“Now, your date will be along shortly. Have a good time, won’t you?’
“Ah, Dennis? I’m not sure she meant for this to be a romantic date,” Harrison murmured. “I think we’re just going to talk.”
“When a woman asks you to dinner, it is never just to talk.”
Harrison watched him disappear back inside and patted his hands against his thighs as he surveyed the empty gardens. The sun had already gone down behind the wall and he admired the array of dark oranges and reds coloring the sky overhead. The game Dennis created was astounding, but moments like this one reminded Harrison why he still preferred real life to whatever simulation a computer could create. It was limited by codes and algorithms. Even the characters Dennis created, as out of the box and free thinking they might be, were still part of the computer at the end of the day. They weren’t real, couldn’t think completely for themselves.
You sure about that? The thought raced through his mind as his hand absently rose to his neck and the freshly healed bruises from Valen choking him. You know there’s something else going on here and that old man is trying to distract you from searching for it.
“Harrison?”
He turned at the sound of his name and the familiar voice that instantly brought a smile to his face. “That would be me.”
The woman standing before him was around his height and wore dark jeans and a black tank top. Her hair was cut short in a pixie style that he normally found unattractive on women, but on her it fit perfectly. Her upper body was muscled and several tattoos ran down her arms. She held one out as she reached him and her smile lit up her dark grey eyes. And thankfully, she did not look like a twenty-one year old woman.
“Callie Davis, nice to meet you in the real world.”
“Same,” Harrison said. “You have a decent handshake there.”
She grinned wider and released his hand. “Strong hands. Comes with the job.”
“Right, blacksmithing. I have never met anyone who does that kind of work.”
“It’s fun, different,” she said and shoved her hands in her butt pockets. “Do I dare ask what you’ve been up to for the past year since you left the gaming world?”
Harrison rubbed at his neck nervously. “Let’s just say I took a turn down a path I shouldn’t have and now I’m working to get back on track. This game, it’s been a major help.”
“You’re not the only one. I hit a few bumps on my own road, and that’s when I took up blacksmithing.” She smiled. “I may have had anger problems at one point or another. After a few fights that landed me in jail, I took up blacksmithing.”
“Help you focus?” he asked, curious.
“Hell no, I get to beat the living crap out of things,” she said and they both laughed. “Takes the edge off.”
He could only imagine. “I guess we’ll sit down and eat. Dennis set all this up, by the way.”
“Well Dennis is a smart man. This is kind of nice,” she said, and Harrison hurried to the table to pull out her chair, trying to be a gentleman at least. She sat down with a murmured thanks and drank from her glass of water. “It is nice being outside for once.”
“Yeah. We try to come out here whenever we can, my guild and I.”
“Your guild, the one you want to recruit me into,” she said and removed the metal covering over her plate as Harrison did the same. “Oh good. Burgers and fries.” She ate a few as Harrison tried to decide where this conversation was going to lead. “So I have something I need to admit.”
“And what might that be? You actually suck at crafting?” he teased, earning a fry tossed at his face. He ate it as she eyed him closely. Suddenly, it no longer felt like he was outside with a beautiful woman but in a room slowly growing smaller and losing oxygen.
“I didn’t want to pick your brain about your gaming,” she admitted. “I’ve watched you just like everyone else and it’s impressive, but I honestly just wanted a date with you.” She laughed, a deep sound that Harrison found he quite enjoyed. “God I’m an idiot. I just couldn’t help myself and you are a charming man.”
He leaned back in his chair and smiled. “Thanks, and you don’t have to be worried about the date.”
“No?”
“No, I uh, I was kind of hoping it was one,” he confessed, his face scrunched. “My life hasn’t been all rainbows lately and the last time I went on a date was with my ex-wife, years ago.”
She wiped her hands on her napkin. “Ditto, well, with my husband I mean.”
“You’re divorced, too?” he asked, surprised.
“I think I’m closer to your age than you think. And the reason I was sent to anger management classes for a year? Yeah, it was because of him.”
Harrison studied the woman sitting across the table from him, and he saw a reflection of himself and all the trials he went through the last year. Callie was just like him, working towards finding herself again and hoping this game would help her do just that. He wasn’t sure what made him do it, but his hand moved across the table and rested on hers. He expected her to pull away. She didn’t. Her face softened and she twined her fingers through his.
“I’m glad you were by the forges that day,” she whispered. “Wow, how cheesy does that sound?”
“It could be a lot worse, but I’m glad I was, too.”
She nibbled her lip and nodded. “Alright, I’m in. I’ll join your guild.”
“Just like that?” he said, surprised.
“Would you be against sealing it with a kiss?” she suggested with a wink.
Harrison had no problem doing that at all. He stood and walked over to her side of the table and brushed his lips gently across hers.
“I knew it!” Jimmy said from behind them.
Harrison and Callie whipped around to see him in the doorway with a hand clapped over his mouth, eyes wide. Alana rolled her eyes behind him and dragged him back inside, but not before winking at Harrison. He sighed as Callie laughed.
“Sorry about them. I told them it wasn’t a date, date, but I guess they didn’t believe me.”
