by Edward Brody
Todd shook his head. “No, forget about the other two guys for now. We can get to them later. Getting to Dr. Winston should be your number one priority as we’ll need to have a communication channel in order to relay orders.”
“Okay,” Gustov said with a nod. “That keeps things straightforward.”
Todd opened the same manila folder he had with him when he met Crylight. He once again, pulled out three photos and laid them on the table. “I’m sure you haven’t forgotten his face, but this is Dr. Winston.” He pointed to the picture in the center. “These others are two of his known accomplices. On the left, we have Aaron Sizemore. He worked at Nexicon, helped build Rupert’s world, and shortly after the keynote, he fled into Eden’s Gate, presumably to avoid legal charges. On the right, we have a guy named Gunnar Long. We don’t know much about him other than that he worked at Bestfoods and that his body, along with his girlfriend’s, was found in his apartment shortly after launch day. He was the only other person with Rupert Winston on the day we established contact, so he may bear a bigger responsibility in this than we know. Whatever the case, you should definitely go after these two. We’re not sure what charges we’ll be able to pin against them, but if you can get to these small fries, they’ll definitely lead you to the big fish.”
“Got it,” Gustov said. “Aaron Sizemore and Gunnar Long. Do you know if they’re using the same names in game?”
Todd shook his head. “No idea, so take a good look at the pictures and make sure you can remember them.”
“Should we us our real names when we get in the game?” Sar asked.
“I think that’s best,” Gustov said. “Let’s not forget that we’re not just going to capture criminals. It’ll be our new lives. We’ll have those names forever.”
Marsha clapped her hands and stood from her chair. “Alright, unless there’s something else we need to discuss, we’ll go get your final meals ready and then hook you up to the Nexicons.”
Sung took a deep breath and exhaled rapidly. “I can’t believe we’re about to do this.”
“I’m ready,” Sar said.
Gustov leaned over the table to let the images on the table burn into his memory. “Aaron Sizemore,” he whispered, “and Gunnar Long...”
Chapter Thirty-Six
1/25/0001
The sun was up by the time we passed the threshold of Edgewood. Rina and I were both exhausted, and I felt the girl drift into sleep and almost fall off of Sora a few times on our trip from the Vale.
Since I was last there, the path that led towards Edgewood Village was much more worn down and closer to an actual road than it had been before.
As we neared my guild’s settlement, I heard the familiar sound of steel clanging against steel, and I urged Sora forward a little bit, anxious to take our last strides home.
I was surprised when I saw a new building—at least the beginnings of one—being erected right beside the last one we had built. It was the same size, and the frame had been fully constructed, but it looked like it had a least another day’s worth of work.
In the center of the village, Jax, Donovan, and Ozzy were swinging their swords at each other, dodging, ducking, looking more like a dance between three men more than a serious fight. The shop was already open, and a line was literally out the door. At least five people—four humans and one elf were all waiting in a line at the entrance, and when one person exited, the next person entered.
Ozzy looked up right after he dodged a sweeping blow from Donovan. “Hey, look! It’s Gunnar!”
The three of them all stopped what they were doing, and Ozzy started rushing for me. “Yo, Gunnar!”
Aaron’s door swung open and he stretched his arms out as he squinted at us from a distance. “Gunner?!” He also started running.
Rina and I dismounted Sora, and I swiftly released her. I had summoned her in pretty quick succession, so there wasn’t much need for goodbye formalities.
“Where’ve you been, man!?” Ozzy asked as he approached.
“Five days, dude!” Aaron said, holding up his hands. “Five days! Where the hell did you go? And those clothes are whack!”
“It’s a long story,” I said. “I need to have a chat with you and Jax.”
“And who’s… this… pretty young thang?” Aaron cooed as he eyed Rina up and down.
Surprisingly Rina didn’t seem at all bothered by the attention and just smiled happily at Aaron.
“This is Rina. I’d like her to join the guild, so long as you guys are okay with it.”
