Jason stepped through the rows, eyeing the plants curiously. Many looked similar to their earth-born cousins, with plain green leaves and regular stalks. However, the differences increased as he kept walking. He saw flowers in a rainbow of hues – a literal rainbow of colors on each petal. Others looked like twisted and gnarled creations that would be more at home on an alien planet than inside of AO.
As he inspected one bush, Jason sensed movement in his peripheral vision, and he stepped to the side quickly – his combat reflexes taking over. A thorn-covered vine snapped at the air where he had been standing only a moment before, and Jason looked behind him in shock. A bush rested there placidly, not giving any indication that it had just moved or tried to strike him.
“What the hell is this thing?” Jason asked aloud. He tried to inspect the plant, but the prompt came back empty. Apparently, he lacked the knowledge or skills to identify the bush.
“It’s a Lashtail,” a timid voice spoke from behind him. He turned to find Eliza approaching, a basket tucked under her arm containing seeds and gardening tools. “They can be territorial, and they suck up a lot of water. The tendrils can help… um, compensate for the lack of moisture.”
It took Jason a second to put two and two together. “You mean it kills animals that walk past and drains their blood, don’t you?” He gave the plant another considering look.
Eliza nodded, grimacing slightly. “But their thorns are fantastic in a variety of enhancement potions,” she offered.
“Ha. Okay, note to self – be careful around the plants,” Jason said with a small smile. “By the way, you’ve done an incredible job here. I can’t believe how fast you managed to get these plants to grow.”
Eliza blushed and looked down at her basket instead of meeting Jason’s gaze. “I enjoy it,” she said quietly. “Plus, it’s been days since the Hippie has pestered me. You don’t know how much I’ve wanted to just focus on gardening.”
Jason could recall the irritating water god’s antics with painful clarity. “I can probably guess,” he said with a grin. “Anyway, I was actually looking for you.”
“What? Why?” Eliza asked, looking a little nervous.
“Nothing bad at all,” Jason assured the timid girl. “Actually, the opposite. I’ve ordered the ingredients you asked for, plus a few extra things. Here, let me email you the list.” He tapped at his UI and sent the list he had compiled to Eliza.
Her own hands swiped at the air in front of her, and he saw her eyes darting back and forth as she read through his email. Then he saw her mouth form a small “O” of shock. She glanced at him in surprise. “This is a lot more than I asked for.”
Jason shrugged, an excited grin on his face. “I had an idea when I visited the auction house. I ended up basically buying everything on the market to drive up the price of the health potions. Now we just need to manufacture the potions as quickly as possible.”
Eliza didn’t seem as excited as Jason as she continued reading through the list. She shook her head. “This is going to take weeks…,” she murmured.
“Weeks?” Jason asked in confusion. “I thought Cecil said he’d already set up your laboratory – or at least he was in the process of setting it up,” Jason amended.
“That’s only part of the problem,” Eliza replied cautiously. “Although, it would probably be easier to show you.” With this last statement, she gestured at the far end of the cavern.
A few minutes later, the pair had navigated the rows of growing plants and found themselves in a tributary cave that had been connected to the main cavern by a small passage. This new enclosure was a rough square about fifty feet wide. In one corner, a set of tables and some exotic-looking alchemy equipment had been set up. The lab looked awkward in the large room, only occupying a fraction of the space.
“I-is this it?” Jason asked without thinking. He immediately saw Eliza’s face fall. “I’m sorry,” he amended quickly. “I was just expecting a larger laboratory.”
“Cecil was too,” Eliza said quietly, gesturing at the open space. “That’s why he had the little mole creatures dig out this big cave. But even if we filled the rest of the space with tables and equipment, that wouldn’t exactly help.”
“I guess I’m confused,” Jason said, eyeing the mage and a heavy weight beginning to settle in his stomach. “So, it’s not a problem with being able to set up a larger lab?”
“Not really. The problem is the number of alchemists,” she explained. Eliza pointed to herself. “We only have one – me, that is. And I’m only Intermediate level 6 right now.”
“Why is your skill level important? Is it because that limits how many potions you can create at once or something?” Jason asked.
Eliza cocked her head, looking at him curiously. “Ahh, you probably haven’t spent much time crafting. Maybe I should start over.”
She took a deep breath. “As you’re probably aware, the crafting in this game is a bit more complicated than other MMOs. It doesn’t involve a simple button press or manually grinding through potions to level. Instead, it takes considerable training and practice to advance. In many ways, I am literally brewing the potions using something akin to modern chemistry. The same is probably the case for other crafters like blacksmiths and enchanters.”
Jason just stared at her for a moment. “Wait, what? You actually have to learn how to brew the potions?”
He was floored, his thoughts immediately returning to his conversation with Alfred. The AI hadn’t been lying about the complexity of this game world. If it weren’t for the enhanced learning speed in-game, some of these activities would be incredibly difficult for the regular player to pick up. He also wondered if this meant that there would be a wide divide between crafters. Two Alchemists or Blacksmiths might not be equally competent or equally good at creating the same goods.
