The Curse of Hurlig Ridge_World Tree Online_1st Dive

by M. A. Carlson

  I rejoined my friends, more subdued, but I did my best to enjoy the celebrations with them, even flirting with Trish. She was so hot. Or was that the booze talking?

  The party was still going when I made it back to my room, thoroughly drunk, though not blackout drunk this time. I knew I should sleep, but I wasn’t ready to sleep, not with all the noise still going outside and in my head. So, I sat at my small desk, in my small rented room, and started writing, putting the day’s events down on paper, letting out all my frustrations and fears. I ended up purging everything that had built up, when I was done and had completely unburdened myself, the first light of day was creeping in my window, I fell soundly asleep and did not wake until well past noon bell.

  ***

  It may have become predictable by this point, but that cursed bird seemed to know exactly when to wake me. It was well past noon and that evil rooster was loudly announcing it was time for me to rise.

  “Four hours of sleep, you wretched bird, let me sleep,” I complained, only for there to be a knock on the door.

  “Come get some lunch, you will feel better,” called Dogson through the door.

  “You’re saved this time bird,” I said, glaring through my window at the rooster, who uncaringly stood on the window box outside.

  Lunch was quiet, it appeared I wasn’t the only one waking from all the revelry, nor was I the only one severely hungover and tired.

  “Morning! So, what’s the plan today?” asked Olaf cheerfully in greeting, I didn’t even hear the ogre approach. He then sat heavily on the couch across from me.

  “Hungover,” I groused, hoping he took the hint to quiet down.

  “Yeah, shush,” said Micaela, collapsing onto the couch next to Olaf, laying her head on the man’s shoulder. It was clear she was a fair bit more hungover than even I was.

  “Don’t you shush me, you boozer,” countered Olaf, louder than was necessary.

  I chuckled then cringed in pain. Why did laughing have to hurt?

  “That’ll teach you,” laughed Olaf.

  “Why aren’t you hungover?” I asked.

  “I still haven’t gone to sleep. I might still be drunk actually,” he answered, scratching his chin in thought.

  “I hate you,” I grumbled. Finally, Dogson arrived setting a pint before me along with a greasy breakfast plater laden with greasy food, despite it being lunchtime. Either way, the eggs, toast, potatoes, bacon, ham, and sausage were greatly appreciated, as was the pint which was quite successful in washing away the grogginess from a lack of sleep and a mighty hangover.

  “Now then, what is the plan for today?” asked Olaf.

  “Before you get off on some adventure, the mayor has asked to see all three of you,” interrupted Dogson, collecting the empty plates and mugs.

  “I guess that’s the plan,” I answered. I didn’t feel up to whatever quest the mayor might want us for, but it would rude not to at least meet with him.

  “Ugh,” Micaela whined. “No quests today . . . too sleepy.”

  I agreed wholeheartedly but there was no point in fighting against it right now. “Might as well see what he wants.”

  At least the weather was nice today. I stopped for a minute outside the inn to simply stand in the bright afternoon sunlight and soak up the lifegiving rays. Also, this sun didn’t threaten to give me skin cancer which was an added bonus.

  “Afternoon Bye-bye, Olaf, and Micaela,” greeted the mayor, the man still had a beer in hand. He was sitting rather happily at one of the tables that had been set up for the previous evening’s celebration.

  “Mr. Mayor,” I returned the greeting.

  “Hey Homer,” said Micaela while Olaf simply nodded a greeting to the man.

  The man stared at all three of us in silence, a good minute passed that way before he spoke. When he did speak, the words were simple but had humility and impact, ones I don’t think I’ll ever forget. “Thank you.”

  I instantly felt embarrassed, more so with the system notification that popped up.

  Hidden Quest – Successfully repel a raid on a small village - Completed

  Reward: +2000-Experience, +5-gold, Title: Local Hero

  “You all have earned every bit of that reward. We cannot begin to thank you enough,” he said, his head bowed in gratitude, his beer set aside.

