by Pdmac
“Any coffee?”
“Coffee?” he repeated. “I don’t know what that is.”
“It’s the elixir of life,” Carole chimed in, “the secret to eternal happiness.”
Humphrey’s eyes blinked wide. “It is? Where can I find this coffee?”
“We were hoping you might know,” Annabeth sighed.
“What does it look like?”
“It’s a dark brown liquid that’s normally served hot,” Carole explained, “though some do drink it cold. I prefer it hot, with cream.”
“Hazelnut cream,” Annabeth crooned.
“Yes,” Carole agreed, rising to the vision, “hazelnut cream.”
“What is hazelnut cream?” Humphrey asked.
“It’s a potion you add to coffee that makes it taste even better,” Annabeth answered.
“Where can I find this hazelnut cream?” Humphrey had his own visions and those were of making a bundle of money with this coffee potion. He wondered if coffee was as much in demand as ale.
“Alas,” Annabeth dramatically sighed, “we have been unable to find it. However, if we ever do, we’ll make sure you are amply supplied. With coffee, you could rule the world.”
Karl laughed at Humphrey’s incredulous look, knowing they had just pumped up the man with false expectations. “In the meantime,” Karl said, “I’ll take another sweet roll and some cider.” Turning to Annabeth, he grinned and shook his head at her. “You are so bad. The poor man is going to dream about coffee the rest of his life.”
“Maybe someone will come up with something similar. Who knows?”
“Speaking of which, what other talents do you have?” Karl asked.
“Wow,” Annabeth grinned. “That was a non sequitur. Coffee to sorceress. I’m sure there’s a connection there somewhere. But to answer your question, I have a number of talents. Like you saw last night, I can toss out fire and ice and I can also do lightning. But at my present Level 3, I still have a ways to go. I can also do magic, spells and enchantments. As you can tell from my lack of combat skills, I’m not too good with weapons though I can invest them with magic. But, like I said, I’m still only a level 3. As I level up, I imagine my power with spells, et cetera will increase.”
“So that’s why you weren’t so keen on being in the front line of battle,” Karl acknowledged. “It makes sense now.”
“Part of my problem is forgetting I have powers. My first instinct is to react like I would in real life. I see a spider and I grab something to kill it.”
“Don’t we all,” Raquel agreed, remembering the spiders of Ravnar.
Karl and company were back in the tavern in the early evening. Except for Karl, everyone else chatted about the day and the latest finds. It was when the door to the tavern opened and the burgomaster hustled in, again followed by the aldermen, Karl knew his fears were realized.
“They’re back,” the burgomaster groaned. “I don’t understand it. They shouldn’t be here, not yet.” He clutched his hands in front of his chest.
“No worries, mate,” Karl answered. “We got this. OK, folks, listen up. Three orcs. You know the drill.
Their ales were still cold when they arrived back in the tavern. Karl shook his head and looked at the much relieved burgomaster.
“I don’t know how much longer we can keep doing this,” he stated. “That’s nine orcs we’ve killed. We’ve pretty much collected everything we need. There’s not much more you all can give us as a reward.”
The burgomaster’s eyes widened in worry. “You won’t leave us here defenseless, will you?”
“We’ll stay for as long as the problem exists, but at some point we’re going to have to move on.”
“Just a little longer, please,” he begged.
“I already said we would say longer, but you all will need to think of something that will make it worth our while to stay.” Karl couldn’t help but notice sudden worry explode across the burgomaster and aldermen’s faces, causing him to wonder what they had in the city that they might be hiding.
The rest of the evening proceeded like the night before, except that Karl spent the night with Raquel. And just like the previous mornings, he was awake at dawn.
Feeling Raquel’s relaxed breathing, he slipped an arm out from beneath her head, dressed, and made the trek up the stairs to his room. Opening the door, his shoulders slumped when he saw the long raven haired woman snuggled in his bed. She had awoken when he entered. Without a word, she held open the covers, revealing her exquisite nakedness.
