by Rick Scott
“I’m exhausted,” Gilly says with yawn.
I chuckle. “You always did log off way before I did every night.”
“That’s true.” She pauses for a moment. “I still can’t believe we’re even here really. Alive and kicking in the real world. I just ate real food as my game character. How crazy is that?”
“Totally crazy.”
Gilly yawns again and then gives me a kiss on the cheek. “I’m just happy I’m here with you. Night, Reece.”
I curl my arm around her and return the kiss on her forehead as she snuggles into my side. “Night, Gilly.”
Before I know it she’s snoring softly and after a few more minutes, I am as well.
* * *
I’m having a strange dream, where my mother is cheering for me as I tank a giant golem when I’m yanked out of my sleep by a soft creak of wood.
Your Awareness increases by 0.3.
Skill Up! Your awareness is now 38!
What the heck?
Loud snoring assaults my senses next and I recognize it instantly as my brother’s. Gilly is still snoring bedside me as well. I lift my head and can see Rembrandt asleep in the opposite corner of the common hall. Soft moonlight spills into the room as the main door opens with another creak. Through the gap in the door, I can make out Val Helena’s large silhouette as she slips outside.
Val?
She could be just going to the bathroom or something. Wilbur did show us where the outhouses were, adjacent to the common hall. But a small part of me worries that maybe she might be trying to leave on her own again. It wouldn’t make sense, of course. But I stay awake anyway, waiting for her to return.
A good ten minutes go by and I start to get worried again.
After a minute more, I start untangling myself from Gilly’s sleeping form and then sneak across the common hall to check for Val Helena. I open the door slow enough not to creak and then slip outside into the night.
The full moon is high in the night sky overhead and the village is illuminated by its soft glow, even casting shadows as if it were midday. I begin to head toward the main square and then hear a voice behind me.
“Up here.”
I turn to see Val Helena sitting on the rooftop of the common hall, with her knees pulled to her chest. With legs as big and long as hers, it’s a sight that looks cute and comical at the same time.
“How you get up there?” I say.
“I’m kind of tall, so I used a barrel to make a step stool,” she says. “You might have to climb though. But as a ninja that shouldn’t be too much of an issue.”
I chuckle and sprint at the wall, and then run up it vertically with my wall climb ability.
I plop down next to her and she laughs. “Or that.”
“Sorry for disturbing you,” I say. “I got worried when I didn’t see you.”
“That’s okay. The view is nice up here, so it’s worth sharing with someone.”
I gaze out at the river along with Val Helena, watching as it flows lazily by the village. Just past it is the forest, which then stretches into rolling green hills that reach a vast mountain range beyond. The sight is majestic and made even more so by the eerie glow of moonlight from above.
“I missed this place,” Val Helena says. “The Shards are a close copy, but actually living out here is a different story.”
I nod, but then something doesn’t quite make sense. “I thought you said you were dreading coming back here.”
“For what I have to do, yes,” she says. “But not the actual place itself…You may find this hard to believe but, I actually spent close to ten years of my life living here.”
I nearly fall of the roof. “What!?”
She merely chuckles.
“You were stuck on the surface for ten years?”
“Not stuck,” she says. “I chose to stay.” And then she pauses a moment. “We all did at first.”
“All did? Who are you talking about?”
She glances down at me, her goddess features catching in the moonlight. “You ever heard of a guild called the Silver Rangers?”
Of course I’d heard of them. The Silver Rangers were the first guild in Nasgar to ever defeat a World Boss, as far as recent history anyway. “You were one of the Silver Rangers?”
“I was their leader,” she says. “Aiko was my right hand and her sister, Rebecca was my best friend.”
“Holy crap.” This is blowing my mind. “So how old are you then?”
“Hey, I told you about asking that question already.” She pokes me in the ribs. “But let’s just say I was probably a few years older than you when I first came here. It was all wild and new back then. Scary too. We didn’t know what we were doing.”
“But how did you survive here that long?”
“Same as we’re doing now. We got to a safe zone, found a town, laid down roots. A lot of us eventually went back. They had families and stuff. But us three, we didn’t have anyone. Only each other.”
“What do you mean?”
“Aiko, Becky and I grew up in an orphanage in the hub. Compared to what we had to go back to, this place was a dream.”
I can still barely fathom it, but as I stare out at that moonlight I can understand the appeal of wanting to stay. Especially if you had someone to share it with and no one to go back home to. Yet still, it’s mind blowing all the same. “So you were in stasis for ten years?”
“Still am,” Val Helena says. “I never left, even when I went back to the Shards, I was kind of scared to log out again. I don’t think I really want to see what I look like in real life anymore. This is me now.”
I stare at her perplexed. To think she actually made the game into her true self.
“I suppose I owe you that story now.”
“Huh?”
“About what happened between me and Aiko,” she says. “Fitting for bed time, I guess. Plus you’ve heard half of it already.”
“Well I’m all ears to hear the rest,” I say.
