Veil Online - Book 2: An Epic LitRPG Adventure
Page 31
He remained quiet. Diana may be an incorrigible flirt, but she had a lifetime of experience and writer’s insight. She was right on the money with the way he felt. It was a feeling unlike anything he’d felt. And the closer he came to finding out, the worse it became.
“You will be fine,” Mika told him. “And no matter what. You will have us.”
Jace smiled at her words, though he didn’t even know if that were true. It had been months since his accident. He didn’t even know if he had a job, let alone an apartment. His rent was automatically deducted from his account, but he wasn’t sure whether or not he had any money left in his account. It had to be close.
When the money ran out, and it would soon, he’d be evicted. The landlord would sell all of his stuff and rent out his apartment. Not only would he not have a place to go back to, he wouldn’t have a pod to play the game. Without a pod, there would be no game for him.
He needed to wake up and he needed to get out of the game. If he didn’t, he’d have no life to go back to.
Chapter 48
Mika and Diana also showed Jace the present they’d gotten for the princess. It was a gorgeous golden bracelet that looked like vines. On the tips of the vines were small diamonds. It was elegant yet simple and then he noticed that there were exactly eighteen diamonds.
“Eighteen diamonds,” Jace commented. “And she’s turning eighteen. Nice touch.”
“I thought so,” Diana agreed, and Mika just nodded.
After breakfast, Jace told the girls that he needed work on his Stealth before tomorrow night. It was still early in the morning, and he suggested the lower level orc area where he could sneak into the forest and pull the orcs to the group.
The girls agreed and they returned to the orc area, but a little further south along the road. Here the orcs were only level 10. This played nicely into Jace’s ulterior motive. Being level 10, his old gear was outdated. By killing some level 10 orcs, he might be able to replace his gear without having to spend more money.
He had money. He had more money that he’d ever had before in the game. But if they didn't find the Help Desk tomorrow night and then the dragon destroyed Whitecliff, he’d need every penny and probably much, more to get into another palace. He needed to conserve.
The other reason Jace wanted to be out here, fighting orcs, was to keep his mind off of Charlena’s visit to the hospital today. In eight hours or so, she would be looking at someone in a coma - hopefully, him. Then she could come back and tell him that he really was alive. And tell him what shape his body was in.
The waiting was driving him nuts and if he didn’t have a distraction, he thought he might lose his mind. Or drink himself into a virtual stupor with virtual mead. He didn’t think the latter was a good idea since he had things to do.
Before leaving the inn, Jace went up to the room they’d rented and unsummoned and resummon Luna. It had been a while and the pain surprised him momentarily, but he pushed through it and dumped all his mana and as much health as it would let him.
“Feel any different?” Jace asked the little cat after she’d appeared.
His familiar stretched, walked over to him and rubbed up against his leg. “No.”
He had wondered if she would be any stronger, now that he was a level 10 Mage, but apparently not. She looked exactly the same as before. When Jace thought about it, that made sense. He’d seen level 90+ familiars and they looked exactly like their smaller counterparts.
“Let’s go,” he told the orange tabby and went downstairs to gather up the girls.
When they reached the spot Jace wanted, the two girls and Luna set up near the road as Jace got ready to go pull an orc. Jace slipped on his magic cloak and made sure all of his armor and weapons were equipped.
Then, he opened his HUD. Jace was level 10 in Mage now, making it his highest class. Once again, he could switch classes. He brought up his character sheet and looked at his class list.
Mage: 10
Rogue: 9
Fighter: 4
He was the party’s tank. The logical choice would be to return to Fighter. Despite this, Jace wanted to get level 10 in Rogue first. It was less than 3000 experience away and it would give him Critical Eye II, increasing his damage on critical strikes to x3 instead of x2. With the Kraken’s Claw and his Feint, he’d be able to do a lot more damage.
