Rise of the Grandmaster

by Bradford Bates

  “Makes sense to me. Why fight when you can get two of your enemies to wipe each other out?” JaKobi tapped a finger on his chin in thought. “It’s kind of brilliant, really. Like when the Sith use the trade federation to get shit done.”

  “You know, not everything can be tied back to a Star Wars movie plot.” Cassie glared at the fire mage.

  “Just try me,” JaKobi fired back, grinning ear from ear.

  Tim smiled at the fire mage. He couldn’t help it. JaKobi’s love of all things Star Wars was infectious. He was just about to try to trip him up when ShadowLily elbowed him in the ribs.

  “Let’s not get off-track,” ShadowLily looked at the two of them. “What we decide to do next is important.”

  “Speaking of important.” Tim deflected answering whatever her next question was going to be by asking one of his own. “I’ve been meaning to find out what everyone’s plans are after they hit level ten and complete their class change quests.”

  “Maybe we should worry about the super-assassin the cardinal hired to rough you up.” Cassie looked at Tim incredulously. “Priorities, man, priorities.”

  “Not much I can do until I go see the high priest. I’m not sure the five of us are strong enough to take out the cardinal even if we wanted to, not that I would even try without Paul’s blessing.”

  JaKobi snorted. “Too bad Jepsom doesn’t feel the same way about taking you out.”

  “Tell me about it,” Cassie grumbled.

  “You should see the high priest tomorrow.” ShadowLily looked at Tim, her face etched with concern. She put one finger over his lips before he could speak. “Before work.”

  “I was afraid you were going to say that.” Tim groaned. “I’m going to take the rest of this food up to my room and get ready for bed.” He mock-glared at his girlfriend. “Apparently, I have an early-morning appointment.”

  “There are some perks to going to bed early.” ShadowLily picked up her own bowl and headed for the stairs. “I’ll see you up there.”

  Tim knew she was being flirty to try to keep his mind off what might happen tomorrow. Going to see Paul wasn’t without risk. He’d already been banned from practicing at the temple for defying Jepsom’s orders. Going back inside might mean his death if the wrong people found him before he made it to the high priest.

  He started walking toward the stairs but paused and turned to face the members of his guild. “Remember to think about what you want out of your time in the game. I want whatever we do next to benefit all of us.”

  JaKobi nodded. “You’ve got it, boss.”

  “I’m already doing what I want. The only thing that would make it better is more money.” Cassie smiled. “You’ve really gotta quit your job so we can do bounties during the day.”

  “That would be kinda awesome.” JaKobi smiled, thinking about all the loot they could earn.

  “So, you both want to be adventurers?” Tim thought about how easily they’d made the choice and how hard he was struggling with his.

  “You don’t?” Cassie asked in disbelief.

  Tim almost laughed at the look of shock on her face. “I didn’t say that. It’s just that I need to have a few things in place before I can take the leap.”

  Cassie huffed. “Better get on it. We’re all waiting on you.”

  Tapping his spoon on the lid covering his soup, Tim sighed. “You’re going to have to wait a little longer—and don’t make that face. We’ve done tons of cool stuff so far.”

  “Yeah, but think about all the stuff we’re missing out on while you’re at work.” She elbowed JaKobi in an attempt to get him to agree with her. “Right?”

  The fire mage grinned. “Yes, we’ve done lots of cool stuff.”

  “Pussy,” Cassie said as she poked JaKobi in the ribs hard enough to make him grunt before she turned her attention back to Tim. “Seriously, think of all the stuff we could do if you didn’t have to work.”

  Tim had come into the game with a plan. He was here to make enough gold to send some real-world currency home to his family and pay off his student loans. Until Tim knew he could accomplish those feats as an adventurer, he had to keep his options open.

  It felt like he was being pulled in one direction, and he had no idea if the game was manipulating him into becoming an adventurer or if it was something he truly wanted. Tim felt alive when they were out running bounties and conquering dungeons, but he couldn’t let that excitement overrun his pragmatism. Sometimes you had to stick with boring and reliable.

