A Slave in the Locked Lands

by Arthur Stone

  “Why don’t you take them from the mobs we kill?”

  “I’ve never seen any in the loot they drop. Or, rather, there was one, but unsuitable for crafting—an alchemical ingredient. Therefore, they don’t have any bones for crafting weapons. We could try going deeper in and searching for other mobs.”

  “They’ve only given us a week for the quest. What does the map show? Is it far away?”

  “It’s hard to tell, but looks to be about thirty miles.”

  “The journey itself is going to take a few days.”

  “You’re exaggerating. But then, so did I. Probably no more than twenty-five.”

  “That’s still a lot. We’ll also run into mobs on our way, and then there are the bosses. If we die, we’ll have to walk all the way back. It’s not just a hard quest—there are time constraints to consider, too.”

  “I’ll use every opportunity to enchant items, and keep on trying to craft new gear.”

  Tangh took a roll of thick leather out of his bag.

  “I’ve managed to get this from Agythric.”

  “Why the sudden generosity?”

  “I told him to give us some leather instead of the food, claiming we liked the taste better. He laughed and told me I was an accomplished liar, but agreed to the exchange since he found me funny.”

  “Damn. I’d thought you managed to establish a barter-based relationship with him.”

  “No. The only payments he takes are those specified by the quest. Isn’t he supposed to feed us? He is. Therefore, a barter like that is possible.”

  “It would have been easier if he just took gold or silver.”

  “This isn’t an easy game.”

  “Tangh, I’ve never worked with leather.”

  “I have Leatherworking. Leveled it on rats. But it would need to be higher to craft something decent out of leather. Furring and Tailoring are also needed, and a decent Craftsman to boot. Otherwise, you end up with low-grade and useless junk that’s only good for raising the trade. And if you need boots, you’ll have to unlock Shoemaking, too. It’s all rather complicated…”

  “The more I listen, the more I appreciate the importance of learning all trades. The ones needed to craft equipment, clothes, shoes, and accessories.”

  “If anyone can do it, it’s you. Learning everything, I mean. There have been no such craftsmen in this game yet. Try making something. Like a leather cuirass for yourself.”

  “It won’t work.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “Do you see the description of this leather?”

  “I don’t.”

  “Mountain Gzoom Leather, Tanned in Madyash Extract. Hard, durable, and difficult to cut even with the sharpest knife. Excellent choice for leather armor. Can also be used for making belts. A quality toolkit is recommended for processing.”

  “So?”

  “This mountain gzoom is a local critter. Therefore, no players have ever used its leather for anything. Meaning there aren’t any ready recipes on the forum.”

  “Why don’t you try something randomly?”

  “I have neither Leatherworking, Furring, or Tailoring. Craftsman is all the way up to 12, but it won’t help much by itself. All I can rely on is my high Luck, but it’s an unreliable stat that doesn’t work every time.”

  “There should be enough leather here. For two attempts, at least, maybe more. I’m talking about a simple chestguard. Try finding armor recipes on the forum, and using similar ingredients.”

  “Guard my body. It shouldn’t take long.”

  The first thing Ros did as he got to the forum was read a message from Digits, who was claiming to be dying of boredom and assuring that everything was proceeding as planned. He shot off a brief reply saying there was nothing of interest so far, and that he was working on Enchanting and performing the local quests diligently with the intent of making his character stronger.

  Then he ran a search for the leather Tangh had procured, and browsed the crafting section. He looked at a of couple of recipes that might work. He may not be able to follow them to the letter, but that didn’t matter—he would just use them as a blueprint of sorts.

  He returned to the game.

  “I ran an extended search for the entire period. No mentions of mountain gzooms or madyash extract. So, I was right.”

  “What about simple recipes?”

  “I have found a few. The item I liked most was a simple belt. Only requires a strip of leather and a copper bar.”

  “We don’t really need a belt.”

  “I disagree. If I fail, we’re just one strip of leather short. But the simplest chestguard requires two scraps and six strips of leather, as well as two copper bars. We stand to waste a lot of materials in case of failure.”

  “I see. We have plenty of copper, but leather’s in short supply. Do you think the missing abilities will unlock if you craft a belt successfully, and there’ll be less risk further on?”

  “I sure hope so.”

  “In that case, my advice is as follows: I cut the strips, and you go back to the forum and search for a leather bracelet recipe.”

  “Do they even exist?”

  “They do. Folks without Jewelry can make such bracelets for themselves, and leather chokers instead of necklaces.”

  “Can you cut strips?”

  “Sure—I have the necessary abilities unlocked.”

  “All right, I’ll check the forum, then.”

  The leather bracelet was no big secret, and Ros returned once he had all the necessary details for crafting one.

