Nemesis (Sparta Online Book 1)

by J. F. Danskin

  Skill boost! You have developed your grit. +5XP

  Plato nodded. “So we do what we can to gear up. Get your stuff back from Ajax and the others, if we can. Tomorrow, that’s our top priority. Clio will help too, I think.”

  Troy nodded. “Awesome.”

  “And then get that hatchet that you mentioned, spend the gems, improve our equipment. And help each other to keep hold of it this time.”

  Troy looked at his companion for a moment, then nodded, and took a mouthful of soup.

  Then he spat the mouthful out on the ground. “That tastes as bad as I would have expected,” he said.

  “You’re going to have to eat it anyway.”

  * * *

  When Troy returned to the dorm, he carefully opened his belt pouch to put the gems from Plato inside. As he did so, he was surprised to see that the other two gems were already there. He had assumed that the others had stolen them – wrongly, it now appeared.

  But of course – the coin pouch appeared on his inventory, but the lapis lazuli gems never had. Besides, presumably Ajax and the others didn’t even know they were there.

  The following morning, Troy was up early; the other boys in the dormitory were just beginning to wake. He checked his health level again, and saw the following:

  Current health level: Healthy

  Illness: None

  Disease: None

  Hunger: 51%

  Thirst: 35%

  Hit points: 18/18

  So, he had fully healed. But there was much more to be done. First, Troy re-entered the storage room and dug around in the barrels of sand. Sure enough, there was the hatchet – his backup weapon – as well as the other two gems that he had previously hidden there.

  Skill boost! You have developed your creativity. +5XP

  He slid the hatchet through the loop on his belt, and added the remaining gems to his pouch.

  His next destination was the small entrance square behind the storehouse building. Passing down the narrow gap between two buildings, he turned right and pushed open the door to Titan’s Rest – the small ceremonial room where he had first arrived in Sparta Online.

  There, just as he remembered, was a bronze mirror and a glowing white hemisphere attached to the wall. So this was where he spent his experience points. But how exactly did he do it?

  Walking forward, he looked at his face in the mirror. He looked much the same as ever, but there were several new scars on his face, and the signs of bruising around his eyes and cheeks from the recent attack by his fellow hoplites was clear to see.

  The simulation was certainly realistic.

  He tried staring at his reflection and saying, ‘spend experience’, but nothing happened. Damn. Why hadn’t he asked Clio for more details? He couldn’t exactly go and knock on her door now.

  There was little else in the room but for the simple wooden bench, so he focused his attention again on the white hemisphere. Was it his imagination, or was it pulsing slightly? He didn’t remember that from before.

  He reached out and put the palm of his hand on it. It was warm to the touch, and as his hand made full contact, his status message popped up across his vision, much like it had when he had mentally called it up on that first day in Sparta Online:

  Combat skills: 5

  Creativity: 6

  Grit: 9

  Interpersonal skills: 3

  Knowledge: 8

  Quick thinking: 5

  Survival skills: 4

  Valor: 6

  Inventory: belt; coin pouch; iron hatchet.

  Level: Hoplite (Level 3)

  Experience points: 460

  Hit points: 14

  “Umm… can I increase my hit points?” he asked, mentally phrasing the question inside his head. And almost immediately, he saw another message:

  Hit points increased. 50 experience points expended. Your hit points have increased by 1. You have 19/19 hit points remaining.

  It was intuitive, that much was clear. “OK… spend another 200 on hit points, please.”

  Hit points increased. 200 experience points expended. Your hit points have increased by 4.

  You have 23/23 hit points remaining.

  “Good. Uh… thank you. Listen, is there anything else I can spend experience points on?”

  A further message now appeared:

  *Possible ways to allocate experience points include:

  Additional hit points (50 XP)

  Additional mana points (50 XP)

  Luck points (100 XP)

  Gifting experience to another player (50% of XP spend)

  Gifting experience to an NPC (50% of XP spend)

  Mana points, luck points… What were these things, he wondered? If only Andros was here to guide him. But any further questions about these issues would have to wait. At least he now knew where to come – and he was five hit points tougher than before. That had to help at least a little.

  He still had a couple of hundred left… But spending only on hit points felt a little short sighted. After a moment’s reflection, he decided to ‘buy’ two more hit points, and then gain one of the luck points. He didn’t know how to use it, but it could come in useful at some point.

  Hit points increased. 100 experience points expended. Your hit points have increased by 2.

  You have 25/25 hit points remaining.

  Luck points increased. 100 experience points expended. Your luck points have increased by 1.

  You have 1/1 luck points remaining.

  As Troy left the building the small square was still deserted, and even the larger training area beyond was quiet, with just a couple of female hoplites sparring with swords at the far end. Troy hurried across and descended the marble steps. From there, he cut through the grove of olive trees, retracing the route that he had taken with his companions a few days before.

  He recalled seeing a small market beyond the villas when he was racing around the outer path, and knew that it was in more or less a straight line ahead. What would be for sale there? He had no way of knowing, but surely had to be something useful. This was, after all, a city of warriors.

