World Tree Online- the Endless Savanna- 3rd Dive

by M. A. Carlson

“Aren’t there any damage dealing effects?” Heath asked.

  Stone shrugged. “That is more sonic magic, spells and such. Bards are a support class, my friend.”

  Heath made a mental note to stop by the Mage’s Guild at some point and see if he could find any sonic spells as they seemed like something that would fit well with his skillset.

  “Now, you better go say good-bye to Kimm,” Stone said.

  “Who said this was good-bye?” Heath asked. “I’ll be back.” And just like that, Heath put away his guitar and left the ‘Jaeger Bard Bar’ behind him.

  Class Quest Alert: Jack of All 12 (Thief/Bard/Illusionist Only) – Completed!

  You have found a Bard School that suits you and your training has begun. Continue with your lessons daily until you have unlocked all your Subskill effects. (Requires active title ‘The Bard’)

  Reward: +50,000-Experience, Bard Training

  Another day and another quest completed.

  Class Quest Alert: Jack of All 13 (Thief/Bard/Illusionist Only)

  Your training as a Bard is complete. Return to Fence to receive the next part of your quest.

  Reward: Experience

  Do you accept this Quest?

  Yes

  No

  Heath accepted as he had no other choice.

  It didn’t take more than an hour to find Fence this time. Thanks to Mike’s kid, Heath knew exactly where to find the secret crime boss.

  “Heath Rickards, you have returned,” Fence said upon seeing Heath. “I hope you have actually finished what I sent you to do this time. You are out of favors with me after you asked me to take on that kid.”

  “Yeah, it’s done,” Heath said, sitting down across from him.

  Fence looked Heath up and down before eventually nodding. “Alright, good.”

  Class Quest Alert: Jack of All 13 (Thief/Bard/Illusionist Only) – Completed!

  Your training as a Bard is complete. Return to Fence to receive the next part of your quest.

  Reward: +100,000-Experience

  Heath thought that might have been the easiest quest ever for such a large reward.

  Congratulations! You’ve reach Level 24!

  +2-Charisma

  Heath was always happy for the levels, he’d gained 3 levels since he started this quest chain, including this one. Thankfully, he hasn’t had any problems training his Charisma and Stamina stat, in part due to his lessons with Stone and in part from playing with Stone and Kimm nightly in the ‘Jaeger Bard Bar’. And playing nightly at the ‘Jaeger Bard Bar’ also came with its own quests and experience.

  “Now comes the real test,” Fence continued. “I generally work with two types of Thieves. The first type, are the scum of the World Tree, the steal candy from a baby types, you know, like you used to be when you went by ‘Morte Afficitur’.”

  Heath didn’t appreciate the reminder of who he used to be. It even made him look around to make sure no one heard him called that. Heath had no doubt that more than a few people still held a grudge against ‘Morte Afficitur’.

  “The other kind are those like that ‘Sparrow Bandit’ I always here you adventurers talking about. The ‘Rob from the rich to give to the poor’ type, which if I am honest, it is kind of stupid, but whatever, I get paid either way,” Fence said. “The question is, which kind are you? I have got jobs for both types, I just need to know where to send you.”

  “Isn’t there something in between?” Heath asked. “I mean, I prefer to steal from . . . scumbags, but must I really give to the poor?”

  Fence laughed. “Good to see you have not gone completely goodie-goodie. Alright, I think I have a job for you. A rich nobleman’s son is throwing a party. The kid’s alright, he had not become a complete scumbag yet. But his father . . . that man is a real piece of work. He has got his hands in all kinds of dark and illicit deals,” Fence paused to take a sip of his drink. “I know the band the son hired, one of their people owes . . . a lot. You are going in with the band as a favor to me and reduction of the debt owed. I want you to find your way into the office. I want copies of any ledgers you can find, preferably the kind to list the darker deeds.”

  “Blackmail?” Heath asked.

  “Maybe a little. Mostly, this nobleman hurt my business. I can use that ledger to hurt him back, make sure he knows not to tread on Fence’s turf,” he answered.

  Heath badly wanted to make fun of Fence for referring to himself in the third person, but prudence warned him not to ‘tread on Fence’s turf’ so to speak.

