by Seth Ring
According to what she wrote, the party had broken up after Ouroboros got the Exalted Devil Blood Berserker class, due to the mixed feelings over their actions. Thorn still did not know how he felt about trying to restore his relationship with Mina and Velin. Part of him was revolted by the idea, but another part of him longed to go back to those fun, hopeful days before he was tossed aside.
As he was musing on these things a commotion in the inn caught his attention. Shouts, the sound of things breaking, and a flurry of voices drifted out of the inn’s doors. Concerned, Thorn crouched down and stuck his head inside the door gingerly. The inside of the inn was just as sketchy looking as the outside and Thorn’s gaze settled on a large group of players surrounding Oberlin’s thin figure.
At first, no one noticed Thorn, but he coughed, catching a few of the player’s eyes. Shocked, they nudged their neighbors and soon silence fell as the patrons stared at the giant head poking through the doorway.
“Oberlin, are you coming?”
“Yes.” Like a slippery fish, Oberlin wiggled his way through the crowd and made it to Thorn’s side. “Let’s go.” At first, Oberlin tried to squeeze out before Thorn pulled his head out of the doorway. Getting halfway out, he realized that Thorn’s body was blocking the door. After some awkward shuffling, Thorn managed to back out and stand up without knocking against the inn. Seeing Oberlin’s curious gaze, Thorn explained that he was worried about knocking the building over.
“Haha, you have to worry about the weirdest things. Still, it would serve them right.” Oberlin remarked. “They tried to scam me out of three gold! Can you imagine? The nerve of some people!” As he spoke he hurried Thorn along.
“Oh yeah? And how much did you swipe on your way through the crowd just now?”
“Hmm? 6 gold, 54 Silver, and 19 copper,” Oberlin said, patting his belt pouch. “You make a great distraction. I’m telling you, we should work together. We could be the best heist duo Nova Terra has ever seen.”
“Speaking of swiping things, I met that red-armored man again today. Angdrin was his name. He mentioned that he was missing something. Do you happen to know anything about that?” After arriving at the edge of town, Thorn led the way toward Embersplit Mine.
“Yeah, while you were being your normal, distracting self, I swiped a couple of crates that had fallen out of the carriage you threw.”
“What do they hold?” Thorn asked, looking at Oberlin.
Looking around to make sure there was no one nearby, Oberlin pulled out a crate and sat it on the ground. Opening the lid, Thorn could see an ornate box inside the crate. Magical runes, etched along the top and sides, pulsed weakly. His brow furrowed, Thorn looked at Oberlin who shook his head.
“I haven’t had time to open them. It will probably take me a couple of hours to crack the magic lock, and maybe half that for the mechanical lock on the box. I need a quiet environment. There are six boxes, so we are talking at least a day.”
“They look expensive.”
“Expensive? They are priceless. I don’t recognize the runes at all, which means they are not from the second or third era. If they are from the first era then we’ve got a huge time bomb on our hands.”
“Time bomb?”
“Let's leave that for later.” The thief’s face turned serious. “What are your plans after this?”
Thorn stared at Oberlin for a moment. The thief was rarely so serious, so Thorn knew that the content of the boxes was a big deal. After a little consideration, Thorn nodded and continued toward the mine.
“I want to wrap up this quest and then head back to Berum. I need to find a place called Greymane Castle, so I was planning on doing some research there. I’ve already gotten a map of this region and it doesn’t look like the castle is nearby.”
“What are the chances you want to help me with something?” Oberlin looked at Thorn.
“I told you, I don’t want to get involved in anything illegal. I’ve had enough of prison.”
“And I’m telling you! It is not illegal. I just need backup when I’m talking to a couple of people.”
“Tell me about it later and we’ll see. For now, I’m going to deal with Supervisor Hobson.” Having arrived at the gate to the mine compound, Thorn strode in. For a brief moment, the gate guard considered stopping him, but that idea was shelved when the guard saw Thorn’s determined face.
“Where is the Supervisor?”
“Uh...Super...Supervisor Hobson is...he is in his off...office.”
“Thanks.” As Thorn walked toward the mine office, his eye caught a flicker of movement in one of the windows. Smiling grimly to himself, Thorn did not bother knocking. Two steps brought him to the desk where he stared down at the cowering supervisor.
“Wha... What do you want?” Supervisor Hobson stammered, his hands clenching his armrests.
“I was sent here to fix a problem and it is time to do exactly that. Your mine is not producing the required amount of Ember Iron ore, I need to know that you plan on fixing that within the next two weeks or I will have to take drastic action.”
“B... but.”
“No buts. There are only two options. First, you increase your production of Ember Iron. Or, second, you inform your superiors that you found an ancient ruin at the bottom of the mine. Those are the two paths you can take. Well, there is a third one where I get involved, but I don’t think you would like how that ends.”
“Huh? How did you know?” Horrified, Supervisor Hobson recoiled further in his seat.
“It doesn’t matter how I know, what matters is what you are going to do about it?”
