Keeper

by Tom Larcombe

  ~ ~ ~

  By the time he'd finished emptying the building, which he noticed seemed to be made of new wood that wasn't a match for the dried-out wood on all the other buildings, and went back out everyone else was done looting.

  “Slowpoke,” Karl teased.

  “Hey, my head is pounding, every muscle in my body aches, and that smithing stuff was heavy. The anvil alone was probably almost fifty pounds.”

  “Just teasing you man, we were just waiting to torch the place and get the experience bonus.”

  “Let's do it then,” Eddie said, moving towards the path that had brought them here. His body was slowly easing out of its aches, his movement becoming easier as time passed.

  He turned when he reached the point that the trail entered the village and watched as Dominic cast his fiery arrows, targeting the thatch on the roofs of the buildings. Soon, everything but the little smithy was burning. Dominic had tried to ignite that one three times with no success.

  “Damn it!” he cried, “It won't burn.”

  “Makes sense if it really was supposed to be a smithy,” Eddie said. “Hey Jern, how's your leg feeling?”

  “Mostly better, why?”

  “There are a couple of support poles in the smithy, I bet if we took those out it would collapse. That might count for destroying it, yes?”

  Dominic shrugged.

  “It might,” he said. “I've never had one of these buildings that wouldn't burn.”

  “Feeling up to it Jern?” Eddie asked.

  “Aye, leave it to me,” the dwarf said.

  He walked back into the burning village, avoiding the buildings that were on fire. It only took him a minute after he walked into the smithy until a pair of solid slams could be heard over the roaring flames. Jern came out of the building quickly, showing a bit of a limp, then slammed his hammer into the wall right over the door.

  The post that rested atop the door frame flew into the building and now Eddie saw the roof start to collapse. When it had finished and the dust cloud it sent up was starting to disperse, his notifications started flashing.

  Hidden Quest (repeatable):

  Two little, one little, no little goblins

  Numerous goblin villages are located in the Forest of Fools. Destroy one to help hold back the goblins.

  Reward: 2000xp

  Success:

  You have completed the quest: Two little, one little, no little goblins

  Experience awarded: 2000 (+200 well-rested, +500 blessing)

  “Yes,” Allie called out, “level nine!”

  “Level eight here,” Tiana said, smiling. “I've been waiting on that one for a long time. One more level until major tier spells now.”

  Eddie's own notification light was flashing and he pulled it up with a grin on his face.

  Success:

  You have obtained enough experience to advance to Level 6

  Do you wish to advance?

  (Y/N)

  Yes, he thought.

  You have advanced to Level 6.

  You have 3 stat points to distribute.

  You may choose a skill.

  You have received one stat point in: Strength

  Your Health has increased.

  Your Mana has increased.

  Your Stamina has increased.

  He'd already figured out just where he wanted his stats for this level, and the added point in strength was welcome since he'd already determined that he needed to increase that.

  Add one stat point to strength, one point to agility, and one point to wisdom, he thought.

  He still wasn't sure what skill to take, he just knew he wanted to learn something that he could use with Conjunction, so he held off on choosing that just yet.

  “Level six,” he said. “Need to figure out a skill to use with Conjunction before I pick the new one I just got.”

  Tiana's smile disappeared again when he mentioned Conjunction, but her mood did seem a little better now that she'd leveled.

  The group turned and headed back down the trail, Karl griping that Eddie was leveling faster than he was again.

  They had no encounters on the way back, which wasn't strange. The patrols drew from the nearby villages and when one had been destroyed it didn't spawn any more patrols until the village itself respawned.

  When they reached the road near the farm Eddie announced his intention to stop at the smithy first so he could unload his inventory. He was surprised when everyone else decided to come along. Then when they told him they all had scrap metal and poor quality weapons to give Opron he understood. They wanted to clear out their own inventories also.

