“I like you Fred and your plans are intriguing. Add these orbs to your collection. I will hire Shala for three days in a temporary status and then review the paperwork with you when it is ready. That should give me enough time to reach a consensus with my team.”
“You need to hire Cyrene. Her knowledge will be most valuable,” Fred said sternly.
“Ha, no Fred. I am going to steal her from the bank. She will quit after a single line from me.”
The man chuckled and gave a knee-slapping laughter.
“Braver man than I am. Good luck Mr. Red. Now let us get you Shala,” He said while standing and shaking my hand. He opened the door and the four foot Shala was waiting. She was easy on the eyes with light makeup. Brown hair, brown eyes, and light freckling. Her pink robe was finely crafted with frilly trim. “Ah Shala, as always; exactly where I need you. You are in the employ of my new friend Red. Three days you are to aid him for. Do as he wishes within reason.”
“Have no fear Shala, I am mostly a good man,” I said and she frowned.
“Mostly?”
“How about we walk and talk. Goodbye Fred, see you soon.”
“Goodbye Red. If the charter is drafted early I will send for you,” Fred said with a final goodbye.
“I am all ears, Mr. Red. This way, please. Where to first?” Shala asked as she walked us toward the front of the store.
“Let’s talk to Cyrene and then go orb shopping. And mostly because I am not a good man to those who consider me an enemy. Or those I feel have wronged me or society. I am trying to let the grey decisions of my past not define me and focus on being a better person and leader,” I said honestly as we entered the main foyer area. “You like working here?”
“Pay is shit and it gets boring. Not that I am an adventurer. Did you check weapons?”
“Yes. Cyrene first though,” I said and she raised an eyebrow.
We bypassed all the customers in line and Cyrene was gabbing with a male dwarf while checking new guests coming to the bank. She saw me and smiled. Cyrene finished patting down an orc and then gave me her attention.
I closed the few feet separating us and leaned until my mouth was over her ear. I kissed her earlobe and it tasted like grass. She ran her soft hands down my arms and then I heard her dwarven counterpart grumbling.
In the quietest whisper possible I said, “I am a demigod and I am here to bind you to me and fill your belly with six wonderful daughters…”
I was going to keep going and mention there would be danger and adventure, but she squealed in delight. When I pulled back her flowered hair bloomed fully into wide open petals and her eyes sparkled with excitement. Cyrene shuddered and collected herself.
“You did not?” Shala said in a gasp from behind me.
“Did he just marry a dryad? Yes… he most certainly did. What is your name?”
“She doesn’t even know your name,” Dravo the dwarf said as he inspected a cyclops. “A half-year of trying to convince her to be my wife and you snatch her with a few words…”
“They were impressive words. The exact words a girl like me waits a hundred years to hear,” Cyrene said with a purr. She latched herself onto my arm and we walked for the booth I disarmed at. “His name is irrelevant compared to whom he will be to me.”
“Call me Red for now. Come, we need to get my weapons and then meet the awesome team I have waiting.”
CHAPTER 7
I walked down the bank’s stairs with Shala and Cyrene in tow. Well, Cyrene was clinging to my arm and Shala was having to jog to keep up. I smiled at the little gnome as she kept pace. Cyrene was skipping with glee as we passed through the increasingly crowded central district. I saw our group and Barq’s eyes widened when he saw me. I saw the gnome squirm in his chair and his face flush. I connected the dots and figured he thought Shala pretty. She was easy on the eyes. I personally had my hands full and was not into four foot tall gnomes. Six foot plus dryads... well, that was a different story.
I grabbed a seat and Nicole handed me a burrito. Before I started to eat I went into introductions.
“This is Nicole, a surgeon by trade and she is going to be our healer. Nicole can use just about every weapon and is an expert in many fields. She will need a familiar and a full set of orbs. Actually, they all will minus Barq. Barq is our merchant and was our guide. Now... we are not sure. They are all low sixties on the levels.” I said while Cyrene stole a bite of my burrito while eyeing the rest of my party. “Next is Mysti, she is an archer like most elvath who also happens to be a talented musician. The red-eyed vixen over there is Zoey. She is a great cook and stealthy assassin.”
