by Adam Drake
But, again, I'd may have to focus on Archery and Swords later for higher level weapons.
I had about a hundred minor skills, ones you accumulated during your characters natural adventuring but didn't need. These were mostly all sitting at level 1 or 2. I only cared about the ones which favored my class.
The ones that helped me kill better.
For my Abilities, I stuck with the main two I used the most.
Shadow (8/10) - 2 Minute Duration
Allows the player to cloak for a limited period of time. Cloaking is enhanced if in natural shadows or if the player is standing still. Use is immediately broken if engaged in combat. Timer refills when not moving. Next point grants a duration of 2 minutes and 15 seconds.
I'd decided earlier that I was gonna max out this ability. I wanted more time to stay cloaked. Maxing the ability with 2 points raised the Shadow's duration to 2 minutes of 45 seconds.
I felt elated. This was as close to full invisibility that the game granted players, and now I had it.
For my last point, I'd learned not to neglect my Sure Shot any longer.
Sure Shot (6/10) - +20 Accuracy, -45% Enemy Block
Level 5 Archery Required.
This ability grants a bow user to greatly enhance their chance to strike a specific area of a target. Next point gives +25 Accuracy, -50% Enemy Block.
I put my last point into it and did it with a smile.
Character maintenance finished I set about walking to Fenway Port with Phlixx skipping along by my side.
My mind returned to the quest at hand and the last thing Ogden had said to me.
“I will send you a mage,” Ogden had insisted. “One who will come in useful. He's worked for me before and can be counted on in a tough spot.”
Sure, I thought. Ogden wanted his own person in the group as a spy and proxy. Fine with me. I didn't know any high level mages anyway, and from what Ogden said this mage was extremely powerful.
Which left me to recruit other players for the remaining two spots in the four-person group. Preferably muscle. We would no doubt need it.
I sent Mudhoof a chat request as I followed the path to a stone bridge which crossed over a chuckling stream. A flock of birds flew over head and the sun shone brightly. Yeah, I stayed too long in volcano-land. No more dark and gloomy for a while.
My request was accepted. A large view screen appeared before me with the massive head of a bull on it. The bull wheezed and grunted as he appeared to by doing something physically strenuous. “Hey, Vee!” Said Mudhoof.
“Hey Muddie,” I said.
Mudhoof glanced into the camera for a moment but his focus shifted elsewhere. “Been too busy to talk with your old friend, huh?”
“Kind of,” I said. “Sorry about that. Got sidetracked on a quest and was sucked in until I finished.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean,” the minotaur said. The view screen was zoomed in too close to his head for me to make out his location or who he fought. “I'm a completion geek as well.” He grunted again, and this time the severed head of what looked to be a kobold passed over his shoulder to vanish out of view.
“You're completing a quest now, I see,” I said with a knowing smile. Sometimes it's tough to shake the need to reach the end of a quest, a feeling I was all too familiar with.
“Yup,” he said. It looked like he was hacking away with his mighty ax at an off-screen horde of kobolds. “Thorm is here with me. We're farming for... Well, I forget, but it's fun doing it, anyway.” Another severed head spun over his shoulder to ricochet off a tree.
“If you guys are busy, I'll look for someone else to group with,” I said as a tease. Mudhoof was a Minotaur Warrior currently armed with a double bladed uber ax. Thorm, a Holy Knight, had top notch healing and shielding abilities. A perfect pair to complement myself and the mage.
“Why, whatcha got?”
“A Legendary Quest.”
The minotaur stopped hacking and turned to look at me through his view screen. “A what?!”
“Look out!” Came a shout from off to his side. It sounded like Thorm. Mudhoof blinked in surprise as if remembering he was in the middle of a battle and resumed slashing again.
I waited in anticipation as he and Thorm cleared their immediate area which didn't take long.
Finished with his grizzly job, Mudhoof looked to me. “Okay, we're in,” he said.
Surprised, I said, “Don't you want the details? We'll split everything equally. But it will be dangerous. Maybe even have to reroll your character.”
Mudhoof shrugged. “That doesn't bother me at all. I'll just power-level using auction house loot. Done it before. Besides, I don't do this for the gold, I do it for the glory!” It was no secret Mudhoof had wealth in real life. So much so that dying and losing a high level character only meant an investment of cash. He used real money to buy large amounts of in-game gold then 'twinked' his new character with the best gear, upgrading as his level rapidly increased.
“Count me in, too” shouted Thorm from off camera.
I laughed. “Okay, I'll send you the quest location and we'll met there.”
“A Legendary Quest,” Mudhoof said, shaking his head in amazement. “You get all the luck, Vee, you know that?”
“Luck has nothing to do with it, Muddie. I'm all skill!” I said and closed the chat screen.