Val Helena smiles and then looks back out at the river. “We grew up together like I said, formed the guild together, came here together. Looking back, I think Aiko was always jealous of Becky and I’s friendship. We were never the three musketeers, you know? It was always Val and Becky, with her little sister Aiko tagging along. I think she really resented that.”
“Is that why you guys sort of hate each other now?”
She shakes her head. “No. Although Aiko is a hard person to like generally, a lot of the animosity now stems from what happened when we left. And why I needed to get back here.”
“You mean Rebecca getting stuck in the labyrinth?”
She nods and I see her swallow a lump in her throat. “It was all my doing right from the start. Aiko was starting to get tired of this place and, although she never said it to me, I think Rebecca was as well. I didn’t want to go though. Even though the people all around me were AIs, I always saw them as real people. Still do. But I don’t know if it was the same for Aiko. I think it just became another thing for her to resent. And perhaps direct at me.
“Anyway, I was always the one trying to find new and challenging things for us to do. That’s when I suggested we try to explore the labyrinth. From the beginning Aiko was against it. But I knew Becky would be up for the challenge. So it gave us more to do, more reason to stay. Aiko was the tank, I was the damage and Becky the healer. Perfect trio. We did a bunch of quests and stuff to prepare for it, better gear and items.”
“Is that how Aiko got Shadow Copy?”
“No she had it long before that. She bought it, remember? Back in the Shards. That’s how we beat the world boss the first time. When we went up against the Shadow King it was just us three, plus a few natives we knew. It was awful. Much harder than a world boss. Your brother wasn’t exaggerating too much when he said ten times. The natives all died. And Aiko came close to dying a bunch of times herself. I think it was that fight that really broke her.”
Val Helena pauses a
nd I can see tears in her eyes as the stares out at the river.
“When we got through it, she wanted to leave. And not just the labyrinth, I think she wanted to leave and go back home period. She refused to enter the labyrinth, but like a bonehead, I pushed Becky and I forward. Just to take a look anyway. But I knew something was wrong as soon as we went inside. I can’t describe it, but it was like…like something else was crawling around inside my head.”
“Something else?”
“Again, I can’t describe it, but… Anyway, we didn’t get too far before Becky and I got separated. She fell down to a floor below us and I couldn’t figure out had to get to her. So I ran back to the entrance to get Aiko to help. That’s when everything went wrong.”
“What happened?”
She shakes her head. “It all very confusing, but time must somehow run differently in there. We were only inside for about an hour, but when I came out, a day had passed and the Shadow King had respawned. When I found Aiko she was furious, especially when I told her that Becky wasn’t with me. I tried to get her to beat the Shadow King again so we could get to her, but she just wouldn’t do it. Or perhaps couldn’t. But she blamed me for everything and maybe that was excuse enough for her to run back to the Shards when the next world boss was defeated in Citadel.”
“But I don’t really remember anyone beating Vulnar since you guys. Besides us I guess.”
“Doesn’t have to be in Nasgar. Could be any of the shards.”
I nod. “So you came back too?”
“Yes,” she says. “I couldn’t raise the help I needed to get back into the labyrinth. Not here. The natives lack the abilities we do. Sort of just like NPCs, I suppose. I knew going back and finding real people to fight the Shadow King was the only way. And so that’s what I did. I went back and switched to Paladin so I could tank and take the risk. But then I met you...” Her massive shoulders then heave in a sudden sob. “…and I hope you can forgive me for dragging you here and asking you to do this thing for me, Reece. My God, I’m so sorry. I’m sorry to ask you to bear this burden with me.”
“Val…” I rest my hand on her back as she sobs again.
“I know I had no right, but you were my best hope. Still are. It’s why I hate Aiko so much now too,” she says and then her tone becomes bitter. “She should be the one doing this, not you. But ever since she got back to the Shards, it’s like she’s forgotten all about this place. All about her sister. Starting that live stream and playing like the last ten years never happened. It’s like she’s a different person. In a way, I think…and heaven forgive me if I’m wrong, but… it just seems like she almost takes glee in it. Like it’s her way of finally getting back at us, for our friendship that she resented all our lives.”
I don’t really know what to say, so I just listen to her.
“I know it’s a terrible thing to think,” she says. “But it’s almost like I need to. It keeps me from blaming just myself. I thought that when she helped us with the world boss that maybe she had come around, but then she left the chamber so quick, I just knew she went back to the game again. Like the damn coward she is. Or has become, anyway.”
“I never actually saw what she pressed,” I admit. “But she wasn’t with us so I guess you’re right.”
Val Helena shrugs. “I never rightly saw either, to be honest. But I know her well enough. She’s terrified of this place now and takes glee in my anguishing over it.”
“Why was she even trying to fight the world boss then? And Maxis even? If she didn’t want to come back here why was she trying? Was she truly just doing it for the money?”
