A Slave in the Locked Lands

by Arthur Stone

  The girl looked embarrassed.

  “Please forgive me in advance if I disappear again.”

  “Is it that bad?” Tangh asked.

  “It’s unpredictable. I have a promo account, after all. Three months of free gaming. Then I’ll have to pay. Two have already expired, and I was weeping like an idiot when I got here, thinking the third would be wasted, too. Initially I had intended to earn some money in the game, and move away from my stepmother’s place. A classmate’s mother has a cheap place I could rent. I neglected shool because of the game, and barely managed to get into college. Classes haven’t started yet, so I can play as much as I like. But my plans to earn money haven’t materialized. You can find a job IRL in our town, but it’s so depressing I’d sooner hang myself. If I sell all my in-game possessions, that’ll cover two months of rent. But then I won’t be able to pay for the game. And what would I do next? I’ve got no relatives or friends who could help, and I lied about my boyfriend. So, as you can see, I’m in a real bind here, and I’m not sure how I’m going to get out of it. I’m sorry again. I’ll spare you the details, but I can’t predict when I’ll have to log off again. I know, your flighting is more trouble than she’s worth.”

  Tangh coughed and said offhandedly.

  “I placed some funds into my gaming account when I decided to relocate. It should suffice for years of account fees. And once I level up my tank properly, I won’t go unemployed. So, here’s what we’ll do, Danger Babe. I’ll transfer you some money to finance your move right away. And then… We haven’t discussed the distribution of trophies from our raids, but Ros doesn’t look much like a loot whore. By the way, this is something we should discuss—we dump all kinds of stuff into our bags, including valuable items.”

  Ros shrugged.

  “Let’s not waste time on accounting. Everything gets split three ways.”

  “I don’t think that is fair, since you’re earning most of it.”

  “As I said, I’m no bean-counter.”

  “Oh, all right. But everything you craft is yours. What you mine, too.”

  “Tangh, don’t be ridiculous. It’s not like we have amassed any treasures worth fighting over.”

  “You’re not that good at counting, Ros. According to the most modest of my estimates, the value of all the items, ore, metal bars, gemstones, and so on is around two or three thousand in gold. It may not be much to you, but a third of it would be serious money to Danger Babe, I believe.”

  The girl nodded.

  “Sure. My character’s equipment is worth a lot less. But, Ros, most of all I’d prefer to stay part of your team. I’ll be your personal flighting, if you’ll have me. You’ve seen me in action—I’m not a bad player. If you can really unlock level blocks, I’ll only have to pay for a budget account with a lock at level 100—it’s not that expensive. You manage to make a fortune even being imprisoned here, with our modest help. Under normal circumstances we could make even more. And I don’t need much. Five hundred gold pieces a month is would be a dream. I just want to make enough to pay rent and my account fees—that’s around four hundred total. And it seems doable if things keep on going the way they are now.”

  “There’s also food, clothing, and bills to pay,” Tang started to say. Then he cut himself short and said in a lighter tone, “Although, judging by how the character looks like its owner, food isn’t a major issue for you. All right, Danger Babe. I’ll transfer a thousand gold to you. That should be enough to last you two months, if I’m not mistaken. Can I have your account number?”

  Ros raised his hand.

  “No need. And I’m not sure you have all that much in your account, Tangh. But I’ve managed to amass some savings.”

  “You guys are weird,” said Danger Babe suspiciously. “Why would the two of you be so eager to give me money?”

  “I wouldn’t want you to log off in the middle of a fight, leaving us without a healer,” Tangh replied.

  “Same,” Ros nodded.

  “Is that all?”

  “Well… there’ll be time to discuss our further cooperation. You’re a buffer and a healer. He’s a tank, and I’m DPS. There’s another friend of mine who likes to trade—he will fill some role. We have a full party, albeit a small one, and someone on the outside to take care of things. I may be a hero, but a loner won’t get far here. And now, let’s get going. We’re losing time.”

  “Did that shadowcrawler drop any decent loot, by the way?” asked Tang as they were already walking.

  “Not particularly. Nothing extraordinary.”

  “Hey, Ros, have you considered dumping the rest of the points into Luck?”

  “Sure. As soon as I get me another hundred, I’ll get to it right away. It’s been a while since they last mentioned me in the global chat…”

  * * *

  “I cannot discuss it over the phone. Get down here.”

  “Could you at least drop a hint? I’m about to hold an important meeting.”

  “Aaron, do you remember the cause of earlier disturbances? That trickster in employ of an unidentified party?”

  “Are you talking about the same guy I’m thinking of?”

  “Exactly.”

  “Of course, I remember.”

  “He’s turned up again.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Absolutely. He became world famous.”

  “Again? Was it like the first time?!”

  “Not as huge this time, but it’s his manner all right. Read the forum, it’s in turmoil—he got a hundred points of some secondary stat, beating the Chinese to it.”

