Light Online Book Three: Leader

by Tom Larcombe

  Eddie realized that he really didn't have anything to do here, unless he wanted to pitch in and actually help build. He considered that for a long moment, then decided on something else. He tracked down Griff and waited for the man to pause in his building efforts.

  “Hey Griff, come on over here, would you?”

  The older man came over.

  “What is it Eddie?”

  “You got your carpentry over a five already, right?”

  Griff nodded.

  “I've got another job for you, if you want it. The houses are important, but it looks like those are under control even with both of us absent.

  Griff glanced over.

  “Yeah, it goes a little quicker with me there, but my helpers all have at least one point in carpentry so they can keep going on their own. What did you need?”

  “I want to get a marketplace set up. I don't expect it to be used a lot yet, but within the month I think it would be worth having it set up and ready to go. People can sell their produce, meats, or whatever they make, and maybe they'll be able to get some coin circulating. Increase the financial health of this place, you know what I mean?”

  “Well, most of them don't have much in the way of coin, but they could barter too,” Griff said.

  “Exactly. I'd like to get a place set up for all of that to occur, keep it central to everything so it's easy for everyone to get to, and maintain a little control over it. I'll rent out the booths, but for really cheap at the start at least.”

  “And you need me to....” Griff said, trailing off and staring at Eddie.

  “This is a blueprint of a vendor stall. With a roof and poles so we can provide shade in front of them once we have the cloth or leather to make an awning with.”

  Eddie held out the blueprint.

  “I'd like you to build, say, twenty of these things in an area I'll show you. Make a regular little market for people to use. What do you say?”

  “It's a great idea, but you want me to do it? I know you've got a better carpentry skill than I do. Why not you?”

  “I've got other things I need to be doing. I will pay you, but I figure I can hire you to do it for a lot cheaper than Paul would cost me. The blueprints are simple and I know you can handle the work and that you work well. So, what do you say?”

  “Done. What's the pay?”

  “Say, you do the whole thing, I supply the planks, and I pay you an extra gold when you're done. Beyond the normal wages I'm paying you. That work?”

  Griff's eyes lit up at the mention of gold.

  “I'm your man, Eddie sir.”

  Eddie's next stop was the temple. Much like himself, at this point, Tiana was surplus to needs. Her acolytes could handle any minor wounds that came in and the only major ones recently had been when the goblins attacked, which they'd known about due to Freyja's bell.

  “Tiana, want to take a stroll with me?” Eddie asked.

  “Sure, where and why? You never just walk somewhere for the sake of walking.”

  “Rat Woods. Not really into it, at least not as deep into it as the rat nests are. I was noticing that the trees up there are a different type and I think they might be good for arrows. Once I can make arrows, I can try Conjunction to add an Arc spell to all my arrows as I make them. So, needless to say, I'm pretty eager to see if I'm right.”

  “Sure, I'll do that. Between you, me, and Lucky I don't think we'll have any problems.”

  “Have you seen her?” Eddie asked.

  Tiana chuckled.

  “Where do you think she is?”

  Eddie sighed.

  “The fountain again?”

  Tiana nodded and the two of them went out back of the temple to get Lucky's attention.

  It only took a half hour or so to get to the Rat Woods. Eddie turned to look at his boat, The Leisure, as they passed it. The boat and spear had gone as a pair since they were linked. No-one else had really had much of a use for it, besides potential recreation. Eddie, on the other hand, had decided that having larger quantities of fresh fish than he could pull out of his pond would be a good business decision. So the party had voted and told him to take it.

  The Leisure was currently tied off to a stake near where Paul was working on Becky's bridge. Eddie had convinced Paul to put in a small dock right beside the bridge as a return favor for the fact that he was still constantly borrowing Eddie's ox and cart to haul lumber to his work sites.

  The Rat Woods were only another five minutes or so beyond that point. They stopped when they got to the first of the trees Eddie was interested in, only for him to decide that the branches on that one were too dry. He had to get into the shade of the woods and harvest some from where they got less sun.

  Lucky prowled around while Tiana kept watch, but the only rats they saw were the two Lucky brought back. When Eddie didn't pick them up after the bobcat dropped them at his feet, she went ahead and gobbled them down, then laid down between Eddie and Tiana.

  Eddie harvested about twenty branches. If he was right, he could come back and get more whenever he wanted, but now he had enough to experiment with them a little bit. His Bowyer/Fletcher skill wasn't exactly outstanding, even with his bonus from his carpentry skill, so there was a good chance he'd end up wasting some of the branches also.

  The walk back was peaceful, if you didn't count Lucky pouncing on Eddie several times, trying to get him to play. Finally, Eddie apologized to Tiana for the delay, then dropped into a crouch the next time Lucky pounced. He caught the cat in mid-spring, sort of. He still went over backwards from her weight, but quickly rolled.

  Lucky was very good about keeping her claws in while they wrestled. Even so Eddie was a little bit beat-up and sore by the time they finished. But after that, Lucky was happy enough to either just follow along, or dart off into the underbrush, occasionally coming back with a bunny. Those Eddie did put into his inventory when Lucky dropped them at his feet.

