Extra Credit

by J. Arthur Klein

  The source of the glow turned out to be a pair of chisel-like incisors, which I grabbed and tucked into my bag, saving them for later use.

  When I initiated Dissection, the Den Mother offered the same three options as the smaller groundhogs, with the only difference being the option to dissect the skeleton had changed to yellow and the other options were red.

  I selected the skeleton and crossed my fingers as the progress bar slowly filled.

  Success! You have obtained a Den Mother’s Skeleton! You have gained 50xp!

  I searched through the room, gathering up the fallen nail-bat and pieces of goblin bone that hadn’t been completely shattered by the Den Mother’s crushing attack, of which there weren’t many.

  A gleam of metal in the corner of my vision drew my attention to the mama groundhog’s nest. After a brief search, it turned out to be a small chest buried under some old cloth and leather.

  Flipping open the lid, I looked into the chest and found an interface similar to my bags. There were two spaces in all. The first held ten silver pieces and twenty-five copper pieces. The second had a picture of a belt. I reached in and grabbed the belt, holding it up to get a better look at it.

  You have obtained “Belt of the Elements”.

  < Belt of the Elements >

  This belt grants the wearer a bonus to resistances against elemental attacks.

  The belt fit my narrow waist perfectly and was a much more secure fastener than the leather thong attached to my utility knife’s sheath. I slid the sheath onto the belt and wrapped the thong around my belt.

  The way out of the den was clear up to the surface, which was a relief since all of my minions had been destroyed. I kept an eye out for any hidden enemies or secret doors but didn’t find anything, and as I stepped out of the den and into the main garden, the ground began to shake as the tunnel collapsed, sending a cloud of dust and dirt wafting over me.

  Attention! The Groundhog Den has been eliminated in the Kobold Village of Tobaladalaka! Food Production increased within the region for the next 7 days!

  ***

  8

  I headed back into the tunnels, making my way towards Balaka’s workshop. I was eager to get the rewards for my quest, and hopefully gain some guidance on what to do next.

  Level five was the first milestone level in Argos Online. Crafting and gathering skills were available at level five, and for most classes level five was when you learned the first of your critical class skills.

  As I entered the workshop, Balaka looked up at me with a toothy smile. “I saw the announcement, Apprentice. Good work ridding the garden of those pesky rodents.”

  “Here,” he said, handing me a bundle of cloth and a small pile of coins. “You’ve earned your official Necromancer’s robes.”

  QUEST COMPLETE – Final Exam

  You have gained 200xp!

  Pocketing the silver, I examined the deep purple robes and wondered what sort of enchantments were baked into them.

  < Necromancer Robes >

  The official robes of the Harvest Moon, the Necromancer’s guild of Argos. These robes offer a small amount of magic protection and provide bonuses to Intelligence and Wisdom. In addition, these robes reduce the cost of Animation type spells by 10%.

  I pulled off my ragged starting clothes and pulled the robes on over my head, being careful not to get the hood caught on my horns.

  Balaka came over and patted me on the shoulder. “You’ve learned almost everything that I can teach you. All that remains are the final two spells that I can teach.”

  He held out a scroll. “This spell will allow you to gain control over wild undead that you might encounter. Those risen due to a curse, restless spirits, or even another Necromancer’s creations, albeit that would be frowned upon,” he explained, handing it to me.

  “The spell creates a contest of wills between you and the undead, or its controller. Should your will triumph, the undead will become yours to do with as you wish. You can take control if you have the pool available, or issue it a final command and set it loose.”

  Necromancy skill check – successful! “Control Undead” spell identified.

  I used the scroll, absorbing the new ability.

  You have learned “Control Undead.”

  Control Undead

  Range: Medium

  Type: Control

  Requirements: Somatic, Verbal

  Exert your will over the target undead, either bending them to your will or freeing them to sate their hunger upon the closest living being.

  Once the first spell was absorbed, Balaka handed me another scroll and continued, “This last spell is what can make or break your career as a necromancer.”

  I opened the scroll and scanned it as the teacher continued.

  Necromancy skill check – successful! “Bind Minion” spell identified.

  “This spell will allow you to render the animating magics that allow your minions to function permanent. Minions bound in this way can be summoned and unsummoned at your will, but while active will require a portion of your total mana pool to be put into a reserve that serves to power them.”

  I listened intently as he continued his explanation. “Bound minions are stronger and more intelligent than temporary minions, and many advanced skills will only work on minions bound to you. When active, bound minions still count against your minion pool, but you may have more minions bound than you are able to control at one time, depending on your skill. The maximum number of minions you may have bound at one time is equal to half your rank in this skill with a minimum of one.”

  I nodded along, remembering what little I had read on the process. Binding allowed necromancers to create a set of minions they could summon that had better stats at the cost of a reduced mana pool. The player would have to balance their mana and minion configurations for the various situations and roles they would find themselves in. More pets meant less spell power, and vice versa.

  You have learned “Bind Minion.”

