Veil Online - Book 3: An Epic LitRPG Adventure

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Veil Online - Book 3: An Epic LitRPG Adventure Page 14

by John Cressman


  Then he noticed the two large chests on either side of the bed.

  “They were starting to chafe,” Diana complained.

  “Having those in our inventory caused our stamina to go down very quickly during the fight,” Mika nodded. “If we had been fighting instead of just casting spells, we would have run out.”

  Jace grinned. “I think I have a solution for that!” He pulled the haversack out and showed it to them.

  They stared uncomprehendingly at the small leather backpack. Diana furrowed her brows. “It’s… a backpack.”

  “It’s a magical haversack!” He smiled. “It can hold the chests and still only weighs 5 lbs. And… it’s soulbound. Which...”

  “Oh,” beamed Mika. “That means we won’t lose it if we all die!”

  “Wait,” Diana looked confused. “You’re saying you can put all of this stuff in your haversack and if something happens to you, the haversack appears with you?”

  “Like his sword.” Mika nodded.

  “His sword?” Diana raised an eyebrow.

  “It’s soulbound too,” he said. “Just like your signet rings. They appear with you when you die.”

  “Oh…” Diana smacked her head lightly. “Is that what that means? That makes a lot of sense now.”

  Mika and Jace chuckled and Diana rolled her eyes. “It’s not like I played this game before, you know.”

  “Good point,” Jace said. He indicated himself and Mika. “If there’s things you don’t understand, feel free to ask either of us.”

  “I will remember that,” the older woman said and then looked around the cabin. “We’re moving again. Are we back on course for the gnome capital?”

  Jace shook his head. “No. The ship was damaged, and we have to stop at a pirate haven called Haddare Reef and do some repairs and take on some more crew.”

  “A pirate haven?” Diana asked.

  “It’s some special pirate place where no one’s allowed to do any thievery or piracy.” He shrugged. “At least, that’s what Colette says.”

  “A pirate haven where pirates can’t be pirates?” Diana questioned skeptically. “Seems fishy.”

  At the mention of fish, Luna lifted her head and looked around. Seeing no fish in sight, she sniffed the air. After a moment, she settled back down and closed her eyes.

  “I’m not sure if we have a choice,” he replied, remembering Colette’s words. “From what she tells me, we’re limping along out here. Easy pickings for anything that comes along - pirates, sea monsters or even another attack from the ninjen.”

  Diana held up her hands in a gesture of surrender. “Fine! Fine! You had me at sea monsters.”

  “Tell us about Swashbuckler!” Mika said. “You said you switched. What can it do?”

  Both girls looked at him expectantly. He smiled and sat down on the bed next to Luna. The cat opened one eye and, seeing it was him, closed it again. Jace stroked the cat’s fur as he explained the various abilities and limitations of his new prestige class.

  Chapter 21

  They limped into the Haddare Reef just before sunset on Midweek, which was Wednesday in the real world. Thoughts of the real world made Jace think of Charlena and he wondered if she was okay. She’d gotten his raven message. But would she meet him in Nynymmost?

  He wanted to explain things to her. Jace didn’t like the way they’d left things when she told him about his body in the real world. He’d been too shocked at learning that he wasn’t in a medical pod to say anything before she had logged out. Now, he thought he knew what was going on and he just wanted the chance to tell her.

  A shouted command from Colette snapped him back to the present and he looked out at town they were approaching. He’d asked the first mate if the town had a name, but she had only shrugged and told him everyone just called it Haddare Reef, since it was the only town on the island.

  It was a town unlike any he had seen. What he considered the main part of town was flush against the slope of the large volcano which seemed to take up most of the island. The buildings were of all styles, from something that looked like a stone house of the dwarves to a collection of Tudor type buildings.

  Whoever had settled on the island had kept their unique racial or regional flavor when designing their homes or businesses. Because of this, the town was a jumbled collection of every culture Jace could remember seeing in-game, as well as some he hadn’t.