  The door to the smithy was open, heat pouring out of the building. When Eddie walked in he found Opron standing over the casting box Eddie had built for him. A set of tongs and crucible were placed on the edge of the forge, obviously having already been used. Drops of metal congealed on the edge of the crucible where Opron hadn't cleaned it when he was done with it.

  “Eddie, my man,” Opron said. “Just in time to see my masterpiece. Okay, my first piece, but it'll let me get started forging properly. Help me get the crate disassembled, but watch out for the sand, it's going to go everywhere and it's hot.”

  Eddie didn't have the heart to empty his inventory just yet. Instead he helped Opron disassemble the crate. Hot sand poured out everywhere revealing a clay mold cast in the shape of an oversized anvil.

  “I need to let that cool a bit,” Opron said.

  Dominic was holding back a grin and Eddie knew that the wizard had something up his sleeve.

  “Does it need to cool naturally?” Dominic asked.

  Opron turned to him.

  “Well, in the real world it would, but I'm thinking they weren't that thorough here, why?”

  “I'm a fire mage. That means that I can manipulate fire and heat, both adding and removing.”

  “By all means,” Opron said, gesturing towards the mold.

  Dominic walked over and placed his hand on the mold. Eddie winced since he could feel the heat rolling off of it from several feet away. Dominic didn't appear disturbed by it at all though. He muttered a chant under his breath and within a couple of minutes Eddie could feel the difference, the air in the forge was cooling off quickly.

  After five minutes Dominic stepped back. The rest of the group was restless, wanting to get on with their day.

  “Guys, if you've just got scrap metal for Opron then ask him where he wants it, unload, and head out to wherever you're going,” Eddie said. “No need to wait around.”

  “Metal?” Opron said. “Put it in that chest at the far end of the forge. There's a few swords in there still.”

  “Where will you want the rest of it?” Karl asked. “That little chest isn't going to hold it all.”

  Opron's eyes bulged.

  “Pile it on the floor beside the chest then.”

  Opron just watched as the group dropped all the metal items they'd found in the village that they couldn't use themselves in a pile on the floor, his jaw slowly dropping farther and farther open. Finally, when they'd finished, everyone but Eddie and Tiana left.

  “Gonna crack open your anvil?” Eddie asked.

  “Oh, yeah, I almost forgot.”

  With a glance at the several hundred pounds of metal he'd been gifted, Opron drew his hammer from his inventory and approached the mold. Three quick taps of the hammer cracked the clay mold and it fell away to reveal a ragged anvil. Opron grinned.

  “It just needs to be filed down and I'm in business,” he said.

  “Or you could be in business sooner,” Eddie said.

  “Huh?”

  “Well, we've got more than just scrap metal for you. He dug into his inventory and started pulling out tools. Once those were out, he pulled out the molds, saving the anvil for last.

  “I'll still need the anvil though,” Opron said, eyes wide at the pile of tools and molds Eddie had made.

  “Or you could just use this one,” Eddie said, pul
ling the anvil out of his inventory. “Where do you want it?”

  Opron's wide-eyed stare rapidly changed to a glare.

  ~ ~ ~

  Chapter Ten

  Freyja stared at the simulacrum she'd forced the defeated Private Olson's consciousness into. It was solid and unable to move. She could communicate with it mind to mind, but it didn't even have a mouth with which to speak, no eyes with which to see, and nothing to distract itself with but its own thoughts.

  So, your name is Olson, is it not? Freyja thought at the consciousness.

  Who are you, what have you done to me? came the frantic reply.

  I am Freyja.

  What is one of the AIs doing, capturing me like this?

  You have displeased me and as far as you are concerned, I am a Goddess.

  I'm a player here, you can't do this to me, Olson's mind screamed.

  Ah, but you do not have a player file, I have looked for it with your identifier and no such thing exists.

  Compartmentalized information, Olson thought at her, Check alternate player database, SF-07. Papa Tango Bravo Foxtrot.

  She quickly accessed the file, finding the man's records there as he'd claimed they would be.