  But you also had to be willing to risk it all if you wanted to succeed.

  Was he willing to put his future on the line by dedicating all of his time in-game to making more money, or was he going to stick with the basics and come out with a guaranteed payout? It was hard to put all your effort into a dream that might not pay out in the end.

  But he wanted to be an adventurer badly enough to dedicate himself to his dream completely.

  The hardest part for him was knowing that he was doing it for the right reasons. He didn’t want the fame that followed some of the gamers when they finally called it quits. Tim only wanted this to work because of what it could mean for his future.

  Gaming was something he loved, and making money at it would be the ultimate job. Working together with a team to take down the biggest baddies in the game was something he lived for when he was behind the screen. Now that he was on the screen, did he really expect those feelings to be different?

  Part of him was dead-set on staying firm and doing the job he’d been assigned, but the other part of him, the part that fed his imagination, was already setting things up. Tim’s work in the slums wasn’t bringing in any money yet, but it would, and with a safety net in place, he felt a lot better about making the switch from worker to adventurer.

  Tim smiled as he realized he’d become lost in his thoughts while JaKobi and Cassie were waiting for an answer to her question. He decided to play it off for now and mark them down for a more serious discussion later. “You know me. I’ve got to plan things out before I make a decision.”

  “By ‘plan,’ he means shout out orders and pray that everything doesn’t turn to shit in an instant,” Cassie said drolly to JaKobi.

  “Whatever Tim’s doing seems to be working. I’m more concerned about these guys from the temple showing up and trying to take us out.”

  “Well, there is always something to look forward to.” Tim turned away from his friends and walked up the stairs.

  Cassie shouted after him, “We have very different ideas about what to get excited about.”

  “I don’t know. If I was heading upstairs to ShadowLily, I’d be excited too.” JaKobi said with a smile.

  Cassie elbowed him in the ribs. “Don’t be gross. Save that shit for your guy friends.”

  The fire mage held up his hands in surrender. “I was talking to Gaston.”

  The assassin picked up his soup and left the room without saying a word. Ernie and Liz followed him out, leaving JaKobi sitting alone with Cassie. “Isn’t this soup delicious?” he stammered.

  Tim smiled at himself as he watched the two of them from the landing on the stairs. Once he realized Cassie wasn’t going to pick a fight, he continued up the stairs to his room. The Guild was becoming more than a group of adventurers. They might even be more than just friends.

  To Tim, the guild members already felt like family.

  Chapter Sixty-Nine

  The streets of Promethia were almost empty this early in the morning.

  Tim thought about the traffic around campus in the morning and realized he didn’t miss it at all. There was something to be said about some good old fashioned peace and quiet. Not to mention the lack of cars. The air seemed to smell sweeter, but that could just be the game enhancing his experience.

  Walking to the temple wouldn’t take too long, and it felt much better doing it with boots on. His first day in the game, Tim had made the trek without shoes, and he was happy he’d never have to do that
again. Who would have thought finding footwear was such a big deal?

  He slowed down as he came to a spot where he could look between the buildings toward the market and the warehouses. Peeking out behind the large structures was the harbor and the docks that helped make this city flourish. Men and women were already working hard on the docks and in the market. They moved like ants swarming over a piece of fallen fruit, setting up stalls, displaying their wares, and loading and unloading boxes from the ships.

  The market was the one place that was truly alive all day long. The workers and the shoppers might change, but it was always busy. It was exactly the same kind of environment he wanted to create in the slums. Why shouldn’t there be somewhere else to shop?

  Especially when the gold that shopping brought in went straight into his pockets.

