Zones of Alacria- The Dragon Gate
Page 9
For the second time in as many seconds, I felt like I’d been punched in the gut.
“What do you mean they have a potion that stops the timer? And just because it stops the timer, I can’t see how our bodies will survive past the six days. We were all injected with nanites that will dissolve our bodies. Or at least I was,” I could hear the question mark in my voice. “Weren’t you, as well?”
“Yes, but nanites are just technology. Apparently, this potion interacts with them somehow. I don’t pretend to understand it, but Andrew does.”
“Who?” I felt like I’d jumped off a cliff into the deep end and was frantically treading water, trying to work out why everything I knew seemed to be wrong.
“The guild leader. Andrew Hoetford. He’s really nice. He was the one giving the talk a few minutes ago.”
Oh, the one who looked like the sun shone because he existed. Somehow, he still reminded me of a used carriage salesman, even though I couldn’t work out why. I guess I was just tired and frustrated, and taking it out on someone I hadn’t even met. Baynor snapped his fingers in front of my face.
“Earth to Orianna,” he looked annoyed at me. “So, are you going to tell me why you declined the invite?”
“Well, that guy you never saw who killed the vampire bunny said that, while he couldn’t prove anything, he suspected the guild was making people disappear.”
“NPCs?” Baynor laughed. “Seriously? Sounds more like a secret quest to me. I can’t believe you’re going to get yourself killed because an NPC you just met said he thought the guild might be up to something.”
It did sound crazy when he put it like that.
“Hmmm, well…” I couldn’t think of anything to say to that.
“Come on, squirt, let’s get you another invite. They even have a guild library,” he said, looking at me sideways like he knew that would clinch the deal.
“A library?” I asked, my interest piqued. Oooh, I could research the riddle from there, I thought. Forget what Mikael had said, it even sounded silly to me now. Time to go join the guild.
You have received a guild invite to: The Dragon Hunters
Do you accept? Yes / No
I thought yes quickly and felt a wave of light flow through me. There was now a little image of a dragon’s claw in the top right of my vision. I guess that was the guild’s emblem.
“Welcome to the Dragon Hunters,” boomed Andrew. His name, Andrew Hoetford, was written in green above his head and he was level 25. Considering he’d said that he’d been in the game for several years, I had no idea why he hadn’t managed to solve the riddle yet. A scant six days’ time limit now seemed terrifying.
“We need to head back to the guildhall immediately and get you inducted properly. Most importantly, we need to get that reset potion inside of you, so your timer doesn’t start counting down. You almost left it too late. If you’d waited until tomorrow, the potion wouldn’t have worked,” he looked at me sternly. “I’ll arrange to get you power leveled tomorrow, but in the meantime, we can go over your future build, so you know where to place your points. Plus, we’ll get you geared appropriately. I’ve heard all about that cursed bow of yours,” he laughed. “Can’t have you using that near other guild members, now can we?”
I could hear Colt sniggering behind me.
“The guildhall is in a separate instance. Only guild members, or those in party with guild members, can access it. So, it’s a great place to relax safely and not have to worry about a thing. We do have an arena to help people level up quickly, without having to bother with pesky things like quests. There is also a guild armory, where you’ll be able to borrow any armor and weapons you want. The guild library has a large collection of books. The crafting hall has all the relevant crafting stations and tools. The dorms are two people to a room for non-leadership members. We also have the mess hall. All the food you could want is prepared by the NPCs we have working in the kitchens, and you can get anything you’d like at any time of day or night. We don’t allow pets, so if you have one, you need to keep it stowed at all times. What else should I tell you?”
He rolled straight on without stopping to see if I had a question.
“The best way is simply to take you there so you can see it for yourself. To access it, select the dragon claw emblem in the top right of your vision, that should give you the guild menu.”
I selected it and was greeted by several menu options.
