Seeds of Discordia: New Arrival Mayhem

Liam slowly opened his eyes as he sat in a meditative position in his room. His calm mind gradually starting to stir with thoughts as his Zen-like focus dissipated.

He let out a sigh as he muttered, “I guess I won’t always get visions when I get in that focus. If that’s the case, then I need to understand the other benefits it brings.”

A soft chime sounded in his mind as a notification popped up in front of him.

 

“Congratulations! Zen has reached level 8!”

 

Liam frowned as he dismissed the message. He really didn’t understand how everything was tied together. He recently got his Knowledge Theory on Calming the Storm to level ten. Liam thought that his Knowledge Theory on the subject was tied with his Sub-stat Zen from his Will Stat in Spirit, but it didn’t raise with it.

He stretched his arms and legs as he got to his feet. He made his way over to the mirror and muttered to himself, “Let’s go over what I was able to get done yesterday.”

He thought about it as he stared at himself in the mirror. He then looked at his right hand as he raised a finger up, he said, “I got my Exordium Arcanum Knowledge Theory to level five.”

He raised another finger. “I raised the Arcane practice I got which raised my Magic Practicality to the same level.”

He raised a third finger. “I got the Arcane Shot, though it was a pain to get. The others got it when they got to level two in their theory. I got it at level four.”

He raised a fourth finger. “My Sub-stat Knowledge got to level ten when I got my Calming the Storm Knowledge Theory to level ten. Thanks to that I got a bonus of two point five percent to studying knowledge theories under level ten. It’s not much, but it’ll help move things a little faster.”

He raised a fifth finger and added, “After a bit of shopping I got a some pjs, casual, and workout clothes so I don’t have to rely on just my old clothes as well as my armor. Although the styles the locals have are…weird. I’m glad they had some plain looking ones.”

He raised a sixth finger and said, “I also got a few crude daggers for throwing.” He sighed. “I should have had Mercer go with me. The price of the poor-quality ones seemed like a scam. I’m going to have to craft my own if I want to save on buying them.”

He looked back at the mirror. “After our trip into the dungeon I’m going to have to stop by the library and get some more theory books to look into. Get my Seed of the Arcana up so I can get a couple of Fields of Studies and look into the other crafts.”

He let out a sigh as he shook his head. “There’s so much I need to do. Not only that, but I need to work on my Weapon skills and try to get a physical skill or whatever they call them here.”

He let his hand drop to his side as he brought up the internal clock. It read 6:24 a.m.

“I’ll have to work out a schedule to work on all this later. For now, I’ll just work on my Sub-stats: Stamina Endurance, Speed, and Agility by running to the Smithy. I’ll also work on my Blacksmithing craft and my Sub-stat Crafter Endurance till I need to meet up with the others.”

He pulled up his inventory and looked at the items in it. He looked for his workout clothes and clicked on the set.

 

“Would you like to pull out Workout Outfit Quality Poor? Yes No?”

 

“Thankfully the inventory allows you to set clothes up as outfits by layering them together.” Liam Thought as he turned to the bed and clicked yes. As the clothing set appeared he said, “It saves so much room by doing this.”

After he changed and put his pajamas away, he stretched his legs and arms. He then looked at himself in the mirror and noticed how long and messy his hair was.

“I think I saw a barber shop somewhere in town. If I have time, I should get a haircut.” Liam muttered before facing the door and said, “Alright let’s get to work.”

 

                                                                                             ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

The Yooperlite stone sitting on the ceiling of the cavern shone as bright as a noon sun while a light breeze blew over the inhabitants. Sounds of voices filled the area around the portals as people stood around from either waiting to enter, exiting, or waiting for others to arrive.

One group stood waiting as a light armored male jogged up to them.

“There he is,” Blair announced as the group turned to him.

“Ooo la la. Someone got a new haircut,” Ariyana teased.

Liam slowed his jog as he approached. His messy hair was no more. He got the sides of his head shaved and got the top cleaned up a bit. He decided to go with an undercut. The remaining hair he had was long enough for a ponytail which was tied back.

