But if I went home right now, not only would I never see how this quest turned out, but every time I played a video game, the magic would be gone. That escape from reality would rise like bile in my throat. I’d be, essentially, thinking what if I’d stayed in Ruul every time I logged into anything.
This was my chance to make a difference, to be important. Sure, maybe I was naïve and arrogant to think I could win when no one else had, but at the same time, I wasn’t everyone else.
No, I was Aaron fucking Hope, and there was no way my story was going to end by me making a deal with a demonic fucking tree. No fucking way. This was my story, and it was just starting.
“Pass,” I said, shaking my head before turning toward the town of Silver Gables. “Now, let’s get going. I’ve got a Skeleton King to punch in the fucking face.”
“As you wish,” the Kapre said, getting to its “feet” and coming toward me, a sad, amused smile on his lips. “You humans are always the same. You always choose not to crawl. At least at first.” He snorted. “Dignity. As if.”
“What?” I asked, my brows crinkling as I stared at the Kapre. “What do you mean by that?”
“As I said before. You could have given up, accepted defeat, and left. You’d have gotten what you say you wanted. A trip home. You’d get to see your mom and dad and go to Gram Gram’s birthday.” He shook his head. “But you chose glory even though you don’t matter and your victories don’t matter. You chose that path anyway.” The tree’s eyes flashed malevolently. “It’s so… human.”
His words shook me to my core. Had this been what he’d been talking about before? About not crawling when it gives you something of value when it’s the logical choice because, let’s be real, leaving was the logical choice, but and here’s what I hadn’t realized until this moment, I didn’t want to leave. I wanted to play, and to win, sure. But more than that, I wanted to matter, and out in the real world, I wouldn’t matter.
I opened my mouth to tell him just that, but before I could, I saw the guards at the west gate waving to us.
“What in the fuck is that thing?” Westchester, the spear-wielding guard and third cousin of Nantucket and Amsterdam said as he took a step forward and squinted hard at the Kapre.
“I think it’s a Kapre,” Ike, the bow guard said, glancing from the Kapre to me and back again. “Why are you bringing it here, adventurer?”
“I’m bringing him here because Asmodai asked me to,” I said, gesturing at the demonic tree undulating along beside me.
“You are bringing a demonic tree into our town because a demonic prince asked you to do it? Are you fucking mad?” Ike replied, his jaw falling open in horror as he stared at me like I was the world’s biggest dumbass.
To be fair, as I processed his words, I suddenly felt stupid. I mean, I’d brought the Kapre here because it was a quest, but if it hadn’t been? If this had been real life, it’d be a pretty stupid thing to do, no? That’s what kind of made it messed up because to these guys, it was real life.
“Well, when you put it like that, it does sound a bit—”
“A bit fucking insane?” Ike said, cutting me off before I could explain myself, which to be fair was hard because if I couldn’t say it was because of a quest, his logic was sound.
“It’s not insane,” the Kapre said, pulling his cigar free and gesturing with it so plumes of smoke swirled around him. “The prince has sent me to help you fortify your town against the coming incursion.” He gestured at the pathetic walls they were guarding. “And you should be glad, that wouldn’t keep out a bored imp.” Then as if to demonstrate his point, a mottled brown and green imp leapt from his branches and landed on the ground between us. It stood there yawning for a good ten seconds before jumping over the guards and gates in one effortless leap. Then it bent over, smacked its ass in our general direction, and cackled maniacally.
33
“So, uh, how are you going to help us?” Roy asked as he stood there watching the tree who had decided his optimal placement would be in the fountain. I guess it was some kind of water thing? Who knows?
“It’s simple, really,” the Kapre replied, shaking some ash from the end of his cigar as he surveyed the crowd. Everyone was there. Well, almost everyone. Joe the blacksmith was still working on the Sword of Infinite Sorrows, and only Roy from all the guards was the only one of them present, but Gereng, Dora, and a ton of people I’d yet to meet were here.