  “Anyway, once you have the information, finish the job with the band and leave without being caught or suspected,” Fence finished, prompting the quest text.

  Class Quest Alert: Jack of All 14 (Thief/Bard/Illusionist Only)

  Time for your final test. Join with the band ‘Specter of Craft’ to infiltrate the Root City mansion belonging to the Baguette family. Once there, you are to infiltrate the Duke’s office and copy any ledgers or documents detailing dark dealings perpetrated by the Duke of Baguette. You are to escape without drawing notice and return to me. (Requires active title ‘The Bard’)

  Reward: Experience, Class Evolution: Jack of All

  Do you accept this Quest?

  Yes

  No

  “Alright, where do I meet this band?” Heath asked.

  Fence wrote something on a scrap of paper and handed it to Heath. “Be there at the time listed. Tell Jaeger this covers 10% of what’s owed.”

  “Jaeger?” Heath asked, feeling a pit form in his gut.

  “Yeah, Jaeger,” Fence confirmed.

  Heath wondered if it was just a coincidence. Jaeger was German for Hunter after all. The name was also popular in the World Tree due to its overuse in anime and pop culture. Then again, how many Jaeger’s could there be that were also Bards?

  “Anyway, I have customers waiting,” Fence said, giving a dismissive gesture with one hand.

  Heath wanted to question him further about this Jaeger person, but the look Heath was getting from the two nearby goons, goons that were both of a much higher level than Heath, made it clear there would be no more questions asked or answered.

  Outside of the seedy pub, Heath took a look at the paper. ‘Second Ring, North 2, Baguette Manor, Evening Bell’ was printed in a rough scrawl that matched with previous notes Heath had received from Fence.

  A quick look at the game time showed it was just 2:14 PM. “How am I going to kill almost four hours?” Heath questioned aloud. He knew of one way, but if he went back to the ‘Jaeger Bard Bar’ there was a chance he would see Kimm there. And if he saw her, then he might be forced to ask her. And if he asked her, then he would potentially be forced to tell her that he wasn’t actually a Bard. Despite sleeping together for almost a week, they hadn’t really talked about game things, just . . . real things. Things like Heath’s ex-wife and the nightmare she put Heath through . . . minus his lashing out period. And Kimm’s ex-husband, who she married way too young and how it didn’t last more than two years. They mostly talked about music and the greats of Rock and Roll history.

  And now that he was confronted with her finding out the truth about him, it made him feel . . . discomfort . . . or was it guilt? Either way, he didn’t like it. So, returning to the ‘Jaeger Bard Bar’ was out of the question. That left paying a visit to a Mage’s guild shop.

  It didn’t take long for Heath to reach the Fifth Ring. Fence seemed to always have the same Portal Mage nearby. Heath didn’t think he was exactly affiliated with Fence, but more of an opportunist. Either way, Heath paid the Mage for the portal and stepped through into the busiest part of town.

  The Mage’s Guild had their headquarters attached to the University. Or the University was attached to the Mage’s Guild? Either way, they were both in the same location. A location Heath didn’t want anything to do with. No, what Heath needed was a Mage’s Guild location that was known to service the Thieves Guild and organizations just like it.

  ‘Dark Arts’ was
one such shop. Officially part of the Mage’s Guild, ‘Dark Arts’ focused on dark magics, Necromancers, Warlocks, and the like, and where he would find a wider selection of spells. That didn’t mean the shop didn’t carry other spells, just not as wide of a selection and there was no guarantee they would have the spell or spells you wanted. But, when you didn’t want someone asking why a Bard was buying attack magic, this was the place to go.

  “Greetings, my good man,” Heath said cheerfully to the gothic looking Mage manning the register.

  The gothic looking Mage didn’t look up from the tome he was flipping through slowly. He just sighed then asked, “What do you want?”

  “I am in need of sound magic,” Heath answered.

  The gothic Mage finally looked up and sighed again. “We do not sell Bard magic. You need to go to a Bard School,” he said, sounding bored and unemotional.

  “I am looking for attack spells that use sound,” Heath clarified.

