“Forming?”
“The way that you were meant to create pieces. People are always better at one thing over another. Each smith has their own way of creating their products. Master Dwarves come to understand their method of creation and focus on using the skills that they are best at. They can become masters of multiple different skills but that takes time. You usually only get one or two when you are first given the title Master Smith. It is another reason that the Master Smiths work so closely together.” Gurren sat back in his chair.
Seeing Dave’s confusion, Lox snorted. “Well, it seems that you know near to nothing about all of this. You’ll learn it with your time with the Master Smiths. The Master Smiths are spread all across the Dwarven kingdoms. Outside of the Dwarves, no one knows who the Master Smiths are. The smiths move from one Dwarven land to another, sharing their skills and teaching other Master Smiths as well as building their own skills. The Master Smiths are constantly moving around and there might be three different Master Smiths in one Dwarven kingdom but none of them actually hail from that kingdom.”
“That is rather smart. Keeps them as a moving target and even eliminating all of those in one location means that there could be a dozen others spread over others or on the road. You lot are paranoid as all hell, but it makes a certain amount of sense.” Dave smiled.
Deia walked into the common room, sending a breeze through the room.
“Well, seems that the old ball and chain has appeared.” Gurren smiled broadly.
Deia walked over. “These ears aren’t just for show, Gurren, you hairy stump.”
They all rose. Lox and Gurren embraced Deia. Dave got a kiss before they settled back into their seats.
“So how long until you leave?” Lox asked.
“Four days,” Deia said.
“Makes sense. I’d want to get out of this damned cold weather as soon as possible if I could!”
“You and me both!” Gurren chipped in.
“What did you decide to do about that Stone Raider guild asking for you to join their ranks?” Lox asked, his hand around his beard.
“We’re going to see if the invite is still on the table and if so, we’ll take it,” Dave said.
“They seem like a good bunch.” Lox nodded and looked to Gurren, who shrugged.
“Might as well tell you that Gurren and I will not be extending our contracts with the warclan. Those Stone Raiders also offered us positions to teach theirs how to fight properly. They also mentioned a bunch of opportunities —we might get to learn something of our own and go and see the world a little bit.”
“I know that the warband was training them while they were here, but I thought that you were just going to do it on the side?” Dave said.
“Well, we were, but now we realize that there is probably something coming. A lord of Affinity doesn’t just do it and everything goes back to normal. Something like this only happens once every few incarnations of Players. With the power that the Lady of Light gathered and that which the lords of Dark and Earth lost, there’s going to be a power shift happening,” Lox said.
Deia, Lox, and Gurren had dark expressions on their faces.
“When the lords and ladies of the Affinities find an imbalance, they will do anything to topple the weaker, and the weaker will do anything to gain back their power. Since their power comes from Emerilia, their struggles break out onto the lands as Players and POEs fight for those they believe in. Think of a holy war but with six different gods and all of them vying for power while using every trick they have to gain more power,” Deia said.
“That sounds rather unpleasant.” Dave sighed.
“Putting it mildly,” Lox’s voice rumbled.
“Well, that’s enough of that. We have something to celebrate. Let’s get over to that new shiny compound that the Stone Raiders swindled away from the Golden Sabres and sign on the dotted line. You know, because nothing ever went wrong for doing that,” Gurren said.
“Pessimist,” Dave said.
“What? I joined up and I had to see your face. I think that was a big mistake!”
Dave rolled his eyes as all of them grinned. Their losses were still recent, but not so fresh that they could no longer smile, laugh, and joke around.
If they were here, they would’ve been doing the same thing. Dave stood up with the others, a sad smile on his face as he remembered those he’d lost but focused on moving forward with his life.
He opened up his active quest log.
Quest: Of Anvil and Fire
Kol has asked if you wish to undergo the training that would turn you into a Dwarven Master Smith.
Requirements: Reach Benvari Mountain
Finish training in all metals
Finish training to be Dwarven Master Smith
Failure: do not make it to Benvari within 3 months
Opt out of training
Reward: Dwarven Master Smith Class
Access to Dwarven mountains and forges
Will you accept?
Y/N
“Yes.”
Quest: Of Anvil and Fire
Go to the Benvari Mountains and find the Dwarven Master Smith Jesal.
***
An explosion rattled Josh’s room.
In seconds, he was up and out in the hallway. Smoke came out of Kim’s room.
She came out coughing and sneezing. More smoke came out as she closed the door behind her.
“Hey, Josh.” She waved, coughing.
“We just bought the bloody place. Can you try to not blow a hole in it?” Josh yelled.
Kim’s face scrunched up as if she was trying the best way to let him know something.
Josh felt his eye twitch. “You blew a hole in it?”
“Well, it does add better ventilation to clear out the smoke!” Kim smiled.
Josh’s eye twitched more. He turned, muttering to himself. “Damn wizards, playing with alchemy sets.”
“Josh?” Kim asked his back as he walked back toward his room.
“What the hell did I do in my last life to deserve this?”
