Raystia opened her mouth to object, then, remembering the nature of the request Kaedric made of her, closed it again. She thought back hard on her previous interaction. “I think … you just need to find the right person to ask,” she finally said. “Some of them can give you interesting quests. I believe you have to first figure out your place here, then go find someone that can help achieve what you want.” She touched the bow slung across her back. “That’s how I got my bow.”
“Well, I be wanting ter be a proper dwarven cleric!” Riley declared in a weirdly broken dialect, then winced. “Sorry, I’m still trying to get the hang of the proper accent. Anyway, got any advice for me?”
“The goblins I spoke to seemed pretty religious; maybe you can go pray at their shrine or something?” Raystia suggested.
The goblin dwarf rubbed his chin. “I might be giving it a try.” He winced again. “Sorry.”
“I want to be a tank,” Fox said gruffly. “With the bonuses I get for playing a bugbear, it’s stupid not to. But all the merchant has to offer are a couple of half-broken wooden shields.” He waved at the display.
“Excuse me,” the goblin merchant said politely. “You may commission a better shield if you’d like. I’m Gazlan, by the way.”
Fox stared blankly at him for a moment.
Misa said, “The gent is obviously one of the intelligent ones. Not exactly what you expected from a goblin, eh Fox?”
Shaking his head, the bugbear recovered from his stupor. “And how much would that cost me?”
“Our smith can craft you a decent metal shield for a mere 30 gold.”
Fox shook his head. “That’s too much. I only have two gold coins.
“Well, in that case, you might consider doing some work for the clan,” the merchant said smoothly.
Fox narrowed his eyes. “What type of work?”
“A small service. You might have noticed that new buildings are being constructed daily, but it’s still too slow. If you help our builders, I will offer seven gold per hour of work.”
Riley chuckled. “Man, he’s trying to scam you. With RL currency ratio of one to ten, that means you’ll be paid 70 cents for an hour spent doing hard labor.”
“You forget the time difference,” Misa said. “If you work for 12 hours straight, that’ll amount to a bit over eight dollars per hour in the real world.”
That got them all thinking. It was the salary equivalent of working at a fast food joint. If a first-level player could earn that much, then a more seasoned player with high reputation should be able to get rich quickly. People would quit their day jobs in a heartbeat for the chance to work in a fantasy world setting. Sure, construction work was not a glamorous profession, but working next to goblins and Ogres made it much more exciting than their mundane day jobs.
“Bah.” Riley waved dismissively. “I’m making ten times that working in the lab. Still not worth my time.”
“I see you find the salary too low for your liking.” The goblin merchant gave them a polite smile. “In that case, I have a different offer. For every hour of work, I will pay you with ten gold worth of store credit.”
“That sounds a lot better,” Misa mused out loud. “You’ll be able to get your shield after only three hours of work. I might take that offer myself; I want to buy those shiny shackles.”
Raystia tilted her head. “Why do you need shackles?”
Misa winked at her. “Reasons.”
“Can I … ahem … I would like to join as well.” Raystia felt herself blushing again. She did not like to impose on people. Especially strangers.
“Sure thing, kid,” Misa said. “We can all go play with brick and mortar for a bit.”
“I’ll check out that shrine then come join you,” Riley said.
Gazlan the merchant looked at them approvingly. “Find Zuban. He should be in the construction yard. That’s the building with the small fence and stacks of resources. Tell him I sent you to help with construction. He’ll give you your assignment.”
“Have my shield ready,” Fox said, then looked at the others. “Coming?”
They passed the mess hall and easily spotted the construction yard beyond it.
“I’ll do a quick run to the shrine and meet you back there,” Riley said.
They nodded and approached the building. Misa knocked on the wooden door.
“Come in,” a pleasant, feminine voice answered.
They pushed the door open and stopped, starting with surprise at the occupants. Two goblin females with glasses were standing next to a blackboard, holding a piece of chalk. A groomed, urbane-looking hobgoblin was sitting on a bench holding a stack of papers.
“Ah, travelers,” the hobgoblin said. “I’m Zuban. May I help you with something?”
“What is this place?” Misa asked, looking around the simple wooden cabin.
Zuban frowned “This the construction yard, which also serves as my house.”
“Those ain’t no simple construction designs,” Fox said, pointing with his chin at the blackboard. “Those are engineering measurements and counter support calculations.”
Zuban's eyes widened. “You know how to perform research?”
Fox shrugged. “I know an engineering blueprint when I see one.”
“We were sent by Gazlan to help you with construction,” Raystia said. “He said he’ll pay us if we help.”
“Well …” Zuban scratched his nose. “We can use all the help we can get. Travelers can accomplish things I cannot, and you don’t require overseeing. I’ll put you two ladies to work on fortifying the valley’s entrance. But I’d like you,” he looked at Fox, “to help Romil and Primla here research these blueprints.”
“You mean I have to do architecture work in-game now?” Fox wrinkled his nose. “No thanks.”
“I’ll tell Gazlan to double your pay.”
The bugbear brightened at that. “Now you’re talking. Alright, I’m in.”