Slipping his clothes off, Karl joined her in bed, wondering if perhaps he ought to rent another room and not tell anyone. That way he might get some sleep.
The big news the next day was the arrival of a female dwarf named Tina, much to the elation of Conrad and Wendell. Even Kendra was pleased to have her as it would take the pressure off her.
Yet, Tina looked rode hard and put up wet. The company gathered around her as she related her story.
“What happened?” Conrad asked, scooting his chair close to her.
“I was with a group. There were seven of us. Simon was the leader.”
“Simon?” Conrad moaned. “A tall elf?”
“Yes. You know him?”
“Sadly, yes. Most everyone here knows him.”
“So what happened,” Wendell encouraged, giving Conrad an irritated glance for hogging the woman’s attention.
“Well, things were going fine until we stayed at a house in a clearing.”
“Spiders,” a voice intoned.
“Yes,” she answered. “How did you know?”
“We stayed there too,” Conrad comforted.
“What happened?” Wendell politely asked, again grimacing at Conrad.
“Well, we settled in for the night. Someone found some maps showing the way here, so we all agreed to strike out for Abeloft in the morning. During the night, I hear this awful scream and wake up to realize that the spiders are attacking us.”
“What about security?” Karl asked.
“Simon said we didn’t need any because we were safe in the house.” She shook her head at the memory, while the others exchanges looks that expressed their thanks that Karl had the forethought to take appropriate measures.
“Then what?” Wendell asked.
“Well, like I said, the scream woke me up and I see these huge spiders everywhere. One was even down at my ankles trying to enmesh me. I grabbed my hammer and started swinging. I smashed the spider at my ankles then took to smashing as many of them as I could. They saw me and backed away. But by then two of our team were gone, one was in the process of being sucked up the chimney and the other three fled out into the mist and night. I took a torch and started burning cobwebs and dead spiders. My God the stink was enough to make me want to puke and rush outside, but I knew the gnolls would get me. So I stayed awake the rest of the night. In the morning when the mist burned off, I waited around a little longer to see if anyone was close by. But around midday, I couldn’t wait any longer so I took off on my own. I sure am glad to see you.”
“So Simon and the others?” Conrad asked.
“Dead as far as I can figure.”
“Sucks to be him,” Wendell snickered.
“How long have you all been here?” Tina asked.
“Couple of days,” Conrad replied. “How come we haven’t seen you before, like when we were in Marbeck?”
“I only arrived three days ago,” she explained.
“And you already decided to move on?” Wendell said, impressed.
“Yeah,” she sheepishly smiled. “They told me that we were supposed to go on quests and cross bridges to the next islands. So I figured that’s what I should do.”
“How’d you end up with Simon?” Conrad asked.
Tina gave him a lame shrug. “He was the only one who had any gumption of leaving. I couldn’t believe how many were content to stay there and just drink and gossip. I lasted a day before I knew I had to go. Simon had put toget
her a group and so I asked to join his group.”
“Well, you’re here now. Let’s get you settled,” Wendell soothed, much to Conrad’s annoyance as he made the introductions to the rest of the company.
“Looks like you’ve arrived just in time,” Karl said, folding his arms as the burgomaster and aldermen came stumbling in. “We know,” he said, rolling his eyes.
“This is getting ridiculous,” Annabeth frowned.
“Look on the bright side,” Raquel replied. “You get to improve your aim and we get to exercise a little bit.”
“Exercise?” Conrad tittered. “Tiny doesn’t even break a sweat.”
“Tiny?” Tina asked.
“The biggest oaf in the city and our good friend,” he said, jerking a thumb at Dieter. “You can come along and watch the fun.”
The bread was still warm by the time they returned to the tavern. The banter continued but there was a distinct change. Though they had again defeated three orcs, the effort was minimal, like swatting a fly, and they dismissed the interruption with no more effort than having one’s conversation interrupted.
