The Good Guys Chronicles Box Set

by Eric Ugland

  “This is the man who saved you,” Morcant said.

  All eyes were on me.

  A cry came out from the other side, and all of a sudden, a massive wave of Lutra crossed the water. They all hopped out and crowded around me, their tiny hands reaching out to touch me. I even had tiny baby Lutra lifted up and presented to me. There was crying and all sorts of emotion. I was completely overwhelmed.

  I started to back up, the press of the little guys intensifying. But then I realized one of the otters was getting stepped on.

  “Hey!” I shouted. All movement stopped. I pushed a few of the Lutra out of the way, and helped the trampled one to his feet.

  He nodded at me in thanks.

  “Okay,” I said, “I appreciate all this, you know, adulation. But how about we all get out of this shit hole and find a nicer place to, you know, talk about what happened, okay?”

  The Lutra (although I was definitely having trouble calling them that in my head), looked to one another, then at me, then all started nodding. They all jumped into the water. I guessed they either needed to pack, or, well, knew some other way out.

  Morcant looked at me with a bemused expression.

  “You have an odd manner of talking,” he said.

  “Yeah,” I replied, “you sound pretty weird to me too.”

  He nodded slightly. “Perchance I have been down here just a bit too long. The world has moved on I suppose.”

  “That, I can’t tell you.”

  He rubbed his head, his wispy hair going every which way at once. “I would like to offer you a reward, a thanks for what you have done.”

  “I appreciate that.”

  “Follow,” he said, “if you will.”

  Then he started walking out of the pool room. The Lutra all watched as I left. It was a weird feeling, as if they were, I don’t know, keeping tabs on me.

  Morcant muttered to himself all the way through the compound until we came to the storeroom. He led me back to a metal door I hadn’t noticed in my previous search of the place.

  “Was that always here?” I asked.

  “No,” Morcant replied in a flippant way that suggested such a question was silly, and I was silly for bothering him with it. He did a little thing with his hand, and arcane symbols appeared out of thin air, glowing for a moment before sliding in and around the door.

  There was a loud ka-thunk, and the door opened ever so slightly.

  “Our repository,” Morcant said. “Items we planned to sell in order to continue our work.

  It was a smaller room, perhaps ten feet long and five or six feet wide. Shelves lined the walls, but were at different levels to allow for larger items to go on certain shelves. There was, however, barely anything there.

  “I, uh,” he stammered, “apparently I forgot the, uh, that we already sold many things from here. I fear there is not much I can offer. I would give you healing potions,” he pointed to a series of vials with red liquid, “but—“

  “I’ll take ‘em,” I said.

  That got a half-smile from the old man, and he set them on one end. Then he grabbed the one good-looking item left, a leather bag sitting on the bottom shelf. It had two straps on one side, just like a modern backpack, and a massive opening to shove stuff inside. The mouth looked like it could be rolled up as if it were a waterproof bag, and a thick leather flap covered most everything. Extra cover. It was a natural leather color, and looked really nice, overall.

  “A rather useful thing,” he said, “it is a—”

  “Bag of holding?” I asked, very excited.

  “Ooh, I do wish I had thought of that — much better name.”

  “What did you call it?”

  “The Unfillable Knapsack.”

  “Bit of a mouthful,” I said.

  “Yes, well, magic is my forte. I did not spend much time on creative pursuits.”

  “What does it do?”

  “It holds everything you want it to.”

  “How much will it hold?”

  “We never found a limit, though I am sure there is one.”

  “That’s amazing. Thank you.”

  You have found a unique item, The Unfillable Knapsack.

  The Unfillable Knapsack

  Item Type: Epic

  Item Class: Magic Bag

  Material: Leather

  Durability: unbreakable

  Weight: 8 lbs

  Requirements: None

  Description: Totally not a bag of holding, this bag with extra-dimensional space inside, is capable of carrying an indeterminate amount of material. Might as well test it and see how much crap you can fit inside, you hoarder. As long as you can fit it through the mouth, it can be stored inside.

  Morcant gave me a wan smile, and I gave him a hug. He got very uncomfortable very fast.

  “Do you mind if I clean out your store room?” I asked. “Is there anything you need here? I mean, are you coming with us?”

  “I feel, perhaps, I might stay here,” he said. “I fear the Empire is not quite the place I want to be in yet.”

  “Okay, but—”

  “Please,” he said with a smile, “take everything you would like.”

  I gave him a big clap on the shoulder, and then headed back into the store room to test the limits of my new bag. I shoved virtually every piece of weaponry, armor, and even some of the shelves into the bag. It all kept disappearing inside. It was beyond my wildest RPG dreams. It did get a bit heavier and I wondered if it would have any impact on the straps. Would the bag ever break? Just one more thing to test.

  Chapter 49

  I got Red, untied him, and explained the whole situation. Just as I was about to walk out the door with him, the entire tribe showed up, standing expectantly in front of the exit.

  “Uh, Red,” I said, “here’s the tribe. Tribe, here’s Red.”

  Awkward silence.

  The door opened right up, no problem, and I came face-to-face with Nikolai.

  “Evening,” I said.

