by Dakota Krout
Joe looked down at his stick thin body, a bit perplexed. He hadn’t gotten a response like this before, and he wasn’t sure how to handle the situation. “I… I’m not here for armor for myself.”
“Oh, that’s a relief.” The smith grinned and wiped his bald head. “Er, sorry about that; thought you might be an undead at first. Skeleton, ghoul, or some such. Since you can talk, I’ll assume you are alive.”
“That… I…” Joe felt gobsmacked. How was he supposed to reply to casual insults like this?
“So, whaddaya need, brother?” The smith had a large grin on his face now.
Eye twitching, Joe pulled the armor out of his ring. “I need this repaired and resized for a human-sized warrior. Is that possible?”
The man looked over the gear with a critical eye, and when he got to the gaping hole, he raised an eyebrow and glanced at Joe. “Your handiwork?”
Joe nodded and the smith grinned. “Nifty. Yeah, I can do it, but it’ll be a couple days. Have the person in question come here so I can size it properly. Actually, why isn’t he here right now?”
“That, yeah… well… not everyone was so lucky as to survive the process of acquiring this gear. He’ll be back tomorrow, but until then, I just want to get the process started.” Joe halfheartedly shrugged at the end of his explanation.
“I see.” The smith was silent for a long moment, looking at the oversized armor. “Say, I don’t suppose you know what your friend is trying to accomplish? Class-wise, I mean. You said warrior, can you be more specific? Heavy plate armor like this might not be the best for someone like a standard melee fighter.”
“Well, he is gearing himself to become a tank, a guardian of sorts. Get the attention of the enemy and keep it while we finish them off.” Dale tried to think of a better way to explain, but the smith was already wincing.
“Oh, ew. He is going to… you’re letting him become a… why do people do that to themselves? A regular warrior planning to be a tank?” The smith shuddered. “I can help him out a bit, perhaps. Are you certain this is his plan? I don’t suppose you have some funds available you would donate to give him a better chance at survival?” The smith was looking at Joe with a gleam in his eye.
Joe grumbled but said that he might be persuaded to help his friend out. The light in the smith’s eyes turned almost rabid. “Wonderful! He uses a shield, yes? Has he achieved shield mastery yet?”
“He has a skill called that, if I remember correctly.”
“Good, good.” The smith started to gather the armor. “Well, I’ll add in the adjustments after I get him measured. He will be so happy! I’ll make sure to tell him it is a gift from you.” The smith wrote down a sum on a slate and left it on the counter. “I’ll need this much money, thanks in advance!”
Joe looked at the amount on the board, and a muffled scream reached the smith’s ears just before he crossed into his magically silenced room, “There’s no way I’m paying-”
The smith smiled as he began his new project. It was nice to have a challenge.
~ Chapter Twenty-four ~
Joe watched the smith flee, and his hands tightened around the slate. If he had been able to bring any strength to bear, it would have shattered. With a snarl, he left the room and went over to the alchemist to see if he had restocked any Cores. Joe left the building sixty gold poorer but with two shining gems tucked into his ring. Making his way to the bathhouse, he cleaned up, had his clothes washed, and then went to dinner.
Feeling like a brand new person, Joe retreated to his small room in the barracks. Finally, it was time to see what his reward from the item box was! The small chest sat on his bed, and after a moment, he flipped the lid open. A soft golden glow filled the room, and a thin ring of metal with a long needle on one side appeared as the light faded. Joe touched and tried to inspect the item.
Perception check succeeded! Item gained: Titanium Taglock Needle (Class item). Similar to taglock kits used by witches in voodoo magic, this is a reusable weapon augment designed to draw blood for rituals. One ritual can be bound to the needle, set to activate when blood is drawn. Stats: 80% armor penetration. Adds 1 point of physical damage. Item type: Augment. Rarity: Rare. Durability: 1000/1000.
That was way more information than he had ever been able to see before! Thinking of the item’s uses, Joe wasn’t sure how to react at first. He didn’t have any combat-related rituals, but he could certainly see how this could be useful in the future. Plus, an extra point of damage meant that he would effectively double his damage when hitting rabbits! The thought made him smile. He didn’t actually think that was the best use for it, especially with eighty percent armor penetration. If he aimed for a weak point when someone was in plate armor, he could likely draw blood. Then–if he had the right ritual–the fight should be over.
The need to find more and better rituals began to overpower Joe, but sadly, he had no leads on potential locations for them. He could try the mage’s college, but he was certain that they would make demands on him that he wasn’t willing to comply with. Just like any other university out there, they would try to charge him an arm and a leg, force him to participate in courses he didn’t need, and essentially pledge loyalty to their ideals if he wanted to make any progress in his field of study. Joe grimaced at the thought. He had received so many calls asking for money from his old college after he graduated that he had needed to eventually get a new phone number, then change his email address and get a shredder for all of the junk mail.