Sheepishly he said, “It was getting a bit messy, so I decided to clean it up. Sorry about the wait. I got too focused while in the smithy and lost track of time. I wanted to try and get this done before we went in.”

Liam got a good look at them and noticed the gear they were wearing. He assessed their armor and notifications appeared.

Ariyana, Mercer, and Roman wore plain grey shoes that ran up to their mid shins, and plain grey hooded robe that stopped mid shin.

 

“Beginner Mage Armor Set. Beginner Mage Robe. Quality – Poor. Armor + 2. Beginner Mage Pants. Quality – Poor. Armor + 2. Beginner Mage Shoes. Quality – Poor. Armor + 2."

"Beginner Mage Armor set. Basic armor set given to people who has the Mage Title starting class. When wearing the complete set wearer gets a +5% bonus to spell damage.”

 

Avery was wearing some sort of metal coated boots that ran up mid-calf, plain white pants, plain brown belt with a sword sheathed next to her right leg, and a plain black shirt that was tucked in with a metal breastplate over her chest.

 

“Beginner Swordswoman Armor Set. Beginner Swordswoman Iron Grieves. Quality – Poor. Armor + 6. Beginner Swordswoman pants. Quality – Poor. Armor + 4. Beginner Swordswoman Iron Breastplate. Quality – Poor. Armor + 6. Beginner Swordswoman belt. Quality – Poor. Armor + 2. Beginner Swordswoman Breastplate. Quality – Poor. Armor + 6. Beginner Plain Shirt. Quality – Poor. Armor + 1. Rapier. Quality – Crude. Attack +3."

Beginner Swordswoman Armor set. Basic armor set given to people whose Power sub-stat is higher than their strength or constitution starting off. When wearing the complete set wearer gets a +5% bonus to sword attacks.”

 

Artem and Blair wore iron-colored boots, iron-colored pants, breastplates that covered their chest stomach and back, and gloves. They each had a circled wooden shield in one hand and a sword in the other. Liam chuckled at the thought that they looked like twins with how similar their armor set was.

“They would be the worst twins,” Liam thought. This made him think about his brothers. They were twins and loved to argue with each other any chance they got. He then thought to himself, “On second thought they would be great twins.”

 

“Beginner Defender Armor Set. Beginner Defender Iron Grieves. Quality – Poor. Armor + 6. Beginner Defender Iron Pants. Quality – Poor. Armor + 6. Beginner Defender Iron Breastplate. Quality – Poor. Armor + 6. Beginner Defender Iron Gloves. Quality – Poor. Armor + 6. Circled Wooden Buckler. Quality – Crude. Armor + 4. Iron Broadsword. Quality – Crude. Attack + 3.”

"Beginner Defender Armor Set. Basic Armor set given to those whose Vitality and Body Strength sub-stats are higher than their other sub-stats."

 

“Besides Avery, you all look…uniformed,” Liam stated.

“Ha, ha. Very funny,” Roman said dryly.

“I hate this beginner’s gear. It’s plain as all hell and doesn’t look good at all.” Ariyana stuck her tongue out and made a gagging noise.

“It’s starting gear. What did you expect?” Avery asked.

“Besides the goggles you look more rogue-ish. Why’s that?” Mercer asked as he looked Liam over. “For some reason I was expecting you to wield something like a small hammer instead of a dagger.”

“This is the Beginner Light armor set for those with good start Dexterity Sub-stats,” Liam explained as he looked himself over. He then looked at the dagger and said, “I don’t think a blacksmith hammer would make for a good weapon.”

Mercer let out a small chuckle. “You’re probably right. Here.” Mercer pulled out a brown leather satchel and handed it to him.

Liam assessed it as he grabbed it.

“Small brown leather Satchel. Item type – Spatial Bag. Quality – Poor. Item Space – 10.”

“I already gave everyone theirs, but this is a small Leather Satchel. In it, there are health, mana, and stamina potions. I also got a crude pickaxe for you in case you see some ore or something. I’m not too sure how gathering is done, but I figured if you had a chance and want to try its better than nothing.”

