“Sorry.” I put away the letter and hustled inside.
This felt oddly like a bathroom stall. There was a line of orbs. They were strangely out of place with everything else in Continue Online. Each orb was on a smooth pedestal and there was an alcove behind it.
Everyone else was walking up to them and placing their hands on the orb. One person crowded out through the doorway behind me and another came in immediately. Xin had written it—when in Rome, do as the Romans.
Putting my hands on the orb made the orb come to life. Deep inside the core, a spark lit up. Light scanned over my body and lingered on the eyes, obliterating my vision. I blinked rapidly and tried to shake it off.
User: Hermes
Rank 9 [Blade Dancer], Rank 6 [Dancer], Rank 9 [Actor]…
Inside the alcove was a list that went on and on. It outlined all the same stuff that was in my character profile, and it had a few other giant glowing buttons. I twisted my face and tried to figure out what was so special about a [Porter].
“First time?” the man next to me asked.
I glanced over and saw a man who had to be nearly fifty. He was seriously wearing what amounted to silk pajamas. The man had one hand halfway down the backside of his pants, scratching.
I ignored the possible innuendo and answered, “Yes.”
“Some of us whittle down our interfaces and never look at anything outside of the Porters.” The man grumbled and switched which hand was on the orb and which was down his pants scratching.
“Why?” I asked absently. Above my character information was a menu of sorts. One option said Social and another read Mail.
“There’s a theory that you get higher gains that way.” Based on his continued grumbles, he seemed dissatisfied with the scratching.
While he was chatting, I focused on the menu options. A small keyboard popped up in front of me.
“Any actual proof?” I asked. His idea seemed interesting. Beth had said something a while ago about one of her friends using a scroll to read everything. There, that was clearly a box for adding someone to a friend’s list.
“Not an ounce, but it’s fun to go all natural in the game. It’s a change of pace from the real world, you know?” he said.
“I can see how it might be.” I scanned the list of names resulting from my search for Beth. There was a whole wall of results with basic information and titles. One of them was a Rank Sixteen All-Star mage. That had to be my niece.
“Yeah. All that technology out there, and we’re drowning in it. Anyway, I’m done. Enjoy the game.” The man next to me shrugged and walked off while holding his pants with one hand.
“Bye.” I waved with one hand and finished typing out my message. Hopefully this text would make sense. After a moment of hesitation, I pressed the final button.
Friend Invitation Sent to Player: Thorny
Message Text: Guess who finally found a Porter? I’ve been completely lost for days. I’m in some town called [Tyr’s Thumb]. I hope I did this right.
– Uncle Grant
Okay. One task was complete. Now I had to figure out how to get my glitch reward. There had been another menu option for Mail. That would be my next stop.
The old man next to me was traded out for a girl with a rainbow-colored Mohawk. She was far less talkative. At her belt was a series of small axes. I guessed there really was a play style for everyone.
I shook my head and focused on the floating menu in its alcove. After a few moments of scattered concentration, I managed to get the mail pop-up to respond. If this room had been more private, then perhaps I would have been done sooner.
Mail Received!
Would you like to open (2) letters?
“Well, yeah,” I muttered. Of course I wanted to open these letters and see what was in them! Receiving two was already more than expected. The first one opened with a bit of fireworks and a sound of coins rattling.
Reward received for Project: Casino
Received: 394 Gold, 43 Silver, 10 Copper
I whistled slowly. It had been around two months in-game and someone had already figured out how to set up a casino? Not to mention they seemed to be rolling in cash. I vaguely remembered that my percentage of any earnings was amazingly minimal. Yet here it was, entirely too much gold.
The accountant in me had run the numbers a long time ago as one of the tasks that kept me entertained while functioning as William Carver. One gold coin roughly equaled ordering an exquisite lobster dinner for two plus gratuity and wine. Doing the math, it was like someone had handed me nearly five thousand dollars.
My eyebrows kept going up as the realization hit me. If there was a way to convert gold to real money, that two months of game time would be a little bit more than a heavy month of work on the outside world. All that because I had just said some words to a Voice. This wasn’t even from hunting high-Rank items or farming specific spots.
“Neat.”
Finally, I shook it off and went for letter number two. The Mohawk girl stood there poking at the air. On the other side was a mountainous man who had to be half fat and half muscle. He was chewing on some toothpick that looked more like a nail.
Reward Received: Glitch found and reported
Right, as if I had found it myself. This reward should have gone to Shazam for kicking me into it. Still, I wanted to know what was going to happen. The pop-up box tied to this latest message shimmered for a moment. There had been other text on there about a sizable stat increase. Now it read completely differently.
Received: [Howard’s Phylactery]
Ring durability: Frail (Repairable)
Details: Howard was a famous Wizard who sought to overcome his own weakness. He found a way to bleed away his life small bits at a time and store the energy for a rainy day.
The Traveler may choose to sacrifice part of his health once per day.
