Life Reset

by Shemer Kuznits

  By the time I exhausted my wishlist, my skill had risen to level 4.

  “Dude, that makes no sense!” Malkyr protested. You offered only 10 gold for the construction blueprints, god knows where we’ll find those, but you offered 3 times that in gold and XP for fishing gear. What gives?”

  I shrugged, “I have my reasons.”

  The blueprints were actually the first quest I thought of. The skill and my control over the rewards increased after giving them the first few quests. I didn’t want them to know that all their rewards came from the game engine. It was just good strategy; keep a few secrets and keep everyone guessing what else you could do.

  “Alright, be that way,” Malkyr grumbled. Then suddenly he brightened, “Hey, I can complete one of the quests right now! My starting gear includes some fishing lines and hooks. So, here you go.”

  He brought the items out of his inventory and handed them to me.

  Malkyr has completed your quest: Bring Fishing Gear

  Quest Giver skill level increased to 5

  “Awesome!” I said enthusiastically. This will go a long way toward increasing our fisherman’s productivity.

  “Please excuse me for a moment,” I went looking Cobie the fisherman, near the small lake. I finally managed to equip him with real fishing equipment. I immediately checked the Interface for food production and was ecstatic to see the -40% efficiency penalty was gone! Cobie’s new production statistics were at a staggering 8 fish per day, nearly double his previous rate.

  I returned to the waiting twins. “I think that’s all the quests I can offer you for the moment. Is there anything else you need?”

  “I could use a good weapon,” Hoshisu was nodding in agreement with her brother, as he continued, “Now that I have some more gold, I can buy something decent. Heh heh, with your ridiculous rates, I effectively traded a few fishing hooks for a weapon that will worth ten times as much.” He chuckled merrily, thinking he got the better of me.

  I grinned as well. Little did he know, I was the one who would profit the most. The gold he got from quests didn’t come from my wallet, and anyway he chose to use it would benefit me. I’d effectively gained some much-needed fishing equipment and would become a few gold coins richer, too.

  “Sure, hang on,” I walked over to the clan pile which served as our general inventory, and started digging around in it. I extracted several daggers, a falchion, some battle axes, and lastly, the hobgoblin commander’s high-quality steel greataxe. I had forgotten about that ax.

  When I laid the weapons in front of them, Malkyr’s eyes immediately locked on the greataxe, while Hoshisu examined the daggers. The big man’s eyes fell as he realized it was worth a lot more than his 30 gold. He pointed at Hoshisu’s choices, two serrated daggers. “How much for those?” Sounding despondent.

  I grinned broadly. “30 gold for the daggers.”

  He glared at me and swore. “That’s like twice their actual value!”

  I grinned even broader. “Then how about I throw in the greataxe as well?” I suggested.

  His face brightened the ax was easily worth ten times the cost of the daggers. Then he looked at me suspiciously. “What’s the catch?”

  I raised my hands, “No catch. All I ask is that while you’re in my valley, you behave yourself and accept my leadership. No stealing from my goblins, no killing them for quick XP. Help make this place into something great.”

  They seemed insulted by my suggestion of thievery and murder, though for a moment I thought I saw a flash of guilt on Hoshisu’s face.

  “We’re not thugs!” Malkyr replied indignantly. “I was planning to help anyway. You got yourself a deal, here’s the 30 gold.” He handed me the coins.

  “Great,” I replied, “There you are,” I motioned him to take the greataxe.

  He reached over and easily picked up the huge weapon with one hand. The greataxe looked like it was made especially for his large body. He swung it around himself with the easy practiced moves of a professional.

  Similar to her brother, Hoshisu practiced a few quick stabs and slashes with her new daggers, testing their balance. It was clear that despite their current low level, the two were seasoned gamers. They knew how to handle weapons. It was a good sign for me, provided they kept their word and proved trustworthy.

  “Malkyr, let’s log out for now” Hoshisu turned to her brother. “I don’t enjoy walking around in the darkness. We can have some lunch, by the time we finish, it will be morning here.”

  “Right, right,” he agreed, “The time thing. Alright sis. Actually…” he rubbed his forehead, “I could use a break, I think I’m starting to get a headache.”

  “See you two later.” I watched them log out. Their bodies shimmered for a few seconds, then slowly became transparent until they disappeared completely. How I envied them. The log out option offered an emergency escape when things got messy. It was an infallible safety net, if you could access it.

  I was tired from the long day and the relief of finally finishing Nihilator’s quest, beating the deadline. But I couldn’t rest yet. I had just upturned everyone’s daily routine, and as the leader, I had to set an example. Besides, there were still things to take care of.

  I checked my internal clock, it was almost midnight. We’ll keep working until first light, which was around 6 am, then retire for the day. I didn’t expect much productivity from my goblins, already tired after a long day of work. But I needed to change our waking hours from day to night so it had to be done.

  I approached Zuban and his Builders. They were taking a well-deserved break nearby, I had pushed hard to make them build the Shrine after all. Like all my goblins, their skin was now darker, with black patches along some of their body lines. Zuban, who previously had a green-gray complexion, now appeared dark green, with completely black forearms and eyes. The change in skin color and patterns wasn’t the only thing. Everyone looked leaner and more angular. It was as if the Shadow-Touched trait made everyone sharper, and more intimidating. In short, it made us all look more dangerous, and badass.