  Reaching the street with the fountain, he looked to his right. Down here in the city there were plenty of people about, some outside their houses, others walking around with sacks and boxes of wares. Indeed, he could see a couple carrying crates in a downhill direction – more or less the direction he thought he needed to go. Off to the market? Perhaps.

  He followed.

  The route led along a street that was perpendicular to the first, and then around a wide curved lane which was quite busy with pedestrians with hand carts. The couple stopped at the end of the lane, and Troy did too; they had come to an even wider street along which a company of horse warriors were riding. More of the Spartan hyparchos.

  And there, on the other side, was the market place. A wide square area with stalls around all sides, and a pretty garden with herbs growing in the center and benches on which to rest. Only around half of the stalls were occupied as yet, but he hurried across and began to scope out the offerings, walking silently from one to the next without engaging in any discussion.

  Containers of olive oil; shell jewelry; loaves of bread; sacks of dried fruit… At the fifth stall that he looked at, he finally saw a mixture of things that soldiers might find useful: weapons belts; sharpening stones, sandals, spare sheaths for daggers, cords for the handles of weapons… and also a very fine-looking bronze-and-iron chestplate.

  “Can I help you, young warrior?” said the proprietor, an older man with short steel-gray hair and a face that looked like it had seen many years of outdoor work – and perhaps a few military campaigns.

  “Yes please – I want to buy some armor.”

  The man nodded with a kindly smile. “That’s not cheap, my boy, and would require measuring and fitting. How much have you got to spend?”

  Troy reached into his pouch and pulled out one of the lapis lazuli gems, placing it on the counter. The man picked it up and
held it to the light, turning it over.

  “Not bad at all,” he said with another kindly smile, “but not enough for a chestplate like this, I’m afraid, or even a shield or helmet.”

  “I have a couple more.”

  A nod. “Well, in that case… can I interest you in a weapon belt? Or some greaves?”

  “Greaves? What are they exactly?”

  “It’s the armor that goes on your legs. When you are fighting with a shield and helmet, it’s the lower legs which are most vulnerable to attack. That and your sword arm, of course. I have leather or iron bracers, too, if you’d be interested.”

  They discussed the matter for a while longer, with the man helpfully showing Troy several styles of bracers, as well as the bronze greaves which covered the leg from ankle up to the knee, much like the ones that Clio wore.

  “I’ll definitely take the greaves,” he said, “the bronze ones. Will six lapis be enough?”

  “I’ll take seven. For all eight, I’ll throw in one leather bracer, too. Not as good as a metal one, but a lot better than nothing.”

  “I think six overall for that lot is the most I can pay,” he said. Troy was keen to give at least a couple of the gems back to his friend.

  “Ah, you strike a hard bargain for one so young!” said the man, though he was still smiling. “Is there something else I could throw in for us to call it seven? A sharpening stone, perhaps?”

  Troy’s gaze fell on the leather straps; he had seen these attached to the pommels or hilts of certain weapons, and it struck him that it could make dropping his hatchet in combat much less likely. “What about one of those leather straps?”

  “Ah, yes, I could accept that. Two of them plus the greaves and bracer for eight gems?”

  “Seven for the lot, and you have a deal.”

  “Very well – it’s a deal, young warrior. And good luck in the battles to come.”

  Skill boost! You have developed your interpersonal skills. +5XP

  “One other thing,” said the man as Troy took his new purchases. “I was a soldier myself for more than thirty years. My advice to you is this – put your greaves on in the morning, and wear them from dawn to dusk. It might be uncomfortable, but if you get hit in the leg with a sword or an axe, you’ll thank yourself for putting up with that discomfort.”

  Skill boost! You have developed your knowledge. +5XP

  “I hear you.” Keen to show that he was heeding the friendly advice, Troy strapped on the bracer and greaves straight away. He also removed the hatchet from his belt, strung one of the leather cords through the haft of the weapon, and then hung it around his neck between his light armor and his robes. Was it likely to chafe his skin? Very. But he wasn’t willing to have another useful treasure wrested from him.

  Level: Hoplite (Level 3)

  XP: 0470 (unspent: 0020)

  Hit points: 25/25

  Luck points: 1

  Equipment: belt; bracer; coin pouch; greaves; iron hatchet; spare leather cord.

  Chapter 14: Quests and Monsters

  “Hoplites,” shouted Captain Theseus, “you are being assigned to tackle a set of monstrous threats that have arisen in or around the city of Sparta.”

  The young recruits were again gathered, this time under the cover of Grey cloud. Troy had returned just in time. Plato nodded with a smile to see Troy wearing the new greaves and bracer, and Troy handed his friend the remaining gem.

  “If and when you succeed,” continued Captain Theseus, “you will each be given a spear as a reward. The spear is of course the greatest weapon of the hoplite, more important even than the sword for the success of Sparta’s armies.”