“Great, we can work with simple,” Roy said because, despite his insistence that he didn’t want to do it, had been deemed the spokespeople for the guards since they couldn’t all abandon their posts.
“Any good fight involves two key principles. Offense and defense.” The Kapre stuck his cigar back in his mouth and inhaled hard. Then he continued, causing smoke to mix with his words. “I’m going to take care of the defense.”
“How are you going to take care of the defense?” Roy asked, running a hand through his red hair. “You’re a tree. Sure, you’re a demonic tree, but a tree nonetheless.”
“Simple.” The tree leered at Roy, and just when the guard was about to respond, continued, cutting him off. “I am a smithy. Which means that if you bring me the proper materials, I can craft everything from Hellstone gates to catapults and ballista.” He ran a branch down his trunk. “In short, you bring me the mats, and I’ll make this place into an impenetrable fort.”
“How the heck are we going to get mats for that?” Roy asked, glancing at the assembled townsfolk. “We’d have to go to Hell to get Hellstone.”
“True,” the tree replied with a bored shrug. “You’ll probably have to do with regular rock walls, but that will still be a zillion times better.” He smacked his branches together. “Go forth and find me materials, and I’ll do what I can.”
“Okay…” I said, looking from the tree to Roy and back again. “How do we gather mats?”
“Um… I’m not sure,” Roy said, shoulders slumping in defeat. “I mean we have some mining equipment and lumberjack equipment.” He pointed into the crowd. “But most of these people don’t have specialties. They’re, for lack of a better term, peasants.”
I turned to look at the assembled NPCs and realized Roy was right. But more than that, he didn’t know how right he was because I had played Warcraft long enough to know that peasants were the backbone of anything.
“Oh, I got this one,” I said, cracking my knuckles. “I need those of you without professions to move to this side of the square.” As I said the words, I expected them to grumble or complain, but instead, about thirty NPCs just moved away from the others to the spot where I’d indicated.
System Message: You have gained control of Peasant (30).
A menu opened in the periphery of my vision, showing me thirty distinct portraits, and without thinking, I selected the first one, a brawny looking bearded guy wearing flannel. As I did, his portrait highlighted itself in green and another menu opened up.
Peasant
Job: None
Equipment: None
Endurance: 100
I stared at his menu for a moment before glancing back at the people I hadn’t selected. They were a motley crew of different jobs, but what’s more, a plan laid itself out in my head.
“Okay,” I said, looking at the peasant I’d selected. “Can you go with Roy and get all the mining and woodcutting equipment and bring it back here?” As I spoke, Roy’s picture popped up next to the assembled peasants, highlighted with the same color as the peasant.
“Yes, me lord,” the peasant replied and began walking away alongside Roy, and oh my God, it was working.
I pumped my fist as I turned back to the gathered crowd, and as I did, I noticed the endurance for the peasant I’d selected was already starting to drop. I stared at it for a moment, wondering how it worked, when an idea popped into my head. I had a talking help menu built into my HUD. I could just ask.
“Elizabeth, what’s endurance do?” I asked, staring at the portraits of the pea
sants. None of the others’ endurance meters were dropping. Was that because I hadn’t tasked them with anything?
“Endurance is the resource spent by peasants to perform tasks. It can be refilled with a combination of rest, food, and drink. If a peasant is hit, endurance will also act as health,” she told me in her glorious British accent.
“Just as I’d thought,” I said to no one in particular as I rubbed my chin. “Can all the cooks and such like come forward?”
System Message: You have gained control of Cook (2).
This time as the two portraits highlighted themselves, I directed them and two more peasants toward an open spot beside the fountain.
“I need you guys to start making a camp capable off feeding and watering the workers and letting them rest to recover their endurance,” I said and just like before the people began to move to do my bidding. I wasn’t quite sure if that was cool, but then again, I was playing a game, and what’s more I was building a town in a VRMMO. I mean, okay, as a soon to be mechanical engineer, I dreamed of building stuff, but this… this was everything I could have ever dreamed of.