“Hm, thank you. I appreciate it,” Liam said then asked as a thought appeared. “Did you just take this out of your inventory? I thought inventories and spatial bags were separate things and you couldn’t put them in your inventory?”

“I found out that that is true for bigger bags,” Mercer explained. “Small ten space bags can be placed in your inventory, but there’s also a limit to it unless you have a certain class or craft. Oh, you can also access the contents in the satchel from within your inventory as well as place items into from your inventory as well.”

“Good to know.” Liam nodded as he placed it in his inventory. He then asked as he placed his remaining potions from the other day into the satchel. “Are we ready to go?”

“I believe so,” Avery answered as she looked at the others.

They all nodded.

“Alright. Let’s go have an adventure then,” Liam said as they walked towards the Black swirling portal.

Liam’s vision swam as his stomach lurched. He took a couple of steps away from the portal, so he wasn’t in the way of the others.

Ariyana, Artem, and Roman took a couple of steps out of the portal and then fell to their knees, releasing liquids from their mouths.

Mercer, Blair, and Avery placed their hands on their knees coughing a few times while forcing back the bile that threatened to rush up. After a few moments they started to recompose themselves and stand back up.

“Why were you not affected by the telepor…,” Roman asked before feeling move liquid trying to escape. He closed his mouth and breathed heavily through his nose. After calming himself he dared to open his mouth and finished, “Teleportation?”

“I was affected by it. I was disoriented and almost threw up,” Liam replied as he looked at them.

“I call bs,” Blair glared. “You didn’t look fazed at all.”

“I’m being serious. Teleportation sickness has a great chance for you to get sick or disoriented. That doesn’t mean it happens all the time,” Liam stated. “I’m thinking upchuck roulette is the most accurate description for it.”

“He’s right,” Mercer chimed in. “About it doesn’t mean it’ll happen all the time. What’s your Mental Resistance to Teleportation Sickness at?”

“It’s at…,” Liam began to say until a couple of chime noises echoed in his mind.

 

“Congratulations! Sub-Stat Mental Resistance – Teleportation Sickness has reached level 3.”

“Congratulations! Sub-Stat Lucky Break has reached level 6!”

 

“Huh, two level ups. Nice,” Liam thought before continuing, “It just hit level three.”

“Level three? What the hell?” Roman said with disbelief. “I just hit level two.

“Same here,” Avery, Mercer, and Blair said in unison.

“Lucky for you guys,” Ariyana started. “I’m still at level one with it.”

“I am too,” Artem said as he hunched over again. “God, I hate this feeling.”

“The more we go through the portals the more you can raise that Mental Resistance,” Liam explained. “Which means more chances to play Upchuck Roulette.”

“Please don’t say upchuck. Just hearing that word makes me want to…,” Artem began to say until he placed a hand over his mouth and made a weird noise. He heavily breathed a few times then righted himself. “I think I’m good now.”

“Good,” Blair said. “It won’t do us any good if one of us Defenders is not at full focus.”

Artem frowned. “I know.”

“Let’s see where we are now,” Liam changed the topic as he looked around.

Behind the portal was a small run-down church. Patches of dirt and grass stretched out from all around them. A light fog drifted in the air, blocking out the sky making it dark. Patches of light from Yooperlite stones attached to poles that stood straight from the ground gave some light.

From that little lighting they were able to see gravestones scattered about. There were a couple of trees close to the portal and spread out amongst the graveyard. The leaves dropped, looking like they were wet.

“From a church to a graveyard? That’s not ominous or anything,” Liam muttered to himself.

“From the information I’ve gathered from others that have attempted this floor it is a graveyard. Not a small one either. It stretches out for miles. Monsters will appear at random, but there are two main monster we’ll have to look out for,” Mercer started to explain as the others turned to him. “There’s a slightly stronger monster that roams about. Apparently, the others are calling it an E.F.M. or Elite Floor Monster. The other is the Floor Boss, which is a lot more powerful than the E.F.M.”