“Basically, yes,” Eliza said with a nod. “The game does simplify the process a little. I gain a chance to gather more ingredients and prepare more potions – and more concentrated potions – as I level. There is some randomness to the process. But for the most part, it’s pretty realistic.”
“Okay, so where’s our bottleneck in production?”
Eliza adjusted her glasses, glancing at Jason briefly. “The problem is that there is only one of me and the production process takes time. I can’t just press a button and wait ten seconds.”
“Okay,” Jason murmured aloud, catching on to the problem.
There was just a hard limit to how quickly Eliza could produce potions by herself, and he had just purchased way more ingredients than she could use in a short period of time. Unfortunately, Jason also needed a lot of potions within a very short window if he was going to capitalize on the price inflation. Eventually, the market would level out as other Herbalists and Alchemists started collecting ingredients and brewing potions to take advantage of the high prices.
“This question seems obvious, but couldn’t we just get some people to help you?” he offered. He could probably order some of the undead to assist her.
“There aren’t really any alchemists at Cecil’s school,” Eliza replied, glancing down at her hands. “Probably because this is normally a terrible climate for gathering ingredients.” She sighed, picking at one of the vials on a nearby table. “We also can’t really use inexperienced people. I can only have a certain number of apprentices helping me based on my level in Alchemy. If anyone else tries to assist, it will automatically ruin the potion. At Intermediate, I can only have one apprentice.”
Jason swallowed hard, trying to fight back the bile at the back of his throat as he considered how much money he may have just lost. “I can see the idea there. Otherwise, a guild could just have a single advanced crafter and then have their inexperienced players help that person. I guess it was a way to prevent abusing the mechanics.”
“I suppose so,” Eliza agreed.
Damn it, Alfred, Jason thought.
The pair lapsed into silence, staring at the small labora
tory. This put a huge kink in Jason’s plans, and he could already visualize his money swirling down a massive drain. He was sitting on a huge surplus of ingredients that it would take them weeks to create the potions. He could probably resell the potions he had purchased off the market at a healthy mark up, but that would only cover a small fraction of the total cost of building the cave and buying the ingredients.
“Is there any other way to increase your production?” Jason asked, the question feeling futile. “Anything at all. The faster we can produce potions, the more of our funds we can recoup while the price of health potions is still high.”
Eliza chewed on her lip. “There might be a few things. I can take on at least one apprentice – which will help. I can also try to streamline my process. Alma had complicated alchemy kits that could handle most of the brewing process for her and I took a bunch of notes on the designs. Apparently, automating the process a little doesn’t count as having an apprentice. It would probably take Cecil a while to help me reproduce the equipment, though.”
She glanced at Jason, her expression downcast. “Other than that, I’m not sure. I-I’m sorry.”
Jason suddenly realized that he was glaring at the laboratory equipment and Eliza was looking at him like he had just kicked her dog – or magical black sheep. “I’m sorry, this isn’t your fault at all,” Jason reassured her. “This is on me for jumping the gun and buying way more than we needed. I should have talked to you first.”
He sighed, trying not to let Eliza see his frustration. “I guess try to get to together with Cecil and see what you two can come up with quickly. He should also be able to find you an apprentice. In the meantime, I’ll see if I can think of something to help. I don’t want to pressure you, but the faster we can produce potions in the short-term, the better.”
“Okay,” Eliza said cautiously, turning back to her lab. She started to pull ingredients from her basket and nodded. “I’ll try my best.”
“I’m sure you will,” Jason agreed. “Thank you for all of your help with this.”
With that, he took his leave, navigating his way back through the massive cavern filled with now-useless vegetation. He mentally kicked himself as he walked. He had probably just lost a ton of money and all because he had been moving much too quickly and hadn’t been thinking. Yet a small part of him felt like there had to be a way to fix this and salvage what he’d done. It was an elusive nagging feeling at the edge of his mind. Or maybe it was just his stupid pride refusing to admit that he’d fucked up. Badly.
He sighed again. Either way, there was nowhere to go but forward.
Chapter 28 - Bleak
Frank and Vera walked through the remains of a ruined village. A door to a nearby house hung limply from its hinges, having been partially ripped from the frame. Deep claw marks were carved in the wooden surface. Inside, Frank was sure he would find blood staining the floorboards – the only remaining evidence that a family had once lived there. He wished this was the only home that bore evidence of an attack, but that wasn’t the case. The rest of the village wasn’t in much better condition.
Nearby, undead soldiers robed in the armaments of the Twilight Throne searched house to house in packs of three or four. They couldn’t be certain that the native undead had fully abandoned the small town. Frank grimaced as he saw the troops exit each house empty-handed, their expressions grim as they proceeded to the next residence. He knew that undead scouts were also scouring the surrounding forest.
“How many survivors have we found?” Frank asked in a muted voice.
“About two dozen,” Vera answered as her bleached-white eyes took in the devastation dispassionately. “Some of the townsfolk holed themselves up in a wine cellar during the attack. Quick thinking in my opinion. I’m pretty sure that’s the only thing that saved them.”