“Well, yeah…” Aaron said. “You’re the guild leader, so we trust you.”
“She’s a great healer, and she can rez too.”
“Oh snap,” Ozzy said. “That’s perfect. We totally need a healer.”
Jax nodded. “I trust your decisions.”
“Where’s Keysia?” I asked.
“Sleeping,” Aaron said. He stuck his hands at his sides and started thrusting his pelvis forward in a lewd motion. “Needs her beauty rest after a long night with Papa Sizzler.”
Ozzy started chuckling and Jax just rolled his eyes. Rina didn’t seem to understand what he was talking about.
“Yeah right, asshole,” I said. “Not going to believe that in a million years.”
Aaron shrugged his shoulders. “Well she’s really sleeping though. But one day—”
“I’m sure Keysia will approve of your decision,” Jax said, cutting Aaron off.
I nodded and turned to Rina. “You still want in?”
Rina nodded. “And I’ll live here? In the forest? This looks amazing.”
“Yeah, of course. You’re not the only girl though, so don’t worry about feeling isolated.” I motioned my hand towards Aaron. “And this asshat here is more bark than bite.”
“Hey!” Aaron fussed.
“I’d love to join,” Rina said.
I focused hard on willing a guild invitation, and I quickly got confirmation that it had worked.
Rina Teal has joined your guild: Unity!
“Welcome aboard,” I said.
Everyone started shaking hands with Rina and introducing themselves. I leaned in to Ozzy. “Show her around and make her comfortable, will ya?”
Ozzy smiled. “Sure thing, man.” He motioned his hand towards Rina. “Come on… Let me show you the place. So you’re a healer huh? Where are you from?”
The two sauntered away towards all the action.
“So you’ve got a minute?”
Jax and Aaron nodded.
“Alright, let’s head inside Aaron’s house. You’re not going to believe this…” I waved to Donovan as I started for Aaron’s cabin. He was sitting on a log, trying his best not to get too involved in our business.
I spent the next hour or so recounting everything from Satorin to Dryden to the Dragon that we lit on fire, and they both listened on anxiously. I purposely left out anything disgusting I had done in the name of progress, and I expanded on the story by recounting the reaction from the high elves.
They asked questions as I spoke, but neither of them seemed nearly as concerned as I expected. Jax looked uncomfortable about what I told him, but he wasn’t freaking and making plans the way I had expected.
“And that’s how I ended up here with Rina…” I finished.
“Wow,” Aaron leaned his head back and snapped his hands together. “That is one hell of an adventure!”
“It was more like a nightmare,” I said. “And this guy is planning on making all of Eden’s Gate a nightmare.”
“But a dragon?” Aaron shook his head as he spoke. “I guess that means Dr. Winston programmed dragon taming into the game as well. Holy shit, that’s awesome as hell!”
“What are you talking about dude? He’s going to wipe out Edgewood!”
Aaron rattled his head and rolled his eyes. “Well, not today he’s not.”
I turned to Jax. “And what’s with you? I thought this would be a big deal to you.”
“It is a big de
al,” Jax said. “But Aaron is right. It’s not happening today… or tomorrow for that matter.”
I shook my head in confusion. “But it will eventually if someone doesn’t do anything.”
Jax pooched his lips together. “Right…”
“I don’t understand.”
Jax snorted and leaned forward in his chair. “You said he has 200 men between level 15 and 45, and Dryden himself is level 47. And he has a dragon? What do you expect us to do?”
“We have to make a plan to stop him before he takes the throne of Highcastle. Come on! You guys are smarter than this!”
“Okay, then that’s a plan. But, if we’re ever going to take action, we’ll need to be stronger. We’ll need to gain levels, grow the guild, get better weapons and armor.”
“Which we’re already doing,” Aaron added.
“Basically, what you’ve just told us is bigger than us now,” Jax explained. “The best plan is to keep doing what we’re doing until we can take Dryden on. If the Queen doesn’t want to do anything, what else can we do?”
