by Ed White
That continues for several minutes as Remy’s name tag darts about, and silence falls.
“You okay in there, Greywaters? No eye contact, no stats. I only see your tag.”
Rescued. Sigh.
“Yeah, just built back my charge. Do I blast my way out?”
Remy laughs. “What?”
Yelling, I repeat myself.
He yells back. “Wait. The ice will melt. Build up your charge and then focus on your pool of Ki. Or call up your imp and discuss the battle.”
The realism shocks me. No load screen, no cut scene. I’m just stuck, waiting.
“Did you hear me, Greywaters?”
“Yeah! Melt. Imp. Got it.”
Ex doesn’t appear. “Ex, isn’t this a teaching moment?”
Nothing.
“Imp” is the perfect defining title for Ex.
***
After the melting of the ice wall, a scene of puddles and burst open corpses greets me. Pools of blood and water surround us, dotted here and there by crystalline weapons, shields, and gold pieces. The malnourished Lemurians have retreated into the catacombs. Glancing at Remy, I take note of his full face mask as I gesture at the scattered loot around us. “Loot?”
“I’m good. You collect the gold, but come over here first.” He waves his hand. I follow and he points to the corpse of the giant lizard.
He’s much better at this. “How did you finish them off?”
Remy shakes his baton. There’s a red crystal in it. “My baton is socketed. Gives me increased charge, but no extra damage at our level. That’s a level prerequisite.”
“Oh.”
He laughs. “You’re not looking, Greywaters. He points at the crystal on his baton. I didn’t collect this from the drop.”
I’d assumed Remy claimed the drop while I was waiting. He didn’t. Of course not, he just said he used it in the fight. Looting the fallen lizard mount reveals assorted gear, some mushroom things that might be food or medicine, and the drop.
Red Ley Crystal +1.
“Are you sure? You did most of the work here.”
Remy shrugs. “You could have done more if you had a ley crystal, but you’d better collect the gold too. You’ll need it to get that crystal socketed.”
Rewards:
750 XP.
Red Ley Crystal +1.
Assorted treasure, 500 GP.
XP required for next level: 1250.
We’ve shared the rewards, however unbalanced the battle was. I’d have died without his help, stuck in another grind of respawns.
Before mentioning anything further to Remy, Ex steps out from behind a fallen boulder with a wide grin on his face. “Quest is complete, lad, unless you and your new friend wish to continue in the Enclaves?”
“No, I’m good.”
Remy glances over. “What’s that?”
“Talking to my imp. Says the quest is complete. Yours?”
“I’ve been in here a while. End sounds good. Mind if I tag along?”
“LFG? My buddy Jonesy and I just remorted with his old group. We can meet them now, see if they’ll have you.”
Remy nods. “Think so?”
“I don’t see why not, I’ll ask if you can be invited to our party chat.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
“Decision made?” Ex walks towards the ancient stairs, his hands held behind him, clasped.
“Ex, is it possible to find an artificer?”
“It’s possible.”
That’s not helping. “I mean how do I find an artificer?”
“You go looking, lad.”
Only hearing half the conversation, Remy interrupts. “I can take you to the fella who socketed my baton.”
In hindsight, that was obvious and the expression on Ex’s face makes it quite clear that was his intention. We start our climb to the surface.
“Is there a quest involved?”
Remy answers, “Not if you’ve enough gold.”
“Do I?”
“We’ll have to ask the artificer.”
I look down at Ex. He’s tapping the side of his head. “Have you considered what skill tree to advance in? Your friend appears to have chosen ice.”
“Is that one of the elemental paths?”
Ex shrugs. “As I’ve said, you’ll learn more about the elemental affinities. Ice is water in a solid state. In truth, it is something else, the mastery of transition, transmutation. Liquid to solid.”
Steering clear of a discussion I’m not ready for, I laugh and clear my throat. “I really seemed to get a handle on Shimmering Blast. The Thunder Lance worked well for me when I first tried the game, maybe I can focus on, uh, storm skills?”
