The Dragon's Revenge

by Conor Kostick

  ‘Well then,’ said Watson. ‘You know what you have to do. Let’s get going.’

  It was hardly the rousing team meeting I’d hoped for. Still, the hubbub of sound that now began to build as players moved off to their rigs didn’t seem hostile, more matter-of-fact.

  At my side, touching my left elbow to get my attention before I moved off, was Oveidio, all seriousness and determination

  ‘We farm the desert. Do you have list of items and schedule for when they are needed?’

  ‘Katherine has the full list, from what I remember, it’s straightforward enough for the first week or two. You’ll be farming giant scorpions for their claws and flaming sand snakes for their fangs and skins. When Scarlet passes a hundred and thirty-five in bowyer, she’ll need spirit imbued ironwood and for that process we’ll want hundreds of spirit orbs from the ghosts and ghouls of the ruins of the forgotten emperor. They are supposed to be tough. You’ll need to level a good bit.

  ‘Don’t worry.’ Oveidio held out his hand and when I took it, shook mine firmly and stared at me with earnest, brown eyes. ‘We will deliver.’

  My friends were waiting for me near the stage and so too was a small woman in her thirties, Tuscl, I’d guess. During the raid, I had thought her accent sounded Spanish and this impression was reinforced by her look: light brown skin, black hair (cut short). She wore a white blouse with collar, grey jumper, tan jacket, neat trousers and I noticed a hint of a limp as she moved to offer her hand.

  ‘Tuscl,’ she said, a flash of white teeth with her smile. ‘Thank you for inviting me into your group.’

  ‘Not at all, we are lucky to have you. Please meet the rest of the team.’ I did the introductions and noticed as her eyes lingered on Sapentia. To be fair, everyone took a moment when introduced to our Japanese celebrity. It didn’t necessarily mean Tuscl was star struck, only that Sapentia’s appearance was arresting.

  A few minutes later, we were all in a room together, putting on our gloves and headsets.

  ‘See you on the other side,’ said Braja. And that was the last I heard from the real-world environment as a rush of sound and colour resolved itself into Epic 2.

  Chapter 22

  The Pirates’ Prisoner

  A cave. Dark, with only a very faint hint of light to my east. Ah yes, the pirates. When my friends were all in the game, I grouped them up.

  [Group] ‘Well, team,’ I said, ‘it’s the The Tower of the Jewelled Skull for us. You have a teleport for that, Sapentia?’

  [Group] ‘Hai. I will gather everyone, first to get to bodies, then to Carraig Mór, the nearest point to tower.’

  [Group] ‘Great, thanks. Before you take them to Carraig Mór, can you come and pick me up too? I’m sheltering in the pirate caves north-west of Safehaven. Raitha knows them.’

  [Group] ‘Yes, we will come.’

  Next, I had a question for them all, [Group] ‘Is anyone near a town?’

  [Group] ‘Tuscl here, I’m in Port Placida and I have all the coin from the raid.’

  [Group] ‘Perfect. Let’s plan ahead. Everyone with spell progression, can you send Tuscl a list of the spells you need to buy, up as far as level thirty. We’ll take a break when we reach that point and go shopping again then. Oh, and Tuscl?’

  [Group] ‘Yes?’

  [Group] ‘Can you buy a coffin please, a good one that doesn’t let in any light?’

  [Group] ‘With Wi-Fi and a TV panel in the lid too, right?’ muttered Braja, ‘so you can take it easy while us poor sods carry you.’

  I could hear Raitha snigger.

  As my group chatted to one another, making arrangements to meet Sapentia, I tried to recall the hunter spells I had read up on and planned to obtain. Then again, I could just be lazy. [Channel Klytotoxos/Tuscl] ‘Hi, when Raitha sends you his list, buy two of each spell please.’

  [Channel Klytotoxos/Tuscl] ‘This I will do. But Tyro, even with the raid money, I might not be able to get everyone’s spells. We are all casters in this group, even the tank.’