Aaron stood up and circled around to me. “I see three time constraints here. You said the dragon can’t fly yet, he hasn’t built enough ships, and the king isn’t even dead!”
“Plus, someone needs to kill the Dark Hand,” Jax smirked. “Don’t forget.”
Aaron rose out of his chair and circled to me. “You need to relax, man. You were held prisoner and saw a lot of crazy things, but you’re back now. Just relax and play…” He leaned in closer to my ear “… the game.” He walked to his door and pushed it open. “Come outside with me.”
I sighed. They were making a lot of valid points, but I just couldn’t get the image of Dryden Bloodletter and the Dragon roasting Noriega out of my head. Still, it was a good reminder from Aaron that I was essentially inside of a game. Dr. Winston programmed the world, and Dryden Bloodletter was essentially a villain NPC boss.
If I were playing any other game, how would I handle a guy like that? Play normally, grind up some levels, and then go knock him out after I’m strong enough. Maybe he was right, and I was just overreacting after all that stress.
I walked outside with Aaron, and he motioned his hand towards the building that was under construction. “What do you think?”
“Looks good… Who paid for this?”
“Have you looked at your manifest screen lately?” he asked. He pointed towards our shop. “We’re pulling in over 1000 gold per day now. I hit level 10 in weaponsmithing, and the quality of the items I can make took a huge jump, hence a jump in price. I made you a new sword, by the way.”
“A thousand per day?” I quickly willed my manifest to appear.
Seeing the success that we were having with our first shop hit me with a heavy dose of pride, and seeing that all our guild mates—with the exception of Aaron—were either over level 20 or closing in on it made me hopeful that one day we’d be as strong or stronger than a guild like the Bloodletters.
“Yeah, a thousand gold per day,” Aaron clucked. “But the shop only paid for about a third of it. Everyone in the guild chipped in with the extra gold they had from looting and questing. Our guild mates covered like two-thirds the cost.”
“Really?” I turned to Aaron and raised my eyebrows.
“Yeah, dude. Everyone here is a team player, and they all stepped up to do their part while you were away.”
I really didn’t know what to say. I felt overjoyed and grateful to have such a great team.
I sat down with Aaron at the log that Donovan had been sitting on. He was missing by then, probably back to the dark elves’ camp.
“Did you find any schematics while you were out adventuring?”
I smiled and raised my eyebrows comically. “Yeah, check this out.”
I handed Aaron the schematic for the Bloodthirsty Blade and his eyes immediately shot open. “Oh hell, dude! Screw the sword I made you! This… this… will be a crafting project!” His eyes scanned up and down the scroll. “Bloodmoss? Heaven’s Shroom? Dude you’re gonna have to find those! I have to make this!”
I smiled as his enthusiasm. “I will.”
“Don’t act excited or anything,” Aaron fussed. “You’re the one who’ll get to use it.”
I had to admit I was a little excited… “I’ve got over 6,000 gold too.”
“What?!” Aaron yelled. “Hell yes! That’s another house! Our village is going to be growing so fast!”
I turned towards the new construction, and my mind started wandering. “Maybe not a house…”
“What then?”
“What do you say we start the construction of that castle…” I shrugged. “We can start small, pay for the foundation first. Build it brick by brick…”
“Ohhhh, hell no!” Aaron looked up to the sky and started spinning around. “I mean, hell yes!” He stopped and threw me a hard high-five then pointed his finger at me. “This is the Gunnar Long I’m talking about. Welcome back, dude!”
“It’s good to be back…” Just being around my guild mates was instantly making me feel better about everything and a lot more relaxed.
“I’m gonna go stash this schematic, and then I’m going to head straight to Thorpes to see if I can get a quote on a foundation!”
I nodded and smiled.
“Woooo!” Aaron yelped as he started to walk away.