A grim grin tugged at her pale lips. “They were armed with rusty swords, and one woman actually tried to swing a skillet at our troops. It’s a wonder they fended off the attack.”
“And the search is almost complete?” Frank asked, already knowing the answer.
Vera let out a soft huff at Frank’s inane question, but she was also a veteran soldier and she kept her expression respectful. She understood that mundane routine helped a person process the sort of violence that had struck this village. “Nearly. Maybe another thirty minutes and we’ll have scoured every inch of this town.”
They continued their trek into the town’s former square, the remains of merchant stands, and wagons sitting abandoned. Pools of congealed and dried blood littered almost every surface, the muted coppery smell noticeable despite the game’s dampened sense of smell. There was a decided lack of bodies, despite the carnage. With the amount of blood and the evidence of fighting, there should be dead men and women littering the streets. Yet they had only found blood.
“I guess we can assume that the native undead are responsible for this,” Frank murmured.
“That’s a safe bet,” Vera answered with a nod. “That would explain the missing corpses. I expect that they gathered the bodies and brought them back to their nest.”
“They are growing bolder,” Frank added, glancing at Vera out of the corner of his eye. “This is what? The third town we’ve found in this state?” This macabre ritual hadn’t become any easier with practice.
“Yes,” Vera answered bluntly. “But at least there were more survivors this time.”
Frank grimaced. Some of the other towns had nearly been wiped off the map by the native undead. The creatures were growing stronger and more aggressive. They also didn’t fear casualties – simply recovering the loose bones of their fellows and dragging them back to their corrupted nests. This pattern of behavior was making Frank nervous – and not only because of the loss of potential recruits for the Twilight Throne.
No, he was worried about how strong the undead might become and what they might have to face in the future. As Vera had explained before, the nests spawned creatures based on the type of remains that were scavenged, allowing the native undead to mutate over time. He could only imagine what they might create with their growing collection of human corpses. The thought made him shudder.
“Have we found the nest yet?” Frank asked.
“Our scouts have come up short. I’d say the trail is cold, but the real problem is that the native undead headed off in a dozen different directions. It would take us a few days to track down the nest – at least,” Vera explained. Then she hesitated for a moment, her hand resting on the hilt of the sword at her waist. “Assuming there is only one nest, of course.”
Frank winced. She raised a fair point. “I guess the question then is whether to track down these creatures or head to the next village,” he said, his gaze lingering on the Kin that wound through the streets and inspected each building.
“There’s no guarantee we’ll make it in time,” she said. “For all we know, those people are already dead.”
“I know,” Frank replied. “And I know that we can’t risk sending scouts, not with how dangerous traversing the forest has become.” He glanced at Vera. “On the other hand, will destroying one more nest – or several – stop these attacks? We don’t even know what’s causing the undead to mutate and grow this quickly.”
Vera just grunted in reply, but he could see the unspoken counterargument in her eyes. Destroying the nests would still slow down whatever had thrown the surrounding ecosystem out of whack. Yet that might cost them days in-game. That meant that more towns might meet a similar fate. So far, they had only managed to convert two villages before they were attacked, and they were only about halfway done.
The pair lapsed into a solemn silence as they continued their inspection of the village. They soon came across a group of soldiers standing near the remaining human survivors at the edge of the town’s former market. The townsfolk huddled together, their clothing ripped and bloodstained and more than one person sporting a vicious injury. As they saw Frank, they stared with vacant, pain-filled eye
s – pleading with him but too exhausted to form words. They probably hadn’t slept in days, huddled together in that wine cellar.
Frank knew he should go over to them and offer some sort of support. Or perhaps explain what would happen next – as soon as he messaged Jason. Yet he couldn’t force himself to do it. He’d already had that conversation several times now, and it hadn’t gotten any easier. He kept trying to tell himself that they weren’t real. In other games, that would have been enough. But here, inside AO, it was different.
Vera rested a hand on his shoulder. “I’ll handle it,” she offered.
He glanced at her in surprise. The undead woman was gruff and no-nonsense. She never seemed to let the violence and hardship affect her. Perhaps those weaker emotions had been beaten out of her in whatever former life she had led before becoming part of the Kin. However, occasionally, she showed that there was still some trace of compassion left in her.
“Thank you,” Frank murmured. “I’ll go contact Jason.”
“And then?” He knew what she was really asking.
Frank closed his eyes, running a hand through his hair. When he opened them again, the survivors were still there, bloodied and haggard. “Then we head to the next village,” he said finally. “Maybe we can’t save everyone. Maybe most of them are already dead. We’ll just have to try to save as many as we can.”
Chapter 29 - Relaxed
Jason pulled off his VR helmet with a sigh, his hair matted against his forehead by sweat and the interior foam. The air felt cool on his scalp. He laid unmoving in bed staring up at the ceiling of his apartment. A star-scape was currently being displayed across the surface, faint lines tracing the constellations as Jason’s gaze panned across the digital mural. Without looking at a clock, the presence of the stars meant it must be late in the real world. The screen always changed to this landscape at night.
Awaken Online: Dominion Page 29