He debated for a long moment before deciding to trust his instincts and go with Rogue. He made the switch, smiled at the girls, and went into Stealth. It was time to kill orcs and chew bubble gum. And he was all out of bubble gum.
His group did exactly that until just after noon. The orcs weren’t much of a match for his team. They didn’t have nearly the armor that the warlord had, nor the health. Plus, Luna’s combat abilities did seem to improve slightly as well.
During the fighting, Mika reached level 8 in Rogue. Shortly afterwards, Diana reached level 9 in Priest. Jace was now less than 800 experience away from level 10 in Rogue but as much as he wanted to finish up, there were more important matters.
“Let’s head down to the docks,” Jace told them, as he checked his timepiece.
“Booking our passage out of here?” Diana raised an eyebrow.
“Yes,” he nodded. “Before the ships are all taken - assuming they aren’t already.”
The group returned to the gates where they decided to let Mika turn in all the sashes. She was further behind in experience than Jace or Diana and they agreed she should get the experience from the repeatable quest. She objected at first but eventually relented.
From the gate, they went directly to the docks. When they reached the docks, they found them packed with people and Jace had a bad feeling they might be too late. His group split up and began asking the various ships about passage.
Jace soon feared he may have waited too long. Every captain he talked to was either already full, were leaving before the princess’ birthday party or weren’t equipped to handle passengers. It wasn’t looking good.
After an hour, he met up with Mika and Diana. By the expressions on their faces, they didn’t not bring good news. “No luck?”
“Well I did get several offers of passage - in the captain’s bed,” Diana chuckled mirthlessly. “But other than that, no luck.”
They looked to Mika, but she shook her head. “I had no luck. The ships are already booked, leaving too soon or impounded.”
Impounded? Jace had planted evidence on a ship for Webley. Was it the same ship? Had the guildmaster managed to secure himself a ship to escape the dragon?
He gave the girls a lopsided grin. “I may know a guy.”
The two girls gave him curious looks but Jace just smiled. “Diana, can you meet us back at the gates. Mika and I need to go talk to a certain guildmaster.”
“Oh?” the older woman raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure you don’t want me to tag along?”
“Not unless you want to switch classes again,” Jace told her.
Diana seemed to consider that but then shook her head. “Tempting, but as I understand it, I’ll be more powerful once I hit level 10. I don’t want to start all over again with a different class.”
“Yes,” Mika answered before Jace could. “Level 10 means better weapons and armor. And better spells.”
Jace nodded towards Mika. “What she said.”
“I’ll stick to Priest for now,” Diana said, “and meet you at the gates.”
After Diana left, Jace and Mika went to the thieves guild. Jace wasn’t used to going in broad daylight, but he didn’t think it could wait. They knocked on the door and an unfamiliar werebear and sourly looking dwarf opened the door and let them in.
Neither of the door guards said anything as Jace and Mika walked past them and into what was now the guild’s “tavern”. Jace looked around but didn’t see Webley around and thought the man might be sleeping. Then he heard a whistle from the top of the steps and all noise in the place stopped. On the stairs was the guildmaster.
“You two,” Webley pointe
d at them. “Up here.”
He and Mika pushed through the tavern to the steps and climbed up to Webley. The guildmaster took them to his office and shut the door once they’d entered.
The man was unreadable and Jace was beginning to wonder if they’d done something wrong or were in trouble with the guild in some way. But as the guildmaster sat down, a broad grin split his face. “I hear congratulations are in order.”
Jace and Mika shared a look but the guildmaster just laughed. “Surprised, I know? I pay a lot of money to be informed of what goes on in my city and a Baronet marrying three young ladies is newsworthy information.”
“If they were here, I’d congratulate the other two, Charlena and Diana, right?” he smiled, obviously showing off his intelligence gathering.
“Impressive,” Jace admitted.
The guildmaster’s smile faded as he took in the couple’s expressions. “It looks like you’re not here to share the good news. What do you need?”
