Boost

by Paul Bellow

  Had the chieftain lost his mind in old age or because of a magic curse?

  “We respect your opinion, but we’d like to stay at an inn in the city,” I said.

  “Fine,” Raxmao said as his father still struggled to catch his breath.

  “No attacking Magictology,” the elder man said between coughs.

  Raxmao turned to us. “We can’t risk being attacked by the undead,” he said. “Do you understand?”

  “I get it,” Leena said in a snippy voice.

  “Can we go now?” Josh asked. “I’m hungry and want some beer to relax.”

  Rexmao straightened up on the throne and looked directly at Leena.

  “Are we clear on our arrangement, mage?” he asked.

  I nudged her with my elbow.

  “Yes,” she said. “I’ll not harm any of them while we’re in the city.”

  “Good, good,” Rexmao said. “Despite everything going on, we’re safe here, and I want to keep it that way. The ends do justify the means!”

  I caught Raxmao rolling his eyes as the chieftain rambled on.

  After the rant, a man in purple robes walked up to the throne, leaned over, and whispered into the chieftain’s ear. He nodded a few times before waving the man away.

  “We’ve had travelers looking for you,” Rexmao said.

  “Oh?” I asked, left eyebrow raised.

  “Did they leave names?” Josh asked. “Was a female with them?”

  Rexmao shook his head and said, “No. A young man in his teens with three scruffy companions asked about a group of adventurers matching your description.”

  I glanced at Leena.

  She shrugged.

  The chieftain coughed again.

  “Where did they go?” I asked.

  “They left,” Raxmao said. “They weren’t getting along with Magictology either.”

  “Let’s go,” I said, turning toward the door.

  “That was odd,” Derringer said as we walked across the courtyard outside.

  “Not really,” Leena said. “He’s accepted Magictology, so he can’t be trusted.”

  “Sounded like he just wanted peace,” I said. “We can’t blame him with all the undead. It’s not like they’re players working with them or anything. Magi Inyontoo using them for his benefit is actually smart. No wonder he’s so powerful in the game.”

  Everyone fell silent as we walked through the inner gate.

  Three blocks away from the chieftain’s dwelling and five blocks away from the Temple of Magictology, we found the Peek Roof Inn. Red bricks rose two-stories with a dark slate roof. Smoke puffed out of a chimney on one side of the roof.

  I stopped and turned to the others.

  “We’ll get separate rooms and rest up,” I said. “Everyone stay inside. We don’t know who’s wandering about the city with that temple nearby. I don’t want any unnecessary trouble. Agreed?”

  “If they have beer, I’ll be fine staying inside,” Josh said.

  He walked past me and headed toward the front door of the inn.

  “Don’t get too drunk,” I called after him.

  “Alright, Dad,” he said then laughed.

  I followed him inside, paying for five rooms for two nights. With strangers asking about us, I wanted time to find out what they may have been up to when in the city.

  The rooms only costing five gold gave me pause, but the Jerry, the innkeeper, assured us we’d be treated like kings during our stay.

  While the others hung out in the main room downstairs, sitting in front of a roaring fire and drinking, I climbed the stairs to the second floor and found my room.

  A drink would’ve been nice, but I needed sleep. The laughter downstairs grew in volume as I laid on a lumpy bed, trying to sleep. Kings my ass.

  My thoughts moved to Leena. Having such a high-level multi-class character would help us find Sarah. Or would it?

  I’d noticed the game adapting slightly the longer we played. A knock at the door to my room brought me out of my thoughts. I swung my legs over the side of the bed then stood, walking to the door.

  “Hold on,” I said as someone knocked again. “Who is it?”

  “Leena. Can I come in? Are you decent?”

  She laughed then opened the door.

  “What’s up?” I asked.

  “Don’t you want to join us downstairs?”

  “I’m not in a social mood.”

  “Are you worried about your friend Sarah?”

  I nodded. “Yeah. I thought we’d find her sooner. We lost another person recently too.”

