“Outstanding,” Olaf cheered. “That’s my girl! Did you hear that, Bye-bye? My daughter is a Paladin. That is so much better than your silly Warrior-Priest class.”
I chuckled as I witnessed the usually businesslike Minotaur breaking into a giant smile, his joy clearly evident. “I heard,” I answered. “I can’t wait to meet her.”
Looking suddenly stern, Micaela stated, “Now, don’t you two go getting ideas about dragging her along on your adventure. She is here for her own adventure. We gave her a head start, let her find her own way from here.”
“I wouldn’t worry about that too much,” I said. “From the sound of it, we’ve got a much more difficult and dangerous adventure ahead of us.”
Micaela nodded, then glared at her husband.
Olaf huffed and frowned. “I would never-” he started, then trailed off at the look Micaela was giving him, “Okay, I totally would. But Bye-bye is right. I’m not so crazy that I would drag our level one daughter on this particular adventure.”
“Good,” Micaela said with a firm nod. “Now, I’ll be here at least until late bell digging the foundation. What are you all going to get up to?”
Marie sighed and spoke up before Olaf or I could. “I think Sooty, Loral, and I will be helping you. The sooner the foundation is dug, the better.”
Sooty growled and was about to protest when Loral voiced her agreement, “We will help.”
No longer able to argue or complain, Sooty crossed his arms. “Why are you moving the dirt so far?”
“I decided to use the extra dirt to build a small berm on this side of the moat,” Micaela answered.
Sooty frowned, kneeling down and picking up some of the loose dirt. He sifted it through his fingers, letting it fall back to the ground. “How deep do you intend to dig?”
“Two stories down will let me build four up,” Micaela answered.
Sooty nodded. “Loral, we need to clear out some of the wagons. We can rent some storage space to hold our goods. Micaela, you can load the dirt into the wagons once we have made space.”
“I can do that,” Micaela said excitedly, seeming to forget we were there as she sat right back down again.
Olaf sighed and shook his head, “I suppose the rest of us should go see Sergeant Butters. See about this quest.”
I enjoyed the familiar walk past the front of the Town Hall and barracks. Around the back of the barracks was the all too familiar training ring, target dummies, and gymnastics equipment. It had only been a couple of months since I was last there, but it felt like years. It was nostalgic.
Shaking me from my memories, the Sergeant’s voice boomed, “Bye-bye Jacko!”
I gave a casual wave in return, then greeted him, “Nice to see you again Sergeant Butters.”
He looked just as grizzled as the last time I saw him, though his level was higher than I remembered. I felt bad though, it appeared I had interrupted someone’s training.
“Baby girl,” Olaf gushed, running ahead toward the trainee with his arms spread wide.
I glanced at the young Minotaur girl,
“Stop embarrassing me!” Penelope yelled as Olaf easily ducked under the swing. Part of me knew that some of Micaela had probably rubbed off on Olaf, but I really didn’t expect this.
I shook my head and focused on the Sergeant instead. “I hear you have a zombie problem,” I said.
Sergeant Butters snorted a laugh, then said, “You could say that. You here to help?”
Quest Alert: Horrors of the Undead (Recommended Level 25-30)
You have been given the option to help Hurligville or to abandon it to the undead hordes.
Reward: Experience
What will you do?
Protect Hurligville directly
Attack the Hurlig Flatlands
Abandon Hurligville to their fate
“We’ll start by looking into the source in the Flatlands, see if we can’t put a stop to it,” I said, accepting the quest for all of us. This was exactly what I wanted, a quest to stop Epic. A win here meant people would be freed from the changes that were forced on them by Epic’s game.
“Good, now let me get a good look at all of you,” the Sergeant said, moving up to give each of us a once over. “Good, you have all gotten stronger. Though I fear you will need to get stronger still if you intend to fight this battle.”
“Any help you can give us along that path would be appreciated,” I said. I was curious if he would be able to impart any new skills or subskills onto us.
Sergeant Butters grinned, his eyes gleaming with the promise of pain. “Good, you can start by thinning the herd. The further west you go, the more dangerous the undead become. I need you to cull them, a lot of them.”
Quest Alert: Thinning the Herd (Recommended Level 25-30)
Sergeant Butters has asked for your assistance in reducing the undead population before their next attack on Hurligville. You are tasked with the destruction of 100 level 15+ undead wolves, 50 level 20+ undead mountain lions, 50 level 20+ undead condors, 10 level 25+ undead drakelings, 1 undead lich servant
Reward: Experience
Do you accept this Quest?
Yes
No
I whistled in appreciation. 100 undead wolves of level 15 or higher, 50-undead mountain lions of level 20 or higher, 50-undead condors of level 20 or higher, 10-undead drakelings of level 25 or higher, and 1-undead lich servant. That was a massive kill quest that could take days for us to complete. And undead drakelings, like baby dragons, undead baby dragons. How awesome was that? Though I didn’t like the sound of a lich servant.