  In Epic, there was so much money in circulation, buying spells wasn’t an issue. In Epic 2, there were few of us playing and none of us were focused on getting coin. I could see how this could potentially be a problem. The game’s economy was constructed on the assumption there would be millions of players, not three hundred. As with our patchwork armour, it seemed that we would not have the full complement of spells as we advanced. [Channel Klytotoxos/Tuscl] ‘Prioritise Sapentia’s spells and use your judgement on the rest.’

  [Channel Klytotoxos/Tuscl] ‘Of course.’

  Well, that gave me something to do while waiting for my group to show up with the coffin. I would farm the pirates until my inventory was full of junk to sell. Shame there was no sign of my rat horde. Both my rats and bats were greyed out, as was Wolf Form. Nor did I have any equipment, not even a frail and rusty knife. Time to learn what I could do unarmed as a vampire.

  Walking further along the corridor, I saw an orange glow in the distance, which resolved itself as a lantern, hanging high up on the wall of a crossroads. My first swag. Blowing it out, I stashed it in my inventory, which, I noted, could only hold twenty items. Hopefully, I’d come across a bag soon and increase my inventory slots. Taking the right-hand corridor, I heard footsteps walking away from me. Although I believed myself to be safe enough, I walked swiftly but carefully after the sound. Shouldn’t vampires have some kind of bonus for this? I didn’t want to waste Invisibility; perhaps it was wrong to be greedy though, I’d already picked up so many invaluable benefits from becoming a vampire.

  The person I was stalking was a muscular pirate in a striped shirt, difficulty level trivial (so, no exp). A perfect victim on whom to test my unarmed combat. With a run and a leap that must have been almost silent, for he didn’t even turn, I landed on his back and triggered the all-purpose ‘attack’ button on my UI. It didn’t work but I was ready for this and my fingers flexed at the same time as my eyes chose the ‘bite’ button.

  You have bitten a pirate for 18 points of damage.

  The pirate is dead.

  There was a bent scimitar for loot, three silver coins and six copper ones and, much more interesting, a set of three large keys. Having taken them, I moved on to a chamber from which there came bright light and the sound of someone talking. When I came close enough to peek around the edge of the corridor wall, I saw two pirates sitting on barrels, one of them with his back to me, waving his arms as he spoke to the other. She looked bored, or at least, before she noticed me she had been bored.

  ‘Who is that? Show yourself!’

  ‘Hello.’ I stepped into the light.

  Both of them stood up and drew swords. Both, however, were conning trivial when I stared at them.

  ‘I found this bunch of keys; do you know what they are for?’

  With a snarl, the male pirate charged at me, swinging his short sword down on my shoulder. Stepping in, allowing it to hit (for 0 damage), I pulled him close and triggered bite.

  You have bitten a pirate for 15 points of damage.

  The pirate is dead.

  Seeing the body of her companion fall to the ground, the female made a rush to get past me and I almost felt sorry for her, such was the look of fear she gave me when I intercepted her.

  You have bitten a pirate for 16 points of damage.

  The pirate is dead.

  Seven more silver and ten copper, a rusted short sword, cracked wooden shield and two flimsy daggers. It might all help. Now, what else could I find? This rocky chamber seemed to be just a store for some old ropes and crates with metal parts that might be useful for a ship, not that they meant anything to me. Three hammocks were strung across the room. That was all. Back out I went, down to the crossroads and took the next turn to my right (the one that would have been facing me after I arrived). A short walk took me to a dimly lit stretch of corridor blocked by an iron gate, attached to brackets in the cave walls by a big sturdy padlock. Aha. Interesting. Well, mildly interestin
g.

  There was a definite scent coming from the room, damp and musky. I couldn’t place it though. Even with my enhanced dark vision it was difficult to see what was beyond the gate. When my infravision flowed across my UI, though, it revealed a small patch of orange and red against a wall some five metres away. Taking the keys from my inventory, I held the first to the padlock. Nothing. The second, however, saw the lever spring up. Was there any danger here? Surely, the enemy of the pirates was likely to be a friend of mine? Best not to be complacent. It was early morning and if for some unlikely reason I died, I’d have to stay out of the game for hours until nightfall.

  I locked the gate again.

  ‘Hey, who is in there? Want me to let you out?’

  The red and orange light grew near and resolved itself…to be a tiger. A rather bedraggled and mangy looking tiger and one that was very unexpected. It was level 6 or 7, as it conned easy.