“Just curious if there’s a certain boat in impound that might be reserved for a fast escape from a city with a very large black dragon coming towards it,” Jace said.
The guildmaster’s eyes narrowed but then he smiled, and he looked over to Mika. “He’s a bright one.”
Mika grinned and looked at Jace. “Yes, he is.”
Webley sat back. “And what if it were?”
“How much for passage for me, my wives and a few servants?” he asked.
“Right to business. I do like that about you,” Webley said. The guildmaster considered the question for a full minute before coming to a decision.
“I like your style,” the guildmaster told him. “And your instincts. You’re partly right. I had you plant that evidence so the ship would be impounded before it could leave. It’ll stay that way until tomorrow night, when it will take some passengers out of Whitecliff and head North...”
“Does that include you?” Jace asked. He had a feeling he already knew the answer, but he wanted to hear the guildmaster say it.
“No. I’ll stay here until the last minute and see what opportunities arise. Once the dragon is here, I have a one way ride out of here,” Webley replied. “And before you ask, no, I can’t take you.”
“Teleport?” Jace asked.
The guildmaster nodded. “Exactly right. It’s a scroll and it will only take me.”
Jace realized that was a possibility as well but a scroll would cost 10,000 gold each and was a personal one time use item. It would instantly transport the person reading the scroll to a predetermined destination. If he wanted to save himself, the girls, and his servants, that would cost almost 100,000 gold.
“What about the ship?” Jace asked. “Is there room on it for us?”
“There might be,” Webley told him. “I already have a few handpicked people from the guild. But…”
“It wouldn’t be free,” Jace finished for him. “How much?
“For you, 2,000 apiece,” he said. “And I’m guessing you’ve already checked the other ships and know that’s a bargain.”
Normally, passage would be no more than a 1,000 gold each, but 2,000 was still significantly less than what the ships were charging now. But that made Jace suspicious. “Not that I don’t appreciate it but why so little?”
The guildmaster chuckled and brought out a bottle of mead and three glasses. He poured a half a glass of mead in each glass. Then, give one glass to Jace and another to Mika. He held his glass up like he was making a toast. “Consider the rest a wedding gift. Cheers.”
Chapter 49
After talking over the details with Webley, Jace and Mika left the guild and went back to the inn to meet Diana. She was waiting for them at their usual table and they told her of Webley’s offer of passage on the ship.
“So, we have a way out of the city now onboard a thieves’ ship,” Diana commented. “Are we sure it’s safe?”
Jace shrugged. “Probably a lot safer than staying here and taking our chances with the dragon.”
“He was very nice,” Mika said. “He said it was a wedding present for us.”
“Hmm,” Diana bit her lip. “Does that seem a bit out of character for him?”
“What do you mean?” Jace questioned. He’d been so happy to get passage that he didn’t question the guildmaster’s motive.
Diana turned to him. “He’s got a ship that probably is a money maker for him with passage away from Whitecliff at a premium. He could probably make five or six times the money selling it to someone else. So why take a loss like that for, let’s face it, a minor player in the thieves guild.”
Jace just stared at her. It was nice to believe that Jace had earned enough faction with the guild to be valuable to Webley, but Diana was right. He was just a small player. And if that was the case, then why had the guildmaster given him cheap passage.
“Why do you think he did it?” Jace asked.
“Personally,” Diana chuckled. “I suspect that when that ship tries to leave dock, having a Baronet onboard is going to grease the wheels, so to speak. Not only a baronet, but the man who returned the princess’ crown. I can’t imagine any harbormaster in their right mind would want to detain you and risk the ire of the king.”
“That’s sneaky,” Mika said and narrowed her eyes. “Like a ninja.”
Jace considered Diana’s explanation. He’d taken Webley’s actions at face value. Maybe part of him wanted to think that the guildmaster and he were like friends. But Webley was looking out for his own interests. He didn’t care about Jace or the girls. Or was he killing two birds with one stone - helping them out and helping himself out.
