Neverfall: The Dark Path (Book 2): A Gamelit Lit RPG Series
Page 6
“I imagine such tools are rare and expensive. I can’t believe someone hasn’t pinched them before now. So what is the catch?” Cassie’s green eyes narrowed at Taig.
The smile was so broad that it could not be hidden by that bushy beard. “The catch is that whatever destroyed the forge is still there.”
“What exactly did destroy the forge?” Luke’s brow furrowed. Something that could do that would be powerful.
“No one knows. The villagers sure didn’t stay to find out!” Taig chuckled.
“Who cares what it is?! We can handle it! We definitely have to get that axe, not to mention Denarius’ tools!” Mack clapped Luke’s back.
“Be careful, Mack, Cutter might be offended by your zeal to get rid of her,” Cassie pointed out dryly.
Mack actually looked a little sheepish and reached back for his current axe. “She knows that there is no stronger love than your first love. But we do outgrow those.”
“Uh-huh, you need to whisper quite a bit of sweet nothings to her between now and us finding that new axe if you’re going to survive.” Cassie grinned.
“This ridiculousness is what occurs when you name a piece of equipment,” Alicia said with a shake of her head. “Several of the men in my unit named a bomb disposal robot Fred, and then they did not want Fred to be sent on missions where he might get injured. They nearly mutinied when our commander did the sensible thing and sent the robot in.”
“What happened to Fred?” Mack asked, his brown eyes wide.
Alicia rolled her eyes. “You completely missed the point of my story!”
“No, no, I didn’t. But I still need to know if Fred is all right,” Mack insisted.
Alicia just glared at him in response.
Luke, blinking, turned back to Taig, and said, “All right, we need to offload some old weapons and armor.”
Taig stuck his thumbs into the loops of his belt and rocked back and forth. “I’ll be happy to take them off your hands. And you might want to take a gander at some of my creations as well. I hear that you have earned a ten percent discount off all goods because of your brave deeds!”
“Do we get a ten percent increase on selling our armor and weapons to you as well?” Christopher asked.
A look of almost panic went through Taig’s gaze. “Alas, no, only on items you purchase.”
Cassie narrowed her eyes and said pointedly to Mack, “This reward is just getting better and better.”
Mack let out a sigh. “I’m sure that it’ll all work out in the end.” He elbowed Taig affectionately. “And you’ll give a good deal on all of our things, won’t you?”
With a too-bright smile, Taig answered, “Oh, yes, yes, of course.”
Luke reached into his pouch and pulled out one at a time the following:
Threadbare Tunic
--------
Type: Standard Leather Clothing
Stat Boost: None
Modifier: None
Weight: 2 lb.
Cost: 5 Copper
Worn Leggings
--------
Type: Standard Leather Clothing
Stat Boost: None
Modifier: None
Weight: 2 lb.
Cost: 2 Copper
Tattered Medium Leather Boots
--------
Type: Standard Medium Leather Clothing
Stat Boost: None
Modifier: None
Weight: 7 lb.
Cost: 10 Copper
Frayed Leather Gloves
--------
Type: Standard Medium Leather Clothing
Stat Boost: None
Modifier: None
Weight: 1 lb.
Cost: 10 Copper
Rusted Longsword
--------
Type: Standard Weapon
Damage: 5-10 Slashing
Modifier: None
Weight: 6 lb.
Cost: 50 Copper
If he got top dollar for everything, he would receive 77 copper. He grimaced as he realized how very little this stuff was worth. These things had hardly been worth carrying around with him.
The others also pulled out their old armor and weapons. Mack donated a pair of breeches and an old chest piece. Alicia had an old shoulder armor and a lesser cudgel. Cassie only had the pair of daggers Luke had given her. Christopher handed over his old staff. His former robes were worthless as they had been shredded by the King Rat.
Taig cast his eye over the various pieces, fingered a few, stroked his chin, made a few sounds and then said, “I’ll give you two silver and 50 coppers for the lot!”