  He grabbed my shoulders and looked me in the eyes. Then he looked me up and down, finally he released me.

  “You look fine,” he said.

  “Feeling a bit tired,” I replied, “but otherwise fine.”

  “He saved us,” one of the Lutra piped up. Then it was like a dam broke, and all of the otter-like creatures swarmed past me, running up the stairs. I mean, I got it. It’s not like I’d want to spend any more time in the place I’d been a slave either.

  Nikolai gave me one raised eyebrow, and then he turned and walked up the stairs.

  Once we got back to the entrance of the castle, I ran through the whole story for him, going through the assault, the girls upstairs, the prisoners downstairs, and the agachnern.

  Nikolai listened, nodding here and there, but otherwise remaining silent. When I finished, he slapped me across the face.

  “You are a brave idiot,” he said. “Do not be so foolish in the future.”

  “No offense,” I countered, “but I only did what you told me to do.”

  “Partially.”

  “I was totally on my own here—”

  “I was watching the entire time. Only once you went through the magic door were you on your own.”

  “I didn’t know it was magical.”

  “It is something you should have checked.”

  “Okay, lesson learned.”

  “Almost good work,” he said, and started walking. “We must hurry back to town, or we will ruin the schedule.”

  “I’m sorry?”

  “Cleeve has a schedule to keep.”

  “I need to grab my boots and stuff,” I said.

  “Hurry,” he said, and walked out.

  I flipped him off, and then ran up the stairs. Then I began really testing the limits of the bag, looting like a madman, even pulling the four-poster bed apart and shoving that shit in there.

  Chapter 50

  It was daylight out, and the weather was absolutely delightful. Sun shining, bird
s chirping, a beautiful view of the lake and surrounding countryside. We headed out down the mountain, and once again, I got to haul a wagon.

  The prisoners I’d rescued from the basement had gone through all the materials piled in the courtyard and recovered most of their trade goods. We loaded up a wagon, and Nikolai volunteered me to pull it. It wasn’t exactly my first choice, but I didn’t want all these people to be broke and shit. So there I was, strolling down a mountain path as if on a leisurely hike. With a wagon on my back.

  Naturally, because I was little more than a beast of burden, I used the time to go through the nearly countless notifications I’d gotten.

  Cool Beans, you’ve learned the skill Stealth. Be sneaky! Move around in silence! Tip-toe up to giants and dragons. You’re totally going to start stealing stuff now, aren’t you? +10% harder to detect.

  Congratulations, you’ve discovered an ability: Make An Entrance. You really know how to enter a room. Once per day, you may use your ability to make a grand entrance such that those on the other side of the portal are stunned!

  Cool Beans, you’ve learned the skill Improvised Weaponry. You can make a weapon out of anything. Say, a dwarf stabbed to a chair. +5% dmg when using made-up things as weapons.

  Cool Beans, you’ve learned the innate skill Swimming (LVL 9). You can move through water without drowning. +9% movement speed in water.

  I also gained one level in weapon throwing, two in swords, and one in axes. Plus I killed a bunch of things and completed a big ol’ quest, so I got a buttload of xp.

  Boom:

  Huzzah! Against all odds, you have reached Level 5! You receive 6 attribute points to distribute in the next 36 hours or you lose them. Dare to believe you can survive, and achieve greatness. Or don’t.

  Huzzah! Against all odds, you have reached Level 6! You receive 6 attribute points to distribute in the next 36 hours or you lose them. Dare to believe you can survive, and achieve greatness. Or don’t.

  Huzzah! Against all odds, you have reached Level 7! You receive 6 attribute points to distribute in the next 36 hours or you lose them. Dare to believe you can survive, and achieve greatness. Or don’t.

  Huzzah! Against all odds, you have reached Level 8! You receive 6 attribute points to distribute in the next 36 hours or you lose them. Dare to believe you can survive, and achieve greatness. Or don’t.

  Huzzah! Against all odds, you have reached Level 9! You receive 6 attribute points to distribute in the next 36 hours or you lose them. Dare to believe you can survive, and achieve greatness. Or don’t.

  I had a bunch of points to dole out — 30 to be exact — but I wanted to ask Nikolai about them. He put me through all that shit to get the levels, so I wanted his advice on what to do. I was tired of floundering, and I knew just dumping more and more points into strength would be pointless. Though at the same time, that would certainly be interesting. The dude was marching at the front of the group though, and I was in the back. Given the pace, and the way the Lutra swarmed around me, it didn’t seem like there’d be a chance for me to get up to him. Also, that’d mean running with the wagon.

  Instead, I settled into a pleasant hike down the mountain, where I had to make zero decisions about anything. I just took a moment to enjoy the new world. Take in the clean air, and just be.

  As we approached Saumiers, I could see the town had its gates closed, and the guards were at attention. It made sense; our caravan was certainly odd, and we weren’t exactly hard to see. But as soon as we got close enough, several of the rescued prisoners and nearly all the Lutra all broke into a run, sprinting for the city.

  The gates opened up, townsfolk poured out, and there was a lovely moment of reunion. I couldn’t help but smile broadly.

