Letting that rest in the back of my mind until I had a chance to think on it more, we got back to making money. We had two more hours before Jenny and our friends would take over. The plan was to grind at this spot until we had raised enough to outfit Jason and Wayne, the two who needed the better gear the most. If the guys were up for it, we would stay for a couple more days to gather enough to gear up me and Dan. At my current estimate, this would take us about a week. Plenty of time to gather information on the Wanderer’s dilemma as well.
*
I was frustrated. I had been striking out more often than a straight man at a lesbian bar. Not a single NPC I spoke with was able to provide me any insight as to what could be the mob or item that was the placeholder for the code.
I started by asking the NPCs if they were aware of any mob that seemed impossible to kill. Each one responded in the positive, but then went on to list whatever mob was linked to a quest they would give. This was great for learning there were more NPCs that had quests, but they were listing various fauna and undead. I knew we could tackle any of these mobs, so I knew it wasn’t any of them.
Another group of players had reached Level 20 and had arrived in the Keep. I saw them standing in the square, talking with Sir Arthur and accessing the quest to “The Troll Menace.” Their gear was about on par with ours, but they lacked the rarer items we sported as a team. These guys would need to level up quite a bit before taking on the Trolls.
Once I saw them finish acquiring the quest, I approached the group. I walked toward the leader, the one who had been speaking with Sir Arthur, and said hello.
“Look at this boys, it’s one of the legends!” a character named Itsy said, smiling.
“Oh, stop all that. We just got lucky is all. In the grand scheme of things, the fact that all of us are getting to Kich’s Keep this quickly tells me you guys know what you’re doing,” I said. “I’m Alex. Nice to meet you guys.”
Itsy shook my outstretched hand and introduced his teammates. “Thanks for the compliment, Alex. It’s much appreciated. How are things around here?”
“Lots of good mobs as soon as you get out of the gates. It’s like a starter zone for Level 20s. I’ll send you a couple of markers for your map. These guys are the NPC quest givers for the items that the mobs drop outside the gates.”
Itsy looked over at his teammates, who also looked a bit befuddled. “What do you want for the information?” Itsy asked a little suspiciously.
I laughed at that and said, “Nothing, man. It’s a game, and we should all get the fullest experience out of it. The more people at the higher levels, the more we will learn what’s out there. Besides, as we get higher in levels, you know there will have to be raids and the like. No reason not to make good relations now,” I said with a wink.
“Well, friendship is a price I don’t mind paying!” Itsy exclaimed while shaking my hand again.
I started walking in the direction of the NPC quest givers along with Itsy while the rest of his group started walking around the city. I knew that if our teammates had ever run into an impossible mob, they would have told us. But here I had another player, and maybe he knew something we didn’t.
“Sometimes I felt the designers went a little overboard with the level of the mob’s difficulty, especially since it was just a starter area. Seriously, there were times that I couldn’t believe we pulled out some of the victories. That damn Bunny down in the sewers was a perfect example,” I said, trying to get the conversation going.
“Yeah, man. That Bunny was no joke. But compared to the Boar we fought, that Bunny was nothing!”
“Hard mob?”
“Impossible mob.”
Oh, how my ears perked up at that!
“You guys couldn’t take it down?”
“It was crazy. We started engaging, thinking we would get some big loot out of it, since it was a Red, but it was in the middle of this clearing so we knew we could kite it if nothing else. We were throwing everything at the War Boar, but its hit points didn’t seem to go down at all.”
My first reaction of excitement began to wane. I knew exactly what Itsy and his crew had found. Next, Itsy was going to tell me about more mobs, of equal level, coming after him and his group, and likely them getting wiped.
“So you guys tried to kite it or not?”
“Didn’t even get the chance to. Before we could get a good rotation set up, one of the other guys must have aggroed another mob. Where first there was just the Boar, we suddenly had a massive Wolf coming down on us. Also Red.”
