Original Enchantment (True Calling LitRPG Book 1)

by Thad Ward

  “Sorry,” Ike said, scratching the back of his head. “I figured it was okay as long as the rat didn’t attack them. And I hate bullies.”

  “That’s not it,” Ada shook her head. “It was just… that was sweet of you.” She walked past him without looking back. “Come on. Let’s get lunch.”

  The pair passed over a short bridge with a river running below. Ike spotted people fishing on boats and washing laundry along the shore. As they reached the other side, he got the sense that they were leaving the cheap side of town and entering the commercial district. Many of the buildings were two or three stories tall, the street was cobblestone, and both used square rather than coarse stone. He saw signs for various crafts and services: A smithy with smoke belching from its chimney, a wainwright attaching a new wheel to a wagon, and a textile shop with weavers working looms.

  “I have to say, I’ve never seen a game with this much detail,” Ike said.

  “It’s all AI-generated,” Ada explained. “It’s one of True Calling’s claims to fame. Humans didn’t design one inch of it directly. That’s how they can achieve such a high level of detail. Walk up to any of these characters and they’ll have names, families, childhood memories, favorite foods, opinions on politics… it’s crazy. I asked a guy about his eyepatch the other day. He went on for ten minutes about how he lost the eye in a duel with a noble. It was actually a pretty interesting story.”

  “Not a quest giver, I’m guessing?” Ike said.

  “That’s the rub,” Ada said. “In any other game, if you find details like that, it probably means you’re onto something interesting, right? Here, it’s probably just an NPC making small talk. You can spend a lot of time spinning your wheels and getting nowhere.”

  “Spoken like someone who’s spun her wheels a bit,” Ike said. “Then again, it all depends on what you’re looking for. Quests are fun and all, but a nice conversation can be a kind of reward, too, right?” Ike wanted to mean it, but couldn’t make it sound convincing, even to himself.

  Ada snorted. “Fine. I’ll let you chat up random strangers while I go on the epic adventures.”

  The street they were on emptied into a wide market square with a well at its center. It was midday and the place was bustling. Vendors hocked their wares from carts, stalls, and nearby storefronts, from fruit to shoes, toys to tools, flowers to fish, and everything in between. Guards stood watch and mediated disputes between shoppers and merchants. Minstrels played and vagrants begged.

  Ike’s senses were swept up by the noise and clamor before he spotted something he should have expected. Amid this masterpiece of medieval chaos, there were players, most of them unmistakable by their very nature. He saw a small party off to one side, all in mismatched gear that probably offered the best stats, discussing an upcoming excursion out of town. He saw another player yelling at the top of his lungs as he tried to find a buyer for a – presumably used – purple codpiece. And, of course, he saw a provocatively-dressed girl dancing near the town well, surrounded by a small crowd of admirers hooting and whistling as she gyrated.

  “Are those… censorship bars?” Ike asked. Black rectangles seemed to cover the dancer’s most risque body parts, making it impossible for Ike to tell if she was completely naked.

  “Yup,” Ada said, rolling her eyes. “The game devs tried to make the game as immersive as possible, but they had to give on some things for legal reasons. You have to verbally consent before you’re allowed to participate in anything the game deems to be adult content. If you’re a minor, you don’t even have the option. Personally, I’m fine with the hit to suspension of disbelief.”

  “Same,” Ike said. He was going to comment further when the two passed by a vendor selling confections. Ike’s feet took an involuntary turn as his eyes locked on a slice of cherry pie.

  “Whoa whoa whoa,” Ada said, taking Ike’s arm and steering him away. “Don’t worry. We’re almost to the food.”

  “That looked like food to me,” Ike said in a desperate tone. He looked back toward the pies on the cart and his mouth watered.

  “Yes, but there’s lots of food here. Some of it’s good. Some of it’s cheap. But only this guy,” Ada whirled Ike forward so he was facing a particular food stall, “is both.”

  “Hello, my friend,” the man bellowed, beaming a wide grin. It took Ike a moment to process what he was reading, let alone seeing.