“Righto!” one peasant, a guy wearing a blue shirt, leather coat and black pants said as he moved to my command.
“Thanks!” I replied before turning to look at the Kapre. “What are the best walls and stuff we can we build given the time we have?”
“Hmm,” the Kapre said, branches rustling. “I would say we probably have to stick to stone and wood. We could do thatch since it’s pretty easy to make, but it’s really weak. The skeleton army will roll over it almost as fast as if it wasn’t there. Honestly, if we had the material, we should make metal walls. They’re strong as hell, but will take a host of smiths to refine the metal, assuming we have the resources to craft enough to encircle the town, both of which we don’t have…”
As the demonic tree spoke, an icon appeared above his head, and as I looked at it, another menu opened, displaying Thatch, Wood, Stone, and Metal walls. They had a list of requirements next to them.
Thatch Wall
Durability: 100
Option: Can be crafted with a window frame or a doorframe.
Cost: 10 Thatch, 2 Wood, 5 Fiber
Wood Wall
Durability: 1000
Option: Can be crafted with a window frame or a doorframe.
Cost: 10 Wood, 5 Thatch, 5 Fiber
Spiked Wood Wall
Durability: 500
Bonus: Can damage opponents who attack it.
Cost: 10 Wood, 5 Thatch, 5 Fiber, 5 Stone
Stone Wall
Durability: 5000
Option: Can be crafted with a window frame or a doorframe.
Cost: 10 Stone, 5 Wood, 5 Thatch
Metal Wall
Durability: 10000
Option: Can be crafted with a window frame or a doorframe.
Bonus: Cannot be damaged by stone weapons.
Cost: 10 Metal, 5 Stone, 5 Wood
Okay, so clearly, Metal Walls would be the best to have, but I wasn’t sure how to get metal. Hmm.
“Cain, do you know where we can find resources?” I asked, turning to the wizened old man who was standing next to the fountain. As soon as I spoke, his eyes flitted to me and he scratched his white beard.
“Yes. We can get stone from the quarry outside the East walls. It’s fairly plentiful there. It can be gathered by hand or can be gathered via a pick or an axe. Using a Pick will produce five flint and one stone per swing. Using an axe will produce one flint and five stone per swing. Every swing has a ten percent chance to produce a single metal.” He turned toward the west gate. “The forest beyond the west gate can provide both thatch and wood. Using a pick will provide five thatch and one wood per swing. Using an axe will provide one thatch and five wood per swing. Fiber can be found beyond the south gate, but cannot be collected with an axe or a pick.”
I was about to reply when one of the cooks I’d told to help set up camp tugged on my arm, and as I turned toward him, he began to speak.
“Sir, in order to do as you requested, we will require campfires, beds, food, and water.” He pointed at the fountain. “While we can get water from the fountain, we need the rest of the materials to move forward.”
Like had happened with the Kapre, a similar icon appeared over his head, and as I looked at it, another menu opened.
Campfire
Durability: 5
Use: Used to cook food.
Fuel: 1 Wood per 30 seconds or 1 Thatch per 10 seconds.
Cost: 10 Stone, 2 Flint, 1 Wood, 5 Thatch
Cooking Pot
Durability: 10
Use: Will allow for cooking Stews.
Cost: 2 Metal, 1 Wood
Spit
Durability: 10
Use: Will allow for Cooking Meat.
Cost: 3 Metal
Cot
Durability: 5
Use: Will restore 1 Endurance per second.
Cost: 3 Wood, 15 Thatch, 15 Fiber
Blanket
Durability: 1
Use: Will restore 1 Endurance per 2 seconds.
Cost: 10 Fiber
Pillow
Durability: 1
Use: Will restore 1 Endurance per 2 seconds.
Cost: 5 Fiber
“What does a stew do?” I asked, glancing back at the peasant since it was the only item I couldn’t figure out on my own.
“In addition to restoring Endurance, Stews can be used to feed double the people the requisite ingredients can feed on their own.” The cook smiled at me. “Basically if I put four servings of food into a stew, I’ll be able to feed eight people.”