  “That’s the way the game works,” she said. “You’ll find them again. Most likely. I’m looking for someone too.”

  “Oh? Who?”

  “Just someone,” she said.

  Boki barreled into the room, eyes open wide.

  “Josh started a fight,” he said, slurring his speech.

  “Where’s Derringer?” I asked.

  Boki leaned forward, almost toppling over. “He left to sell some of those blade wight arms.”

  “Let’s go,” Leena said. “Maybe I can help.” She looked too small to stop the half-orc barbarian physically, but as a spellcaster, she could likely take him down if needed.

  “Don’t hurt him too bad, okay?” I asked as we walked out of the room.

  “I’ll try,” she said, her tone not assuring me.

  Boki stumbled after us as we made our way down the stairs and into the dining room. A dozen people surrounded Josh as he stood near a pile of broken tables.

  “Where is she?” he demanded. “I know you’re hiding her!”

  “Josh!” I yelled, walking toward him.

  He turned, almost falling to the ground.

  I saw several men nearby nursing wounds which explained why no one else had tried to stop the drunken barbarian.

  “You!” Josh said, pointing his finger. “You’re the problem!” He ran forward two steps then slipped in a puddle of beer and fell to the floor.

  “I’m going to kill you,” he said as he struggled to his feet.

  “Settle down,” I said, hands up. “We don’t want to get kicked out of the city.”

  “Don’t tell me what to do!” he screamed then charged forward.

  Leena stepped in front of me and raised both her palms.

  Josh stopped as if he’d hit an invisible brick wall.

  He clawed at the air in front of him, unable to get through.

  “Sleep,” Leena said in an abnormally deep voice.

  The barbarian yawned then curled up on the floor. Several men looked in our direction as the innkeeper came over.

  I pulled several more gold coins out of my pouch before he arrived. His scowl faded as I handed him a few more coins. After glaring at me a few moments while breathing heavily, he turned and stormed off to the kitchen.

  “Cleanup in the front of the house!” he screamed as he walked away.

  As I stared down at the snoring half-orc, two greasy haired boys ran out of the kitchen and got to work cleaning up the mess.

  “Do you have a spell to get him upstairs?” I asked, half-joking.

  “I wouldn’t waste it on him if I did,” she said. “Let him sleep it off down here. I doubt they’ll do anything other than clean around him.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” I said, ready to go back upstairs on my own. “Thanks.”

  “No problem,” she said. “I’m going to check on Derringer. Do you want to come?”

  “Sure,” I said. “Maybe we can gather some information.”

  “I’m staying here,” Boki said then burped loudly.

  Leena and I chuckled before leaving the inn. Outside, we walked down the middle of the brick paved side street next to each other.

  “Why don’t you like talking OOC?” I asked to make conversation.

  “Because I hate remembering the outside,” she said. “The Tower of Gates isn’t bad all the time. It’ll be even better when we kill Magi Inyontoo and stop all his foolishne
ss.”

  “You don’t think there’s a way out of the game?”

  She sighed. “Probably, but life outside wasn’t that great for me.”

  “I hear you,” I said.

  “Life outside couldn’t have been too rough for you,” she said. “If you’re dad’s one of the people behind the game, you’re probably rich.”

  “First off, being rich doesn’t automatically make life better. Secondly—”

  “Out of the way!” Boki yelled behind us, interrupting me.

  I stopped and turned, seeing his short, dwarven legs pumping as he ran.

  He stopped a few feet away, breathing heavily. “We’ve got trouble,” he said in a much sober tone than earlier. “A gang of thugs in black showed up at the Inn. They’re going to kill Josh unless you come right away.”

  “They asked for me?”

  Boki nodded.

  I glanced over at Leena.

  “Magictology most likely,” she said.

  I nodded then ran toward the inn, ready for a fight.

  Chapter 10

  Return of the Rogue

  Eric

  I saw a group of men and women standing outside the brick building as I approached. They parted, allowing me to pass through and into the common room on the first floor.

