“Very well,” Chloe acquiesced. “Now for the million dollar question: what do we do about you?”
“What about me?” KieraFreya asked.
“Well, if we’re going to play by the rules and try to make some sort of progress toward your other bits, I’m going to need you to play along with me.”
“I’m not sure I understand your meaning.”
Chloe slid her hand down her face. “I mean, you need to listen to me, okay? The last thing I need when I’m in the middle of a combat situation is to have to battle you as well.”
KieraFreya scoffed. “When have I ever—”
“Outside the cave, when I was attacking the bear, in the middle of the woods when you tried to drive a knife through someone’s eye…” Chloe interjected.
“Point taken.”
“The point is, I can’t keep moving forward if we’re not going to work as a team. You have to trust me, and, in turn, I will trust you.” Chloe’s face softened. “You did help me out with those goblins, which was great, and I thank you for it. But this is my adventure. So, what’ll it be?”
Chloe could’ve sworn she heard KieraFreya mumble something that sounded like, “Sure, we’ll see,” but when she prodded her, the goddess simply said. “Sure. Agreed.”
Chloe smiled at her bracers. A second later, her cheek warmed as her own hand slapped her across the face.
KieraFreya burst into laughter. “One last one for old time’s sake.”
Chloe opened her mouth to retort, then thought better of it.
The village was a hub of activity throughout the day. The higher the sun got, the more people came out and went about their daily activities. She saw people walking past with fish impaled on long sticks, women whittling away at poles in order to make basic spears, children frolicking and running through the streets, and a great deal of cooking and crafting.
Chloe made her way as best as she could toward her destination, finding herself lost a handful of times. She had never been the greatest with directions, so when she stumbled across a tall, thin man who was in the middle of sketching something on a pale piece of bark, she stopped and asked for help.
The man pointed in many directions, his English not the best in the world.
Chloe paused for a moment, wondering if it was correct to call the language “English” in this game. For all that she knew, she was speaking Taiwanese and the game translated for her.
After a short time, Chloe noticed that the man had stacks of scrolls and sketches in his tent. Chloe spotted on that looked remarkably map-like and pointed to it.
The man wandered over, grabbed the scroll, and waved it at Chloe.
“I’m sorry, I don’t understand?”
Quest unlocked: Crossing the language barrier
There are many in the Oakston village who can speak your language. There are, however, also many who can’t, and this might quickly become tiresome for you.
Unlock new quests and interactions in Oakston by either learning a new language or finding an interpreter. The rewards you gain will be based on the choices you make.
Difficulty: 2/10
Reward (Interpreter): 100 exp
Reward (Learn a language): 1,000 exp, +3 intelligence
Accept quest: Y/N
Chloe exhaled loudly, waving the man away. “I’ll be back shortly,” she said, re-reading the notification and leaving the bewildered man behind.
A split quest. Now Chloe had to make a decision. She sauntered through the village, thinking hard about which way she should go. On the one hand, she could make this super easy and find herself an interpreter—Mantari sprang to mind, but Chloe figured interpreting might be a little below his station—but it would mean a very basic reward.
On the other, if she managed to somehow learn the language, she’d bulk up her experience and gain additional intelligence. Considering that the AI had auto-assigned her points and left her thirsty for more intelligence and etheric potential, maybe the additional work would be beneficial.
You’ve got to think, Chloe. Time is money. Money is time. Chloe blinked as the voice of her father came unbidden into her head. She imagined him, sleek silver hair combed back, at the head of the table in the boardroom. Sure, you could gain the additional experience and attributes, but would you not be better off spending your time on more profound quests than talking to peasants? You’ve got to weigh the alternatives to determine which will pay the biggest dividends.
Chloe shook her head, erasing the image of her father. She wasn’t sure if she was more annoyed that he had appeared uninvited or that he was right. She could spend hours, or possibly days, hunting around the village and picking up the language from the willing, but would that really be the best use of her time?