At the base of the stairs, Ex stops and rubs his beard with a free hand. “You could benefit from the Lightning upgrade path, it adds Lightning damage to your baton, but removes all stat scaling bonuses. It’s a good choice for lower level players like yourself, who lack the stats necessary to realize a baton’s full potential.”
“That doesn’t make me feel inadequate at all.”
“How’s that?” Remy glances over.
“Nothing, still talking to my imp.”
Remy tilts his head and begins climbing the rubble toward the surface. I shoot Ex a disapproving frown. He bobs his chin upwards, directing me to continue climbing as the dragon wings on his coat unfurl from around his shoulders and he takes flight. The little prick.
***
The clammy, heavy jungle air weighs on me. I open my chat, but Jonesy’s reads as “busy”. I don’t care to imagine what he’s up to, probably still at that “inn”. I certainly don’t want to open a chat with him during whatever he’s up to. Leaving the LFG request for Remy and whether I can send an invite, I’m interrupted by another message—a call.
I’m lost for a moment in my HUD, and decide to simply answer by speaking. “Hello?”
Julia’s voice sounds within my head. “Mr. Grey, how has your training developed?”
My training? “Miss Beechum, is that why no one has met with me yet?”
I stop to make sure Remy is beyond earshot, but lower my voice anyway, looking for a way to privately chat. “Ex, how do I mute myself?”
Ex grins and raises a finger. “Self-restraint is not something one can teach, lad.”
Funny. The little bastard.
“Mr. Grey…” Julia tries to interject.
To enter a private chat/call choose the cloaked character icon.
Again, ask and you shall receive. Thank you, mysterious game interface.
“Sorry, Julia, go on.” I say.
“I was trying to tell you how to mute. Anyhow, you’ve been training?”
I nod, although I’m guessing Julia can’t see me. “Yes, still am. Now, I’ve answered your question, please answer mine.”
“I am contacting you now.”
I raise my hands out of habit. “Are we going to meet?”
A heavy sigh. “We will continue to discuss your progress and reporting, Mr. Grey.”
“What? Like this, like I’m talking to myself?”
“No, Mr. Grey, in private, when you are able to do so, alone.”
“I don’t see why you don’t reach out through my imp.” I point at Ex.
Julia grunts. “More talking to yourself, even muted? While there are many people who talk in private chats, we need not do so.”
I sigh. “Are you saying I should wait until I’m alone?”
“No. You will make reports and will do so in person.”
I frown. “In person? You just said we’ll use chat.”
“This,” she says with emphasis, “is why we will meet in person.”
“Well, you contacted me. Anyway, to answer your questions, yes, I’m training. Is that it, that’s all you want to know? I haven’t run into any hackers yet. Just saying, can I get back to training?”
Julia hesitates. “Yes, your training is important. However, your sole purpose is to report on possible hacker
s. Time is precious.”
“I still don’t know how I’m going to do that. I need more details. If there are hackers, they can probably hack these chats.”
Julia laughs. “You’re partly correct and mostly wrong, Mr. Grey. I will contact you. In person, so to speak.”
Chapter Eleven
Entering the outlying districts of the Haven, Remy and I return to the Wilds Edge to meet with Jonesy. Turns out he’s been at the inn since I left him. The usual crowds of NPCs and players surround us as we enter. Of course, Jonesy is in his corner, surrounded by the beautiful ladies of the establishment. I suppose, having remorted, he doesn’t technically require training but he will need XP to level up before entering any of the Realms through the Grand Gate. I shudder to think what sort of XP might be gained upstairs. Then again…
“David?”
The sound of my own name throws me for a moment, as does the voice calling it, and the excitement in it. Lisa pushes through the crowd, dressed in the same drab leather and cloth all of us wear. Her eyes and smile full of joy as she catches herself. “I mean, ‘Greywaters’. I’m glad you’ve decided to join the group.”