Zuban handed him chalk, then beckoned the others. “Follow me.”
He led them toward the forest’s tree line, then followed a path through it, eventually reaching a half-built wooden palisade. Zuban pointed at a neat stack of logs. “Here you go, now build.”
Raystia frowned. “How?”
“That is easy,” Misa said. “I’ve done a few construction jobs at my old guild, just follow my lead.” She walked to the stack of logs and put her hand on one. The log disappeared. “It is in my inventory,” she explained. The woman then walked to the partially built wall and touched it. A new log instantly reappeared, attached to it. “See? It’s easy. The system takes care of all the fine details, we just need to do the heavy lifting.”
The two women worked for a while, transporting wood and stone to appropriate places. Raystia found that when she lifted a resource, a glowing light marked the place she needed to put it. It really wasn’t difficult. It was even rewarding, in a way.
They’d completed a large portion of the palisade when Riley joined them. The dwarf’s face looked troubled. “What’s got into your pants?” Misa asked.
Riley scowled. “I went to that shrine like I told you. After I prayed for a while I got a quest saying that the great ‘Nihilator Lord of Darkness’ found me worthy of his attention. Now, if I want to be his priest, I need to prove my faith.”
“How would you do that?” Misa asked excitedly.
“I have to offer a sacrifice,” he said. “Not just any sacrifice either; it has to be an intelligent humanoid being. So gutting a rabbit on the shrine wouldn’t work. I don’t know how I feel about something like that. I’m used to playing the good guy.”
“Have you lost your mind?” Misa said. “This is a golden opportunity. We are on the monsters’ side now, so we’d best act the part. I've never heard of a player getting a quest like yours before. Sounds to me like you’re on the fast track for a new Mastery skill. I would kill for that kind of opportunity.”
“Ahem,” Raystia cleared her throat. “I also have …
a similar quest. I have to capture a live, intelligent creature and bring it to Kaedric so he can … ahem … eat him.”
Misa turned to stare at her. “You lucky minx!”
“I guess you have a point.” Riley rubbed the back of his neck, then turned to Raystia. “Since both our quests require the same thing, I guess it would be the smart thing to party up. Strength in numbers and all that.”
“That sounds nice.” Raystia lowered her head to hide her elation. She’d just gotten into a party!
“Hey, count me in,” Misa said. “Sounds like sticking around you is the thing to do to get some excitement.”
“We should also invite Fox,” Riley suggested. “With a proper tank, we could scout the area outside the valley.”
“I think I know where we can find suitable … ahem … prey,” Raystia said. “It’s a couple of hours’ walk from here. There’s a swamp and all those nasty little vegetable pygmies.”
Riley went to a stack of logs and made three of them disappear into his inventory. “Sounds like a plan. Let’s finish here, get geared up, and go.”
They continued working side by side, chatting idly as they did so. Raystia found herself opening up to them more as the time went by.
She learned the two were both scientists as well. Misa was a biophysicist from Liverpool, and Riley was a computer data scientist at NYU.
“That’s weird,” Raystia said after the expanded introduction. “I think Fox is some sort of elite architect as well. Do you think it’s a coincidence we all work in advanced fields?”
Misa shrugged. “It could be a coincidence; maybe intelligent people have naturally higher CPA than normal folks. Who knows?”
The time passed quickly as they continued working. After the three hour mark, the section of wall they were constructing was nearly completed. Raystia stood tall, looking at her handiwork. Back in the real world, she produced far less tangible results. This experience was satisfying in a new way.
Fox approached them, looking surlier than ever. “Explaining a static scheme for a lateral load-bearing system to a bunch of goblins was a new low for me,” he complained. “I honestly contemplated throttling them. The satisfaction and the XP would have been worth it.”
“You didn’t!” Raystia looked horrified.
“Na,” he said. “I need the gold more than I needed the quick gratification. I got a lousy ‘Researcher’ skill and 60 gold in store credits now. You each should have 30, so let’s go back to that smartass shopkeeper.”
“Yep,” Misa said cheerfully. “Just got the ‘Quest Completed’ notification.”
“Go ahead,” Riley said. “I’ll be a few minutes behind you.”
The two women and the grouchy bugbear went back to the warehouse.
“Ah, there you are. I have your new shield right here,” Gazlan said brightly.
Fox took the shining metal shield and looked it over. “Not bad,” he said. “Could use a bit more durability, but for 30 gold it’s not bad. I’ll also take a battleaxe and a suit of leather armor.”
Gazlan shook his head. “I’m afraid the armor will cost 50. But I’ll throw in the battleaxe for five.”
“I can loan you the rest,” Raystia offered.
Fox looked at her suspiciously. “Why would you do that?”
“Oh …” She blushed. “I … ahem … I guess no one told you about … our plan?”
“What plan?”
“We are going out as a party, all four of us. You have been unanimously elected to be our tank. All clear now?” Misa said sweetly.
“Hmph,” he snorted. “About time we go kill something. Sure, I’m in. In that case, I’ll accept the loan. I only need 23 gold. But that still won’t leave you much. Don’t you need any equipment?”
