Homeland: Ingame 2

by Kieron Uchee

  Sitting on the bench in the warm sunlight I opened the interface and accessed Gnet. Making my way to the game forums I slowly scrolled through them trying to find out anything about the Dungeon of the Deep. It was a bust, but if my theory on why the island had been abandoned was true, then it was not surprising that no one knew of the dungeon.

  Because the dungeon had not been discovered by the time that the island had been abandoned, it had a very small chance of being discovered. The fact that I had climbed the mountain, located the Dice and had glimpsed the building hiding among the bush was sheer luck. I hoped that this string of luck would hold. I would do my best and then chance fates, as the Gods were useless here. Chuckling at my self-induced humor I napped until the darkness came.

  Getting back over the channel was a lot easier than I had thought it would be, the wings helped and my confidence was much higher than when I had gone to the island. I was amazed at the sight of the ocean waves one thousand feet below me. The waves glistened in the light of the two moons and the sea foam looked like a living creature.

  Once I arrived at the mainland terminal I folded up my wings and covered everything with my cloak, then made me way down towards the abandoned park. I stopped along the way at a pub and ordered four large meals for takeout. It seemed a lot but I knew I would need the calories for the change back to being a normal Elf. Once I arrived at the park I settled down near the creek and began to eat.

  The hot pot pies had an excellent taste, and the grilled spicy sausage was wonderful washed down with some hard pear cider. The cheese went with the sausage and it all tasted great, finally finishing off with roasted chicken and wine. By the time I was done I was happily full and slightly buzzed. It was a nice feeling; things seemed to be working out.

  Wrapping myself in my cloak I cleaned up the leftovers and then went down to the water to have a wash-up. The clear cold water cleared my head and allowed me to focus on my thoughts for tomorrow. I lit a smoke and sat back, I would meet with the guys and then go to Alaric’s pub and hand in the items I had returned with.

  Continuing on from the pub, a trip to the bank and then finally stopping to get some clothing and potions. I would have to be somewhat generic as I had not chosen the second class yet. My thoughts were still inclined towards distance DPS class as I was tired of getting up close and whacking at another player.

  I had not discovered anything yet that could help me choose, but I am willing to bet that I would find something in the Dungeon of the Deep. Snubbing out my smoke I laid back and closed my eyes with the gentle sounds of the creek and the night quickly putting me to sleep.

  I awoke the next morning to find Sebastian and Komhether sitting on the bench down the pathway. They were chatting softly as I approached; I cleared my throat to let them know I was up. Walking down to the creek I washed up and then scooped some water and had a drink. Clear and cold, it tasted great. This was the benefit of living in a game world; there was no pollution to deal with.

  Calling out to the boys I said, “Hi guys good to see you, let's go get some food and kava and then share what we have found out.” Leading the way, I went towards Alaric’s pub on the third tier. I wanted to eat, drink and get some XP. Once we reached the pub the Alaric himself came and sat us down in a private booth. Leaning over to me he asked, “Did you succeed?” Seeing my nod, he took our orders and left with a large smile on his face.

  Sebastian began the discussion as we slowly began to eat. “This is what little I have discovered; the Dwarfs are rapidly building and expanding, some of what they are developing are weapons. Others items they have made are called streetlights, they fasten them to buildings on the corner edges. They run off some kind of compressed fuel system and light up at night. Almost every block in the first and second tier is now equipped with these streetlights.”

  I asked after taking a sip of kava, “How do the people feel about these changes?” Komhether spoke up, “Most people are usually uncomfortable about change, they do not like it.”

  Nodding thoughtfully Sebastian then said, “Yet it is surprising how little resistance there is to any of the changes. What with cleaning the lower tiers and enforcing curfews as well as having the Hammeryte patrols out making sure crime does not pay, most people are happy.”

  Sebastian then continued, “Some of the other things that I found out have to do with what is happening in the Dwarven lands. They were preparing for war and when the Gods disappeared it brought some chaos to the land. Suddenly people were asking the Dwarven King where are the Gods and why prayers are not being answered. Why quests were not being given, and why all the oracles, priest, and monks are wandering around like the poor brain-dead.”

  “Sadly the King did not give a reassuring response and the discontent and fear have given way to what amounts to a rebellion. I think BanHammer is building on this discontent and making weapons and having them shipped to a Dwarven port where those engaged in the rebellion are ready to receive the weapons. By manufacturing these weapons here in the Human capital city, he is effectively free from any punitive action that the Dwarf King would likely engage in.”

  This was a lot if information and I needed to think about it for a bit before I could decide on a course of action. Turning to Komhether I asked, “What did you find out my friend?” I could see him preen a bit at being the bearer of news. I could not help but smile at the little messenger; I was growing fond of him. The fact that Sebastian had established a relationship with him made me happy also; I think they had both been very lonely.