“So, he’s using us,” Jace smirked. “But we have a ride out of here.”
“True enough,” the older woman said. “Just be careful about being so trusting. It’s an endearing quality but there are too many people in the real world and this world, presumably, who will take advantage of it.”
He didn’t think he was really naive, but he nodded anyway. Was she right? Was he too trusting? His parents had, before they died, taught him to always do unto others as you’d want them to do to you. He thought he was honoring them by treating people the way he wanted to be treated and trusting people the way he wanted to be trusted. Was that so wrong?
Diana seemed to sense where his thoughts were taking him, and she reached out and took his hand. “Dear one, I think your innocence is charming, but there are very bad people in the world and count yourself lucky if you haven’t run into them yet. But taken from an old woman who had people coming out of the woodwork to get a piece of her, there are some very bad people out there. Greed can corrupt even the best of people.”
“Not Jace,” Mika smiled and put an arm around him. “He is a good guy. He is a hero like you said.”
The older woman chuckled. “You might be right. But that doesn’t mean the people around him can’t be corrupt. And let’s face it, this guy Webley IS the guildmaster of a thieves guild. He’s basically Al Capone.”
Mika looked at her blankly but Jace knew the reference from old gangster vidstreams. He turned to the Japanese girl and thought of a comparison. “Like a Yukaza boss.”
She smiled and nodded.
“So, what are you saying?” Jace asked Diana.
“I’m saying you need to be careful,” the older woman replied. “Be careful with who you trust.”
Jace nodded. He knew he was too trusting but that’s the way he’d always been. He trusted quickly and easily until someone burned him, then it was almost impossible for him to trust that person again. But he didn’t know any other way to be.
Checking his watch, he swallowed as the timepiece showed 5:02pm. At this very moment, in the real world, Charlena was probably looking at his body. He felt himself getting nervous as, once again, his mind started playing different scenarios.
Mika seemed to notice the shadow come over his face after looking at his timepiece and she gently turned his head towards her and smiled. “Everything will be fine.”
He forced himself to smile, but he knew it wasn’t genuine. His mind was now on the possibilities of what Charlena would find in that hospital.
“Why don’t we go kill some more orcs,” Diana suggested, in an obvious ploy to get his mind off what was going on in the real world.
“Sure,” Jace muttered, though his heart wasn’t in it.
The group left the inn and traveled back to the orc area, only to find it overrun with other players. It was early evening and the masses were starting to login for the evening. Even so, over the course of the next few hours, they were able to kill the eight orcs he needed to get to level 10 in Rogue. That earned him Critical Eye II.
Critical Eye II
Rogue Ability
Description: You are trained to spot weakness in others. When you strike from stealth or opportunity, your strikes are always critical hits. Critical hits now do x3 damage.
Note: This replaces Critical Eye I. This does not stack with Backstab.
Jace wanted to be excited but the feeling in the pit of his stomach wouldn’t let him. He couldn’t really summon up any enthusiasm for Mika when she reached level 9 in Rogue, though he did at least put a smile on and congratulate her.
Mika and Diana were now level 9 and he was 10. Charlena was only level 8, so they’d need to sit out while she did quests and caught up. Either that, or they’d all need to change classes again.
“Let’s go back to the inn,” Jace told the girls. “I need a drink.”
“Actually, should we go back to the manor?” Diana asked. “After all, that’s where she’ll log in.”
They did exactly that. The three of them returned to the manor and plopped down on the couches. He asked Fimipp to bring him mead and wine and he began drinking. As the time passed, Jace became more nervous and more agitated. At one point, he began pacing.
Apparently, that was too much for Diana and she finally snapped at him. “Jace, I know you’re worried, but you’re driving us nuts. You need to do something to take your mind off of it.”
“Like what?” Jace demanded. No matter what he did, his mind kept coming back to whether or not he was okay in the real world.