Keeper

by Tom Larcombe

Plus I've got a couple of notifications to check, he thought.

  While he'd been fighting the last goblin, his notification light started flashing faster, which told him he had more than one to check.

  “I'll finish that gate up, reinforce it some too. I would have far preferred to have been behind it a few minutes ago.”

  “You and me both Paul, you're okay though, right?”

  “Maybe a bruise where you tackled me like you did, but I'm not complaining in the slightest. Go, do your work,” Paul said.

  Eddie turned and looted the goblins he'd killed, getting a few silver, more copper, and some poor quality weaponry and armor. Then he opened up his notification page.

  Success:

  You have obtained the skill Acrobatics. (Help Acrobatics for more details)

  You have upgraded the skill Short Swords to (4). Congratulations, you figured out which end is the pointy one.

  Eddie snorted at the game's snark and pulled up the help on Acrobatics. He'd skimmed it before and remembered that it was based on agility, but he also remembered a mention about combat in the description.

  Help acrobatics.

  Acrobatics: As the name suggests this skill allows the user to perform acrobatics. Flips and rolls, handstands and cartwheels, all acrobatic moves are possible for someone with this skill. A high agility will increase the chance of a successful use of this skill. This skill will also allow you to fall from a greater height without damage.

  Acrobatics may also be used in fighting, giving potential bonuses to attack and damage, although if the user fails to perform their skill correctly they will find themselves giving their opponent the bonuses instead.

  Eddie paused for a moment to digest the information the help file had provided.

  Well, I've got a decent agility so maybe I'll look into that, although the last line makes me a little nervous about using it in combat, Eddie thought. I'll wait until I get it to a decent level before I try it that way.

  He climbed back up to the second level of the tower and began to work on placing planks again. He watched as the other adventurers who'd participated in the attack made a pile of all the gear and the coins and went back down to add his own spoils from the attack to the piles. Then he went back up and got a few planks placed while waiting for everyone else to do the same.

  He ended up with a bit more coinage than he had gotten just from his own goblins, also a few back slaps from people who'd seen his dive off the tower.

  “That eager to get to the fight?” asked one.

  “Nah, I saw him,” another man said. “He grabbed the carpenter and pulled him out of the way. The poor guy froze when he saw all the goblins charging at him and Eddie got him out of the way of the charge.”

  He glanced over at Eddie.

  Used a spell to keep them off?” he asked.

  “Yeah, Safe Site. Not a hundred percent effective, but at least it kept it down to numbers I could handle coming at us.”

  “Anyhow, good job man. I'm glad you started this fence when you did. That was the biggest attack yet, maybe thirty or thirty-five more goblins than the next biggest.”

  Eddie had noticed no-one claiming all the poor grade equipment that was still in the pile and decided to speak up.

  “Hey, does anyone need these lousy short swords? If not, I can take them to the smith, he'll melt them down and reforge them into something better. If any of you are archers, I can tell you that he's got a broadhead arrowhead pattern already.”

  “How about swords?” someone called out.

  “Go ask him, follow the road east and take the first turn-off to the north after the inn, or just look up Opron in the inn tonight, he's normally there,” Eddie called out in return.

  Eddie noticed the tall elf that had been firing from the top of the tower slip out of the crowd then and he was pretty sure that Opron would be getting pestered about arrowheads before the day was out.

  Eddie loaded as many of the poor quality swords as he could fit into his inventory and Paul took the rest of them. The two of them unloaded the swords into the barn when they got back to the inn and Eddie made a mental note to tell Opron they were there if he wanted them.

  ~ ~ ~

  Eddie sat in the inn with most of the rest of his group. He'd finished the tower and Paul had finished the gate, but he was still wary about only having one wall. Because of that he'd already decided that tomorrow would be more wall building. He'd let Paul do the other tower they had planned, so the carpenter would also have access to the blueprint for it, while he worked on a wall on the far side of the houses Paul had built for adventurers. It looked like Dominic had planned it that way since the original wall extended out past the last house and when he'd asked, Dominic had verified that he figured they'd want more walls eventually so he'd planned the first one accordingly.

  He was still trying to determine what he could use his free skill point on. As it stood he only had one skill slot open and he resolved to add a point to his intelligence next level to fix that. For now, he just wanted to figure out a skill that he could use with his Conjunction. He already had ideas for a few other ways to use it with what he had, but he wanted more, he wanted to be able to make the most out of it. He just wasn't seeing much yet though, so he thought he'd ask.

  “So, does anyone have any ideas about a skill I could take to work with my Conjunction?” he asked the group.

  “That's the one you were telling me about?” Becky asked.

  He nodded.

  “Sure, you should take bowyer/fletcher so you can imbue an arrow with a direct damage spell when you make it. That would work just like you do with the temple walls right?” she said.

  “Yeah, that'd be great, except for one minor problem. I don't have any direct damage spells,” Eddie said.

  Becky's eyes widened.

  “Really? I got one as one of my starting spells. I could teach it to you if you like,” she said.

  Eddie glanced over at Tiana.

  “Can she do that?”

  “Is it a nature magic spell Becky?”