“So why would I make a Spit, then?” I asked because metal seemed like it was going to be the hardest resource, and I didn’t really want to make something we wouldn’t need.
“Meat cooked on a spit can provide bonuses to health, mana, and stats like strength,” the cook replied, and I sighed dismally as I realized we’d probably need both.
“Okay,” I said, nodding as I took the information in. “And I assume the blanket, cot, and pillow, can be used together?”
“Yes, my lord,” the cook replied as Roy returned with the first peasant and dropped a bunch of items on the floor.
There were five picks, six axes, two saws, and two scythes, and as I stared at them, item bubbles popped up next to them without me having to identify them, but the only ones that really surprised me were the scythes and saws since Cain hadn’t mentioned either of them.
Peasant’s Scythe
Damage (Small Monsters): 1
Damage (Large Monsters): 1
Range: 1
Material: Steel
Durability: 100
Use: Allows a peasant to gather fiber much faster than by hand.
Peasant’s Axe
Damage (Small Monsters): 1
Damage (Large Monsters): 1
Range: 1
Material: Steel
Durability: 100
Use: Allows 2 peasants to gather wood much faster than by hand or with an axe.
A grin spread across my face as I turned back to the peasants. “All of you gather up implements.”
“Alright!” they called in unison, rushing toward the gathered items. Unfortunately, that only required seventeen of them, leaving ten standing there looking at me dopily. No matter, I’d find stuff for them to do, once I got these guys gathering materials.
“Okay, I want those of you with axes and saws to go to the west gate and harvest wood. Those of you with picks to go to the quarry outside the east gate and get stone, and finally, those with scythes to go to the south and gather fiber. Bring it back here, please.”
“Off I go then!” they shouted before going about their remaining tasks. Now we just had to find a way to get meat and the like.
“Dora,” I called, fixing my eyes on her. “Can you get these guys bows to use to hunt game?”
“Of course.” She nodded at me. “Yes, standard fee applies.”
I felt like arguing with her, but before I could, Roy glared at her. “Dora, everyone else is pitching in to help. The least you could do is the same.”
“I have a business to run. If you can pay for goods, I’ll provide them,” she grumbled, fixing Roy with a stare that scared me, and it wasn’t even directed at me.
“Does the town have any money?” I asked, glancing at Roy and giving him a “I’m not sure how else to fix this situation” look. Admittedly, it was a lot to say with a look.
“The mayor can distribute funds, but we have no mayor.” Roy shook his head at me.
“Explain?” I asked, confusion settling over me as Roy rubbed his face with one hand.
“Any player registered at a town can run for mayor. To become mayor you have to have killed the most monsters during that week.” He shrugged. “It’s the same as in any town, but our town is vacant so the first person to sign up will become mayor.”
“And what’s the downside to signing up?” I asked as an idea started to foment in my mind.
“Well, in the outside world, there’s two downsides. You always teleport back to your registered town, which sucks if you’re really far away and want to stay at a local town, and two, you have to pay a nonrefundable fee of five thousand Rhuvians to register each week.” Roy shook his head. “No one wants to drop that kind of cash here.”
“I’ll sign up,” I said, offering my hand to the guard. As he took it and shook, my wallet decreased by a heartbreaking five thousand Rhuvians.
System Message: You have become the Mayor of the Town of Silver Gables. You now have access to the town treasury. You now have the ability to levy taxes.
As the message faded from view, a window opened up with a slider bar that showed me taxes were currently set at one percent, and that the current balance in the treasury was fifteen thousand Rhuvians. A smirk crossed my lips as I withdrew the five thousand I’d just paid to become mayor. I’d give it back if need be, but at the moment, well, the perks of being in power, I guess.
“Dora, take what funds you need from the treasury,” I said, smiling brightly at the merchant. “Does that work?”
Soulstone: The Skeleton King: A LitRPG Novel (World of Ruul Book 2) Page 22