A Slave in the Locked Lands

by Arthur Stone

  Danger Babe left the mobs alone and came back. Their tormentors hadn’t seemed to care much.

  “So, how did it go?”

  “Perfect. I’ve taken everything I needed.”

  “What are you gonna do with the wood?”

  “I have a few ideas.”

  “It’s time for me to get offline.”

  “I remember—you said so a while ago. Go already.”

  “I’ll be back tomorrow. In the morning. Please, don’t kick me out of the party. I cannot add you to my friends list, and no chats work here, but we can still talk to each other in the party chat. I’ll let you know as soon as I’m back online.”

  “Right on.”

  “All right, Ros. See you tomorrow.”

  “See you tomorrow, Danger Babe.”

  The girl grew still, and her eyes became expressionless. Ros got up and started his descent into the mine.

  Now he could disregard everybody else. Few would keep on working after nightfall, which wasn’t that far away.

  Still, he should get deeper in for more security.

  Not like it was the first time. In fact, getting far into the deepest of caves was his favorite activity.

  * * *

  “You kill the Black Moss Dweller. XP received: 8127. You gain a level. Points left until the next level: 344,736. Attention! You have found a creature that has not yet been added to the world bestiary! You receive a reward: +1 to Disguise. You can receive the reward for discovering a new creature at the Academy of Magic. Achievement completed: Monster Research Grandmaster. Achievement bonus: +1 to every secondary base stat, +150 HP and MP. Random auxiliary stats unlocked: Stonecutting and Stealth Master. Achievement unlocked: Monster Research Champion. Discover twenty monsters that have not yet been added to the world bestiary to complete the achievement. Achievement bonus: random.”

  Nice. He’d managed to restore his level, adding another point to his base stats, discover a new mob, and score an achievement. It also appeared as though the achievement didn’t merely account for creatures discovered by oneself, but also those discovered by the group.

  The trophies were nothing special, but Ros was happy about what he got. Or, rather, he was happy about one item in particular: a dented chestplate made of excellent steel. The quality was common, and it didn’t cost much. Even repairing it wouldn’t make much sense. And yet, it was exactly what he needed.

  Leaving the raised igamus to stand watch over his unresponsive body, Ros went to browse the forum. There was a reply from Digits that read as follows: “Buddy, I’ve already realized you must be in the thick of it. Tried getting in touch lots of times, no luck. Nothing to report—no one on the forum knows anything. But it sure looks like a sophisticated quest. It’s usually near-impossible to complete one of those—folks just abandon their bodies for a month. The most industrious ones try to work, but after losing experience for nought, they abandon their characters, too, eventually. The local mobs are level 150 and up. You can’t handle them without equipment, no matter how high your stats are. One of the workers managed to get ten lumps of ore, but what they gave him in return was some absolutely rotten sludge that not even a pig would eat. Now he’s telling everyone he’s going to delete his character, singe he can grind to his current level in about a month, and earn some money while he’s at it. He had no expensive equipment, so he won’t lose much. Of course, I wouldn’t recommend the same course of action in your case. But then, I have no idea what to recommend to you. It would be great if you could complete the quest somehow. It’s really complex, which means you’re likely to score a good reward. Anyway, think for yourself. I have no idea what’s going to work. I expect you to find your way out, and to come out smelling like roses. I believe in you and your luck. Hold on, amigo.”

  Ros replied: “Got enough ore for myself and a girl I met. They gave us two bowls of inedible, vomit-inducing slop. There’s no one in the mine so far. I’ve raised one of the local mobs, and keep mining for ore and hunting the local fauna. I hope they’ll pester me less tomorrow. I’ve managed to unlock Enchanting, so I’ll be doing some experimenting shortly. No time to get into the details in writing. See you around! Also, tell me what you’re up to—you never replied about that.”

  The igamus remained perched on the wall, obeying its master’s will and somehow finding purchase with its feet as it crouched. There weren’t that many mobs in these caves, so they wouldn’t find you too soon if you didn’t wander around or make too much noise. The risk was therefore minimal.

  It was time to get creative.

  Ros had unlocked the Blacksmithing skill a while back, using a whetstone he had bought for this very purpose to sharpen every trophy that had a blade. He’d earned Woodworking and Carpentry having spent many hours doing unnatural things to planks of wood. Having no access to any tools, he’d used Magical Transmogrification, always saying a kind word for the old jeweler who had taught him so many useful skills.

  Oddly enough, with all the worker skills Ros had managed to unlock, he’d never tried to create anything more complex than a metal bar.

  It was time to do something about that.

  Magical transmogrification experts were Second World’s Loch Ness monster—everyone had heard of them, but very few had seen them. It was a strange skill that allowed for the crafting of items without any instruments, using nothing but the creature’s will while also consuming mana, Vigor, and resources. The only thing one needed was a Transmogrification Cube—a special object with slots for the necessary ingredients. However, Ros had seen a forum user mention that you could do the same with a bag, provided it had enough space and the level was high enough. It would be harder to work that way, though, and many options would remain unavailable. The expenses would be higher, too.