  Bind Minion

  Range: Touch

  Type: Enhancement

  Requirements: Somatic, Verbal

  This spell allows the caster to create a permanent binding on the targeted minion, linking it to the caster and allowing it to be summoned and dismissed at the caster’s touch. While active, bound minions will reserve a small percentage of the caster’s maximum mana pool to function. Current bind cost: 10% per minion; Maximum Bindings: 1 (1 Binding per 2 Ranks of this skill)

  Balaka nodded. “Further training will require you to journey through the Underpassage to one of the surface cities with a Harvest Moon guildhall. I will give you a letter of introduction to prove that you have completed the basic training in our art.”

  With a thoughtful look, the trainer continued, “I would recommend you go to Kaliba in the Southern Marches. The citizens there will be more… receptive to our people. The other cities might be more of a challenge, but the decision is ultimately yours.

  He handed me a folded letter and a second piece of paper listing several cities with a short description of each and then gestured towards the exit. “Head to the market and supply yourself for your journey. Maybe pay a visit to our goblin friends down near the river and replenish your bone supply. Once you are ready to leave our little village, head to the Underpassage and they’ll send you on your way.”

  QUEST RECEIVED – Reporting for Duty

  Travel to an official guildhall of the Harvest Moon and present yourself to the local guild representative for further training.

  Reward: Official membership in the guild.

  I read through the parchment as I made my way to the market cavern, starting with the top of the list, which also happened to be Balaka’s suggestion.

  Kaliba was a small city in the Southern Marches, known for its less refined population and might makes right style of government, overseen by a loose federation of orc clans and their demi-human allies.

  I’d originally considered it as a startin
g city early on in my planning phase, but after reading through post after post detailing the abundance of griefers and other PvP focused players who seemed to gravitate to the area, I decided to take my chances elsewhere.

  The next location on the list was Harcourt, a human city located in the Skyfire Mountains in the human kingdom of Delgaard. Harcourt was the game’s callback to Camelot and Arthurian Legends: knights, chivalry, magic and the fae all rolled into a giant ball of drama. While they wouldn’t kill you without cause, the current laws were quite loose when it came to the treatment of those not of human or fae blood, so no thank you.

  Deepholme was the next. The capitol of the dwarven kingdom of Zar’din, this city was probably the most populous of the options available. It was also the worst possible option for me. Dwarves had a racial animosity towards kobolds, and within their lands, killing kobolds was sort of a pastime.

  Zar’din was a typical dungeons and dragons fantasy dwarven society. The kingdom was ruled by a single dwarven king and his royal clan, with other noble and common clans dividing up the various subterranean cities and surface trading posts. It was another option easily crossed off the list which was unfortunate as most of the dwarven zones were underground where I’d thrive.

  The final option was Sommervale, a small city located at the eastern edge of the Silveroak forest. Nominally a part of the Elven Kingdom of Elyr, Sommervale pretty much ruled itself with token involvement from the Elyrian nobility who had little interest in dealing with the mostly human and lupin population.

  Best of all, Sommervale was a trading post where those not normally welcomed into the actual Elven woods could come to deal with the elves, i.e., kobolds.

  In the end I decided I would give Sommervale a try. It had the basics of what I needed: mixed zone types, non-hostile residents, a necromancer’s guild, and from what I’d seen on the forums, a low player population.

  Satisfied with my decision, I finished my walk to the merchant’s cavern and got ready to do some shopping.

  ***

  9

  I followed my map back to the main cavern and grinned. Every other time I’d come through the area, I’d been either broke or in a rush, but this time I could get my shopping on. I walked around the outside of the cavern, looking at the various signs above the kobold merchants.

  In the closest shop, a large reddish-brown scaled kobold stood in front of a forge, hammering away at a piece of red-hot metal. A series of shelves nearby showed an assortment of kobold-sized armor pieces and weapons of various types.

  Since I wasn’t playing a melee fighter, the weapons and armor weren’t that useful for me. My utility knife was usable as a melee weapon, albeit a weak one, but I didn’t intend to be in combat myself all that much.

  I could, however, equip my minions for battle. All of my goblin skeletons had been broken beyond repair in the last battle, but it would be good to be prepared. Especially with my new ability to bind minions and not have to worry about reanimating them again and again.

  But I was getting ahead of myself. First, I needed to see what I could get for my scavenged loot. Across the cavern in a small alcove near the tunnel leading deeper into the complex was a small, older looking kobold manning a stall full of all sorts of odds and ends.

  As I neared, the shopkeeper looked up and put on a smile. “Good day, Adventurer! How can I help you today? Looking to pick up supplies, or rid yourself of any junk taking up space in your bags?”

  “Good day to you as well,” I said, “I’d like to sell some things if the price is right.” I took out the Groundhog Claws, Goblin Teeth, and Den Mother’s Incisors. “What can you tell me about these?”

  He leaned over the counter and picked up one of the Groundhog Claws. He pulled a small looking glass out of his pocket and examined it.

  “Hmm,” he said, rotating the claw in his grip. “Groundhog Claw. Used by alchemists to add a bonus to things that involve digging. Farming, Mining, Excavation. Pretty specialized. I can give you two-and-a-half silver for each.”

