The Crafting of Chess

by Kit Falbo

  I finish up with a few interesting possible outcomes I see coming up, but mostly everyone is decompressing about Frank, who hopefully won’t be a problem anymore.

  Chapter Eight -Chess

  Today is the day I will get to the second tier of smithing. takes 2500 profession XP, and I’ll have managed it in three weeks. Grampa has appreciated the money I’ve been able to bring in, and this should open it up even more. I might be able to convince him to stop his side jobs. I’ve already gained the first level of the enchanting profession achievement +1 Intelligence, +1 Wisdom and I’m now able to see if an item is already powered.

  I hit level 5 several days ago. Having had two blades explode in my hands due to enchantment failures, at level 4 I put my two stat points into charisma. At five, I get the generic sorcerer class familiar spell which lets me summon an animal companion. I’ve yet to use it.

  Jasper finally manages to get details on the High Council and is getting a very positive reputation from the small quests he’s been doing in the city. The current six-member council has representatives from multiple groups. There will be a seventh, the king. Once named, he is supposed to lead the council.

  ● The guilds representing the financial interests of the country elect one member.

  ● The Mages association elect one member.

  ● The Clergy elect one member.

  ● The martial orders, Knights and soldiers and such elect one member.

  ● The Lords appoint one. (I asked Jasper if he counts as a lord because companions have royal blood. He explained that because Royals were a randy bunch and it is rarer to have no royal in your bloodline, it does not make you a lord. It is possible to earn or buy a lordship, but purchasing one’s way in gives one a poor reputation.)

  ● The final council member is a political representative elected from the city council.

  Jasper isn’t happy when I next ask him to figure out how the city council members are selected and if there are any looking to retire soon or step away. “You’re going to have me be a politician, aren’t you?” he asks me in a sour voice.

  “Probably. Though I still could send you to do mining or a full-time job selling my items and buying crafting materials instead. Plenty of companions are stuck doing that.” I could tell he’d be less happy with those options as his face soured even more. I give him ten gold to use to get the information I need, so hopefully it won’t take as long.

  The Smithy is turning into a bustling place now that schools are off out the holidays. There are even some companions working on getting a smithing profession for their players and a player named Hawken working on his armor as well here. I enter, only to Find Byron waiting for me. “Chess, you work too hard. Life isn’t all about the forge and the flame. You need to go out, have fun and make friends. I don’t want to see you working here until you go and relax some.”

  A quest notification pops up.

  Quest: all work and no play. Join a player group and add three players to your friends list. You must also complete a group quest. Non-refusable.

  Restrictions: Players can’t access crafting, market, gaming, and relaxation sites until quest is complete. Rewards: Fun and 10000 XP.

  Fuck. I log out and call Mel. “Hey, Mel.”

  “Hey, Jay. What’s up? That sword you had delivered to me is sweet. Too bad our playing times don’t match up, so you could actually give it to me.”

  “I have a favor to ask, if you’re not too busy.” Mel agrees, and I give him a rundown of the quest and what info I need. Most quests in Lusania are not repeatable, you can’t have every player delivering Antonio’s love letter to Isabella and doing it over and over again. The same is true for group quests, but there are some. They also tend to be for higher level players. Worse for me is that I don’t exactly have any desirable combat skills and I’m at an extremely low level for someone who’s been in the game for close to three weeks. If I go to a player area and state I’m looking for a group, most would just pass on me, unless they were fresh out of the training grounds. I could be there waiting forever.

  I have to hire a group, pay them to take me on a quest, and baby me through one I’m not leveled for.

  The Garrish Mine Works is a resource quest to gather materials for the enchanter’s guild. It is recommended for players between levels fifteen and higher in groups of five to eight. It is almost always open because enchanters always want more materials. Considering how much I need to buy every week, I didn’t blame them. There is one repeatable group quest for levels ten and higher, but in the mines, I can get some resources myself. Mel uses his connection to post a looking for group message on multiple forums.

  “LFG ASAP: Crafting player looking for group of four or more to escort and complete Garrish Mines quest. All gold, silver, copper coins will go to party while crafting player will get all excess crafting materials from the quest. Warning, player is low level. Upon completion, each member may choose from receiving 10 gold or a crafted item instead as additional payment. Meet at Southern Willows Pine player lounge. Crafter will be wearing purple/blue shiny shoes. First come first served.”

  I ask him to post it in twenty minutes. I’ll need to head to the bank and pick up whatever gear I haven’t sold before heading down to the player lounge. I hang up and log back into the game.

  Player lounges are giant domed buildings just outside the city walls, places only those Touched by the gods can enter. If you want to talk stats, speculate drop rates, game theory, or anything about the real world, you can do that there. They have rooms adult players can rent for private time, combat arenas set up for non-lethal player duels, and of course an area for players looking for groups.

  It is weird. They have couches, TV’s and vending machines, and interface kiosks. They even have a few retro arcade boxes. TVs stream sports or other players’ screenshots for those who decided to sign up for that. I use a kiosk to put the floating text over my head. LFG Garrish Mines. I keep my privacy function on, so I’m not displaying my name, level or gear. I recognize some of my handiwork on the players hanging out, and can’t help feeling a little bit of pride. Sure, I’m earning money, but I missed the satisfaction of beating opponents like I did in the park. I should go back next time I take a day off.

