by Adam Horne
“That’s good enough,” said Kelath. “I can turn in the quest and have extras for when I run out.”
“Let’s get out of this place,” said Galahad. “It gives me the creeps, and I’m tired of being sickened by their venom.”
They retraced their steps to the entrance and climbed the ramp as it wound up to the surface. They had an easier time finding their way out of the forest since they’d already cut a path through the spider webs.
* * *
The mayor’s office was as busy as ever when they returned. They waited in line to talk with the clerk, who was still giving unique quests to each person who brought him a letter of introduction. After fifteen minutes, they finally got their turn to speak with him.
Kelath set the black paw he’d taken from the pack leader on the clerk’s desk. “We finished the quest you gave us.”
Galahad and Elora placed their own quest items next to his. The clerk looked at the bloody paws with disgust and rolled up some papers in a tube that he used to push all three into his waste basket.
“Thank you for that,” he said in a sarcastic tone.
Quest Completed: The Den Mother
You received experience that was credited to your assigned skills and the following rewards:
20 silver
Kelath had hoped they would collect a bonus reward for burying the skeleton they’d found at the wolf’s den, but maybe it had already been given in the form of the ring Galahad was now wearing. “Are there any other tasks we can do for you?”
“As you can see, I’m already swamped with adventurers looking for work,” said the clerk. “If you ask around town, I’m sure you’ll find people needing assistance. At the moment, I have nothing else for you.”
“Thank you, sir,” said Galahad. “It was our pleasure to serve the city of Stockton.”
The clerk nodded and waited impatiently for them to move off so he could speak with the next person in line. They walked through the main entrance and stood in the street outside town hall.
“What now?” asked Kelath.
“I need to rest after our adventure,” said Galahad. “By tomorrow I should be feeling well again. We can meet up then.”
“Take it easy,” said Elora. “I hope you feel better.”
Galahad waved and then his avatar faded away.
“I need to run an errand,” said Elora. “Then I’m going to log out too.”
Kelath had hoped she would want to play longer, but he was feeling hungry and decided he should unplug to eat lunch. “Sounds like a plan. We’ve been on here for several hours. A break would be good.”
“Thanks for inviting me to your guild,” said Elora. “Send me a tell if we’re both on later.”
“Will do.”
Elora smiled then walked away in the direction of the market. Kelath watched until she disappeared into the crowd of pedestrians before logging out.
Chapter 16
Kevin removed the headset and dropped it on his lap. The sun slanted in through the window at an angle, prompting him to look at the clock. It was nearly 3 p.m. He’d been playing for much longer than he’d thought, so long that he’d missed lunch. Somehow while inside the game, he hadn’t noticed, which concerned him quite a bit. He decided to set an alarm for himself while playing so that he logged out periodically. With such little feeling in the rest of his body, if anything happened to him while he was in the game, he might not know about it for hours.
His mother had come in at some point because a peanut butter and jelly sandwich sat on his swivel desk, along with a glass of milk and some apple slices. The flesh of the apple was a dull brown color, meaning it had been there for a while. He pulled the glove off his right hand and picked up the sandwich. The bread was dry, so he peeled off the crust and ate only the inside. The milk was almost room temperature. The meal was kind of disgusting, but he’d rather eat all of it than explain how he lost track of time if his mother questioned why he hadn’t eaten. He didn’t want to worry her, and besides he would set an alarm from now on so he didn’t miss meals.
He was finishing off the last slice of apple when his mother walked into the room. She smiled at him and turned off the television before moving around the bed.
“I’ve got some good news to share,” she said as she swiveled the desk out of the way. “Your father called Uncle Ted this afternoon and invited him over for dinner. He and Robin will be here in about an hour.”
While Kevin was disappointed he wouldn’t be able to log back into the game, he couldn’t stay sad for long. Ted was his father’s only sibling, and he was Kevin’s favorite uncle, mostly because he hadn’t acted any differently towards Kevin after the accident. He helped Kevin only when asked. This was a welcome change from everyone else, who acted awkward or tried to guess what Kevin wanted before he asked.
“Could you bring me some water to wash with?” asked Kevin.
“Of course, dear.” His mother left the room and returned with a basin of water and a washcloth. She placed them on the table by his head then left the room and closed the door behind her.
Kevin washed his face, chest, and arms. He called when he finished, and his mother came back into the room. She found the shirt he wanted in the closet, along with a pair of jeans and socks, and laid them at the end of the bed. She helped him change into his clean outfit and threw the dirty clothes into the nearby hamper. She moved his electric wheelchair beside the bed and called his father into the room. Together, they lifted Kevin into it and attached the straps so he wouldn’t fall out. His mother laid a quilt over his knees where he could reach should he feel cold.
Kevin followed them into the hall, his wheelchair moving slowly so he didn’t accidentally clip the backs of their feet. His mother ducked into the kitchen, and his father led the way to the front door. He held it open for Kevin to wheel onto the front porch then picked up a rake next to a pile of leaves on the lawn. He continued clearing the area around the sidewalk.
