Eddie made sure to catch Tiana's gaze immediately after he announced that so he saw the nasty look she shot his way. He just grinned back at her.
Walking over to her he leaned over next to her ear and spoke softly.
“You shouldn't leave me to my own devices for days at a time. Who knows what trouble I might get into.”
~ ~ ~
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Aaron was grinning as he slipped on his full bodysuit to go into the game.
He did it, Aaron thought, he even got the King's Quest done too. This is one part of the game that I enjoy doing my part for. It's been months since someone else managed to complete a quest that required a dev to award them. And it's Eddie to boot, so I'll enjoy this.
Aaron logged into the game, checking Eddie's location before transporting to him, just to make sure he wasn't going to be transporting himself into an embarrassing situation. When he found Eddie in the common room of the inn, he groaned inwardly.
Alright, well, I can't really avoid this one and just show up later. I'm already pushing the time limit in which the award should be given, so let's just do it. Nothing says I have to appear in a flashy manner though.
Aaron loaded a few pieces of equipment that he'd found to be common to the Meadowlands and equipped them, then he transported himself to out back of the inn and walked around the front before entering by the door, just like any other adventurer.
Eddie was sitting at his normal table along with the rest of his party. Aaron walked over and waited for Eddie to look up. When he did, Aaron slipped his index finger in front of his mouth, then shook his head.
Eddie blinked, then gestured towards a chair.
“Have a seat,” he said.
Aaron slipped the chair out and sat down.
“So, what's up?” Eddie asked, looking a touch nervous. “No problems, are there?”
“Not on your end,” Aaron said, “but I might have one if I don't take care of something. You've got a quest reward outstanding, right?”
“Oh yeah,” Eddie said. “I'd almost completely forgotten about that with everything else going on. There was one that was to be awarded later right?”
Aaron nodded.
“And that one is delayed for two reasons. One, I or someone else of my rank needs to be there to award it and two, you need to make a choice.”
“Hell, there's been lots of ones where I have to make a choice,” Eddie said, “so reason two is kind of shaky, but if you need to be here for it, then...”
“Yeah, well, check your messages, you should have one that details out your choices. You get to ask me questions about them though, so you don't go into this one blind.”
“Well that's a change, and a relief,” Eddie said.
Jern was staring at Aaron, and Tiana was the first one to catch it.
“Um, Aaron, why can Jern see you now?” she asked.
“Remember I told you it was garbage that they'd coded it so the NPCs couldn't see devs, that I thought it was someone's idea of a joke? One of the changes we made a while back, you know when the skill acquisition process changed? One of those allowed the NPCs to see us, although as you can see they still aren't quite sure what to make of us.”
“Untrue,” Jern said. “At least in my case, I know just what to make of you. I'd just prefer not to offend you since you casually sat down and started talking with a king and no-one took any offense. Besides, I'm sure that I have encountered you before, I'm just trying to remember when and where.”
“Jern, remember when you said I was nuts for talking to thin air back in the farmhouse?” Eddie said. “This is who I was talking to then, so you kind of met him before, just weren't introduced.”
“That could be it,” Jern said. “But he seems familiar in some other fashion as well.”
Eddie shrugged. He wasn't going to try to explain to an NPC how the players could appear to be different people sometimes, not even if the NPC was Jern. Besides, most players would have to scrap their original character to appear as a new one, Aaron was an exception to that rule since he had both a player character and a developer character, and Eddie really wasn't going to try to explain that.
“So, a message with the options? Let's see,” Eddie said.
~ ~ ~
Eddie opened his messages and skimmed the pertinent one.
“Wait, so I can get any of these buildings? For free?” he asked.
Aaron nodded.
“Now you know why I have to be here for this award,” he said.
Eddie nodded, staring at the message.
'Eddie Hunter:
You have qualified for a high tier quest award. A developer will be by to award this prize to you. You may select from the following:
Crafting School
Fighting Coliseum
Wizard's Tower
You may ask questions of the developer to determine your choice.'
There was no closing signature or anything to the message, but Eddie hadn't even noticed, his mind was whirling.
“Wait, so I can get a school, or a coliseum, or a tower? So, like school, fighting entertainment, or mystic development?” he asked.
“Yes and no. They're all schools of a sort. The Crafting School will make it easier to learn specific skills, as well as increase chances to skill checks when working in the workrooms it provides. The Fighting Coliseum teaches different weapon skills and allows for more rapid progress in them when fighting in the coliseum. I know you've got the ring, but that's only good to a skill level of ten, the Coliseum allows for development of weapon skills up to twenty in training. Finally, the Wizard's Tower is also a school, it makes it easier to learn spells, quicker to research spells, and allows for higher chances of success for enchanting and alchemy when performed in its workshops.”
“That makes the Crafting School sound a little under powered, you know?” Eddie said.
Aaron grinned.
“Not as much as you might think. The workrooms in the Crafting School provide the equipment to practice any non-magical, non-combat skill. So a smith would find a forge, bellows, hammer, anvil and all that already provided if he were to use one. On the other hand, the Fighting Coliseum provides all the different types of weapons to practice with, although you can't take them out of the Coliseum. Plus, the Tower provides the basic equipment for enchanting or alchemy, although you need to provide all the materials it requires,” Aaron replied.
