"I'm sorry Joseph, it was a killing strike. It hit her for however many hit points she had left. How much will she lose from that death?" Sophie said. Cain looked at the message only he received as the clan leader.
"She lost one thousand three hundred and fifty-seven points. Susan is still on level thirty-one, needing nearly two thousand experience points," said Cain. "Her respawn is a Bountiful place, and we have plenty to do before she comes back to us. Training and even more training and a little bit of vengeance if we can find it. Once she's back, we will make a little visit with our new female friends. Do you ladies get everything you came out for?"
With great tenderness Cain pulled the javelin out of Bethany's chest. After a quick hug, he said goodbye to the body, Cain laid her down on the shop floor, covering her with a length of cloth he'd pulled off a table top. They kept guard so Bethany would not get looted, three minutes later Bethany's body turned into pixels as she dissolved into the floor. In the real world, her POD was not connected to the hospital's patient monitoring system. So when the control panel flashed a warning light for ten seconds, nobody noticed Bethany's body as it violently shook. Two seconds after the warning all of Bethany's vitals returned to normal.
Checking to make sure everything had been purchased for Bounty, Cain had Myrina lead them back to the temple. Shoulder to shoulder they ran, three abreast through quiet streets, back through the citadel gates and up to Cybele's temple. The high priestess greeted them as they entered the temple. She told them how much sadness Cybele has over your loss, though she knows Susan will not stay away from the zone for long. She told Cain that he had Cybele's blessing to take the fight to where it originated from; if he had any proof.
Cain thanked the high priestess and Cybele, telling them he would search diligently for the proof needed, such as a fallen soul or a misplaced player. Toni could tell the high priestess did not understand Cain’s words, but Cybele would. They headed for their quarters and Bounty, for they needed rest and sustenance.
Once in Bounty, with the door to their temple rooms barricaded, they gathered at the kitchen table to discuss what happened. Sophie told Cain and Toni what happened on the resupply trip.
"We arrived at the market and we each felt someone watching us. Though we looked we could not see anything or anyone, so we continued our supply run, staying together in a small tight group. We kept in the small group though it made shopping slower than we would have liked, it was the safest thing to do.
"I checked the list and noticed we had collected everything, and more besides, barring the material Toni asked for. The material was to be our last stop. As we entered the shop, several armed men fought to reach us through the press of shoppers. Pushing the shoppers to the side and killing those who would not move, slowing them down in reaching us.
"With the shouting and noise from people falling over upturned stalls, the screaming from senseless killings warned us. Being in the shop we turned over a few tables of materials and stood with our backs against the wall our shields to the front. In a lull in the fighting I sent the message that was less than fifteen minutes ago. They hit Myrina first, targeting a…, her, though Lesley easily healed her wounds. I didn't pay attention to my blind side and received a wide slash on the inside of my leg from a Doru, which clipped my femoral artery.
"Seconds later a stone glanced off my shoulder, a span higher and to the right it would have hit me in my forehead, had I not been bent applying pressure to my wound. Lesley came to my rescue this time and she healed my artery and leg wound. As she finished my healing one of their attackers brushed past Myrina striking at Lesley and hit her on the back. His Xiphos blade slid between her ribs and nicked her lung.
"I was still a little light-headed after my healing and blood loss, and took a small heal potion to speed my recovery. Within a minute I felt strong enough to heal Lesley who gasped for breath, her lips had turned a nice shade of blue. Myrina and Bethany kept us protected from both peltasts and swordsmen as my healing skill worked on Lesley's wounds.
"Thankfully we had chosen a store which was narrow and they could only enter to attack us three at a time. We made things even harder as we turned tables over and threw piles of material on the floor, only one of them at a time could attack us in close quarters. They must have had notification you were on your way as they increased the rate they attacked, throwing several javelins and they even pulled one of the overturned tables out of the way. With the table removed, they could and did attack two abreast with sword and Doru.
"We killed five, maybe six of the attackers then you arrived, the rest you know. I think I recognised the voice urging the men to attack us. They were not aiming for Myrina, but Bethany, Lesley and myself were the targets. I heard the voice say kill the players, kill the players."
"We will do nothing about the voice until Bethany respawns. In the morning we will go train our twenty-five warriors, increase their fitness and improve their weapon-handling skills. Toni and I finished the recurve bows for them to use before you were attacked.
"Part of the Amazons training will involve basic bow maintenance and shooting. Our support staff made eighty straw manikins, we can use a few dozen for target practice. Even without Bethany we can break them into their squads and train them up ready to be the templates for the other Amazons we will receive as quest rewards," Cain said.
Skills Galore
"Did you ladies have time to talk about what skill books you would like while you were shopping?" Cain asked. Enoch reminded him earlier which prompted the question who was getting which book. It interested Enoch and he wanted to know, how each book would work with each person. Toni replied while Sophie and Myrina prepared the food from Bounty's storage, while Lesley loaded the shopping into Bounty. Placing the goods in a cupboard for the food in the kitchen and then a storage bin in the workshop for materials and metals, each were marked resources in.