“Well, they were right, weren’t they?” she said and tugged on his shirt so he kissed her one more time. He was certainly attracted to this woman and only hoped them getting involved would not mess up either of their game play. “Now that that’s settled, shall we discuss crafting?”
“Over dinner?” he asked as he sat back down.
“Why not? I’ll give you the rundown and, first thing tomorrow, you bring your guild to the Crafting Hall and I’ll show you exactly what you can do in this world of Samar with a few ingredients and patience. Lots of patience.”
“I have patience,” he said, and she eyed him skeptically. “What? I have it when I need it.”
“We’ll just have to see tomorrow now, won’t we?” she challenged.
Harrison grinned and tossed a fry back at her. “Yeah, we will, and I will be proving you wrong.”
Chapter 08
“Damn it!” Bishop snapped and glared at the prompt hovering before his face.
Calista chuckled beside him as he dismissed it and she held up the bow he ruined. “My, my, what was that you said about being patient?”
He crossed his arms. “I am being patient.”
“No, you’re throwing ingredients together and hoping they stick instead of doing it like I told you,” she scolded. “Break it down and see if there’s anything you can reuse from it. We’ll start from the beginning.”
Groaning, he set the bow back on the wood working table and tapped his fingers on the surface. “I still think I’m doing it right,” he grumbled.
“Clearly not or you would have had a blue level bow by now, if not a purple one,” she sing-songed, and he rolled his eyes behind her back. “I saw that.”
“No you didn’t.”
“I felt it, good enough.” She waited, arms crossed, for him to do as she instructed.
Harrison gave in and did his best to reign in his annoyance. Calista was not at fault for why
he couldn’t do it right. He approached crafting in this game like he did every other game and completely ignored what she went over with him last night at dinner. Crafting in Samar was just like in the real world. It was an art, one that took time and thought instead of simply slapping ingredients together in a window and watching the piece instantly come out perfect. These weapons could fail and fail badly. After two hours of working beside her in the Crafting Hall, he expected to have a better bow, dagger, and be working on his actual gear. Instead, he couldn’t even make one bow that suited his needs if they were to enter the third dungeon and have a second go at the Demon Lord Helenex.
Rumors were flying around Hillside, and he was sure they spread to Weston by now too, that the third dungeon was no easy feat. A few guilds attempted and wound up right alongside Bishop’s Guard and the LongBeards to better their gear.
Taking a deep breath to bring his focus back where it needed to be, Bishop tapped on the bow and watched the window pop up before him.
Would you like to deconstruct this item?
He selected yes and the bow glowed on the table. With his wood carving tool in hand, he touched it again and the bow cracked, the string popped, and it fell to pieces. He touched each pile of broken material as the glow faded and salvaged the few bits of cursed oak he could, along with the ruby gem he tried to enhance it with. At least, he got one back this time. The past few tries, all he got back were scraps that were good for nothing more but selling to a merchant.
“Now, try it again,” Calista instructed. “Lay out your wood.”
“Maybe I just can’t craft,” he answered, but she shook her head.
“You can, you’re just being difficult. You’re not letting it speak to you,” she argued. “Now do it, Bishop, or we’re going to be here all damn day.”
He drew the wood from his bag and a long piece of cursed oak appeared on the table. Next, he chose the ruby which would add agility to his bow, along with enhancing its critical hit chances. Lastly, he added demon oils, a different kind than that he coated his arrows in. This one upped his chances of creating a purple level item. He gripped the wood-carving tool in his right hand and Calista took his hand in hers to guide him.
“Remember, picture the curve of the bow in your mind, the way the wood will feel under your hands,” she said in his ear. “Picture yourself using it, what will it look like? What will the sound be when the arrow releases? Picture all of that, Bishop.”
Breathing out of his nose, he imagined the bow he wanted to create in his mind. The sharp angled curves at the top and bottom, and the chiseled grip for his hand to hold onto. With Calista guiding his hand, he moved the tool over the wood and the wood glowed dimly with his eyes shut. He picked up the ruby in his other hand and placed it on the bow he carved, imagining it becoming a piece of the bow, ingrained in the very wood he carved. There was a loud crack and a bright flash. He cursed, thinking he failed again, but Calista shrieked in delight.
“You did it!”
Bishop squinted one eye open, followed by the other, and stared at the masterpiece on the table. “Holy moly. That’s… that’s almost exactly as I pictured it,” he said, amazed, at the beautiful carved bow at his fingertips. He hesitated to touch it, afraid it would shatter and he would lose the one item he managed to create that was truly magnificent. “Damn.”
“Well go on, check it out,” Calista said, as she bounced on the balls of her feet.
He picked it up and the smooth wood hummed beneath his palm. The ruby was engrained in the wood. Bits of it glimmered at him when he moved the bow beneath the torchlight of the hall. His fingers wrapped around the heavy-duty string and he gave it a pull, drawing back as if he were to fire. Everything about the bow just felt right, but how the hell had the computer managed to create something he pictured in his mind?
“Those sensors on our head,” he murmured, setting the bow back down gently, “they can read our thoughts, can’t they?”
