by Adam Horne
Bandit led them over a number of small hills, heading into the mountains. Eventually, they ended up at a point where two ridges coming down from the mountain converged, leaving an enclosed area hidden from sight for anyone looking up from below. A man wearing leather armor and carrying a bow crouched near the entrance.
“This must be the hideout,” said Througar.
“What do you have to do to complete the quest?” asked Kelath.
“Kill all the bandits.”
“It didn’t give you a specific number?”
“No, it says to kill the bandits and destroy their camp.”
Kelath peered around, worried there might be another guard hiding somewhere nearby, but he couldn’t spot anyone. “I think that’s their only guard. If I throw an ice bomb behind him, I can cover the entire width of the opening and slow him down if he tries to alert the others.”
“Sounds like a good plan. I’ll charge him and block the path.”
Kelath pulled a frost bomb out of his pack and prepared to throw it. When he’d lined up the targeting reticle exactly where he wanted it, he nodded to Througar. The flask flew through the air as the dwarf and his pet wolf raced up the slope towards the sentry. He notched an arrow and shot at Througar, striking a glancing blow to the shoulder. He was turning to run into the camp when the bomb hit and covered the ground in front of him with a sheet of ice. He looked at it uncertainly, but before he could decide whether to chance the slippery surface, Througar was on top of him. The wolf darted past and snapped at the bandit’s legs from behind. Kelath threw a knife at the mob’s side as he ran forward to engage with his dagger.
Poison applied.
With a three to one advantage, the fight ended quickly. They looted a few coins from the corpse but nothing else. Kelath motioned for Througar to wait and activated the stealth skill. He hadn’t used it since switching to the alchemist class, and he swore his character had appeared more transparent before. He assumed that meant he wasn’t as good at stealth since he no longer had it as a class skill. He’d have to make sure he didn’t get close enough to be noticed.
The path led through a small opening between the two ridges and down a slight incline before leveling off again. Tents were pitched on areas of flat ground, usually in pairs with a campfire nearby. There were five different campsites with eight bandits milling about between them. Kelath smelled bacon frying as the men tended their fires and prepared food. He returned to where Througar waited outside.
“There are several enemies spread around the valley below. I think we can take each of the camps individually, although some of them have two bandits apiece.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem,” said Througar. “I’ll go in first to get their attention. Focus on the enemy I’m attacking if there are more than one.”
They worked their way between the various camps, making sure to draw the enemies out in ones or twos, and soon the area was cleared of bandits. Througar took burning logs from the fires and threw them onto each of the tents, burning the camps as they moved from group to group. At the last one, Kelath discovered a large, sealed chest. As Througar ignited the last tent, he pulled his picks out of his bag and tested the lock. After a couple minutes of concentration, the latch finally popped open. He looked inside the chest and found a shield, which he identified.
Small Wooden Shield: Provides a +1 bonus to Strength.
“Anything in there?” asked Througar.
“Yeah, I think you’ll like this.” Kelath pulled the shield out and handed it to Througar.
Througar stowed the shield he’d been using in his pack and readied the new one. “Not bad! It’s about time I got an upgrade.”
“Is your quest finished?”
“Yeah, let’s head back.”
The return trip to Stockton was uneventful, although Througar received enough experience when he turned in the quest to reach level two in beastmaster. They both had business with the trainers and headed there together.
Chapter 18
“I need to withdraw some supplies from the bank,” said Kelath when they reached the training grounds.
“I’m going to start training,” said Througar. “I’ll send you a tell when I’m finished.”
Kelath nodded and continued down the road to the bank. He retrieved the giant spider venom and all the money he’d deposited in case he needed to pay for training. In total he only had a little over three silver, which he didn’t figure would be enough to train with, but he’d rather have it with him anyway. He returned to the training hall and went through the trapdoor into the basement, knocking on the door to the alchemy lab.
“Come in,” said Reek from inside.
Kelath opened the door and walked into the room. “Hello, Ree…Richard.”
Reek gave a small wave without looking up. “Did you bring the venom I asked for?”
“I have it.” Kelath pulled all the venom he’d collected from his bag and set it on the table. “I also collected extra.”
Reek looked at what he’d brought and nodded his head in satisfaction.
Quest Completed: Collecting Supplies
You received experience that was credited to your assigned skills.
You have learned the Wounding Poison recipe.
“There’s enough here to make a double batch,” said Reek as he pulled glassware down from the shelf. “I’ll show you how to make it.”
They mixed all the samples he’d brought together in a large flask, adding alcohol to dilute the mixture. Then they poured it into an alembic, which they heated on the stove, distilling the essence of the venom. It dripped from a pipe into another container. When the distillation was complete, they mixed warm pine tar with the oily substance then poured it into a tin similar to the one he’d used to store his previous poison. After a few minutes, the jelly-like substance had set, and he screwed the lid on the tin. He examined the finished product.
Wounding Poison: Causes a damage over time effect. Soulbound.
“That’s all there is to it,” said Reek.
