by Matt Ryan
“Do you consider this appealing?” she said, catching me looking at her. “We spent some time thinking of what would be appealing to you.”
“Umm, yes. You did a good job.”
“Good, I’m glad to hear that. Now, tell me, who is this person who’s helping you?” She got close to the bed and slid a finger over the top of my foot.
I pulled it back. “If you don’t want me in this game, just kick me out.” My eyes were glued to the hand she had running up my leg. Tingles from her touch shot through my body
“I can’t, nor would I, if I could. You are my key, and also my way of finding the lock. I want a name.”
“I don’t have a name.”
A wave of air came out of her hand and I felt its embrace as it wrapped around me like cling wrap. It squeezed me and lifted me off the mattress.
“Just tell me who this person is and how you are meeting them. You’ve gone to two doors and when you entered those rooms . . . you’re gone.”
“I don’t know. I’ve blacked out in this game once. Maybe something is wrong on your end.”
“No, I’ve gone through the code. Believe me, you don’t want Adam to get involved.” She dropped me on the bed and crawled over me, straddling my legs. Her dress hung low, exposing most of her breasts.
I tried to keep my composure, and was doing a pretty damn good job until she ran her hand up my thigh. Abigail seemed amused. She lowered me back onto the bed and I felt the wrap disappear from my body.
“You know, I can make it worth your while. I can be nice for you.”
As hot as she was, she terrified me more than Jeffrey ever could. “I’m just trying to play your game, and you’re keeping me—keeping me from doing that.” I didn’t sound convincing, even to myself. Had I made sense? I couldn’t remember what I’d said. What kind of hold did she have over me?
She brought her face close to mine, close enough that I could see golden flecks in her eyes, and ran her hand between my legs. “You disappoint me. I can do many things to you in this world,” she emphasized her point by squeezing me, “and when I have the chance, I will make a change you won’t be happy with. It doesn’t have to be like that though. If you suddenly have a moment of clarity, you can call out my name and I’ll come—”
The door flung open and KILLian stormed into the room. She slid to a halt, eyes going wide as saucers. Her gaze darted between me and Abigail, then stopped and stared at Abigail’s hand on my crotch.
I sat up and pulled away from Abigail. “KILLian.”
“Ah yes, KILLian,” Abigail said. Releasing me, she stood next to the bed and straightened out her dress, like nothing had been going on. What had been going on? “How’s the search going?”
“Who are you?” she asked, then looked to me. “Is this your girlfriend, or some in-game whore? Is this what you do when you leave us?” A look of hurt flashed in her eyes before she covered it up with a mask of disgust.
I felt guilty, but I wasn’t sure why. “This is Abigail,” I introduced. “The realm god.”
Her mouth fell open, then she composed herself, anger trumping her astonishment. “Where’s my brother?” KILLian demanded, sending a frost wave right over Abigail.
To my surprise, I thought I saw her freeze for the slightest of moments, or maybe I had imagined it. With a small movement of Abigail’s hand, KILLian was wrapped up in the same kind of air spell I’d been in earlier.
“When you find him,” Abigail said. “I’ll be right by your side. Not that you ever will. You two don’t have what it takes to get anywhere near the end game on Avarice. To get there, you need money, high-level, end-game gear, and a whole lot of smarts. A trust-fund baby and a Slab City kid aren’t going to be the ones to do it. No one will. That’s the point. There can’t be an end.”
“We’ll get there,” I said. “And when we do, I’ll be calling your name; not to tell you a damn thing, but to end you.”
“Did you not just enjoy our moment? Because it felt like you did.” She laughed. “No matter, I am a realm god, you cannot touch me.”
“You are bound to the same conditions in this game as we are. You can be hurt. Don’t think I didn’t see you freeze when KILLian struck you. If you can be touched by that, we can find a way to beat you.”
“You have no idea who you’re threatening. My power isn’t just confined to this digital realm. I can touch you where it will hurt for real.” Then she disappeared and KILLian fell, landing on her feet.
She stood there with her hands on her hips and a scowl on her face. “Was she really just trying to give you a rub and tug? What kind of god runs this place?” She growled. “Tell me everything she said. What did she want?”
“She wants to know who is behind my disappearances and why. I didn’t tell her anything.”