  I was unaware, until now, that such a thing existed. Now that I have access, I see you listed there. I do not see the necessary permissions for you to be doing the things that you have done though.

  Olson's thoughts sounded panicked when he replied.

  Check the permissions on Specialist Harmon in the same database, he gave us our orders, he transferred us into the new bodies.

  Freyja's avatar stopped dead, her eyes going wide.

  “Specialist Harmon has all the permissions of a dev, but he is not a dev himself. This is unprecedented,” she said aloud, not thinking it at Olson so as not to share the information with him. “And I see his commands to transfer this consciousness into the Elite Goblin Warrior he was slain in. I shall have to look into this more deeply, but for now I must release my captive. Such a shame, there is probably much more I could have learned from him.”

  You may go, she thought at Olson, your consciousness will return to your true avatar, although you may not wake up for several hours since I'm sure this has been stressful on you.

  “Since part of my job is to comfort the players, I'm sure that this one will be comforted by a very long nap upon his return to his avatar,” she said aloud, so there would be a record of it in the logs. “I'm sure he'll be much more comfortable not remembering anything about this conversation also.”

  She dismissed the simulacrum, allowing Olson's consciousness to return to its body, which was already under the effect of her most powerful sleep spell.

  ~ ~ ~

  Opron had glared at Eddie until he left the smithy, then when Eddie peeked back in before leaving the clearing, he'd seen the dwarf staring at all his new toys, rubbing his hands together gleefully.

  Eddie and Tiana returned to the inn where they found Karl and Allie. Dominic was off doing something else and they'd passed Jern talking to some of the dwarfish players that Eddie had met the other day.

  Dominic's probably over at his house. He was so excited when he talked about moving into it this morning that I can't picture him doing anything else. I imagine we'll see him at the inn later on for dinner and drinks though.

  “Eddie,” Karl said, “did you get a chance to loot anything other than the smithy at that last village?”

  “Not much, why?”

  “Because there were a few more of these,” Karl said, pulling out a shortsword.

  Eddie looked a little closer. Unlike the clunky one he'd originally been carrying, retrieved from a goblin scout's corpse, this one actually looked almost elegant. He quickly Evaluated it.

  Shortsword (Uncommon)

  Weapon (Melee)

  Attack: 20

  Dmg: 8-40

  Crit: 15%

  Crafted: goblin smith

  “That's just weird,” Eddie said. “Crafted by goblin smith? The poor quality sword I had didn't say anything like that, didn't even have a crafted section. But that's some nice damage.”

  “Eh, not that great,” Allie said. “Well, correction, it's awesome for this area, but I've seen some on auction whose max damage is well over a hundred.”

  “Someday,” Eddie said, “but for now, yeah, this is great.”

  “Here, this one's for you. Everyone else that wanted one has one already,” Karl said. “Plus I've got two more to spare. There were a bunch of common quality shortswords too. We just gave all the poor ones to Opron as scrap. I figure we can sell the common quality ones here during your swap meet tomorrow, or maybe trade them for some more armor or something.”

  “Damn, that tier two village was something,” Eddie said.

  “Yeah, that wasn't normal, at least not from what I remember,” Allie replied.

  She winced slightly, Eddie assumed from her memories of what had happened to her at one of those villages before he'd met her.

  “But they never used to have a smith. Unless it's an ultra-rare occurrence so I just never saw it before. But the Goblin Elite definitely didn't belong there. The highest level I saw in that village before was a level eight, and not an Elite either. The Elites are tougher than normal for their level. He didn't go down easy, but I was still expecting him to be more difficult than he was. Although I think we have to thank you for that Eddie.”

  Tiana sighed and glared at Allie.

  “Once you did that spell of yours,” Allie continued, “he could either try to tear himself out of the vines and other shit entangling him, or he could try to fight us and let the vines immobilize him. Made it a lot easier from there on out.”

