Somerset Read online

  SOMERSET

  The rules

  Book one

  Aaron oster

  Acknowledgments

  I’d like to offer a special thanks to the following people, without whom this book would not be nearly as spectacular.

  My amazing editor who shall not be named.

  The coolest narrator ever: Doug Tisdale Jr.

  My awesome alpha readers: Cameron and Jon. You guys are the bomb!

  And lastly, to all of my fans: You are the Superest of Super-People!

  For Granny and Gramps. For buying my books, even if you’ll never read a single one.

  1

  Sam slowly cracked his eyes open, and immediately shut them against the bright, fluorescent light shining right into them. He groaned, feeling the pounding in his head intensify for a brief instant, before receding back to a dull, throbbing ache.

  What the hell happened last night, he thought to himself, attempting to open his eyes once again.

  He groaned in protest as the fluorescent lights shone into his eyes once more, piercing into his brain and making him wince.

  Maybe drinking an entire cup of vodka on that stupid dare hadn’t been such a great idea.

  He rolled to the side and tried opening his eyes once more, only to once again be greeted by the bright light.

  “Alright Greg, you can stop now. This isn’t funny, man!” Sam groaned, putting his hand up in front of his eyes in a feeble attempt to block it out.

  When the light didn’t stop shining however, he started to become annoyed.

  “Look, man, I’ve got a wicked hangover and this shit ain’t funny anymore. Now get that damn light out of my face, or I’ll seriously fuck you up!”

  This was, of course, an idle threat. Greg had a full ride at Penn State and was on track to become a pro boxer. Sam had as much chance of beating him up as a five-year-old had against him. The light still did not move however, despite Sam’s very intimidating threat of physical violence. So, letting out an explosive string of curses that would have made even his mother cringe, he forced his eyes open.

  Slowly, the world came into focus, and blurry outlines formed into recognizable shapes. Sam could now see that it hadn’t been an overhead light that was blinding him, but rather, a floating blue screen hovering in front of his face. The letters swam before his eyes for a few moments, before his vision finally focused enough for him to read it.

  WELCOME TO SOMERSET

  A land of mystery and magic! You have been chosen by our Illustrious Overlord to take part in The Rules, a no holds barred death-match, to see who among you is the most powerful.

  You have been transported here against your will. The only way back is to reach level 100 and defeat the final boss.

  Please do be careful with your life, as it is the only one you’ll get.

  Have a pleasant match and remember, we’re always watching…

  Sam stared at the box of text for a few more moments, having a hard time understanding what was going on, then, the box abruptly vanished, leaving him staring up at a cloudless, blue sky.

  “What the actual fuck!” He yelled, jumping to his feet and groaning as the sudden movement made his head swim.

  How the hell had he gotten outside?

  He quickly scanned his surroundings, noting that he was in a wide-open field of swaying grass. He could see a distant tree line to the south - or at least he thought it was south - but other than that, it was just grass for miles around.

  “Goddammit, Greg!” Sam yelled as his mind came to the only rational conclusion it could.

  Greg had gotten him piss drunk, then driven him out into the middle of this field and left him here! The smug bastard was probably sitting back in his room, laughing with his other buddies at his predicament right now.

  Then, someone with a very proper sounding voice, carrying just a hint of a European accent, spoke up.

  “I do not know who this Greg fellow is, but I can assure you that he had nothing to do with this.”

  Sam’s head whipped around at the sound of that voice, his eyes scanning frantically over the surrounding grassland, but not spotting anything to suggest there might be someone nearby. He placed a hand to his forehead, wondering if he might just be losing it, when the voice spoke yet again, this time carrying just a hint of exasperation.

  “Down here! I swear you humans have the brain capacity of a squirrel sometimes.”

  Sam lowered his gaze, and his eyes finally came to rest on a medium-sized black and brown dog. Its color and size matched that of a Shepherd, but it had fur and facial features more akin to that of a Collie.

  Never seen a dog like that before, Sam thought.

  The dog, for its part, was sitting neatly on its haunches and staring up at him in amusement.

  Then, the fact that the dog had spoken to him, hit Sam like a freight train.

  “Oh no! I must be tripping!” Sam groaned, reaching up and clutching at his head again.

  “I know that Greg had some shrooms at that party last night, but I’m sure that I didn’t touch them. That sneaky bastard must have slipped some into my food when I wasn’t looking!”

  Sam sat down, and began rocking back and forth, looking wildly around for any gigantic pink elephants that may have decided to go out for an early morning stroll.

  “I can assure you that I am quite real and that you are not, as you say, tripping.” The dog said again, still looking at him with that same amused expression.

  “Well then, what other explanation can you offer Sparky?” Sam asked, cracking a smile of his own.

  Oh crap, he was talking to his hallucinations now. He really hoped he wasn’t back in his room right now. He could imagine Greg standing over him, recording this whole thing so he could use it against him for the next year!

  “First of all, my name is Gordon, not Sparky!” The dog said with a huff, “and secondly…”

  “Ow!” Sam yelled, as a small pebble whizzed through the air and struck him on the forehead.