“Well, you had something to do with it.”
She stops, her head pulling back. “I did?”
I’m not sure if I blush but my face warms. “Yeah, all the game lore, and this excitement of yours, it’s infectious.”
Charm vs Lia: Success!
We can blush, and Lisa does. She changes the subject. “Is this Remy?”
Remy nods. “Yes, ma’am.”
Lisa waves her hand in greeting. “Cool, come on, I’ll introduce you to the group.”
Unintentionally, I grasp her shoulder. “Wait, how’d you know it was me?”
She giggles, pointing above my head. “Your gamer tag, silly. And wow, those are crazy cool eyes.”
Lisa leads us through the room, passing tables of other players and NPCs enjoying rich foods of soup, bread, stews, and meat. Large mugs of ale, beer and liquor litter the dark wood. Laughter and chatter fill my ears, but I find myself hanging on Lisa’s voice and the sway of her hips.
Shaking my head, I focus past Lisa toward the corner of the hall. Jonesy waves to us. Granger, Mal, and Kona sit opposite Jonesy and his ladies.
“Jo, this is Remy,” Lisa says.
Acknowledging everyone in the booth, I gesture to Remy. “He’s looking for a group to join.”
Jonesy smiles. “Cool mask.” He looks at me. “Didn’t take you long to make friends, David.”
Shrugging, I avoid the seductive winks from the ladies on either side of Jonesy, noticing Kona roll her eyes. Granger and Malcolm lean over the table shaking Remy’s hand and clapping him on the shoulder. Kona nods to him with a raised hand as Jonesy laughs at his ribbing of me.
“So he can join? Simple as that?” I say.
Jonesy waves his hand at me from the shoulder of one of the lovely ladies. “I don’t see why not.”
Frowning, I lean over the table and lower my voice. “Well, you know, with our mission? I don’t want to turn him away, he’s really good at this.”
“Look, unless ‘they’ contact and tell us otherwise, the easier this will go with a larger party.” Jonesy looks past me.
“Excuse me,” Paul says, standing behind Remy and me with a round of drinks and a pot of stew delivered straight from the kitchen.
Perks. Jonesy must know the NPC or player who owns the inn?
A serving girl drops eight bowls onto the table, turning her nose up at the sultry ladies on either side of Jonesy.
My admirer from this morning leans forward, her loose top revealing not simply her cleavage but the full sweep of her breasts—rosy dark areola against caramel skin. Taking my wrist, she pulls me to her side of the booth.
“This place is crazy realistic. I don’t know about Remy, but I need a damn bath. Is that an in-game option?”
The girl laughs, but it is Jonesy who answers. “Sure, you gotta pay, but you can get a room for the night too, before we head out on a proper few days of grinding.”
“Really? Grinding?” My shoulders sag.
Jonesy dismisses me with a hand waggle. “Questing. Adventuring.”
“I don’t really have the same timeline as you guys,” I say, leaning to my side with lowered voice.
Jonesy frowns. “These girls don’t care about our secrets, D. Say what you gotta say.”
“I don’t have time to just play the game, I’ve got a time limit. Find the hackers or I’m out. You don’t seem to have the same agreement.”
Jonesy shrugs.
“Look, what I mean is, can’t we go back to the area of the labyrinth and the game instance?”
This gains Kona and Mal’s attention, but I note Remy has disappeared into the crowd.
I frown at Jonesy’s sexy lady friends, who return looks of lustful playfulness. “We’re here to find the hackers that created the game instance. I figure the best place to start is the location of the game instance.”
“What would we find there that the moderators haven’t? They see the game code itself,” Jonesy says.
I nod, shaking my finger. “Right, exactly, but we can interview witnesses, other players like settlement builders, traders, ask around the inn and online.”
Jonesy frowns and shrugs. “I don’t know man, they gotta trust us first, but I just wanna get into the Realms and out of these levels.”