  She nodded.

  “Yes, she can, but it would take that skill point you were saving. Kind of misleading to call them skill points when you can use them for weapons or spells too, but it is what it is.”

  “What's the spell Becky?” Eddie asked.

  “It's called Arc. It isn't high damage or anything, just one to six points per skill level in Arc, the modifier maxed out by your nature Nature Magic skill, but I bet it would go well on an arrow. What's your Nature Magic level anyway?”

  “Only a three so far, but still an extra one to six damage for now is more damage than I'd be getting otherwise, and maybe it would go up quickly if I used it a lot. Are you sure?”

  “Yeah, consider it a tacit apology, plus payment for taking me out with your group. Although we'd better be planning on finishing that—”

  Eddie cut her off, not wanting her to say the word he was sure she was going to say next.

  “spot we started the other day,” he said, loud enough to drown out her voice. “And we will, once Karl's back. I really don't want to do that without a scout.”

  “Okay, I get that. Sorry, I was about to spill the beans, wasn't I?” she said softly. “But yeah, having a scout for that place is probably a really good idea.”

  “He should be back in a day or so,” Eddie said.

  “What happened anyhow?” Becky asked.

  Eddie had already made a cover story, one that was all true, just not all the truth.

  “His pod malfunctioned and someone hit the emergency logout button. So he has to stay out for a while, have a doctor check him out, then he'll be back.”

  “Oh, I hope he's okay,” she said.

  “From what I've been told he is,” Eddie said. “Although I haven't heard from him directly. Let me fire off an email to him and I'll see how he's really doing.”

  Eddie pulled up the in-game email client, specified Karl's non-game email address and sent off a q
uick message. Opron had told him Karl was up and about, so he figured it shouldn't be an issue, he just hoped Karl had a way to access his emails.

  Although if he does, he's probably still getting rid of all the spam that accumulated while we've been in game, Eddie thought. Unless he does like I do and check it every now and again while in game to see if anyone actually missed me.

  Once his eyes refocused and he was looking at everyone, they were all staring at him expectantly.

  “What?” he asked.

  “Didn't you hear her?” Tiana said. “Becky asked if you had somewhere a little quieter so she could teach you the spell.”

  “Sorry, I was sending an email to Karl, totally missed that. Yeah, we can do that. Um, probably not my room though, Paul wouldn't approve.”

  “That's fine,” Tiana said, “I'll come along as a chaperon. I haven't taught anyone a spell yet and I want to see how she does it.”

  “I only know what I found online,” Becky said, “So it might well take more than the single hour it's supposed to since I've never done it before either.”

  “Only one way to find out,” Eddie said, standing and offering a hand to first Tiana, then Becky. “Let's go give it a try.”

  Up in his room, they all sat down and Becky explained.

  “I'm supposed to tell you everything I know about the spell, then you're supposed to think about it, or meditate on it, or something like that for an hour. Then you'll just have to think 'Learn Arc'. That's really all there is to it according to the sites I read. But that's why I wanted somewhere quieter. Maybe you could focus or meditate down in the common room, but I couldn't.”

  “No, you were right, something would've distracted me,” Eddie said.

  Becky started talking about the spell and Eddie just listened for a bit. When she was done, he went silent, thinking about what she'd said. Tiana was silent throughout, her face showing the distant look that meant she was using the browser or the in game menus.

  Eddie was surprised that Becky stayed, but when she told him the hour was up, he understood why. He would've had to pull something up to make sure enough time had passed and she'd been trying to ensure that he learned the spell.

  Learn Arc, he thought.

  Do you wish to use your available skill slot for the Nature Magic Spell Arc?

  (Y/N)

  Yes, he thought.

  Success:

  You have learned the spell Arc. (Help Arc for more details)

  Help Arc, Eddie thought.

  Arc:

  Lightning is aligned with nature more than any other destructive force. By using the Arc spell the caster may access lightning as a weapon. Spell is targeted as though it were a missile weapon, with bonuses to attack against anyone wearing large amounts of metal.

  Target: May be targeted at a living creature, the spell does half damage if they resist.

  Range: This spell has a range of ten feet.

  Type: Nature, requires material components.

  Components: A small piece of wool which must be rubbed during the casting. Component is not used up by the spell.

  Damage: X= Arc Skill level. Damage is in the range X – (6*X) where X cannot exceed Nature Magic Skill Level.

  Cost: Varies (5-10 mana), based on skill level in Nature magic and skill level in Arc Spell.

  Well, that's awesome, he thought. I bet my agility bonus will be added to my attacks with this and even if Becky isn't right and I can't combine this with making arrows, it's still nice to have an attack spell.

  “Thank you Becky,” he said.

  “Are we good now?” she asked, hesitantly holding out her hand.

  “We are, I think,” he said, taking her hand and shaking it, “but I can't make any promises about Lucky.”

  “She's getting better, she came in through the window while you were meditating. When she saw me she just went under the bed instead of back out the window.”

  “There you have it then, looks like she might forgive you, but it will take some time,” Eddie said.