  I’m still in my work clothes as most of the gear I’ve made I can’t wear without it interfering with my class abilities. I do have a bunch of swords in my pack. I’m now proficient in using blades despite my class. crafting a hundred swords gave me the Heart of the Blade achievement, +1 attack with a sword and so, I pack a few with charge traits or abilities that might come in handy.

  “Hey twinkle toes, you the one that posted that message board request?” I turn around to see a group of five players. “You better not be jerking us around about that payment.” They hadn’t kept their privacy function on. The speaker’s name is Axel Thorn, a level 19 fighter, bulging with muscle and wearing a hodgepodge of armor like most players seem to be sporting these days. I recognize his sword as one of mine. It has the razor skin handle of one of my earlier poor-quality works.

  I nod as I walk over. “Don’t worry I’m good for it.”

  He looks me up and down, unimpressed. “Prove it.”

  “That blade,“ I point to the one at his waist. “I made it.” All my enchanted works have Crafted by Chess attached to them. I awkwardly maneuver through my status page to send him a new acquaintance level friend request. That way he could see my name, level, and class/subclass. The game has other levels of friend requests, ones that show stats, gear, and other things. I hadn’t really looked into all the details and want to keep this a bare-bones group.

  “Chess. You’re only level 5! How does this prove, “

  “Inspect your blade.” I interrupt him, “You’ll see my name on listed as the blade’s creator.”

  “I paid twenty bucks for that. You can make us any gear?”

  “I only have the smithing profession, so it would have to be something along those lines. Though
I can do some special enchanting if instead you want me to boost something you currently have with the right crafting materials.” I shoot friend requests to the others in the group, two accept, and two decline. I guess saving their friend lists for actual friends.

  Sarah Tam, a level 16 Ranger Huntsman, speaks up, “Why you interested in doing this quest? And one so far above your level?”

  I don’t feel like telling them about the mandatory find friends quest I had received. “I need to level up for more crafting abilities and picking a place where I can get good crafting materials even if I have to hire a group to watch my back seemed prudent.”

  El Morde, a level 14 elf mage approaches me. He had obviously taken a shine to the character creation process. His cheeks and chin jut out at sharp angles, and his eyebrows are triangles of thick black hair. “If you craft us some items before we go, we can handle the quest better. What’s to guarantee you’ll make us items once we complete the quest?”

  “Other than my reputation?”

  Someone in the group snorts.

  I pull twenty gold out of my pink bag. “A twenty-gold deposit. After we complete the quest, you can either get the rest of the gold or have me make an item for you.”

  Axel Thorn takes the money. “Fine, let’s do this.”

  I accept the party invite. A notice informs me that because of our difference in level that I will only get 1/5th of the normal group experience bonuses. I guess Immersion Arts didn’t want to promote power leveling. Mad Monk, a cleric brawler, and Geoorge, a fighter duelist, round out the group.

  I use a terminal in the lounge to notify Mel to cancel the LFG post now that I’ve got a group. The place we need to go to sign up for the quest is just outside the player lounge. A lot of NPC who want to use Touched for collecting resources or bounties have set up booths nearby.

  A tired looking companion with a large backpack is waiting outside. Axel pats the companion on the head “This is our mule. You can use him to carry anything we gather. You can see we’re used to keeping weaklings alive.” The NPC gave me a curt nod. I guess there is a worse fate I can threaten Jasper with if he dislikes the direction I’m going in.

  The glowing hand banner of the Enchanter’s guild floats in the air near the makeshift booth they have set up on the dirty road outside the lounge. A bored looking man in loose blue robes chews on this thumb as he waits there. Axel walks up and drops his fists onto the table in front of the man. “We’re here for the Garrish Mines job.” The Enchanter draws a lazy gaze to all of us. He hesitates only briefly on me.

  “You sure you are all up for this, Touched?”

  I start to smile, but Axel puts himself in the way, flexing his muscles to use his strength influence. “I said we are here for the Garrish Mines job!”

  It’s not the pleasant response I get when I use my charisma. The NPC seems to have a little mixture of fear, disgust, and annoyance. “Fine. Each of you will need to collect five farren ore shards.” He pulls out a dusty brown rock with streaks of faintly glowing blue running through it. “They look like this.”

  He gives me a particularly long glare, maybe noticing my lack of recommended level. “You’ll need to make sure you cover all the party. Half of you can’t bring in five and the other half none to complete the contract. You will each get two gold once this is completed.” He pulls out a contact. “You’ll all need to sign this agreeing to the job. You’ll have one week. If you don’t complete it, don’t expect any more work from the guild. Ever.”

  We all sign, I get the quest notification once I lift the pen up. “Any tips?”

  “Don’t die. It’s a long walk back. You’ll need to take the south road. Follow the left fork. It gets a bit overgrown. There will be the ruins of the old workhouse before the main mine entrance.” At the last signature, he takes the contract and puts it in the stack piling up off to the side.