Ten minutes later, a blue sedan pulled into the driveway. His father threw the rake on the much larger mound of leaves and went to greet their visitors. Uncle Ted got out of the car, grasped his father’s hand, and pulled him into a hug. At six feet four inches tall, Ted stood about half a head taller than his father. He had blond hair, which Kevin had always assumed was dyed because the rest of the family had dark hair. Aunt Robin joined the men and spoke to Kevin’s father. Her hair was auburn-colored, and she must have gone to a stylist since the last time they’d visited because it was cut so that it only came down an inch below her chin. Together the trio made their way onto the porch.
Ted smiled as he approached and held his hand out to Kevin. “Hello, young man.”
“Hi, Uncle Ted.”
“You’ve got quite a grip there. Have you been working out?”
“I’ve been doing some exercises with a personal trainer. She says I’m improving.”
“Keep it up!” Ted leaned down and whispered in his ear. “I hear your trainer is quite the looker. Any interest there?”
Kevin blushed and looked away.
Robin smacked his uncle on the shoulder and asked, “What did you say to him, Theodore?”
“Just some locker room talk.” Ted winked at Kevin and walked into the house.
“Whatever he said, I’m sure it was only a joke.” She bent down and kissed Kevin’s cheek. “Glad to see you, dear. How are you doing?”
“I’m good.”
His father held the door as Robin went inside and Kevin followed. Ted was in the kitchen, complimenting his mother about how great everything smelled. Robin joined them and asked his mother if she needed help getting the food ready. Kevin knew if he went into the kitchen, there would be no room left for people to move around, so he wheeled into the dining room and positioned the chair in his normal spot at the foot of the table. Soon everyone paraded out of the kitchen with bowls and plates filled with food. His mother had made roast beef, Uncle Ted’s favorite, along with mashed potatoes, gravy,
rolls, and an assortment of vegetables.
With everything placed on the table, they said grace before attacking the food. Although he’d only eaten the peanut butter sandwich a little over an hour ago, Kevin found he had a ferocious appetite and loaded up his plate. Everyone concentrated on eating for several minutes before anyone spoke.
His uncle was first to break the silence. “We haven’t seen you for a while, Kevin. What have you been up to?”
Kevin’s father interjected before he could answer. “He’s been busy playing a game on the new virtual reality headset his friend gave him.”
“Yeah, that’s right,” said Kevin. “It’s a new type of online role-playing game with a real life economy interface. Any gold my character finds in the game can be transferred out for real money.”
“And how much have you earned so far?” asked Uncle Ted.
Kevin grinned sheepishly. “Not much, a little over one gold. That’s only worth about a dollar, and I’ve had to spend most of it to purchase training or other services while I play.”
“Keep at it,” said Ted. “So what’s the game itself like?”
Kevin talked about creating his character, and all the details of his adventures came out. He told them about meeting Itrix and how the guild was taking money from other players. He explained how he’d run away from player killers at the mine and how it led to him learning the skills he needed to unlock the alchemist class. They were suitably impressed when he said he was the first player to discover a new class. He mentioned the friends he’d met and how they defeated the players at the mines and formed a guild in defiance of Itrix. When he finally finished his account of the game, a half hour had passed and everyone but Kevin had finished eating.
“It sounds like you’re enjoying the game,” said Aunt Robin.
Kevin took a bite of mashed potatoes that had gone cold while he was talking. “Yeah, it’s a lot of fun.” He picked up his plate and rolled away from the table to reheat it in the microwave.
“Want me to do that?” asked his mother.
“Nah, I got it.”
She gave him a quizzical look but didn’t follow him into the kitchen. He nuked the food for a minute then returned to the table to find they’d moved on to talking about holiday plans. His aunt and uncle had decided to visit her family for Thanksgiving this year, so they wouldn’t be coming for Thanksgiving dinner. Kevin was disappointed because they generally spent the holiday together, but he’d get to see them at Christmas.
Kevin mostly remained quiet the rest of the evening, content to laugh at Uncle Ted’s jokes. Robin and his mother cleared the dishes, and when they returned from the kitchen, Ted checked his watch.
“We should probably head out.” Uncle Ted rose from the table and squeezed Kevin’s shoulder. “I’m glad you’re having a good time with this new game you’re playing. It’s been a while since I’ve seen you this happy and engaged, so keep at it. I’m confident you’ll beat that guy who’s bothering you.”
“Thanks, Uncle Ted. I’ll do my best.”
Kevin rolled outside behind them and stopped on the front porch. It had grown chilly since the sun went down hours ago, so he pulled the blanket up around his chest. They watched as Uncle Ted’s car backed out of the driveway and sped off with a honk of the horn. He returned inside once they were out of sight and looked at the clock in the living room. It was already 10:30, and although he wanted to log back into Genesis Online, he felt worn out from sitting upright in the chair and socializing all evening. He decided instead to get some sleep and wait until morning to play again.
* * *
Kelath logged into Genesis Online and looked around to get his bearings. He was standing in front of the town hall where he’d exited after finishing his quest for the clerk. Although it was early in the morning, there were already a large number of players moving about because today was Saturday. A crowd of people stood around the entrance to the alleyway at the far end of the building, and he wandered over to see what drew their attention.