  Fu’s appearance was a study in contradictions. He was covered in delicate golden scales, had horns protruding straight back from his forehead, and had two long, catfish-like whiskers that seemed to drift through the air as if they were floating in water. The only hair on his head was a white mohawk. Despite these monstrous features, Fu’s friendly demeanor, stout stature, and green, fur-lined robe reminded Ike of the Ghost of Christmas Present; he practically radiated affable charm.

  “Hi,” Ike managed after a moment, failing to cover up his startled expression by looking down at Fu’s stall. There were bowls filled with noodles, steamed buns, dumplings, skewered meats, and other varieties of Chinese food. Ike tried not to drool visibly.

  “Heya Fu,” Ada said with a grin. She stepped up next to Ike and put one arm over his shoulder, patting his chest with the other hand. “This hungry guy’s name is Ike. We just got back into town from a dungeon run. Our coin pouches are full and our bellies are empty.”

  “Of course, of course,” Fu said with a quick bow. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. Let’s start you off, then.” He plated two steamed buns and handed them to Ada and Ike without another word. “Here, these are fresh.”

  Ike sunk his teeth into the bao and his eyes rolled back into his head. The dough was soft and just a little springy, while the center was filled with moist, well-seasoned pork. “Marry me,” Ike said with his mouth full.

  Fu laughed. “Maybe we should get to know each other a little first.” He began plating more food as the two quickly finished the buns.

  “So I have to ask,” Ike said between bites of eggroll, “what made you think to start a Chinese food stand in a Scottish town?”

  Fu, who had spoken with a slightly over-the-top Asian accent until then, switched to an American accent. “Do you see any competition?”

  Ada chimed in. “He’s brilliant. Make food the NPCs don’t cook but the other players love. Even if the locals never buy it, he’ll get rich off of adventurers like us.”

  “Oh, they’ll buy it,” Fu said confidently. He turned around to toss some fried rice in a wok at the back of the stall. “They just don’t know it yet.”

  “Do you mind if I ask about your class?” Ike said as he finished his eggroll. “A proprietor sounds more like a landowner or a businessman than a traditional adventurer.”

  “That just means I’m not on a traditional adventure,” Fu said. “I’m a mix of Scottish and Korean in real life, so the game made me a lesser dragon from Korean mythology in a Scottish-themed town. And I love business, so my adventure,” he returned from his cooking to smile at them over the counter, “is to make myself a proper dragon hoard.”

  “One bowl of noodles at a time,” Ada said, twirling chopsticks into her mouth and making an unladylike noise.

  “Oh, this is just the start,” Fu said. “I’ve got a quest to buy a building. I’ll use it to set up a real restaurant. Teach folks my recipes and hire them to work for me. Use the gold from that to invest in trade goods. Turn this town into an adventurer’s Mecca.”

  Ike was still eating but his pace had slowed now that he wasn’t ravenous. “I can respect a man with a plan,” he said with an impressed nod. “It seems like True Calling’s got you pegged pretty well.”

  “Oh, without a doubt,” Fu said. “I haven’t heard anyone say they disliked their character after the first day or so. What about you? Mind if I ask about your class and race?”

  Ike had forgotten that not everyone had the Identification skill. He finished chewing a bite of fried rice before responding. “My race is astral. I don’t know much about it.
Ada says I’m probably the only one in town.”

  “Ah, well, allow me to formally welcome you to the endangered species list,” Fu said with a belly laugh.

  Ike smiled at that, then continued. “My class is artificer. Not much in the way of combat abilities, but I can enchant items pretty freely. I plan on doing some side work if you’re interested.” Ike took another bite while mentally reviewing the list of enchantments he already knew. "I've got one that stops time inside a container that might be useful for keeping your ingredients fresh. Others for cold resistance and light that might make your work easier. Plus a few that are good for travel if you plan to do that."

  “Oh my,” Fu said with genuine interest, “those do sound useful.”

  Ada cast a knowing glance at Ike before adding, “And he’s learning more all the time. The only downside is they cost mana drain, which is more or less permanent.”

  Fu nodded thoughtfully. “Thank you for the offer. I will have to get back to you on that.”