  This group I’ve joined aren’t very chatty, not that I’m not all business much of the time. We walk mostly in silence down the path, me being in the middle. I ask if they are friends in real life and all they do is grunt in reply. Sarah Tam, the archer, raises a hand, and everyone stops. “There’s a Rill beast up ahead. I think it’s time to see how well our employer can handle himself.” She turns to me. “Don’t worry, we’ll stop you from dying, but we need to know if you can handle yourself in the group.”

  Reasonable. I guess now is not the time to tell them I’ve never actually fought anything in Fair Quest.

  I reach into my eight-slot starter bag and pull out one of my latest pieces. Blades with charged abilities are selling well, so that’s what I’ve been making the most of recently. The length of this blade is a dusky pulsing orange. A purple six-pointed star glows at the guard, and the hilt is twisted white and black. I make my way to the front, my sword drawing looks from others in the group.

  I can see a creature coming down the path towards us, at a brisk but not quick pace. It is a cross between a salamander and a dog, glistening red skin with large claws and teeth. It’s producing a bubbling whiny growl.

  I fire off my Sorcerous Bolt from my left hand. The normally black and purple flame has a streak of blue in it. It peters out before the rill beast gets into range. I obviously underestimated its range.

  The beast picks up the pace as he nears me. I flick the blade towards the beast using up the Searing Strike. The burning color drains from the blade and travels through the air hitting the beast, causing it to yelp in pain, its skin blistering up.

  A red health bar appears over its head at the damage, no time to figure out its details as it lunges at me, and I use Star Strike, the only other charge ability on that sword, ending most of its usefulness. The strike hits the beast; purple energy laced with blue binds it in place for a second. Not trusting my nonexistent fighting skills,

  I drop the used blade and quickly pull another from my bag. I activate the new sword’s ability. Power Strike controls an outline of my body as an image of me stepping in cutting hard at the beast’s body leaving a wicked slash. It snarls and the purple bonds holding it dissolve. I ready my Sorcerous Bolt to use just as an arrow from behind me hits it in the chest, and it lays there immobile. An exp notice floats up near the body.

  Axel claps a little. “Not bad. Those weapons are strong stuff. You bring many with you?”

  “Several. I can recharge them out of combat after use.” I retrieve the star strike sword and tuck it under my arm. Meanwhile, I focus my mana to recharge the one I had used for the power attack before sticking it back in the bag.

  Axel pats me on the back, “Those weapons are probably better than what most of us have in this group. Even if they aren’t perfect for all our builds, they could still mean the difference between us all dying and having to start the quest over. That is if you let us use them.”

  Based on the gear they’re wearing now, I’d say only Geoorge and Axel are suited to use them. They might help Sarah if she can’t use range attacks in the mines.

  “I’ll try to make you the perfect items once we’re done. If we get into a tight space and really need them on the quest, I can see to having the team use them.”

  Axel nods flexing his muscles like he did with the NPC enchanter. “Sure buddy.”

  Axel’s mule, the only companion we’ve brought along, is already getting the loot from the Rill beast. As we walk, I focus on recharging the star strike blade. The process takes longer and uses more mana because I’m doing it while moving.

  The group starts opening up to me a little more, though mostly just to ask what I can make for them. They don’t like hearing that I can’t make them whatever they want. I suggest some metal fighting gauntlets for the cleric brawler Mad Monk, but he isn’t sure it will go with his skills. Sarah Tam really wants a better bow, but that’s not something I can do at the smithy.

  “Well what can you do?” she snaps at me. “You’re going to make them their fancy swords but it seems like the rest of us will be getting the short end of the stick.”r />
  So far, I have been focused on swords, though I’m starting to experiment more with other crafting options at the forge. Maybe I should also make a deal with some crafters to buy in bulk quality, so I can make things like my shoes. “I can add abilities or stats to things. Do you have any crafting materials?”

  She shrugs. “Mule sells them whenever we are done playing.” I look over at the mute surly companion following us. I can’t imagine he gets them the best prices.

  “Can he talk at all?”

  “Axel ordered him not to speak first five minutes into the game. “

  Well, he is most assuredly getting them the worst price, probably sells in bulk to whoever is closest. “Maybe he picked up some material from the Rill beast.”

  Sarah comes back a few moments later with a rill beast hide. “What can you do with this?”

  “We’ll find out after I work it onto an item.”

  This causes her to sour even more. “You don’t know?”

  I have been taking notes, but a lot of the crafting materials seem to either be unique or just widely varied. Sometimes two of the same type of item had different abilities or imbued different powers into depending on the items you’re adding them to. Iron bark on a weapon handle, even empowered, generally just gave a big durability bonus, but on armor, you could usually get a negate damage effect. I can tell she isn’t interested in that kind of answer. “It’s awfully random. We just find out after I try. Hand me your bow.”

  She is hesitant but hands it over. It is decent quality so can hold two materials melded to it. I had not brought my Artificers knife along, not wanting to risk losing it. Laslow implied that aesthetics is important, so I’m not sure what this hack job is going to do. I wrap it around the middle of the bow making it tight to it. It is both ugly and a waste of the material. Still, I cast True Nature and Meld, and my mana almost completely drains from me.