A lich was an undead creature known for raising the dead into an undead army. They were also undead and pretty much unkillable. Unless you could find the phylactery that they bound their soul to. If you could find that and destroy it, the lich would also die. I couldn’t help but picture a lich servant as some kind of necromancer, weaker but still dangerous. And given that only one was asked for, it suggested that it would be some kind of elite, super dangerous servant. Was it wrong that I was kind of excited?
“Take them out, and we just might survive when they come to attack in force,” the Sergeant added.
“We’ll get it done,” Rose volunteered, accepting the quest for all of us.
I was more focused on his words. He expected the undead to attack the village in force. That suggested that Micaela was correct to assume this was a wave type event where there would be multiple waves of the undead attacking.
“When do you expect them to attack?” I asked.
“The last attack was a few days ago. We managed to fend them off but there were moments where it was a close thing. If not for the adventurers, we would not have made it. Unfortunately, many of the adventurers that were helping have since left us,” Sergeant Butters started. “As to the next attack, I am not entirely sure. Maybe a week if we are lucky.”
A week. I could work with a week. However, the ‘maybe’ part of that equation worried me.
“Okay, we’ll get started first thing in the morning,” I said. I would have preferred to head out immediately, but with the light already fading, that was just asking for trouble, at least, until I had a better idea of what I would be dealing with.
“Thank you, Bye-bye,” Sergeant Butter said. “I appreciate the help. I really do.”
“Of course,” I said. “We’re happy to help, especially after everything you and Trinico have done for us.”
“That is good, she will be happy to see you all as well,” Sergeant Butter said. “For now, I have people to train. Oh, where is Ms. Breath? There is another Fairy in town, and I was hoping she would be willing to give the girl a hand.”
“Baby is visiting the Fairy Tree in Root City, she’ll be here in a few days,” Rose answered again. “I’m sure once she’s here, she’ll be happy to help.”
Sergeant Butters nodded once, looking slightly disappointed. He then abruptly turned to face Olaf. “Olaf, leave the girl be. You are interrupting my training session. Speaking of training, when did you get that maul? Do you even know how to use it? Never mind, I can train you while I train your daughter.”
“I suppose I’ll take Nahid for some training,” Heath said, vanishing from view. I simply assumed Nahid followed him as she didn’t appear to be around. Which, in turn, reminded me that I was supposed to be using ‘Detection’.
“I guess it’s just us,” Rose said, taking my arm in hers.
“I guess it is,” I said, happy to let Rose drag me away.
When the rooster outside my window woke both Rose and me at an ungodly hour, it met with a very quick, very painful ending. Dogson wasn’t happy but he eventually let it go after we paid him for the lost fowl. Rose then paid him an extra gold and said, “This should cover us for the month.”
Dogson looked to protest for a moment but thought better of it before slipping the gold into his pocket and going back to washing his glasses.
I saw Olaf and Micaela both sitting at a large table near one of the windows. As we approached, Olaf asked, “What did you two do this time?”
“I drained the life out of that chicken and Jack smote it at the same time,” Rose answered proudly. She sat opposite Micaela and pulled me down into the seat next to her.
Olaf guffawed and Micaela giggled.
“It had it coming,” I said, getting more laughs.
“Anyway, how is digging the hole going?” Rose asked.
Micaela responded excitedly, “Good, with Loral, Sooty, and Marie helping, we’re already one story down. With it going so much faster with their help, I’m thinking of going three stories down instead of two. That way I can go up six stories. The only downside is that it will take longer to complete the first above ground floor, which is what I need to formally found the Order. The other floors going up can be added later.”
“What is the name of the Order?” I asked.
“It’s a surprise,” Micaela insisted immediately. “All I can say, is it is going to be epic.”
I felt a hint of panic when she said ‘epic’. She couldn’t possibly know about It but that did nothing to alleviate my fears. “Please, please, please, for the love of all that is Holy, don’t call your Order anything epic.”
Micaela grinned and hummed a little song, then said, “La, la, la, I can’t hear you. Must be lagging.”
Lagging? Yeah right, there was no way her connection was slowing down in the slightest. I closed my eyes and groaned. She was totally going to call it something epic. I just hoped that whatever she called her order wouldn’t anger It.
Micaela either didn’t notice or seem to care about my worries as she changed the subject. “So, Olaf tells me you all have a big kill quest.”
“We do,” Rose said with an excited nod. “We haven’t had one in a while. It should be fun.”
“We should stop by and see Homer and Margie before we leave,” I suggested, not seeing the downtrodden look on Micaela’s face. “They might also have a quest for us. We should stop to see Trinico as well. Not only will it be good to see her, but she might also have a quest for us.”
“About Margie,” Micaela started. “I found out yesterday, one of the zombies got her.”
“Oh no,” I said sympathetically. “Poor Homer. We’ll stop by and give him our condolences.”
Micaela nodded.
Breakfast came a minute later. Heath and Nahid appeared when it did. Marie, Sooty, and Loral came down a few minutes later.
We sat and ate together, chatting mostly about what Marie and the others had done while we were gone. When morning bell rang, I knew it was time to go, “We should get moving, Nahid, are you coming with us?”