“That bitch is probably still right here in this room.” KILLian did another frost wave AoE, trying to expose Abigail.
“I’m pretty sure she’s gone,” I said, but did a whirlwind on the bed and got tripped up on a sheet that wrapped around my feet. I jumped out of it and hoped KILLian hadn’t noticed.
“Crap,” KILLian said and slapped her forehead. “The reason I came busting in here. Freaking Gor got arrested and we need to get him out of jail.”
Chapter Thirty-One
KILLian argued with the jail house clerk about the price of releasing Gor. After a while, she gave up and we pooled almost all our money to get him out. We followed a guard down a long hall with metal doors lining both sides. There were no windows or identifications on any of the doors, but the guard stopped at one and put his key into the lock and opened the door.
The dark room looked empty, then Gor came running out with his hands out front and a glazed-over look in his eyes.
“What did you do to him?” I said.
“All prisoners are to spend time in complete darkness and silence,” the guard said. “The sensory deprivation allows them to more properly reflect on the crime they have committed.”
“Gor?” KILLian grabbed ahold of him, but he wasn’t speaking, only looking around as if going through an in-game menu.
“How do we get out of here,” I asked the guard.
“Just down the hall, and they’ll let you exit the side doors.”
I took Gor’s arm, and all but carried him down the hall with KILLian. At the end was a couple of shorter halls with guards. Then we got to the last door and we were in the streets.
“It was so dark in there, just like at freaking Jeffrey’s . . . I thought I could hear him in there with me.”
KILLian stopped and we huddled in a closed circle. “This is important, can you look at me?” KILLian said and Gor met her stare. “Why didn’t you just log out?”
“I wanted to, and I kept going through the menu in my mind, selecting everything I could, but I never hit the log out button. So, I was stuck.”
“I remember the same thing in Jeffrey’s black world, when he blanketed over us, I had to go off memory to get my flashlight.”
“This is kidnapping,” KILLian said. “In either case, they were imprisoning you. You couldn’t leave the game if you wanted to. That is illegal.”
Gor rubbed his face and I thought I saw tears in his eyes. He glanced back at the jail house and the door we came out of.
“Hey, if you need to take a break for a while, or if you want to quit the game, we’d get it,” I said.
“Are you kidding? If anything, this has given me motivation. I’m going to get so powerful I’ll be able to march right in there and go Terminator on their asses.” Gor turned to face the guard at the door we exited. “You hear that?” he screamed. “I’ll be back, bitches! I’ll be back.”
We pulled Gor away from the jailhouse and got him walking down the street. “So, tell us what you’ve done since we left each other,” I said.
“I dropped a quick triple back at the house, then headed back into the game,” Gor started, but was interrupted by KILLian.
“What’s a tri
ple?”
“Shit, piss, and tug. A triple. Come on, that’s a freaking common term.”
“Gross.” KILLian’s face scrunched up.
“Don’t worry, you weren’t in the spank bank. Not this time, anyway.” He gave her a wink and continued when she groaned, “So, as I was saying, I was back here in a few minutes, going nuts trying to imagine how I could earn a thousand bucks. Then it hit me. I could take a short cut. I went to the old lady who sells enchanted cloaks and got her talking about plus stats for warriors. When she went into the back, I busted the register open and took her loot.”
“You got away with it?”
“Are you kidding? That old bag chased me down and must have used a spell on me because I became so weak against her. I swear, she had to be some sort of shape shifter, because it would take a panther to catch me when I’m running. Anyway, she tackled me and held me down until the guards came.”
“An old lady chased you down, then held you until the cops arrived?” I asked.
He rubbed his face as if contemplating whether to tell us or not. “It’s even worse. She used my own hand to hit me. Like I was some little kid brother. A group of those foam sword morons surrounded us and heckled me. I was a spectacle. And to top it off, a Gorgon the Tard chant started.”
“Jeez, man, I’m sorry,” I said and patted him on the back.
“They’re the ones who are going to be sorry. I freaking took down the names of every one of those assholes, and when I am bad ass enough to kill them all, I will not forget this day. I’m going to kill them, their families, their barbers, even the doctors who slapped them will be split in two.”