  Then there was the secondary part of the town, or as Jace was calling it to himself, the water town. At some point, the town must have run out of space and the residents began building on the docks. When those docks became full of houses, inns and taverns, they built more docks and started the cycle all over.

  Now, there were hundreds of yards of these water homes and businesses, some of which were several stories tall. And the town hadn’t stopped growing. He saw docks and buildings that were currently under construction.

  “Nothing like it,” Colette said as she smiled out at the town.

  Jace nodded. “You can say that again.”

  “It’s a special place,” she said. “Every type of people, every type of food, every type of everything!”

  Looking out at the huge diversity of architecture, Jace couldn’t help but agree with her. Already, his nose was picking up on some interesting, and even familiar, smells. Even though he didn’t need to eat to survive, after eating the pickled or dried fish, he couldn’t wait to taste something else.

  The first mate barked out more orders and the ship pulled alongside a large dock. Feeling the ship being tied down, Diana, Mika and Luna came up on deck. He watched their faces as they caught their first glimpse of the strange town.

  “This is wonderful,” Mika said, her eyes darting around all the different buildings. “So much to explore!”

  Diana shrugged, a look of disdain on her face... “Looks like a good place to get your throat cut.”

  “If you’re not careful.” Colette laughed. “But it’s not as bad as you think.”

  The crew and the men on the dock quickly secured the ship to the dock and then the gangplank was lowered. In the past, the crew had rushed off the ship as soon as possible. Yet instead of rushing down the plank, everyone waited.

  Confused, Jace looked to the first mate. “Are we waiting for something?”

  “Oh yes, the boys are anxious to go spend their share of the treasure.” Colette nodded grimly. “But no one enters the city without Blackmane’s permission. It’s like asking permission to come aboard.”

  Jace looked around the dock for any sort of welcoming committee or official looking person but saw nothing but the dockworkers. “Shouldn’t there be an official here?”

  Colette rolled her eyes. “This isn’t Whitecliff. There are no officials. Blackmane himself greets every ship.”

  “One man?” Jace gave her a dubious look. “Greets every single ship that comes in?”

  “Just the ones that dock,” she said pointing to the dozens of ships moored in the cove. As he watched, he could see one of the ships lowering a boat full of men.

  “So,” Diane cut in, “if you actually put in at the dock, you have to wait for Blackmane to clear you. But if you stay out there and boat people onto shore, you don’t need to be cleared.”

  “Aye,” she confirmed.

  Jace, Diana and Mika all exchanged puzzled glances but then Jace just shrugged. It was a pirate town with pirate rules. He wasn’t going to look for logic where there was none.

  “So, we just wait here until Mr. Blackmane shows up?” Mika asked.

  “Just Blackmane,” Colette corrected. “And yes. If we went ashore before getting permission, no one will service us. No one crosses Blackmane.”

  “Who is this mysterious Blackmane?” Diana wondered aloud.

  The first mate turned around to face them. “He’s the oldest and richest pirate in these waters. After he retired from piracy, he built a mansion here on the island and entertained guests. Some of the guests stayed and soon, the entire
place sprung up around him.”

  A thought suddenly struck Jace. “Is there black market here?”

  “Of course.” The first mate looked at him as if he were a child. “That was the first and only market here for years. But over the years, more and more people have called this home. Now there is a real market here as well.”

  Jace smiled and turned to the girls. “We need to get you both some upgraded gear.”

  “Oh.” Diana purred. “Shopping. That’s my idea of a good time.”

  “Fish?” Luna looked up at them hopefully.

  “Didn’t you have enough fish after eating that frenzy leader?” he asked her.

  Luna just continued to stare at him without saying a word. He understood that must be a negative reply.

  “We’ll see what we can do,” he told his familiar. He looked around. “Once we can finally get off this ship.”

  Two hours later, Blackmane finally appeared on the deck. The first thing Jace noticed was that he was a werelion. He was at least seven-feet-tall and dressed in a long jacket, shirt and wearing a large tricorn hat. And, of course, the werelion had a thick, black mane.