I looked around and watched as Ozzy escorted Rina around our settlement, showing her the spot where everyone usually spars and then showing her to the sleeping quarters. Keysia woke up after they opened the door, and the two shared introductions. Keysia noticed me right after that and ran over to give me the warmest hug and a surprising kiss on the cheek.
“I’ve got to go give payment to the guards, but when I come back, I want you to tell me everything!” she said. “Kay kay, my nizzle?”
“Oh god…” I muttered under my breath. “Here we go again…”
Keysia ran off, and I smiled.
I hadn’t been gone for that long, but it had felt like an eternity. Being there… in Edgewood with my friends, my family. That’s what I needed. All the stress that had been plaguing me seemed to suddenly fade away.
I pulled up my stats as I had yet to assign my AP and LP from my last level-up. I felt like my intelligence and wisdom was lagging behind my strength and dexterity, so I assigned two AP to my intelligence and one to my wisdom.
Due to my death in the Bloodletter’s Keep, most of my progress on individual skills was low, so since I was closing in on level 10 swords, I decided to assign my LP to that skill.
There was a ding, and the sudden sound of drums echoed around me.
Congratulations! You have earned the title: Arcane Blade!
Prerequisites Met: Level 10 in Arcane Magic, Level 10 in Swords, 20 Intelligence, 20 Dexterity, 20 Strength
Congratulations! You have earned your first title. Titles are assigned based on your skillset and the choices you make in Eden’s Gate and will be updated based around your playstyle. When you obtain multiple titles, the most recent or highest-ranking title will always reflect in your stats, with the exception of special, reputation-based titles. (Example: Lord, Prince, Outcast.) This is a one-time message that will not appear again.
Nice, I thought, and a huge smile stretched across my face. I had been wondering when I’d fill the title slot on my status screen and that was yet another indicator that I was getting stronger and making progress in the world.
I lay back on the log, put my hands behind my head, and looked up the sky. Things were good again… very good. But in the back of my mind, I still knew that a war was coming. Maybe that’s why I was anxious to get started on building a castle? Soon enough we might have to protect Edgewood from Dryden or another group of intruders, and we’d need a fortress of some sort to help defend ourselves.
But I had time. Like Aaron said, the king wasn’t even dead yet. We could build now. Level now. I could spend time with my guild and get powerful first. We could worry about war
and invasions and all that other stuff later.
Now was just the time to take it easy and play the game.
An arrow thumped as it landed into the ground, just a few inches from my face, startling me out of my thoughts. I looked at it, jerked up to a sitting position, and saw a large barrage of more arrows flying overheard.
The people waiting outside the shop yelled when an arrow slammed into the side of the building, and I dashed out of the way and rolled under Gerard’s wagon as arrow after arrow began falling to the ground.
The customers ran in all directions, and I heard someone scream when they got hit.
As I peeked out from out from under the wagon, I saw the source of the attack. It was that guy… the nobody newbie who had tried to rob our shop when he was only level three.
He was back, and this time he was decked out in full suit of expensive looking armor, and he at least twenty other men marching behind him.
What the hell? I thought.
I guess I wouldn’t get to relax after all…
Author’s Notes
First off, thank you to anyone who made it all the way through Book three of Eden’s Gate. Nothing makes me feel more honored than knowing someone out there has taken time out of their day to delve into a fantasy world that I’ve created. It means the world to me, really.
There were some gruesome parts in The Sands—sorry for that—but I felt it was necessary to go into detail of just how sick and twisted Dryden is. I didn’t want him to be the typical bad guy who’s bad just because he’s bad and wants to kill for no other reason than killing. There are motives behind his actions, and there’s a reasoning behind his madness.
I wanted The Sands to really test Gunnar’s limits, and I asked the question “How far would we go if we were in Gunnar’s situation?”
I don’t want anyone to fear that that series will turn into a bloodfest horror story, though. There will be just as many light segments as dark segments in future books of the series. I promise you that.