It was a relief to know I had a solid group backing me on what could be the single most important quest of my gaming life. I'd been on many quests with Mudhoof and Thorm and they were both upstanding players. But as for Ogden's mage, named Feign, I had no idea. Looking him up on the gargantuan player search engine came up blank. Not unusual as many people paid a fee to keep their character details hidden. This prevented enemies from seeing what their current level was and what previous quests completed . For the mage I'd learn more about him soon enough.
I sauntered into Fenway Port with a bounce in my step. As I passed other players I wondered how many of them had been on a Legendary Quest, let alone heard of one? It took a lot of self control to keep myself from shouting my good news from the rooftops.
Fenway Port bustled with players and characters transiting to other locations. From here there were dozens of places the sky-barges traveled to, unlike the single location travel gates. Many goods were also transported through the port which made this place a focal point for thieves and criminals. Before entering I placed Phlixx on snoop mode, keeping his eyes peeled for trouble.
I caught the eye of a basic item vendor, one controlled by the game, and wandered over to his stall. Since I was going on a quest, I'd need healing supplies.
“Do you require anything?” The vendor asked. He looked half-human half-elven, but I couldn't be sure. He wore a simple grey robe with the insignia of one of the AI Mercantile guilds across a shoulder.
“How much for a Health Booster?”
“1 Gold piece, sir. Such an item is a must-have for a stalwart adventurer like yourself.”
He didn't need to sell me on it, I needed it.
“And your salves?”
“Healing salves are 50 Silver pieces each. No great conquerer would think of leaving the safe confines of this town without a stack of them in his pack!”
Frowning at his unnecessary spiel I glanced in my money purse.
Money Purse:
0 Gold, 55 Silver, 85 Copper pieces.
Shoot. It may as well only contain lint. I'd need to access my character's account via a local bank, but why bother when I could have a little fun with the vendor?
Phlixx noticed my chagrin and whispered all-too-loudly in my ear, “We are destitute, my love!”
The vendor arched an eyebrow and his demeanor morphed to one of mild disgust. “If you wish to purchase anything from me, I will require hard coin.”
Killing the vendor would not help my situation, no matter how much I wanted to. Instead, I fished out the two half shells of the golden egg and presented them. “How much for these?”
The vendor took them and inspected them with a sneer. “Why would I even want these?”
Because you're an AI vendor and you guys buy everything, I thought. “They're made of gold.”
The vendor scratched at one shell and checked his fingernail for flakes. “Hmm. So it is. Alright, 50 silver each.”
“What? I couldn't possibly part with them for less than 2 gold. Each.”
The vendor looked properly indignant. “75 silver. Each.”
I shook my head in frustration. “1 Gold and 50 silver each.”
Then vendor handed the two halves back to me and crossed his arms. “I can't see us making a reasonable transaction here.”
I was about to retort when a made a show of noticing another item vendor a short distance down the street. “Maybe I'll make a reasonable transaction with him.”
But before I started to walk away the vendor raised his hands. “Fine. 1 Gold piece each, and not a thin copper more!”
I agreed and told him to simply give me a Health Booster and two Salves.
Trade Skill Increased! Level 2, 18%
Acquired Item: Potion - Health Booster (Medical)
Consuming this potion will temporarily double (+100%) the user's Hit Points for 30 seconds. Cannot be stacked. 2 hour cool down for all Medical items.
Acquired Item: Potion (x2) - Healing Salve (Medical)
Consuming this potion with regenerate all lost Hit Points up to maximum over 90 seconds. Can be stacked. 10 second potion cool down.
I put the items in my pack. It was far less than I wanted, but I was broke. Hopefully, the others would bring extra medical aids.
As I made my way down the little town's main street and turned off toward the first set of sky-barge docks Phlixx, who perched on my shoulder, whispered in my ear. “Got a tail, my sweet.”
I frowned. Why would I have a tail? A pickpocket, perhaps? They were quite bold, even in broad daylight. But then I had another thought.
“Are you sure?” I asked the ferret.
“His head nearly snapped off when he did a double take as you passed by. Moved fast to catch up. Pretty obvious, actually. And he's not hard to miss.”
“Why is that?”
“He's bright red.”
This was a little confusing. What if someone else was interested in the Legendary Quest scroll? Ogden wouldn't be the only one who paid the Locators Guild to inform them of new quests. If they knew I had the scroll, then it wouldn't take much to pin down my location. Although it would take insanely high magic to get my exact placement, someone might hedge their bets and put lookouts at the most likely nearby travel gates and ports.
I shook my head. Was I being paranoid?
“I'm going to make a quick turn. Keep watching him,” I said. As I passed the open entrance of a cluttered warehouse, I altered my course and went inside.
Quickly, I dashed behind a stack of wine barrels. Then, keeping Phlixx close, I activated my Shadow ability. My body, and Phlixx, shimmered then vanished. As long as I kept to the shadows I was effectively invisible.