  “Ready for a few more hours of work?” I asked my foreman, sitting down next to him.

  He gave me a tired but enthusiastic grin. “Always, though my workers are exhausted, so we won’t be very productive until after we get some sleep.”

  I nodded, “Soon enough. We’ll all break for sleep in the morning. For now, I thought we could get started laying in some preparation work for the Smithy.”

  That perked him up. There was nothing Zuban loved more than complex construction projects.

  “I think we should build it near some of the ore veins,” I continued, “That ought to help provide the Smithy with easy access to raw materials once it’s completed.”

  Zuban nodded, “That’s a good idea. Later on, it might slow down the delivery of processed ingots to other buildings or crafters, but proper placement of the buildings and a well-planned road system will help with that. Just something to keep in mind.”

  I nodded, “I thought so too, right now our priority is to start producing metal as soon as possible. We can’t build any of the other Apprentice level buildings without it.

  “Alright,” He agreed, “One more thing, this is the first Apprentice rank building for our clan. Unfortunately, only two of our four Builders have the skills to work on it.

  But the way that new Builder, Bargush is going...” he stalled, searching with his eyes for the large four-armed goblin who was working on the Construction Yard. Bargush was carrying two heavy pieces of timber on each shoulder.

  “That one works like a demon,” he nearly whispered, then shook his head. “Even as a Novice, he works faster than our most proficient Builder. He will reach his Apprentice rank soon, so I expect the Smithy to be completed quickly.”

  “We were lucky to get him,” I agreed. “We have enough wood resources for the Smithy, but we only have 7 of the 20 stones needed. The stonemason will quarry the rest as you go along.”

  Zuban no
dded and got to his feet, motioning to his Builders follow. “We’re on it.”

  I watched them walk away, and considered what to do next.

  I was tired. Too tired to do any actual work. And I still had plenty of things to take care of; figuring out the Shrine’s new options, monitor the overall progress gained over the last three days, and decide what to do next. But all those could be addressed a little later.

  There were still uncertainties hanging over my head which I wanted to clear up.

  With that in mind, I stood up and made my way towards the cave. It was time to have another chat with the clan’s new deity.

  20 - Embracing Darkness

  As I reached the cave entrance, I looked behind me, making sure I was not being followed.

  Though my new guests gave every indication of being honest, reliable people, I didn’t want to take any chances. I had some secrets I preferred to keep to myself. Once I was sure no one was following me, I recited the incantation to summon Vic, spending the 150 HP and 300 MP to form his body.

  The amorphic blob stretched and reshaped, as Vic took control.

  “Well,” scratching his chest where I had stabbed him with the sacrificial dagger. “I hope my gruesome demise didn’t scar your fragile soul.”

  “Please,” I rolled my eyes. “Your body is a manifestation of ethereal energies. There was never any danger.”

  “Oh, don’t give me that! I can hear what you are thinking, remember? You were worried the sacrifice would somehow kill me permanently!”

  I grinned and shrugged, “I took a guess it wouldn’t. Looks like I was right, so everything is good.”

  “Pfh, next time you feel like gambling, you lay on the shrine and I’ll hold the knife,” he grumbled, “see how you like it.”

  I ignored his antics. My wild guess had worked, Nihilator accepted Vic as a sacrifice, my clan was safe.

  “Come on, let’s go. Time to have a few words with our new god.”

  We started walking down the circular tunnel. After all our treks to the lava stream, I could do it with my eyes closed.

  Along the way, I opened a new message window. I needed to inform Tal that I was safe, and he could put off raiding Nihilator. For now. I started typing a new message.

  New Era Online [Internal messaging service]:

  To: SuperWolf#23

  Subject: Re: Re: Another question from your green pal

  Hi Bro, I’m still here. I managed to appease that boss. It’s all rainbows and happiness here in goblin-land :-)

  So call off the troops for now

  ...

  I paused and thought. I wanted to express how moved and touched I was by his show of friendship and willingness to risk his job for my sake. How unworthy I felt to have his support. Especially since it was my fault for ignoring his advice in the first place, not to mention how he was dragged into the mess I created at his company. But you couldn’t simply write stuff like that when addressing another man. Eventually, I simply finished with;

  That’s one more beer I owe you now, bro. Thanks for everything!

  Oren.

  We continued our way down the tunnel. I was tired, but the recent events, thwarting the pending disaster and gaining new powers, had energized me. With Nihilator’s quest successfully completed, I felt more confident about the future. As we continued our way downward, I steeled my mind, mentally preparing myself for another interview with our clan’s new patron of darkness.

  Though we should have been out of range, I tried opening the Settlement Interface, to my delight, it worked.

  “This cave is part of your settlement now, boss,” Vic looked up from beside me. “So we have full access to the interface here.”

  “Cool.” I viewed the main screen.