  “I only did what was right,” I replied, knowing there was no use in refusing a quest reward, as they were immutable. I could only be grateful.

  “We were happy to help,” said Micaela, perking up ever so slightly. I couldn’t help but notice she was wiping away a few tears. I also couldn’t help but notice that both she and Olaf were now level 4.

  I took a quick look at my own level and found I was close to leveling up myself.

  Level:

  4

  Experience:

  81.25%

  “Anyway, I thought I should also let you know most of the town will be closed today. Far too much revelry last night. I think even David and Trini had fun. So, I suggest all three of you have a rest day. I’m sure everything will be back to normal tomorrow.”

  That was fine by me, at least mostly okay. “Any chance I could grab a couple books?”

  “Sure,” he said, tossing me a key, then one to Micaela and Olaf each. “That’s your copy, the townhall is open to you three any time. Consider this your ‘Key to the City’ ceremony.”

  “Thank you,” I said emphatically, and I meant it too. This was a big deal to me, to be able to access both the job-board and skill books any time I wanted to. It was a major boon to me and my friends.

  “Anyway, I suppose I should get home. I imagine Margie is fairly upset with me by now, being out all night as if I was a young man again. You three get some rest and be ready to get back to work tomorrow.” With that said, the mayor stood and almost fell over, catching himself on the table. “I am fine, just a stumble,” he said, righting himself and beginning a very drunken stumble home.

  “Have you looked at the title yet?” asked Olaf, grinning.

  “No, why? Isn’t it just a title?” I asked.

  “Nope, take a look, you too babe,” Olaf prodded us.

  I opened my character menu but didn’t see anything.

  “It’s under your class menu,” said Olaf.

  I don’t know if he was telling me or Micaela, but I was glad for the information.

  I opened my class menu and there was indeed a ‘Title:’ now but it was blank until I focused on it. It presented a drop-down menu, but there was only the one option, so I selected it.

  Title: Local Hero (Reduces cost of all goods and services in Hurligville by 20%. Effective Charisma tripled with Citizens of Hurligville)

  Class: Novice Warrior Priest of Issara

  I whistled loudly in appreciation. That was a lot of Charisma. It was also a big discount on goods.

  “Nice,” said Micaela, life finally returning to her.

  “I like this title, I should be able to go see Giggle-Ana today and get my Engineer profession, but seeing as the town is closed up, it will just have to wait until tomorrow,” said Olaf, thinking out loud.

  “Wait, we can only have one title?” asked Micaela.

  “Only one active one,” Olaf replied. “Besides, we’re always turning off the ‘Miner Rank II’ title, unless we’re working. I imagine this will be much the same.”

  “Hey, does mining have any evolutions?” I asked. I had never done much research into the major gathering professions. Any kind of gathering profession to me was grinding and I hated grinding.

  “No, Mining and Smelting, Skinning and Tanning and Herbalism and Mortaring, they all get subskills and Titles as you level up,” answered Olaf.

  “So, what does the title ‘Miner II’ do?” I asked.

  “Miner Rank II’ reduces the stamina cost of mining by 10% and increases yields by 10%,” answered Micaela.

  “I bet that’s helpful,” I appreciated the knowledge. The gathering professions in the World Tree were
much the same as any other fantasy-based role-playing games, but much more advanced. As I mentioned, I hadn’t done much research in the gathering professions, but the little I had read, said they were much more involved and considerably more difficult than in other similar games. “Anyway, I need to grab a couple books, so I can evolve my own professions, then I’m all in for a lazy day.”

  “That sounds fantastic to me. I keep forgetting to get that mining book too,” said Micaela, drawing both me and Olaf’s attention.

  “What mining book?” Olaf and I asked at the same time.

  “I didn’t tell you?” Micaela asked. “I thought I told you both about Trini taking me around to build my totems.”

  “What does that have to do with a mining book?” I asked. “And aren’t you already a miner?”

