The MMRPG Apocalypse

“Clean ‘em out.” Anna whispered under her breath, loud enough for all of us to hear but not the nearby chauffeurs. Maria gained a dangerous glint in her eye which almost had me laughing, like a dog that had spotted a steak and was waiting for their owner to give the go ahead.

“Don’t be shy.” I said to everyone, giving tacit approval for the idea of gaining a share of some of the wealth on display.

There were two butlers waiting for us when we arrived. The chauffeurs stayed to tend the horses while we made our way deeper into the palace. Despite its beauty, it was a lonely place, and it seemed that almost no one but workers resided here.

“Where is everyone?” Jessica asked and I realized she wasn’t just talking about the rooms we could see: her tracking meant she could also tell how many people moved about the grounds.

“The king likes his privacy.” That seemed to be all the butler would say, even though Lucas encourage him to say more. I’d never heard mention of a queen, and perhaps with his beloved daughter passing recently, the king was retreating into total privacy.

“Will we meet the king?” Maria asked next and again got the same response about privacy. Perhaps the king was on a path to becoming a recluse. He certainly couldn’t run a large city while mourning. If so, the fact that the fight for the throne was becoming so intense made more sense to us now.

“Right this way,” one of the butlers said, clearly rushing us along and trying to avoid any more questions, “Please be polite, the king likes his quiet.”

I nodded to show my understanding and we raced through the hallways at a brisk pace. The floors were marbled; the twenty-foot walls were decorated with golden and red and blue and purple drapes; there was stained glass in every other window and doors carved of hard wood three inches thick depicted battles won and lost to history. The building was huge and all of the interesting artworks we hurried past meshed together as if one. Very quickly, I was completely lost.

The guide turned left and right, and eventually we happened upon the Red Prince, “I’ll take them from here.” He said to the butler, “Please continue to take good care of my father.” He clapped his hand on the guide’s shoulder and gave a smile. I could tell at once that it was genuine.

“It’s good to have you all here.” The prince turned to us, “It’s just this way.” I liked how few formalities he needed, there was no pride or ego. He was down to earth, and I could imagine he would serve the empire well. Better, it felt, than the Yellow Prince. Somehow, we had ended up on what was probably the good-side. “Are you liking the palace?”

“Very much so,” Anna said, “it’s beautiful.”

“It’s been standing for three-hundred years now.” The prince gestured vaguely towards a large hall. “It was constructed as a gift by the elves. To them it will still seem like a new construction, but the royal palace has been our family residence for several generations.”

“We’re here.” The prince had brought us to a large, complex double door, with metal strips over a wooden frame. He turned a key in the huge lock and pushed it wide, steeping aside to look at how we responded. “This is our store of precious items. Take what you need to defeat the gnolls, but please, nothing more.”

“We’ll only take what we can immediately use,” I assured him.

“That’s all I can ask.” He gave a bow and gestured us inside. “I have urgent business to attend. A butler will remain outside for you all and fetch you in an hour. One hour is all you have before trainers arrive for you, so don’t waste it.” At that, he briskly rushed away.

None of us could wait a second longer, pressing together to get through the open doorway. The royal vault was a lot different how in my mind I had believed it might look like. Somehow, I figured it would be like a dragon’s den: unorganized with gold and goods strewn about randomly.

Instead, everything was arranged efficiently. That the entire room was well maintained could not be doubted. Racks held all the weapons along the wall, neatly organized to their specific sections. Stands held up metal armors, while the leather and animal-based armors hang upon the wall.

Everything was sparkling clean, from the greaves made of steel, to the arm guards made of leather. Someone took meticulous care to keep this place well maintained. Probably the butler waiting outside for us to finish up.

“I’ll help myself.” Maria said obnoxiously loud, making it abundantly clear she would not be holding back.

I couldn’t resist either and respectfully walked over to a pair of leggings made of scales linked together to form a chainmail.

Basilisk Scale Leggings: VIT + 5, Damage Taken -10%

Leggings made from the scales of a mythical basilisk. Their extreme resilience absorbs substantial amounts of damage.