  The huge creature stalked up onto the ship and stopped just before stepping onto the ship. “Permission to come aboard.”

  Colette and the crew looked to Jace and he realized that, as captain, it was his right to grant people access to the ship. “Permission granted. Welcome aboard.”

  Blackmane smiled a tooth grin and stepped aboard. He looked around at the crew and then up and down the masts before seeing Colette. “Colette! With another captain I see!”

  “Aye, Blackmane,” she said. “He is my new captain.”

  “Good,” the werelion threw back its head and laughed. “I didn’t care much for that other one.”

  Blackmane walked over and towered over Jace, looking down at him. “Is this the new captain?”

  “I am,” Jace answered before Colette could reply. He’d had plenty of experience with bullies in his life, especially once he’d worked with Damian. He knew he needed to stand up the person right away, so he stared back at the huge werelion. “I am Captain Jynx Knightly.”

  “Jynx Knightly.” The werelion chuckled. “Seems I might have heard of you. Or, at least, heard of the bounty on your head.”

  Jace tensed, moving his hand nearer to Kraken’s Claw. Unconsciously, he scanned the werelion in his HUD.

  Blackmane

  Race: Werelion

  Class: Pirate

  Level: 100

  He swallowed hard and let his hand relax as he saw Blackmane’s level. Jace wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting, but level 100 was not it. The old pirate wasn’t a legendary or epic boss, but he was still at maximum level - well, maximum level for players. He’d need to tread lightly with this werelion since the thing could probably tear him apart with it’s bare hands - or did it have claws?

  Jace tried to imagine what a real pirate captain would do in this situation. He crossed his arms over his chest and put on the best cocky grin he could muster. “That sounds about right. It seems I always have a price on my head lately.”

  The werelion smirked. “Don’t we all. Don’t we all. There will be no collecting bounties on my island. And no thieving or piracy on the island. Those are my rules. Take them or leave, but I wager you won’t get far with your ship in this sort of condition.”

  Blackmane gestured around to the city. “Abide by the rules and the entire island and its services are yours - at a price, of course. Break the rules and… well… I wouldn’t advise it. I deal with rule breakers personally. Will you abide?”

  Eying the huge werelion, Jace believed him. At level 100, he doubted there were many, if any, on the island who could stand against him. Certainly not Jace and his friends. No, Jace and his friends needed the services on the island right now and they would abide by his rules.

  “We accept.” Jace nodded and held out his hand. The werelion looked at it for a moment and then gave him a wicked grin before engulfing Jace’s hand with his own huge paw. He held the pirate’s grasp for a moment before they both released.

  “Well then,” the werelion said. “Welcome to Haddare Reef.”

  “Thank you,” Jace replied.

  The werelion winked at Colette, then turned and stalked away. When he had left the ship, the first mate walked over to him. “I’ll talk to one of the work crews about repairs. But don’t think they’ll come cheap. Can we afford it?”

  By we, Jace knew she met him. He was the captain and he’d be expected to pay for any repairs. He nodded to the woman. “Any idea how much?”

  “Probably ten or twenty thousand,” Colette said nonchalantly. “Depends on whether or not there’s serious keel damage.”

  He sighed. “Do you need the money up front?”

  The first mate shook her head. “No, they’ll hold the ship as collateral until we pay.”

  “Fine,” he said. “Just let me know how much.”

  Jace turned to the girls and Luna, who were all giving him excited looks. He gave them a come-hither gesture. “Come on, let’s go check out the town.”

  Chapter 22

  Navigating the strange town proved to be a challenge. In some instances, the only way around a cluster of buildings was through them. In each instance, they found an inn, tavern or shop they could walk through to get to the next area of dock.

  As Jace passed through the various establishments, he did notice that people were staring at them. He assumed it was because they were outsiders until Diana stopped them as they left one of the building clusters.

