion growing on their faces. “Is that a bad thing?”

“No. Not really, it’s just very unusual. The less pure a dragon’s blood line is, and the further from the Mother they are…the simpler their ancestor’s memories. Well a lot of players also min/max away their mental stats, which cuts into their magical nature.” Blood Claw explained.

“And he’s a premium player. Thus allowed a few extra perks, so long as there are minimal effects to game balance.” Greed added. “So with all that, you actually lived through a few bits of their memories?”

“Well, yes. I thought that was normal, but I guess that’s why everyone wondered where I was.” Darin stated. The other’s just nodded in response. “So, why can’t you let me go outside yet?”

“It’s complicated.” Greed stated.

“You have a lot to learn first, and then you can take the trials.” Blood Claw told him. He started to ask something, when she cut him off. “Let me just get through this without interruption, please. Save any questions for the end.” She paused, and he nodded his agreement. “Good. The trials are to prove yourself and earn a name. If you get enough points in your trials, you will be permitted outside to hunt in the sheltered valley. From there, you will be able to practice your skills and grow. Once you feel confident, you can retake the trials the next time they are offered. If you pass with enough points, you are granted the right to travel. You can pass through the main exit to explore, or be sent to a common starter town by teleportation. Okay, questions?”

“Okay, what do I need to know in order to pass these trials?” Darin asked. They looked at him a moment, collecting their thoughts before answering.

“In essence, how to be a dragon. How to fly, or at least glide, how to hunt, how to breathe fire or what have ye. In truth, you are proving to the elders that you can take care of yourself in the wider world. If you are too stupid to figure out the basics, then you’d probably die of stupidity in the wilds. Doing so would bring shame to the Mother. The elders aren’t very happy when that happens. And yes,” Greed paused to grumble, “that has happened.”

“You’ll also be tested, to see what you know. Which will also test your integrity. It’s better to admit ignorance, than to be caught in a lie. And while you are being tested, it is important to realize there may be more than one solution to any given challenge. The more impressive your solution, the more points you will earn.” Blood Claw added.

“Well, unless he gets fancy and screws up.”

“Well, yes. There is always that option too.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, really.” Darin grumbled. Greed shrugged, while she just laughed. “So when do these trials occur? I’m not going to have to wait for a full moon or a solstice, am I?”

“No, of course not. No one would play a dragon with rules like that. Trials are the first day of each week, about an hour after normal downtime ends.” She explained, once she stopped laughing.

“Down time? The server is running live, on cores. Why would you need a downtime?”

“Oh you know. Bug fixes, patches, new content generation, rule updates, remediation, spawn clean-up and trouble shooting. All of those are great excuses for why we have downtime.” Greed was happy to explain.

“Excuses?” Darin asked, puzzled by the honest answer. Blood Claw sent Greed a dirty look.

“The unofficial answer is for the players. Once a week, you have to spend time back in your ‘real’ bio-forms, so that you don’t forget how to use them properly. The neural interface helps to translate motion and actions. But the more adept you get as using this body, the less that interface actually does. Stay in that form for the next 300 years without a refresher, then wake up in an emergency to repair the ship. What do you think would happen?” Blood Claw asked. Darin thought about it for a moment and cringed. In response both AIs nodded.

“I’d fumble around, or try to run around on all fours. If I didn’t reflexively try to Fly to where I needed to fix things. Then my hand-eye coordination would be terrible, so I’d botch the repairs or take too long.” He replied. The more he thought about it, the more the concept of forgetting your own body horrified him.

“That’s the same reason that Dreams only allows players to play the gender logged in their ship’s file. The plumbing really is different, and all the studies so far, well…it gets messy. Ergo, be what you want to be, love who you want to love and do what you want to do. Within the constraints of a gender lock. If you don’t like it, good luck finding another server.” Greed explained. Darin recalled seeing something about that in the EULA, but as he hadn’t had a heavy say in his character creation, he’d never checked. At least Muse hadn’t screwed with that for fun, but maybe the game wouldn’t let her. Small favors, right?

“So when is the next downtime?” He asked, wondering how much time he had to prepare. Maybe I can check the forums for tips and-

“Tomorrow morning.” Greed replied. “So you’d better go eat and sleep, or you’ll miss social hour. And no, you aren’t allowed to sleep through downtime. EULA will make sure you can’t play until you’ve spent time in your virtual ‘real’ body.” He warned.

“Tomorrow, but how will I prepare?” He asked.

“It’s already after dark. All you can do now, is go get some sleep.” She informed him. Darin tried to protest, only to be shooed out of the shop. And there to greet him, across the hall, was his own chalk outline.

- - - - -

Author’s note: Trying a different browser, due to posting troubles. Story is moving forward, I hope this wasn’t too slow for you. I couldn’t resist ending on a slightly impish note again. Twisted sense of humor, what can I say? I crossed the 500 views per page line today, which I think is awesome. I know I don’t have a flashy title, an OP MC and a glamorous plot. So I’m doing what I can, to keep my writing quality up. Again, thank you all for all the positive feedback and encouragement. It really does make it easier to write, when I know people are reading and enjoying it. Advertisement Previous

Chapter Fiction

Index Next

Chapter RSS About the author 2 Fictions 54 Posts 3 Threads Knave Follow Author Saturday, October 24, 2015 6:40:26 AM Saturday, October 24, 2015 6:33:07 PM

Bio:

Achievements Comments(12) Set Compact Log in to comment

Log In Load Comments Please enable JavaScript to load the comments! Log in to comment

Log In Settings Theme (Entire Website) Dark Light Dim background 0% 20% 40% 50% 60% 80% 100% Font Size 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 20 22 24 28 32 Reader Width Max 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% Font Family Default ————— Open Dyslexic Atkinson Hyperlegible ————— Arial Roboto Open Sans OS Default Comic Sans Lucida Verdana Ubuntu Ubuntu Condensed Franklin Gothic Garamond Caslon Minion Font Color Indent Color Scheme Theme Default OLED Black Royal Road Dark Dark Gray Gray Light Gray Sepia White Paragraph Spacing Close × Give Reputation to User: Points You can specify how many points you want to give (minimum: 0, maximum: 0). Comment (optional) Why are you giving this user reputation? Give Reputation Close About

Royal Road® is the home of web novels and fan fictions! In our amazing community, you can find various talented individuals who write as a hobby or even professionally, artists who create art for them, and many, many readers who provide valuable feedback and encouragement.

Amazon Affiliate Royal Road® is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. Theme Select Dark Light

Follow Us On Need some help? Create a support ticket

Contact Contact Us by Email

Advertising Ads for Authors

Programmatic Advertising Royal Road® © 2013-2022 Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy | Blog | Status Tap again to scroll to the top!