The leggings didn’t quite fit me, but this item would be an upgrade for Richard or Alan either of whom would love to have them. “Nice tank pants over here.” I yelled to the both of them and then moved for the next piece of loot.

I made my way around the room inspecting gear as I gazed.

Loath Beads Turquoise Amulet: INT +5, Effect of Curses +25%

An amulet made from the bones of some evil creature. The beautiful turquoise doesn’t take away from its menacing nature.

Not for me, unfortunately.

Blight Torch Medallion: INT +3, VIT +1, Fire Skills +15% damage.

A crystal of unknown nature holds remarkable power. The ghastly swirl resting inside the stone leaves you feeling uneasy.

I kept looking through as I was fascinated by the gear I was seeing. The others were the same, shopping through every piece of gear of the hundreds upon hundreds in the room. Eventually one of the necklaces caught my eye.

Corpse Beads Bone Amulet: INT + 5, Summoned undead damage and movement speed +25%

An amulet of unremarkable construction. A single fiend’s finger bone seeps ghoulish miasma that aids in the control of the undead.

I was absolutely ecstatic with my find and this prompted me to search through every slot of gear until I was putting on an entire new set.

Grim Knot Band: INT +4, VIT +2, +1 to maximum number of summoned undead.

This simple band contains an unimaginable amount of resentment. You feel closer to death wearing it.

With that, I now had two rings because I didn’t see myself getting rid of my other ring. Temporary Grave was incredibly useful and it also gave me skills. For now, it didn’t seem I could equip more than two rings, but I hoped that would eventually change as we leveled more. I could have taken more, but reminded myself of my promise to the Red Prince.

Cadaver Hide: WIS +5, VIT +5, All Resistances +5, Summoned undead have +15% cast speed.

The hide of an undead abomination. It provides wonderful protection and resistance.

This chest piece was above rare and instead glowed purple. For now I would call it ‘Epic’ as the tier of loot. I couldn’t turn it down despite it looking so bad, stats didn’t care about my aesthetic.

Sin Step Boots: WIS +3, DEX +1, Fire Resistance +10, Movement speed +15%

Crafted from the leather of a demonic beast, these boots have a hellish feeling to them.

My pair of corpse runners had been with me since nearly the beginning, but the measly +1 VIT couldn’t compare to the stats this was boasting.

“How’s it going for you all?” I asked curiously. It wasn’t difficult for me to find incredible gear and my requirements were probably much more stringent than the others. Stats alone weren’t enough, I also wanted special effects, especially those beneficial for my summoned undead squad.

Only Anna had the ability to respond as the others furiously rummaged through piles of rings and amulets, “Amazing! Ha ha.” She spoke like a programmed robot. The abundance of loot was frying her brain.

“Mike, this bracelet is for you.” It was Jessica calling me over.

“Let me see.” I reached out to take the steel band.

Bloodied Shackle: VIT +5, DEF +2, Allows the user to contract a demon.

The dried blood on this shackle of unknown material holds tremendous power over demons.

While not having WIS, this was still hard to pass up. The defensive stats were impressive and the idea of contracting a demon was too enticing. I started to feel my excitement bubbling imaging what kind of new abilities I may have after fully equipping myself.

“I’ll keep my eye out for you.” I told her, but from the looks of her new attire she was having no issues finding suitable gear for herself.

I still wanted to get a new headgear, gloves, and leggings at the very least. Finding a new weapon and shield would be ideal, but I had no guarantee I’d be able to do so. We only had one hour to search through hundreds upon hundreds of (often heavy) pieces of gear.

After thirty minutes, I had satisfied my requirements:

Skull Head Bone Helmet: WIS +2, VIT +5, DEF +2, Summoned Undead Maximum HP +20%

This sturdy skull provides magnificent protection from physical attacks to you and your undead.

Demon Nails Scaled Gloves: WIS +4, VIT +2, Casting speed +15%

A pair of gloves made from the weaving of nails from demonic creatures. Every movement makes an eerie sound.

