The battles in the Survival Test had also been extraordinarily painful for Alan, and he wanted to mitigate that pain as much as possible, as he couldn’t imagine willingly going through such torture again, especially in a state where each second that passed felt like minutes. Additionally, it would be useful in masking his true intentions and presence. With enough practice, he would be able to control his heart rate and other factors that might lead to his detection or give him away when he lied. At least, that was the idea.
For the Rogue class, he chose the Jack of All Trades path. The ability was what it sounded like. It would allow Alan to gain and train new skills and abilities more easily, and hopefully master them as well. The other options such as the Stealth or Assassination paths had more obvious, direct benefits, but Alan liked his choices. They gave him the greatest potential for growth.
His decision made, Alan spent the 500 ability points, opening up a series of additional abilities to unlock and train in. A few especially caught his attention. There was an ability in the Jack of All Trades path that would decrease the cost to purchase new abilities, but at the same time there was one that would allow him to learn faster. It would probably be better only getting one. There was another ability that would reveal available combinations of abilities or hidden requirements to unlock skills, but Alan felt like this would probably be a waste of Ability Points. He could find the information online, and combinations of skills should be fairly straightforward, right? The Enhanced Control ability tree, on the other hand, was depressingly sparse. It appeared that Alan hadn’t met any of the requirements for the abilities on this path yet.
Then, they got to the point Alan was the most excited about.
I’d like to browse the contents of the Vault.
Very well.
The Vault. A collection of items that the Administrators traded for marks, rumored to be the largest and most varied collection of weapons, armor and vehicles gathered in the Game. These items were rumored to come from a variety of sources. They were items dropped by players due to death penalties, items taken from chaotic players that broke the law, items developed by the Administrators and items bought by the Administrators. Each Administrative Center had its own vault, but the greatest and most expansive, where all the rarest items made their way, was here, in the Administrative Center at the center of Khersath. Alan needed a weapon, and he had one platinum mark, ten diamond and ten gold marks to spend.
Alan opened the list, and then sorted through the weapons in his price range. The weapons were surprisingly high-tiered, but considering his armor was worth 50k credits and a platinum mark was worth 100k, 200k if sold on the market rather than exchanged with the Administrators, it was no surprise that they were of such high quality.
Unfortunately, a lot of the weapons which were rank B or above also had a series of requirements, most of which Alan didn’t meet. He also didn't want to spend too much, but would need to spend money to make some. That seemed to be the story of the Game thus far.
Combing through page after page of results with Eve, but hurrying as he still had the task to complete, Alan finally settled on an item. The pistols themselves cost an entire platinum mark, and two diamond marks, while the rifle accessories cost three diamond marks, but Alan felt like it was a necessary investment. The Undercity didn’t sound like the kind of place he should go under-armed. He brought up the item descriptions:
Orion’s Cores (Rank B*):
Two powerful laser pistols with an enormous energy source capable of being transformed into a variety of weapons. Said to be the basic weapons of grunts in the Lords of Life’s army, these weapons eclipse most current technology. Accessories to Orion’s Cores may be dropped upon death, but the cores will not.
Estimated Damage/sec: 300-450
500 Energy, 1 Energy/shot, 50 Energy/min regen, 60 shots/min.
300/300 Durability each. Energy Ranged Weapons (Basic) required.
Dual Wielding: Ranged (Basic), Energy Efficiency (Basic) and Small Arms (Basic) recommend.
Orion’s Cores Rifle Attachment (Rank B+):
Combined with Orion’s Cores, forms a powerful laser rifle capable of firing astonishing bursts. Prone to overheat if fired for an extended amount of time.
Estimated Damage/sec 600-700
1000 Energy, 1 Energy/shot, 100 Energy/min regen, 400 shots/min.
Energy Efficiency (Basic), Energy Ranged Weapons (Intermediate) required.
Energy Efficiency (Intermediate) and Weapons Cooling mod recommended.
The fact that the Cores wouldn’t be dropped either was a big plus too, as Alan wasn’t sure how often he might die in the Game. If he really needed cash he could sell the weapons later.
Moments after Alan handed over the marks to the Administrator, the items popped out of a slot in the wall. Orion’s Cores were two sleek laser pistols made of a green-silver metal. They were completely devoid of any grooves or edges, simply curved weapons that appeared in a half-U shape. The rifle attachment was simply a larger U shaped weapon with two slots to put the Cores in. Thanking the Administrator for the help, Alan took an elevator back outside, ready to enter the Undercity.
Chapter 14
The entrance to the Undercity was nowhere to be found. Alan had rushed over to the position indicated by the quest in the plaza, only to find himself standing in the middle of nowhere. He was standing at the exact location the quest designated, but there was nothing here. Alan had inspected the ground, the peddlers and the players around him, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. No clear, obvious sign that said, “Entrance to deadly Undercity, right here!” Maybe there was a level requirement that he didn’t meet and thus couldn’t see the entrance….
Negative. The entrance is likely on a level below.
Of course. Khersath was a city-planet, and this was simply the top floor. There were hundreds of floors below him, with only the upper 100 or so actually being occupied safe zones. The Undercity, as the name suggested, would be below these safe upper levels.
All right, so how do I get to the lower levels?
Querying… All the space directly beneath the plaza is controlled by the Administrators. The Administrative Center that you see is but the tip of an even more gigantic structure. Most of the space is used as storage space for the Vault; there are likely many secret entrances to the lower levels of Khersath within, like the one indicated by the quest.
Back to the Administrative Center?
Affirmative.
Sighing, Alan ran back to the Administrative Center. This time he bypassed the line by going through a special entrance the Administrators told him about. Alan checked the time; the Black Rose Docking Bay at the outer edge of the plaza, in the private sector. That still meant it was around an hour’s run away, and Alan only had three and a half hours left. Quickly approaching the first Administrator he saw, Alan initiated a mental contact.
Hey, quick question, can I use your entrance to the Undercity?
Greetings Traveler, please remove your helmet for a proper ID. May I ask why you wish to enter the Undercity?
Um… Alan paused for a second, taking off his helmet. He wasn’t sure how much he was supposed to reveal about the task he was to complete. Well, I need to complete a task for a major guild as part of a trial to get in.
Querying database... Checking requirements... Unfortunately, Traveler, you do not meet the requirements to enter the Undercity through our gateway at this time, and I cannot make an allowance without someone authorizing your entrance. You have the necessary reputation and gear, but lack the minimum safety requirement of level 200. I apologize for the inconvenience.