Val Helena shrugs. “Maybe, who knows? Since she returned to the game, she’s been living high on the hog in the reality shards. Or maybe it’s just all the attention she loves. But mostly I think she was just doing it to mock me. Or block me even. She had zero interest in fighting Vulnar until she found out I was going to. It’s like she wanted to keep me from retuning, to erase completely what happened here. To her I think Becky is already dead. They never had the best relationship, but they’re still sisters. I just can’t understand why she’s acting this way. It like she’s happy Becky’s gone.”
“Geez Val… I don’t know what to say. That’s terrible.” I then look up at her. “But you can count on me. I’m not going to let you down. We’re going to beat the Shadow King and we’re going to save your friend. We’re going to save Becky.”
Val Helena sniffles and crushes me in a hug. “I don’t deserve a friend like you. Thank you, Reece.”
She kisses me on my forehead and ruffles my hair. “Now you better go on back to bed, before your girlfriend catches us up here and gets the wrong idea.”
I laugh. “Same for my brother?”
I wink back at her and I think I actually make her blush as she laughs with me.
“I’ll see you in the morning,” she says. “We got a long road ahead of us.”
Chapter 6: Redirection
We get up early the next morning and after a breakfast of fresh fruit and nuts we each go off to explore the village and map out a plan for the day. Gilly and Val Helena decide to explore the village itself and talk with the villagers while Maxis and Rembrandt go on another scouting mission in the general area.
I decide to go meet with Wilbur in the village center and get some town administration done before I find a place for Gilly and I to go level for the day. After my late-night chat with Val Helena, ideas have been itching in my brain about what improvements could be made to the village and what we can do to help.
The morning sun is still weak, since we got up quite early thanks to the roosters crowing outside the common hall. The towns’ people are already busy at work though. Farmers are tending the fields and others are at work mending the homes that were damaged last night.
I bring them up on my HUD.
Actions in Progress.
Repair house
Labor: 25 units Wood: 15 units
Percent Complete: 58%
Quest available: Assist with repair.
+100 EXP +10 Favor
3 more actions in queue.
#2 Repair House
#3 Repair House
#4 Repair House
+10 favor? I recall seeing that before when we cleared the three quests to claim the town. I look it up and see there are levels of favor you can gain within a town that give bonuses.
Favor Level 1 +5% discount on goods and services +10% exp boost in area of influence
Favor Level 2 +10% discount on goods and services +20% exp boost in area of influence
Favor Level 3 +25% discount on goods and services +30% exp boost in area of influence
Favor Level 4 +35% discount on goods and services +40% exp boost in area of influence
Favor Level 5 +50% discount on goods and services +50% exp boost in area of influence
Your Favor Level for Brookrun Village is Level 1 [50/100 Favor to next level]
Nice! Only 50 more favor points to reach level two? That 20% XP boost would come in real handy to help us level. I also notice there are negative levels for if you gain hate. A good thing to avoid, I suppose.
I wave to Wilbur when I see him. He’s sat on a small wooden bench in the middle of the village center, smoking a pipe as he oversees the work being carried out on the cabin repairs. He smiles when he sees me and offers me a seat next to him.
“Sleep well?” he asks.
I nod, even though my back is aching something fierce from the hard-wooden floor. I’ll never complain about my crappy mattress back home ever again. “I see the repairs are going quite well. How can I lend a hand?”
“You can probably help by hauling materials from the wood stores,” he says.
New Quest Available: Cabin Repairs
Carry building materials from the wood stores to the affected homes.
Reward: +100 XP +10 Favor
“Sure thing,” I say.
You have accepted the Quest Cabin Repairs.
&nb
sp; “I’ll get to that in just a moment,” I tell Wilbur. “But what else can we help with, on a larger scale?”
“How do you mean?” Wilbur says.
“In order to grow the town. What things do you need?”
While Wilbur pauses to think I have a peek at my HUD again. There are dozens of options available for construction.
HouseBankShop Blacksmith Windmill
Barracks FieldFisheryBarnSilo
SawmillTanneryPenWallStockade
MarketInnTavernStillWinery
BreweryForgeSewerAqueductTown Hall
Some of the options are grayed out, meaning they need certain prerequisites met first before they can be constructed, and others expand into further trees with specializations. But just the sight of all the options has my mind ticking with ideas of how this small village could one day turn into something bigger, like my starting town of Timberdale back in the Shards perhaps or maybe even something as big as Swifttide.
I wonder how big the town Val Helena built eventually got. After ten years, it must be something massive. Or maybe it would take ten years to just grow from a village to the size of a town. This was the real world after all. Things might not happen as quickly here as in the Shards.
“Our safety is my greatest concern at the moment,” Wilbur says finally. “If you hadn’t come along last night, we would have been wiped out by the goblins. A wall to protect us would be a great advantage.”
I pick the wall and then specify defensive/perimeter to check it out.
Wooden Perimeter Wall: +50% security +10% morale -10% Trade
Labor 1000 Wood 1000