  “I’ll be there in an hour. Contact Coleman. It’s time to get serious.”

  “I already have. He told me he’d contact everyone he can get hold of, and even those he cannot. Something’s got to give…”

  Chapter 23

  “You kill the Scrum Hunter. XP received: 5422. Points left until the next level: 301,164. Attention! You have found a creature that has not yet been added to the world bestiary! You receive a reward: +1 to Agility. You can receive the reward for discovering a new creature at the Academy of Magic. Your Monster Expert level grows by 1. Your party has destroyed a monster 60 or more levels above the party’s strongest player! Achievement earned: Brave Companions, Part Four. Achievement bonus: +2 to Wood Magic Resistance. Bonus effect: permanent. Achievement unlocked: Brave Companions, Part Five. Kill 50 monsters whose level exceeds that of the party’s strongest player by 60 or more using your party’s resources to complete the achievement. Achievement bonus: random. Condition: the party cannot contain more than six players. The party’s median level must be at least twice less than that of the monsters.”

  Ros knelt over the mob’s carcass, and Tang grumbled:

  “I’m glad these don’t run in packs. They would have made mincemeat of us.”

  “Good thing they themselves croak easily,” said Danger Babe in a carefree manner. “It’s fun to be around you. I get an achievement every day—sometimes several. And there I was thinking I’d lose a month of time and a few levels. Instead, I’m leveling nicely, and the loot is great. By the way, how’s this one in terms of loot?”

  “Nothing special.”

  “That’s a pity,” Tangh sighed. If I’m right, we are approaching the boss’ lair. If ordinary mobs attack like this, I dread the thought of what will happen next.”

  “We can raise a scrum lord and use it as a tank. It doesn’t hit that hard, but its defense is strong, and it should last a while. Danger Babe can heal it, too, even if she won’t do much, so that’ll help to keep the pet up. Once it’s down, the boss is all yours.”

  “Your pets don’t have my taunts, so the attackers will switch to you and Danger Babe every now and then. It make mores sense for me to be the tank, and for the shadowcrawler to deal damage with an Attack so high.”

  “You won’t keep its attention. The boss will switch to the pet soon after it starts taking damage. Not even your special tank skills will help.”
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  “I could at least hold it off in the beginning, and then we’ll play it by ear.”

  “For sure. The first minute is usually the hardest—that’s when you don’t know what you’re up against. And nerves lead to mistakes.”

  “Had anyone told me a week ago that I would be raiding a dungeon with level 140+ mobs, I’d have had a laughing fit.”

  “The cave is beginning to change. There’s more moss, and it’s very damp. And we ran into a new mob, too. Get ready—we’re more than halfway there. The fun part starts now.”

  * * *

  Hunter scrums attacked nearly every five minutes. But at least they left packs of underlings led by scrum lords a long way behind. It was better this way—those were more dangerous than these loners, no matter how bad their bite.

  They soon found out what quarry the mobs were hunting. They simply collected woodlice from underneath the moss cover—the scrums had a fold in the skin of their stomachs, just like kangaroos, apparently stuffing their finds there for storage.

  Ros checked one of the dead woodlice for loot, finding antennae, feet, shells, and slime. Tangh suggested all were probably alchemical reagents, seeing that alchemists got most of the trophies from small creatures such as frogs, bugs, and lizards.

  Unfortunately, without alchemical equipment or a sufficient amount of glass vials, they could not so much as begin to experiment in this field. Even Magical Transmogrification wouldn’t help in the absence of glass vessels. Still, they decided to collect everything they could. These ingredients were likely to be unknown, just like everything else in the Locked Lands, so there was a chance to get some decent achievements for them.

  Ros stopped in yet another hall, and pointed at the wall.

  “Zirconium ore. This is the first time I see it. Level 32, so it isn’t that easy to spot.”

  “There may be a lot of it here,” Tangh suggested.

  “That’s possible. My Perception is at 20, so the chance of spotting it isn’t high, even given all my other stats. We are in too much hurry and don’t look attentively enough.”

  “Is zirconium valuable?” Danger Babe inquired.

  “It is. But less so than gold, despite its higher level. Zirconium is added to all sorts of alloys, which are then used to craft high-level items.”

  “I have a suggestion,” said Tangh. “The hall is big enough. Why doesn’t Ros look for some rare ore, while Danger Babe and I focus on woodlice and lower-level or?”

  “Why would we?” Danger Babe looked puzzled.

  “My dear, they aren’t called the Lesser Locked Lands Woodlice for nothing. We’ve even received an achievement for their discovery, albeit a modest one. None of this loot is known to anyone in the human lands. There’s a good chance of turning a substantial profit for selling them. Especially once we manage to get some alchemical equipment and glass vessels, and discover some of their properties at least.”

  “I get it. But it will be hard for us to get the loot. Our levels are rather high, and theirs are minuscule. Everything will keep getting damaged.”

