I sighed and then spent the next few minutes of my walk giving Dinah my instructions.
Chapter 3
I was getting more comfortable with the login process of Ohlavar Quest. The VRIU mask slipped on without Ky’s help this time, and I’d taken to the tank like a fish. I doubted that I would need the tattooed man’s help getting out of it when I finally did exit the game, but I really liked having the guy around to make small talk with, so I’d probably ask Zarra to keep him in the room during the next few years.
The blackness of the VRIU went away when I opened my eyes. I was lying in the large bed in my room. I was still naked, but I had actually taken the new clothes that Gratia had given me off and hung them up before logging out, so I didn’t know for sure if Zarra’s client software was still doing the whole “log me in naked” thing.
I sprang out of bed, stretched, put on my clothes, and then put on my magical jewelry. The new clothes were a thick cotton, and had neat stitching on all the seams. Gratia had spent a good thirty minutes telling me about dwarven craftsmanship when she gifted me with the clothes, and I’d done my best to smile and nod while she spoke.
I opened my UI stats window with a wave of my fingers and looked at my stats:
Leo Lennox
Body (Overall) - 33
Body (Magic) - 0
Body (Stats) - 33
Brawn - 17
Quickness - 16
Mind (Overall) - 31
Mind (Magic) - 0
Mind (Stats) - 31
Intelligence - 15
Willpower - 16
Light (Overall) - 25
Light (Magic) - 0
Light (Stats) - 25
Perception - 12
Charisma - 13
Shadow (Overall) - 32
Shadow (Magic) - 0
Shadow (Stats) - 32
Comeliness - 16
Luck - 16
24 points available.
I had wanted to talk to Zarra about where she thought I should put my stats, but it was obvious from our last conversation that she wouldn’t be giving me any advice. I still had the 24 points saved from when I completed my earlier quests, and part of me wanted to spend them, but I didn’t know what I was going to need when I reached Arnicoal, so I decided to bank them for a little longer.
If this were any other game, I probably would have had picked a class. The direction would have made it easier for me to figure out where to spend the points. Fighter/melee type classes would do better with lots of strength and toughness type attributes, mages/spell casters would do better with a lot of intelligence type attributes. I was already a really good fighter from my real life skills, and the game seemed to have augmented my strength a bunch, so it was tempting to just keep pouring points there, but that seemed a little short sighted. Mage types might be really rare in this world, and warriors might be a dime a dozen. It didn’t matter how good I could fight if I couldn’t find NPCs that would be willing to quest with me.
I switched to the new “Quests” tab that I’d asked Zarra to add a few days ago. Inside I saw a list of current quests and a list of completed quests. There was only one listed in the current section, and it had two subsection quests that popped out below after I motioned over it.
1- Get to Arnicoal City and find clues about the Artifacts of Heliotrope.
2- Kill the Overseer in the underdark of the Laven Mountains and claim his Artifact of Heliotrope.
I clicked again on each quest and there was a nice summary of what I had done up to that point in that game. The summary even included the names of the NPCs that had traveled with me during the previous parts of the quest chain. It was a cool feature, and a business idea suddenly popped into my head. I wondered if players would pay for nicely bound hardback copies of their quest logs. My entries so far had been unique to me, and I would love to hold a physical copy of the book in my hand one day so that I could read through it and relive my gaming experience.
There was a knock at my room door, and I closed the UI window with an air-flick of my fingers.
“Yes?” I asked.
“Oh, Leo! You are here! Yay!” Allurie called from the other side. I saw the door knob spin, but the thick piece of wood didn’t move because I had bolted it closed.
“Can I come in?” she called out.
“Yeah. Hold on.” I walked over to the door and then undid the bolt.
“I missed you so much!” Allurie threw herself on me like a tall elven-spider monkey, and she showered my head with kisses.
“Ha. I’ve only been gone for like twenty hours.” I laughed as I pulled her off of my shoulders. She was kind of like one of those pieces of tape that kept sticking to my fingers when I tried to remove it.
“But that is forever. I just miss—”
“Hey Allurie,” I interrupted her, and something in my voice must have surprised her, because she let go of my arms and looked at me with confusion.
“Yes? Is it time?”
“No.” I shook my head. “Besides, haven’t you kept saying that I love men?”
“Yes, but sometimes people change their mind. Before I go to bed, I pray that you will.” As she spoke she clasped her hands together and her turquoise eyes sparkled. Allurie was really beautiful, and I knew that I probably wasn’t going to change my recommendation to Zarra about making elves a little less like a man’s wet dream.
“Artus and I are going to leave today.”
“Yes?”
“And we are going to Arnicoal.”
“Yes?”
“And we are going to take the wagon about a mile from Cutno before we head off in that direction. Would you be okay walking the rest of the way back to the city and then returning to the castle? Tunni must be really worried about you.”
“Oh.” I had thought that the woman’s smile had actually been a permanent feature of her face, or I had thought that she wouldn’t have exactly understood what I was saying, but her almond eyes opened wide with surprise, and her mouth became a painful frown instantly.