  “What the hell was that for, you dumb mutt?!” he exclaimed, rubbing at the spot where the stone had impacted.

  “That,” Gordon said, padding over to sit right before him, “was to prove that this place is as real as your world. If you can feel pain, you are very obviously, awake.”

  Sam stared at the dog for a few seconds, eyes going wide. Then he pulled his fist back and punched himself in the face. Hard.

  “Mother fucker!” He yelled, rolling on the ground, eyes streaming as blood ran from his nose.

  It didn’t escape his notice, even though the blinding pain, that a message had popped into his field of vision as soon as his fist made contact.

  You Deal: -3 Damage to yourself (Blunt).

  “Oh dear, it would appear that I have been saddled with an absolute moron,” Gordon said, shaking his head sadly.

  “Don’t talk down to me, dog!” Sam yelled, sitting up slowly and pinching his nose.

  This couldn’t be happening! It just couldn’t! Messages didn’t float in the air, and dogs didn’t talk. This was all just a dream. Right?

  Sam was snapped from his downward spiral into madness when the dog spoke up yet again.

  “You do realize that you do not need to do that, correct? If you have not noticed, the bleeding debuff should already have worn off.”

  Sam didn’t understand half of what the dog said, but when he let go of his nose, the bleeding had indeed stopped. He was, once again, completely shocked. Feeling at his whole and undamaged nose, Sam couldn’t understand how this was possible.

  If this wasn’t a horrible trip, could that floating blue box have been right?

  “Alright dog, where the hell am I, and how do I leave?”

  Gordon’s ears stiffened at that and he turned his nose up a
t him.

  “I have a name you know! Address me as Gordon, or not at all you primeval simian!”

  Sam wasn’t entirely sure what the dog had just called him, but he was pretty sure it had been an insult.

  “Fine you pompous mutt, I’ll call you by your damn name, if you tell me how to leave!”

  “Did you not read the welcome message?” Gordon asked with a sigh. “You cannot leave until you have reached level 100 , and defeated the final boss. Can you not read, simian?”

  “Quit calling me a simian!” Sam yelled, feeling his very limited patience severely straining with this unhelpful and insulting dog.

  “I will, just as soon as you stop calling me mutt,” the dog replied in kind.

  Sam let out an explosive breath, then took a few moments to calm himself.

  “Fine. Gordon. Can you please tell me where I am, and how to get home?” Sam tried once again.

  “Yes, Sam. You are in Somerset, a world of mystery and magic, and as I stated previously, you can only go home by reaching level 100, and defeating the final boss.”

  Sam’s face turned a deep shade of red, and he let out another explosive string of curses.

  So, he was trapped in some unknown world, his only company was a talking dog, and the only way home was to reach level 100. Whatever the hell that meant.

  “Who exactly is the final boss, and how do I reach level 100 ?” Sam asked.

  “An excellent question!” Gordon replied, his tail beginning to wag. “The final boss is our illustrious Overlord. You can reach level 100 by completing quests, fighting challenging opponents or doing a dungeon dive!”

  “Great, so we’re in a video game then?” Sam asked.

  Though he’d never actually been a gamer, Sam had been an avid reader, or more precisely, listener, of fantasy novels. Audiobooks were very popular, and who the hell had the time to read in this day and age? He must have listened to hundreds of books about people getting stuck in video games, though he’d always imagined that if it happened to him, it would be as a jacked warrior, not as… well, himself.

  He wasn’t bad looking. Standing at just over five feet, nine inches tall, he had longish sandy-blond hair, light gray eyes, and a clear complexion. His skin was lightly tanned, and he had a small amount of lean muscle on his skinny frame, but he was nothing remarkable. He’d only ever kissed a few girls, and at nineteen years old, was still a virgin.

  Not that he’d ever admit that to his friends.

  “It is sort of like your Earth video games, but with a few… shall we say… twists.” Gordon said, his large canine teeth showing in an approximation of a smile.

  “Like what?” Sam asked, now feeling distinctly uneasy.

  “Well for one, there are no, as you Earth people say, respawns. If you die, that is it. Game over.”

  Sam audibly gulped when he heard that.

  So not only did he have to level up while fighting dangerous monsters, but he had to do so with the knowledge that if he died, it would be permanent.

  “You mentioned some other differences?” Sam hedged, noting that his voice was pitched just a bit higher than it normally was.

  “Ah, yes. Take a look at this.”

  Gordon then waved a paw, and a new translucent screen flashed before his eyes.

  THE RULES

  Each day a new rule will appear in your character status. The rules can be as simple as not dying, or as severe as taking on a boss monster 30 levels above your own. Failure to follow these rules will incur a severe penalty.

  Sam quickly read over the message, the screen disappearing almost as soon as he was finished.

  “Wait! So if I don’t follow the rules, I’ll die?!” Sam asked, feeling his heart rate increasing at a rapid pace.

  “Though it is a possibility, I do not think you will die if you break a rule. You will, however, very much regret doing so.”