“But if I tell anyone, those red-armored players are going to kill me!”
“You don’t need to worry about them.” Oberlin cut in, sitting on Supervisor Hobson’s desk. “A mine supervisor will be the last of their worries. Look, you don’t even have to tell your boss that you pulled a bunch of chests out of the ruin.”
At Oberlin’s words, Hobson’s face drained and he slumped down in his chair, defeated.
“Alright, what do you want me to do?”
“Simple, just tell the mine owners that you found the ruin. Chances are they will be way too busy with that to worry about you. In fact, if you play it right, you may be able to keep your position here. Chances are, this will be turned into a dungeon launch point. Who knows, you might even end up running the dungeon.”
Listening to Oberlin trying to convince the supervisor, Thorn’s brow furrowed. Somehow, this ending did not sit well with him. After a moment of thought, he interrupted the other two, asking, “What happened to Margo Talern?”
“Ah, poor Margo.” Supervisor Hobson shook his head. “He was the one who found the ruin. He had discovered it about a week before he died. He sold the information to that guild, Ragnarok, who dispatched that group to explore the mine. Margo got greedy and tried to extort their leader who killed him off without batting an eye. After that, we could only cooperate. We pulled a bunch of stuff out of the ruin, hiding it under the Ember Iron ore. At night we would load it up into a carriage and the travelers from Ragnarok would take it away.”
“You should not have any trouble reporting this to the mine owners.” Thorn fixed Supervisor Hobson with an intense gaze. “Now tell me about the chests you loaded last night.”
CHAPTER TEN
Supervisor Hobson took Thorn and Oberlin’s advice and contacted the owner of the mine to inform them that they had broken into a ruin deep in the mine. At first, Thorn had a bit of interest in seeing what was in the ruin, but he dismissed that idea when he looked at the size of the tunnels. So far, Thorn had been lucky that all the underground spaces he had gone into had been able to accommodate his size.
That was not the case at Embersplit mine. While the entrance was large and Thorn could walk through most of the mine without issue, the tunnels that Margo had discovered were small to the point that even Oberlin had to squeeze through as he explored. Oberlin had gone down with Supervisor Hobson to look
at the ruin, and when he came back and told Thorn that it looked like an old dwarven ruin, any motivation Thorn had felt went right out the window.
Within a day the mine owner, who happened to be the local Count, sent soldiers, workers, and more miners to try and open the path to the ruin. Just as Oberlin predicted, the count had his men build a large number of buildings around the entrance to the mine, changing the signboard to read [Embersplit Ruin]. Annoyed by the constant banging and yelling, Thorn left the mine entrance and walked to the edge of the nearby forest to watch the frantic workers. He had not been sitting for more than two minutes when a young boy ran up to him.
“Sir traveler, the Lieutenant would like to see you.” The kid stared at Thorn in undisguised awe.
“Alright,” Thorn rose to his feet. “Can you show me the way?”
A makeshift canopy had been slung just inside the gate of the compound to provide shade for a table covered in papers and blueprints. Standing behind it, a harassed-looking military officer was barking orders to the various scribes, soldiers, and workers rushing past. Supervisor Hobson, as nervous as usual, hovered nearby. Seeing Thorn walk up, the Lieutenant threw down the paper in his hand.
“Hello, traveler. The supervisor tells me that you were instrumental in driving off the bandits that came to attack the mine compound. Do you think you could help me identify them? The Count is not pleased with the idea that someone was foolish enough to try and rob him.”
“Of course, Lieutenant.”
“Ah, sorry for my breach of manners. My name is Tormand Tyeful, First Lieutenant of the Third Corps. I’ve been assigned from the Imperial Army to help the Count.”
“Thorn.” Taking the offered hand, Thorn shook it as gently as he could. “Identifying the culprits will be simple. They wear a very distinct red leather armor and have the symbol of the guild Ragnarok. Their leader is named Angdrin and his two main henchmen are Korith and Telis.”
“Oh, is that right.” Lieutenant Tyeful seemed to deflate, the aggression bleeding right out of him. “Well, maybe it is not so important after all. Ragnarok is not a group to be taken lightly, and they are not a group that the Count will be interested in pursuing. Anyway, why don’t we put that aside? Do you have any interest in helping us? We are still transporting material in and could use all the manpower available. The job is paid.”
“Sure.”
Two days later Thorn stood outside the gate of the mine compound. Taking a deep breath of the sweet night air, he looked at the notification that had just popped up a few moments ago.
Trouble at the Embersplit Mine: Completed
The miners at the Embersplit mine have been having trouble meeting their monthly production quotas. Figure out what is causing them to fall behind and help them solve it. Successful completion of this quest will result in the termination of your sentence. Failure to complete this quest will result in the extension of your sentence.
Title Removed: Criminal
Free of the [Criminal] title, Thorn’s abilities were back to one hundred percent and his titles were all active. Happy to be back to normal, Thorn pulled up his status.