  Komhether cleared his throat and began to speak, “As you know I am able to not be seen by people, this was important as a messenger of the Gods should not be seen by just anyone. So, by using this ability I was able to enter the Kings chambers and attend several meetings that were held.”

  “The first thing I have learned is that the King has appointed Archon, your friend from the group you refer to as the Old Bastards. He is now the Kings Chamberlain and is the one who is really running the politics between the Houses, Guilds, and the Crown, from up at the palace. The King is not the man he once was, without the favor of the Gods he seems little more than a figurehead now.”

  “The only Ascended power in the land is the Unknown God and he only speaks with Reona and Archon. The King basically stays in his palace, what a strange twist of fate that is. The Guilds and Houses still do meet with the King but from what I can gather, we are no longer preparing for war.”

  I smiled at this news and said, “Thanks, Komhether, that is valuable information, and I appreciate you and I mean both of you getting me this information, it really helps.” I wish I could say more to express how I felt; I really did appreciate the effort that the guys had put into getting this information for me.

  Soon I finished my kava and began to tell my story. Once I was finished we were all silent for a while. Sebastian then asked, “If the dungeon has never been done, and it is undiscovered, do you think you will find some good items in there?”

  I nodded my head and spoke, “I sure am hoping that I will, and if it isn’t anything that I can use then hopefully it will have items I can auction off or sell. There is only one way to find out and that is by running through the dungeon.”

  At that point the Alaric approached and waved at me, excusing myself I walked over to him. He led me to a small private room and then asked me for the items. I reached into my pack and began to pull out the bag. Handing it over to him I watched as he held it and then finally put it on the desk.

  Turning to me he reached into his waist bag and pulled out five gold coins. I could see that my XP bar had increased by ten thousand XP. Suddenly the ding sounded and the window opened.

  Congratulations Torn

  You have managed to reach level three

  All your stats have doubled

  your strength at level three = 400

  your agility at level three = 400

  your health at level three = 400

  your speed at level three =
400

  your mana at level three = 400

  Opening up my stat window I could see that my stats had increased. I had started with a base stat of one hundred at level one. Then at the second level, I had reached two hundred now at the third level, I was at four hundred which worked out to be about two times above normal. It all helped. It seemed that every level would increase my base stats by doubling of the current stats level.

  Most VRP games would develop certain classes that were considered overpowered compared to some of the other classes. This was really picked up by the player versus player aspect of games. To be honest I had always thought that it must be hard to balance classes and no one would be happy all the time.

  Thanking Alaric for the quest rewards we shook hands. I then mentioned I had would be available in ten days to start in the kitchen. He nodded and said, “That will be fine.” I left him looking at his mother’s bag; he had a sad smile but seemed happy to have received it.

  It was amazing that NPC could have the emotional depth that they had. Making my way back to the table I rejoined the guys and we sat and enjoyed another drink. Komhether asked, “When will you be going back to the island?” “Tomorrow, I need to get some supplies and then I am off.”

  We finished the meal off with some more kava and laughs, and then it was time to go.

  Chapter 8 Friends

  As Komhether, Sebastian and I made our way out of the pub I turned to the guys and asked if they knew where I could find a good shop with entry level gear. Something that would have enchants, which were rare on what amounted to throw away items. Despite knowing I would outgrow the gear within a few days it was worth the cost if it kept me alive.

  Sebastian spoke up and said, “I know of a decent little shop on this tier, they cater to the level ten to twenty ranges, but I have been in the back and they have some old gear that is lower level. I think they used to do trade-ins for non-soul bound items. They also sell some low-level enchants to put on the low-level gear to increase its saleability.”

  I nodded and thanked Sebastian; it was just what I was looking for. Soon we were passing a bank and I spoke up, “Hey guys I am going to run into the bank and make a deposit, I will be right back.” I walked past the burly NPC guards on the portico and entered the bank.

  As I stood in line I thought about the size of the guards standing outside, they reminded me of a series of old movies I had watched a few years back. The lead actor was a hugely powerful man, who was famous for making simple statements, my favorite was, “Get to the Choppa.” Slowly the line moved and I was eventually at the teller.

  The bank teller was an attractive human girl with the typical perfect body and smiling face that all female NPC characters had. I gave her a smile and then told her I would like to make a deposit. She smiled back and gave me a wink. Then she said, “I would love to take your deposit, sir.” The succubae bond was clearly still working and affecting every woman I talked to.

  Recalling the bank code that I had been given as Tor I decided to see if it would work. First I placed on the counter the gold I had received from Alaric. Then I asked to have it put into my account. When the girl asked for the account code I repeated the numbers I had been given long ago. I was not sure how it worked but she looked down at something then looking up at me she took the money and said, “Is there anything else I can do for you, sir.”

  I replied, “Yes, may I have an updated balance and withdraw twenty gold coins. I hate to have to carry around a lot of silver.” The bank teller smiled and wrote something down and then opened a drawer and grabbed the gold coins. She then gave me the coins and a piece of paper with my balance on it. With a big smile, she said, “Please come again, anytime.” I was not sure if that was an innuendo or if she was just really friendly.