“This one was a lot easier to make than the weak version Plinth taught me. We didn’t have to grind up the herbs and wait while they steeped.”
“You can use the raw spider venom by itself if you want, although it won’t be as potent and will wear off quickly. By processing the venom into a poison, you get better results.”
“Thanks for showing me.” Kelath turned to leave, but a question came to mind. “Would you object if I used your lab to make recipes in the future?”
“Not a problem. I wouldn’t allow every rogue who requested training in here, especially when I’m not around, but as an alchemist, you’re more of an apprentice than a regular student.” Reek searched through a box filled with random pieces of junk and pulled out a key. “Some of the ingredients in here are expensive, so I lock the door when I’m not around. You’ll need this to get in. Feel free to use whatever supplies you need, but you’ll have to replace any equipment you break.”
“Thank you,” Kelath said as he took the key. “I’ll definitely repay you for any ingredients I use.”
Reek mumbled a farewell and returned to his work. Kelath shut the door softly as he left and walked to the training yard. He spotted Througar and Bandit with one of the fighter trainers in an open area on the far side of the grounds. He circled around until he was close enough to observe what they were doing.
Througar stood in the center with Bandit, listening to instructions from the trainer. Junior had reappeared since they returned to town, and he was rolling on the ground at Bandit’s feet, nipping at the wolf’s paws. Througar held a piece of meat in his hand so Bandit could see it, then made a motion with his other hand and issued the command, “Back.” Bandit slowly backed away until he was almost to the edge of the field when Througar made a different motion with his hand and told him to stop. Junior ran back and forth between them, circling around Bandit then laying at Througar’s feet and panting. The wolf ignored the puppy and waited for fu
rther instructions. Througar praised him and threw the chunk of meat, which Bandit snatched out of the air and swallowed.
“Way to go, Bandit!” said Kelath.
Througar smiled when he saw Kelath watching them. “I didn’t realize you were watching us. Are you finished training?”
“Yeah, I learned how to make a new poison. I don’t have enough money to train anything else, so I’m done for now. That’s a cool trick you taught him.”
“He’s learned a few others, although we still have a lot of work to do. It’ll be a while before we’re finished.”
“That’s all right. I can find something to get into.”
“I’ll let you know when my training is over.” Througar returned his attention to the trainer and continued his lesson.
Kelath wandered around aimlessly for a few minutes, looking at items in shop windows and watching players who passed by on the road. After a while, he decided he was wasting his time and needed to do something productive. So far, he’d done nothing to advance his plans for making money in the game, which was half the reason he was playing.
He knew recipes for several potions that only he could create, excepting Elora or course, although she didn’t seem interested in money and shouldn’t be competition for him. He figured his best option would be to make his wares and sell them on the auction house. In order to do that, he needed ingredients but wasn’t sure where to find them. He checked the recipes he knew and found that to make his exclusive recipes, he needed willow bark, icebloom, or firebloom. He had no idea where to find the last two, but he did know willows grew close to water.
He’d first found a willow tree along the river that ran around the perimeter of Stockton, and he decided that would be the best place to start his search. He knew there was at least one tree to the north, so he figured there might be others and headed that way. He crossed the drawbridge at the northern gate and followed the waterway. After a quarter mile, he found a willow growing at the water’s edge.
Kelath drew his dagger and cut a patch from the bark of the trunk. It yielded five pieces suitable for making regeneration potions. He examined the surface of the tree, unsure what to do next. He continued scraping at the spot where he’d already collected a sample, and this time he only found one piece after the same amount of work. He wondered if he could keep harvesting from this same tree. Chances were good he could kill it, and from what he’d seen at the wolf den, the tree might not come back.
Deciding he should spread his foraging around, he packed up what he’d collected and followed the river farther north. He found more willow trees and took samples from all of them, usually getting between three and five ingredients from each one. He was busy gathering when another player came running downstream on the other side of the river. The player stopped and watched him, which Kelath took to mean he was trying to figure out what he was collecting. Kelath had hoped it would take longer for other people to realize the bark could be harvested from willow trees, but he knew there was no way to keep the secret forever.
The player splashed through the water as Kelath finished up. He turned to answer the inevitable question and got his first good look at the intruder. The character was a human male wearing heavy armor and carrying a two-handed club. He wore a tabard with the white background and red crown of Noblesse Oblige, and Kelath swore at himself for being so oblivious.
The fighter swung his great club and hit Kelath in the chest. His health dropped by a quarter, making it obvious his attacker was higher level. He turned to run, but the enemy struck him in the back of the head with the base of the club.
Strength check to resist. You have been stunned for 6 seconds.
The fighter laughed as Kelath swayed back and forth, trying to shake off the stun. He hated the fact that strength-based characters always attacked him when he wasn’t prepared. With any other opponent, he might have stood a chance, even with the disparity in levels. The giant club was heavy and slow to wield, but six seconds felt like an eternity when he was unable to act. Kelath regained control of his character, only to be struck down while reaching for one of his ice bombs. He dropped to the ground, and the screen went black.