  A young man in leather and chainmail stood on top of a table, sword in his hand. He pointed at me as I entered then put his weapon away.

  “There you are,” he said then hopped off the table.

  I noticed Josh still asleep on the floor nearby.

  “What have you done to him?” I asked. “Who are you?”

  Boki and Leena came in, stopping behind me.

  “You’re the ones who knocked him out from what I’ve heard,” the man said. “Anyway, that’s not why I’m here. I’ve heard you need a healer in your group of adventurers. Well, I’m great at healing.”

  He stuck out his right hand and winked.

  “We’ve found a healer already, but thanks for your offer,” I said, ignoring his hand.

  “You don’t understand,” the man said. “My name is Jacque. You really need me in your party. I—you need—I can’t—” He groaned in frustration, the left side of his face twitching.

  What’s going on with guy? He doesn’t look like Magictology.

  “Sorry,” Leena said, stepping forward. “We don’t need another person in our group.”

  “You’re not understanding me,” he said then sighed, throwing up his arms in disgust.

  Something about his facial expressions struck me. Could it be Bernard?

  “Let him join the party,” I said.

  Leena turned to face me. “Are you crazy?” she asked.

  “Trust me,” I whispered. “We might know him.”

  “Fine,” Leena relented. “We still need Derringer to agree, and we haven’t found him yet.”

  “Leave that to me,” I said then pulled out my owl figurine. “Who.”

  The activation word caused the small figurine to come to life. Who flew through the door.

  “Hello, Eric. Been a while.”

  “Sorry, we’ve been busy. I need you to find Derringer. Do you remember him?”

  “I’ve accessed your memories, Eric, and I can recognize him,” the owl said. “Finding him in this city is another matter.”

  “He’ll be trying to sell blade wight arms,” I said.

  “That’s helpful, Eric. I’ll let you know when I find him.”

  “We might need to wait a bit,” I said. “How about we get some food and wait for the barbarian to wake up? How long will he be asleep, Leena?”

  She grinned sheepishly then said, “Not much longer.”

  “It’s settled,” I said. “Jacque is having lunch with us until we can invite him into the party.”

  The roguish man pursed his lips together and smiled.

  Was the game keeping him from talking OOC because he was still an NPC? That had to be hard on Bernard after being stuck on level one-one for so long.

  We seated ourselves at a round table near the door. Leena sat to my left while Boki nursed a beer to my right. As we waited, Josh stirred, grumbling and moaning.

  “Hey,” he said, sitting up. “What happened? Where is everyone?”

  “Over here,” I said, laughing and motioning with my hand.

  He stood and walked over.

  “Eric, I’ve found him,” Owl said.

  I raised a finger to the rest of the table.

  “Where is he?”

  “The Temple of Magictology. I think he’s in trouble.”

  “We’ve got to go,” I said as I stood. “Derringer is in trouble.”

  “I’ll come with you,” Jacque said, also pushing his chair back and standing.

  “Keep an eye on Derringer,” I thought as I rushed out of the inn.

  Boki, Jacque, Josh, and Leena all followed as I ran toward the temple.

  “He’s yelling and the men in robes are yelling, but there’s no physical contact yet.”

  I didn’t like the way Who had added the yet at the end of her sentence.

  After several blocks, we ran into the courtyard in front of a newly built stone temple with Magictology carved over the entrance in bold letters. I saw Derringer standing near two acolytes.

  “What’s going on here?” I asked in a loud voice as I walked over.

  Boki, Josh and Leena were right behind me, along with the new Bernard.

  “They won’t give me the money I’m due,” Derringer said, not taking his eyes off the man in front of him. “You need to give me my gold for those blade wight arms.”

  The man in well-worn robes crossed his arms over his chest defiantly.

  “Selling undead creature parts is forbidden in Magictology, so you won’t get any gold.”

  “I don’t believe in that cult,” Derringer said. “Now give me my gold.”