  ‘Hello there.’

  The tiger looked back at me with large amber eyes, then turned away, evidently finding a vampire half-elf at her gate to be of no interest. I unlocked the door and swung the gate open with a loud creak. Immediately she leapt away, back into the darkness from where her eyes gleamed.

  ‘Here kitty.’ I stepped away from the gate. Stepped back again, then again. Only when I was through the crossroads and had moved away towards the dead pirates did the great cat suddenly come racing out of the darkness, swerving to be as far away from me as possible; she pounded down the corridor I had yet to explore. Soon afterwards came shouts. I dashed after her.

  The next cavern room had three pirates, all brandishing blades of some sort and all cowering as the tiger ran around and around in a circle, growling with a deep rumble, and looking for an opening. Sometimes, she would lash out with a sharp set of claws at ferocious speed. The tiger had learned to stay clear of the swords though, so it was something of a standoff.

  ‘Help, Captain help! The tiger’s free!’

  From where the corridor continued out of the far side of the room came the sounds of people running and into the crisis came a classic pirate captain: high boots, long navy jacket, tricorne hat and even a patch over one eye. Behind him were two female pirates, wearing little more than baggy shirts and torn trousers.

  ‘Don’t hurt her!’ shouted the captain. ‘Any of ye lay a blade on her and ye clean the heads for a month. Feora, Vanessa, get some nets.’

  I took the opportunity to target him: minor challenge. Level 7 or 8 then. Some exp would come my way when I killed him. Not a great deal, but still, I hadn’t anticipated on gaining any from my morning stroll through the caves. A stroll that was turning out to be much more entertaining than I had expected.

  ‘Where’s the tiger?’ shouted the captain, looking my way, ‘who let her out?’

  ‘I’m afraid I did, sorry.’ I stepped up to the entrance of the cavern; the tiger leapt aside to avoid me, right onto one of the pirates, who staggered and screamed.

  ‘Who are you?’ The captain’s attention was on me. The other two pirates were rushing across to prod at the tiger with their sword points and rescue their shipmate.

  This seemed as good a time as any to cross the room.

  ‘Before I kill you,’ I said, clapping my hands together loudly to ensure I had his attention, ‘please think about where you keep your treasure.’ And I triggered Read Thoughts.

  The pirate captain is thinking about a loose rock, low down on the east wall of his room.

  ‘Thank you.’ I attacked, diving through the swing of his scimitar, which caught me but did no damage.

  Critical Hit! You have bitten a pirate captain for 28 points of damage. You are draining his blood.

  ‘Help! Help! Help me maties! Get him off me!’ The captain retreated, still cutting at me, still failing to hurt me at all.

  You have drained the blood of a pirate captain for 9 points of damage.

  The pirate captain is dead. You gain experience.

  The other two (the one under the tiger was dead) were no bother at all. When, however, the two female pirates came running up with a rope net held between them, I did take a few steps back. Although I was immune to blades, a smart way to kill me might be to trap me in the nets and stake me in the heart. After all, when the General of Bow had killed me, he’d hardly dented my hit points. Maybe these low-level mobs could manage it with a lucky one-shot success.

  While we three humanoids edged around the room, warily facing each other, the tiger ran off back the way I’d come. Having a soft spot for her by this time, I hoped she’d find the way out. Now, I saw that the remaining pirates had made the mistake of advancing towards me, they were far enough into the room that I could vault over their net and attack without fear of capture.

  You have bitten a pirate for 16 points of damage.

  The pirate is dead.

  You have bitten a pirate for 15 points of damage.

  The pirate is dead.

  Loot time. The coin totalled three gold, seven silver and twelve copper; there were three crappy weapons and an iron scimitar on the captain that I held in my right hand. His boots were an armour upgrade for me (even if I managed to reclaim my old body with the dryad’s barkskin armour) and I took his hat too, putting it on. Where was a mirror when you needed one? Jauntily, I walked on up to the corridor and came to a T-junction. Since left felt like it would be heading back towards the beach, I took the right and was rewarded with an unlocked door that opened into the captain’s room.