  Goblin’s Gorge Interface

  Energy Total: 461 (62 per day)

  Settlement level: 1 (war camp)

  Bosses: 1 (Main: Dark Totem)

  Morale: -20

  Religion Options

  Efficiency: -2% (morale: -4%, crude tools: -5%, low support structure: -3%, +10% nocturnal)

  Population: 22 (16 goblins, 2 goblin babies, 1 hobgoblin, 3 dire apes)

  Food Upkeep: 17

  Buildings: 7 (chief’s hut, chief’s house, cemetery, breeder’s den, rabbit warren, shrine, quarry)

  Fortifications: 0

  Food production: 170 (4 fisherman, 13 forage, rabbits 16, harvest 137)

  Resource production: 12. (stone 2.5, timber: 9.6)

  Crafting production: 0

  I was about to click on the new Religion option when I caught sight of the food production out of the corner of my eye. We produced 170 units of food today!

  I stared in amazement at the huge number. Could it be a mistake? I wondered. Then I saw the last item in the list; ‘harvest 137.’ The massive windfall was thanks to my Gatherer harvesting mushrooms from the cave. I would never have thought the yield would be that great. That's amazing! I thought happily. With my existing stocks of food, I now had over 200 units of basic food! I could summon 6 or 7 goblins right away! Great, when I get back I'll... I pause mid-thought. When I get back? Why wait? I can access the Interface from here! According to Guba, the mushrooms and the gathered food were edible as is. Last time I checked, we had ten gathered units in store. So I had 147 units of Simple Food to play with. True, the food wasn’t loaded into the Breeder’s Den yet, but I could use this time to order up more goblins. Maybe with some fries on the side.

  Zuban currently had four workers and could manage up to six at his current skill level. I wanted to maximize our construction potential, so I queued two new Builders. Wood was going to be a problem again. We had enough for now, but the Mess Hall and other advanced projects would require an increasingly large amount of wood. Because I really wanted to avoid having to personally chop more trees, I added another Lumberjack worker. The next choice was more difficult. We needed more food to supplement our increasing numbers. I would love to summon a new hunter, but I had learned from previous experiences. We still didn’t have bows or other hunting gear for hunters to use. So instead, I queued another gatherer. Their yield wasn’t amazing, excluding harvests, but they could work without any special tools.

  The Breeder’s Den interface suddenly blinked and updated in front of me;

  Food Available: 20 simple food

  ...

  So the workers received my new orders through the Interface, and were stocking the Breeder’s Den with the required food! That meant the new goblins would be summoned shortly. I hoped Guba or Zuban put them to work, so they integrate into the workforce as soon as possible.

  I decided not to queue in any more goblins. I’d love to summon another Stonemason, but as I had no pick to give him, he wouldn’t be able to work. I decided to maintain my current food stores until I had more options available. After all, summoning four goblins in one go was not a minor achievement.

  I continued monitoring the Interface as we walked. After a few moments, the food count jumped to 40. An instant later it went down to 10. That meant the Breeder’s Den consumed the food and had produced a new goblin.

  That process repeated three more times. My population counter was now showing a ‘26’. I now had over half the required population count of 50, for the settlement’s next level.

  I went to the Energy Interface next, and invested 50 energy in each new goblin, raising them to level 2.

  Then I took my first look at the new Religion Option screen.

  Religion [Shrine]

  * Options are disabled, pending completion of the quest [New Religion.]

  Faith Rank: -

  Faith Points: 0 / 0

  Purchase Faith Points

  Zone Blessings

  Individual’s Blessings

  Divine Spells

  Looks like I need to have that talk with Nihilator first, I mused. I still spent a few moments studying the available information. I had no idea what Faith Rank was. Players who opted to become clerics had only to increase th
eir reputation with a certain church. As far as I knew, they didn’t have a Faith Rank.

  Faith Points were also a mystery. Judging by the other options, they seemed to be a sort of point-buy-system. I shrugged, I’ll find out soon enough.

  We continued going deeper into the earth.

  “Hey, Vic, you’ve been walking on your own for a while now. I thought you preferred to have me do all the legwork,” I chuckled at my pun.

  “Ha ha, very funny,” He replied dryly. “I was just thinking about some stuff, sometimes it’s easier to concentrate while walking on your own.”

  That piqued my interest. “Anything specific?”

  “I’ve been trying to figure our current situation. Our goal is to get you to Boss tier 4 as quickly as possible, the way you’ve chosen to accomplish that is by leading a settlement.”

  I nodded, “That’s the only way to do it.”

  “Actually, it’s not,” Vic disagreed. “There are plenty of free roaming high-level bosses out there. And they don’t have a whole tribe following them around, right?”

  That gave me pause, he was right. But… “So how do they increase their boss level?” I asked skeptically.

  Vic shrugged, “They find other ways of gathering energy, though I’m not sure how. Once they have enough, they can purchase the next rank. Though I’m pretty sure in your case, the amount of energy needed will be reduced, as you also have a minimum settlement level goal to reach.”

  That was interesting news! If I understood correctly, I had the option of gathering energy and raising my boss level without the responsibilities of a clan leader. I had no idea what the other methods for gathering Energy were, but it was still good to know that I had other options if worse came to worse. But I wasn’t planning to abandon my people any time soon.