Chloe scoured the village for Mantari, but he was nowhere to be found. Just as she had given up searching, she rounded the corner of a hut and bumped into someone, their shoulders colliding.
Chloe span, surprised to see that it was Cijay. “Sorry!”
Cijay’s skin went bright red as he realized who he’d bumped into. A mixture of feelings coursed through Chloe as the memory of Cijay pointing her out and calling her a liar came flooding back. Now that she was closer to him, and as he stared wide-eyed at her, she recognized something incredibly familiar.
“It was you!” she said suddenly, pointing at his chest. “You were the one who was dragging me through the forest.”
Cijay gave an awkward laugh, looking as if he was weighing what his chances would be if he were to sprint away into the crowd. He decided against it, saying, “Oh blessed one, I am so sorry. I meant no harm. I protect people.”
To her surprise, Cijay folded to his knees, arms outstretched and clawing for purchase on her ankle.
A wave of guilt washed over her then. She looked down at the man with pity, wondering how she had been able to strike this much fear into the heart of a person who wasn’t even real. Moreover, she was surprised by just how much guilt she felt about the entire situation. Her. Chloe. The girl who used to take great delight in watching little kids tripping at the mall.
Chloe went to one knee and raised Cijay’s head by tipping up his chin. “It’s okay, Cijay. I forgive you. You couldn’t have known.”
KieraFreya’s voice cut across her thoughts. Cut his throat. Kill him. Retribution must be ours. It’s his fault we died.
No, Chloe said, eyes closing momentarily. I died. You were fine. His honor is intact because his intentions were pure.
To her annoyance, Chloe’s hand began to shake. She clenched her fist and thought, We had a deal!
Her hand stopped shaking, although she felt as if the goddess had let go reluctantly.
“Thank you,” Chloe said out loud.
Cijay rose to his feet. “No, thank you!” The next thing Chloe knew, his arms were around her shoulders. “If I can do anything to repay your kindness, please let me know.”
Chloe went to wave away his words, thinking that he had done enough—that their debts had been paid—when an idea suddenly struck her.
“Cijay. You speak my language!”
Cijay nodded. “Most of it. I’m still learning.”
Chloe grinned. “In that case, I don’t suppose you would be willing to do me a favor? You know, an eye for an eye?”
Cijay’s hand immediately rose to his eyes. “No! No, blessed one. Anything but my eyes.”
Chloe gasped, realizing what she had said.
Chapter Seventeen
Chloe grew fond of Cijay very quickly, discovering that the key to unlocking low-level quests and missions was in being able to cross the language barrier.
Cijay spent virtually every moment by Chloe’s side. After receiving a blessing from Mantari and the silent chief, Mukkah, he was granted permission to work solely as an interpreter and advisor for one of the blessed ones.
Chloe completed her language quest, earning an entire map of the village from the tribesman. In purchasing and owning the map, for which she pa
id a single bronze coin, she discovered that she was now able to draw on the map whenever she wanted without having to hold it on her person. In the same way that Ben’s map had displayed in her vision, she could see every street and hut the village had to offer, labeled and titled with symbols and useful services she could access.
Over the next few days, Chloe steadily acquired new quests, managing to make her way around the village and acquiring the basic levels of a handful of skills she hoped would make her journey into the wilds for KieraFreya’s armor much easier in the future.
From the whittling women, she learned the art of Crafting (Lv 1), helping the villagers work through a handful of requests that had become backlogged over the last few weeks. As a reward for her work, the head whittling woman parted with a small Leather Satchel (basic) that Chloe hooked over her shoulder, impressed when she opened her items menu and saw that her carrying capacity had grown from 2 items to 16.
Chloe followed the foragers on one of their daily treks into the wild, discovering a waterfall and large pool filled with fish. There she earned her first level in Herb identification, Swimming, and Fishing, with one particular forager taking a liking to Chloe and gifting her a Fisherman’s Rod (Tag had laughed until he cried the evening she had arrived back at the village and told her friends this fact). She also earned a skill in Cooking that night when she helped the women prepare the fish over a log fire.