  “It teaches mining subskills,” Micaela explained. “I could have sworn I told you both all about this. Oh well, let’s get it since we’re here today.” She then charged ahead of us determined to use her ‘Key to the City’ first.

  “I love my wife, I do, but sometimes, she can be so scatterbrained,” an exasperated Olaf grumbled good-naturedly.

  I could only chuckle at him, I was unfamiliar with that state of being. Honestly, part of me envied him.

  “Anyway, let’s go before she destroys all the books,” I said.

  Inside I went to the bookshelf looking for anything that may reference either Cartography or Runes. I found the cartography book pretty easily, ‘Legend’ary Maps’. It was an interesting play on ‘Legend’, you know, a map legend. The book I figured was for Runes was called ‘Ruins Runes’, another play on words but I was honestly amused by both book titles.

  The inn welcomed us as usual, as did the seating we’d pretty much claimed as ours at this point.

  ‘Legend’ary Maps’ it turned out to be fairly simple in its instructional capacity. Most of it focused on properly conveying distance and even perspective. Other than that, there was a small blurb on the map legend’s construction and the Cartographer guilds map requirements. This time I was greeted with a system message.

  New Professional Evolution Available, ‘Cartography’. Do you accept Yes/No?

  I accept, why would I hesitate when this was what I had been working towards.

  Cartography (Evolved from Drawing)

  Level: 10

  Experience: 0.00%

  Professional Skill: Cartography is the ability to read and draw maps of varying detail.

  Professional Skill: Drawing is the ability to communicate through drawn images.

  “Sweet, that’s Cartography learned,” I said to Olaf and Micaela, trying and failing to draw their attention away from their books. Then I frowned. I’d lost 4 levels to my ‘Drawing’ profession. Not just four levels, but it put me at exactly level 10 with zero experience. So, evolution did have a drawback. Wish I’d known that before, but there was nothing to do about it now. Then I realized I hadn’t heard anything from my compatriots, which drew my attention from my new Profession.

  Olaf was buried in the mining book, turning pages then going back and rereading a page or two then jumping forward only to go back again a minute later. He simply paid me no mind.

  Micaela was more scratching her head and looking confused. I tried to spy the name of the book she was reading but her large meaty paw pretty much covered the whole thing.

  “Mic, what are you reading?” I asked her. I should have taken an interest earlier.

  She frowned for a moment before closing the book. Then she closed her eye and took a few deep cleansing breaths.

  “Mic?” I called to her again.

  “Sorry Bye-bye,” Micaela said, opening her eye again. “I was trying to figure out this mana regeneration skill.”

  That got my interest.

  “It’s from the book I got my Shaman class from,” she continued, while I deflated a little in disappointment.

  “What’s it say?” I asked. I may as well see if I can help her.

  “Something about spirit tapping the veil and taking a sip. It’s very confusing,” Micaela whined.

  “Okay, what’s the veil?” I asked. If I was going to help I’d need some kind of background information.

  “The barrier between this world and the spirit world,” the ogre pixie answered.

  “Okay, and you can access this spirit world?” I asked.

  “Yes, but it’s usually all in or all out. I’m not sure what they mean by spirit tapping the veil,” she explained.

  “Okay, let me think for a minute.” So, she was trying to figure out how to tap into the spirit world to regain mana. But her ability put her all in or all out. So, either she was missing a spell or missing a key detail, probably the second.

  “May I see the book?” I asked.

  Micaela shrugged and handed it to me, opened to the page she’d been reading from. I studied the entry eventually going back a few pages to get more information.

  “Hmm, from the sound of this, I believe someone or something is supposed to do the spirit tapping for you. Something in this world and that world, at the same time, has to act at your command. Does that make any sense to you?” I asked.

  “Of course,” she said, “I need another totem, one that has the ability to draw mana from the spirit world.”

  “Cool, does that mean I helped?” I asked, amused by her acting as if I had just cracked the greatest mystery of all time.