  Sam blew out a long breath, leaning back on his palms and staring up at the cloudless, blue sky above. A light breeze blew over him, tickling his skin and setting the long grass swaying with a loud rustling sound.

  It was nice out, probably around 70 degrees Fahrenheit and with the sun warming his face, he could already feel his headache receding.

  So, he was trapped in a videogame-like world, and the only way out was to kill some douchebag Overlord... That sounded like more fun then he’d had in his entire life!

  “Alright,” he said, finally beginning to accept that this might actually be real. “Where do we begin?”

  2

  “Well, we can begin by reviewing your character status,” Gordon said, his tail now wagging back and forth in excitement.

  “Right. Character status…” Sam said. “How exactly would I access that?”

  “Simply think the word status, and it should pop right up,” Gordon replied.

  Sam shrugged to himself and repeated the word in his mind. As soon as he though the word ‘status,’ a new blue screen flashed before his eyes, this time, with all the relevant information on his character in this new world.

  CHARACTER STATUS

  Name: Sam Race: Human Level: 1

  XP: 0/100

  Class: None HP: 60/60 (Regen 0.6 Per Second) MP: 130/130 (Regen 1.2 Per Second) STA: 40/40 (Regen 0.4 Per Second)

  ATTRIBUTES

  Strength: 5

  Constitution: 6

  Agility: 5

  Endurance: 4

  Intelligence: 13

  Wisdom: 12

  Charisma: 10

  Luck: 8

  ABILITIES

  Mana Shot: Novice LV - 1 (0%) Mana Burn: Novice LV - 1 (0%)

  EQUIPPED ITEMS

  Clothing Wool Shirt Wool Pants Leather Boots Other Items Knobby Stick

  RULE OF THE DAY

  Do not kill any bunnies or bunny-like creatures

  Sam stared at the rule of the day in stunned amazement.

  What the hell kind of rule was that? Don’t kill any bunnies?! Was this some kind of sick joke?

  He decided to skip over that for now, and focused instead on more important things, like understanding his character status.

  He mentally clicked on the Race tab, wondering if there were indeed other races here.

  HUMAN

  Humans are one of the most common races in Somerset and have no bonuses to any of their attributes. Humans receive 5 attribute points to distribute per level.

  So, he thought to himself, there were other races in Somerset, but humans were among the more common. He closed the Race tab and tried selecting level . Nothing happened. He tried selecting his XP tab, but again, nothing happened. He was about to pitch another fit, when, at last, the next tab opened.

  CLASS OPTIONS

  Once you reach level 10, you may assign yourself a class. There are only 5 main classes in Somerset, and once chosen, cannot be undone. Once assigned, you will gain bonuses each time you level, based on your chosen class.

  Warrior: +1 Strength & Constitution Per Level Mage: +1 Intelligence & Wisdom Per Level Archer: +2 Stamina Per Level Rogue: +2 Agility Per Level Priest: +1 Intelligence & Charisma Per Level Each class is divided up in sub-classes, which will become available to you at level 18.

  So, there was a distinct advantage to having a class, Sam mused, in addition to the 5 attribute points he’d receive, he would also get 2 additional points based on the class he chose.

  He discounted Warrior, Rogue, and Archer , right off the bat. His physical based attributes were crap, meaning that he would be much better off playing either a Mage or Priest. He couldn’t really decide which sounded better at the moment but decided that he would have plenty of time to make a choice before he reached level 10.

  He closed the Class tab and moved on to his Attributes.

  ATTRIBUTES

  Strength: Determines the power of physical based attacks and carrying capacity.

  Constitution: Determines your health, and resistance to damage from physical based attacks.

  Agility: Determines speed a
nd dexterity.

  Endurance: Determines your stamina, as well as stamina regen.

  Intelligence: Determines total mana, and power of magic based attacks.

  Wisdom: Determines mana regen, and resistance to magic based attacks.

  Charisma: Determines social interaction, as well as how attractive you are to others.

  Luck: Determines how lucky you are.

  Sam wasn’t sure what the average was, but he was fairly confident that his earlier assessment of his physical based attributes was correct.

  In a word, they sucked.

  He was surprised at his seemingly high Intelligence and Wisdom . He didn’t feel especially smart or wise, but seeing as the attributes had been explained as magic-based, it probably had nothing to do with actual intelligence.

  What did surprise him, however, was his Charisma. This attribute seemed pretty straightforward. It would help when it came to dealing with other people. He’d never been the best with people, so he wasn’t really sure where this attribute came from.

  So far, it seemed that his attributes matched pretty closely with his life back on Earth, but the high Charisma just didn’t match up.

  The only thing he didn’t understand was Luck. What the hell did it actually do? He let out a long sigh and closed the tab, deciding that it was a question for another day. He did want to confirm his earlier thoughts though, so closing his screen for a second, he turned his attention back to the dog.

  “When I checked out the class options, I was given the choice to choose any class right?” he asked.

  “Correct,” was the dog’s reply.

  “Then tell me, why in the hell are my attributes so skewed? It’s like I’m being forced to do what this damn Overlord wants me to!”