Grid Warrior

By KC Martin

t is the year 2031 and computing is at a stage where players use reality suits in order to physically enter the gaming world. Paul Wilson and his brother Simon are research professors at Portsmouth University and gaming is not just their job, but their life. Their lives have been dedicated to creating this technology but when a transition between the real world and the gaming world for Paul goes disastrously wrong, their lives are changed forever, and a desperate fight for survival begins.

• Language: English
• Publisher: KC Martin
• Release date: Apr 29, 2022
• ISBN: 9798813491122

KC Martin

I am the proud Author of The Grid Warrior trilogy, The Agile Tester and SpiceTheWorld

Book preview

K C M a r t i n

G R I D W A R R I O R

Copyright © KC Martin (2017-22)

The right of KC Martin to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

Any person who commits any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

First Published (2017)

Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd.

2nd Edition (2022)

WiltshireBooks.com

ISBN: 9798813491122

CHAPTER 1

The sound of birds whistling in the trees and a wolf howling in the distance caused Paul Wilson to stir slowly into consciousness and after a few seconds hesitation he opened his eyes. Cautiously, he looked around to survey the strange surroundings.

He was currently lying under a bush next to a small body of water known as Crystal Lake. To his left was a small wooden shack and a wooden jetty. On the jetty a small child was fishing while two adults wandered around looking for people to purchase their goods.

The full awareness of where he was had now returned to his memory. For a couple of moments he stared at the small child in amazement. It was hard to believe the youngster had been standing in that same spot, fishing without ageing for just over forty years.

Paul then looked up towards the sky. Very little sunlight could break through the dense tree cover but what small gaps did exist revealed a bright, clear blue sky. Above the tree tops it was, no doubt, a warm sunny morning. Where he sat though, it was slightly dull and a little chilly.

Paul sat up gingerly and started to inspect his body for signs of injury or damage. The reason for this was because the previous night, before collapsing into sleep, he had been suffering extreme pain throughout his entire body. So bad had the agony been he had been barely able to walk or focus his sight, let alone explore these strange, alien surroundings.

At that time, he had barely been able to crawl under the large bush before violently vomiting and falling into a much needed and deep sleep.

Now the pain had gone, but he knew that if he or anyone else was going to undertake the journey he had completed the previous day again, then the method of transport would need serious reconsideration.

The fact of the matter was that the pain he had suffered had very nearly killed him, it could not happen again. The next time he knew, he would simply not survive the transition.

After a few moments of considering these facts, he turned back to the task at hand and checked his belongings.

The armour he had arrived in was still intact and in top condition. His specially designed collection of diamond studded double titanium armour was currently the best available in this world. Also, his two handed sword, known as Zalanda, was currently the best that money, combat or magic could buy. There was no other weapon currently available that could match it for strength, sharpness or magical properties and this is why Paul had chosen it. He was alone in a strange, alien land and needed all the advantages and protection he could find.

Next, he checked his storage bags for the rest of his equipment. He was relieved to find nothing had been lost during the transition into this domain and nothing had been from stolen from his storage bags while he was asleep. He was still well stocked with food, drinks, potions, bandages and numerous other items that might prove useful over the next few hours.

Relieved to now be feeling much better, in good shape and fully equipped, Paul tested his strength and rose to his feet in order to better survey his local surroundings.

After a slight wobble and feeling of giddiness, he found himself standing steadily with no discomfort.

To the south of him was the lake, and on the far bank he could see a small pack of wolves wandering around. There was little doubt they were on the hunt for food and so he decided to give them a wide berth for now. To the east was the small fishing shack and to the west was the village center.

The world that surrounded him looked so very authentic, the next question was how real did it actually feel? To find out, he bent down and touched the grass. It was slightly damp and felt very authentic and just like the grass he was used to touching back home. Next he walked to the closest tree and touched the trunk. Once again, the sensation was that of a perfectly normal solid tree. The bark felt real and peeled away to reveal what appeared to be living wood below. A warm breeze brushed his face and the sound of the wind was so authentic it was hard to believe this world he now stood in was not actually real.