You have been slain. Resurrecting at the nearest graveyard in 5 seconds.
The nearest graveyard was thirty yards away from the northern gate of Stockton. He muttered to himself for not being more careful as he trudged across the bridge into town. Once past the guards where he felt safe, he checked his bag to see what he’d lost. He’d forgotten to deposit his money after going to see Reek, and half of it was now gone. Even worse, he only had twenty pieces of willow bark, meaning not only had he lost a good portion of what he’d collected, but now the player who killed him definitely knew what he was harvesting. He cursed again and headed towards the market.
* * *
Kelath was passing the training grounds when the thought occurred to him that he would need to make the regeneration potions, but he would rather not do that in a public place like the market square. He eyed the building where he’d gone to train his rogue skills. Reek’s alchemy laboratory would be the perfect place for privacy as long as nobody else was training. He circled around the yard where players practiced weapon skills on wooden dummies and entered the building. He headed through the trapdoor to the basement and knocked on the door to the lab.
Nobody called out from inside, so he tried the knob, which was locked. He used the key Reek had given him and went inside. The room was empty. Aside from a large glass bulb containing liquid that slowly bubbled, there was nothing of interest on the work surface. All the tools had been cleaned and stored on shelves on the wall.
Kelath cast the spell to conjure magical water until twenty flasks filled the table in front of him. He took the cork out of each one and dropped a piece of willow bark inside. When he was certain the ingredients were reacting properly, he moved on to the next flask in line. In less than five minutes, he had twenty new regeneration potions, which he stuffed into his backpack.
He left the basement, making sure to lock the laboratory and close the trapdoor behind himself, and headed to the market. The auction house was busy with so many players online, but he was able to find an auctioneer who was available.
“Welcome,” said the auctioneer. “What can I do for you?”
“I’d like to sell some potions I made.” Kelath took one of the regeneration potions from his bag and showed it to the man.
“Regeneration potion, is it? Not the first of those I’ve seen today.”
Kelath’s heart sank. He’d thought there was no way for other players to make this type of potion. Perhaps Elora had been putting some for sale on the auction house despite saying she didn’t need money. “Is there any way to tell who else is selling them?”
“If they haven’t been purchased yet, you can see the name of the seller on each auction listing.”
A window opened, showing the auction interface. The words “regeneration potion” were already typed into the search box, and after a moment, the listings showed. There were eight different auctions with the number of potions for sale ranging from three to ten. None of them were being sold by Elora, so he was still confused.
“Where did these players find the potions they’re selling?”
“Sometimes monsters will drop them,” said the auctioneer. “Although I would bet they are checking the different alchemy shops around town. New stock goes up every morning, and I’ve heard some people are buying them up to auction off at a higher price. It’s a popular item among spell casters.”
Kelath checked the prices, and most of the auctions were selling for 8 silver coins per potion. “Do you know how much the alchemists sell these for in their shops?”
The auctioneer examined the bottle Kelath held in his hand. After a slight hesitation, he said, “A vendor would sell that for 5 silver.”
He had twenty potions in his bag. He didn’t want to sell all of them in case he needed some for himself, so he created 3 auctions selling 5
potions for 35 silver. If they all sold, he’d earn more than a gold and still have 5 potions left over. The auctioneer collected the items from him, and his listings showed up at the top of the table of items since they were now the cheapest.
While he was using the auction house, he decided to look for the ingredients he needed to make his other recipes. He had no luck searching for firebloom or icebloom and figured either nobody had found them yet or they weren’t being placed up for auction. A search for nightshade turned up several listings, but at it’s cheapest, it was around a silver for one leaf, which he thought was outrageous. Surely nightshade was a common enough ingredient, since it was used for recipes any low-level rogue would know. There was no giant spider venom for sale, which he thought odd. He wished there was a way to see previous listings, but the interface only showed items currently for sale.
Kelath closed the window for the auction house. He would have to gather the ingredients he needed for himself. He opened Genepedia and navigated to the crafting section. The items he required were plants, so he navigated to the page detailing herbalism. Icebloom and firebloom were included in the table of ingredients, so he assumed at least one player had been able to harvest them. Icebloom grew in areas where snow covered the ground, and firebloom grew in places where the temperature was well above normal. He’d not seen anywhere that matched either of those descriptions yet. Nightshade grew in forested areas like where they’d tracked the wolves.
He’d not noticed any of the plants during their travels through the area, but he also hadn’t known what to look for. He found a picture so he could recognize nightshade when he saw it. Wondering if there was some way to more easily identify materials, he read through some of the general information on how crafting skills worked. After scanning a few different articles, he learned there were tracking abilities for each of the different gathering skills. While using a tracking ability, harvestable resources would glow to draw his attention when he got close to them, as long as he had a high enough skill to use some part of them. Only one type of resource could be tracked at a time, but that didn’t matter since he was only interested in herbs. Following the instructions on the page, he activated the power to track plants.