  Once they got back to the temple, Tiana stayed there while Eddie returned to the inn. Lucky had run out back to the fountain and was playing her little slapping at the koi game when Eddie was ready to leave. With one last slap on the water, Lucky turned and followed him.

  Eddie settled in at a bench he'd built and placed near the pond. As he started to work the wood he'd gathered, Lucky went fishing for real. Eddie spent a few minutes watching her and was absolutely positive that she was just playing with the koi after he saw her scoop a fish from the water to the bank with her paw, then bite down on it before it could flop back into the water. The motion was entirely different from what she did at the koi pond.

  He settled in to try to make some arrow shafts.

  And maybe a bit of an extra surprise too, he thought.

  The wood was good for the task, but his inexperience ruined the first shaft. The second one came out usable, barely, and he was happy to see his notification light start to flash.

  You have upgraded the skill Bowyer/Fletcher to (3). Stick and stones may break their bones, but arrows can pierce their hearts. If you aim well enough.

  Eddie practically groaned. It had been a while since he'd been treated to a helping of the system's snark, which told him he hadn't been grinding his skills enough, not that he'd had that much of a chance with everything else he was doing. His increases in carpentry hadn't gained him any snark, but now he thought he was probably back to doing something useful to his character development.

  He kept working on his arrow shafts, gaining another point in Bowyer/Fletcher before he finished with them. He'd ruined three of the shafts, but that meant he had another seventeen that he'd been successful with.

  And, like the flatbread Conjunction, I think I have to put the Conjunction in when it becomes the finished product. So...

  He took out several broadhead arrowheads that he'd had in his inventory. As he placed the arrowhead in place and secured it, he focused on using his Conjunction ability to infuse the arrow with an Arc spell he cast just as he put the arrowhead in place.
r />   He held everything in position as he felt the lightheadedness he associated with a large outflow of mana. When his head cleared, he was halfway off the bench, about to fall on the ground.

  You have upgraded the skill/spell Conjunction to (5). Feel the burn! Mana burn that is. You really do want to feel it, don't you?

  He pulled himself up and examined the arrow he'd created. There was a rune on it now, one that started on the head and extended to the shaft. It looked like a little lightning bolt.

  A moment with his in-game browser told him what it was, the rune Sowilo. One of its meanings was lightning, so he was pretty sure he'd managed it. Just to be sure he Evaluated the arrow.

  Evaluate, he thought.

  Arrow (broadhead-barbed)

  Weapon (Missile)

  Attack: 18

  Dmg: 5-30

  Crit: 20%

  +2-5 dmg if quickly removed from wound

  Special: Arc Spell

  +4-24 electrical damage

  Eddie broke into a grin when he confirmed the stats on the arrow. Then he pulled up his mana.

  Mana: 23/180

  Hell, that's a lot more than a times eight multiplier. Is it because it's a direct damage spell or something to do with that rune that showed up on it? I've got no clue. One of these days I have to find someone else with Conjunction and see what they've learned about it, he thought.

  With the massive mana expenditure he wasn't going to be making very many of these, at least not unless the cost dropped significantly as he did it more. He certainly wasn't going to do any more of them right now though, so he cleaned up and put everything away, then headed into the inn to show his new creation to any of the group that might be around.

  ~ ~ ~

  Chapter Seven

  Cooper's vision shimmered and the fog finally cleared, leaving him in an open clearing. He heard people nearby and, if he wasn't mistaken, they were partying. He stretched, assuming he'd need to get used to this avatar, but everything felt perfectly normal.

  He straightened up again then yelled, loudly.

  “Campbell! Private Campbell! Front and Center.”

  It took almost half a minute before a man came shambling up to him.

  “Who are you? I'm Campbell, what are you doing here?”

  “Campbell, they told me you were the one they left in charge of this group of idiots until they could get a new Specialist. I'm that new Specialist, so you need to get the men assembled here, right now.”

  Campbell straightened. His eyes were bloodshot and he looked slightly haggard.

  “Yes, Specialist,” he said, then turned and headed back towards the noise.

  Oh hell, Cooper thought. Please tell me that higher up didn't do what I think they did.

  A couple of minutes later, there was a squad of men lined up in front of him. Not a single one looked to be in any better shape than Private Campbell, but at least they were all managing to stand.

  “Alright, I'm Specialist Cooper and for my sins I've been assigned to this squad to replace your old Specialist.”

  “Specialist,” Campbell said, “is Harmon okay?”

  “Specialist Harmon is currently in treatment for what appears to be some sort of psychotic episode. Now that I see the men he was working with, I more fully understand why that might have occurred.”

  Campbell bristled at the insult, but stayed quiet.

  “Now,” Cooper continued. “I know you're all a bunch of screw ups, and I'm pretty sure higher considers me to be one as well, which explains why I've been assigned to you bunglers.”

  He took a quick head count.

  “Why am a I short one soldier here, Campbell?”

  “Specialist, Private Ferring never returned from the last mission.”

  “Are you telling me that one of my squad is still trapped in the construct of a goblin? That's he's been there for what must be weeks by now?” Cooper asked.