OK, he then said quietly to himself, Let’s have a stroll around the lake and see what is going on.

Paul then set off on his saunter. The first thing he noticed was the abundance of small creatures, such as frogs, newts and toads that were evident. He had never fully appreciated the high level of detail the game provider had built into this world. Now, he did. Paul could not help but be very impressed.

As he wandered on he noticed that he was approaching a couple of mangy wolves. This could be interesting he thought to himself, although they were only level five creatures would they actually attack him as he approached them? Also, would their assault hurt him in any way?

Paul decided to find out in the name of good old- fashioned, honest research and so he continued walking towards them.

It was not until he was right on top of the wolves that they actually appeared to notice him. But when they did they both snarled savagely at him and revealed some very sharp looking teeth.

As the wolves barked and snarled at him Paul unsheathed his sword and waited to see if they would actually attack.

Suddenly they did attack but both animals were quickly dispatched into oblivion with minimal effort.

Paul then checked his sword, it was clean and undamaged. Pleased with this he sheathed the weapon and looked at the islands in the middle of the lake. He noticed they were inhabited by murlocs. These creatures were an amphibious and semi-intelligent race that was well known for their very aggressive nature. They were made up of bulbous bodies, large mouths lined with rows of sharp fangs, and slime-coated skin, in other words not very nice to look at, touch or smell.

Despite this he decided to have a closer look; the murlocs in this area were only level seven and therefore no real threat to him.

So Paul waded into the water and then swam to the closest island. As he emerged from the water he noticed that he was immediately dry and even though the water had felt wet and cold while he was actually in the lake he was now very warm and very dry again.

Nice, he thought to himself, this means I can enjoy a refreshing swim at any time.

As Paul wandered up to the closest murloc he could not help but notice the smell, it was like rotting fish. He retched for a moment and then backed away. The murloc then noticed him and so Paul killed the creature quickly before it had a chance to touch him and leave its disgusting odor on his armour. He then quickly washed his sword in the lake water before drying it on the grass.

Deciding that he did not want to get close to another murloc Paul then swam back to the shore and continued his walk around the lake.

As he approached the halfway point Paul noticed a level eight human female mage. Her name was Lucyspellbook and she was fighting five wolves. Paul also noticed she was losing the battle and therefore he decided to lend a helping hand.

With sword in hand he rushed towards the clash and the moment he was in range Paul started killing wolves with single strikes from his sword. It was no contest and within seconds the battle was over and won.

Paul turned to Lucyspellbook and said. Are you okay?

Yes, thank you very much for helping me out, replied Lucyspellbook.

No problem at all, replied Paul I was glad to help. Well I am pleased you did, said Lucyspellbook I was very nearly dead then, cannot wait until I am a high level like you are.

Keep plugging away Lucy and you will get there.

I know, thanks anyway, called Lucyspellbook as she ran off towards the village Bye for now.

Bye, replied Paul as he watched Lucyspellbook disappear into the bushes.

That was fun, he thought. Paul then continued his walk around the lake until he was just about three-quarters of the way through the journey. He glanced to the north. He seemed to remember there was a mine in that direction.

Could be worth a look, he decided.

As he approached the mine its name and location appeared in his mind. Jasperlode Mine as it was called was infested with level five kobold miners. These bad tempered creatures were quick to attack but with such a low level rating it did not take Paul long to dispatch eight of them as he approached the mine entrance.

Once inside the mine he was amazed to notice that he could actually sense the dustiness of the place. The sensory accuracy of this world was truly astounding to Paul.

The atmosphere here was quite dry and the smell of copper was also evident as well as the strange, musky smell of the kobold miners.

Killing a large number of miners with single blows Paul made his way deeper into the mine until he came face to face with a different creature.

The level nine mine spider was a large black arthropod with a nasty bite but a low rating level in comparison to Paul. They were no threat and killing them soon became a little mundane.

Within thirty minutes he had explored the entire mine so Paul strolled back to the lake and continued round until he reached the point where he had originally started.