When I finished saying this and the four waved to my new additions.
“This pretty gnome is Shala. She is a bank representative and will be helping us purchase things for the next few days. The audacious dryad that just snatched a bite of my breakfast is Cyrene. She is a level fourteen hundred and is going to give me six daughters.”
Barq burst out laughing and Cyrene furled her eyebrows. She proved her rank by showcasing her wrist as if that was why he was laughing.
“No Cyrene. You have the look of a fierce warrior; it was the six babies that has me chuckling. This Red character here. He’s always interesting.”
“Oh yes, I was shocked by what he disclosed to me in a whisper. Now seeing these fine lady elvath he is surrounded by…” Cyrene said while giving a warm smile to the three elvath. “Well, it confirms what was said. Now let’s see about orb shopping. Okay, let me see his balance sheet, please. Male gnome, I and the fair Shala require breakie. Fetch, please.”
The gnome grumble hesitantly until Shala flashed him a blushing gaze. Barq shot out of his chair and Mysti clapped happily at the sight. I noticed her cheeks dimpled when she smiled so widely.
“She at least said please,” Nicole said while watching Barq fade into the crowd towards a vendor. “Before she starts making decisions, can you tell us what you excel at so we are balancing out the team?”
“Ah, yes. I can do a lot of things. My orbs are focused around high damage melee. Not too dissimilar to Zoey as an assassin except more as a berserker with a bit of off-tank. I am not big on stealth except in a forest setting and then I swap some leveled orbs out.” She said while studying the balance sheet and frowned. “If we exclude the gnome the four of you getting full orbs…”
“I only need three. I have two exceedingly high orbs already,” I said and realized I may want to swap Kor out for something with less drain and mobility.
“Figures, there are two options and both have validity to them. We get mid to high-level orbs and fill out each set. You thereby have utility early but later will swap out when you can afford better and restart the leveling,” Cyrene said with a pause while I devoured my burrito that was filled with eggs and mystery meat. “Or we remove the utility and you can buy four mythic orbs.”
I continued to eat while the girls thought about it. Shala was the one who spoke first.
“Do you have familiars?”
“Nope,” Zoey said and Cyrene cued into what she was hinting at.
“So the third option. We buy four expensive familiars and level you up somewhere safe. Familiars are the hardest thing to level in the entire master verse. Ah, thank you, Brad,” Cyrene said as a plate was put in front of her.
“Barq - like a tree bark but spelled with a q,” Barq said and the dryad shrugged not caring.
“Thank you Barq. Is your wife not adventuring with you?” Shala asked the gnome and Cyrene rolled her eyes. Funny thing as she had just thrown herself at me.
“Not many gnomes to choose where I hail from. Is your husband not around to escort you about?”
“Recently divorced. I think I may enjoy working for you Red,” Shala said while patting Barq in a dismissive gesture. “Sorry for the interruption. Again thanks for the food.”
“Hand Red a pen and paper Shala,” Cyrene said and the gnome handed me the mater
ials. “Write your orbs on here. I have a burning orb to erase the paper. Cover your writing too.”
Hydra - Legendary. Stamina Agility Strength all in one - Divine
I slid the sheet over to Cyrene with my hand on top of the writing. She lifted my hand, gave no tell of what she saw, and then the paper incinerated.
“Okay, you are good on orbs for farming. They are in the sixties. Show me your level. Okay good, you are not the tank,” Cyrene said and Nicole and Mysti frowned. “He will be an off-tank. Tanks die and you cannot die. We are adding another to the group. You... gnome. What are your orbs?”
“What no secret note needed for me?” Barq asked.
“Should there be?”
“I guess not. I have all utility spells. Ice seems to level well for me. I have ice stun, purify water, toolmaker, a grey ice bolt, a slick ice patch, a zap stun, and a snow mound spell that is blue,” Barq said proudly and then stuck a finger in the air. “Oh and an epic cabin.”