"I think we should give Myrina one of the keep me alive rings. After the attack in the market, it could have easily been Myrina who died, she would not be coming back. Lesley would like to have the Armourer's skill book, she has several ideas on how to improve what armour we wear. Sophie said she would like to have one of the Alchemy books.
"Myrina would like the Animal Companion skill, while Bethany would like the Enchantment skill book. Daphne said she would like the other Alchemy skill, as I would like the Wind Magic skill book. That leaves the Blacksmithing skill for you Cain. Though each of us will swap with you, should you not want Blacksmithing," Toni said. Cain said,
"I'm OK with the Hobbs choice of gaining the Blacksmithing skill, as it becomes engineering soon after the industrial revolution started. Getting a grounding in the basics of metal working and forging could be fun, especially in this early time zone. We can leave Bethany's Enchantment skill book on the table.
"So when she respawns tomorrow while we be out training the Amazons, Bethany can acquire her new skill and start to practice in Bounty's workshop. Toni, can you pen Bethany a note, asking her to read the skill book then go to the workshop and practice. Let her know she can learn and develop her enchanting skill, which will make our weapons and armour more effective at killing or saving our lives."
Cain and Toni spoke to Myrina, they presented to her one of the keep alive rings. They told Myrina she had to wear the ring they gave her at all times. It had a spell she could use once a day to keep her alive, alive long enough until she received a major healing or a large health potion. If somebody tries to kill you, they said, you would not die. The spell will reset, and you will have the same protection the next day. Try not to receive critical injuries a second time before the spell resets, as the ring will not work and sadly you will die, Toni said.
Together they sat around the kitchen table, Sophie laid a place for Bethany. Toni, thought she had worked out how Bounty worked in making their food, but decided not to share her thoughts as all the meals were made to perfection. They ate in silence savouring the food Bounty prepared, each lost
in their own thoughts over Bethany missing. Clearing the table they moved and sat for the first time on the bean bags, in the relaxing area of Bounty.
Toni said, "I think Bethany is going to be so pissed once she realises who was behind the attack. I'm looking forward to tell her the Erebus temple man, is the one who lead the attack." Myrina asked why they were not mourning the death of Bethany, after Sophie agreed with Toni saying, Bethany will want to make the man pay a huge price for her death. They told Myrina, Bethany would be back sometime late tomorrow afternoon, early evening. They had to explain to Myrina the difference between NPCs and players,
"Players who die come back, we call it re-spawning, alive and fully healed after twenty hours. Players notice when a player dies and returns, but an NPC does not realise they died and came back to life. You will see once Bethany comes back, well you would but we all will be out training our twenty-five Amazons," said Lesley.
After talking about Bethany they spoke about what the Athena quest would be like, they laughed at Sophie saying she would gladly stomp on each spider. Laughing at the image of Sophie chasing and stomping spiders, Cain handed out the skill books, leaving the enchantment book on the table for Bethany.
Still in the bean bag seating, they opened their books together. Each book looked nearly identical barring the front cover, on which was a symbol of the skill the book granted once opened. Once the front covers opened, they each began to read. Cain opened his skill book and began to read the Blacksmithing skill book, his eyes scanned the large font as he read the introduction page.
Congratulations player, this skill book will gift you the skill and three levels of knowledge in Blacksmithing. Once you turn to the first page, you will not be able to stop the magical process of learning. The process will stop once you have read and absorbed the skill contained within this book. Make sure you are ready and seated before turning the first page. Good luck and use the skill wisely. Are you ready to begin?
As his eyes read the last word on the page he knew his answer would be yes, his hand moved to turn the page but it turned automatically for him. Cain looked at the diagram of a forge and several tools, each item was numbered taking up the left hand page. As his eyes read the first line of text, words spiralled up from the page and entered his mind at a pace he could initially follow. As Cain’s eyes read the last word on the page it turned without prompting, the words on the page flowed through his eyes, getting faster and faster.
Initially, Cain could read the words as they floated up into his eyes, by the end of the second page he was an observer unable to read the words as they streamed from the pages. Each page turned at a pace no normal person could manage, getting faster. Once the words from the last page had flowed into Cain, the book snapped shut. With the contents read and now absorbed, the closed book turned into pixels dissolving into the air. Cain checked his skills and there in his last skill location was Blacksmithing at level three.
Toni had a similar experience to Cain, not only words entered her mind, but pictures of the different clouds and weather systems. Patterns on which someone could vary air pressures to enhance the magic's skill. Blinking her eyes, Toni checked her main skills list and was pleased to see she had Wind Magic at level three, filling the bottom slot.
Sophie looked at her main skills list and was pleased to see her level three Alchemy skill. It had been added to the skills of Identify, Learning and Shielding. After her skill book had closed and faded away, Daphne checked her main skills and noticed she had also increased both her Geomancer skill and the Death Strike skill to level two. While at the bottom was her newly learnt skill of Alchemy at level three.
