Dungeon Master (Karma System)

Dirk was the last in line, and it was finally his turn. The 3 others had already been led away. He stepped up to the counter and the automaton spoke to him.

”Do you have an appointment?” It asked.

”No.” He said shaking his head.

”Class?”

”Archer.”

”This is the basic class trainer hall. We only cater to the standard classes. Our rogue trainer is available if you would like to pay for his services.”

Dirk nodded and placed the voucher for the free session on the table. He had seen Rod and Silvia do the same while Lana paid for her session.

The automaton picked up the voucher and scanned it to ensure it wasn’t a fake.

”This voucher entitles you to a session where you will learn the requirements to a basic rogue skill.”

Dirk nodded and reached into his pocket. He touched the gold his young master had given him. He felt a little awkward about using it, but Rod hadn’t let him protest.

His young Master informed him that he wanted his skills to improve so they could continue to adventure together. He understood his intentions, it was just that the gold he had given him was more than he would earn in a months’ worth of work.

”I would also like to buy a session for a second rouge skill.”

”That will be 5 gold or 50 Dungeon dollars.”

Dirk nodded and placed the coins on the counter. The dungeon dollars had been a bit of a surprise. But it was understandable since dungeon coins were worth 10 bronze pieces. It made sense to have higher currency. 1,000 bronze pieces or 10 silver pieces equaled a dungeon dollar.

When the machine took the money she provided him with a list. ”These are the skills available. Your voucher entitles you to the most basic rouge skill ’stealth’. For your second skill you can choose from the list.”

Dirk looked it over. There were a dozen skills on the piece of parchment. He had heard of some, but the others he wasn’t familiar with.

”What do you suggest?”

”I suggest asking your class trainer as they will have more knowledge on the subject.” The machine replied in a mechanical tone. ”Please follow me.”

Dirk nodded, it made sense.

As the automaton moved out from behind the counter, another exited the back room and took its place. The machine led him down a hallway to a door labeled Rouge.

At her insistence, he entered.

Dirk found himself in an open training room. Unlike the outside of the building, this room had been built entirely from stone. A cloaked figure leaned against the far wall.

”You the client?” Came a raspy voice.

The archer gathered his courage and stepped forward. ”I am Dirk. A level 8 archer. I have come to learn 2 skills.”

”Mmm, good. Straight to the point. I like that.”

The cloaked figure gracefully moved towards him. Dirk noticed that the figure didn’t make as sound as the distance between them closed.

The cloaked figure flickered for a moment. Dirk realized the receipt he held in his hand was now in the figures grasp.

”Hmm, 2 skills. Stealth and a basic skill. What do you want to learn for your second skill?” The figure croaked.

Dirk swallowed. ”I am only familiar with a few of the skills on the list. What do you suggest?”

The cloaked rouge looked up at him. Dirk noticed two small blue flames where the man’s eyes should be peering out from darkness under his hood. It unnerved Dirk. He felt as if those lights were staring into his soul.

”Smart. It’s better to get advice when you are unaware.” The cloaked figure said. ”Now let’s see. For an archer, ’Nimble Feet’, ’Quick Reflexes’, and ’Escape’ would be most useful. Do you know these?”

”I have heard of Quick Reflexes.” Dirk responded.

”Yes, like the name suggest it lets you respond quickly. It is a passive skill. Good for countering ambushes and correcting errors. It’s an all-around skill that you will find to be useful while adventuring.”

”Escape is a disengaging skill. It lets you create space between yourself and an opponent. You will be able to leap back 5 meters. Good for an archer if someone gets too close and good if you need to run away.”

”Nimble Feet, another passive. Improves your balance and speed. Fairly useful. It will make it easier for you to reach certain places in difficult terrain and will make it harder for you to get knocked off your feet.”

Dirk was intrigued. All 3 sounded good. Escape was an actual skill and both passives would give him an overall improvement.

The figure looked him up and down again. ”The choice is yours, but I would suggest Nimble Feet if you want improvements to show in a short amount of time. Both Nimble Feet and Stealth can be trained together.”

The archer could see how that would be a wise decision.

”I will listen to teacher.” Dirk said.

”Ha, ha, good.” The cloaked figure said while letting out a raspy laugh. ”Let’s get to work.” The rouge trainer said while raising gloved hands and pulling back his hood.

Dirk almost ran in panic. If he hadn’t already had so many surprises today, he may have done just that.

A white skull was the only thing beneath the hood. The blue soulfire in his head made his eyes look like dancing flames.

”Good.” The rouge said when he saw Dirk quickly control himself. ”It is important to stay calm under pressure. Now tell me. What arrows are the most important to an archer?”

Dirk thought about it. He had heard of all sort of enchanted arrows but he had never used them. He didn’t know what would be the most important to always have. ”I don’t know teacher.”

The undead skeleton nodded. ”Your first and last arrows are the most important. As an archer, it is likely that you will be the first to attack in a fight. It should be an arrow that seems to come from nowhere and keeps the enemy guessing. When they are unaware and ripe for the picking, your first arrow is a precision strike that should inflict the most damage possible. Your last arrow either ends the fight or results in your death.”

Dirk thought about it and agreed.

”That is why I am teaching you Stealth. It will help you have the best chance to unleash the most devastating first arrow. Stealth lets you enter invisibility when you are out of combat. Your speed will be restricted to half of your maximum. If you bump into other, use objects or attack you will be knocked out of Stealth. But it is enough to get you into position to take your first shot.”

Dirks was having difficulty not bouncing in excitement. He hadn’t realized he would have the chance to turn invisible.

”Calm down. It is easy to train in Stealth, but it isn’t quick. You will need to spend 10,000 minutes traveling through crowded areas while remaining unseen. You are lucky that during the day, outside of mealtimes, the village is fairly busy. You can work on traveling around undiscovered. To make actual progress with this skill, you need to keep moving, you can’t just hide.”

Dirk was shocked when a notification appeared on his system.

[Stealth progress: 78/10,000 minutes]

He was surprised that he had already moved around unseen. But it made a bit of sense. There were several times that he followed his Young Master from the shadows and kept an eye on him.

”Nimble Feet focuses on both speed and balance. You will need to travel 10 kilometers on uneven and difficult to balance on surfaces.”

[Nimble Feet progress: .1/10 Kilometers]

”The reason I suggested Nimble feet is that you can travel over the crates in the alleys, improve your climbing and also use the rooftops. If you do it right, you can work on both skills at the same time.”

Dirk nodded with a smile, he was ready to get started.

”Now show me how you walk so I can help you move silently. Then I will give you some tips and tricks. The rest is up to you. You can only get the skills if you put in the hard work.”

”I am ready teacher.”