“Joshie?” Kim sounded as if she was getting worried as Josh reached his door.
“All experiments are to be done outside of the apartment. Mikal was a lab tech once. Get him to design it—you build it!” Josh yelled.
“But—”
“No more experiments in bedrooms!” Josh slammed his door shut. The sun wasn’t even halfway in the sky yet! Josh got back under his covers.
“Something the matter?” Cassie said as he got into bed.
“Kim blew up her room,” Josh growled as he pulled a pillow over his head.
Cassie giggled and moved closer to Josh.
“Aren’t you supposed to be with your people, heading for Nadorf?” Josh asked.
“Saying you don’t want me here?” Cassie gave him a coy smile.
Josh put an arm around her and dragged her to him. “On second thought, who needs ’em?” He grinned.
She laughed before she kissed him, her body rubbing on his. She smiled at his reaction to her touch.
“With Grif, I think I’ve got a few more days before I have to ride for Nadorf.” Cassie winked.
“You sure you aren’t some kind of closet succubus?” Josh peered out from his pillow.
“Well, if you wanted to give me your soul, I might have a soul gem lying around,” Cassie said. Even through his shirt she was wearing, he could feel her nipples on his abs moving up to his chest as she pulled the pillow away.
“Yeah, you’re definitely a succubus.” He grinned, pulling her to him and kissing her. His hands moved over her body as she did the same with his body.
There was a knock at the door.
Josh pulled a dagger from the nightstand and threw it into the door. “Fuck off! I’m busy!”
Cassie chuckled, biting his lower lip and grinding her groin against his.
“Josh, it’s Dave, Deia, Mal, and Induca,” Dwayne said.
“You sly guildmaster, k
eeping me distracted with your charms while you pinched those four?” Cassie moved her groin slowly, exciting Josh more.
Josh held up his hand, not really wanting to say the words.
Cassie laughed and kissed him again. “Well, hurry up, or else I’m going to have to look after myself,” Cassie teased.
Josh bolted up. “Gimme a minute!” Josh looked around the place.
“Pants, pants, where the fuck are my pant—” They hit him in the face as Cassie threw them at him.
“Tuck up.” She dragged her eyes from his groin.
“Succubus.” He pulled on his pants and walked out of the room.
“Don’t take too long, though this is quite the view.”
Josh turned to see her looking at his butt.
She bit her lip and moved the sheet so he could see her wearing nothing but panties and his shirt.
You lucky, lucky bastard! He shut the bedroom door and ran to the door to his apartment.
“Fuck! Shit.” He slammed into a desk in the way. “Who put that fucking thing here—stubbed my bloody toe!” He opened the door to find everyone staring at him. “Hello. So, what’s up?”
“We wanted to accept your invitation into the Stone Raiders, though we need to go to the Benvari Mountains,” Deia said.
“Oh?” Josh asked.
“I’ve been offered a chance to become a Dwarven Master Smith,” Dave said.
“Wow, okay then. I don’t think that there are any Players with that offer,” Josh said, impressed.
“We also desire that we be formed into a singular group,” Malsour said.
“We can do that. Best to have people group together, though you’re going to need someone to hold the line and be proper fighters if you go into combat. I know Dave and Deia are good fighters with their weapons but their magical powers make it so that they should stay to the rear in a support capacity, like you two,” Josh said.
“We are working on that and we might have others who are interested in joining the Stone Raiders,” Dave said.
“Okay, but either me or one of the lieutenants or recruiters will have to vet them before we extend an invitation. If we start asking everyone to join, then we’re going to be no better off than those other guilds that got killed from the inside out.”
“We understand,” Deia said.
“Okay, well then, you’ll be Party Zero,” Josh said.
“Party Zero?” Dave asked.
“You’ve got the most magical strength out of any other four parties combined. You’re kind of our hidden weapon. If you agree to join the Stone Raiders, remember that in times of emergency—even if you are training—we will band together to deal with any major threats. It hasn’t happened yet but if we have something else like Boran-al’s Citadel, then I’ll summon you all.”
“Understood,” Deia said.
“So, who is the party commander?” Josh asked.
Everyone looked to Deia.
“Well, good luck with keeping them in check. And send me a report every so often to let us know how things are going. Dwayne can sort out the details,” Josh said.
“Thanks, Josh.” Dave smiled.
“Welcome to the Stone Raiders, you bunch of miscreants!” Josh grinned.
The others smiled, even the stoic Malsour.
“Do you think it will be Golden Raiders or Stone Sabres?” Dave asked, a grin on his face as he looked over in the direction of Josh’s bedroom.
Josh went a bit red as Dave winked at him, as if to tell him “your secret is safe with me.”
“Come this way. We’ll get your patches sorted out and the rest of the details.” Dwayne led them away.
Josh shut the door and ran back to his bedroom.
Cassie was propped up on some pillows, her hands kneading her shirt and panties. She bit her lower lip and looked at him. “Well, you just going to stand there or help me out? You got the four most powerful Players—I feel that I should get something for my loss,” Cassie said.