  “I think ‘Banshee’s Scream’ is the only spell we carry like that,” the attendant said.

  “Great, where can I find it?” Heath asked. It wasn’t exactly what he wanted but it was something. And it sounded like he wouldn’t need to take his hands off his guitar to cast it.

  The gothic Mage scoffed. “Check by the Monster skills, over there,” he said, pointing toward a corner of the shop.

  There were always drawbacks when dealing with a less than reputable shop. You couldn’t always be guaranteed quality service. And then there was the fact he’d been directed to the Monster skills section. In the World Tree, some Monsters had magic, often called ‘Blue Magic’. Blue magic was . . . different. When a Monster used their innate magic spells, they were naturally part of the Monster, so the effects were stronger. When a person tried to use that spell, the effects were greatly reduced, simply because they were not a Monster. So, ‘Banshee’s Scream’ was likely a spell taken from a Banshee by a ‘Blue Mage’, who later inscribed the spell onto a scroll or into a book.

  The point was, even if it was an attack spell, it was probably going to be weak at best.

  Eventually, Heath found the spell scroll in a completely disorganize pile of scrolls and books. ‘Monster Skill: Banshee’s Scream’. Heath sighed.

  Someone surprised Heath when they asked, “Blue Magic, eh?”

  Heath looked up to see a typical Mage . . . dressed in Bright Blue robes. His nameplate read .

  “Hopefully not, no offense,” Heath answered, assuming the Mage was a Blue Mage.

  “None taken,” Blue replied. “Blue magic isn’t for everyone. Takes a ton of work to make it viable. Learning something from a scroll as a Blue Mage is just bad form.”

  “Then what brings you here?” Heath asked.

  “Dropping off more scrolls,” Blue answered with a grin. “Just because I learned them the old fashioned way, doesn’t mean I’m unwilling to earn a little extra money on the side selling them to the Mage’s Guild.”

  Heath laughed. “Good on you, mate.”

  “So, now that I’ve told you why I’m here, what are you, a Bard, doing here?” Blue asked.

  “Fair enough. I’m looking for some kind of sound damage spell,” Heath answered. “This,” he said, holding up the scroll, “is what the guy at the desk recommended.”

  “I hate Bill,” Blue said. “Stupid gothic Mage. Whoever designed his character should be shot. What in the world made them think an emo store clerk was a good idea? Anyway, no, stay away from the Blue magic. You want ‘Sonic Chords’. It can be used to amplify any sound to cause damage, unlike ‘Banshee’s Scream’, which requires super strong vocal cords and will leave you with a ‘Mute’ debuff for 15-minutes after you use it. ‘Sonic Chords’ does a cone of sonic damage in the direction the sound travels.”

  “Great, where is it?” Heath asked.

  Blue looked around for a moment, uttering a quick, “Ah” before walking to another shelving unit with general elemental spells. “If they have it, they always put it with Wind based spells. It has nothing to do with wind but because you tend to breathe when making noise, they consider that Wind and . . . well, you get the idea. Now, the real question, do they carry the spell in their terrible collection of spells?”

  Heath joined Blue in the small elemental section of the shop. Like the pile of Monster skill scrolls, this section was completely disorganized. And yet, all the dark magic spells through the rest of the shop were superbly organized.

  “Ah ha, found it, oh, and it’s also the last one in the tome,” Blue said, holding the tome out for Heath.

  “Thanks, mate,” Heath said.

  “No problem,” Blue said. “Though you never explained why a Bard was looking for an attack spell.”

  “A Bard’s got to defend himself,” Heath answered cheekily.

  “Fine, fine, don’t tell me,” Blue said with a laugh.

  “It was nice meeting you, Blue,” Heath said, offering a hand to the Blue Mage.

  “Likewise,” Blue said, shaking Heath’s hand.

  “Anyway, I should get going,” Heath said, excusing himself.

  “Good luck, see you around,” Blue said in parting, moving back toward the Monster skill section.

  Heath purchased the spell from Bill, the gothic Mage and learned it, taking the last spell from the tome.