“WHAT?!” Cassie looked stunned. “A single health potion costs 50 silver!”
Alicia put one of her large hands on the butt of her cudgel. Her black eyes were pitiless. “Perhaps a better price could be offered.”
Taig’s eyes grew large. Everyone’s seemed to do that after seeing Alicia’s temper. “Hey, now, tell your green friend that I offered top dollar, young Mack!”
“Alicia, cool your jets,” Mack said. “The math works out. What we had was simply tat. It wasn’t worth much.”
Luke, too, felt disappointed by the low amount. But he tried to be positive and said, “Guys, it’s always like this at the beginning of the game. Starter gear is worth nothing, but we’ll be getting a lot of better stuff and money from fighting.”
“That is an awful lot of grinding for us to do just to get a potion,” Cassie muttered.
Luke tended to agree, and, all things being equal, it would have excited him, because he loved having to really work for everything in a game. But he felt the press of time on them. Yet he couldn’t let the others be brought low. “Things will go faster now that we’re all fighting together. “
Mack nodded. “We’ll take down baddies right and left.”
“I am eager to bash some heads,” Alicia said with some grudging enthusiasm.
Christopher sighed. “The deaths of many creatures will be on our hands.”
Cassie patted his shoulder. “But we’ll get money for it. So it’s all good.”
Christopher rolled his eyes to the heavens.
“We’ll take the money, Taig,” Luke said, and stretched his hand out to receive the pieces of silver and fifty copper.
“How much do we have total?” Cassie asked.
“Let me check.” Luke pulled up the Menu and checked on their coinage:
Money
------
Gold: 2
Silver: 29
Copper: 170
He read it off. There were grim looks all around, especially after Luke pointed out that he was completely out of health and mana potions.
“I’m pretty low myself,” Mack admitted.
“I will be using my magic to fill your health as we battle so we do not use them as easily as before,” Christopher assured them.
“Maybe we should go over to the Silver Winds and see about buying a couple of potions?” Cassie suggested.
“I have the ability to create potions,” Christopher reminded them. “Perhaps they sell recipes. If they do we can then gather our own ingredients and I can make the potions for little to no cost.”
“Good point.” Luke nodded.
“Before you go, let me show you my wares!” Taig swept a hand towards the building behind them.
Luke hesitated, thinking there was absolutely no way they could afford anything he had. But then he realized they should at least know what was possible, even if the best weapons and armor usually dropped during battles. So he nodded, and they followed Taig into a comfortable square room with a counter directly opposite them.
There were dummies dressed in various armor types set up around the room and every bit of wall space was covered with weapons on racks. Some of them let out a soft glow, like the black leather armor with the cowl that would be perfect for Cassie. The glow clearly indicated that the set was magical. Nothing, though, looked as good as his Dragon’s Blood Armor or Dragon’s Claw. The others,
however, spread out across the room to finger the merchandise.
Cassie went over to a crossbow. She took it down from the wall and hefted it to check its weight.
“If you want to test it out, I have some bolts you can use and there are targets out back,” Taig told her helpfully.
She opened her mouth, likely to say yes, but then asked the dwarven blacksmith, “How much?”
“Oh, well, that is a very fine crossbow. The mechanism--”
“How much?” Alicia growled, backing Cassie up again. It seemed like the two of them were developing a friendship of sorts to Luke’s eyes.
“Just five gold and two silver! A bargain at twice the price!” Taig beamed.
“We’re never going to be able to buy anything!” Cassie sighed, and immediately put the crossbow back on the wall.
There was nothing there that would upgrade Christopher’s staff. Noting this, Taig said, “I’m afraid I don’t specialize in magical robes or staves. I can buy your old things, but I have nothing more powerful to sell you. The nearest shop would be in Renogath.”
“That is all right,” Christopher answered. “I am quite adequately prepared for my role for now.”