“Abso-fucking-lutely!” Josh closed the bedroom door and advanced on Cassie.
Chapter 7: One Becomes Two
Suzy logged off of Emerilia. She had spent three days in-game, the equivalent of a day on Earth. She had a number of meetings that she was supposed to have attended but figuring out what was real and fake made her stay.
Also, listenting to Zel’s stories, admiring his artwork and having a drink had led to her having a rather enjoyable time.
She blinked her eyes. Instead of her living room, she found herself in a ballroom. She looked around. She was in the middle of one of the dances that was made to meet and greet Japan’s most powerful figures.
Shit. She looked around the room.
She’d held some doubts. Austin-Dave had nearly convinced her but she needed more information and a clear display of Emerilia being real. Well, this is it. I just woke up in the middle of a ballroom, not knowing how I got here.
She thought of logging out, the feeling that passed over her body as she entered Emerilia.
The ballroom disappeared and Emerilia appeared. She stood on Dave’s porch. There were all kinds of noises coming from the house as he and Deia packed up for their trip to the Benvari Mountains.
“Well, you’re back rather soon,” Induca said. Malsour sat in a chair, reading his book and looking out over the new day.
“I…well, fuck, is there a beer around?” Suzy moved to the chairs. Dave must’ve heard as one appeared on an armrest. She grabbed it and took a big swig, looking around Cliff-Hill.
“So, I guess your eyes have been opened.” Dave walked out of the cabin.
“Yeah, this is honestly screwed up,” Suzy said.
“Yeah, a bit.” Dave put down his bag of holding and gave Suzy one.
“So, what now?” Suzy asked.
“Now we go to the Benvari Mountains and we train you so that you can look after yourself here. If you want to join us…” Deia came out and closed the door to her home.
“Well, sounds like a good enough plan to me. Austin was always talking about his games. I think it’s about time I started learning a bit more about it all.” Suzy smiled.
She was scared as hell of the future and knowing that this was reality kind of made her look at everything differently: Doubts of her childhood crept in. Fear that she was something less because she’d been grown in a vat to provide entertainment for an alien race that had destroyed all other signs of Humanity because they could’ve disturbed their status quo.
She looked over to Dave, who smiled at her, and Deia, who stood behind him with a hand on his shoulder. Dave was like the brother that she’d never had. The only true family she had left. She’d come to know Deia a bit better. The Elven woman was driven and passionate but also level-headed. She had the strength of will to rein Dave in and keep him focused, but also didn’t feel the need to be the center of his attention. They were strong people together and apart.
Induca was flighty and a bundle of energy, constantly smiling and joking around unless she was training. Malsour was stoic; he reminded Suzy of so many engineers and scientific people she’d dealt with. He was a bit distant from the world due to the way that he looked at systems in a way that others couldn’t even start to contemplate. Society wasn’t all that interesting to him, but give him a juicy and interesting piece of information and he would lock himself away trying to figure it out.
All four of them had agreed to let her join their party if she decided to.
“Well, fuck it, what else am I going to do—mope around here? Might as well go and see the sights, even if that is the inside of some dingy Dwarven mountain.” Suzy smiled.
Dave broke into a wide smile and the others seemed excited as well.
Deia moved her hand through the air.
Party Request
Oson’Deia would like to invite you to “Party Zero.”
Do you accept?
Y/N
“Yeah,” Suzy said. The side of her screen showed the four other members of t
he party with their Health, Stamina, and Mana bars under their names.
“Mind if I join?” A half-wolf, half-Human woman came around the porch.
“Well, we do need someone skilled with a blade,” Deia said.
Anna’s name appeared under the other four names, with her own bars under her name.
“Thanks. Sorry we haven’t talked more—just been busy walking around and getting to know Emerilia once again. It’s been a long time since I saw the place with my own two eyes.” Anna smiled but there was a sadness to it.
“Well then, let’s go on a journey.” Dave rose with a grimace, looking at Suzy’s feet. “Deia, you got some better shoes?”
“Yeah.” Deia pulled out a new pair of shoes and handed them to Suzy.
“They look like running shoes,” Suzy said.
“Well, after a while, the Players got annoyed with messing up their feet so much. It led to a revolution in shoe creation. So, while not everything is that advanced, shoe wear is one thing that competes with Earth’s own, kind of like how toilets aren’t just a hole in a ground but those Magical Circuits turn it right into odor-free fertilizer,” Dave supplied.
“Players don’t even need to use toilets.”
“Yeah, but all the POEs do. Smelled terrible.” Anna grimaced.
“So, anything that was kind of an inconvenience to the Players was given some pretty high-tech solution?” Suzy asked.
“Pretty much. Players who make something and then register it with the traders’ guild get a royalty every time their product is made. Whoever made the magical toilet would never have to do a quest again. The POEs have them in every house. The Players aren’t the only people who buy and sell goods,” Dave said.
“What have you been selling them?” Suzy dragged out her words as she studied Dave.
Benvari Mountains (Emerilia Book 2) Page 6