The small Catgirl shook her head, then answered, “Heath helped me find a quest to kill giant spiders. It is below my level, but he believes it will be a quest chain. If I do not benefit, I will just kill him in his sleep.”
“Okay, just be safe,” I said, ignoring the threat on Heath’s life. It wasn’t like he didn’t deserve it.
Nahid nodded and vanished.
“Not cricket, mate,” Heath complained.
“We should get moving,” Olaf said, pushing back from the table. “Babe, I hope everything goes well with the construction. We’ll be back by sunset. Make sure you eat.”
Micaela smiled and nodded. “I will, just waiting on Penelope and Bell. I want to make sure they have everything they need.”
“And you got on me about getting in the way of her adventure,” Olaf chided his wife jokingly.
“I’m her mother, I’m allowed,” Micaela replied, sticking her tongue out at Olaf for a brief moment. It made me laugh.
“Alright, let’s get moving,” Olaf said, leading the way out.
Rose, Heath, and I all followed Olaf out into town. It was a little strange without Micaela or Baby. Our first stop was the town hall, but it was closed up tight. I had forgotten how late Homer started working. We would need to try to catch up with him later. Trinico also seemed to be out as the temple was empty except for a few players praying at various altars.
Seeing as we probably got off to too early of a start, we headed for the main gate.
“Greetings adventurers,” the guard on duty said as we approached.
“Morning,” Olaf greeted him in return, a sentiment echoed by the rest of us.
The guard asked, “Will you be heading out now?”
“Yes,” Olaf answered. “Don’t suppose you could tell us where the higher-level undead wolves lurk?” It was a smart question to ask. With the quest requiring we kill a hundred of the undead wolves, having some idea where to start was for the best.
The guard didn’t take long to answer, “There are plenty of undead wolves in the forest. But the higher-level ones can be found southwest of the quarry or northwest of the river. Though if you go south, keep an eye on the sky, the undead condors are everywhere. In the north you’ll face the wolves and the mountain lions.”
That actually sounded perfect to me. Either way would have the wolves we needed and either the condors or the mountain lions. Then go the other way to get what we missed.
Olaf looked to the group and asked, “North or south?”
“I vote south,” Rose said first. “It will take longer to get north of the river because the only shallow crossing we know of is to the east.”
“I agree,” I said. It didn’t really make much difference. We would need to cross the river eventually. Whether that was today or tomorrow didn’t really matter. I just wanted us to get moving.
“South is fine,” Heath chimed in.
The forest southwest of town was much as I remembered it. Tall pines dotted the landscape though it looked as though most of the trees were now dead or dying, covering the ground in brown, dried needles.
We had killed a few undead wolves between town and the area we were in now, but they were lower level and spread out. Nothing that posed much of a threat to us.
“Buffs,” Olaf called as we passed the entrance to the quarry. Unfortunately, I still had the lion’s share of the buffs to pass around. Especially with ‘Holy Imbuement’ giving everyone’s weapons a holy damage attribute. Something that should work extremely well against the undead.
Spell: Holy Imbuement
Rank: Beginner
Level: 18
Experience: 52.63%
Description: Temporarily imbue a weapon or shield with Holy energy.
Spell Duration: 10-minutes
Spell Cast Speed: Instant
Range: 25-yards
Spell Effect (Active): Imbued weapon strikes for an additional -133-134-HP Holy damage. Successfully blocking with an imbued shield causes -134-135-HP Holy damage to attacker.
Mana Cost: -100-MP
Then ‘Holy Barrier’ to reduce the damage we take.
Spell: Holy Barrier
Rank: Beg
inner
Level: 8
Experience: 95.55%
Description: Create a thin layer of Holy energy around a target to reduce the damage received.
Spell Duration: 10-minutes
Spell Cast Speed: Instant
Range: 25-yards
Spell Effect (Active): Reduce all incoming damage by -106-HP.
Mana Cost: -256-MP
And of course, ‘Combat Blessing’ is a must for both increased damage and increased survivability.
Spell: Combat Blessing
Rank: Beginner
Level: 9
Experience: 2.17%
Description: Bless a target to be more effective in combat.
Spell Duration: 10-minutes
Spell Cast Speed: Instant
Range: 25-yards
Spell Effect (Active): Increase Stamina +28, Increase Strength +27, Increase Dexterity +27, increase Endurance +27.
Mana Cost: -100-MP
And finally, ‘Mental Fortification’ for those of us who were more magically inclined.
Spell: Mental Fortification
Rank: Beginner
Level: 19
Experience: 98.41%
Description: Bless a target to fortify the mind.
Spell Duration: 10-minutes
Spell Cast Speed: Instant
Range: 25-yards
Spell Effect (Active): Increase Intellect +29, Increase Wisdom +29, Increase Resistance to Fear 28%, Increases Resistance to Mind Control 28%.
Mana Cost: -100-MP
World Tree Online: The Order of Epic Grinders: 4th Dive Page 10