He couldn’t push his way through the crowd and could barely see what was going on between their shoulders. From what he could gather, there was a puppy performing tricks. It stood on its hind legs and walked backwards in a circle while someone Kelath couldn’t see called out commands. After a few seconds, he recognized the voice.
“Througar!” The crowd parted in front of Kelath, and his friend looked at him in surprise. “You found a puppy! How did you tame him?”
“I was running around the city last night and noticed him in an alley,” said Througar. “He wouldn’t let me come close at first, so I bought a kebab from a street vendor and used the meat to coax him out. He’s been following me around ever since.”
People began talking excitedly, and a number dashed across the street to a cart that was selling different types of food.
Kelath laughed at their reaction and the sadness evident on Througar’s face. “Sorry, I should have asked in private.”
“Shoot,” said Througar. “Now everyone is going to have a pet following them around. I was enjoying the attention. You and Galahad both discovered new classes, and I was excited I’d figured something out about the game too. I learned a new skill called animal handling.”
“Who knows? You might still unlock something. I had to learn both the poison and bomb skills and level them to 5 before I could become an alchemist.”
“I already advanced animal handling to 5 by teaching Junior tricks. Nothing happened.”
“Junior?”
“Yeah, that’s what I named him. He reminded me of Ralphie with his light brown fur, but the system wouldn’t let me name him ‘Ralphie II.’ Junior was the closest I could come up with.”
Kelath turned his head. “I guess I see it.”
“Junior, attack!”
Througar pointed at Kelath and the small pup charged, grabbing the bottom of his trousers and shaking them back and forth. Kelath laughed and bent over to pick up the dog. Junior snarled until Througar told him to back down, at which point the animal began to squirm. Kelath set the puppy on the ground, and it bounded back to its master.
“I didn’t see you logged in yesterday,” said Througar. “What’ve you been doing?”
“My aunt and uncle came over for dinner last night, and I was too tired to log in after they left. I played with Elora and Galahad for most of the afternoon though. We finished the quest the clerk inside city hall gave us, and we explored the forest across the river. We found a hole where giant spiders live, and I collected their venom for a quest I got from the alchemist trainer. He’ll teach me a new poison when I turn it in.”
“I was going to go out and do a quest if you want to join me.”
“Give me a few minutes to run to the bank. I have a feeling it will take a while to learn how to make the recipe when I turn in the quest, and I don’t want to lose the ingredients if someone attacks us.”
“Good idea,” said Througar. “I’ve seen a lot of people running around wearing the tabard of Noblesse Oblige. We should be careful.”
Kelath excused himself and ran to the market square. It didn’t take him long to drop off the items in his backpack and return. “Okay, I’m ready now. What should we do?”
Througar hooked a thumb at the city hall beside them. “The clerk gave me a quest to hunt down bandits. I have to find their camp and destroy it.”
“Great, where do we start looking?”
“He said they were attacking travelers along the road northwest of here. There are hills around there where they have set up a camp.”
“Let’s go check it out then.”
They threaded their way through pedestrians and skirted around the outside of the keep until they found the main road leading to the north side of town. Although there were fewer people going this direction, it was still quite busy. Kelath thought he shouldn’t be surprised since it was the first weekend since the game had launched and players who couldn’t play much during the week were probably making
up for lost time on their day off.
Like the city gate to the south he’d passed through the previous day with Galahad and Elora, the one on the north side had a drawbridge that crossed the river. They were halfway across when a group of three players wearing the tabards of Noblesse Oblige coming from the opposite direction spread out to block their path. Itrix stood in the middle, although instead of the ceremonial robes he’d worn before, he now had on a yellow tunic and trousers that appeared more utilitarian.
“Look what we have here, men,” said Itrix to his lackeys. “Both of these traitors have bounties on their heads.”
“How can I be a traitor?” asked Kelath. “I never belonged to your guild.”
“Nevertheless, you’ve been a thorn in my side since I first saw you.” Itrix looked at his men and said, “These scum are in your king’s way. Make them move.”
Kelath had expected Brill to be with Itrix since he’d never seen them apart, but this time the fighter was absent. He didn’t recognize either of the two men who now moved forward, one brandishing a dagger and the other a mace. He examined them and learned the cleric was level 8 and the rogue was level 10. At level 2, he and Througar didn’t stand a chance. They sidled closer and Junior ran forward to put himself between Througar and the men threatening them. He barked furiously.
The commotion and the fact that traffic had stopped flowing over the bridge drew the attention of two guards standing at the city gate. They pushed their way through the group of people milling about, their hands on the hilts of their longswords.
“Break it up,” said one of the guards. “No fighting within city limits, or we’ll haul you off to jail.”
“Sorry, officers,” said Itrix. “A simple misunderstanding. We shall return to our business.”
Itrix’s men stowed their weapons and the guards relaxed. Itrix marched forward but stopped when Junior refused to move out of his way. Througar laughed as the dog continued growling. Itrix bent over and picked up the pup, which nipped at his arms. He turned to the side of the bridge and threw the dog into the air. Junior yelped in fright as he cartwheeled head over tail and fell into the moat with a splash.