“What the hell?” Kim asked in a low voice.
“Guess he likes video games. Sure, it’s weird but…” Dwayne shrugged.
“I’ve got to agree with Dwayne on this one. In here, we’re just Players. Nothing more, nothing less,” Josh said, ending the matter.
***
Justin whistled as he wandered over people’s rooftops.
The POEs yelled at him but what could they do?
Call the guards and tell them that there’s another Player wandering the rooftops. Might as well set up a café and a few shops up here, there’s so many of us here. Though, that one time I jumped onto that roof and landed in that couple’s bedroom—well, that was awkward. Didn’t know Humans could bend like that. Maybe they were bored with all their other positions?
Justin continued to whistle as he moved across the houses. Nadorf was the largest city in Opheir and it showed. It had originally been built on top of a hill. The main castle still was. Now the original city had been turned into government offices and other boring things that Justin didn’t really care about.
As the city expanded, circular walls rose in waves around it.
There were five different districts, all of them with nicer houses the farther in you went. In the Fourth District, there were the teleportation pads that the higher-ups of the country and the Players used to get from country to country. Some of the more powerful countries even had multiple hubs so people could move between cities.
The lore said that it was for soldiers so that allies could assist one another.
Justin doubted it. Although the Human kingdoms were at relative peace with one another, they were by no means the most amicable.
Justin looked out over the city’s walls. There were massive fields around the city. To the southeast, massive marshes hid the unsociable gremlins; to the west, there was the Benvari Range with the Benvari Mountains lying to the southwest.
Justin was out wandering in his starter gear. He got his pack back with everything that was in it, but his armor and weapons had been left behind when he died.
Things had been kind of dull over the last few days with the rest of his friends. They were all still annoyed that they had been killed so easily. Bendel looked relieved that he hadn’t been made to kill a bunch of Dragon eggs, even though he thought he hid it well. Helen was actually pissed, which just left Justin confused on how he felt.
This was a game but he didn’t think that he felt too good about killing dragons in their eggs. When they were roaming around and causing mayhem, well, then he could understand it. Otherwise, it was just a pain in his mind.
There was little fun in killing an opponent before they got interesting. Once the playing field was level and it was Justin’s mind against his opponent’s—that was where he had fun.
He moved continuously, whistling a tune before he came across the northern gate of the Fourth District.
The Stone Raiders had moved into town. They had brought goods down from the north and assured everyone that the passes were clear and that the dragons were not a threat to anyone unless they disturbed their mountain unannounced.
Justin had put the dots together. The party that he had been fighting had to be the Stone Raiders. He’d heard about them in passing but he was not one for gaming news all that much. Now, however, he’d looked into the decent-sized guild and was surprised by their exploits.
They were true E-heads, so into the world that they in fact defended the POE. It made sense that they would look after a Dragon as well. It made Justin wonder what kind of quests they got for being nice to the people. By the gear that they were sporting, it was not low quality and they all seemed to be a rather fun group.
Justin looked at a decent-sized group of ten people headed down the street.
As Justin had stuck to scoping people out and trying to understand how hard it would be to pickpocket them, he had developed a skill called Risk Sense. He used it on the ten people; they ranged from white, to gray, yellow, and four reds, and one just tinged with purple.
The Risk Sense didn’t just come from what the level a person was; it was based off their gaming skill and their stats, which were not necessarily equivalent to a person’s level.
A slow smile stretched over Justin’s face as he looked at the party moving into the city.
“Well, it seems that we did indeed mess with the wrong kind of people.” Justin crouched down and looked at them, pulling an apple from his bag and eating it absently.
If the others are still all pent-up and thinking about revenge, I think I might need to find a new party. Bendel and Gillie are good, but Helen’s a bit too hot-headed when it comes to these things. We did attack them first, after all. It’s why they got no penalties for killing us.
Justin shook his head and looked out over the city. A thought struck him.
The Stone Raiders are fighting their way across Emerilia and looking to make POE allies. Why don’t I just do the same, but with information? We’re already a higher level than most of the POE within Opheir. We could look to helping out here, get a few extra quests, maybe build an information network. People are always looking for information. If we get in a position to sell it, then I can try to get out of my parents’ place, maybe even get one of those E-head pods so I can be in here all the time.
Justin thought on his ideas as he saw the Players head into a trading house.
An alert pinged on Justin’s interface a few minutes later.
Private Message
Hello, Player. It seems that items meeting your requirements are for sale in the trading house.
Goods: Any
Place of Sale: Nadorf, Opheir
Cost: 300 gold
Justin smiled, putting in his bid, and walked away, whistling again.
It might be an idea to make a few Stone Raider friends in the future. Seem like a pretty interesting bunch.
***
After putting the various items that the party had gathered on their adventure up for sale, they split the rest.
Dave didn’t really care for the weapons and gear; the weapons might be nice but he already had an idea of what he wanted to build himself.
The Stone Raider leaders went off to start the celebrations.
Deia made sure they gathered supplies they needed for their trip to the Benvari Mountains before meeting up with the rest of the Stone Raiders.