  SPARTA ONLINE WORLD EVENT: MONSTER QUESTS

  “You must be level three or above, which all of you have now reached,” added the captain. Troy glanced sideways at Canis; the unpleasant dark-haired hoplite was not walking away from the rest of the group this time, so it appeared that he had done something to at least partially catch up with the others in terms of xp and levels.

  The captain’s next statement confirmed that all twelve of the young men would indeed be involved:

  “You will once again compete in groups of four. And let me say it now – do not complain about who you are grouped with for your mission, because I am not interested, and will not waste my time listening to whining. I will beat anyone who moans worse than a disobedient dog, I promise you all.”

  Troy scowled at this, and then glanced around at the others. Ajax was wearing a new sword proudly at his belt, as well as a dagger. His dagger. He then glanced at Ajax’s sidekicks; Canis was now wearing the bronze helmet that he had taken from Troy, while Glaucus stood between the two of them bearing a new axe.

  Troy certainly wasn’t going to complain about being grouped with his own usual partners once again.

  “We are going to change the groupings, also,” continued Captain Theseus, “to provide you with a new challenge. Group one is you four together, then you are group two” – he pointed at one group of four boys and then another, starting with the front rank – ”and then finally you four, Ajax along to Troy.”

  WORLD EVENT UPDATE: Teaming up. You gain 5xp!.

  The four boys looked around gaping for a moment.

  “I don’t want to work with them,” muttered Ajax. But he was careful not to say it loud enough for the captain to hear him.

  “Groups – form up!” shouted Captain Theseus, and in a moment they had assembled into three groups of four, with Troy now together with Plato, Ajax, and Glaucus. Troy was standing a yard away from the rest of the group, his arms folded, glaring at Ajax, and the tall red-faced boy appeared equally unimpressed by the development.

  “Group one,” called the captain, pointing to the group on the left-hand side, including Nabis. “You will head towards the mountains to the north of here and seek out the Nemean lion.” The four nodded at each other, and one of them patted a gladius sword that he wore, looking confident, while another gripped a bow and grinned. “You must use your wits to track it down,” continued Theseus, ”and beware – this creature’s hide is as hard as armor, and arrows will be useless against it.”

  At this news, the foursome looked rather less confident.

  Captain Theseus turned towards the next group, the four boys at the front including Canis and Leon. “Your target is a murderous wild animal known as the Erymanthian boar. You must travel to the wilderness inland and to the north of here, where the vast marsh of Erymanthus is surrounded by the primitive villages of the Argonians, as well as thick woods and badlands. There you must hunt down and kill the beast. You should know that its tusks are like swords, and it is cunning – as intelligent as any human, and able to lay traps for you.”

  “How far away is it?” asked Canis. But the captain had already moved on, ignoring the question.

  “Group three,” he said, and then he paused, a leering grin upon his face. “A special one for you. You must travel up the coast to the marshlands of Lerna, and there defeat the ferocious Lernaean hydra. It is a foul, toxic beast, a snakelike monster with five ferocious heads.”

  Troy and Plato locked eyes for a moment, tense and concerned, and then both looked back at the captain.

  ”The beast also has poisonous breath and blood, they say, but I don’t know that for sure,” continued Captain Theseus. “Some say its scent alone is deadly. I suppose you will find out soon enough. They also say that it is impossible to kill.” He shrugged, and then grinned again. “Good luck, I suppose. Perhaps I will see some of you back here, though probably not. Which will make my life a lot easier.”

  With that, the captain turned on his heel and walked away.

  WORLD EVENT UPDATE: Know your enemy. You gain 5xp!

  As the other groups hurried off, the members of the third group looked at each other.

  “Well, we have a mission,” said Glaucus nervously.

  “I can’t work with this thief,” muttered Troy.

  Ajax stepped towards him, snarling. �
�Thief? We don’t steal. We have a code. You are the one who decided to hog all of the gear, keeping things that you should have shared with Canis.”

  “It was my gear,” said Troy, stepping towards the taller boy, his voice shaking in anger. “Of course you’re thieves – you literally stole my knife.” He pointed at the weapon. “Give it back, and then we can talk about the mission.”

  “Yeah, well,” – Ajax pointed to Glaucus – ”he didn’t have a weapon, and you had two – I know you’ve got a club tucked away somewhere. So it was only fair. I took the dagger, and gave him my axe.”

  Glaucus patted a long-handled axe which now dangled from his belt.

  “But you’ve got a sword, too,” snarled Troy, pointing.

  “Only because I swapped it for the bow that I got yesterday. He’s got a bow, too.” At this, Ajax pointed at Plato’s chest; Troy’s friend was still bearing the bow from the previous day.

  “Look,” said Plato, holding up his hands for quiet, “we all need to be better at working together. We’re stronger that way. Infighting is stupid as hell. Everyone wants good gear, but we can’t keep fighting each other for it.”

  “Sure we can,” said Ajax, sneering once again. “This is a competition, and we’re going to win. Me and my crew.”