  Ike spooned the last bit of his food in his mouth and set the plate down on the counter. “And thank you for the meal. Ada’s is on me. What do I owe you, Fu?” He started fumbling around in his satchel to gather coins.

  “That’ll be four rubes, my friend,” Fu said.

  Ike furrowed his brow. “It just occurred to me that I have no idea what any of these are or what they’re worth.” Ike lifted coins in his hand and raised a questioning eyebrow to Ada and Fu.

  “Oh my, you are new in town,” Fu said.

  “Ugh, I hate the money system in the highlands,” Ada said. She started pointing out coins in Ike’s hand. “There are two kinds of copper coins. The little copper circle with the cut-out center that sort of looks like a washer is called a copper tenth. It’s sort of like a quarter. The bigger copper coins that are solid are called copper rubes. They’re equal to a few dollars each.”

  Fu looked over the counter and smiled. “It seems your time in the dungeon was well spent. Actually, anything that looks like a washer is called a tenth and converts as its name implies. Silver’s worth about ten times what copper is, so those whole silver coins – they’re called knights – are equal to twenty or thirty dollars each.”

  “Which means that a silver tenth,” Ike picked up four tiny silver coins with holes in their center, “is about the same value as a copper rube, right?” He placed them on the counter.

  Fu smiled and accepted the coins. “Right you are. You pick this up fast. There are larger denominations, but you won’t see those much around here. Platinum queens are worth about a thousand and golden kings are worth about two thousand if you ever see them.”

  Ike tried to keep a straight face. He remembered seeing some washer-shaped platinum coins in his share of the loot, which would make them platinum tenths. The realization that he was walking around with the game equivalent of hundred-dollar bills in his satchel made him suddenly very nervous. “Thanks so much for the tutorial, Fu. And for the meal. You can count on me coming back for more.”

  “Not at all, Ike,” Fu said. “I haven’t managed fortune cookies yet, but I wish you good fortune, my friend.”

  “He seemed nice,” Ike said as he and Ada walked away. “If he opens that restaurant, he has got to call it the Gold Dragon.”

  “It’s not a matter of if,” Ada said. “He’s friendly, trustworthy, hard-working, and has a good head for business. I give it a month before he’s pulled it off. Tops.”

  Ike followed Ada as she walked along the main thoroughfare leading west. Every minute or two, she stopped and looked around, standing on her tiptoes and weaving her head to see over the throng of city-goers. “Finally,” she said looking down an alleyway. “Time to turn in this quest.”

  Ike followed, thinking Ada was heading for some room or building tucked away from prying eyes. Instead, she stopped next to a dark-cloaked man laying on his side and gave him a gentle kick. “Venin,” she said. When the figure under the cloak failed to stir, she kicked him far less gently. “Venin! Wake up, damn it!”

  Venin winced and muttered a curse under his breath. He looked up from under his hood without rising. “Whadaya want? I’m trying to sleep here.” The man’s voice was gravelly and his words slurred.

  Ada took the sack out of her backpack and tossed it down to Venin, then unfurled the wanted poster and flashed it at him. “Special delivery, all the way from Austrin Fortress.”

  That seemed to get the man’s attention. He sat up with his back against the wall of the alley and pulled the head out of the sack. Another day of decay hadn’t done it any favors, and there was still ichor where Ike had bashed it in, but the face still mostly resembled the thief. “Well, I’ll be damned,” Venin said. He dropped the head back in the sack.

  “Come on, pay up,” Ada insisted. “No more excuses. You agreed to be my sponsor.”

  Venin stood slowly, putting his hands on his hips and stretching his back. “Yeah, yeah. I’ll get around to it. You did good. Just let me go turn this in with the magistrate…”

  “No way,” Ada said, snatching the head back from him. “You’ll use the money to drink yourself into another stupor before you make it back, then make up some excuse. I need more than your word.”

  Venin pulled his hood back and Ike finally got a good look at his face. He was scarred in several places and weathered in the rest, with a patchy black beard and receding salt and pepper hair that was slicked back. He regarded Ada with a snarl. “Remember who it was that got you the bounty in the first place, girl.”