Yup, they had found Stan’s place. I knew from my talks with Stan that there was no way they could take those mobs without first killing the Elder Elven tree. I didn’t think any of them could be the mob I was looking for, since there was a known way to kill them.
“You guys wipe?”
“Nah. We ran and the mobs boomeranged. Believe me, I wasn’t tempted to try that encounter again. Maybe after we gain some more levels, you know?”
I nodded my head in agreement but knew that without the location of the tree, no amount of levels was going to help these guys.
“You guys try the Trolls yet?” Itsy asked me.
“Not yet. We’re trying to level up and get better gear. What we had was barely enough to get us to the Keep. I don’t think it will be enough to take on a bunch of Trolls, though. So basically we’re grinding through it. You guys thinking of taking a shot at them soon?”
“Yeah, I think we will. If for no other reason than I want to get one of those title that you guys have!”
“Well, let me suggest one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“Get some experience first. We didn’t die out there, but none of us know what would happen if we died straight away and lost enough experience to get us below Level 20. Would we be denied access to the city?” I offered.
“Man, you are right. That isn’t something I would want to try out either!”
“Other piece of advice: don’t forget to change your bind point to the Capitol. I almost bit it once and none of us had changed our location. That would have been a very long run from Port Town!”
“Dude, I forgot about that too. Been a while since any of us died. Didn’t even cross my mind.”
“Same with us.”
“Really appreciate the help, Alex. You guys ever need another party for something, look me up. Mind if I add you to my friends list?” Itsy asked me.
“Not at all, and I’ll do the same. Good luck with the Trolls. We won’t be going after them for a week or so. If you want to try to take them before then, I wouldn’t be mad at all to see more players with titles!”
“You guys are alright in my book. Lots of talk out there that you are the team to beat, so you can imagine that most think y’all are a bit stuck up. Glad to see that isn’t the case at all. Good luck to ya!” Itsy said as he went off to the different NPCs to get his quests.
I hadn’t learned anything that I didn’t already know about the mobs out there, but I did make a new associate in the game. Sometimes that can be more helpful than the best gear. No matter what else I learned, I was going to call this a solid day.
*
There were still quite a few NPCs that I hadn’t spoken with, so I began to make my rounds again. While I was walking down one particular street, an NPC yelled out, “Hey Rogue! Want to make some extra cash?”
I turned to look at the guy and see if he was talking to me. He had a beaming smile on his face, and I started to approach him. After a few steps, he held up his hand and said, “Sorry, never mind. I thought you were a higher Level.”
It was at that moment that another person grabbed my wrist. I turned, ready to engage in a fight. Although it is generally not allowed to fight within the city grounds, I still didn’t know all the rules for PvP in Resurgence. When I turned, however, I didn’t see another player but an NPC. And the little bastard was holding my coin purse.
“Misdirection is the first thing they teach
us in Thief academy.”
“I hate all of you so much right now.”
“Oh, and Waseem says ‘hi.’ You should probably go and visit him at the Pit.”
With that, the little urchin vanished. I looked around for a bit, knowing that I could ask the NPCs the same questions I had been asking for an hour, or I could go learn more Rogue skills. It had been a while since I had visited the pompous Thief, and it was obvious my skills had taken a hit because of it.
There was no one but Waseem in the Pit when I arrived, but I had learned long ago that looks can be very deceiving when it came to Rogues. I had brought up my Awareness before I entered the Pit and tried to concentrate on my surroundings without alerting anyone I was doing so.
Waseem looked up from the table and smiled at me, waving toward the seat in front of him: the one that would put my back to the room. I wasn’t about to fall for that one again.
Instead of joining Waseem at his table, I took the one next to him, and put my back to the wall. Waseem started laughing loudly and waved at the area in front of him. I couldn’t be sure, but I thought I saw a number of shimmers in the air where I assumed Rogues were standing using their Conceal/Stealth.