Conrad and Wendell commandeered a table for the four dwarves and were regaling Tina with their escapades while Karl sat contemplating the repeated orc appearances when his stats screen appeared. His lips pursed at the intrusion. Just as he was about to exclaim how much he hated popups, he frowned, surprised to note that he had leveled up again.
Karl the Viking – Level 4
Strength: 20 points
Speech: 10 points
Magic: 4 points (locked)
Health: 20 points
Mana: 20 points
Combat: 24 points
Leadership: 16 points
Reputation: 16 points - You’re a local hero
He turned to Raquel and Annabeth. “Something’s not right.”
“Like what?” Annabeth replied.
“Check your stats.”
“Huh,” Raquel muttered, reading her personal screen. “I’m a level 4 now. When did that happen?”
“Me too,” Annabeth said, both surprised and pleased. “The last time I leveled up, I got this big flash across my screen telling me congratulations.”
“I just wonder…” Karl began.
“Wonder what?” Annabeth inquired with a sweet smile.
“We’ve taken out three orcs for each of the past four nights. I wonder if that’s why we leveled up.”
“Just taking out a bunch of orcs?” Raquel shook her head in doubt. “That doesn’t make sense.”
“I agree. To test my theory, let’s stay a couple of more days and see.”
Three evenings later, having received the Congratulations: You have completed the Quest - save the town from orcs, again, part VII response, the company sat in the tavern, restless and distracted.
“When are we going to move on?” Carole muttered. “This is getting boring.”
“I feel like we’re in some sort of time warp,” Ross complained.
“I understand,” Karl said, listening to the grumbling. Standing, he addressed the group. “Before I say anything, I want each of you to check your stats.”
“Why?” Bruno questioned, his tone more of a challenge than a curiosity.
“Just do what I asked,” Karl tartly replied.
“My God,” Carole burst. “I’m a level six.”
“So am I,” Sakura added, soon followed by the rest of the company, all except Tina who was a level five.”
“How is that possible?” Brad frowned. “What have we done to warrant increasing our levels other than killing a bunch of orcs?”
“My point exactly,” Karl answered. “My thought is to stay here until we are all level 10s and then move on.”
“Why Level 10?” Ross asked.
Karl shrugged. “It was the first number that popped into my mind. I figure Level 10 ought to get us some traction as we cross the island.”
“Sounds good to me,” Conrad loudly announced.
The mood dramatically changed as the members calculated how long it would take to level up.
“Speaking of leveling up,” Raquel grinned at Karl, flicking her eyebrows and ticking her head towards the upstairs door.
“You two are insatiable,” he replied with a tired smile. “How am I supposed to get any sleep?”
Annabeth patted his hand in sympathetic understanding. “Now, now, stop complaining. We do our best to wear you out. If you’d stop waking up so early in the morning, everything would be fine.” She winked at Raquel.
Chapter 4
Mister Landon’s office occupied the top floor of the Landon building. The view from the north bank of windows looked out over the Tennessee River towards Signal Mountain.
Felix Hubach had looked out those windows once when he tagged along with the former acting Director of Gaming who had gone to brief Mister Landon on the newest project, a game called Bridge Quest. Now here Felix was, the new CEO of ITL, riding the elevator to the top floor to brief Mister Landon.
Instead of the usual nondescript colors, the elevator’s walls were mirrors, causing Felix to wonder if they were some sort of strange quirk to cause folks to examine themselves, ensure they were presentable before they arrived to see Landon. Despite the urge to look elsewhere, Felix stared at his reflection, a man in his early 40’s, short wavy auburn hair, brown eyes, trim and fit from daily exercise, neatly dressed in a three piece pin-striped black suit. He had been hired because of his reputation of ruthless organizational efficiency.