Upon reaching zero health, the ring will replenish the health based on prior stored totals
This amount cannot exceed 100% of the Traveler’s health
Can only be used if actively equipped, does not function from inventory
Can only restore health once per month
I jerked my head to one side in confusion. Was this a ring that acted like a second chance at life? What had that shimmering been all about when the message was abruptly replaced? Were the Voices behind this somehow? It wouldn’t be the first time they’d interfered in my player actions. But why give me a ring like this? Were they worried that I was too frail?
A long time must have passed because someone at the door coughed, and I jerked out of my reflection abruptly. They weren’t looking at me or commenting on anything, but it was a reminder that this place had a huge line. There was nothing else in here for me right now anyway.
It was hard not to stumble out of the door. The gold had been enough to confuse the heck out of me. Getting a ring like that as part of my reward was another layer of crazy. It was also extremely neat.
“Shazam?” I searched the crowd for my silent guardian.
Dusk yawned in my ear before carefully digging a claw into my shoulder. It wasn’t enough to hurt me, but it was certainly attention-getting.
“What’s up, Dusk?”
The small dragon flew off. I stumbled through the crowd after my darkly scaled pal. For the first time since the [Messenger’s Pet] had started following me, Dusk actually landed on someone else’s shoulder. He was sitting with Shazam and staring at a wall of boards.
Shazam was wearing a dress. The [Messenger’s Pet] kept looking at his feet as he moved around. Dusk was clearly trying to be careful about damaging Shazam’s clothing. Most of her shoulders were uncovered save for two dark blue straps. From this angle, it was clear that most of her back was uncovered.
I tilted my head while trying to reconcile the woman in a dress with the one wearing armor. There was a noticeably different aura between the two images. She looked amazingly regal and appeared to glow. My head shook slowly.
Charm Resisted!
You have resisted an area effect charm skill. Ability to blink properly restored.
What? She had some skill that triggered a charm just because I stared too long? The dress alone couldn’t account for that. Shazam had no expression but still managed to have a friendly pose. Her hands were moving expressively at another man who wore a giant feathered cap.
His hands rapidly moved back. It looked like a far better version of the pantomime that Shazam and I engaged in. Clearly I needed to step up my game. Anything that would help me communicate with her. Learning baby signs for the words fish or black wasn’t very helpful in a real conversation.
I stood nearby and stared at the wall of pictures and their descriptions. My hand reached for one of the postings and a system message displayed.
“Oh. Neat,” I muttered.
A series of pop-up boxes told me that it was possible to refine my search. It was strange to see a virtual sort of auction house interface overlaying the old-fashioned notice boards. Maybe they could only go so far in maintaining realism in a video game. Or maybe all these options could be trimmed down like the older man at the [Porter] had said.
I looked around a bit. Indeed, some of the players were pulling down the actual notices, then pinning them back up. Others were standing nearby, poking their fingers at the air. It seemed that each shopper could choose a different level of immersion.
There were walls of items, but I pressed a few buttons and trimmed it down. Finally, a wall of only gambling related items displayed in front of me. I figured there would be something in here of use. It was that or stare at player-crafted chest pieces for hours.
“A deck of cards?” I eyed one category that was a bit more interesting. They actually looked like the perfect type of item for a traveling player. “These prices are all over the board.”
Dusk chirped from Shazam’s shoulder. I gave her a wave, and she returned the greeting with a thumbs-up.
“I’m looking at decks of cards.” I felt as if I was repeating myself, but Shazam had just arrived. “So we have something to pass the time with. Maybe you can teach my autopilot to be a card shark.”
“You know this man?” The man in a feathered hat sounded clear but soft.
I turned away from my wall of gambling items to inspect this newcomer. He was a bit shorter than me, which meant Shazam towered over him.
“She’s been helping me on some quests,” I stated for us.
Shazam gave her thumbs-up, then signed a wall of words to the man in the feathered hat.
“Arnold Sizeler.” The man put out a large hand. He was small but had giant palms.
“Hermes.” I shook. A year in face-to-face customer service had made some reactions automatic.
“Hermes? Interesting,” he said while signing at Shazam.
It felt extremely weird for them to have a conversation that was clearly about me, but I couldn’t hear it.
“You’ve been traveling together for nearly a month now?” Arnold raised an eyebrow at Shazam. She gave a thumbs-up, which made him look at me and smile.
“That sounds right.” I waved at the bulletin board. It was unlikely that he could see everything on my interface. “I was just trying to find something to keep us busy.”
“In the gambling items?” Arnold Sizeler looked at the board.
Shazam turned as well and poked at the various pieces of paper. She must use the manual interface style.
“I’m not really good at sewing or painting. A deck of cards is small and easy to use,” I said. None of the trade skills sounded fun. Anything that deviated from traveling seemed counterproductive as [Messenger of the Voices]. Digging up ores, chopping trees, or picking plants also sounded boring. Those players who cared enough to engage in gathering were brave.
“Are you good at card games?” Arnold asked.
“I like to think so. My entire dorm back in college played almost every night,” I said while reminiscing. Most of us had tried to outsmart each other in various versions of poker. It was an accountant pastime and killed a few hours between mind-numbing homework assignments.
“Oh really?” He signed a lot. I raised an eyebrow, then went back to my auction board perusal. “Shazam, Mistress of Games, says there’s no way you could ever beat her in any card game of your choice.”