  Nikolai and I just sort of slowly walked towards the town, letting the moment happen. We slipped through the gate mostly unnoticed. I left the wagon near the entrance, just inside the gates but not blocking the road, and used the mild chaos to disappear through the crowd. Nikolai and I made our way to the inn.

  I was happy to not be a part of the crowds, never being particularly great with things like accepting gratitude or anything like it.

  Kind of out of nowhere, as Nikolai stepped into the tavern area of the inn, a notification popped up. Since I had nothing else going on, I didn’t ignore it.

  Congratulations! You’ve completed a QUEST!

  The Saumiers Rescue

  Villagers from Saumiers have been kidnapped in the night and were taken into the wilds by slaving bandits. You managed to bring them home safely, with barely a scratch shared among them.

  In addition, you completed the secret objective, saving the traders and their goods. This gives you a bonus reward.

  AND, the super secret objective was completed, and you managed to bring the long-lost Lutra back to their families, giving you an additional bonus reward.

  Reward: Increased standing with the town of Saumiers, 4000 xp, [unknown] and [unknown].

  Congratulations! You’ve completed a QUEST!

  A Bandit Problem

  You have successfully cleared the bandits from the ruins above the Royal Road with extreme prejudice.

  Reward: Increased standing with the town of Saumiers, increased standing with the Empire of Glaton, 2500 xp, 40 gold and a gift from the mayor of Saumiers.

  “Huh,” I said, “odd timing on those.”

  Nikolai nodded, then added, “Likely they only felt truly safe once back within the walls of Saumiers.”

  “And the bandits?”

  “Perhaps the mayor needed to see the job done before the quest completed.’

  “There’s a lot I don’t understand about this world.”

  Nikolai just shook his head. “You have so little knowledge, it is as if a babe is playing with dolls.”

  “Nikolai,” I said, “you gotta work on your phrasing.”

  “Eat food,” he replied, “rest. Do not leave.”

  Owen, the innkeeper, raised a hand to Nikolai. Nikolai nodded and walked off through a door.

  I stood there like a fool for a moment, because I got some more news.

  Huzzah! Against all odds, you have reached Level 10! You receive 6 attribute points to distribute in the next 36 hours or you lose them. Prepare for your Choice. Dare to believe you can survive, and achieve greatness. Or don’t.

  Level 10. Nice. I guess. Now I had 36 attribute points to spend. I had the feeling the game’s math was off somewhere — I seemed to be drowning in fucking attribute points. But if it was unbalanced in my favor, why rock that boat? I decided to follow Nikolai’s orders, and I sat down at the bar. “Got any food cooking?”

  Owen just smiled.

  Chapter 51

  Owen brought out a large bowl of potatoes, fried again, Gods bless ‘em, and a massive slab of steak, the marbled fat still sizzling. There was a tureen of gravy and a tall mug of milk. I could get used to life in Saumiers.

  While I ate, I chose, pointedly, to not pay much attention to the world around me. Sure, I took a look whenever someone would come inside, but for the most part, I kept my focus on the food, doing my utmost to present the visage of a man who didn’t want to be spoken to.

  Hence why I was totally surprised when someone came up right behind me.

  “This him?” a voice asked.

  “Ayup,” Owen replied.

  I turned around and saw an older man, balding with a trim beard, a little portly, and looking like it’d been a looong time since he’d had a good night’s sleep.

  Involuntarily, I gripped my knife, not at all sure what was about to happen. I swallowed the urge to say something about not knowing it was his daughter.

  The older man stepped closer to me, and pulled a huge sheathed sword out form under his cloak. Then he bent his head and held the weapon out to me.

  “You managed to return my future to me,” the man said, face still down, looking at the ground as if he was afraid of looking me in the eye, “yet all I have to offer in return is something of m
y past.”

  He pulled the sword just a little from the sheath, revealing the metal had a bit of sparkle and glow to it.

  “Man,” I said, hands up after I let go of the knife. “I’m not sure what it is I did for you—”

  “You returned my daughters to me.”

  “It’s fine, I—” I started to say, but I felt a hand on my shoulder, and Owen pulled me close to him so he could whisper in my ear.

  “’Tis a mighty bad idea to refuse a gift here,” Owen said softly, but in the manner where I knew it was a stern warning.

  I really wanted to ask why, but with everyone in the tavern looking at me and watching this interchange, a tavern that seemed to be overflowing with all sorts of folk looking at me, I had no option but to slap a big silly grin my face.

  “You are too kind,” I said, “but I accept your generous gift. Thank you.”

  With just a tiny bit of a bow, I took the sword.

  You have been given the greatsword: HELLREAVER

  Greatsword

  Item Type: Rare

  Item Class: Two-handed Melee

  Material: Fletium

  Damage: 20-45 (Slashing)

  Durability: 1845/2000

  Weight: 24 lbs

  Requirements: Str 18

  Effects: +2 Damage on each strike, +10 Damage against any evil character.

  Description: A large straight-bladed sword having a cruciform hilt with a grip for two-handed use.

  My first magical weapon.

  “Thank you,” I said. “Really.”

  He nodded. “When I was your age, I thought a magical sword was something worth having. But when you get a bit older, you will see it is nothing compared to having yer family.”