  Rather than back down from the scary drunk, Ada stepped closer and gave him a glower of her own. “Oh, don’t you ‘girl’ me, asshole. The only reason I couldn’t get the job from the magistrate myself is because of idiotic rules. I want in. You get me in first. Then you get your payday.”

  Venin backed down with a growl. “Fine! I can’t right now. They’ll be closed until the magistrate gets back in a few days.”

  Ada narrowed her gaze. “Fine. Show me some collateral, then.”

  Venin stared daggers at Ada and ground his teeth for a long moment. He reached slowly into a pouch. Ike thought he might draw out a weapon, but Venin took out a folded piece of parchment instead. “Here,” he said, handing it to Ada. “That’s more precious than gold to me. You keep it safe until I get you your sponsorship.”

  “Ike,” Ada said without looking away from Venin. She raised the parchment over her shoulder. “Mind identifying this for me?”

  Ike stared at the map for a moment and had to make a mental effort to keep his amazement off his face. “It’s a map. It’ll show the nearby area. If you give it a drop of blood, it’ll keep track of the thing the blood came from.”

  Venin glared at Ike. “You speak too easily about something so rare. That there’s a bounty hunter’s best friend. I know men who’d kill to have it.”

  Ada gave Venin a grin edged with spite. “Done deal,” she said, spinning on her heel and walking past Ike and out of the alley. Ike, not caring to be alone with Venin, followed in her stead.

  “I’ll be wanting that back!” Venin yelled after her, kicking the dirt in frustration.

  “He’s a peach,” Ike said as they walked. “How on earth did you end up doing a quest for a guy like that?”

  Ada’s irritation was written in the tension of her shoulders as she stomped down the road. “It’s even worse than you know. I spent days trying to find a quest. I bought him a few drinks to loosen his lips about getting certified as a bounty hunter. He didn’t help until I cursed him out! He doesn’t think you can cut it unless you’re as foul-tempered as he is.”

  Ike chuckled. “It’s a good thing he didn’t get to know you that well, then. If he saw how nice you are most of the time, he’d probably stop speaking to you entirely.”

  Ada stopped in her tracks and whirled until she was facing Ike. She looked irritated at first. When she saw Ike’s deer in headlights reaction, she blinked and softened her expression. “You’re… just being honest, aren’
t you?”

  Ike held his hands up defensively. “Yes? Sorry if that came across wrong.” He couldn’t help but feel like he’d stepped on a landmine.

  Ada took a deep breath and closed her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Oh shit,” she said, opening her eyes suddenly. “I was so upset I forgot that I gained a level.” Her eyes lost focus, telling Ike she was looking at her character sheet, so he decided to take a peek, too.

  “Whoa,” Ike said. “Nice. All of your original skills went up. But what’s…?”

  “Suspicion!?” Ada yelled. Passersby slowed down to stare. “Suspicion?! Rude as hell! You get to see the future and I get to smell bullshit!? I feel attacked!”

  Ike put an arm around Ada’s shoulder and gingerly urged her down the street, casting apologetic glances around them. “I don’t think it’s meant the way you’re taking it.”

  “Bullshit!” Ada continued, gesticulating angrily, but she walked along with Ike anyway. “You don’t call a racial ability ‘suspicion’ and not mean something by it! Damn judgy-ass game!”

  “Then call it ‘caution’ or ‘healthy skepticism’ instead,” Ike said in a mollifying tone. “I’m sure it’s useful one way or another, especially when hunting bounties.” Ike thought a change of subject might be more productive. “What does Trap Equipment do?”

  “That’s… huh,” Ada said, seeming to calm down. “I guess I can add a spike trap to your shield or something?”

  “Or darts to your arrows,” Ike suggested. “Or maybe a bear trap to a pouch or backpack. It doesn’t have a duration, so it might be a good use for real trap materials instead of copies.”

  “Okay, that doesn’t sound too bad,” Ada admitted. “I’ll have to think on how best to use it.” For a few seconds, Ike thought Ada had moved on before she added, “I’m still mad as hell about getting Suspicion, though.”

  Ike shook his head. “So, where are we headed to next?” They were almost to Weir’s western gate at this point.