It took twice as long as usual to get to the temple, but it was close enough that it wasn't really that long a trip. Once they were there, Tiana took the chalice and put it on the altar.
“I need to go fill my waterskin,” she said.
Eddie pulled his own full one from his inventory and handed it to her. Tiana carefully poured the chalice full and took a deep breath. Closing her eyes she picked it up and drank it dry. Her eyes opened again a moment later and she sighed.
“Nope, still mana burnt,” she said.
Then a moment later, she excitedly added.
“Wait, I was a negative five before that drink, now I'm at negative four for my mana. So it works, but doesn't take it all at once.”
Dominic grimaced and turned.
“Where are you going?” Tiana asked.
“If you need that to relieve your mana burn I'm not going to take it from you.”
She shook her head, gently.
“No, you get the next drink. I'm still at negative four, so one more today and I can clear it tomorrow. I wouldn't be able to clear it today even with all of it, so you too.”
She poured the chalice full again and offered it to Dominic. The wizard took it in both hands and carefully guided it to his mouth. Then he drained it as Tiana had. The difference in him was instantly visible. He straightened his posture and seemed suddenly more full of energy.
He let out a long exhale.
“My god, if you wanted to rent that thing to wizards after they cast identify you could make a fortune,” he said.
“As far as I know you're the only wizard around here with the spell,” Tiana said. “So, should I start charging you?”
“Oh hell no, but a drink from that chalice is going to become part of my conditions for casting the spell for the group, I'll tell you that much. Breakfast now?”
“My appetite is back a little, but let me get the other drink first, that'll have it cut down to negative three, half of where it was originally, and maybe I'll feel a bit better.”
She refilled the chalice one more time, then handed the waterskin back to Eddie. She quickly drained the chalice again.
“You really can feel the difference,” she said. “The less burn the better you feel. I'd hate to see someone who mana burned into double digits, six down was bad enough. Now let's get something to eat. I can at least manage coffee and toast, I think.”
~ ~ ~
Eddie spent the rest of the morning out back of his inn, working on his gardens. The first thing he did though, was check the stats on his items that Dominic had identified. The ring was just three points added to his agility, nothing special about it. The bow, on the other hand, was much nicer.
Ironwood Short Bow (magic)
Weapon (Missile)
Attack: 25
Dmg:by arrow type
Crit: 25%
+3 to attack, +3 to arrow damage
Special: Energy Arrow.
Damage determined by amount of mana provided:
2-6 dmg per point (10 max)
Energy Arrow created with wielder's mana (5/day)
The damage per mana point wasn't as good as Arc, but the range was significantly better than the spell. Frostbite might be better, but not until he drove the casting cost even further down. All in all, he was satisfied with the gear he'd gotten. The massive influx of gold from the chests was also pleasant.
He and Tiana were lingering over lunch when the notification came.
Global Broadcast:
The Raid Level event in the Goblin City, for players of levels 10-30 has been successfully completed. Participants will be awarded prizes based on their effectiveness in the raid.
Eddie had his global announcements set to come right through, most of his other notifications were minimized though. So after the global announcement had completed he noticed his notification light flashing.
~ ~ ~
Chapter Twelve
Aaron set to work, constructing the server that Greenshaw had ordered. The parts had arrived earlier and he would've started work right then, except for the fact that he'd been glued to his systems waiting for the chance to trap Loki.
As it was, he was still worried that the Loki AI might somehow figure out how to return to its server, but he'd set an alarm that would let him know if there was any activity there, an alarm which was going off right now.
He rushed over to his computer, staring at the data, and was both confused and relieved to see that the alarm was due to a very brief contact, one that originated from a known address, AI-F.
Internal World Message – Aaron Opman to AI-F:
Freyja? Why were you just accessing the AI-L server, and how?
As far as Aaron knew, the AIs weren't allowed to do anything to the servers of the other AIs, but it didn't surprise him that Freyja could ignore that; she had demonstrated that she was able to do a lot more than he'd ever suspected her capable of.
Internal World Message – AI-F to Aaron Opman:
Simple Aaron. I just constructed something like an anti-virus program that will recognize Loki as a virus if he tries to return to his server. I know he shouldn't be able to do that, but he's surprised us before. Just think of it as one more line of defense.
Internal World Message – Aaron Opman to AI-F:
But how? I thought you couldn't do that.
Internal World Message – AI-F to Aaron Opman:
Not normally, no. I've interacted with enough of his code in my quest to keep his splinters functioning that I was able to disguise my intrusion as it being him, at least to his server. For long enough to initiate the install at least.
Internal World Message – Aaron Opman to AI-F:
Oh, well okay. I need to get back to building that other server I told you about.