“I just need arrows, and they’re cheap,” Raystia said. “I would like, um, 60 arrows please.”
“I can sell you 30 Hugger bone arrows for a little extra,” Gazlan offered. “They have better armor penetration and do more damage. I also have plenty of normal arrows.”
“Oh, so … okay. I’ll take 30 normal and 30 of those, uh … Hugger ones.”
“That will be eight gold.” Gazlan placed six stacks of arrows on the counter.
She had just enough.
“Shackles and a dagger,” Misa said curtly.
“Very well, I’ll reduce 23 gold from your store credit.”
“Hey guys, I just hit the three-hour mark,” Riley said.
He put his arms on the counter, facing Gazlan. “Right, including the credit, I have 32 gold in total. Give me one of those simple shields, an axe, and whatever armor pieces I can get for the rest of it.”
Gazlan gave him a shield and an axe then handed him a weird-looking leather vest and crude leather leggings.
“Hey, how come he gets the armor so cheaply?” Fox demanded, leaning forward on the counter to stare straight at the merchant’s face. The two hobgoblin guards took a threatening step toward him, but the goblin merchant raised his arm to stop them.
“Those were made for goblins,” he explained. “They are the first creation of a novice crafter, so they’re cheap. Also, the clan doesn’t train new goblin warriors anymore, so this armor size is low in demand, compared to hobgoblin-sized armor.”
The bugbear gave him a withering stare but pulled back. “Fine.”
Raystia and Riley exchanged meaningful glances.
They each equipped their new items and then stood looking at each other.
“This is much better.” Misa nodded in approval. “Now we look like a bunch of murderous mobs, instead of a bunch of vagrant mobs.”
Raystia chuckled.
Riley said, “I guess we’re officially a party now. A bunch of monsters teaming up to destroy lives, conquer, and spread darkness … yeah, okay, now that I hear it, it does sound cool.” He grinned at Misa. “So what should we call ourselves?”
“Hmmm, since we’re all playing monsters, might as well be ‘The Monsters?’” Fox suggested.
Misa rolled her eyes. “You have to be joking!”
The bugbear huffed. “You got a better idea, shrivel-ear?”
“Well, we are technically playing as mobs, and we do look the part, so how about …” she drifted off for a moment, then her eyes lit up. “The Mob Squad.”
18 – Homecoming
Dark Mana skill level increased to 38.
Dark Mana skill level increased to 39.
After what felt like a long and peaceful swim through endless space, I’d finally reached my skill level cap. I was about to disengage from my trance, but then I felt something else, deeper, calling out to me. I reached with my mind and gingerly touched that thread of information.
Faith Rank 3 reached
The Following divine spells are now unlocked: Shadow Teleport[upgrade], Dark Protection
Progress to Rank 4: 1,473/2,000
Note: A shrine can be used up to Rank 3. For higher ranks, a more advanced place of worship is required.
Spell upgraded: Shadow Teleport (M)
You can now transport additional creatures with you when you teleport.
New Spell acquired: Dark Protection (M)
Grants bonuses to allies (determined by skill level). Can be cast on multiple allies. Speed 5. Cost 10 MP per individual. Duration 1 min, 50% initial MP cost to maintain for another minute. Shadow discipline.
Level 6: Novice
Effect I: Armor +4.6%, Physical Resistance: +4.6%
Of course! The trip to the Ogre fort was rewarding in more ways than one. Thanks to all the sacrifices I performed, I had just achieved a new Faith Rank 3 and was well on my way to rank 4. With a little luck, the Dark Temple would also be completed soon, to allow me to attain that rank.
The new spell was a nice group buff spell. Belonging to the shadow discipline, it was strengthened by my Dark Mana skill and I had no doubt it would offer more bonuses and increased effectiveness once I invested some more time in increasing the spell level.
The s
pell was a nice addition, but what was even more important was that I now had enough FP to purchase the Eternal Night blessing. I considered activating it right then and there, but decided to hold off for now. That blessing would mean a significant change in my clan and it called for a proper ceremony. Once I get back to my clan.
I retracted my thoughts from the comforting void of the shrine and opened my eyes.
“Welcome back, Boss.”
Kaedric?
Give me some good news, Ked.
There was a long pause.
Kaedric?
What’s the holdup? The gremlin marketplace should have been finished already, so we should have access to the required glass. I got a sinking feeling in my gut, dreading my seneschal's answer.
Damn it. I knew something was going to go wrong. I gritted my teeth. It was always the same story; not enough resources, not enough workers, no proper tools, and now, I was slapped with ‘prerequisite unmet.’
my seneschal continued.
I had to take a moment to compose myself. There was no helping it, this was uncharted ground. My clan was unique, a mix-up of goblin resourcefulness and hobgoblin military nature. To top it off, it now doubled as a starting zone for travelers. Delays were unavoidable.
I understand. You did well, Kaedric. I should be back in a few days to handle things myself.
Life Reset: EvP (Environment vs. Player) (New Era Online Book 2) Page 29