Not only that, but Chloe managed to regain her status as a level 8, beaming as the bright flare and wave of good feeling soared over her and lifted her off the ground.
Occasionally, she’d bump into Gideon, Ben, and Tag (who seemed virtually inseparable), though for the most part, Chloe went out on her own. She did join the guys and a handful of villagers one night when a tribesman ran into the eating hut and called everyone’s attention to a pack of wolves that had been stalking the area and had just been detected sniffing around the village’s borders.
Without hesitation, Chloe, Gideon, Ben, and Tag looked at each other, resolve in their eyes, and left their drinks and food behind them. Chloe informed Cijay he would no longer be needed that day and the man exhaled a deep sigh of relief.
“Thank you, Chlo-E.”
Chloe winked, giggling at the fact that even after several attempts at trying to teach Cijay how to pronounce her name properly, he still couldn’t quite get the nuances of her language.
The wolves were taken down with an ease Chloe couldn’t imagine. She had almost forgotten that the other guys would also be honing their skills as well and was impressed when Tag pulled out a horn and blew a long, proud note. A mystical blue haze fogged around the defenders of the village, and a notification popped up for all players involved.
Call of the Valiant: Your comrade has blown the note of battle, uniting all fighters and raising spirits.
+2 strength, +2 endurance
Time remaining: 1minute 46 seconds
Ben cheered, drawing back his bow and loosing two arrows at once, both of them finding their marks in one of the wolf’s sides. He fist-pumped, drew another duo of arrows at lightning speed, and shot again before turning to Chloe and saying, “Hey! Chloe. Can you spot me?”
Chloe looked around for Ben, but he was nowhere to be seen. She could hear him laughing, but in the darkness of the woods, he was invisible. A moment later, she saw a shimmer of movement against the trunk of a tree and threw a rock in that direction.
“Ouch!”
“Impressive cover,” Chloe said, pointing to her eyes. “Night vision—” beep.
Ben laughed, shaking his head. “Such a filthy mouth.”
Chloe brought her wrist to her mouth. “Okay, new deal. The next time I want to swear, you have to fill in the blanks for me. I’m tired of this censorship business.”
Meanwhile, Gideon charged past all the tribespeople, shouting at the top of his voice. He dived on top of a wolf, his hands charged with lightning. As they met the wolf’s skin, the creature’s hair stood on end, the electricity working its way around its entire body. Gideon only managed a quick “Wahoo!” before the lightning reached him and his whole body convulsed.
“For God’s sake, Gid,” Ben called. “We’ve told you a thousand times, keep back. Use your powers at range. That’s how you play the mage!”
Gideon slid off the wolf as it hit the ground and kept twitching as the remnants of electricity traveled through him. A moment later, his hands lit white as his body began to heal itself.
“I just want to be at the heart of the action,” he whined, yelping as a wolf leapt at him and bit into his shoulder. For the briefest of moments, his hands glowed purple.
“We said no fire, Gid! It’s too dangerous in the woods.”
Gideon bared his teeth, rolled onto his back, and held the wolf at arm’s length. Its jaws snapped in his face, saliva dripping onto his cheeks.
“Naw, the little pup is hungry,” Tag bellowed, leaping to a surprising height out of the bushes and smacking the wolf on the back of the head with a large hammer, an item he had acquired from the village’s smith. A loud metallic sound rang around the forest and the remaining two wolves turned to flee.
Several tribespeople sped after them, but they were down before they could reach them. Ben replaced a couple of arrows in his quiver and nodded at Chloe. “This Night Vision is great, eh?”
“Who said that?” Chloe winked.
When dawn broke on the sixth day of their stay at the village, Chloe was awoken by a knock on her door.
“Who is it?” she croaked.
After no reply came, she rose from her bed and opened the door. A boy who was likely in his teens held out a note and Chloe took it.