  Reading the paper, I saw that I was still a rich man, with a lot of money in that account. Finding that Mithril bar when I had been Tor had been fortunate. With the cost of Mithril, I had auctioned it off for a very nice sum. The results were seen on the paper the girl had given me. Along with an invitation to meet her at the Wind Chime park at seven bells this evening. I guess she was being more than just friendly.

  Showing the note to the guys I said, “It is nice not to have to worry about money anymore.” Komhether gave me a smile and said, “You do not have to worry about being lonely either, isn’t that the second note that a girl has passed to you? Are you going to go meet her?”

  I thought about this for a while as we walked towards the store. “I do not think so; I did not come back into this realm to pick up girls. I came back to be with Ama and to deal with the Old bastards, Archon in particular and Reona also.”

  I continued to speak, “I also want to deal with the Eldest and the House of Pain. To be honest, when I think of what those people did to me I become pretty pissed off. It is like thunder pounding within my breast, full of anger and rage at the helplessness that I have felt.”

  Sebastian nodded and said, “I understand some of what you are feeling, it is referred to as Demonic fury, and once it awakens it never truly goes away. At least not till vengeance has been accomplished. The question is how well you get your vengeance?”

  I wish I knew, I thought, being level three I was not a force to be reckoned with. It all was coming down to grinding the levels up and seeing what kind of spells and items I could find as I leveled. We arrived at the store and began the shopping experience. It was not a lot of fun I thought as we left, but it had served my needs.

  I now had a black outfit, it had all kinds of pockets in it and had leather patches sewn on that would offer a modicum of protection. It also had minor enchantments on the boots, pants, cuffs and chest along with one on the cloak. They were all + 2 in mana which helped to give me a small basic increase. Opening my stats window, I looked at the display and read,

  Stats at level three

  your strength at level three = 400

  your agility at level three = 400

  your health at level three = 400

  your speed at level three = 400

  your mana at level three = 410

  I was getting a headache looking at the stats info, it was not my favorite part of the game. I noticed that there was a small button for a simpler interface display window, once I turned that on the interface window changed,

  Stats level three

  Strength = 400

  Agility = 400

  Mana = 400

  Health = 400

  Speed = 400

  The new window displayed the numbers I wanted and nothing else. I knew my stats would continue to double with each level, at least for a while. The modifiers were the nanobots that had enabled me to make a character with above average stats. All I needed was to see the numbers going up the rest was just a distraction. Finding a public washroom, I changed into the new gear. As we began to walk again I noted with the new gear equipped my stats now showed a small increase in mana.

  It wasn’t much but my mana had increased by ten points. Having more mana meant being able to use the spells and abilities I had more effectively. I guess I would be stacking up my mana.

  All in all, I would need to build up all the stats till level ten and then I would formalize the class build I had been working towards. My main class was Thief, but my secondary class would be the one that would be displayed to the world. I noticed we were approaching a large crowd and closed all the interface windows to see what was happening.

  We had arrived at an open-air market so I suggested that we all go and purchase some food items. High caloric content and great taste were the only requirements. After spending a couple of hours shopping, we all met at the market entrance with several bags of supplies. Continuing on Sebastian led us to his apartment.

  Once we arrived we unloaded all the bags and then we sat and planned out what our next move would be. I explained that as soon as we arrived at the island I would like to go the entrance building and start the dungeon. If we left in the early predawn we would a
rrive with a whole day to farm the dungeon. Komhether asked, “Are you planning on staying in the dungeon?”

  I nodded and spoke, “I only have a week to do it and then it will be open to the public if I don’t finish it. I want to keep it for myself as it could be a money-maker, a game changer.”

  Sebastian spoke up, “But you do not need money, with what you have and what I have all your financial needs are secure, why would you want a money-maker.” Wow, that was a good question and it illustrated that even in a game verbal expressions could have different meanings. Money-maker did not mean making money for me; it meant something that would be helpful.

  Sometimes the words we say can be a little problematic I thought. After taking the time to explain what I had meant to Sebastian and Komhether I was asked a few questions. Komhether began with, “I know from what Sebastian has told me that your realm is a little strange, can you tell me about it?”

  I nodded as it was the least I could do. I began by prefacing what I wanted to share with this. “My realm is crazy. That will make it easy for you to understand things. The leaders of the land began to bring in rules of how the people should respond to different things and circumstances. At first, that was accepted and applauded; the rules brought equality and fairness to people.”

  Stopping for a moment to think I continued, “Then a change began to happen, groups of people began to promote their own agendas, what they wanted not what was good for everyone. So, more rules were made and for the first time, the common people began to lose their rights and freedoms. However, if you had gold, you could influence the ruling class.”

  Sebastian nodded, “It is that way in hell, corruption by the wealthy for the wealthy. Please continue Torn, this is interesting.”