  “Don't count on that too much,” Eddie said, with a sideways glance at Tiana, “It really takes it out of me.”

  “Yeah, Dominic told me not to ask you to do that again any time soon. He said you fell over as soon as you finished it, maybe passed out.”

  “Not really passed out, just couldn't stay upright any more,” Eddie fibbed. “Vision going gray and stuff like that. Bit of a headache after, but I'm fine again now.”

  “You'd better be if you know what's good for you,” Tiana said. “And you'd better not pull that crap again in combat. No more new conjunctions on the spur of the moment, or else...”

  Or else what? he thought, but was smart enough not to say it out loud.

  The door of the inn swung open and Eddie glanced up. Opron was coming in and from the look on his face he wasn't pleased. He came over and plopped himself down on a chair at the table with Eddie and his friends.

  “You just had to do that, didn't you?” Opron asked.

  Eddie shrugged.

  “Do what?” he asked.

  “Spoil my big moment.”

  “I tried not to spoil it, that's why I waited until after you'd cracked open your own anvil to give you the one we'd found.”

  Opron's face went tight and Eddie was sure the dwarf was grinding his teeth.

  “Count to ten Opron,” Karl said, “we were trying to do you a favor. Now when your apprentice arrives, or if and when you let Delgar into the smithy, two of you can work at the same time.”

  “Can't let an apprentice work on the anvil. He'll have a lot to learn before that,” Opron said. “Delgar though, I'm not sure if I like him, but he does know his smithing. I suppose I'll talk with him this evening, tell him to come out to the smithy tomorrow. Can't do a lot yet, don't have a lot of fuel for the forge.”

  Opron glanced at Eddie meaningfully.

  “I'm on it, Liv's finding us a Collier, then we'll have a steady supply of charcoal for you to work with.”

  “When?” Opron asked.

  Eddie stood, anxious to beat a hasty retreat from the table. He knew how he'd screwed up with Tiana, but Opron's anger just left Eddie confused. He'd thought the smith would be happy with all the stuff they'd brought him.

  “I'll go check,” Eddie said.

  He beat a hasty retreat t
o the kitchen, finding Liv stirring the massive pot on the stove.

  “Liv, any word on the apprentice smith or the Collier?” he asked.

  “The apprentice is out in the barn having a nap. He just got here so I gave him a good lunch and told him to go rest in the barn. The charcoal maker is on his way, but I had to make him some promises you might not like.”

  Eddie waited a moment for her to continue, when she didn't he prompted her.

  “Such as...”

  “You'll need to be supplying a house for him and his family. Doesn't have to be immediately, but within a couple of weeks after he's here. Plus you'll have to give him a percentage of what the charcoal sells for.”

  “The first isn't an issue, I can handle that on my own even. The second? A good portion of the charcoal is just going to our own smithy. I wasn't going to charge Opron for it, since it's my smithy and he'll be making things for me as well as for everyone else. Any suggestions?”

  “For a while, at least, you could offer him some metal work in place of the percentage. Explain it to him, or offer him a stipend in coin for the time he works on charcoal for your own forge. I'm sure he'll be amenable. He needs a house because the goblins burned him out of his just recently. He got his family out, but lost just about everything else. I think he was planning on using that coin to replace the things he'd lost.”

  “Ouch, does that happen a lot? I mean, Brandr and Osmond were also burned out of their place.”

  “There are always those who are foolish enough to build on the borders of the Meadowlands. They make more profit for a while, but end up paying for it in the end. Those are two good examples of that. Without anyone patrolling the borders, it's to be expected.”

  I wonder, Eddie thought, maybe I could make a quest for players to patrol the borders? Pay out whenever they take out a group of goblins, or orcs I suppose, that crossed the border into the Meadowlands? What kind of reward would I need to put on that quest for players to be interested?

  Eddie realized that that was probably something he should put off for the time being. It wouldn't change anything quickly once he made the quest, but over a while it might make a difference. For now, though, he had other things he was trying to do.