Eddie groaned, drawing the attention of the group.
“What is it now?” Karl asked.
Eddie spelled out the decision he had to make.
“Wait, so you've got to choose one of these things?” Allie asked. “Better you than me, I know what I'd pick, but it might not be best for the kingdom, which is what I'm sure you're thinking about.”
Eddie nodded.
“Well, there's that, and there's also a good chance that one of these buildings might manage to finish the only quest I've still got outstanding.”
“Redux?” Tiana asked.
“Yeah, that one,” Eddie said.
He turned to Aaron.
“Aaron, is the Wizard's Tower considered a magical building?”
“Yeah, they all are if you couldn't tell from the descriptions.”
“Great, that takes away one method of choosing, but at least I know I'll complete the Developmental Issues Redux quest with any of them. Let's look at the benefits for each of these.”
He started ticking his options off on his fingers, raising his index finger first.
“One, the Crafting School would definitely give us the option for more exports. Pieces from master craftsman done in there could be really exceptional, plus we'd know we had all the skills we needed for the kingdom.”
He raised his middle finger alongside the index finger.
“Two, the Coliseum would allow us to have a really exceptional fighting force, or even an army if I ever put one together. It might draw in some more adventurers to the area as well, but it won't prov
ide anything tangible for export. It could make some money if we charge to use it though.”
He raised his ring finger alongside the other two.
“Three, the Wizard's Tower could easily draw in more adventurers if there are many out there that do magical research. You know, I suppose we could train some NPC casters there also, just like we would with the Coliseum and weapons skills. If we train some in alchemy they could make potions for export also, if we train some in offensive and defensive spell casting, then we'd be able to add magical units to the guards and any army I might make.”
He shook his head.
“I'm leaning towards the Wizard's Tower,” he said after a minute or two. “I really want the Crafter's School, but I don't think that would be the best option.”
He sighed.
“Damn it, isn't anyone else going to say anything?” Eddie asked.
“I think your logic is impeccable,” Dominic offered.
Allie nodded.
“Really, as much as I'd love the Coliseum, I think you're right and the Wizard's Tower offers the most flexibility for everything you'd want,” she said.
“Can I ask Aaron a question?” Tiana said.
Eddie nodded.
“Aaron, you said it's easier to learn spells and research spells in the Wizard's Tower. Is that just Wizard spells?” she said.
Aaron shook his head.
“Caster's Tower might've been a better name, but Wizard's Tower is more traditional so that's what they went with for it.”
“Hold on, so Priests and Priestesses can potentially get more powerful with that also?” Eddie asked.
“Yup,” Aaron replied.
“Okay guys, I think Wizard Tower is what I'm going with. Last chance for anyone to convince me that one of the others is better,” Eddie said.
Allie was shaking her head sadly, but no-one said anything.
“Alright Aaron, Wizard's Tower it is,” Eddie said.
“Where do you want it?” Aaron asked.
Eddie stopped cold. Despite his recent tour of the area, he just couldn't visualize where the tower should go.
“Um, can we go to the castle? I want to take a look from the top of one of the towers and see where I think it would go best.”
Aaron chuckled.
“Sure, I wanted to see that in person anyhow, so let's go.”
The entire group came along with them as they walked to the castle. Eddie was surprised that none of the other adventurers had said or done anything with Aaron there, then he realized that that was exactly why Aaron had worn the poor quality armor that he had. No-one had given them a second look and they hadn't been loud enough to draw anyone's attention.
As of yet, the castle wasn't very populated. Audun was there, along with a few younger NPCs who he was training to do various jobs in the castle. There were no guards at the gate yet, although there would be eventually, so they just walked right in and went up one of the towers.
Eddie looked out, scanning the area to determine where the Tower would go.
“How tall is it?” he asked, “and how big a footprint will it need?”
“About fifty feet, and it's a circle with a one hundred and fifty foot diameter,” Aaron said.
“We'll want to have open land around it for a bit too,” Eddie said, “just in case.”
Aaron chuckled.
“That might be a good choice with spell research going on.”
“So...”
Eddie trailed off as he noticed a golden glow on the far side of the tower they were standing on. It coalesced into the familiar figure of Freyja.
Aaron followed Eddie's gaze when he trailed off and a grin came to his face.
“Hi, Freyja,” Aaron said.
Freyja just smiled at him.
“Let's put that to the west of the north road and to the north of the west road,” Eddie said. “Well out in the meadows there so we can leave some space around it before we get to the residential area.”
“You got it, this is going to take a few though. They went fancy with the construction scene,” Aaron said.
He gestured once, and a large circle started glowing out where Eddie had specified.
“There?” Aaron asked.
“A little more north and west, please.”
Aaron gestured again, the circle moved, and this time Eddie nodded. With another gesture a swirling cloud filled the glowing circle.
“So, how are you guys doing?” Aaron said, looking out of the corner of his eye at Freyja, who'd moved over to Tiana and was chatting with her.