“Woohoo!” a Stone Raider said. A group of five of them was inebriated and was running around the inn’s roofs.
The POEs seemed in a joyous mood as well, many thanking the Stone Raiders for what they had done at Boran-al’s Citadel. Many others were enjoying the multiple rounds that the Stone Raiders had ordered. After the boring walk, watching over the trader caravan, they were excited to be doing something else.
Dave laughed and clapped as the POE started a quick melody that went with the rambunctious atmosphere.
Josh was in the middle of it, running off on roofs or in drinking games.
Dwayne looked more reserved as he sat with Lucy, who read her books while he drank his beer.
Seems like those two are being the responsible ones. Dave smirked as Kim floated off the second-floor balcony of one of the inns that the Stone Raiders had rooms in.
“Come on, you lot—got plenty of booze in this place and it’s almost as good as that Dwarven stuff!”
“I think we’ll just have to test this out for ourselves.” Dave looked to the rest of the party before he followed Kim inside.
It was as crazy inside as it was out. The barkeep had a massive smile on her face at the Stone Raiders’ antics as they had drinking games, sang along with some of the songs and caused general chaos. Yet, they weren’t trying to break tables or use powerful magic that might mess the place up.
“Beers, please!” Kim said, getting to the bar.
“How many?” one of the bartenders asked.
“Seven!” Kim chugged what remained of her beer.
“Having an easy night, huh?”
Dave looked to her mug.
“This stuff is much better than the crap we get on Earth. It’s damned well palatable!” Kim yelled back over the noise of the place.
“Where can we get a room for the night?” Deia asked.
“You’ve got rooms here. Double bunked, though—so that’s three of them.” Kim pulled out three keys and gave it to her. “Now let’s party!” Kim grabbed the beers as they arrived in front of her and handed them out to the others.
***
Dave didn’t try to open his eyes, instead pouring Mana through his body to fix all the damage that he done last night.
Even through his eye lids he could see the morning light.
Dave groaned, trying to get out of the way of the light, finding Deia moaning about his moving. He settled back down, using her hair to block the sun.
Dave felt a poke in his cheek, he moaned, looking over to Deia.
She had cracked an eyelid and looked up at him with a “you’re really hiding in my hair?” expression.
Dave just grunted back. He wrapped his arms around her more fully and pulled her up higher on him. She made a happy noise and snuggled in closer to him.
Well that was one hell of a night. Dave glanced around the room through Deia’s hair, finding clothes, armor, weapons, and gear leading to the bed.
Dave smirked at their trail of destruction before he let himself drift back to sleep.
“Wake up, you lazy bastards! Breakfast is downstairs!” Dwayne knocked on doors as he went.
Both Dave and Deia hid from the noise, hoping that it would just go away so they could get some more sleep.
Others got up and started to move around, fumbling through their rooms and creating a racket on their floor and then the floor above them as Dwayne reached it.
Dave groaned as Deia tried to tuck herself into Dave’s chest. Her eyes found his, a pitiful expression on her face. Why did this have to happen to us?
Dave just rubbed her head and poured healing magic into her, clearing away the effects of the hangover she was probably feeling. Although Dave had a taste for beers, she seemed to be a wine and spirits drinker. With her Elven metabolism, it was the only thing that could even start to get her drunk.
“Why didn’t you do that earlier?” Deia complained, her voice sleepy.
“Sorry, was just trying to go back to sleep.” Dave’s eyes closed as he got comfortable on the pillows.
“Mmm,” Deia said as the noise around them continued.
“We’re not going to get back to sleep, are we?” Dave asked.
“Probably not,” Deia muttered, not sounding all that pleased with it.
“Five more…” Dave’s words were interrupted with Suzy knocking on the door.
“Get up! You two are like damned horny teenag—” The door wasn’t locked and only half closed; her knocks opened it. She found Dave and Deia staring at her as her fist was raised to knock again. “Wow. So, tattoos, huh?”
Dave looked at his body, seeing the runes that covered his body. Usually they were hidden under his long-sleeved shirts and pants. “Er…”
“Well, looks like you’re up! See you at breakfast.” Suzy looked completely unapologetic.
Dave conjured a pillow above her head and dropped it on her grinning face.
“And, shut the door!” Deia yelled.
“So cute.” Suzy smiled, looking at them both, and closed the door.
Deia glared at the door and then Dave.
“What did I do?”
“She’s your friend.”
“Saying you and Suzy aren’t friends?”
“No, but you knew her first and I wanted to sleep in!” Deia pouted.
Dave laughed and pulled her to him; her face melted into a smile as he kissed her. “Morning, babe.”
“Your breath smells horrible!”
“Jackass.”
“But you looove me.” Deia grinned.
“How old are you?”
“Old enough,” Deia said with a saucy wink, getting out of bed as Dave admired her body. She grabbed her underwear slowly, making a show of it. “Unless you don’t want any of this?” Her innocent voice was at odds with her lustful body and seductive look in her eyes.