“The first menu item should be Enter Guildhall. If you select that, you’ll go through a temporary portal and be taken straight to the hall. You usually come in just outside the armory, but once you’ve been to all the different places in the hall, you’ll be able to focus on where you want to go and override it to appear wherever you pictured, instead. The second menu item gives you a list of the guild members. Simply think about messaging the person and you’ll be able to send them a private message whenever you want.”
I nodded along, desperately trying to remember everything. I was probably going to have to ask people for help until I’d worked all this out.
“Okay, let’s go. Activate the temporary portal and I’ll see you there in a few minutes,” and with that, he disappeared.
I thought Enter Guildhall, and a portal appeared in midair in front of me. Before I could move, it sucked me in, compressing me down to nothingness. I was weightless, and everything went black. I doubted I would ever get used to this travel by portal thing, I certainly didn’t think I’d ever enjoy it. It spat me out the other end, more forcefully than other portals I’d used, probably because it was a temporary one. Once again, I found myself on my hands and knees. This time, I was at the guild leader’s feet. What a great impression that must have made.
I picked myself up, dusted myself off and looked up at Andrew.
“Here, drink this,” he said, handing me a rather horrible looking green potion that was bubbling away. “It doesn’t taste great, but it’s what will ensure your 6-day timer resets and gets locked at day 1 permanently. You only have to drink it once, but the longer it sits, the worse it tastes.”
I grabbed the potion, chugged it in one go and very nearly threw it back up. Somehow, I managed to keep it down, but I had an inkling I was going to be feeling rather nauseous for a while.
“There, that’s better. Now, since a guild is all about helping each other and we’ll be gearing you up, training you, housing and feeding you and so on, we obviously have dues you need to pay. The Timer Reset potion you just drank will take 50% of your XP and funnel it straight into the guild for the leaders to use as necessary.”
Wait, what? Well, that’ll teach me. I should have asked what the disgusting stuff did before I downed it. Before I could get a word in edgewise, he carried on.
“You’ll also be required to give 50% of the coin you earn and 50% of the rewards you receive to the guild. Obviously, if you get a drop of a piece of armor or a weapon that’s an improvement over what you’re currently using, you can simply keep it and return the item we loaned you. If you want to sell something instead, though, half the coin you get goes to the guild. It usually all works itself out, and with the amount of gear we have in the armory, it’s extremely unlikely you’ll need any gear drops anyway, so it’s not a big tax. You’ll find you have everything you’ll ever need by being in the guild.”
He was kidding, right? Not a big tax! In what world was a 50% tax not big?
“So, let’s talk about builds,” he interrupted my train of thought.
“Okay,” I said, thinking this was finally something I might get some benefit from. “I’m gearing up to be a magic user.”
“Well, we can’t have that now. The guild has a variety of approved builds. You need to stick to one of those.”
“What? Why? I want…” I was starting to wonder if this guy ever breathed as he interrupted me again.
“I’ve been in this game a long time now and I’ve seen what works and what doesn’t. You’re essentially benefitting from my years of
knowledge. No sense throwing all that away, is there?” a rather slimy smile crossed his face. “I’m sure you’ve looked into the riddle, but I can tell you right now that the dragons are a myth. The riddle is purely there to trip you up. I’m putting together an artifact that will give us the Mark we need to get through this zone and open the portal up to the next one. It’s been an absolute labor of love putting it all together… after developing the potion you just drank, of course. That’s where the XP the guild gets as a tax goes. I’m extremely close to finishing it. All you need to do is to get out there, level and get XP for us so we can all move on together.”
He finally looked at me, taking in my size and existing gear.
“Obviously, you get to keep the gear you already have, you just don’t want to be wearing it. What you have all matches and looks pretty, and I know what women are like with pretty things, so I’m sure you’ll want to keep it for sentimental reasons.”
My mouth fell open. This guy was too much. I wanted to hit the smug smile off his face.
“Follow me, let’s get your new gear,” he said, walking away from me toward the armory.
