by Seth Ring
“See those big guys down there?” The Master Smith pointed down at the bottom of the pit where some creatures waddled around. With his better than average eyesight, Thorn could see that they were scaled and each had six limbs extending from their circular torso. From this height they looked like small water bugs skating around the surface of a pond.
Metal Crawler Infestation
The Stone Dwarves of Rakkam are having problems with a nest of Metal Crawlers who have settled in one of their mines. Master Smith Varroh would like you to clear the strip mine so that the miners can resume their work.
Reward: 25 gold
Clicking accept, Thorn gave Varroh a thumbs up and began to walk down the ramp. As he walked, he examined the bugs on the pit floor. At first, they were quite small, but the closer to the bottom of the ramp he got, the larger the metal crawlers appeared. When he hit the halfway point, the metal crawlers were about half his size. By the time he was three quarters of the way from the pit floor, they had grown to as tall as he was.
Taking a deep breath, Thorn stepped off of the ramp onto the hard packed dirt floor and stared up at the nearest metal crawler. Despite appearing to be the size of bugs from the platform where Master Smith Varroh was watching with interest, the metal crawlers were a good one and a half times Thorn’s height. Stretching out his shoulders, Thorn fixed his attention on the nearest one and took a step forward.
Instantly, the nearest two metal crawlers rotated their bodies, their thick scaled legs punching into the ground like pistons as they turned to face Thorn. A large vertical slit that looked like it combined the function of their eyes, nose, and mouth flared, revealing saw-edged teeth. Letting out a jagged screech, both began to charge toward Thorn furiously. Their legs pounded the ground as they advanced, each step leaving a small crater in the dirt.
With another deep breath, Thorn prepared to meet the two incoming metal crawlers. Activating his new claws, he was once again grateful that they were part of his new armor set instead of being an ability. Over the last few days he had really been missing his abilities, so the fact that he could use his claws despite the [Living Statue] curse was nice. Rather than move forward to meet the two incoming enemies, Thorn dropped into a slight crouch and lifted his hands into a standard defensive stance.
The two metal crawlers jostled against each other as they charged toward Thorn, trying to be the first to get to him. The one on the left was slightly smaller and appeared to be on the losing end of the struggle but just as the two metal crawlers got within twenty feet of Thorn, it swept one of its pole-like legs out sideways, managing to trip the larger metal crawler. Hissing in triumph, it continued its thundering charge toward Thorn. The creature’s maw yawned wide as it got closer.
Watching the metal crawler carefully, Thorn was ready for its attack when it suddenly swerved. Using the same move it had just successfully employed against its companion, it swept one of its legs out like a club. Taking a quick step back, Thorn reached out his hand and caught the leg as it came toward him, stopping it dead in the air. Tightening his grip, the claws on his gauntlet gleamed silver and punctured through the metal crawler’s scales.
Ignoring the creature’s thrashing, Thorn punched his other hand forward, breaking the leg clean off as the metal crawler stumbled backward. Stepping forward, Thorn reversed the leg in his hand and stabbed it through the metal crawler’s open mouth, skewering the creature through.
Jumping over the dying metal crawler, Thorn charged toward the other metal crawler which was getting back to its feet. Its gnashing teeth gave off the loud screech of metal grinding together. The metal crawler reared back on its two back legs as Thorn approached, its front legs waving in the air. When he was six feet away, Thorn leapt up in the air, batting the two metal pole arms away and coming down in the middle of the metal crawler’s back. The force from his descent drove its body back down into the ground. Slashing down with his claws, Thorn abruptly cut off the creature’s chittering cries.
Watching from the platform on the ramp, Master Smith Varroh’s eyebrows rose. He had brought Thorn to the quarry to see how the armor held up against the metal crawlers’ attacks but Thorn was shredding them like they were paper.
“Pretty impressive, huh?”
Hearing a silvery voice, Varroh turned his head as Velin came down the ramp. Nodding curtly, he turned back to look down at the Titan raging below.
“What else would one expect from the Kingbreaker? A hero who can defeat the Stone King shouldn’t have any trouble with a paltry metal crawler nest.”
“True.” Glancing at the dwarf out of the corner of her eye, Velin stood beside him. The Stone Dwarves were naturally distant, but they seemed especially distrustful of Elves. Both Velin and Corvo had barely been able to get more than a few words from them. On the other hand, they had taken to Thorn like moths to a flame despite the fact that he could not speak. It was such a stark difference that Velin wondered if there was something else going on besides the fact that Thorn had dealt the finishing blow to Courdum the Stone King.
“I was admiring the runic work that you did on Lord Greymane’s armor.” Undeterred by Master Smith Varroh’s standoffishness, Velin continued talking to him. “I noticed similar rune sets on the Aether Gate that you were kind enough to install in Flamespire Fortress. Did you create those as well? Pretty astounding work for how quickly you completed it.
“Hmph. Thanks.” Hearing an Elf praise his work without any hint of mockery, Master Smith Varroh warmed up slightly. “But I wouldn’t call it quick. I worked on that set of Aether Gates for close to a year before the Cursed King cast the curse on us. I had almost finished when we all turned to stone.”