“You don’t want me to come with you?” she asked as her greenish-blue eyes began to tear up.
“It’s going to be a long journey, and really dangerous. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“But, I don’t care about getting hurt. I just want to be around you. I love you.”
“Allurie, you don’t even know me.” I sighed.
“I know you are handsome, and kind; and you are true to your friends, and you are nice to me, and sure, you might not be that smart, but that doesn’t matter! All that matters is that I want to spend the rest of my life with you because making you happy makes me happy.”
I bit my lip to force myself from arguing about my intelligence. Maybe I was stupid for not having sex with her. This was just a game, and it wasn’t like it was real, or that I had a girlfriend I was cheating on. Maybe the idea just weirded me out. If I really wanted sex, I could get that in the real world.
But it would be empty, and I’d gotten bored of that, too. I wanted a connection with someone. I wanted to love that person and feel that they loved me also. When I had first become champion of Astafar Unlimited, I’d practically slept with a different beautiful woman, or three, every night. But I’d only kept that up for a few months before I realized that they didn’t love me, just my status as the world champion.
I didn’t love them either. They were just convenient playthings, and their presence changed me from the poor kid that had strived to become World Champion to a celebrity that only cared about how people saw him. As soon as I had cut them out of my life; I had felt a million times better about myself.
Maybe that was why the elves in Ohlavar Quest kind of bugged me. They reminded me too much of all the groupies that had thrown themselves at me over the years. The empty people with nothing behind their beauty that forced me to see how empty I could become.
That wasn’t being fair to Allurie though. She didn’t seem empty. Just… simple? I guessed that was a better descri
ption. Maybe I should be envying her. She was honest with what she wanted, and I guessed that if I did have some sort of virtual relationship with her, the AI would have programmed her to be the perfect servant girlfriend/wife that some guys dreamed about.
“It is best if it is this way, Allurie. I’m sorry.” I forced the words to my lips with a sigh.
“Stupid Leo! Arrrgh. Meanie!” Allurie stamped her foot like a kid would have and crossed her arms.
“I’m not trying to be mean; I just want what is best for you.”
“And you get to decide what is best for me? I can’t decide? Why? Why can’t I decide? I can carry my weight. I can clean, and cook, and take care of you. I know you don’t like women, but that doesn’t change the way that I feel about you. You are just being selfish.”
“Wait, why am I being selfish? I just want what—”
“Uuuugghhh!” she spun around and ran out of my room with a flip of silver hair. A second later I heard the door to our suite open and then slam closed.
A few seconds passed, and then Artus poked his tabby cat colored head into the doorway.
“Grrr. I’m sorry you had to do that, Leo.”
“Yeah. Feels like I am breaking up with a girlfriend in real life or something,” I said with a sigh.
“Huh?”
“Oh nothing, sorry.” I smiled at my friend and then stepped out of my room and into the main living area of the dwarven “royal” suite.
“Has to be done. The trip will take us a bit less than a week to reach Arnicoal. It won’t be a hard journey, but she’ll keep trying to force the mating with you. Grrr.”
“Yeah. I figured. Even the whole ‘liking men’ thing didn’t seem to deter her.”
“Grr, I tried to help you with that.” The fenia shrugged.
“You did? I thought you believed me to be—”
“Didn’t you hear me growl?”
“Uhhh no. You kind of growl all the time.” I laughed.
“Yes, but this is the sound I make when I am being sarcastic.” The man let out a higher octave purr that I had heard him do a few times. “Otherwise it is like this.” He made another noise, and it sounded almost exactly the same pitch, just at a lower register. “I’m sorry, my friend. I thought you knew I was just playing along so that the elf wouldn’t bother you anymore. I did not mean to—”
“No worries, buddy. It’s okay. I feel bad that Allurie is upset, but you are right. It can’t be helped. She needs to go back home to the castle.”
“Yes. She will forget about you in a few days, maybe even a few hours. Young elves are not very smart, and they are easily distracted by shiny objects.”
“I’ve been prepared to leave once you returned from wherever you go,” the cat-man said as he gestured to a few bags of clothes that Gratia had given us.
“Great. Did they come through with the wagon?”
“Grrr. Yes. It is a fine piece of equipment. They are also giving us two of their mountain ponies. They are tough animals, and will be great for our trip back to my home.”
“Okay. Have you seen Gratia? I think we need to say goodbye. She also mentioned something about an armed escort.” Now that I knew that there was a difference, I was paying attention to the cat noises that my fenia friend made. His earlier growl seemed to be one of pleasure, and I guessed that he was really happy about the ponies.
“Yes. I know where her apartment is. Should we go there on our way to the stronghold exit? I will guess that the elf girl will be waiting at the wagon.”
“If not, we can find her. I’ll grab everything,” I said as I buckled my sword belt around my waist. Then I grabbed the travel bag that Gratia had given me, threw it over my shoulders, and then picked up the matching bag she had given to Allurie. Artus grabbed his own packs, and we made one last sweep across the suite to make sure we weren’t leaving anything behind. Then I followed Artus through the stronghold hallways to Gratia’s room.