  “We’re going to need that gold,” I said, drawing both weapons.

  “Hold on,” Leena said. “We don’t want to get arrested.”

  “My family is in power here. I don’t think we’ll have any problems,” I said.

  The acolyte stepped backward, still staring ahead at Derringer.

  “Whoa,” Raxmao yelled as he walked out of the temple with his hands up.

  I noticed an Amulet of Magictology around his neck.

  “They owe me money,” Derringer said.

  “Put your weapons away, distant cousin.” Raxmao smiled. “No need for hostilities.”

  He turned to the acolyte and said, “Fetch them the agreed upon price.”

  “But…” the man stopped talking and frowned before bowing his head.

  He turned and walked swiftly into the temple.

  I kept my swords at the ready, not trusting anyone.

  “What are you doing working with them?” I asked. “They’re bad news.”

  “I’ve got it under control,” Raxmao said. “One day this city will be mine to rule, and I intend to tax Magictology and raise an army.”

  “To what end?” I asked.

  “Glory,” he said. “For all humans.”

  “Here we go again,” Boki muttered.

  “We can’t stay in a city where you allow Magictology to flourish,” Leena said.

  I nodded to show my agreement.

  “Very well,” Raxmao said. “You can leave the city and fight for survival in the wilderness.”

  “We’ll be leaving tomorrow,” I said, not dropping eye contact.

  The acolyte shuffled back outside, carrying a heavy sack over his shoulder. He dropped it to the dusty ground when he reached us, a look of hatred etched on his facial features.

  “Your gold,” he said. “You’ll pay for this betrayal. All of you.”

  The man turned and rushed inside, the temple doors slamming closed behind him.

  Derringer stepped over to the bag and opened it. “Gold’s here,” he said. “We earned every ounce of this fighting that family of blade wights then cleaning up
the arms to make weapons.”

  “If you’ll excuse me,” Raxmao said. “I’ve got work to do.” He turned and left the courtyard with a flourish in his steps.

  “Anything else, Eric?” Who asked as he circled overhead.

  “No,” I said. “Go eat or have some owl fun. But be back in a couple hours.”

  “Thank you, Eric. I enjoy being alive.”

  I smiled and turned to Derringer. “You mind if an old friend joins our party?”

  He looked over at Jacque.

  “That guy? Sure, I guess,” he said, shrugging his shoulders.

  [PC] Jacque Human Rogue has joined your party.

  “Bernard?” I asked, holding out my hand.

  He shook it heartily, smiling and nodding his head.

  “It’s me,” he said. “I’m so happy I found you. Thanks for not making me follow you around a long time like before.”

  “How did you find us so fast?” I asked.

  Leena walked over and said, “Hey, Bernard. Fancy seeing you here.”

  Bernard looked away and lowered his head.

  “How have you been?” she asked. “Can’t talk now? Why did you leave me?”

  “Wait,” I said. “You two know each other?”

  “We were married,” Leena said. “Back on level one-one where we agreed to stay so we could always find each other.”

  “Things happened,” Bernard said, still avoiding eye contact.

  “You need help carrying that gold?” Josh asked to break the awkward silence.

  “I’m fine,” Derringer said then slung the bag over his shoulder.

  “You certainly found your new friends quickly,” Leena said.

  “It’s crazy,” Bernard said, shaking his head. “When I saw Josh in the tavern, I couldn’t believe my luck of spawning here in Harrisburg. They tried to recruit me into the Temple of Magictology right away. They told me that if I pledged allegiance to Magi Inyontoo, the greatest part-time necromancer ever, they would help me.”

  “Part-time Necromancer?” I shook my head.

  Leena smoothed the folds of her robe with her hands.

  “We’ll talk more later, Bernard,” she said, looking up and into his eyes.

  “You know what we need,” I said to change the subject. “A good old-fashioned in-game celebration. We’ve not found Sarah yet or come close to finishing our main or side quests, but Bernard is back, and we’re well on our way.”