  This cave was nearly comfortable, with an old carpet on the floor; a chest with candles stuck on top (half used, wax around them), two bottles of sherry and three glasses; another chest full of clothes; a hammock; and a box with parchment, quill and ink. Swiping the smaller stuff, I then checked the east wall, which I figured was the one on my right. Sure enough, where it met the floor there was a cracked stone that came out. Behind it was a small box. Eagerly, I opened it.

  Snap! My thumb was jabbed by a small needle.

  You have been hit by a needle trap for 0 damage.

  You have been poisoned.

  Oh. That was a mistake and I was interested to see that I was not immune to poison.

  You have taken 2 points of poison damage.

  You regenerate 2 hit points.

  Fortunately, this was a low-level region and I had nothing to fear. I could ignore the messages and just let the poison run its course. It was a warning for the future though. Inside the box were seven gems - five rather attractive emeralds and two diamonds - and a small cord that was pure white, like it had never been used. The cord had four simple knots along it, evenly spaced. Magic, surely. I put the cord back for when Sapentia could take it and use her Identify Magic skill.

  Since I was wearing only the newbie clothes I had arrived in the game with, I took a pair of trousers, a ruffle shirt and blue jacket from the captain’s chest and put them on. It might not have made any difference to my armour but I felt a good bit taller and more impressive as a result.

  There was not much more to the complex of caves. A couple of unexplored rooms had gear in them: ropes, planks, tools, nails, canvas. My two other unused keys were for opening locked chests, one containing charts (which as they were potentially useful or saleable, I took) and the other flasks of oil. My best find was a pile of canvas bags and I slung two over my shoulders. They each gave me eight slots, so with a bit of rearranging, I still had eighteen empty slots in my inventory.

  From the conversations taking place in the group chat, I could tell that there was going to be a wait for me before I could be collected. So, sitting near the entrance - safely away from the sunlight - where there was no sign of the tiger, I called up my full UI and studied my stats.

  Klytotoxos: Half-elf, hunter, Level 13, Exp 13,250

  (-300 death penalty)

  Condition: Vampire

  Natural Armour 8 + Crafted Armour 1 - Total Armour = 9

  Base speed 12 – Encumbrance 0 = Effective speed 12

  Strength 23H
it Points 208

  Dexterity29 Spirit162

  Spirituality 15

  Intelligence 15

  Constitution 22

  Beauty 9

  Skills

  Combat:

  Dodge 65

  Bite 65

  Claw 65

  Archery 21

  Crafting:

  Bowyer 1

  Gathering 1

  Set Traps 10

  Other:

  Abilities:

  Wolf Form, Invisibility, Giant Bat Form, Cloud Form, Summon Bats, Summon Rats

  Immunities:

  Weapon damage (exception: decapitation or wooden stake in the heart), electricity, cold, fire.

  Weaknesses:

  Requires blood as food.

  Suffers damage in daylight.

  Spells Known:

  Inventory:

  Coins:

  7 gold, 30 silver, 44 copper

  Equipped:

  Feet: High, hard boots.

  Legs: Pantaloons of the Pirate Captain.

  Waist: Sash of the Pirate Captain.

  Left hand:

  Right hand: Iron scimitar

  Lower body: Shirt of the Pirate Captain.

  Upper body: Shirt of the Pirate Captain.

  Shoulders: Shirt of the Pirate Captain.

  Cape: Coat of the Pirate Captain.

  Left arm: Shirt of the Pirate Captain.

  Right arm: Shirt of the Pirate Captain.

  Fingers:

  Neck:

  Head: Tricorne hat of the Pirate Captain.

  Stored:

  Canvas bag: six candles, lantern, lantern, flask oil, flask oil, flask oil, flask oil, flask oil.

  Canvas bag: iron spike, iron spike, iron spike, hammer, hand plane, drill, hand saw, bundle of charts.

  Small wooden box: diamond, diamond, emerald, emerald, emerald, emerald, emerald, unidentified cord.

  Then followed a list of all my junk items like the bent and rusty swords, items which brought my encumbrance up to 220 out of 230. In order not to have a movement penalty, I held back from taking the rope netting or the large coils of ropes or planks. They were too heavy. I needed a pack animal to bring that stuff away and it wouldn’t have been of much value in any case.