  “Don’t worry about that. One of my tank abilities is to draw mobs to myself and prevent them from attacking the DPS. It cannot grow, doesn’t depend on the level, and does negligible damage. But it should be enough for wodlice. Can you transfer mana?”

  “Who did you think has been doing it all this time in battle?”

  “I’m sorry, my brain is old and sluggish. Give me some now—I haven’t got much, and the skill consumes a lot. I’ll kill the woodlice, and you’ll search them.”

  “Yuck! I loathe the very thought of touching them.”

  “They are no flowers, for sure, but remember we’re doing it for money.”

  Ros decided to alter the norder’s plan a little.

  “You’ll have to gather the loot yourself. Our talk about money issues may have petered out, but I haven’t forgotten anything. I’ll transfer two thousand to her right now; that should be enough. Danger Babe, go offline and withdraw the funds as cash. I don’t know how long that will take, but longer than a minute for certain, especially since, as I understand, your town is small and there are few terminals. You can arrange your move to a new apartment, too.”

  “Hold on!” Tangh raised his hand. Aren’t you in hiding, Ros?”

  “Well, yes. But it doesn’t seem to be doing me much good, as you can see.”

  “You can still alter your character’s data any way you want. But everybody knows your current name, and the automatically-generated number of the associated bank account. You intend to use the forum bank for the transfer of funds, and that’s no longer part of the game proper—just a regular online resource. They may have high security, but they have vulnerabilities, too. What if one of the admins leaks transfer details to interested third parties? Do you follow?”

  “What’s your point?”

  “There’s no need for the curious to find out about your association with Danger Babe. I’m the one who should do the transfer.”

  “But you don’t have that much.”

  “I have enough. Besides, I hope this isn’t our last day together, and that you’ll have an opportunity to help me top up my account, if that worries you so much.”

  “A lot of people have seen us together, and that archer wrote about our gang on the forum. They’ll find out about Danger Babe sooner or later.”

  “They might. But you can never be too cautious.”

  “OK, you’re probably right. Do the transfer. And you get offline right now, Danger Babe.”

  “I’ll need an hour or two. It’s not too late yet, so I should manage.”

  “Sure. And we shall guard the fair maiden’s body while we entertain ourselves with dirty woodlice and heavy ore.”

  “Thanks so much, Ros. You too, Tangh.”

  “You’ll have enough time for thanks. Consider it a flighting’s salary. Get going already.”

  Tangh gazed at Danger Babe’s motionless body, then said grimly:

  “It’s a pity she went on her own. She’s a good girl, but young and still a bit foolish. It would be nice if someone kept an eye on her IRL, too.”

  “That’s your paternal instinct talking.”

  “That may be true…”

  “Do you think there’s a bright and glorious future ahead for our party?”

  “If you didn’t need us, you wouldn’t talk about it. So…”

  “What I actually need is money, and lots of it. I keep trying everything, still trying to make sense of what’s the best way to turn a profit, and fast.”

  “The only way of making lots of money quickly is to trade it.”

  “Are you talking about the local banks?”

  “Them, too. Have you noticed how gold keeps disappearing from circulation? The exchange rate always fluctuates, but not by much. Someone’s raking it in—there are millions of players, after all.”

  “Unfortunately, that’s not the method I would resort to.”

  “I can relate. I’m like that myself. A man has to do proper work instead of dealing in dodgy schemes with a straight face. The likes of you and me should stick together in this game. This is why people form clans, develop them, and try to achieve things together. I’m not talking about the top ones—they’re just like the banks in that their elites exploit everybody else. I’m talking about the majority. Say, those woodlice are indeed yucky.”

  “And I’ve found another zirconium vein. And somebody’s running our way. They must have heard us.”

  “Well, you’re raising a terrible din.”

  “Sorry about that, but they haven’t invented silencers for pickaxes yet.”

  “Danger Babe isn’t with us. How do we handle it?”

  “Stay back. My pet will meet them.”

  “What if there are several?”

  “It’s got area-of-effect abilities. I’ll try to intercept them. If anyone gets past me, make sure they attack you. I’ll be able to heal you somewhat, but don’t count on it—I’m infinitely wors
e at it than Danger Babe.”

  “I remember. Ah, here they come…”

  “Unknown creature. Aggression: unknown. Sociality: unknown. Level: unknown. Abilities: unknown. Stats: unknown.”

  There were two creatures, in fact. They looked both ridiculous and menacing—elephant-like brownish-green critters running on grotesquely stubby hind legs. They had short trunks and rudimentary wings, with enormous fangs protruding from their wide jaws. Those bore no resemblance to elephant tusks whatsoever—more like something that would make a saber-toothed tiger proud. In fact, they did have a tusk each. Or, rather, a horn. It was long, widening considerably toward the base, and protruding upward from the forehead.