Reminding himself that this process was supposed to be fun, Joe shook off his morose attitude and thought about his new weapon augment. Pulling out his scepter, he slid the metal band around the head of the weapon and snapped the clasp closed. A few sparkles of light appeared around the weapon, but they faded after a moment. Looking at his weapon, he had to laugh. It looked like an odd-shaped baseball bat that someone had hammered a nail through. Comparing it to the glowing weapons and magical effects he had seen, this scepter looked like something a caveman would use. Joe swung his weapon around a few times, but there was no difference that he could feel. He shrugged, he would have to use it in combat eventually, he’d just need to wait a while. He couldn’t think of anything else he needed to do, so he decided to just get ready for bed. Joe stretched out, made sure his door was locked, and laid his head on his pillow. Today had been kinda rough, and his tired mind gleefully accepted the chance for rest.
A few hours of snoozing soundly drifted by, but around midnight he was rudely awakened. Screams and sounds of battle began to ring out, replacing happy dreams of bashing bunnies. Joe jumped out of bed, unintentionally activating his skill ‘jump around’. His body did a flip without prompting and he landed gently on his feet, gagging from the sudden stamina drain. The blankets he had jumped out of swished and settled down, revealing a perfectly made bed. Joe did a double take at the room, but the screaming intensified, and he needed to get out there and help people.
It was close to three in the morning, and the only light was either from fire or some form of magical effect. Only a second was needed to understand what was happening; they were under attack–not by monsters, but by people! They were wearing scarves and hoods to try and hide their faces, the style worn by only those who know they are intentionally doing wrong. Joe, even with his high perception, was having a difficult time tracking the movements of several of them, indicating that they were rogues with high stealth skills. Looking around, Joe saw that there wasn’t anyone really injured; the invading force was making sure that whoever they attacked died. Making a snap decision, Joe changed his class to mage and sent a shadow spike into a warrior that was rearing back to strike a fallen guild member. The spike shot up into a… delicate area… and the warrior released a high-pitched scream.
Joe’s fallen guild member stood up and began stabbing the warrior, so Joe felt that he could turn his attention elsewhere. He glanced around at all the shifting shadows, seeing a rogue sneaking behind a small group of defending archers.
Another shadow spike appeared, but there was a secondary effect Joe hadn’t expected. As the shadows cloaking the rogue were pulled to a different task, the rogue seemed to be almost ejected from the darkness that had been protecting him. He tripped and fell to the ground, a new and large hole in him. The archers saw him appear, and the man was quickly filled with various feathered shafts.
Seeing the results of pulling the concealing darkness from his foes, Joe began focusing his attacks on the hidden enemies. One after another, they fell to The Wanderers guild, and soon, all that remained were the various warriors and archers that had broken in. They too fell swiftly, now that the guild was roused and the rogues causing chaos were defeated. Aten stalked over to a body, pulled off the mask and *tsked*. “These are Headshot’s goons. Looks like the Hardcores want another taste of pain. Spymaster! Find where they are holed up.”
Aten looked around at the expectant faces and shouted, “Who comes for The Wanderers!”
“The strongest! The Best! We kill all the rest!” a few of the guild members finished the chant that was becoming their guild motto. Joe had changed his class back to cleric by this point and made his way around to the few injured people in the room. When he finished, he looked over the flashing notifications he had been ignoring.
Skill increased: Shadow spike (Novice III). Playing with darkness is paying dividends!
No experience has been awarded for killing travelers, but as several of them had red names, they may drop money or gear. If they had removed all items before launching an unprovoked attack, money or items will appear, taken from their bank account. Eternia does not recommend attacking other players.
Your guild has successfully held off an invading force that was attempting to assassinate your members! Due to your Guild’s high reputation with the guards of Ardania, if all the enemies slain were from the guild Hardcores, the city will launch an investigation into their activities. Depending on the results of this investigation, members of the guild Hardcores may lose reputation, serve jail time, or have heavy fines levied against them!
“The guards are getting involved!”
“Holy crap, look at that message. They’re making the game mad with their shenanigans!”
“About time! I need to be able to play the max amount I can. I quit work and am living off this game right now,” a familiar voice mentioned.
Joe perked up when he heard the last comment. Looking over, Joe saw that it was Terra who had spoken. He nodded, it made perfect sense that she could already live off her earnings. As the only battle mage, she made a good cut of any money found. As a guild officer, she earned a monthly stipend from the guild to play as much as possible. After ensuring there was no one else needing his services, Joe returned to bed.
The next morning, or later that day depending on how you thought about it, Joe went to meet with Dylan after he respawned. He found him staring into a coffee cup, armor in tatters and seeming to be a bit worse for wear. “Morning, Dylan. Doing all right?”
“Huh? Oh.” Dylan seemed startled to be spoken to, and when his eyes met Joe’s, he had to look away. “Yeah, I’m good. Sucked to lose experience, but finishing the quests put me ahead by a good margin. Got a nice little class item box, too. Look, Joe, I normally don’t mind being a tank. In other games, it is kinda… whatever, you know? Here though, I… I don’t think I can…”
“Hang on, buddy.” Joe gripped his friend’s arm. In that moment, he knew he would pay whatever was needed for his teammate to have the protection he needed. “I’ve got a present for you. Come with me?”