“Oh, wow. I did not realize that it took that long. I thought that you had done it in the few days since you woke up.”
“Nah, carving space stabilizing runes takes way longer than that.” Pretending to be humble, the Dwarven Master Smith waved his hand. “Still, if it were any other blacksmith, it would have taken them three years, Master Smith or not.”
Sprinting across the packed dirt, Thorn was enjoying his fight immensely. The metal crawlers were not particularly difficult opponents, though they were sneaky. They really enjoyed trying to ambush him while he was tangled up with one of their kin. Not that he minded. The armor that Master Smith Varroh had created for him was like a second skin and provided significant defense.
As he got used to the armor set, Thorn simply allowed attacks to hit him. At first, it was a strange feeling to let the attacks roll off of him, but as he got used to it he found himself able to fight his way through his enemies even faster than normal. Ignoring a sweeping attack, Thorn let it hit his back as his claws dug into the metal crawler in front of him. Getting a good grip, Thorn raised the huge creature over his head and smashed it down on top of the metal crawler that had just attacked him, reducing both of them to scrap.
*ding*
Startled by the sound, Thorn stood up straight, scanning the quarry floor. Everywhere he looked, crushed and broken metal bodies lay strewn across the dirt. The dirt floor was covered in craters from the intensity of the fight, pieces of the metal crawlers sticking up from where Thorn had pounded them into the ground.
Metal Crawler Infestation: Completed
The Stone Dwarves of Rakkam are having problems with a nest of Metal Crawlers who have settled in one of their mines. Master Smith Varroh would like you to clear the strip mine so that the miners can resume their work.
See Master Smith Varroh for your reward: 25 gold
With a silent sigh, Thorn breathed out. He felt much more relaxed. It was as if the fight had loosened a muscle that he was tensing without realizing it. Rolling his head around on his neck after pulling off his helmet, he began to walk back up to the platform where Velin and Varroh were watching from. A stream of dwarves rushed down the ramp past him with tools clutched in their hands. Once they reached the bottom of the ramp they spread out and began harvesting the bodies of the dead metal cra
wlers that Thorn had left behind.
“Well done.” Master Smith Varroh greeted Thorn as he arrived at the platform and began running experienced hands over the Titan’s armor to check for damage. “Any problems moving? It looked like there were some pauses between engagements. Was that an issue with the suit or with you?”
Gesturing with his thumb to himself, Thorn patted the helmet and then gave the Master Smith a thumbs up. The armor had performed like a dream, and if it were not for the fact that the [Living Statue] curse had taken away his ability to speak, he would have been gushing with praise. The attacks of the metal crawlers had not left a scratch on the armor set which was still gleaming as brightly as it had been when Thorn charged into battle.
After a few more minutes of checking over Thorn’s armor, the Dwarven foreman who had passed Thorn heading down into the pit hurried back up the ramp and spoke in a low voice to Master Smith Varroh. Getting a nod, he presented Thorn with a small bag containing 25 gold coins and hurried down the ramp again.
“Good, I’m glad the armor is working for you. It is not nearly enough to pay you back for what you have done for my people, but it is a token of our appreciation. If you ever have any issues with it or need to get it repaired, you can come see me,” Master Smith Varroh said gruffly as Thorn put the gold away. Reaching up to slap Thorn on the back good naturedly, the Master Smith paused just before his hand landed on Thorn’s butt. Coughing awkwardly, he threw a nod at the Titan and hurried off, leaving Thorn facing a giggling Elf.
“Alright, let’s go meet up with everyone. It is time to go over our plan.” Velin was unable to hide the smile on her face.
The trip back to Moon Wolf Citadel was quick, thanks to a portal that Thorn had paid the Dwarves to erect between Nova Luna’s new underground fortress, Flamespire, and the valley. It was like a permanent version of the Aether Gate that Ragnarok had used to bring more players into the fortress when the World Quest was active. After traveling through the shimmering blue arcane energy, Thorn and Velin appeared near the front gate of Moon Wolf Citadel. The guards snapped to attention at the sight of Thorn’s massive form and many of the players greeted him and Velin enthusiastically.
Morale among players in Nova Luna was high after the successful completion of the World Quest, and Thorn saw many new faces sporting the guild’s symbol as he and Velin walked toward the fortress in the middle of the citadel. Scratching his head, Thorn looked from the gate to the fortress which seemed to have gotten significantly further away. The distance that would have taken them a few minutes before the World Quest, now took them nearly an hour to cover. Crowds of players walked in and out of the citadel and the line of carts carrying goods in and out of the valley was way longer than Thorn remembered.
Many of those new players were Wolfkin and without exception they stepped aside as he walked forward, staring at him with shining eyes. Slowly a silence fell as players turned their attention toward Thorn until everyone was watching him. Catching Thorn looking at the new players who were watching him with rapt attention, Velin explained.