  “Well, I'm going to go now,” she said. “I'll come by the inn in the morning again.”

  “I'll probably be out in Adventurers' Field building walls,” Eddie said.

  “Yeah, dad gave me a quick rundown on what happened out there today. He said goblins have been attacking that field for a few days now?”

  Eddie nodded.

  “No-one knows why, it's a new thing evidently,” he said.

  Becky shrugged.

  “I haven't been around long enough to know, but I'll take their word for it. I need to go though, dad just messaged me, said we're heading home as soon as I get back down to the common room.”

  “Good night then,” Eddie said.

  Tiana, who was no longer engrossed in her interface, waved as Becky walked out the door. Once the door was closed and they were alone, Tiana turned her gaze back to Eddie, who flinched when he saw her glaring at him.

  “What is it about you feeling the need to risk your life over and over?” she asked. “I already got you to promise not to do it with your Conjunction, so now you have to bait a horde of goblins?”

  “I was helping Paul,” Eddie said.

  “The way I heard it you ran right across the front of the goblins that you'd funneled with your wall, then baited some to the side to kill,” she said.

  He shook his head.

  “Paul was still building the gate. He froze at the sight of them so I just jumped out of the tower and dragged him out of the way. I hit us with a Safe Site as soon as we were far enough that it wouldn't affect those aiming at the mass of goblins.”

  Her glare softened.

  “That does sound more like the Eddie I know. I didn't really believe that you'd be kiting goblins like that.”

  “I got a new skill out of the deal too,” he said, “Acrobatics.”

  The look on her face softened even more as she raised a single eyebrow.

  “You did, did you? I don't suppose you'd like to show that off to me?”

  “If you insist,” he replied with a grin.

  ~ ~ ~

  Chapter Eighteen

  Karl was impatient. He'd tossed on his old clothes, which had been transferred here from the warehouse he'd originally gone into the game in, and took the ID badge that had been clipped to the bag his clothes were in. After a quick visit to the cafeteria where he'd had a difficult time resisting the burgers he could smell he'd gone back to the room his pod was in.

  Broth and a protein shake were plenty to fill his stomach, especially after so long in the pod, but he could still smell the ghost of the burgers that had caused him to practically drool when he'd first smelled them.

  That's it, he thought, once I'm back in game I'm going to hunt some more of those cow things. That tasted like good beef so they must be really close to cows. I'll get Opron to make me something to grind the meat down with then I can make burgers in game, or more appropriately convince Eddie to make me burgers in game.

  He was watching intently. True to Tom's word, the old pod was being disassembled and thoroughly cleaned. Meanwhile there was a team working on the new pod, installing the additional equipment necessary for the long term testing. He'd been happy to see them replacing the nutrient tube with one that had some sort of sheath to protect it.

  “Hey, you said Eddie's getting an armored nutrient tube also? Just in case mine got cut some other way?” Karl asked.

  Tom held up what looked like a hair dryer.

  “Yes and no. We can't replace the actual tube without pulling him out of the game, so I'm going to give it an additional layer of material over the existing tube to provide some protection.”

  “With a hair dryer?” Karl asked.

  “I'll have you know that this is a hot air dispersal unit, not a hair dryer.”

  Tom looked at the device he was holding.

  “Okay, yeah, it's a hair dryer, but it'll do the job. I just need to heat up the material I'm layering on his tube, then it'll melt and mold it
self around the tube. Once it cools and dries it'll offer almost as much protection to the tube as the sheathing on your new one will. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to do just that.”

  The familiar sound of a hair dryer echoed throughout the room as Tom crouched and started his work. Karl was frustrated since he really didn't have much to do out of game. Tom had told him he could use one of the terminals in the room for net access if he wanted, so he wandered over. After opening his email, he started deleting the horde of spam that was sitting in it. Then he stopped when he got to his more recent emails.

  Is that from Eddie? he wondered as he saw an email with a sender name that included EddieH.

  He popped it open and scanned the email, then quickly typed a reply.

  'Eddie:

  I'm fine, but the doc insists on one more examination before I go back in. I'll get that in a few hours and hopefully be back in game right after that. They're fitting out a new pod for me, the old one's electronics are getting scrapped since they're caked with baked-on nutrient goo. But yeah, I feel fine, Doc says he didn't see any problems with the first exam, so I'll see you tonight or tomorrow morning at the latest.

  Hey, did you guys finish that dungeon? What did you find?

  Karl.'

  After he sent the email Karl pulled up some of the forums and information pages on Light Online and tried to plan out his character progression for the future.

  ~ ~ ~

  Eddie knew what he was going to be doing that day as soon as he woke up. He was going to spend the day building a wall, or several of them if he was fast enough. He couldn't count on Paul helping again today since he knew the carpenter had several outstanding contracts still unfinished. Because of that, Eddie was planning on doing absolutely as much as he could, while still taking breaks to walk down and help with Tiana's temple.

  He'd nearly finished the third wall of the temple the day before by taking a break every hour to walk down and use up his mana. His Accelerated Plant Growth spell had finally leveled while he was doing that so now the Conjunction with it and Weaving cost a little less to cast as well.