Dylan seemed to struggle internally for a moment, but sighed and followed. They made their way to the smith, and Joe introduced his friend to the money-grubbing scumbag… that is, the smith who was going to fix up the armor and resize it. The smith looked Dylan up and down, nodding the whole time. “Now we’re talking! Someone who can use proper gear! I hear you are walking the path of a defender? Is this true?”
“I’m… trying. It’s hard. I get hurt every single time.” Dylan looked at the ground, clenching his fists.
Something shifted in the smith’s eyes and approval shone through. “Yet you continue to go with and protect them. Admirable. Not many can devote themselves to protecting others over their own well-being. Most warriors will go and fight, leaving their team to their own devices. I think you are someone I can really work with. Are you willing to devote yourself to the safety of others?”
“I… I want to. It just hurts so much,” Dylan whispered as he continued his staring contest with the ground.
“An honest answer. Even better.” The smith put a massive hand under Dylan’s face and lifted his head so they could see each other. “I can give you the tools you need. Just tell me you will do your best to protect those in your care.”
Dylan gulped and nodded. “I will. I always do.”
A message appeared in front of Joe, making him stumble backward. He growled. Outside of combat and stressful situations, these messages were invasive, annoying, and were supposed to be blocked. Then he saw the content of the notification and smiled.
Requirements for hidden class found! After suffering for his team, Dylan had reached a crossroads! Thanks to your direct actions, he has devoted himself to the protection of others and gained the hidden basic class ‘Bulwark’ (Rare). For finding hidden information, your deity has granted you 150 Exp!
Dylan was staring into space, the look someone got when checking notifications or their status. He blinked after a few moments and cracked the first smile Joe had seen from him today. The smith took a few measurements and told them to come back in an hour. Apparently, he would rush a job for a client who would ‘use his work properly’. Dylan looked over to Joe. “Did you know he would offer me a new class?”
“No, I only came here so you could get measurements taken,” Joe answered truthfully. “Can you tell me anything about your class?”
“Mmm.” Dylan got a faraway look again. “Huge bonus to defense, great knockback resistance, and I can use shields to attack without the normal penalties. I got a new skill right away; it’s called ‘stand behind me’. Let’s me move at triple my normal speed to get in front of a party member and block an attack. Also, the smith told me he knows what I need for progression, all the way to the third tier! I’ll just need to prove that I am using my abilities to protect others and do some work for him.”
“That’s seriously awesome, man!” Joe enthusiastically congratulated him. They talked for a bit longer, deciding to just wait the hour instead of leaving and coming back. When the smith entered the room again, Dylan seemed to tense up. The newly minted Bulwark almost seemed ready to hyperventilate when his new armor was handed over; the smith instructing him to equip it.
He calmed down quickly after the armor was on, and a huge grin appeared. “Joe! This armor is a class item now! It’s only missing two pieces and it’ll be a full set. I will have set armor!” Set armor was gear that was made to work together perfectly, complementing all the other pieces. A full set was often better than having a couple of amazing pieces because a full set usually came with a large bonus.
“Well, if you want a full set, you are going to need to put these on.” The smith grinned as he pulled two large shields out from behind the counter. Handing them over, he grinned at the look on Dylan’s face.
“Two shields? How am I supposed to fight?” Dylan equipped them, a wide smile stretching his face as the metal implements appeared on each arm. His question was answered by the spikes on the front of the shields.
“If you push them together, they link kinda like magnets. Then you jab the bottoms into the ground, and you can pretend to be a wall.” The smith seemed pleased at the reaction he was getting. “Look at the bonus you get for having all the set equipped. I think you’ll like it.”
“Increased defense, halved movement and weight penalties, and…” Dylan paused, then tears filled his eyes, “thirty-five percent numbing? Joe! This armor makes it so that I don’t fe
el the pain!”
“As much pain,” the smith warned carefully.
“Yeah, that!” Dylan started back to the barracks. “Let’s get going! I have Wolfmen to get revenge on!”
Joe started to follow, but a loud cough brought his attention to the smith. “Forgetting something?”
“Ah, yes. Here’s the bank notes. Make sure he never knows about this, alright?” Joe dropped a sizable stack of banknotes on the table, and the smith nodded at him gravely.
“It’s a good man who returns a warriors will to fight. In the future, you’ll get a discount here.” The smith turned and walked away, and soon, soundless hammer blows were raining down on an ingot of some kind.
Charisma +1! 10% discount gained at Masterwork Metals.
Joe had fourteen points in charisma, and therefore was now fourteen percent more charismatic than the average person. He liked the thought of that. Turning, he made his way back to his team.
~ Chapter Twenty-five ~
“Let’s do this!” Dylan slammed his fists together, sparks flying as his metal gauntlets connected. “I want to get out there and show those mangy, stinking Wolfmen who they’re messing with!”
The party was passing through fox territory, and while the foxes were avoiding everyone else, they seemed to be eying Joe hungrily. It might just be his imagination. Still, he moved closer to the center of the party and listened to their conversation. Tiona seemed pleased with the change in Dylan's attitude. “Glad to hear it! I was thinking that this morning we would go a bit deeper into their territory. We could try and find an area where the higher leveled ones like the Warriors and mages are hanging out. Good call on asking the guards to split that quest up.”