Dave got out of bed and moved toward her.
“Hey, get dressed! We have breakfast!” Deia said as Dave moved behind her and wrapped his hands around her, one traveling north and the other south.
Her voice caught as his hands found their targets. She melted back toward him, arching her body and pressing her backside against his groin.
“Too true. I could do with some food.” Dave released and grinned.
“Damned tease.” Deia’s face flushed and her eyes went wide in anticipation.
“Learned from the best.” Dave looked to her.
Her eyes and mouth thinned but the corners of it turned up in clear amusement.
After a few minutes and some more grab-ass, they made it down and into the actual inn. There were Stone Raiders, POEs, and other Players in the place. The Players just talked to one another or the Stone Raiders, thinking the POEs beneath them. The Stone Raiders, however, talked to everyone as if they were a Player. There were several people with POEs who looked as if they had spent the night at the inn with them.
Healers were going around, curing hangovers. A few went and grabbed a beer right after getting their hangover cured.
Dave and Deia found the rest of their party hanging out at a table with two more spots at it. The food had already arrived, with Suzy ordering for Dave and Deia.
“Oh Suz, I don’t know what I did without you.” Dave grinned. She had not forgotten his preferences: bacon, eggs, grits, fried tomatoes, and proper hash browns.
Deia smirked and shook her head. She’d come to understand and accept Suzy and Dave’s relationship. The two were more brother and sister than coworkers.
They both dug into the food, talking about the antics of last night and small stuff for a while as they ate.
***
“All right, well, until later then. Make sure you send Kim her reports and let us know when you want to go on a bit of a raid.” Josh smiled at them.
“Look after yourselves,” Deia said.
“And try to not get into too much trouble,” Malsour said.
“Fat chance of that.” Induca looked away.
“See you later.” Dave waved to them.
The Stone Raiders turned and headed toward the teleport pad. It had cost a lot of gold for them to keep the teleport open as the guild wandered through with their wagons and gear.
There were smiles and a bit of joking but their eyes looked around as they entered, ready for any threat they might find on the other side. The teleport pads made for fast travel across Emerilia. They cost some gold, more than a POE might have, but to the Players, it was easy to get.
They were being transported to the Endon kingdom on the Gudalo continent. If Opheir was a level-one continent, Gudalo was a level three due to the high number of ex-POE adventurers who had left Heval or Ashal, or people who were trading goods with the Per’ush islands that floated between Gudalo and Ashal.
Opheir only had the one teleportation pad; however, other continents that were richer or more powerful had multiple teleport pads.
The Lokma Empire on Ashal supposedly had a teleportation pad for every one of their cities. Every single island within Per’ush also had a teleportation pad. Depending on how people were allied, people could transport between kingdoms. Opheir and the Endon kingdom didn’t really care for one another and the teleport was usually locked between the two.
Though, with the Stone Raiders messages, they could secure transport over to the different location with a key that they had been given. A key was linked to a Player’s interface, so as long as they were on good standing with the kingdom they wanted to go to, then they could.
If that standing went down, however, then their key wouldn’t work anymore.
Josh and Lucy moved to join the other Sto
ne Raiders. Dwayne and Lucy had gone ahead to make sure that the other side was clear.
As people stepped onto the teleport pad, they simply disappeared while the runes of the teleport pad hummed with power. After a few minutes, the last of the Stone Raiders walked through and the runes stopped glowing. The rings around the teleport pad started to move as a new group of traders moved up, ready to go through the teleport.
“Well, let’s get going.” Deia led them away from the teleport pad.
“Yeah.” Dave looked to Suzy and Anna’s shoulders. Both of them now wore the guild crest of the Stone Raiders, given to them in the middle of the booze fest that was last night.
The two of them talked summoning and different things as Induca started bothering her brother about different sights she saw. Malsour sighed and tried to rein his little sister in.
Dave grabbed Deia’s hand as they made their way through the bustling city, heading toward the Benvari Mountains in the distance.
Chapter 19: Benvari Mountains
Dave watched as they exited the forest, finally able to see the mountains in all their glory.
“Those mountains are massive!” Suzy said.
From afar, it was hard to think that anyone lived in the mountains. They still retained their natural beauty. Hundreds of wagons traveled to and from the mountain range. The approach was covered by vast fortifications and concealed artillery.
The actual mountain had a gentle road leading up and into it. A curtain wall covered a town that had formed outside of the mountain’s trading entrance. Only a few people were allowed past the inner defensive gates and defenses that extended before the mountain’s different entrances.
Dave and the party passed through the small town. Once they got to what Dave was thinking of as the inner sanctum, he showed his necklace to a Dwarven shield bearer. A mage checked it and then bowed and waved for them to continue.
They passed through the Dwarves’ first true defensive line into a stone covered area. There were barracks, training areas, trading squares of all types and roving bands of Dwarven warbands. It was the closest people got to the mountain without being a Dwarf, emissary, or well-trusted ally.
Benvari Mountains (Emerilia Book 2) Page 15