“I thought we were going to discuss builds?” I yelled at his retreating back.
“No, not discuss, talk about. I’ll be doing the talking, you’ll be doing the listening,” he said, like he was explaining something to a small child. “Now, come on, you need to keep up.”
With that, he disappeared into the armory and I had no choice but to follow.
“This should work,” he threw a bright orange leather vest at me. “It’s geared for an archer, which at your size is probably best for you to be, since you’ll just get squashed if you try fighting for real. Plus, with that cursed bow of yours, you’ve probably already unlocked at least Basic Shot in the Archery skills.”
You have received: Leather Vest of Slaying
+ 8 Strength
+ 8 Dexterity
+ 8 Toughness
+ 8 Endurance
Quality: Average.
Rarity: Common.
Set bonus for 5 pieces + 20 Fortitude
“Hey, archery is real fighting.” Why was I standing up for archery? I wanted to be a magic user. This guy was making me crazy. Before I could say anything else, another piece of gear came flying toward my head.
You have received: Leather Trews of Slaying
+ 6 Strength
+ 6 Dexterity
+ 6 Toughness
+ 6 Endurance
Quality: Average.
Rarity: Common.
Set bonus for 5 pieces + 20 Fortitude
Since I was about to start dropping things, I quickly put the vest and leggings into my inventory.
“Here’s some bracers and boots,” yelled Andrew, throwing yet more gear at me.
You have received: Leather Bracers of Slaying
+ 3 Strength
+ 3 Dexterity
+ 3 Toughness
+ 3 Endurance
Quality: Average.
Rarity: Common.
Set bonus for 5 pieces + 20 Fortitude
You have received: Leather Boots of Slaying
+ 3 Strength
+ 3 Dexterity
+ 3 Toughness
+ 3 Endurance
Quality: Average.
Rarity: Common.
Set bonus for 5 pieces + 20 Fortitude
Somehow, I managed to catch the items and quickly stored them in my inventory as well. They were all bright orange, a color I hated with a passion. At this rate, I was going to look like a stupid pumpkin running around in the forest. Not to mention that everything would be able to spot me from a mile away. It was bad enough it didn’t look like I was going to start with the build I’d wanted, but this was just adding insult to injury.
“Shoulder armor,” he shouted as two large pads flew at my head. I ducked and chose to pick them up off the floor, instead.
You have received: Leather Shoulder Pads of Slaying
+ 2 Strength
+ 2 Dexterity
+ 2 Toughness
+ 2 Endurance
Quality: Average.
Rarity: Common.
Set bonus for 5 pieces + 20 Fortitude
“Hey, be careful with those, this is some of the best starter gear we have for range builds,” he said, turning to glare at me.
I glared back, daring him to look away first.
“Right, you need a belt and some head gear,” he looked away. Guess that meant I’d won the battle, even though I was rapidly losing the war at the moment. With a thought, I shoved the shoulder pads into my inventory, just as a belt came flying at me from the other side of the armory.
You have received: Leather Belt of Strength
+ 5 Strength
+ 4 Dexterity
Quality: Average.
Rarity: Uncommon.
At least this one was black. Not that it would be a good look for a pumpkin, I thought.
“And lastly, headgear. It’s not like you’re in danger of being hit at range, so this should keep the hair out of your eyes.” He handed me a thin leather strip.
You have received: Leather Tie of Efficiency
+ 2 Strength
+ 4 Dexterity
+ 5 Endurance
Quality: Average.
Rarity: Uncommon.
“Why haven’t you put it all on yet?” He demanded.
“Because, as I said before, I really want to pursue a magic user build.” I drew myself up to my full height, all of about five feet, but still, it was the intention that counted here.
“I told you, that’s not a guild approved build. Now put your new gear on and stop messing around,” he sneered.
I felt a pressure inside my head. This guy was giving me a headache.