Name: [Thorn]
Race: [Titan]
Health: [100%]
Mana: [100%]
Titles: [Battle Mad], [Wolfsbane], [Lord Greymane, the Moon Wolf], [Friend of the Earth]
Conditions: [None]
Abilities: [Wolf Lord’s Howl], [Avatar of the Wolf], [Call the Pack], [Blessing of the Moon], [Presence of the Wolf Lord]
Still classless, Thorn was not in a hurry to get one. His recent fights had shown him that he was proficient enough in combat to at least hold his own. While he was not unbeatable, anyone who wanted a piece of him was going to suffer. Not that he would turn down a good class if it came along, but finding a class was not his priority. After thinking for a moment, Thorn selected his [Lord Greymane, the Moon Wolf] title.
Title: Lord Greymane, the Moon Wolf
Chosen of Hati, the Moon Wolf, you have earned the title of Lord Greymane, rightful ruler of Greymane Keep and the Lord of the Wolfkin. To take the first step in being recognized as the rightful ruler of the Fang Forest, you must take Greymane Keep back from the corrupted wolfkin who inhabit it.
Avatar of Hati, Lord Greymane. While Thorn had not figured out the full significance of these titles he had the feeling that his path in Nova Terra would revolve around them. In order to unlock the combined title, he had to retake Greymane Keep. Which meant, first and foremost, he had to find it.
After getting the map of the region, Thorn had scoured it to try and locate Greymane Keep, but to no luck. In frustration, he had almost called Velin since she always seemed to know something about everything but had stopped since their relationship was tenuous at the moment. Still, he had been leaning toward replying to Mina’s message and this would be a good excuse.
One of the main reasons Thorn had hesitated to reply to Mina was the anticipated awkwardness. Truthfully, he did not have any idea what to say. Sighing to himself, Thorn bemoaned his lack of experience with relationships. Thorn had known a good number of people, though most of them were employees of his or his aunt. This left him woefully short of experience dealing with disagreements and conflict, particularly with regular people.
He had read some books on conflict as part of his education, but nothing had prepared him for the emotional and mental turmoil that interpersonal conflict caused. Should he just pretend that nothing had happened? That seemed disingenuous. After all, Mina and Velin had both participated in Ouroboros’ plan. In fact, Velin might have even helped plan it.
But what was the point of trying to get back at them? Mina was obviously trying to restore the relationship on some level, so responding angrily would undermine that effort, creating an even bigger rift. Thorn sighed again. Relationships were so complicated. Opening the message, Thorn read through it again before hitting the button to reply.
Staring at the form for a long time, Thorn eventually entered two simple sentences and hit the send button.
Let’s meet. I’ll be back in Berum in a week.
Rather than worrying about what was going to happen, or what could happen, or what the result would be, Thorn figured he could just take it slow and see where things ended up. He had written off those relationships weeks ago so if they never improved it wouldn’t be too much of a bother. Still, there was part of him that longed for a better resolution to the situation.
“It is all so complicated.” Thorn mused to himself as he glanced back at the mine where Oberlin had just finished talking to the gate guard.
“So, what now?” Oberlin walked up to Thorn, his hand patting his belt pouch.
“Next thing on my agenda is to head back to Berum. From there I need to find a place called Greymane Keep.”
“Huh, I’ve never heard of it.” Oberlin looked around at the quiet forest. Thorn could tell from his fidgeting that the thief had something to ask but did not know how to broach the subject.
“If there is something you need, just spit it out, Oberlin.” Thorn’s tone was even.
“Look, I know you have turned me down a bunch of times, but I need your help.” Oberlin pleaded, clenching his fists and taking a deep breath. “A while ago I fell in with a bad crowd and they will not let me go. You are the only person I know who might be able to do something about them.”
“You want me to kill them?”
“What? No, no. Do I look like someone who would ask you to kill people!”
“Yes.”
“I mean, if you wanted to, I wouldn’t stop you.” Seeing Thorn’s frown, Oberlin waved his hands and changed the subject. “Look, that isn’t what I am asking. I just need someone big and threatening who can help me have a reasonable conversation with them. You fit both the requirements, and most importantly I know you are not going to sell me out.”
“Where are they?”
“They have contact points all over the place. The nearest is a small town called Vermin. It is southeas
t of here.”
“Vermin? Like, rats?”
“Yup. It is one of the red towns. Wait, don’t tell me you don’t know what a red town is?” Oberlin shook his head at Thorn’s blank stare. “Sometimes I wonder if you grew up under a rock. Players in old MMOs used to get red names if they killed other players. A red named player could be killed by other players without penalty and it also meant that the guards would attack them on sight. Players with red names either had to wait for a certain amount of time so their name would fade or go to specially designated towns where criminals and player killers were welcome.
“Nova Terra is way more nuanced than that, so it does not use the whole red name thing. But the concept of towns for criminals has carried over. Vermin is, as you can imagine from the name, one of those towns. No matter how bad your record, you can still get services in the town. People buy and sell stolen goods, set up bounties and gangs, and do whatever they want.