  His stomach did a little flip as the temple steps came into view. It wasn’t easy to walk headfirst into what might be a trap, but Tim had to speak to Paul. Thankfully there were people making their way inside for healing or prayer already. Tim hoped he could slip in with the crowd and then find one of the acolytes to take him to the high priest. He might be able to find Paul’s chambers on his own, but there was a better chance that he’d end up lost for hours in the temple’s winding halls.

  Tim ducked his head down as he started up the steps. Jepsom didn’t have as many followers as he used to, but he still had eyes and ears all over the temple. He joined the others in line and continued shuffling up the steps until they reached the temple doors.

  The inside of the entrance was just as grand as Tim remembered from his first trip. Pillars held up a vaulted ceiling; the place felt as if the roof were in the heavens themselves. It still mystified him to this day how men could use stone in such a way. There was a certain amount of craftsmanship slowly lost in the real world.

  When was the last time someone built something that truly inspired people? Tim would have loved to see the look on people’s faces when the churches and chapels were built in the middle ages. Imagine coming from a village where you still had thatched roofs and seeing something like the Sistine Chapel or the Notre Dame Cathedral.

  It would have been life-changing.

  Kind of like deciding to enter The Etheric Coast was for Tim. Outside of the game, he would have been stuck in an office crunching numbers and hoping to make a wealthy client even wealthier. Here he was leading the fight against a usurper inside the temple and trying to build something from scratch.

  There was something to be said about living in a world where the only thing holding you back was your desire to be successful. Inside the game, people were still completing world firsts. There was a whole new land of opportunities to explore here. Things that no other person had discovered were waiting to be found.

  Promethia was literally brand new.

  Tim thought about how connected they were back in the real world. You could get in touch with anyone at any time from anywhere in the world. It was nuts, and yet people still seemed to spend more time alone.

  Come into The Etheric Coast, and you could only send in-game messages that might as well have been physical letters to other players. If you wanted to talk to an NPC, you had to get off your lazy ass and go find them. And for Tim, sending in-game messages kind of broke his immersion. Now that ShadowLily was with him almost all the time, he didn’t check his messages as often as he should.

  This was his home now, and he would be here for a long time. Whatever he had to do to make the game feel real, he was going to do it. Tim felt like he was LARPing at a Renaissance festival. Only when he went home, he didn’t have to get ready for school in the morning.

  Now that Tim was well inside the temple, he started to look for one of the younger members the church used for runners. He spotted one across the room and made his way to the boy. The kid, dressed in a simple brown smock, was standing off to the side, waiting to be called to task by one of the brothers.

  Plastering a confused smile on his face, Tim approached the boy. “Excuse me, good sir. I was wondering if you could help me?”

  The boy looked shocked at being addressed directly. “I can escort you to one of the brothers if you need assistance.”

  “I do so hate to be a bother.” Tim kept his smile in place as he looked around the temple. “It’s just that the high priest asked me to meet him here, and I have no idea how to find his chambers.”

  Now the kid looked slightly panicked. “The high priest?”

  “Yes, do you think you can help me track him down?” Tim tried to put just the right note of hopefulness in his voice.

  “I can find one of the brothers to escort you.” The boy started to turn away from Tim.

  “That won’t do at all.” Tim stopped the boy from turning and slipped a gold coin into his hand. “Let’s not waste a brother’s time with this. If we get there and he doesn’t wish to see me, surely his guards will turn me away at the door.”

  “I don’t know if I should,” the kid stammered.

  Tim looked directly into the boy’s eyes. “I promise you that I have an appointment, and he will be happy to see me.” He looked from side to side and lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “But there are others here who might not be as excited by my intrusion.”

  The acolyte thought about it for a moment, then reached out to grab Tim’s hand. “Follow me.” The kid was wearing a look that said it wouldn’t be his fault if the guards tossed the man out on his ass.

  It took the kid about fifteen minutes to get Tim in front of the giant golden door of the high priest’s chambers. They’d passed a number of brothers in the hallway. A few of them stared at them curiously, but none tried to stop them. A few times, he’d held his breath, waiting to be stabbed in the back by one of Jepsom’s men, but the attack never came.