“Awesome. You will be a frost mage. We will swap up some spells to work for group dynamics. A frost staff will be perfect for you unless you have one stored in your cabin.”
“Wait…” I said looking between Barq and Cyrene. “You can dimensionally store stuff. Like no need for a backpack?”
“I want to know about the frost staff!” Zoey said sitting straighter. “The options!”
“Familiar storage first please,” I said trying to refocus the conversation
“It depends,” Barq said and Cyrene waved him to stop talking.
“It depends is correct. So his cabin can hold items. The more items the more mana to spawn it. That is how you level familiars…”
“Fuck me!” Barq exclaimed and a mother bear alien with her daughter a table over shot him an evil stare. “I apologize for my language ma’am.”
Zoey snickered. “He has had a cabin for ages and had no idea how to level it up quickly.”
“Quick is relative. Nothing is quick in the gaming universe unless you start killing higher-ranking people or flooring in zones above your floor. If you do kill citizens then you get true blood on your hands.”
There was a silence that settled over us at the implications of her statement.
“I am an archer so I have no problem hitting a target to get an experience boost. I can sacrifice an orb to get a wagon familiar,” Mysti said changed the topic.
I started to point at her excitedly.
“Woah. Good call Mysti. I can sacrifice my familiar or spell so they can get especially good things,” I said, feeling like we were making progress.
“Hold up. There are downsides to traveling by familiar. I had a broken wrist from a bandit arrow hitting our wagon while on mission. Sure the damage was healed quickly but we went from trotting on a wagon to poof - flying through the air. Most familiars are used for storage or travel where no enemy is expected. You would not take a familiar into a warzone and expect it to stay spawned. While I think a familiar wagon works fantastic on Thur and especially around the city of Remi I wanted you to be informed…” Cyrene paused and then finished the last bite of her breakfast. “There is no infinite backpack. We got sidetracked there. So do not expect to get a bag that becomes a bottomless pit. A small wagon is cheaper than a big wagon. An expensive mythic wagon will level into a more intense vehicle than a common cheap hand cart ever will. All familiars used for storage are limited by what they can hold. If you over stack and stuff topples off in your core when you despawn it - poof those items vanish. Shala finish your food. We will cover gear later, time to visit some friends, and then go shopping!”
“What is your familiar so we can plan?” Nicole asked and I saw the two of them eyeing each other.
“A cheap tent for now, and no, the storage is full. We cannot use the tent to sleep in; nor will I spawn it to risk the items inside. Why are you so inquisitive?” Cyrene said in a defiant tone.
I realized there might be a beta battle that I would head off now.
“Hey ladies. I am an alpha boss man. Period. Then it is Nicole. Accept that now Cyrene or walk away, before you get sassy. That elvath is over two billion years old and has a deep connection to my universe. If you want to lead a mission or something fine you can be in charge. But home life and non-combat I don’t want catfights or I will smack your ass so hard your cheek and leg will fall off. Literally.”
“He means it, and if it makes you feel any better Cyrene, Zoey and I will defer to you for now,” Mysti said with a friendly smile. She deftly diffused the tension.
“Oh cute, I am being incorporated into the family,” Cyrene said while standing and throwing our trash away.
“You guys are weird with your harem hierarchy stuff. I get it, just odd,” Shala said and I shrugged.
“Take us to the familiar store please,” I said and we left the table.
The six of us followed Cyrene as we wound through the flowing traffic of numerous species. There was no central type and we were another mixed group among the masses. The roaring noise of the street made it hard to talk as we progressed so I scanned around. There were so many people living here it was a bit boggling to comprehend. Sure I had seen the huddled masses of millions but this was different. In a way, it reminded me of an advanced human city with the stone architecture soaring into the skyline. I was gazing up when Zoey shifted my path so I did not collide with a guard. I gave her a quiet thanks as we toured the city. We passed a few familiar stores with grand signs and open doors.