Marty’s staff was slung across his back. Luke was sure it had much greater powers than Christopher’s former Staff of Healing. Christopher seemed to treat it very carefully. Marty had been Level 25. Luke was impressed Christopher could even use his staff. He also guessed, though, that Christopher’s hesitancy was because it had been Marty’s, a man whose soul had been taken.
“You would look quite smart in this armor, young Mack.” Taig stood by a set of scale mail armor that looked perfectly sized for a dwarf.
Mack took off his own helmet and tried on the new one. It shone brightly, and Mack looked quite fierce behind the single piece that ran down the center of his broad nose.
“And how much would that whole suit of armor cost?” Cassie asked dryly.
“A mere fifteen gold!” Taig informed them as he rocked back and forth on his heels.
“A mere what?!” Mack quickly took off the new helmet and replaced it on the dummy with exaggerated care as if he feared he might break it, and they would have to buy it with indentured servitude.
“Is that with or without the ten percent discount?” Cassie asked, arms crossed tightly over her chest.
“Oh, with, of course! You are our brave adventurers!” Seeing their horrified expressions, Taig hastily added, “I assure you that my prices are in line with all my competitors!”
Alicia frowned at him. Her tusks drew up near her nose. “You don’t have any competitors. You’re the only blacksmith in town.”
Taig blinked. “Well, in the area. In the kingdom. I’m certain!”
“Right. Sure.” Cassie looked skeptical.
“I think we should remove ourselves from temptation, and head to the apothecary,” Christopher suggested.
“Are you certain?” Taig looked rather crestfallen.
Luke smiled, but shook his head. “We can’t afford a rusty, dull spoon of yours right now, Taig. I’m sure we’ll be back though, after we’ve made some of our fortune.”
“I look forward to that,” Taig said as he accompanied them out of the store, and back into the square. He waved them off. “Good luck to you then!”
Luke heard the banging of metal on metal as they turned towards Silver Winds. Cassie though was looking in the opposite direction towards the Temple of the Harbinger. While the others headed towards the shop, Luke dropped back by her.
“Hey, what’s going on in that head of yours?” he asked, touching her arm to get her attention.
She reluctantly drew her gaze from the almost forbidding structure. “I was just thinking about the rate of coin drop in this game. It’s not good, Luke. There is no way we’ll ever be able to buy weapons and armor at Taig’s.”
“If he’s telling the truth about his prices being in line with everyone else’s,” Luke pointed out.
“I think he is.”
He shrugged even though he was feeling the same beginnings of trepidation. “Best stuff is dropped during battles anyways, or hidden in tombs. Like my armor and weapon, Christopher’s staff, or that axe we’re going to get from Denarius’ forge.”
“Yeah, but what about costs to get those armor and weapons upgraded? And how much time are we going to want to be flower picking to get ingredients for health and mana potions? Not to mention the brewing time.” She shook her head. “Maybe the grind to do all of that would be fun if we were just playing a game, but we need to get powerful, rich, and well-equipped fast. I’m worried the game is set up to stop us from doing exactly that.”
Luke nodded reluctantly. “The prices are definitely not balanced with the coin drop, but a lot of games are like that in the beginning.”
“Or maybe your father is controlling things to make it more difficult for us. Have you thought of that? He wants to prove to you that we can’t succeed here without him,” she said.
A chill went through Luke, but he shook his head after a moment. “He could easily get us to think that by sending a few more Beta players like Marty and Gloria after us. Jacking up prices in the shops seems a little remote to make his point.”
“Or maybe he can’t send more Beta players here for some reason. Maybe they’re stuck in whatever kingdom they were last in when the bug hit.”
“Gloria is from the high elf kingdom so that can’t be right.”
Cassie raked her teeth over her lower lip. “I just don’t think we’re going to get ahead in Neverfall without taking advantage of all of our skills.”
“Like stealing from the temple?” His eyebrows crept up as he guessed her sudden interest in the place.
She nodded. “That and other dark stuff that would probably have my brother ripping his hair out in philosophical concern.”