  “You know they’re all looking at you, dear one,” she told Jace.

  “What?” he asked, confused.

  “The pirates here,” she told him. “They’re all looking at you. Normally, I get a fair share of looks, as does Mika, but not here. The pirates we are passing are looking at you.”

  He frowned. Jace wasn’t a social person so he wasn’t used to really paying attention to people, even in-game. At least, he didn’t pay attention to people in-game unless there was a potential for combat. Normally, towns were safe zones but he wondered if the same were true for Haddare Reef. Was it even part of any faction?

  Jace remembered Blackmane’s comment about his bounty. Was that what these pirates were seeing when they looked at him, a bounty. He wondered how much it was and whether it would be enough to tempt some of these pirates into crossing Blackmane.

  Remembering that his spawn point was all the way back in Lasthaven, Jace suddenly felt very vulnerable. He wouldn’t lose much if he died here, but Damian might be watching for him there. His former “friend” might even have someone watching the graveyard. Not only that, but he’d lose access to the ship and crew since they’d have no idea where he’d end up.

  “I’m guessing it’s the bounty,” Jace replied. “And the fact that most people here are probably pirates or outlaws.”

  “That makes sense,” Diana said, running her hands down her voluptuous body. “For a moment, I thought I was losing my touch.”

  Mika’s hand was on the hilt of her katana. “Do you think they will try to kill you for the bounty?”

  “I don’t know,” he shook his head. “Blackmane doesn’t really seem like the kind of person you cross. But everyone has a price. And if they think the price is worth the risk and they think they can get out of here before Blackmane finds them… maybe.”

  “What about your hat?” Mika asked. “What if you change your appearance?”

  Jace had already thought of using the hat but he wasn’t sure if it would work now that he had a bounty. Having a bounty seemed to allow NPCs to zero in on you, even through a name change. Then again, he wouldn’t know unless he tried.

  Taking out his hat, he placed it on his head and, with a thought, altered his appearance to look similar to most of the other pirates he’d seen. “What do you think?”

  Mika nodded approvingly. “You do not look like you at all.”

  “Good,” he
chuckled. “Let’s see if we can find the black market and use some of our money to get you too some upgraded gear.”

  “Fish?” asked Luna.

  “And some fish for Luna,” he added.

  As they made their way through the various buildings, Jace continued getting a lot of stares. Like the assassins, these NPCs were keying in on his unique game ID, rather than his appearance.

  Jace quickened their pace through the next few clusters until they were finally stepped onto the actual island part of the town. He let the illusion slip and reverted back to his own appearance.

  “I just noticed something,” Mika said, glancing around. “There are no guards anywhere.”

  Jace and Diana both looked around as well. Thinking back, he realized she was right. He hadn’t seen anyone resembling a guard since they arrived. “You’re right. I had noticed that there were no other players that I saw either.”

  “Why do you think that is?” Mika asked.

  He looked around. “I’m not sure. Maybe it’s just not interesting enough. Or maybe there are no quests or things to fight.”

  “So, speaking of fighting and the lack of guards. How do they keep the peace around here?” Diana asked.

  “Maybe they are all afraid of Blackmane,” Mika suggested.

  Just then, a man came flying out of a nearby tavern, followed by an angry dwarf. The dwarf walked over to the man and kicked him with heavy looking boots. “Cheat me again and I’ll do more than just throw you a beating!”

  Men and women had rushed out of the tavern to see the conclusion of the fight and seeing that the dwarf was not going to inflict further damage on his opponent, appeared disappointed. As the dwarf walked away, the crowd went back into the tavern without so much as a second glance at the man lying on the ground.

  “Should we help him?” Mika asked.

  Jace was about to tell her no when Diana shook her head. “Best to leave private matters alone. We don’t know if he did something to deserve that beating or if he’d welcome our help if he didn’t.”

  Mika looked back at the man getting up from the ground and gave a slight nod. Then Jace lead them away from the scene of the fight a bit.

 

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