  “They say not any type of leather will do. So gzoom may not be a good choice.”

  “Try making a couple. If nothing happens, try for a belt. It is worth a try, though, don’t you agree?”

  According to the forum posts, a single strip of leather was enough for three bracelets. He would also need a bronze bar and a piece of copper wire.

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

  “Yes” was the obvious choice.

  “It is recommended to use leather of a different type. The selected leather type may complicate the crafting process. Optimal substitute: buckskin.”

  Ros ignored the warning.

  “You have failed to craft the item.”

  He made two more attempts; the result was the same. Ros complained:

  “It’s not working. Wrong type of leather, and no Transmogrification Cube. We’re just wasting materials.”

  “Try making a belt. Might work. You never know.”

  Ros placed all the necessary ingredients into a bag, albeit without much hope.

  “You have failed to craft the item.”

  He repeated the process, adding a silver bar this time.

  “You craft a Mountain Gzoom Leather Belt with a Bronze Buckle and Silver Embroidery. Attention! You have crafted a unique item! It has no duplicate anywhere in Second World! You receive a reward: +1 to Magical Transmogrification, +1 to Inventing, +1 to Creation, +1 to Learner, +1 to Arcane Knowledge. You unlock new auxiliary stats: Leatherworking and Furring. You can craft blueprints for a new item: Mountain Gzoom Leather Belt with a Bronze Buckle and Silver Embroidery. 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: Mountain Gzoom Leather. You have demonstrated real ingenuity. New auxiliary stat unlocked: Undead Expert.”

  “We did it! The belt was a success. It’s enhanced, too.”

  “You see? I knew you would succeed. The good Lord would never leave us. How about the belt itself? Any good?”

  “Junk.”

  “Don’t get too upset about it.”

  “I have Leatherworking and Furring now, but not Tailoring.”

  “Try for a leather jacket. It’s bound to unlock then.”

  “But it requires more leather than a simple chestguard.”

  “So what? The roll is big enough, and there’s surely enough for a jacket here, ma
ybe even two.”

  “I need one for Danger Babe and one for myself.”

  “She has a chainmail shirt.”

  “A jacket weighs less.”

  “If memory serves, chestguards require a special type of leather, whereas the requirements for jackets are more relaxed.”

  “The description says it’s suitable for armor.”

  “Sure. But a jacket is also armor. A heavy one is even better than a chestguard—it offers more protection, since it partially covers the limbs.”

  “All right, then. You’ve talked me into it. I’ll try.”

  Ros was aware he may not get more than one attempt, so he filled the bag with all sorts of bars, talons, fangs, and leather strips, hoping that one thing or another would do the trick.

  “You craft a Heavy Mountain Gzoom Leather Jacket with Cave Igamus Fang Charms. Attention! You have crafted a unique item! It has no duplicate anywhere in Second World! You receive a reward: +1 to Magical Transmogrification, +1 to Essence of Things, +1 to Craftsman, +1 to Learner. Attention! Your Magical Transmogrification has reached 10. You get 20% to the base chance of crafting an item with maximum stats. You can craft blueprints for a new item: Heavy Mountain Gzoom Leather Jacket with Cave Igamus Fang Charms. 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: Cave Igamus Fangs. You have demonstrated real ingenuity. You receive a reward: +1 to Inventing. Attention! Your Inventing has reached 10. The chance of failure when using unconventional materials is reduced by 15%, the chance of your traps working successfully is increased by 15%, and the items, mechanisms, and constructions you create take 12% less damage.”

  “It worked. But I have no more attempts left.” Ros showed Tangh the jacket.

  “It’s fine. Enhanced, too.”

  “I’ll save the strips for later—they may come in handy for repairs. There’s a special kind of chainmail shirt that’s really light. Top mages wear these. But it requires rare materials. And my professional skills are nothing to write home about. Incidentally, I almost leveled just for crafting the belt and the jacket.”

  “They gave you that much XP?”

  “They did, since the items were unique. And no matter where you go here, you’ll run into something unique, since no players have ever used such materials before. So, what do you say, Tangh? Shall we try and see this quest through?”

  “I thought that has already been decided.”

  “I’d like to know your opinion without any pressure from our part.”

  Tangh shrugged.

  “Why not? I don’t mind dying. And, with you there, at least we’ll stand some chance. It would be nice if we could recruit some of the locals, but the quest conditions forbid it explicitly.”

  “In the morning, then?”

  “Sure. We’re in for a fun run—a hero hiding from the world, a lumbering tank controlled by a player with poor reflexes, and a flighting that can log off any second. We’re so formidable, I’m beginning to fear us myself. Let me go and check on our old friend the archer. He’s probably asleep and dreaming about never being found.”

