NOVEL WEB Chapter 4: Getting Loosey Goosey
Chapter 4
Oskar focused on the “Yes” regarding weapon rarities, mentally chasing it around for a few seconds until it finally allowed him to select it. He wondered if the Personal Unit Bracer, or PUB, was tired of fighting him or simply gave in. It wasn't that he cared about weapon rarities more than learning about whatever a Wayspring Wanderer was, quite the opposite really, but he had a feeling that giving in to the whims of the PUB interface would set a frustrating precedence.
// Alright, we got a tough guy. You’re lucky I’m weak now. Just wait. //
Who, or rather, what, was talking with him? Without a doubt, it was intended for him, whatever it was. The PUB interface was a far cry from any technology he’d ever used before, but it seemed to have… personality. Too much personality.
A brief display of information popped up, but was flickering, as if expressing its reluctance to Oskar choosing the boring option, but it showed the color codes representing each rarity with a correspondingly colorful explanation. These rarities would present as a colored outline if Oskar focused on an object for the purpose of gleaning that information.
How the Goggles or PUB knew his intent was not only curious, but worrisome to Oskar. Was this thing reading his mind somehow? He focused on the information, and it was mostly self-explanatory for anyone who’d ever played a looter shooter or RPG. Due to the name, though, he suspected the Bracer contained or enveloped the thing talking to him, and was utilizing the Goggles as a mutual interface, but he also suspected he wouldn't get a straight answer if he asked.
// Gray-Grey: *sad trombone* This is vendor trash. Sell it for some cold, hard water. Just kidding, ice is a myth.
Super Green: Eh, better than Gray. Not gonna make a joke here. Chris Tucker is a personal friend of mine. //
“What the h-“
// Quiet, children might read this. //
“Read what?! Hold on a second!”
// Nope, no time. Zima Blue: As good as the simple pleasure from the execution of a task well done.
Deep Purple: Better than a musical reference!
Uh.. Cool Orange?: Seriously good stuff. I hear it’s the new black. //
The next explanation tempered somewhat his excitement about having a divine rarity weapon.
// Sparky Gold: An outline of gold with sparks shooting around the border means it’s divine… Now we’re getting to the good stuff. Well, sometimes more weird than good, but always interesting, which is all I care about. They always come with a catch! *sadder trombone* Yeah, you’re gonna pay for this item… //
Oskar glanced nervously at his spear. After a moment and a mental prompt, a gold outline again traced the edges of the spear all the way around once, lightning flickering down the weapon, giving it an impressive visage before the outline faded, leaving a mundane looking wooden spear.
Hmm, I guess it is Sparky Gold.
// Ok, here’s the stuff I am obligated to tell you. //
“What I want to know is how you’re referencing stuff from my world,” Oskar asked, not amused by the PUB in the least. “Do you have access to my memories?”
// Look, I don’t have forever, here. There are rules. Now here’s the blah blah blah: Weapon rarity has an effect on durability and damage modifiers. I mean, a stab is a stab, but if you have something super durable, it can survive being much sharper without the tip bending or breaking. As a general rule, each increase in rarity adds around a 10% improvement with the exception of a divine rarity weapon, which has its own rules.
A divine quality weapon is only considered equivalent to legendary or greater when used for its created purpose. A divine weapon is a gift from a divine being, given with conditions and limitations. Stay in the good graces of that divine being, and the rules get a little loosey goosey. These conditions and limitations can be in the form of a quest, class, world event or Gambit, but in all other cases outside its created purpose, the weapon is initially considered uncommon.
This particular weapon, at the moment, is just incredibly durable. It’s made of wood from the Great Tree. I mean, it’s sharp, too, but that’s not what makes it special. What makes it special, you ask? Not sure yet. //
“What is the purpose of the spear? The Divine purpose?”
// I’m artificial intelligence, dude, not a god. No idea. Anyway, once the wielder of a divine weapon completes certain conditions of its created purpose, they will gain additional benefits, and the divine weapon will grow in power and utility. Also, you don’t have to talk out loud. You look dumb.
Also, I would recommend you work on mastering the forms. I can show them to you, but you’re gonna have to work pretty hard to master them. Also, as this weapon is divine only to the chosen wielder, others will often see the weapon as mundane or common. The little-known exception to this rule is if you tell someone the truth, they can see its rarity, but if they don’t believe you, they’ll still see the weapon as mundane… just like you, ha! //
It seemed to pause as if waiting for a reaction, but Oskar ignored it as he considered the information.
// Are you seriously reading this droll? I just burned you so good, and your eyes are glazed over like a star-struck tween on the ride home from her first Elvis concert. Do you not have anything else to do rather than stand in the heat and read about rarities? I need a nap. //
Feeling judged, he closed the rarities menu and tried to make sense of everything he’d just learned.
His brows furrowed as he considered the implications. Tortured nightmares of his brother pulled him to this strange world, where he was given a strange weapon without explanation and given a druid class, like a freaking video game, in a desert whose size he couldn’t even fathom. A druid. In a desert. A freakin’ desert druid. To top it off, his PUB interface was trying its best to bully him.
Oskar tended to be a glutton for punishment in MMOs, or Massively Multiplayer Online games. He loved choosing underutilized classes that were based on utility, particularly classes that were overwhelmingly strong in highly specific scenarios but were usually weaker in other circumstances. He didn’t know why he gravitated towards such roles in games.
It was a running joke among his small group of friends he’d occasionally gamed with before he’d retreated from everyone. He’d even played classes that were considered unplayable… but even he would not have played a druid… in a desert, especially one with no spells, or at least none he’d seen. That’s just dumb.
He blinked and pulled up the information on his druid class. Despite the PUB’s excitement, which was denoted by a seemingly happy, subtle blue flicker around the edges of his vision. The information was limited, but had several sub-menus, all but one of which was grayed out.
The menus were titled: Affinities, Gambits, and Abilities and Spells, along with another that remained in its original strange language of symbols. It was, of course, grayed out as well. This was all very frustrating. The only menu outside of the generalized class description was entitled Companions.
Spells?! Like actual magic? And companions? I’m almost afraid to see what kind of creature could survive in this kind of world.
This wasn’t a game, and making poor choices here would get him killed. There were times, these last few months, where he’d have been borderline apathetic to that kind of threat, but now he had a brother to save and a brand new world to try to stay alive in.