ITL had become lax, too lax and Mister Landon wanted it fixed… now. Felix’s predecessor was fired, or to use the more politically correct term – ‘downsized.’ Although, Felix was surprised to discover that the man had immersed into a harem quest game… leaving behind a wife of thirty-five years and two grown children. Needless to say the wife was more than a ‘little pissed.’ She had threatened to sue the particular gaming company, a rapidly growing outfit out of Boulder, Colorado. Unfortunately, the man’s wishes were perfectly legal and there was nothing she could do about it… other than to immerse into a reverse harem game, leaving the children to wonder if they ever really knew their parents.
Still, why they had chosen Felix, a man with no gaming experience to lead ITL, surprised him almost as much as his chutzpah for applying for the position. It had been a lark, a gamble to see if he could do it, for the increase in salary was substantial.
But he determined to prove himself and very quickly the atmosphere at ITL became efficient, professional when Felix fired several department heads in his first two weeks on the job. Word spread faster than a STD and folks’ attitude rose to meet the challenge.
Mister Landon was so impressed that he raised Felix’s salary another step level. Though thrilled with the recognition, Felix knew he had one area that needed immediate attention, now that the organization was running smoothly. He knew nothing about gaming development and initiated a crash course into the gaming world, quickly realizing talent in organization efficiency didn’t necessarily translate into absorbing gaming and computer knowledge. So it was with a bit of trepidation that he stood staring at his reflection on his way to meet Mister Landon.
Mister Landon had a first name, but no one ever used it, not even those who considered themselves reasonably close to the man. Yet, ‘reasonably close’ was not quite right, for no one could claim they were close to the man.
An only child and son of the founder of Landon Limited, Mister Landon was a stark contrast to his father, Albert Landon who was as gregarious as his son was reticent and hermetical, rarely venturing out beyond the walls of the top floor, which contained his office and living quarters.
As the elevator approached the top floor, Felix mused that he knew no one who had ever been in Mister Landon’s apartment. Well, that wasn’t quite accurate. Mister Landon had a butler who took care of the day to day essentials. And there was a cleaning crew and a cook. But none would relate even the slightest detail of Mister Landon’s living arrangeme
nts, as though they were sworn to secrecy, which sort of made sense as secrecy was the middle name of Landon Limited.
The elevator slowed imperceptibly and the doors opened. Felix stepped out into the silent world of busy executives, assistants, lawyers, and support staff. Conversations, if any, were muted or held behind sound proof glass in meticulously organized offices. All employees, regardless of position, were dressed in business professional; even the lowly copier repairman dressed in suit and vest.
Felix made his way down the aisle, past the numerous cubicles where accountants, admin assistants, payroll managers, and a multitude of other middle managers quietly worked, towards the massive double doors that reached floor to ceiling at the far end.
Opening the door, which swung smoothly and easily for its size, Felix stepped into the inner sanctum, the front office leading to Mister Landon’s abode. The front office spread the width of the building and contained a single desk in the center, in front of which were arranged a sofa and several overstuffed chairs. Behind the desk was a tall curvaceous and stunningly beautiful woman with long black hair done up in a bun, who smiled at him with only her lips. An ornately carved canary wood nameplate, perched at the edge of her desk, announced that she was Alyson Whitmer.
“Mister Hubach?” she said, her voice almost sensual.
“Yes.”
“He is expecting you. Please sit.”
Momentarily overwhelmed by her dazzling beauty, Felix nodded politely, off-balance as she seemed to be studying him, though in a detached manner. In an attempt to break her scrutiny, he moved to a chair and sat, thankful that she had resumed her work. He did a quick perfunctory scan of the room. It was wide and narrow with windows at both ends. One or two tall plants sat next to the windows, doing little to block the view. The office walls were a rich oak with paneling and wainscoting. The smoothness of the walls was interrupted at regular intervals with neatly placed doors. Behind the secretary were the double doors leading to the stairs to Mister Landon’s office. Curiously, every now and then he caught the secretary, or was it admin assistant, shifting a surreptitious glance at him