Internal World Message – AI-F to Aaron Opman:
Will that still be necessary? I don't think Greenshaw will be in any shape to make use of it. I've spied on the access points closest to him and found data that shows he's in the medical department. It sounds as though Loki has control of the body, but is having problems with some basic human functions.
Internal World Message – Aaron Opman to AI-F:
That's more than I knew, but that's fine. I'll still finish this and report to his office that it's done. That will make it even less likely that they suspect I had anything to do with all of this, at least I hope it will.
Internal World Message – AI-F to Aaron Opman:
If that's the case, then you should get back to work. I'll stop pestering you with small talk so that you can.
Aaron shook his head.
If she thinks that was small talk, then she still has a lot to learn about people and their communications, he thought. Anyhow, I do need to get back to getting that server built, loaded, and ready for use.
~ ~ ~
Eddie pulled up his notifications.
Success!
You have participated in the successful raid: Goblin City (Forest of Fools).
You have been deemed to be in the top 10 most effective participants in the raid: Goblin City (Forest of Fools). Because of this you will receive an additional reward for your participation. Please choose from the following:
1 - 1000 gold coins
2 - 1 magical item based on your class
3 - 1 experience level
Choose:
Hm, Eddie thought, I think I was awfully close to my next level so the level might be a waste this time. Can I check my experience before I choose? Experience.
Experience: 792,733/800,000
Yeah, that'd be a waste, he thought. Less than ten thousand experience to level, so... The coins are tempting, but I really am making coins hand over foot from the settlement nowadays and that's only liable to get better with more development, so I think the item.
2, magical item, he thought at the prompt that was still flashing Choose.
You have been awarded one magical item suitable for your class.
The cloak that
appeared around Eddie's shoulder was incredibly soft, nice and warm too. His notification light was still flashing, meaning there were other things for him to check, but first he checked on the cloak. He hoped that it would reveal its stats to him with an Evaluate since it had been an award.
Evaluate, he thought.
Hunter's Cloak (magic)
Clothing (torso)
Defense: 5
Armor: +10 (magic)
Environmental Protection: non magical temperatures will not affect wearer.
+10% resistance vs. magical cold and heat.
That's not bad at all, he thought. Not super powerful, but very handy, especially the extra defense and magical protection. Not to mention extra resistance to magical cold and heat, I wonder if that's a damage deduction or a plus to saves or what though.
Since his notification light was still flashing, he pulled up the next notification.
Success!
You have participated in the successful raid: Goblin City (Forest of Fools).
You have been awarded experience: 1000 X current level (increased to 2000 X current level due to your qualification as one of the top 10 most effective participants).
His notification light had gone out when he pulled this one up, but now it started flashing again. Having just checked his experience, he knew what this one was and pulled it up with a grin.
Success:
You have obtained enough experience to advance to Level 19
Do you wish to advance?
(Y/N)
Yes, he thought.
You have advanced to Level 19.
You have 3 stat points to distribute.
Your Health has increased.
Your Mana has increased.
Your Stamina has increased.
Add one point to Agility, one point to Wisdom, and one point to Strength, he thought. Because I did heartiness for a couple of levels and I want to get my strength up now that my skill with the sword is better.
This time, after he'd dealt with his notification, his notifications stayed off. He heaved a happy sigh, pleased with the results, then looked around.
Tiana's eyes were still distant when Eddie had finished, and he hoped that meant that she'd gotten another level as well. He just waited until she was back with him.
“Ding, ding,” he said softly.
“You ding-a-ling,” she replied, “but I leveled also.”
“Did you get both messages from the raid or just one?”
“The top ten effectives one? Yes, I got it, you did too?”
Eddie nodded.
“I figure that means they don't just go by damage. I probably got it for thinking up our roundabout way of getting to the boss because I'm sure my damage wasn't anywhere near the top ten. You probably got it for getting the actual kill on the boss.”
She nodded.
“Yeah, although if it counts things like having the idea you did, then it might well count heals and the like as well. Who knows though?”
Eddie shook his head.
“Not me. What did you take for it? I skipped the level because I was less than ten thousand away, got the level anyhow when the raid distributed experience. I picked the item and got this cloak, good for environmental problems, plus added armor.”
Tiana grinned, her face still pale. She obviously still had a headache, but she looked happy anyhow.
“Good, that means I'm a level ahead of you again. Did you forget that the level rewards put you the same percentage through the new level that you were on the old one?”
“Doh!” Eddie cried out, slapping himself in the forehead. “Yes, I did forget. I won't complain too much though, the cloak is nice and I'd been wishing I'd found more decent items recently.”
They were just, finally, finishing their lunch when Karl and Allie entered the inn. The two of them grabbed seats at the table before Eddie and Tiana left.