  “Specialist, the men returned to their primary avatars when their constructs were killed. Ferring was in a much more powerful, magic-using one, and probably simply hasn't been killed yet,” Campbell replied.

  He gestured towards a tent, open on one end. Cooper saw the unnaturally still body lying inside of it.

  “There's his primary avatar. It's still fine, but his consciousness isn't in it,” Campbell continued.

  “Well then, let's see about getting the rest of our troops back, shall we?” Cooper asked.

  He opened the in-game command console he'd been given access to. They said they'd secured it, but obviously whoever had done so had no idea of the capabilities of the game. Their idea of 'securing' the console meant Cooper needed to lean in and get a retina scan before inputting any commands.

  But since they had to create my avatar with the appropriate retinas, and the specs for my avatar are now in the game after they created it, anyone with proper access could easily duplicate my retina. What a bunch of morons. I wonder if this project is all as sloppy as it appears to be so far? I sure as hell hope not.

  The first thing he had to do was track down Ferring's unique ID number. Then he pinpointed its location. He'd been told that the transfers didn't care about the in-game distance between targets, so he simply initiated the transfer that would take Private Ferring back to his original avatar.

  A minute later the unnaturally still avatar in the tent abruptly sat up. Cooper and Campbell headed over to the tent only to find Ferring muttering in some language that wasn't English. Cooper immediately slapped a comprehend languages affect on himself through the command screen and discovered that Ferring was speaking in goblin and apparently had no idea that he was back in his original avatar.

  “Campbell, he's obviously in shock from his extended stay in a goblin construct. Stay with him, keep talking to him in English, and see if you can get him to snap out of this,” Cooper ordered.

  Then he headed back out of the tent to take inventory on what was still available onsite.

  ~ ~ ~

  Eddie was sitting in the inn when Opron walked in. The dwarfish smith carried a wrapped package and when he saw Eddie, he came over to the table and tossed the package on its surface.

  “That's for you,” Opron said. “I have to leave in two days, so I'm glad I got it done in time. It still needs a little work, but all the smithing parts are done.”

  He slid into a chair and signaled one of the servers for an ale.

  Eddie reached out and pulled the package to his side of the table. Whatever it was had some weight to it.

  “Also,” Opron said. “I had a visitor today.”

  “A visitor? You getting some NPCs asking for stuff or other players?”

  “Had that for a while now, no, this was a dwarfish messenger from Hammer Hold. The dwarfs want you to go there and negotiate for charcoal trading. I told him I'd let you know. I asked Delgar to get one the dwarfs in his party to guide you through the tunnels. Of course he said sure, then started negotiating the price.”

  Eddie groaned.

  “What's one more thing to do and a few more coins?” he said. “Although, admittedly, I'm delegating better now so I don't have to be physically present at all the spots I have stuff getting done.”

  “Good, I saw you working yourself to the bone before, you don't want to do that if you can avoid it,” Opron said.

  Eddie laughed out loud.

  “Says the person who fell asleep on my own bed, waiting for me? So I do suppose you know what you're talking about when it comes to too much work.”

  Opron snorted.

  “Yeah, whatever, mister fists with your toes.”

  Now it was Eddie's turn to snort. He was actually kind of surprised that Opron remembered the prank Karl and Eddie had pulled on him when he was visiting in game in his dev avatar.

  “Okay, enough,” Eddie said, raising both arms with his palms turned out in a placating fashion. “So, what's this?”

  He pulled the package into his lap and started unwrapping it. Opron's ale arrived and the
dwarf took a deep drink as Eddie revealed the shortsword that had been wrapped up.

  “Holy shit, this looks awesome,” Eddie said.

  He stared at the shortsword. It was entirely of one piece and looked a lot like a gladius, but with a slightly larger guard. The tip wasn't exactly like a gladius either, it had sharpened edges for about six inches back on both sides.

  Evaluate, Eddie thought.

  Shortsword (Good)

  Weapon (Melee)

  Attack: 23

  Dmg: 8-48

  Crit: 20%

  Crafted: Opron

  “How did you manage a good quality sword this quickly?” Eddie asked. “I figure that shouldn't be possible in a single month.”

  “No, it shouldn't. But I did a few things that helped. I purified the metal from those goblin short swords. It had a lot of impurities in it to start. This also wasn't my first try, more like my twentieth. The others mostly came out common and uncommon though, so they sold pretty well.”

  “So, is that one of those things they need to fix?” Eddie asked.

  “Yes and no, I did a lot of other things to get it to come out this well. Delgar knows about them, so he'll be able to duplicate it if he's willing to put the effort in. I figure if someone is willing to put twenty hours of game time into something like this after they've already built up their skill? Yeah, we'll probably let that slide and stay the way it is.”

  Eddie waved his hand for Opron to be more quiet.

  “This is one of those be careful about revealing yourself moments,” he said.

  “Nah, I'm not worried about it any more. Like I said, I'm out of here in a couple more days. I know enough spots to hide for that long if I need to be out of the limelight.”

  “Well, it doesn't look like anyone caught the slip anyhow, but I wanted to tell you in case you were still worried.”