  Ros had five bags left after his stuff had been taken away: four in his belt, and one on his shoulder. The mobs hadn’t touched them. Thus, he had a choice—they were all empty, except for the main one.

  One needed a blueprint of an item to craft it successfully. Ros had nothing of the sort, and he could only count on his luck, which had been rather erratic of late. He placed an empty bag in front of himself, then placed the dented chestplate inside, and transformed it into several steel bars. Then he added one of the pieces of wood that looked more or less decent. He stared at the slots containing the materials, and imagined how they could be combined to craft an item. The metal bent and assumed the necessary shape, and the wood became smoother, with shavings getting planed off without any tool.

  This was how transmogrification worked, judging by the description on the forum.

  “Attention! Do you want to craft a pickaxe? Yes/No.”

  Ros chose “Yes,” obviously enough.

  “Ingredient missing: hardwood wedge. Possible substitutes: bronze pin and bronze plug. Required ingredient: bronze bar.”

  Ros had no idea what could be wrong with the wood, so he grabbed his rusty pickaxe.

  You needed four lumps of copper ore and one piece of tin ore to make a single bronze bar. Both kinds of ore were abundant in the area, but Ros had to face off another cave igamus before he could mine enough. Apart from the usual loot, the mob dropped an enhanced ring for level 106 players.

  Ros crouched over the bag again, and repeated the attempt. His vision blurred and he felt dizzy for a moment, whereupon he suddenly felt completely exhausted. He glanced at his Vigor bar—it was virtually empty. He’d also used up half his mana.

  “You craft an item: Enhanced Steel Pickaxe of a Miner’s Apprentice. Attention! You have crafted your first item! All the ingredients used have been procured by you personally! You are a hero, and you will receive a hero’s reward. You get points to all the stats involved in the crafting process: +1 to Woodworking, +1 to Blacksmithing, +1 to Carpentry, +1 to Magical Transmogrification, +1 to Mining & Quarrying, +1 to Metal Expert, +1 to Molding, +1 to Metallurgy, +1 to Dowser, +1 to Cunning, +1 to Learner, +1 to Arcane Knowledge, +1 to Luck, +1 to Craftsman, +1 to Creati
on, +1 to Reason, +1 to Essence of Things, +1 to Intellect, +1 to Mental Power, +1 to Strength, +1 to Stamina, +1 to Agility, +1 to Accuracy, +1 to Attack. New auxiliary stat unlocked: Creator. Attention: your Cunning has reached 10. The chance of success when using unorthodox methods goes up by 25%. Atention! You haven’t been registered as a member of the Blacksmiths’ Guiild, so you cannot put a personal seal on your item.”

  Ros felt his jaw drop. The last time he got so many perks was when he became a hero for the first time. All of it because of a simple tool. His luck must have decided to wake up and give him as big a bonus as it could. There were 26 stats involved in the creation of the pickaxe, starting from ore production and ending with the actual crafting of the item. A perfect illustration of how everything depended on everything else within this game.

  So, what did he manage to create, anyway?

  “Enhanced Pickaxe of a Miner’s Apprentice, made of excellent steel, with a bronze pin. Tool and crushing weapon. Physical damage: 12-19. Tool bonus: 24-38 to damage to rock. Level required: 10. Weight: 2.94 kg. Durability: 210/210.”

  The pickaxe he had lost to the mobs was better in every respect, but even this one would suffice for Ros to get a lump of gold ore every few minutes. He wouldn’t even have to hurry.

  But he wasn’t about to stop there. It was time to enchant the item.

  Ros dumped the leftover materials out of the bag. Had he been in the possession of a Transmogrification Cube, he could have recycled at least some of them, but a bag was nothing like a cube.

  He placed the pickaxe in his bag, looked at it, and said:

  “Enchant.”

  “Attention! Your Enchanting level is 6. Item quality: Enhanced. You can choose out of the following 350 options. One of them will be selected randomly during the enchanting. Attention! There is a risk of damaging or destroying the item.”

  Ros browsed through the list. Most of it was garbage—things like +1% to Fire Resistance or +0.1 to the chance of getting two ingredients instead of one during Alchemical Transmogrification. There were a couple of pleasant features nonetheless. All his stats, including the auxiliary ones, could affect the enchantment, and the item could get one or two points’ bonus.

  “Attention! You want to enchant the following item: Enhanced Pickaxe of a Miner’s Apprentice, made of excellent steel, with a bronze pin. Choose how many mana and Vigor points you would like to invest in the enchantment. Attention! Maximum bonus may not be available if the sum total of invested mana and Vigor points is less than 3000. The item can randomly receive two effects or more, break, or get damaged, lowering its level. There is also a small chance the item will gain a level.”

  Ros had enough MP and Vigor to max out two enchantments, but he started to understand why the profession was a tough one. There was the risk of breaking an item and the necessity of leveling Intellect or wearing accessories with a bonus to mana. One then one would still have to wait for them to regenerate.

  Well, it was high time to try it out.

  “Attention! Your enchantment has been successful! Item received: Enchanted Pickaxe of a Miner’s Apprentice, made of excellent steel, with a bronze pin. Enchantment effect: -2% to the probability of damaging a valuable trophy when killing the monster that owns it. Attention! You have created your first enchanted item! You receive a hero’s reward: +2 to Luck.”