You have been summoned.
You’ve made quite an impression with Oakston’s chief. Meet her at her hut across town to accept a permanent position in the Oakston tribe.
Chloe lowered the note. The boy was gone. A notification blinked at her.
Quest unlocked: One of us
The chief has summoned you to her chambers to accept a permanent position as part of the tribe. The tribespeople of Oakston may be basic, but there is opportunity for growth and development here. Learn from local experts, hone your skill under the tutelage of others, and make Oakston your home.
Difficulty: 1/10
Rewards: 5,000 exp, Title unlock (Oakston Villager), New language (Tribal: Primitive).
Chloe took a deep breath.
This was unexpected. She had made her way to the village purely on the off-chance that she would be able to help her character progress. That much had happened, for which she was incredibly thankful (despite the rough time she had gone through in her initial meeting with the tribe).
Now the chief wanted Chloe to join them? Permanently?
She wasn’t even sure what that meant in game terms. Would that mean she had to swear a blood oath, slice her wrist over a fire, and commit to the tribe forever, unable to leave the boundaries of the village without hitting an invisible wall, or worse, triggering an automatic death.
A tiny part of Chloe wished she’d paid much more attention to Blake’s run-throughs of Relic Hunter. Perhaps then she’d have some kind of clue.
Making her way across the hall, Chloe knocked on the door of the person she had learned to trust the most since landing in Obsidian.
Gideon’s eyes showed surprise as he opened the door and invited Chloe in.
Chloe handed him the note, allowing time for Gideon to read the words.
“Well, that’s a kick in the face.” Gideon grabbed a note of his own that was off the side and handed it to Chloe.
Your time is nearly up
The Oakston tribe has enjoyed hosting you and your team for the past 6 days. However, it was agreed that your visit would be temporary. You must vacate your rooms and leave the village by sundown tomorrow, especially the small guy. He has eaten more than 4 people’s share of our food.
Chloe brought the note down, doing her best to keep a straight face. Gideon was the fi
rst to break, laughing and falling back on the bed as Chloe joined him.
“Really? You get invited to stay forever, and we all get our asses kicked to the curb?”
Chloe shrugged. “I guess what they say is true. Girls are far superior to guys at everything!”
Gideon nudged Chloe, and they both fell back on the bed. They stayed there, lying side-by-side, Chloe’s hair fanned out behind her head.
Chloe stared at the ceiling. “What do you think I should do?”
“What do you think you should do? I’ve never seen an offer like this in any other game. I have no idea what the consequences or bonuses will be if you choose to stay.”
That was less than helpful.
Chloe chewed the inside of her cheek, contemplating both sides of the decision.
“I think,” Gideon mused, “what you need to consider is what you want to do next. Me, Ben, and Tag were looking at our next steps anyway, and Ben has identified a mountain on his map, just over the rise of the hill to the north, that looks like it might host some pretty decent dungeons. That’s where our strength has always laid, in raiding crypts and digging up treasure. Well, before I became...y’know…”
“A—” beep “—poor excuse for a mage?”
“You mean ‘piss-poor?’”
Chloe’s lips tightened and her eyes went wide as KieraFreya spoke in the quiet room.
Gideon raised his head. “Er, what was that?”
“Nothing,” Chloe said sharply, placing her hands beneath her back so they were muffled by the mattress. “Nothing. I, er, I said…”
“Something just swore in-game.”
Chloe shook her head. “No, don’t be silly. You must have misheard. I said—”
Chloe’s hand shot out from behind her back. “Oh, I’m sorry. Did I speak out of turn? You did tell me to fill in the blanks the next time you swore. That was our deal, was it not? Are you telling me I’ve done badly again by following your orders, Your Highness?” Unprepared, Chloe couldn’t stop herself before her wrists moved of their own accord and she began spanking her own ass. “Have I been a bad, bad girl? Should I be punished?”
Collecting The Goddess (Chronicles Of KieraFreya Book 1) Page 12