  “Yep, but now I need to go hunting. Back in a while,” she said quickly, dropping a quick kiss on top of her husband’s bald head before rushing out of the inn.

  Olaf just kept reading his book, flipping pages back and forth.

  I could only shrug and open my next book, ‘Ruins Runes’. From page one I knew this was not going to be an easy read. Still, I was excited to get to work.

  Chapter 15

  “Morning,” I greeted Micaela, as I took a seat across from her in the sitting area of the Dog House Inn. That rabid rooster narrowly avoided being on the receiving end of a smiting, yet again. That said, I was much more rested after taking the previous day to rest.

  “Morning,” she replied with a frown.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked curiously. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Micaela not bubbly and happy or as I usually describe her, being an ogre pixie.

  “I couldn’t find a spirit for my new totem, or rather I couldn’t find the right spirit,” she complained.

  “What kind of spirit do you need?” I asked, I still wasn’t sure how her spirit and totem thing worked. She had a pair of axes that were both combat ready, which were also totems at the same time. It was weird given the history of gaming and the way in which shamans usually worked. Traditionally, a Shaman was a caster class. They had spells that were considered nature magic and they had totems that would give certain effects, but the number of totems was limited and usually pertained to a specific element. This system, from the little I had gleaned from Micaela, was more in line with the old hunter or ranger classes, where you would have to go out and tame a pet to work for you, and yet still wildly different from even that.

  “Yesterday, I went to go hunting, knowing I needed to find a spirit. But, since I didn’t know what kind of spirit I needed, I sat down and entered the spirit world to talk with Butch and Sundance about it. They said I should look for a bird spirit or maybe a fish. I went to the river, but I didn’t see any fish spirits and I couldn’t find any bird’s nests either,” Micaela explained, clearly frustrated.

  Okay, so she can talk to the spirits in her weapons? Is that what she was saying there? Weird but cool, truthfully this version of a shaman was sounding cooler the more I learned. “So, you need to find a spirit to inhabit a totem? Is that right?”

  “That’s what I just explained,” she stated. “But I had no luck.”

  “Well, Trini helped you last time. Maybe she’ll help you this time too?” I suggested.

  “I already paid her a visit this morning. She said, I would need to figure it out myse
lf this time,” she grumbled irritably.

  “I see,” I said, trying to placate her. “Have you asked Olaf for help?”

  “He wanted to spend today mining and getting his strength stat up since we hit level 4 he wants to get his stat cap as soon as possible. Plus, he farmed seven new subskills from that book, gaining the title ‘Miner Rank IV’. I didn’t want to bother him with this, he was so excited to have skipped right past rank III.” she explained.

  “Wow, congrats to him. So, from what you said yesterday, you were hoping to get another totem, one to help with mana restoration, right?” I asked, making sure I understood what she was looking for.

  “Yeah, exactly. I’ve been infusing mana into limestone ever since I learned the skill. It has been repeatedly draining my mana too. I’ve got a few infused stones now, all so I could make another totem or even a few more totems. My priority is to make one that can help with my lack of mana,” she explained further.

  “How do your spells work anyway? I’m just curious.”

  “Oh, I don’t have any spells . . . well, I have a few spells, but nothing for causing damage or healing people, or anything. I have my totems. They cast the spells that damage, heal, buff or debuff,” Micaela answered, sounding a little excited as she talked about her class.

  “And they need your mana for that?” I asked, assuming that to be the case.

  “Well, no, they can just do it. Their spells work on a GCD,” she said.

  A global cooldown (GCD) spell system? That was totally unfair. “So, does having more mana make them stronger?”

  “Not at all, they get their strength from my connection to the spirit world, which is governed by my Spirit stat,” she replied.

  “Spirit stat?” I asked. There was no spirit stat as far as I knew.

  “Oh, sorry. When you accept becoming a shaman, you lose the Wisdom stat and gain the Spirit stat instead. So normally, Intellect increases spell damage, spell crit and your mana pool, while Wisdom affects your mana regeneration,” She explained.