“I figured it out not too long into the game,” she said in agreement. “There’s a simple recipe for everyday items, the first bow you created and your gear. But if you want to get the good stuff, you must see it in your mind’s eye. You have to feel it already in your grip.”
“You really are an incredible player, and woman,” he complimented her.
“You’re not so bad yourself. Now, what are you going to name this bad boy?”
“I always hated naming weapons.” He tapped his finger on the bow and the bow’s stats appeared as well as the option to name it. The stats were incredible and Bishop couldn’t wait to go out and kill some demons, but what to name such a weapon? “Destroyer of Helenex,” he decided on and typed it in. Once it was set, he closed out the prompt and cackled, holding the bow in his hands and kissing it.
“You are flirting with danger, naming it that,” Calista said through her laughter. “Ready to move on? We still have a few more bows to make and staves and gear for everyone, including yourself.” She scooted him down the table so she could make another bow.
Bishop slung his bow over his back, then on second thought tucked it away in his bags to keep it safe until they left Hillside behind. He glanced over his shoulder to Giles and focused on what style of bow the Trapper would like. Once the wood was set on the table, he scrolled through the stash of gems Calista gifted him and decided on the diamond. If he didn’t mess it up, the bow would have additional haste and critical strike. He used more demon oils to up his chances for a higher-level item and made ready to carve a second bow. He almost started on his task when he remembered the other styles he had access to, thanks to the rest of the materials Calista gave him. How she managed to accumulate so many supplies for crafting, he had no idea, but he wasn’t about to question her dedication to her art.
Plus, they were unofficially dating. He smirked, remembering the good night kiss she left him with outside his door.
“You going to stand there all day smiling like an idiot or are you going to make something?” she teased beside him. “I think you should go with the bone look for him.”
“Read my mind.” He added a bone sliver to the stack of resources and closed his eyes.
As with his bow, he imagined seeing it in his mind’s eye, complete and ready to use, the diamond embedded in the eyes of the skull mounted on the top of the bow. His hand moved slowly, gracefully almost. Before long, that bright glow pressed against his closed eyes again and, when he opened them, a second purple level bow appeared.
“Giles! Got a present for you!” he hollered across the hall and the other hunter came running. “Don’t break it.” He handed over the bow and Giles’ eyes lit up like it was Christmas morning.
“No way! Man, this is awesome!”
“Glad you like it, and don’t forget to name it.” Proud of his work, he settled back in at the table. “One more bow and then we’re on to staves.”
Calista sidled up closer to him and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. “Good job, Bishop. Look at you, crafting away.”
“Well once we’re finished here, we’re going to have a surprise for you,” he told her.
Earlier that morning, before they met up with Calista, Maverick and Zoe said they had to head to Weston to pick up some items from their separate guild houses. The first had a stash of herbs she’d been collecting and hoped Calista would be able to give her guidance on making better potions as well. That wasn’t one of her crafts, since each player could only have up to three, but Bishop had a feeling she had learned all she could about each craft anyway. A player could change at any time which ones they perfected. And if Calista was this good at crafting weapons, Bishop could only begin to imagine what she could do to up their health and mana potions. She might say they were out of her comfort zone, but she was a natural as far as he was concerned.
Since they were in Weston, however, he gave them the task of finding a good location for Calista’s shop. No other player set one up yet, at least not that he heard of, and he was excited to head over
there and help her get started on selling her goods in a much better way than the Auction House.
“What are you thinking about?” she asked, and Bishop shook his head.
“Huh? Oh, nothing, nothing at all. Just wondering how obnoxious to make Jimmy’s new staff.”
“I heard that!” Jimmy called out from down the tables. He was busy at work crafting new jewelry for those who needed it. Calista showed him that, early in the morning, so he could get going on the new sets.
Bishop shot him a mischievous grin and set to work.
“No, you’re up to something else,” Calista argued. “Hmm. What are you hiding, Bishop?”
He shrugged, unable to hide his smile. “You’ll see soon enough.”
“I better. Right, I’m going to make you a dagger and start on a new war hammer for Arthur,” she announced and sashayed to the forges. Bishop watched her walk away, tilting his head back to admire her movements until she was out of sight.
“You’ve got it bad,” Jimmy commented as he waltzed to Bishop’s side.
“Says the man who fell for Maverick just as quick,” he reminded him.
“Good point. She messaged me a little while ago and said they found the perfect location. There’s a ground floor shop on the main level for all the guild houses,” he said in hushed tones. “Nice big front window and everything.”
Bishop glanced up when he heard the tink of Calista’s hammer at work as she forged a new weapon. The muscles in her shoulders and arms flexed as she beat at the iron ore and shoved it back into the hot coals. “Perfect.” He turned back to the staff he was supposed to be crafting as his mind raced with trying to understand what was happening to him.
His palms sweat when he was around her and his heart threatened to pound right out of his chest. He bet Tyler was having a field day watching his sensors as his body went haywire, not from fighting, but from being near a woman that made him feel hopeful again about the future. Figures of all the places he would meet someone, it was in a computer game.
Necromancers, Demons & Kings Page 13