“You learned that one rather quickly. Although I did hear that you got took on the street earlier. That was quite a disappointment.”
“I’ll admit it; I wasn’t on my game. Let my Awareness slip. It was a good lesson, and I won’t let it happen again.”
“We shall see. Next time, I’m going to tell the thief that grabs your purse that he can keep any one of the coins in there. I imagine that could be Gold in your case.”
I wanted to call Waseem a dick, but there wasn’t a better way for me to learn than to have a negative condition set to cement the lesson.
“I won’t argue with that. You’re the teacher, and it will keep me on my toes.”
“Good. It’s time to start your next lesson, if you are ready.”
“Let’s get to it. I still want to know how you were able to get my purse the other day when I felt all the other attempts.”
Time flew by as we went over different exercises to heighten my Awareness. Even with blatant attempts at distraction, I was still able to maintain my shadow shroud, as I had begun to call it. The only times I failed, out of hundreds of attempts, was when Waseem made the grabs.
After his fifth successful steal, I finally relented and told him I had no idea how he was accomplishing it. It seemed this was what Waseem was waiting for, and he nodded his head.
“Sometimes you find people who are better than you. When you do, try like hell to beat them. But if you can’t, admit it to yourself, suck in your pride, and ask that person for help. The world is full of people who get more joy from seeing others succeed than they do from their own successes.”
“And that’s you?”
“What? Hell no! In general, I couldn’t give two shits if someone succeeds or not,” Waseem said with a devilish grin. “But I’m your teacher, so I’m sure I’ll get some kind of joy from watching this.” Dude was a bit of a sociopath, if that was possible in a game.
Waseem then started to explain to me how to manipulate shadows to interrupt another’s Awareness. In essence, Waseem was opening a hole through my shroud with his own shadows. To my Awareness, the shroud was never broken, as his shadows overlapped with mine. It was awesome to think of, but it wasn’t something I was able to accomplish despite my dozen tries. When it came to being Aware of the intrusion, I was only right three times out of ten.
“Take a break, Alex. As it turns out, there are only three or four Thieves that can even do this, and I’m the only one in Kich’s Keep at the moment. Keep practicing, but don’t worry about me keeping any of your money when I steal your purse.”
“About that, when am I going to learn how to steal things? I know it’s important to protect myself from others, but isn’t it the point of being a Thief to steal stuff?”
“That it is. And I’m certainly willing to let you try,” Waseem said. “Tiny Tommy, come over here and stand in the middle of the room. No hiding.”
One of the Rogues who had been trying to pick my pocket over the last hour stood in the middle of the room. He had a long cloak that covered most of his body. Naturally it was black. Other than the color, it was similar to many of the cloaks I had seen other NPCs wear around town.
“Now, I want you to hide yourself. Use your regular Conceal. Don’t put your Blacksuit on just yet. That is a whole different level of Thievery that you aren’t ready for yet.”
I did as Waseem said, and he continued to look at me as I moved around the room. Waseem obviously had a See Invisible skill or item, and he was able to track me around the room. He told Tiny Tommy to remove any spells or items that would allow him to see me.
“Ok. Next step is simple. Steal Tommy’s purse.”
Over the next fifteen minutes, I unsuccessfully tried to relieve Tommy of his money. Every time I started to reach toward his coin purse, he slapped at my Invisible hand. It was more frustrating than having Waseem continuously succeed at robbing me.
“How did he do?” Waseem asked.
“For a first timer, really good. Almost got me twice. He’s got nimble fingers that one.”
Thinking that I had failed miserably, it was a boon to my spirit to hear that I had done well. I wondered if the ability to steal was directly tied to my Dexterity. If so, I should be successful, since I had a high Dexterity and lots of bonuses.
“Good. I can definitely work with that. Time for your next lesson, and then we call this quits. Come see me tomorrow and we will continue your training.