I roll my eyes. “You won’t get to the Realms sitting around here.”
“I’ve not been sitting around.” He and the ladies laugh, causing Kona to shift closer to Mal. Given that Mal and Kona chose Setec alien Avatars, and how comfortable they seem to be together, maybe they are a couple.
None of the group have chosen anything different about their avatars so far, in species or classes. According to their stats, limited as we all are as novices, everyone chose warrior, or rogues in the case of Kona and Mal, just as they had before remorting. It makes sense they’ve remorted their characters to equalize all of our levels and meet with the dictates of the beta group, but it’s interesting that they didn’t create new characters.
Still, since the remort, Jonesy hasn’t left the inn, and yet, he has his fair share of XP and gold. I’d think he was a hacker creating XP, if my sense of innuendo wasn’t so damned instinctual. He’s been on plenty of “quests”. Do they call that SEXP?
Jonesy sighs. “Alright, look, we’ll take a quest out that way and you can check out the place after.”
It’s not what I meant but I give in and agree.
My admirer plays with my hair. I turn to her. “What’s your name?”
“Shasti.” She presses her chest against my bicep and shoulder.
Paul plops a bowl full of steaming stew in front of me, a spoon held away from the rim by the firm thickness of the veggies, meat and root tubers.
Stew: bonus to HP
Restore your health with a thick, meaty chow. Restoring health is essential after a hard day’s adventuring.
Endurance and constitution increases after a hearty meal. Dig in.
My mouth waters. If I keep the job as a beta tester it’s going to be very easy living in here. Shasti leans into me, pulling the bowl to us. Her breasts embrace my arm. Yeah, very easy.
***
The available rooms are nothing to get excited about but they’re clean, with enough room for relaxation and rest. While a few are filled with additional furniture, I choose a simple room with bed, round table, two chairs and a wardrobe to place clothing and gear. I stare at my baton. What do I do with it? Should I leave it with the group? Can it be stolen?
Items may be stored in your personal armory. Weapons can be equipped from the armory inventory at the start and conclusion of quests.
“Ex, how do I gain access to my armory?”
There’s a knock at the door and the imp saunters in. “You won’t be staying long, will you? There’s much to learn out in the Wilds.”
“The armory?”
“You’ve nothing in your armory because you’ve done so little,” he says.
“In the Wilds.”
He raises his palms in agreement. I sigh.
“In western towns, guns would be checked in. Is there anything like that here?”
“Lad, no one wants your baton. It’s bound to you and serves no other. It’s useless to anyone else, even socketed. What’s more, I’ve my watchful eye on it and you. Take your ablution and we’ll be on our way in the morning, with or without your party of adventurers.”
My cheeks warm and anger flushes. Teeth grinding, I tighten the long shirt around me in frustration and restraint. “The group’s coming with us. We’re headed out tomorrow. There’s a quest that offers XP as a group and then I’m going to the site of the game instance.”
Ex stands with arms crossed, nodding.
Ignoring him, I slam the door and stomp toward the bathing rooms. I’d expected a hall or giant Roman style bath, but there isn’t one, and would be under the inn if there was such a large facility.
Entering the small, humid room, my eyes adjust to the draped lighting. Through the thin material, I see the Wilds stretching to the horizon. We must be directly over the wall housing Jonesy’s favorite booth. A large tub sits in the center of the room, crafted of white marble, set into the oak floor and full of hot steaming water.
Bath: bonus to HP
Restore your health with a soothing bath. Restoring health is essential after a hard day’s adventuring.
Shasti steps out of an alcove wearing nothing but an ornate loin cloth, her hips and thighs fully exposed on each side. Her breasts are full and sit with but a small crescent crease over her rib cage. Natural enough for a crafted NPC body.
“Shasti?”
“Your bath is ready for you.” She gestures to the marble tub like a game show model.
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