  * * *

  “Shadow Scavenger Chahk fangs for sale: 4 pieces. Unique material for crafting new unique items. Guaranteed to raise rare stats. Price: 170 gold pieces per item, bulk discount possible.”

  “170?! Are you nuts? Those were the initial prices, and now that all the properties have been discovered, everyone’s done everything they could with them. It’s next to impossible to use them for any new items. Twenty for the lot.”

  “Get them yourself for twenty. The price is right.”

  “That’s the price for new stuff, and there hasn’t been any for a few days now. They say mobs that no one’s ever killed before can only be found beyond the breach. But there’s no way of getting there. My final offer is twenty five.”

  One of the numerous threads from the trade section of the game forum.

  Chapter 22

  Danger Babe approached the resurrection circle and gave a meaningful grunt at the sight of HedTeSdjo sitting there, staring at the world with the frozen eyes of a beached whale, and Tangh right nearby, showing no signs of aggression.

  Ros explained:

  “We brought him all the way down to ten. The levels won’t drop any further. He’s abandoned his body, and is fast asleep IRL.”

  “He’ll cry tears of blood when he wakes up to such a surprise,” said the girl, but without any malice and even with a hint of compassion. “You sure took a lot off him—he must have spent months leveling.”

  “We got a bit carried away, taking turns wasting him. Maybe that will finally teach him something.”

  “Idiots like him cannot be taught. So, what’s the plan?”

  Ros handed her the chainmail shirt.

  “Try this on.”

  “Did you make it?”

  “That’s right.”

  “Cool! Excellent quality, and not all that heavy. It’s a pity my Defense is so low. It won’t be of much use.”

  Defense was a primary base stat that affected the amount of physical damage sustained—and, to a negligible extent, magic damage. However, it didn’t lower it all that significantly by itself, being more of a coefficient to the defense bonuses provided by equipment. If the stat wasn’t very high, this coefficient was rather pitiful, and not even the most advanced piece of armor would help the character much.

  “Hey, Danger Babe, what would you say to a chance of redistributing your stats? Base ones, I mean. You could add some Defense and Stamina, for example.”

  “I’d love to. I’d leveled Attack and Accuracy running around with a bow at the very beginning. I don’t need it now, but I cannot redistribute those points anywhere else. Agility is low-priority, too. But these changes are hard to pull off, and we wouldn’t be able to do it here.”

  “I can make all your stat points redistributable tomorrow.”

  “How’s that?”

  “Well, I have this little secret.”

  “Little secret?! You’ve got a wagonload of secrets!”

  “Why not today?” Tangh asked. “I wouldn’t mind doing that, either.”

  “I won’t be able to do it today. And I’ll only be able to do it to one player tomorrow.”

  “In that case, Danger Babe goes first.”

  “Shall we keep on talking, or could we get going already?” asked the girl.

  “Let’s go. Here, grab some meat. It’s better than what we had yesterday. Ros roasted enough to last us a while, and it spoils less quickly in his bag.”

  “What about the ones staying behind? Will they manage without food?”

  “I’ve left enough to last them five days. They won’t die.”

  “Well, then, what are we waiting for?!”

  * * *

  Ros summoned his pet as they entered the mine.

  “Buff everyone, Danger Babe. Including him.”

  “Your pet sure is terrifying to look at.”

  “His level is higher than all of ours combined, so you might wanna treat him with some respect. Scrum Queen is the first on our list. Judging by the map, she’ll be the easiest to reach. If nothing goes awry, we’ll get there in five or six hours. We should all be extra careful. As for you, Danger Babe, if there’s so much as a hint of danger, Shield yourself first, and take care of the others later. I will do the same. If anyone’s down, resurrect them at once. If one of us is sent all the way back to the resurrection circle, getting back here all alone is out of the question. We’d all have to return, wasting a lot of time. I’ll try to make stops and mine ore every fifteen minutes or so. The sound of the pickaxe attracts mobs, and it will be easier to dispatch them that way than getting ambushed. But it doesn’t mean the way will be safe. Keep vigilant. All clear? Then let’s go.”

  There wasn’t need to scare his companions so early, as the first few miles proved to be a walk in the park. The mobs weren’t active in the daytime in the firs
t place, and, after the recent genocide, had nearly disappeared altogether. Every now and then, one of the surviving moss dwellers would come running, but the pet shadowcrawler dealt such massive damage that the assailant wouldn’t last a full minute. The biggest downside was having to heal the shadowcrawler right afterwards—the pet had high Attack, but lost a lot of HP. One hell of a DPS character, but a lousy tank.