“The problem you are facing is that you are trying to grab Tommy’s purse. You aren’t trying to Lift it. There is a huge difference. For now, I want you to practice with this ice cube. Using only your thumb and middle finger, I want you to practice lifting this ice cube out of the cup. You can’t touch any of the other ice cubes, or the glass. A chime will go off when you fail. Keep at it for an hour.”
I walked over to the table next to Waseem and saw a glass that hadn’t been there before. It was a large, round glass, almost like a bowl. There were multiple ice cubes in the glass, and the one that was my target was slightly discolored.
“See you tomorrow, Alex,” Waseem said as he exited the Stinky Pit.
I turned back to the glass and reached in for the cube. Within two seconds, I heard the chime as I touched another one of the cubes. This was going to be a pain.
After two hours—and way past the time I planned to stay online—I had noticed some marked improvement. I started having better luck with the cube and could get the ice out of the glass three times out of five. But after the first hour, I had to deal with a new obstacle: my fingers had gone numb from the ice.
I could have quit then, but I decided to think of it like I was wearing gloves. I tried to depend on the feelings lower in my fingers, where they hadn’t become numb, to gauge the pressure I had on the cube and my eyes to deal with the obstacles of the other cubes and the glass. I had no doubt that at some point Waseem would have me do this blindfolded, but that was a worry for another day.
After another hour, I was back to the point where I could succeed three times out of five, and that with my numb fingers. I was looking forward to the next day when I could try it again with regular feeling in my hands.
Before I logged off, I took a look at my skills and saw two new ones that I hadn’t noticed before. Awareness and Lift were now permanent skills I had, just like with Blacksuit. Practice would make these go up and hopefully give me more bonuses down the line.
With a feeling of happiness, I headed out of the Pit and made my way back to the square. The guys planned to meet back there the next day so we could continue our rampage through the Undead.
*
Waseem and Stan stepped out of the shadows just after Alex left the Stinky Pit. Stan had a smile on his face as he looked over at the Thief.
“Told you. That one knows h
ow to work.”
“I doubted you for sure, my little friend, but I no longer have any reservations about training him. Most would have stopped once their fingers grew numb, but he took it as a challenge. I have no doubt he will become accomplished as a Thief.”
“That he will. But be certain of this, Thief: you try and pull him inta one of dem harebrained schemes of yours to rob the Bank, and I will put me dagger in yer appendix. Not even joking.”
Waseem gave a deep and throaty laugh as he looked down at Stan. “I make absolutely no promises! He may very well welcome the challenge when I’m done with him!”
Stan shook his head as he headed out of the Pit. “Damn nuisance. Gonna be the death of me.”
Unknown Facility
“Thank you for the update, Mr. Hamson. Keep at it and let me know the moment you learn anything new.”
The General watched as a despondent Dan walked out of the conference room. It had been two weeks since the last piece of new information had come from Dan’s investigations. The General could tell it was putting stress on the eccentric technician, but there wasn’t much he could do about that.
Ten minutes after Dan departed the conference room, an aid entered the conference room where the General was still sitting. “Sir, the next one is here.”
“Send her in, Lieutenant.”
The General knew you did not win wars by relying on only one stream of information. Because of this, he had begun implementing a secondary operation soon after placing Dan within Resurgence.
Emily Renart walked into the room and took a seat at the end of the conference table. “Good afternoon, General.”
“Good afternoon to you, Emily. Thank you for coming in. Please report.”
With the focus of the General’s investigation geared toward the game, the General wanted to cover both aspects of the situation. With Dan, the General had an in-game mole who could report on the activities within that environment. With Emily, the General had infiltrated the other side of Resurgence; Emily was working in AltCon’s IT section of Emerging Products.
Admittedly, the General would rather have had someone working directly on the beta itself, or as a systems administrator in the Emerging Products office. On such short notice, the best the General could do was an IT specialist in the section.
Restoration: The Rise of Resurgence: Book II Page 10