“Did they say what kind of monsters they were?” Avery asked.

“It varied,” Mercer thought about it as he pulled out a small notebook. He opened it and turned to a page. “The weaker monsters were skeletons, ghouls, or zombies. The E.F.M. was a stronger variation of Skeleton with a weapon or a Zombie with a better constitution or strength. As for the boss it was the same. Just a bigger and mean version opposite of the E.F.M.”

“So, we’ll know who the boss is when we come across the E.F.M?” Blair asked. “Not sure how I like saying that word.”

“It’ll take some time getting used to using the terminology used on this plan…,” Liam began to say until a thought came across.

“What is it Liam?” Avery asked as she stared at him.

“How are we talking?” Liam muttered as his brain started to think.

“Uh, with our mouths?” Roman stated in a matter of fact like tone.

“No. I mean yes, but how can we understand each other?” Liam tried again as he looked at the others. “We all came from different worlds and we’re in a different world right now. How is it that we’re able to understand each other?”

Understanding dawned as they looked wide eyed.

“I guess with all the excitement no one thought about that,” Mercer said as he began to think it over.

“No one would have thought to ask because everyone thought they were all from the same planet probably?” Avery suggested.

“I think we’re going to have to ask when we get out of here,” Ariyana said. She then waved her arms out as she added, “It does us no good thinking about it while in here.”

“That’s true. I’ll see what I can learn once when we get out,” Mercer nodded.

Liam nodded agreeing with Ariyana and acknowledging Mercer, but still couldn’t let the question go. He then thought to himself, “Just another mystery that needs to be solved.”

“So which way should we go?” Blair asked as she looked around.

“I vote back,” Artem suggested.

Everyone turned to stare at him.

“What?” Artem asked looking like he wanted to shrink for the suggestion. “I hate scary things and this place is screaming scary.”

Blair let out an annoyed puff of air. “I’m starting to feel like I’m going to be taking a lot of hits during our time here.”

“Sorry,” Artem apologized as he looked down.

Liam patted Artem on the shoulder causing him to look at him. “Don’t worry about it,” Liam started. “We all have things we don’t like and are afraid of.”

Artem continued to stare at him without saying anything.

“Just remember that you’re not alone here. You have us to depend on just like we are depending on you to do what you have to.” Liam smiled.

Mercer, Ariyana, and Avery nodded in agreeance.

“If worse comes to worse we can use you as a meat shield and run away,” Roman suddenly said with a straight face.

Everyone swiftly turned to glare at him.

“What?” Roman asked. He then scoffed as he added, “It was a joke, obviously.”

Artem looked down and was about to say something until he felt a soft hand touch the side of his arm. He looked at who the hand belonged to and found Ariyana giving him a warm smile.

“Don’t listen to him. He’s just jealous that he’s not as tall and strong looking like you,” Ariyana said with a sympathetic and soothing voice. She then gave him a pouty face as she added, “Besides, if you’re not here then who’s going to protect me when I’m in danger.”

Artem looked like he was fighting something inside him when he finally said, “Fine. I’ll do what I can.”

Ariyana gave him a beaming smile as she planted a quick peck on his cheek. “I knew I can count on you.” She turned and looked away from the shocked Artem and gave a wink to Blair, Liam, and Mercer.

Mercer held back a chuckle as Blair shook her head and muttered as quietly as she could, “Men.”

“Wait!” Roman started as comprehension dawned on him. “Did you just call me short.”

Ariyana gave an affronted look as she mockingly feigned ignorance. “Who? Me? No, I would never call you that.”

Avery and Liam turned away trying not to laugh at the look Roman gave her.

Liam let out a cough as he regained his composure. “Alright, if we’re done with all that. Let’s try this direction.” He pointed to a dirt path that had wooden poles with Yooperlite stones on the tips.

“Looks promising,” Mercer stated. “Let’s give it a try.”

“Let’s get this adventure started!” Ariyana shouted with a fist in the air.