Now feeling a bit more confident Paul decided it was time to walk into the village and have a good look around. Goldshire had changed very little over the past forty years. It was now a small village of eight buildings but the center was still the grand old inn known as the Lion’s Pride.

Because of the early hour the village was still fairly quiet. All of the usual inhabitants were present but only a few strangers were wondering around and none seemed to take any real notice of Paul.

This suited him for now. For this first journey into this alien world he simply wanted to prove the actual journey and return was in fact possible and then return home and analyse his findings before publishing a paper of his exploits which he hoped would astound the computer gaming world.

To further assist in his research he decided to enter the inn and try a few simple interactions with some of the longstanding locals.

First he walked up to the assistant innkeeper who was known as Melika and tried to touch her shoulder.

From Paul’s perspective the touch felt very real and the sensation was that of touching cotton clothing that was warmed by a living breathing body. He could also hear her breathing and noticed that she would occasionally blink.

This pleased Paul and proved that simple sensory interaction was possible.

Melika gave no indication that she could feel his touch but this Paul had expected. She had never interacted with anyone in the past. To prove the point he then brushed his hand on her face.

For him it felt like he was touching warm, soft living flesh. However from her there was once again no response of any kind at all.

Paul then tried one final test but first he looked around to make sure no one was watching him. Satisfied he was safe he then touched her breasts in an attempt to invoke a response, none was forthcoming even though they felt real enough to him.

Happy with the result Paul then wandered up to the bar and tried interacting with Barkeep Dobbins.

Paul immediately realised he could buy and sell with this person. He had entered this world with two hundred and fifty thousand gold pieces so purchasing anything was not a problem. All he had to do was talk to Dobbins and the barkeeper responded positively.

Feeling the need for alcohol Paul purchased a good supply of Mead and Bourbon. The supplies were passed to him and the payment was automatically deducted from his private account. Paul then slipped the supplies silently into his storage bags. These storage bags easily handled the extra goods and the added bulk offered no hindrance to his movement and did not appear to hold any weight.

So apart from the previous night’s pain, everything was going to plan, up to now. However, Paul knew that caution was still the order of the day, he knew his luck could change at any time.

He decided to venture further and ran up the stairs to the upper level. Upstairs the rooms were just as he remembered from his previous interactions in this world as a normal game player. The usual characters were present and he was able to interact with all of them. Suddenly feeling hungry and thirsty Paul decided to sit on one of the beds and enjoy his first breakfast in this strange, alien world.

From his storage bags he selected bread, ham and a bottle of Mead. This would be his first intake of food of any kind in this strange world so Paul was understandably a little nervous when he took his first small bite from the bread.

The consistency of the bread was just right and the taste was also fine. He chewed for a moment and then swallowed.

No problem there he thought to himself. Next he tried some of the meat and found the same favourable reaction. In fact Paul found the taste rather enjoyable. Back home the world’s ever growing population meant that fresh meat was now a luxury item that he could only afford two or three times a month. So strained were the world’s resources now that most food eaten by humans was mass produced from soya beans and quick growing, genetically modified vegetables. For Paul the taste of real fresh, organic meat and fresh bread was a real treat.

After a reasonably sized meal Paul started to feel full, he had never been a large eater as his small, slim frame indicated and he therefore turned his attention to the Mead.

The first swig confirmed the taste was good and the alcoholic beverage brought on a warm feeling in his stomach. Paul was not a large drinker of alcohol but he had always enjoyed the taste of real mead. Like so many natural resources on planet earth honey was in great demand and often in short supply. As a result mead was not always available but here in this world there did seem to be plenty of it.

Might stay here forever, he joked to himself. Paul then smiled to himself, at least he would not starve in this world and he could always get drunk in style.

Four swigs later he also realised it was indeed very possible to get drunk in this world. Now feeling very tipsy and also very vulnerable, he decided to put the Mead away, he knew it would be foolish to get completely drunk and legless on his first visit to this world. There were too many unknowns and too many risks involved. He realised that he would be very vulnerable to attack, theft and other undesirable actions.

Paul now decided