“Fine.” I equipped my new Halloween outfit with a thought, consigning my beautiful dragon spirit gear to sitting in my inventory. I could simply swap them over when I was out fighting. “Better?”
I felt a lot stronger and tougher, but my head somehow still felt rather wooly, like it was suddenly harder to think. I guess that’s what happened when you lost most of your Intelligence and Wisdom in one go.
“Much.” He growled. “Now, we can’t have you swapping them over while you’re out fighting, can we?”
The look of shock on my face must have showed him he’d practically read my mind.
“So, you need to put your old gear, including that cursed bow, into your lockbox in the guild bank. You’ll want to put all your existing coin in there too. That way, it won’t get confused with your loot drops later on. You and I are the only ones that can access it. You, at any time you want. Me, only if I decide to throw you out of the guild. Remember, that is always an option,” he snarled. “Now, let’s see how your stats are doing.”
In a bit of a state of shock, I pulled up my stats and shared the details with him.
STATS, ATTRIBUTES & SKILLS
NAME: Orianna
RACE: Human
LEVEL: 1 (Progress 45%)
GUILD: The Dragon Hunters
HEALTH (HP): 320 (10 x 32 + 0 + 0)
MANA (MP): 100 (10 x 10 + 0 + 0)
STAMINA (SP): 410 (10 x 41 + 0 + 0)
STRENGTH: 39 (10 + 29)
DEXTERITY: 40 (10 + 30)
INTELLIGENCE: 10 (10 + 0)
TOUGHNESS: 32 (10 + 22)
ENDURANCE: 41 (10 + 31)
FORTITUDE: 30 (10 + 20)
WISDOM: 10 (10 + 0)
“Not bad for level 1,” he stated as I cringed at the loss of my Intelligence, Wisdom and MP. Although I had to admit my Endurance and SP numbers were much better now. “Let’s go find you a decent bow.”
He wandered off toward the weapons side of the armory, looking through a range of longbows, short bows and crossbows.
“Here, this should work.”
I took the bow he handed me and equipped it with a thought.
You have received: Longbow of Accuracy
50-60 Physical Attack Damage.
Quality: Fine.
Rarity: Common.
Actually, that was pretty good. I guess the quality of weapons made a big difference since this one had double the damage potential of my old bow and a considerably narrower range of damage. My worst shot was going to cause five times more damage than my previous worst shot, and even that was going to be nearly double my previous best shot. Things might finally be getting better.
“Put the contents of your inventory in here.” Andrew pointed to a lockbox within a wall of lockers.
Okay, maybe I’d jumped to the conclusion that things were getting better too quickly. I put my gear, bow, potions, food ration and 4 florins into the box, silently wishing it all to stay safe. The door closed with a rather final click.
“Now all that’s left is to create a plan for where to put your stat points as you level up.”
I was seriously regretting joining this guild.
What was I thinking? I shook my head. I’d needed that potion to reset my timer, I told myself sternly. One of my six days was already gone and I’d barely scratched the surface of what I needed to work out with the riddle. So, for now, I had to work within their rules. As soon as I was ready, though, I was out of here.
12
Sore Head
I heard a muted ‘ding’ and noticed I’d received a private message.
“I’ve sent you the guild approved build plan for an archer, so you’ll be able to look at it whenever you need,” Andrew declared smugly. “Every time you level up, you’ll be given 5 stat points to distribute. As an archer, you need to focus on Strength, Dexterity and Endurance. You can put a little bit into Toughness and Fortitude if you like, as well, but those three stats need to remain your focus. Tomorrow morning, we’ll get you leveled up to level 5. That will give you 20 points to play with. You’ll want to put 5 points each into Strength, Dexterity and Endurance, leaving you with 5 points you can split between Toughness and Fortitude. I do expect you to stick to that plan, because otherwise you’ll be useless when we do any group excursions, or you join a dungeon party. Can’t have that, now can we?”