Parasite Clutch Leggings: STR +2, VIT +7, Disease Resistance +25

Leggings made of a sturdy but malleable material. They wiggle and bulge as if parasites push and maneuver through them.

I almost couldn’t bring myself to take these due to the pants looking as if maggots crawled beneath the surface, but they really were incredible. There were other pairs that had INT, but the stats didn’t match up, and these were also Epic.

Amazingly, I had also found a new wand.

Lich’s Bone Wand: WIS +8, Minion Damage, Attack, and Cast Speed +15%

The wand of a powerful Lich. It glows and radiates a beautiful but dangerous miasma. Holding it too long may cause rot!

The wand perfectly balanced with the Parasite Clutch Leggings. My previous Survivor’s Rod only gave 50 HP and 3 WIS, so the upgrade was substantial to me and my minions.

I opened my gear to take a look at my new stats in the light of all these items.

Name: Mike Reynolds Class: Necromancer Level: 27 EXP: 88%

HP: 1290/1565 MP: 595/595

STR: 5 + 2 Fear Resistance: 5

AGI: 2 Shadow Resistance: 5

DEX: 5 + 1 Disease Resistance: 30

VIT: 29 + 39 Cold Resistance: 5

WIS: 27 + 48 Lightning Resistance: 5

Available: 18 Fire Resistance: 15

Skills: [A] Summon Skeleton LV. 10 | [A] Summon Skeleton Mage LV. 4 | [A] Decay LV. 3| [A] Reanimate Dead LV. 3 | [A] Bone Armor LV. 2 | [A] Vast Shadows | [A] Temporary Grave LV. 1 | [P] Sixth Sense | [P] Bravery LV. 2 | [P] Mutated | [P] Pain Resistance LV. 2 | [P] Skeletal Mastery LV. 4| [P] Intimidate Living LV. 2 | [P] Inner Calm LV. 2 | [P] Necrotic Vision | [P] Blood Thirsty LV. 1 | [P] Cold Hearted LV. 1 | [P] Poison Immunity

I couldn’t stop myself from ogling at my stats. My HP had jumped up nearly three hundred, which was an incredible percent increase. I had also gained 110 more MP and an unknown amount of MP regeneration, but it would no doubt help in the fights to come. I still kept 18 stats in reserve just in case. If I needed to add WIS during a fight, it would provide me with the MP immediately and could make the difference between life or death.

Besides that, the +5 All resistance on Cadaver Hide seemed to allow me to see all the elemental status currently in the 'game'. The three main elements: Cold, Lightning, and Fire and then three darker elements, Fear, Shadow and Disease.

My summoned undead squad had also undergone a drastic change, maybe even more so than me. Between the new equipment and old, I had gained +1 to my maximum number of undead, 40% to their damage, 15% to their attack speed, 30% cast speed and 25% movement speed. I imagined they would move around like a swarm and truly over-run anything in their path. This was my ideal for being a true necromancer.

Between my Skull Helm and the Skull Mask, there seemed to also be a special effect added as Intimidate Living was now level two instead of one.

“You look like a Hollow straight out of the Bleach anime.” Glenn said. I understood that reference, and it gave me a slight boost in confidence until Maria spoke.

“Don’t look at me please, it’s gross and gives me the ick.”

Jessica came over and wrapped an arm around me, “Just be sure to take these off when we go to sleep.” She pointed at my head and new Parasite Clutch leggings. I didn’t blame her in the slightest.

“How did everyone do?” I asked. There was merely ten minutes or so left before we had to meet the profession trainers.

“Out of this world,” Alan said, “I think I’ll take an elite gnoll one-on-one when we go back.” He was burning with excitement. Anna did a twirl that showed off sparkling gems imbued with magic and I couldn’t help but wonder if she went for aesthetic over stats.

Everyone had done remarkably to increase our strength, and there was more to come. I had no doubt we would be powerhouses once we returned to Earth. This boon was not something easy to come by and would keep us alive and thriving.