  “If they are so specialized,” I responded, “shouldn’t they be in higher demand? Could you do a bit more?”

  The kobold chuckled and looked me up and down. “I can tell you’re new here, so I’ll let you have this round. Three silver each. Take it or leave it.”

  I nodded, and we made the exchange.

  He picked up one of the Goblin Teeth and examined it with his device. “Now these aren’t quite as valuable. Goblin Teeth are pretty common ‘round here, especially with the current incursion. I’ll buy these for a silver per pair, or you can hold on to them and try your luck in a surface city where they are less common. Not budging on this price.”

  “What are they used for?” I asked.

  “They’re another alchemical reagent. Used in potions of disease and poison resistance. Apparently, the buggers can eat just about anything without getting sick, so it makes sense,” he said with a shrug.

  I nodded. “I’m heading to the surface soon, so I’ll hold on to them for now,” I said and tucked them into my bag.

  “Wise choice,” the shopkeeper said, giving me a wink.

  He picked up the Den Mother’s Incisor and let out a long whistle. “Haven’t seen many of these recently. I’ll give you five silver each for these. A talented smith could shape these into daggers or spear tips, or a jeweler could carve them into something fancy, but it’ll probably cost you a bit more than they’re worth to get something useful to one of you caster types.”

  “I’ll take the five silver each I think,” I said as I slid the second tooth across the table to the kobold and dropped the coins into my pocket. “What do you have for sale?”

  The shopkeeper gave me a toothy grin. “Take a look!” and gestured behind him. The shelves were piled with stacks of random herbs, hides, and odds and ends. There didn’t seem to be any order or organization.

  A menu opened up in my view, listing hundreds of random components with no order or organization. I tried reading through the list but gave up after an entire page full of different types of seeds.

  “Do you have any Bone Dust?” I asked and sighed with relief as the shopkeeper began rifling through the piles of goods before coming up with a small bag full of a yellowish powder.

  “Here you are, Adventurer,” he said, holding up the pouch. “Bone dust. This pouch holds five doses of the stuff. Two silver for the bag.”

  I handed over the coin, eager to see what effect the Bone Dust would have on my Rot spell. “Do you have any bags? I could probably use a backpack or another satchel to carry my things in.”

  He searched through his wares but came up empty handed. “No bags, sorry,” he said. “You could check with Valiki the leatherworker or Tatapa the tailor. They might be able to help you out. Anything else I can help you with?”

  I shook my head and thanked the man for his help and then headed over to the leatherworker he’d indicated where I was able to find another sixteen-slot bag for five silver. I transferred my skeleton collection to the new bag, keeping my bones separate from my normal gear.

  The leatherworker didn’t have anything else for me, so I proceed on to the tailor where I purchased a set of hand wraps that increased casting speed by a small amount for another eight silver.

  From there I returned to the weapons merchant and spent another silver piece on several simple clubs for my future skeleton brigade.

  The last thing I needed was to find someone to identify the ring I’d found. The leatherworker and tailor had both looked at me strangely when I inquired, and told me to seek out Dodoka who managed a booth that sold magical odds and ends.

  I found his stall stuffed between two stone pillars near the edge of the cavern, barely visible from the main cavern. Looking at the items on the shelves, I could tell he didn’t get much business by the thick coating of dust.

  As I approached, I spotted an older kobold asleep on a stool behind the counter, his head resting against the stone counter. Even with the proprieto
r asleep, I was able to access the shop interface and examine his wares.

  Everything was much more organized, but the list was very short, and once I saw the prices on the items listed, I understood why the shelves were covered in dust. The items were priced in terms of gold, not the copper or silver that everyone else traded in.

  A sign sitting on the counter read “Identification – 1 silver piece per item.”

  I cleared my throat, causing the kobold behind the counter to startle upright. “How can I help you, Adventurer? Can I interest you in a Wand of Fireballs, or perhaps a Periapt of Healing?”

  I shook my head. “Sorry, I’ve never seen a gold piece, let alone enough to purchase those things. I need this ring identified,” I said and slid it and the silver piece across the counter.

  The kobold sighed. “Identification, of course,” he muttered. “Run a branch of the guild store, they said. You’ll make a fortune, they said. They neglected to tell me that the assignment was in the smallest of towns where no one can afford most things from the guild. The local trainers even provide their students with their starting spells so I can’t even sell my spell scrolls.”

  My interest piqued at that. “You sell spell scrolls?” I asked, a little confused. There weren’t any scrolls listed in the normal shop interface.

  The mage continued studying my ring, mumbling the words of a simple spell over it. “Yes, we have spell scrolls, but back to your business. This is a Ring of Perception. It will up your Perception by one rank. If you want to sell it, I can give you fifty silver.”

  It was a good price, but increased Perception was worth more. “No thank you,” I said and saw him deflate a little. “What spell scrolls do you have?”

  The kobold grabbed a large crate and brought it to the counter, opening it up. A new shop listing popped into my view, showing row upon rows of scrolls, each labeled according to their school and function.