I was about to ask where we were going when Cyrene led us under a fifty foot wide sign.
Adventuring Quarters - hiring, trading, and socializing inside!
There was a thin stone wall that kept you from seeing into the area. A lot of friendly chatter was heard as a group of burly orcs formed a party. Once we were inside, we entered an expansive courtyard that led four different ways with a central shopping area. There were vendors selling all sorts of weapons, potions, orbs, familiars, and anything that could fit in a small stall. If I had to guess…
“These booths are full of fresh items from adventurers themselves. Sometimes you find a great deal here before it hits the markets. I visit this market daily as do all the big stores and those eager for a bargain from the source. We are not here to shop though,” Cyrene said as we passed the numerous small stalls. The noise level here was much lower, making it easier to converse. I, of course, wanted to stop and browse. My hand was yanked as I slowed, “This way.”
A thirty foot sign that read (Hiring) led to a fresh section inside the Adventuring Quarters. Here we passed booths that had company names with signs out front. The vast majority had a signup sheet for tryouts held at specific times. Each sign showcased the prowess of the companies. Most went over how large they were. A few offered officer slots with requirements listed. The whole corridor of stations was unique and interesting. I wondered what my booth would say one day. I saw some showcased how much they paid out. One said zero fatalities since four days ago… Uh…
The last two booths were easily ten times larger than the other recruitment signup stations.
The booth on the left draped black banners with red trim. A golden pen was the emblem in the center with the word Justicars underneath the image. They were accepting over ascended only with two thousand floors plus a preference. Must have a gear score of a thousand and five orbs with epic or higher. This next line made me scoff. Must be willing to remove familiar to fill as needed roles for the company. Holy shit. Barq would never join these guys. The last line said meeting those requirements meant tryout only. Pay was ten percent of all loot with a monthly stipend. Sounded like shit to me.
The booth on the right had draped white banners with golden trim. An emblem of a holy orb was in the center stitched with golden thread and the words The Inquisitors below it. On the qualification sheet, they were taking nine hundred plus and if extreme talent was shown five hundred floors was acceptable. I wondered how many jumped from the Inquisitors to th
e Justicars when they leveled up. There had to be a reason they had a lower entry barrier. The pay was five percent until a year with the group and then it went up to fifteen percent. Again it read that you had to tryout and were not guaranteed to be accepted. That one seemed more flexible as it did not mention anything about a gear score or orb minimums.
There was an irony that the two booths were the largest and faced each other. The narrow corridor of stalls opened up to a training yard and beyond that were some tables for communal eating and socializing. We trailed along the outside of the training yard while two orcs sparred with wooden swords. There were bloodstains soaked into the hard packed earth and the area inside was well worn. Cyrene never slowed and went for a bench with three ogres chatting. I raised my eyebrows as I pieced together what was happening.
My team slowed behind Cyrene as she stopped her approach. All three ogres shot questioning glances our way.
“Desmond you old dog. May we join you?” Cyrene asked and he patted the seat next to him. “Take a seat, guys. We’re doing an interview.”
The two other ogres said farewells and wished Desmond well. I sat across from the seventeen foot tall ogre while Cyrene occupied the seat beside him. Desmond had no scars or tattoos. His brown skin had a green hue to it that was hidden under metal armor. The metal was thin yet too bulky for his frame. As if it was oversized as a hand me down. His limbs were covered in a thick leather that must have been hot. While I gazed at the brute I did instantly think of one word. Tank. The ogre looked at Cyrene and she pointed at me.
“Hello Desmond. I am Red. We need a tank,” I said not sure what else to say.
“Pay? Is she coming?”
“Umm… Shala, what are we paying?” I asked the banker and the gnome rolled her eyes and put both palms up with an ‘I don’t know expression’. Or maybe it was ‘why the fuck are you asking me, you idiot’. I concluded it could be either. I shifted back to the ogre. “What were you hoping for?”
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