A ninja entered the warehouse a moment later. Clothed from head to toe in ninja garb, twin swords sheathed on his back, he hurried by. Everything he wore, from his ninja mask which only showed his eyes, to his ninja shoes were a bright red.
For a second he seemed to glance in my direction looking straight at me. But he moved on as if in a hurry to catch up with someone.
Me.
After a count to ten I dropped my Shadow and stepped out of hiding. I couldn't be sure the red ninja followed me for the Quest scroll, or I had simply been targeted for pickpocketing. But I didn't believe in coincidences.
I went back out into the street and approached the docks with their waiting sky-barges. This time I kept my eye open for the red ninja. The barge to Benton Fields was at the end with a half dozen players and crew milling about on deck.
Stacks of goods and crates lined the dock, and I slinked my way through them. I concentrated on getting to the sky-barge while Phlixx watched behind us.
“Last call for Benton Fields!” Bellowed the sky-barge captain. I crouched next to a pile of wooden crates a short distance away.
The captain boarded, and the ramp retracted. The barge lifted up.
“Clear?” I asked Phlixx.
“All clear, my love!”
I ran, Phlixx clinging to me. Bolting out from my hiding place I charged right at the ascending barge. When I hit the edge of the dock, I used my Leap ability and jumped. Although I didn't have a lot of points in Leap, it was enough for me to catch the barge railing with both hands. After pulling myself up and over to stand on the deck, I looked around. The other players gave me indifferent looks, but no one said anything. Just another crazy player risking a reroll because she couldn't wait for the next sky-barge.
“That was fun,” I said. But Phlixx gasped and pointed.
There, on the edge of the receding dock, too far to jump from now, stood the red ninja looking in my direction.
“Oh, crud,” I said. “I could have handled that better, Phlixx.”
“What? Why?” Asked Phlixx looking gravely concerned.
“Now he knows where we're going,” I said, feeling immensely stupid. “And we'll have his friends waiting for us at Benton Fields which is a PvP zone.”
And if they caught me they'd get the Quest scroll.
CHAPTER FIVE
I sat on the bow of the sky-barge, feeling forlorn.
Phlixx sensed my despondency and patted my shoulder. “Don't be sad, love of my life. It can't be all bad.”
Companions weren't the most perceptive of game constructs. I doubted Phlixx even fully understood why I was annoyed with myself. But it gave me someone to talk to.
“I'm not sad,” I said, watching a carpet of green forest pass below. “Grabbing this barge was a short sighted mistake. I should of taken a different one leading somewhere else, like Kratin's Crater or the Far Banks. Then made my way to the Quest site. Would have given whoever is trying to follow me another direction to go.”
“Can't we do that at Benton Fields?” Phlixx asked. The wind made little waves across his fur.
“Nope. The Quest site is on the way there. Would take too long to circle back.” I shook my head, thinking I was taking this too seriously. My intent now was to jump off the sky-barge at its closest point to the Quest site. But once the sky-barge arrived at Benton Fields and I wasn't on it, whoever waited for me there would figure things out.
Still, maybe it wasn't so bad. I'd still have significant lead time to finish the Quest before anyone else got a chance. And the moment I officially activated the scroll everyone's gossip feeds will spill the news that a new Legendary Quest was available.
In essence, I had only one chance to complete it because soon there would be legions of players descending on it.
Phlixx tapped the hilt of my sheathed sword. “We are arriving at the place.” I had Phlixx tuned into the drop-off point so I wouldn't miss it. Letting your mind wander while floating for hours on a sky-barge was a gamer's hazard.
I stood and peered down. The sky-barge was approaching a range of high hills. They would shorten the distance I would have to fall.
“Going to have to put you away for a bit, little buddy,” I said to Phlixx.
The ferret looked aghast. “But why! I don't want to leave you now, oh, dearest one! It would break my heart.”
“Yeah, but a fall like this will kill you, and your death respawn time is too long. Unsummoning you drops that to a fraction of the time.” I offered my little companion a reassuring smile, but it didn't work.
Phlixx started crying, sitting on the railing and wailing into the wind. “No! Please! Don't do this!”
The hills were now passing by. I didn't have time for this. “I'll see you soon, I promise.”
Before he could respond I selected my companion icon and Phlixx blinked out of existence. I'd bring him back once I made to the Quest zone.
Gripping the side rigging,
I scampered down a rope. Trees swept by underneath at an alarming speed.
No point delaying this. It's now or never, I thought, and released the rope. At the same time I activated my Free-Fall ability.
Free-Fall (1/6) 10% Speed drop when falling.
This ability reduces the speed of the player falling and helps mitigate any damage taken upon landing. Next point grants 20% speed drop.
With only a single Ability point it wouldn't do much but it was better than nothing at all.