“Someone from one of the other guilds recorded your fight against Courdum and released a video of it, complete with cool background music. It came out pretty well, though the actual impact is hard to see since they had to hide. Anyway, they called it ‘The Wolf and the Stone King’ and people have been going crazy over it. We have had close to a million applications in the last two days. The number of players playing as Wolfkin has jumped to nearly six million since the video came out three days ago, so the valley has gotten bigger again. Moon Wolf Citadel as well.
“I had to call your aunt since you were out of it, but we now have an entire department that is doing nothing but trying to filter guild applications. Needless to say, after your ‘meteor attack’, that is what people are calling it, you have gained quite a bit of popularity. As you can see, the valley has gotten quite busy as a result. We expect some of it to die down after a bit, but the majority of these players will stay. That is one of the things we need to talk about.”
Taking one last look at the staring crowds, Thorn smiled and gave them a wave with his big hand. With a whoop the crowd erupted into a cheer as Thorn disappeared past the imposing disciples guarding the fortress doors. Shaking his head, Thorn led the way up the large stairs, into the throne room, and through the door of his office behind the platform holding the throne. Captain Del’har met them at the door. The head of Thorn’s guards was wearing the slick black armor Thorn had gotten from Ouroboros and looked quite dangerous.
Almost bowing when he saw Thorn, the captain caught himself and settled for a warrior’s salute, slamming his closed fist above his heart. Stepping to the side, he revealed Corvo, Oberlin, and Elder Havva sitting in chairs that had been drawn into a circle facing Thorn’s desk.
“Hello, Lord Greymane.” Elder Havva started to rise, but Thorn hurried over to stop him. “Welcome back to the valley. You have gained quite the prestige for our people by your actions.”
Greeting the elder with a smile, Thorn unequipped his armor, changing his clothes into a fine white shirt tucked into tan, fall front trousers. An embroidered vest in dark blue peeked out from under a velvet trimmed tailcoat, and polished leather shoes covered his massive feet. His aunt and the tailor she had taken him to had teamed up to try and get him to wear a variety of fobs, but Thorn had opted for a simple gold chain he could wear across his vest and to which his guild symbol was attached. Changed, Thorn sat down in his massive chair and leaned back.
“Hey big guy. That video was quite the sight.” Sitting next to the elderly Wolfkin, Oberlin grinned. “No doubt it was even crazier in person, but man, that sure was impressive. I’m glad I wasn’t there.”
“Seriously, who drops meteors on their enemies? Or eats cursed stone hearts,” Corvo said, before he and Oberlin burst into laughter.
“Attention please.” Velin stood and rapped on the desk for silence. “We have a lot to cover in this meeting so let’s get started.”
CHAPTER THREE
“There are a number of things that we need to cover in this meeting,” Velin said, opening her notebook and flipping through the pages. “First, we need to catch Thorn up on what is happening in the valley. Second, we need to discuss some changes that have taken place in the guild. Third, we’ll be talking about the challenges that we are currently facing, as well as the proposal we’ve received from guild leader BurningCloud of the Eastern Alliance.”
“Is it a marriage proposal?” Asked Oberlin, earning himself a withering stare.
“No way.” Corvo waved his hand dismissively. “Thorn is only 16.”
A brief and awkward silence filled the room as Captain Del’har and Elder Havva both turned to look directly at Velin who blushed slightly. Oblivious to this, Thorn scratched some words out on a piece of paper and held them up.
I am actually 17
“Wait, you had a birthday? When was that?”
When we were in the capital
“What!? Why didn’t you say something?”
Holding his hand up to quell the exclamations, Thorn wrote for a bit and then held up his paper again and gestured at his vest and tailcoat.
I don’t make a big deal about my birthdays in the real world, so I didn’t make a big deal about it here. My aunt bought me some clothes because it is kind of a joke between us.
“Okay, so our lord is 17. Good news everyone, only seven more years in game until he can get married,” Corvo said, tossing a wink at Velin.
Completely ignoring him, Velin rapped on the table again.
“Let’s focus please. Some of us have a lot to do today, so we need to stay on track. As I was saying, our third topic will be the challenges Nova Luna is facing, and the proposal we have received. Fourth, we will be discussing this [Living Statue] curse that Thorn…” Velin paused ever so slightly, causing Oberlin to snicker. “The curse that Thorn acquired. I have a plan, but it will need some help. Are there any other topics that we need to cover?�
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“What about the crusades? Weren’t we going to focus on grinding the Battlefield of Flame and Shadow so that Thorn can build up his rank?” Oberlin asked, looking between Thorn and Velin.
“That will be part of the third topic. Anything else? No, okay. Our first topic is getting Thorn up to speed on what has happened in the valley recently. I’ll start.” Flipping a few of the pages of her notebook over, Velin cleared her throat and straightened her posture. “I spoke about this briefly before we arrived, but to give a general recap of the overall situation, the valley has expanded significantly due to the influx of new players and spawned natives. This is, in part, due to the video that was uploaded, but also due to the availability of the Disciple and Night Walker classes.
“A class with four possible mastery paths that are trainable is extremely enticing to players, and the class has been gaining significant popularity over the last month as players are posting about their experiences on the forums. This rise in the popularity of the class has led to an increase in the popularity of the Wolfkin race, which in turn has led to a massive influx of players.