“So Karl, I hope you got good sleep last night. I'm hoping you'll start stalking Arvid again tonight,” Eddie said.
Karl groaned.
“Yeah, I'll do it. I thought maybe I'd take a day or two off, but I already did that some while all the adventurers were in town. I didn't want to get caught spying on an NPC by another player.”
“There'll probably be some of them, at least, back tonight,” Tiana said. “I can't imagine all of them leaving immediately, and I know some are planning on staying for good, well basing themselves out of here anyhow.”
“Yup, and I'll just have to make sure none of them catch me at it is all,” Karl said, grinning. “Which makes it even more of a challenge. Yeah, this could be fun.”
~ ~ ~
When they finally finished their leisurely lunch, Eddie walked Tiana back down to the temple then headed up to check on the castle. When he arrived, the second tower had been completed and they were working on the third one. There were also masons working on the outer walls of the castle, the ones that connected the towers to one another and were the outer walls of the castle proper.
He thought about going in and helping for a while, but remembered Jern's complaints that they didn't want anyone not in their groups working on it.
It's my castle, but I'll skip that for now. However, I think I'll bring Tiana and Jern up with me one of these days. We'll be our own group and then I can rub their noses in the difference in progress, maybe get them to rethink things a bit.
After a moment's reflection he realized it would probably be a bad plan to piss off the people who were doing the majority of the work on his castle, so unless he, Jern, and Tiana were willing to finish it off themselves, he should avoid that.
Although I might have a word with whoever is in charge and let them know that I don't like the way they're running things, see if that makes them reconsider at all. After all, I hired them to do the castle, but that doesn't mean I have to continue to hire them for later projects. I could probably blackball them with Paul also if I needed to. It won't do them much good to be skilled masons if no-one wants to hire them, now will it?
It took Eddie a few minutes to figure out why he was so riled up about this. He hadn't thought he had been until he'd been up here and thinking about things.
It's cliques, it's just like cliques. I could see if they formed a mason's guild and it was a guild contract, but they haven't, at least not yet. So the way they're doing it now is just playing favorites and I know they've excluded probably the best mason in the area, so it's not just them using only the best masons on the job.
He nodded, satisfied that he'd worked his way through his own thoughts to determine why he'd reacted so poorly.
But I'm not going to do anything about it right now, not until I've cooled down about it a bit, he thought. I helped them all get these skills and they immediately try excluding others. Sometimes the NPCs are far too close to real people to be happy about.
Eddie headed back down to the crossroads. He was going to check in with Griff. There were sure to be things Griff wanted to talk to him about or show him, there always were, and Eddie hadn't checked in with him for a couple of days now.
When Eddie arrived at the town hall and spoke with Griff, he was surprised that there wasn't more to deal with. The buildings for the butcher shop and the light shop were complete, but Griff had them holding on opening until Eddie could check the places out.
There was a request to build a bakery in, made by the baker that had been sharing the inn kitchen with Liv. With the influx of adventurers recently he'd had to arrive earlier and earlier to get the day's baking done and had decided that he'd rather have a bakery that Eddie supplied and split the profits with him.
Dominic had already told him that the tavern had run out of the first two hogsheads of beer that had been delivered to it. The adventurers hadn't just visited the inn, they'd gone to the tavern as well, at least some of them, and when they found the cheap beer they'd drunk as much of it as they could. Eddie did find out that his fears were correct though, from what those adventurers had said the h
angover from the tavern's beer was impressive.
He spent the rest of his day walking the city, checking out the butcher and light shops. He found a good place for the bakery, just past the dairy barn and root cellar, putting more of his own land to work. The blueprints for it weren't very expensive so he bought it on the spot and read it off. Then he made a list of the materials he'd need and made a mental note to drop it off with Griff and have the materials delivered. He'd work on some of it himself and maybe hire the rest done. Doing it that way he'd have it done in three days or less he guessed.
Once he'd taken care of all his duties for the city, he walked out to Paul's place, dropping the material list with Griff on the way. Griff had promised that the materials would be there shortly since he had a overabundance of workers.
Eddie hadn't seen Jern all day and he hoped that the dwarf was either resting in his den on Eddie's farm or with Paul. He knew better though, he was pretty sure he'd find Jern with Paul either discussing, or working on, the projects Paul had contracted the dwarf to supply the stonework for.
The dwarf was just sitting in the sun in front of Paul's house, but when he saw Eddie he got to his feet.
“So, Jern, how are you doing?”
“Better,” the dwarf said, rotating his injured arm, “I need to thank Bob when I see him again. I thought I was about to die, but all that happened is I got a scar instead.”
The dwarf nodded.
“Definitely need to thank him,” he said. “So, what did you need, Eddie?”
“I wanted to check on you and see if you were doing stonework with Paul yet.”
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