  This wasn’t bad, either, although he had received more for the pickaxe. His Luck was already at 95, and unconfirmed rumors claimed there might be some real cool perks at 100. Why unconfirmed? Because no player had ever managed to get so much as a secondary stat up that high.

  That alone might net him yet another heroic accomplishment.

  Although that was hardly his plan.

  Enchanting was discussed in a separate forum section, and a voluminous one at that. Ros hadn’t managed to study everything, as that would take months. Yet, he had managed to note quite a few things. One was that the higher the material used, the better enchantment one was likely to get. He therefore spent the next hour mining for silver and gold ore while, occasionally fighting back the mobs who just wouldn’t relent.

  Then he would transform the ore into bars, and bars into metal fragments and wire—the primary ingredients for magic weapons and accessories. He also cut the amethysts he’d mined, which were poor in quality, and ignored quartz altogether. He then used the same Magical Transmogrification skills to polish agates, also of poor quality. There may have been better gems in the faraway corners of the cave, but he was afraid of venturing that far. Even the local mobs were rather challenging, despite his buffed-up pet with a few extra abilities and a near bottomless supply of mana.

  Gems were harder to enchant—you could use the standard value for a given gem, select something from a list and hope for luck, the way he’d done with the pickaxe, or employ a soul crystal. Higher-level enchanters could combine both methods, but Ros was nowhere near there yet.

  On the other hand, gems required a lot less mana and Vigor, so Ros went wild. After some three hours of work, he ended up with four cut amethysts with decent bonuses. One gave three points to Intellect, another boosted HP by 45, the third hastened mana regeneration by one point per second, and the fourth gave one point to Luck.

  Any gem placed into an object at its creation would retain its properties and give bonuses to the item.

  Agate was an ornamental stone. The item Ros intended to use it for required an unenchanted gem, so he decided to leave it alone.

  Ros found the description of the item’s blueprint on the forum. He hoped it contained no errors.

  He sat down before the bag, placing a piece of wood and a few mob claws inside (Obsidian Tiger Claws were recommended, but he hoped the substitute would work), a few gold and silver fragments, four of his enchanted amethysts, six agate fragments, and another agate that he had polished without altering its natural shape much.

  Inasmuch as the term “natural” applied to in-game objects, that is.

  “Attention! Do you want to craft a magic staff? Yes/No.”

  “Yes.”

  “Missing ingredients: bronze wire and copper nails. Iron can be used as a substitute. Required ingredient: steel wire and iron nails.”

  The forum information turned out to be insufficient, so Ros had to do more work with his pickaxe. Fifteen minutes later he got back to creative work.

  “You craft an item: Enhanced Short Staff of a Mage’s Apprentice. Attention! You have crafted an item using ingredients no one had ever used before. Some of the properties of the following ingredients have been studied: Moss Dweller’s Talons. You have demonstrated real ingenuity. New auxiliary stat unlocked: Insect Scourge.”

  Ros tossed the leftovers and grabbed the staff, which looked really pretty, with great delight. It was a little under three feet long, so he wouldn’t be able to use it as a cane. But that wasn’t to be its purpose, anyway. The knob had four cut amethysts set into it, with a polished agate with iridescent layers at the center.

  “Enhanced Short Staff of a Mage’s Apprentice. Item quality: Enhanced. Magic weapon. Physical damage: 34-42 (crushing). Magic damage: 98-107. Additional stats: +3 to Intellect, +1 to Luck, +45 HP, +1 to mana regeneration per second. Requirements: level 79. Weight: 1.74 kg. Durability: 590/590”.

  Not much of a weapon, but beggars can’t be choosers. The level requirement was a pity, but could be explained by the high-level materials used. Lower-level stuff would produce lower-level items, giving him a better chance of using it. Alternatively, he could level up all the required abilities properly, which would give him more room to maneuver, anyway.

  And besides, he knew someone who’d appreciate this staff.

  Ros made an unassuming weapon out of a stick and agate fragments for himself. It required level 15, and its stats were ridiculous, but he could still kill mobs faster than he would unarmed.

  He wanted to engage in further creative activities, but he was short of time, with only a few hours left for sleep.

  U
pon crawling out of the mine, he released the pet, and made for the furnaces above. Unfortunately, there wasn’t any fire burning in them, as was the case with the ones below. This was hardly surprising—the only workers in the mine were Ros and Danger Babe, his unexpected new companion. And since there was no production, no smelting was required.

  Having made sure no one was keeping an eye on the furnace, Ros took some coals, and placed them into the hastily makeshift hearth. He used a simple skill to ignite them, and it took a while to get a proper fire going. Then he started roasting meat from the carcasses of the Grey and Black Moss Dwellers, and the Cave Igamus.

  The first two chunks of meat turned out to be inedible, according to the description once he’d finished roasting it. The igamus paws, on the other hand, had a pleasant taste, without any side effects, and even gave a couple of points to Vigor and nearly an hour-long mana regeneration bonus.