  The golden door started to swing open, and Tim looked at the boy. “Thanks for your help.”

  He watched as the kid ran off without saying a word. Maybe he had better places to be, but Tim got the feeling the runner he’d sequestered didn’t want to be seen here, at least not with him. With the door open, he walked forward. There was no reason to stand on ceremony. It was time to find out what Paul had in store for him.

  The high priest stepped down from his simple wooden throne and walked toward Tim with his hand extended. “I’m happy to see you. When you didn’t show up right after Lady Briarthorn’s party, I was worried something might have happened to you.”

  Tim shook Paul’s hand. “It’s good to see you.” He let go and made sure to look the man straight in the eyes. “Nothing has happened to me yet, but Cardinal Jepsom has sent a couple of men down to the slums to stop me from healing.”

  One of Paul’s eyes twitched, and his cheeks turned red. “He what?”

  “He sent some priest named Dunstin to see me, and when I told him to fuck off, he sent Malvonis.” Tim felt the fury coming off of Paul in waves and thought he’d better de-escalate the situation. “But we were able to handle it.”

  “Sending a brother is one thing, but retaining outside help is something else entirely.” Paul turned away from Tim, walked back to his throne, and sat down. “Apparently our efforts to stop the cardinal have only made him bolder.”

  The high priest let out a heavy sigh. “I hoped removing his top three associates from the temple would be a firm enough reminder of who was in charge, but it seems he has taken my actions as just another slap on the wrist.”

  Paul shook his head in disgust. “I believed there was still a way to return Cardinal Jepsom to the goddess’ light. He was a good man once, not that you could tell by looking at him today. Something has to be done about him,” Paul said as he wrung his hands with worry.

  Tim wondered if this was going to be the moment he finally got the kill quest. There was no doubt in his mind that destroying Jepsom was the final step in this chain. Every single thing he’d done had brought him closer to this moment. All he needed was for Paul to say the word.

  “What do y
ou need me to do?” Tim watched the high priest, his anticipation making him twitchy.

  “I think it’s time we ended this. Cardinal Jepsom’s time amongst the living must be brought to an end. May the goddess have mercy on his soul.”

  Quest Received: Wrath of the goddess

  It’s time for you to end Cardinal Jepsom’s time on this plane, but it can’t be done inside the temple. Paul has scheduled an event to honor the cardinal. It will be held in seven days, and you will be given a copy of the itinerary.

  Your reward will be determined by the results.

  Accept Quest: Yes/No

  Tim quickly accepted the quest.

  Paul stood up and extended his hand. “The goddess thanks you.” Paul pulled a book that had a faint golden glow around it from his robes. “Her appreciation isn’t without benefits.” He handed the book to Tim.

  The leather binding was hand-stitched, and the golden glow had to be coming from some kind of magic infused into the book. Tim wasn’t sure what he was being handed. It could have been a bible, or maybe a weapon for his off hand. He accepted the book and reviewed the flowing script on the cover, which read Healing Storm. Was this a spell book?

  Thinking back to his first day in the game, Tim opened it. Power seemed to flow through him and he was lifted into the air. When his feet touched the ground a moment later, he knew the spell completely. A prompt appeared in his vision.

  Skill Granted: Healing Storm

  Rank: Novice Level One

  The Goddess Eternia once pointed her hand toward the heavens and bathed an entire city in holy rain. You might not be able to heal a city yet, but a group of five players shouldn’t be a problem.

  Healing Storm is an AOE (Area of Effect) spell that can heal up to five party members as long as they are standing within the spell's radius.

  It was his first AOE spell. As long as everyone crowded together, he could heal all of them with one spell. The mana cost might hurt after a bit, but it saved Tim the trouble of casting separate healing orbs on each person. It would be a real lifesaver, especially in a situation where everyone was taking damage at the same time.