Luke thought about what it was like to kill Renard, the guard that wouldn’t let him go through a portal from the Dark Lord’s palace back to Itaeria, and how terrible it had been to cleave through the flesh and bone of a seeming human being. What would it be like to assassinate someone? Robbing places didn’t seem like that big of a deal to Luke, but then again, in Neverfall what if they had to see the people they robbed go hungry and die because they no longer had those few coins or rare objects in their possession to sell?
She must have read some of that on his face, because she said, “Look, I’m not saying rob everyone on sight. Though… okay, what I mean is that we should keep our minds open. Neverfall is a game. But if we die here then we might really die. So shouldn’t we be a little flexible in what we’re willing to do?”
Before Luke had a chance to answer, Christopher had pushed open the door to the apothecary, Silver Winds, and the little bell at the top jingled merrily.
“Let’s talk about this later,” Cassie whispered. “Just don’t rule anything out, Luke. Not even something called the Dark Path.”
7
QUESTS, QUESTS, AND MORE QUESTS
The moment the door to Silver Winds opened, Luke’s nostrils were filled with the mixed scents of sandalwood, lavender, cinnamon, oranges, and other spices whose names he did not know. They tickled his nose. He suppressed a sneeze. The smell was pleasant but overwhelming, much like when he had gone into a Chinese medicine shop the one time with Cassie. They’d been chased out by the scent of some dried fish that neither of them could stand. Nothing in Silver Winds was that noxious, but anyone with allergies would likely be struck dead upon entering.
Luke lingered by the door, ready to dart out into the fresh air again while the others moved deeper inside. The room was a simple rectangle. They had entered at one of the small ends. At the other small end was a counter behind which sat a plump woman sat on a high stool. She looked like a round yellow ball as she was very plump and dressed in a voluminous yellow caftan. She had black hair that was arranged on her head in a gigantic bun. Curious brown eyes were set in a doughy face and reminded Luke of raisins poked into sugar
cookie dough. A smile alighted on her bow-shaped lips.
“Welcome to Silver Winds!” she pronounced, her voice rather deep and husky for that small body. “My name is Maxina. Please peruse my wares to your heart’s content.”
The ceiling was hidden by the countless herbs that were tied together in bunches. The floor was made up of rough-hewn planks where desiccated flower petals drifted down, and littered it like multi-colored snow. The walls were lined with shelves from the floor to the ceiling. Those shelves were filled with an amazing amount of different shaped and sized bottles. Some of the bottles appeared filled with stems, seeds and herbs of various sorts. Others contained liquids of every color known under the rainbow. And finally there were bottles that appeared to simply be filled with smoke. Luke watched as the black smoke in one bottle tried to dislodge the mouldering cork that held it prisoner. He retreated to the door again, unnerved.
Christopher looked like he’d walked through heaven’s gates. He slowly moved across the room, his eyes skating over all of the bottles and dried herbs as if they were treasures beyond count. His lips were parted in a silent “O” of wonder. He hardly blinked. He finally made his way to the counter and stood before Maxina, without speaking, as if he were too overwhelmed to utter a sound.
“I see I have found a devotee of alchemy,” Maxina said, her dark eyes glinting with pleasure. “And what would be your name?”
Christopher blinked as if coming out of a deep sleep and focused on her with wide, dreamy eyes. “Oh, I am Christopher. That is Cassie, Mack, Alicia, and Luke.”
“Pleased to meet you,” Maxina said.
“I am just starting my journey in learning how to brew potions,” Christopher explained. “This place… it’s beyond anything I had hoped for in such a small town.”
Instead of taking offense on behalf of the people of Lethbridge, Maxina nodded vigorously. “Believe me, before I came to town these heathens were using remedies sold by mountebanks! Any con artist could come through town claiming to have a potion that would grow hair, cure the plague, or cause your neighbor’s husband to fall in love with you. All of it was a sham!”