“As in, me and Karl? We haven't had any problems. Get some good readings on adventuring recently? I figure the raid was pretty intense and you should've gotten some good data there,” Eddie replied.
“Yeah, it was. As a matter of fact, I know it'll be harder for you guys to find a decent adventuring area now, and we've gotten good data already, so we're lowering the requirements to once a month for the adventuring. That'll give you a chance to find more challenging areas, and maybe one of you will...”
Aaron trailed off.
“Never mind,” he said.
Then he jumped. Freyja had moved over silently and taken his arm, taken it possessively even. Eddie's eyes bugged out as he watched it, since it looked exactly like a woman proud of their new boyfriend trying to announce their relationship to the world.
She leaned in towards Aaron's ear and said something softly. Eddie didn't hear all of it, but he caught a few of her words.
“...Vanessa... uploaded first day's data... happy to have discovered...”
If Eddie's eyes weren't already bugging out, they would've now as Aaron turned a deep purple with embarrassment.
Maybe I can give him an out? Eddie said. He looks awfully uncomfortable.
When Freyja was finished speaking, Eddie spoke up.
“Um, Aaron, you were saying? One of us will...”
Aaron was still distracted, looking at Freyja while trying hard not to look like he was looking at her.
“Oh yeah, maybe one of you will finally die so we can get the readings on a respawn,” he said.
Then he realized what he'd said and, if anything, turned an even darker shade of purple.
“Wait guys, I didn't mean that, I mean, we need the readings, but I'm not suggesting that you go and...”
He trailed off again, and collapsed into a sitting position on the roof of the tower.
“And this is why I always used to try to avoid people,” Aaron said.
Karl walked over to Aaron.
“Really? You've been waiting for one of us to die so you can get readings on respawns?” he said.
Aaron nodded his head.
“Why didn't you say something,” Karl replied. “I got this.”
His armor and weapons disappeared, deposited in his inventory. Then he walked over to the edge of the tower and looked out.
“Karl, what are you doing?” Allie said.
“My job. Besides, I always wondered what base jumping was like. Maybe not without a parachute, but still.”
“Karl, don't you dare,” Allie said.
Eddie just stared.
“Um, Karl? What are you doing?” he asked.
“Eh, I'll be back in an hour or so,” Karl said, “besides, this way I get to be the first for something new.”
He stepped up onto the top of one of the crenelations and stared out.
“Karl, I'm telling you, don't do this,” Allie said.
“Hey, it's for a good cause,” Karl said, then hurled himself out and away from the tower.
There were a couple of seconds of screaming before it cut off with a dull thump. A moment later, muffled cursing came up from the ground. Eddie just stared, his mouth hanging open. He rushed over to the edge of the tower and looked down to find Karl standing up and dusting himself off, cursing up a storm.
Eddie couldn't help it, he started laughing.
“What's so funny?” Allie snarled.
Eddie just po
inted towards the ground and Allie came over to look.
“Oh that idiot, he couldn't even get that right,” she said.
She was fighting back a chuckle herself and as everyone else came over and watched Karl stomp back into the tower, Eddie wasn't the only one laughing.
He'd managed to restrain his laughter, as had everyone else, by the time Karl made it back to the top of the tower. The scout had a scowl on his face.
“I'm not dead yet. I heard you all laughing at me.”
“Aye, lad,” Jern said. “It was a noble effort, but an unsuccessful one.”
The dwarf managed to only let out a single snort of laughter at the end of his sentence.
“Fine,” Karl said. “I suppose it's my own fault for putting so many points into heartiness. I only lost about seventy percent of my health.”
“So, one more jump will do it then, right?” Eddie said.
Karl glared at him.
“Or you could do it instead of me,” he said.
“I thought you wanted to be first again,” Eddie said. “I wouldn't want to steal that away from you.”
Karl walked over to the wall and looked out where he'd jumped. Then he turned back to face Eddie.
“Yeah, no. I'm hurting a bit much for that,” he said.
Allie had regained control of her expression, but now she looked at him and cocked her head.
“But, you said it was for a good cause,” she said, taking a step towards him. “If it hurts too much I can always do that thing where I squeeze you really hard to take your mind off of it.”
She stepped towards him, one arm extended at crotch level, palm up, her fingers spreading and coming together into a fist, over and over.
“No, really, that won't be necessary,” Karl said, scrambling backwards until he'd moved up the firing step and against the wall.
“But you wanted to do it so much that you ignored me, again,” Allie said, advancing up the steps and reaching for his groin with an open hand, fingers spread wide.
Karl's eyes went wide as he tried to back up again, forgetting that he was already on the steps that were adjacent to the wall and that the wall wasn't very high here so archers could fire over it.
Eddie could barely see Allie's face from the angle he was at, but when the wide, toothy grin showed up as she took another step towards Karl, Eddie totally understood Karl's desire to take another step back. Unfortunately for him, there was nothing there but air. His heel brushed the top of the wall and he tried to stop, but gravity had already taken him and he slipped over the wall, screaming as he fell.
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