  You’ve learned the Sonic spell ‘Sonic Chords’

  Spell: Sonic Chords

  Rank: Lesser

  Level: 1

  Experience: 0.00%

  Description: Amplify sound to cause damage

  Spell Damage: -5-10-HP

  Spell Cast Speed: Instant

  Spell Damage Radius: 30⁰ Cone

  Range: 10-yards

  Spell Effect (Active): Amplify a sound in one direction to inflict 5-10 damage to everyone and everything in the affected area.

  Mana Cost: -50-MP

  Heath was a little disappointed by the damage it dealt but he couldn’t complain too much. Based on the description, it seemed like he would be able to apply the spell to any sound. Sound, like the kind that came from his guitar. He would definitely be experimenting with it later.

  With his shopping done, Heath found a Mage to portal him to the Second Ring, North 2. Once there, he got directions to the Baguette Manor. And once he found the manor, he began scouting the area. Checking for the Patrolmen and the routes they took. Casing the manor for entrances and exits. Even trying to find any secret entrances, but none of those were obvious.

  Eventually, Heath found a small diner and ate a very overpriced dinner, waiting until just before the Evening Bell to go meet the band he was to play with, ‘Specter of Craft’.

  Heath waited just across the street from the Manor, watching for a band to show up. Waiting to see if Kimm would be the one to show up. Finally, four people showed up, a Dwarven man, a Human woman, or possibly an Elf, an Orcish man, and the fourth, Heath recognized instantly. It was Kimm.

  When Heath first met Kimm, she mentioned how much it cost her to buy her club. How she spent every penny she had, both in game and in the real world. But now Heath knew that wasn’t enough. Kimm must have gone to a loan shark, one that ultimately worked for Fence. Or a debt that Fence had purchased to get leverage over Heath. Or maybe it was specifically for this job. Either way, he was going to need to face her now and hope it didn’t jeopardize the job. Especially after Heath had worked so hard and come so far to earn this class.

  Taking a deep breath, Heath started to cross the street.

  “Heath,” Kimm said, recognizing him immediately and quickly crossing the street to meet him, away from her band. A band Heath didn’t even know she was a part of. “Were you following me?”

  “I’m afraid not,” Heath replied. “Fence sent me.”

  Kimm flinched at the mention of Fence. “Oh no, he shouldn’t have dragged you into my problems. I’m so sorry. You don’t need to do whatever he asked you to do for me. It’s my problem, I’ll fix it.”

  “It doesn’
t work like that, not with Fence,” Heath said, knowing all too well exactly how Fence worked. “The good news is, this wipes out 10% of your debt. And all you need to do it play this gig with me.”

  “But . . . why you?” Kimm asked, looking extremely confused.

  Heath had a choice to make. He could lie, say he owed Fence as well. He could have said several things. Instead, the truth came out of his mouth before he could stop himself. “Because I’m a Thief.”

  “What do you mean? Your title says you’re a Bard,” Kimm said, shaking her head and not believing him. “And you’re way too good playing the guitar to be a Thief.”

  “I’m a special kind of Thief,” Heath answered, using the ‘False Title’ spell to change his title briefly to Thief then releasing it. “Now, I know I lied to you and Stone, and I’m really sorry about that. But there is more at stake here than you know.”

  “You lied to me,” Kimm said, getting caught on that detail.

  “Yes, I did,” Heath said. “I needed to learn to use my Bard skills and your club is my kind of place. It plays my style of music. All of that was real. Everything between us was real. The only lie was my class, which really doesn’t even matter.”

  “And did Fence send you to me? Is that how you found my club?” Kimm asked, heat creeping into her voice.

  “No,” Heath answered emphatically. “No, Elain Jones pointed me to your club. I don’t think Fence has any idea that you and I know each other. And it would probably be for the best if that continues to be the case, for both of us.”

  “So, what then? You’re here to rob the place we were sent to perform in?” Kimm asked.

  “Yes, well . . . sort of. Look, it doesn’t really matter to you. This is something I need to do,” Heath replied, “And your band, the Specter of Craft, was it? Never mind, it doesn’t matter what it’s called. The point is, your band is my cover to get inside and get back out again undetected. I know you have more questions, but we don’t really have time right now. Is this something you can handle?”