We passed many smiling dwarves on the way to our friend’s room, and each greeted us with a loud salutation that was then joined by a fist bump. The dwarves in this stronghold were a happy bunch, and I was going to be a bit sad to leave this place. The game must go on though, and these relics weren’t going to find themselves.
“Leo! You have returned. Good to see you!” Gratia fist bumped me when she opened the door to her suite.
“Good to see you too. I think we are about ready to leave. Just wanted to say goodbye.”
“Ehhh. So soon? You haven’t had nearly enough dwarven beer!” The short woman laughed with her head back.
“Your clan has been very kind to us. I wanted to say—”
“Stop,” she said suddenly, and she raised her hand. “No need for you to thank me, Leo. You saved my ass twice. No, maybe even three times if I count that beholder. If I had more control over the resources here, I would have given you a lot more than just a wagon, some ponies, and a bit of supplies.”
“You are my friend, I am happy to help out.” I raised my fist to the short woman and she slammed her knuckles into it.
“Ahh! That does remind me. We don’t have any armor that will fit you, but I do have something else to give you.” She gestured for us to enter her room, and we both stepped past the doorway.
Gratia’s suite was about the size of ours, maybe a bit smaller, since just one person lived in it. I did see three doors leading out of the main living area, and I guessed that she could probably host her own guests instead of putting them in another suite. The living space was decorated with some great stone carvings of dwarven warriors fighting dragons, and I couldn’t help but step closer to one so I could study it.
“You like that one? I carved it when I was a wee lass.”
“Damn. This is fine work,” I said as I studied the detailed sculpture.
“Of course it is! Dwarves do everything better! I got a room full of them back here, and my tools,” Gratia said as she nodded back to one of the rooms. “But that’s not what I wanted to show you. This is.” The dwarven woman held up a sheathed sword with a one handed grip.
“I know you said you broke your old one. So I grabbed this one from our stash. I don’t know where we got it from, but no self respecting dwarf is going to use it, so you might as well have it.”
“Thank you,” I said as I took the weapon from her hands. The grip was made of a dark colored wood, and the pommel had a glittery fire opal surrounded by silver colored metal. I pulled the blade out of its sheath, and let out a long whistle. It was a broadsword, like the weapon that had broken against the beholder, and it felt very well balanced in my hand. I twisted my wrist a bit, and the stat screen of the weapon popped up in its orange box.
Broadsword of the Charming Mind
Damage: 20% above standard - long blade
Durability - Magical
Br—
Qu—
In +2
Wi +2
Pe—
Ch+3
Co—
Lu—
Once every thirty six hours, a user can either reset their mana fatigue, or charm a person of equal or lower Charisma attribute.
“Wow, this is amazing!” I said as I examined the glowing blue text of the weapon. I couldn’t believe that I was getting my first item of this color so soon, but then again, I wasn’t really playing Ohlavar Quest at the newbie zone.
I made a few small movements with the blade to test its balance some more. The weapon really did feel magical; it almost seemed to dance through the air as if there was no resistance.
“Glad you like it. The toy was just collecting dust in our armor room. It’s the least I can do for all the help you’ve given me.” The woman’s smile was almost half the size of her face, and I guessed that my reaction to her gift was pleasing her.
“I am very thankful. Thank you, again.” I slid my first blue item back into the sheath and then took a few moments to replace the one that contained my half broken broadsword on my belt.
“I feel the
need to travel. Part of me wants to go with you all,” Gratia said as I worked on my weapon belt.
“Oh?” Artus growled with a raised eyebrow.
“Sure! See the world, get out of the stronghold. I’m my own woman now. I bought my freedom. I can go where I want, and do as I please. Maybe folks in Arnicoal will want to buy some of my sculptures?”
The fenia turned toward some of the statues and then leaned closer to examine them.
“Grrr. I’ve not much of an eye for art, but I know a fellow fenia that deals with art sales.”
“Ohhh…. Hmmmm.” Gratia scratched her chin as if she had a beard, but thankfully, I hadn’t seen any female bearded dwarves yet.
“Maybe we can take a few of your pieces, and I could get his opinion, then send word back?” Artus asked.
“Ehhh. That would be hard. You’d have to find a dwarf, and the journey would require some guards to make it through the foothills. Our stronghold has only a few connections in Arnicoal, and I don’t think any of them would be willing to travel for a week or two to get back here. Or, they would, if I had the coin.”
“Grrr. I understand. Part of why my own business is so successful is that I don’t mind the journey out here.”
“Aye, but that is from Arnicoal to Cutno. Arnicoal to this stronghold is an additional heap of danger. Don’t get me wrong, stout dwarves have no problem with the journey, but stout dwarves are busy doing stout dwarven things, not playing messenger.”
I looked back and forth between my two friends, and tried to disguise my awe. The conversation they were having made me appreciate Ohlavar Quest’s AI even more. Every other game had always made me feel as if I was the center of the universe, but the problem was that it also attempted to make the other players seem as if they were also the center of the universe. The strategy made NPC interactions, and the quests, kind of fall flat.
Lion's Quest: Dual Wield: A LitRPG Saga Page 3