“We’ll see.” I did have a huge minus to all gambling skills, so she probably would win. Oh well, it was better than staring at the grass. “Is that sign language?”
“Yes.” Arnold Sizeler moved his hands toward the much taller woman. He smiled and laughed happily. “She also says you’ve been traveling with her for weeks and are still a terrible communicator.”
“I’ve been distracted,” I said.
“A quest?” Arnold asked. He and Shazam exchanged a few more words with their sign language.
“Oh yeah.” My lips pursed to one side. “I always have some weird quest.”
“Anything to do with your similar titles?” he asked. Shazam waved rapidly, which made the feathered man chuckle. “Oh? It does?”
She firmly thumbed-down.
“Fine, fine. I’ll ask nothing more about that.” He put both arms up in a gesture of backing off.
Shazam stared blankly before the exchange of signs went back and forth again.
“I’ll leave you two alone. I have many more deals to get in place before I can call it a night.” He bowed to Shazam and turned toward me.
I waved good-bye.
Arnold tapped a finger on his lips, then pointed at me. “Oh, before I go, a question.”
“Sure.” I shrugged.
Dusk leapt over to my shoulder and dug in with his claws. The poor little guy must have been stressed sitting on Shazam’s shoulder without hurting her.
“How long do you plan to travel with Shazam?”
“Until she gets tired of me, I guess.” I didn’t know a lot of people in-game. The idea of hanging out with the hand-wringing Miss Yonks or Jacob and his asinine commentary was not attractive. My niece hadn’t responded to the message yet, not that I knew what would happen once she did.
“No plans of your own?” he asked.
“There’s some war thing coming up that I’m looking into,” I said. Thinking about my friend invite at the [Porter] brought to mind her guild event.
“Oh? You must mean the succession war for Telliari’s throne,” Arnold said.
[Telliari] was a large kingdom covering the land south of [Haven Valley]. It might be neat to wind my way back around to see how things were in William Carver’s old town.
“I haven’t got all the details yet,” I said. This other quest with Requiem had distracted me. That wasn’t even mentioning Xin’s existence.
“Well, both sides are hiring a number of mercenaries. It’s what I’m actually here trading for. Wars aren’t cheap to fund.” Arnold smiled happily.
“War rarely is.”
“At least it’s all digital. Most of the fighters will be Travelers, so hopefully the general population of Arcadia will remain unharmed.” He tipped his hat back a bit and looked at us.
I thought about Mylia and her orphanage. Maud and her gaggle of children passed through my mind. This town was full of war fortifications. While I personally hadn’t run into it, the conflict had likely torn entire kingdoms apart in this game world. Finally, the only choice left was to shrug.
“Well, it’s a week away. If you hurry, then you should be able to pick a side and gather some benefit. I’ve thrown in with Princess Cathryn myself.” Arnold raised an eyebrow.
“I don’t have a side yet.” I shook my head. Arnold and my niece both said this would be a huge event. The idea of war against an army of players was a bit off-putting. Requiem Mass was only excusable because it was a quest to help Xin.
“How about you, my lady?” Arnold asked.
Their hands waved back and forth.
“Still refusing to fight other players?” he asked out loud for my benefit. “That’s understanda
ble. Player wars are one of the reasons I stay here and manage money. It’s quieter.”
They signed a bit more while I made a few small purchases. A new shirt, pants, some low-Rank items that would help me stay clean out there in the world. Shazam carried a lot of gear, but I couldn’t rely on her forever. It was hard to balance my backpack’s weight load against the [Light Body] skill, but these shouldn’t push it too high.
“Hermes, I wish you luck. Shazam, lovely as always.” Arnold wrapped up his conversation and gave us a bow.
Shazam returned his farewell by waving.
He walked off, and I stared at Shazam. “Terrible communicator, huh?”
She gave a thumbs-up, and I hung my head briefly and tried not to laugh. The dress hung about her shoulders while clinging to her curves as she moved. I looked away before the game made me resist another charm effect.
“Well, thanks for putting up with me. I’m sure it can’t have been easy.” My hands went back to the auction house display and poked at a few more items. “Any suggestions on a good deck of cards?”
Shazam turned to stare at the wall. Her arms hung to either side while she scanned various bulletins. Finally, the woman grabbed a few notices down from the wall. A nearby Traveler protested as her hand dragged over something that he was looking at. She just glared at him, and the other player blinked a few times before shrugging.
I tried not to chuckle and focused on the items she had brought up for my attention. They were all different decks of cards. The cheapest one was a deck of cards similar to the one I had seen way back in the room of trials.
“So you don’t use the interface for auctions?” I asked.
How she had managed to pluck out deck fliers from the wall was beyond me. There were ten or twenty thousand items hanging around. Not to mention the people behind me yelling about their wares.
Shazam gave me a thumbs-down, then poked at two of the sheets.
“Between these two, huh?” I said.
Both were expensive. Not that money was an issue at this point. We’d spent most of the last few weeks hunting for food or working off of whatever supply Shazam had gathered. My Hermes character was mostly in her care while I dealt with Requiem Mass.
Continue Online The Complete Series Page 68