Lesley did the same as the others and checked her main skills. She nearly leapt from the bean bag seat as she noticed her Healing skill was now at level six, while the Armourer's skill filled the bottom slot at level three. Myrina thought she would only have the Animal Companion skill in her main skill list, though she was unable to check being a NPC. When Toni checked for her, she found Myrina had both Leadership at level one and Prayer at level two, along with Animal Companion at level two. In Myrina’s secondary skills she had Shield at level one and Planning at level two. Toni told Myrina what skills she had. Myrina responded by giving Toni a huge hug and a deep kiss as she pulled her close.
Cain checked the party skills and posted them into party chat, so everyone could check each others skills.
Cain silently thanked Cybele for the gift of the extra skills, he was pleased seeing the growth of skills in his women, including Myrina. :Well I guess the DreamBabes and I will have to work on hard improving Myrina's skills, helping her develop and reach a players level of ability. If I teach her before the Amazon warriors, and then she taught them I believe she will get bonus increases in her Leadership skill. I need to plan how to leave Myrina in charge of the Amazons when we move into a different game zone. Myrina really needs another to help her, though I don't know who yet but maybe Areto would work as the Amazons kind of look up to her.
Lesley will have to teach Myrina her fighting skills, then Myrina could lead some of the Amazons by example. It wouldn't do having Areto as Myrina's number two, being more skilled than Myrina.:
Toni spoke to Myrina, telling her she now had access to her abilities table. Myrina did not know what Toni meant. "Does not everybody have life and their strength?" she asked Toni. Not having worked with an NPC before Rahab quickly looked up the Forsaken user guide.
[Toni, only players can access an NPCs data, showing the player what level the linked NPC is. If an EI becomes attached to the NPC, in our case Myrina, she should then be able to access and allocate points to her own data. You will need to use the party screen, select Myrina and click show NPC party member player stats,] Rahab said. Toni followed Rahab's instructions and loaded Myrina's stats for Cain and the rest of the DreamBabes to see.
Toni explained to Myrina she had good levels of ability as a Cleric. Her health was one thousand one hundred and twenty-nine. While she had over one thousand stamina, plus six hundred mana.
"How do I compare to you, Sophie or even Lesley?" Myrina asked. Toni said she had less health points but higher stamina points than her. Sophie had not quite reached a thousand health or stamina, but had over one thousand five hundred mana, for her spell work. Lesley who is also a cleric has less health, the same stamina and nearly a thousand mana.
With Myrina thinking about the differences in her levels and the other females in the group, Cain said they should all rest. Sophie was the first to disrobe, dropping her clothes on the floor and dived under the thin sheet covering the bed. Naked, Cain climbed under the sheet, Sophie claimed his left shoulder and Toni his right. They were soon asleep, not even Sophie wanted to make love, with Bethany dead awaiting a respawn. They all had other thoughts on their minds.
Toni was the first to wake, she gave Cain a peck on his cheek then slipped out of the bed and headed for the toilet, after a wee and a wash she dressed and was ready before anyone else was awake.
[Cain is awake, he's letting Sophie get extra rest, she had a bad night's sleep and woke crying after a nightmare,] Rahab told Toni.
:I'd better get the breakfast made. Perhaps the smell of fresh-baked bread, bacon and waffles will wake them. If not a bucket of ice-cold water will.: Toni laughed to herself as she had Bounty provide the ingredients to manually make the bread. Thirty minutes later Sophie and Cain were the last to raise.
^C^ Thank you for not waking Sophie, she had a bad dream or two. She told me she couldn't get the image of the spear hitting Bethany in the chest out of her mind. She needed the extra sleep, xx. ^
Chapter 17
Training in Fives
With everyone up and dressed they sat around the kitchen table, the smell of baking bread not only filled Bounty's
kitchen but everywhere smelt like fresh bread. Looking at his wives, Cain noticed they all looked beautiful after a good night's sleep, the stress of Bethany's death not weighing them down like last night. :Clearly their minds have realised this is a game, not real life.:
"I think we have been lucky so far in not losing anyone else. Forsaken is not exactly a walk in the park. I think we need to be sure our base Bounty is always open, erected and our base to respawn tagged and set as Bounty. Imagine if Bethany's respawn base was a random site where there is a free bed?" Cain said, around a mouthful of food. "Once we have finished eating and cleared away, we need to go train our twenty-five Amazon noobs. Lesley can you give Myrina a few pointers on Krav Maga? I want her to learn our skills so she can defend herself and stand alongside and above Areto," Cain asked. Lesley agreed to help Myrina learn at a faster rate than the Amazons.
After they finished eating and cleaned up, they armed themselves while Toni put the new recurve bows into the shared inventory. Cain wrote an additional note for Bethany, leaving it on the kitchen table under the edge of the Enchantment skill book and Toni's letter. Once everyone was happy and ready, they left Bounty, walked up through and entered the main part of the temple. Toni stopped a priestess and asked to speak with the high priestess. Five minutes later after speaking with the high priestess, Cain and his DreamBabes exited the temple.
They passed Athena's temple, ignored Erebus' temple and exited the citadel then walked through Agiasobele, heading for the Amazon's palisaded encampment. As they approached the gates of the palisade, they heard a guard shout, two minutes later their twenty-five warriors and five support staff exited to stand in three lines.
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