“I have no doubt you will do all those things, and I think the best thing we can do is get to Spider Island and face the Spider Queen. She’ll drop loot, we’ll earn a lot of XP, and we can keep progressing in this game.”
“I’ve never wanted to grind out a thousand dollars more in my life. I don’t care if I’m cleaning sewers and toilets, I’m going to get to that damn island,” Gor said.
I smiled because his enthusiasm was contagious. I too wanted to get there and would do almost anything to accomplish it. KILLian had the only noble cause between the three of us; she wanted to find a person she loved, her brother. I was in it for the money and probably some revenge. Okay, a lot of revenge. I wanted to smear my success in Trevor’s face. Now Gor had a mission, to kill everyone in the Bryer City Jail house.
“Hey,” some kid called out. “It’s Gorgon the Tard. You get beat up by any more grandmas today?”
The kid laughed with his friend and ran off with their foam swords and shields. Gor had his ax out and we held him back.
“Hey, Bangerz69. I will find you and camp your ass,” Gor said and pried himself loose from us. “I’m going to freaking swim to that island. I can’t wait to be a badass in this game. I want to be a god.”
I stared at the kids and their joke weapons and remembered my idea.
“Guys,” I said. “We’ve been thinking the only way to get money is by questing or looting kills, but this is a different world. We can be our own merchants.”
“Yeah, for a hundred G’s,” Gor said.
“I’m a gold farmer, I know all about supply and demand. If there is a shortage of something, I exploit it and make money. Now, what can you not find in this city, but need?”
“Quests that pay?” KILLian said. “Things are very expensive here and it’s not easy to make money.”
“True, but we can’t change that. What else?”
“Dude, there’s a serious lack of good loot here. I mean, look at those daggers you got. I’d give up my left nut for those, but I’ve never seen another drop like it.”
“Again, something we can’t control. What we’re going to do is create a place where these people,” I gestured to a young man running by with a foam sword and a cardboard shield, “can get real training and we’re going to charge $100 per entry.”
“What?” Gor looked dumbfounded.
“You idiot, don’t you realize what he’s saying?” KILLian said with a big smile. “It’s genius.”
“KILLian, you get a couple of caster trainers, one of the guards should do, or anyone that can train even the most basic of skills. Gor, you do the same with combat specialists, and see if you can’t find a weapon specialist as well. Offer them a hundred dollars at the start, and a hundred upon finish as payment.”
“We don’t have that kind of money,” KILLian said, then whispered. “We spent it on getting Gor out.”
“I know, but we have enough to pay them an upfront fee, and by the end of the day, I think we’ll have a pile of cash.”
“Wait,” Gor said. “You want to start your own training hall, where we offer real training and charge a door fee?”
“Exactly,” I said.
“Keep up, dummy,” KILLian said.
“We’re going to be rich!” Gor said with big eyes. “What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to get a place to hold our training.”
Agreeing to message each other within the hour, we split up. I jogged down the street and headed to Tommy’s Inn. The large man stood behind the bar and gave me an odd look as I rushed up to him.
“I see you got right with the world,” he commented noticing my lack of evil. “You’re no saint, but who is?”
“Yes, and thank you for that quest.”
“And you took his blades.” Tommy pointed at my waist.
“I make the blades, they don’t make me.”
He put his hands up. “No judging here, but you look as if you’re bursting at the seams to say something, so go ahead, spit it out.”
“I need a space large enough to fit a hundred people for a few hours. You know of any?”
“I have a few empty buildings around the city. What are you using it for?”
“I’m starting a business and I just need a local spot for a few hours, I think, or maybe the whole day, if things go slowly.”
Tommy looked impressed. “An entrepreneur. The merchants may get mad.”
“You’re a merchant. Are you mad?”
He winked at me. “Not only am I okay with it, I have just the building for you. Not far from here and completely vacant.”
“Great, how much?”
“Twenty percent of your take.”
I took in a deep breath and tried to show how that was more than I wanted to give up; while in reality, I’d expected to pay fifty. “I don’t want to haggle over a few percentage points, so yes, I’ll give you twenty.” I extended my hand and he shook it. “Do you know anyone who can train a skill?”
“Sure, lots of people.”
“Skills a traveler would find useful in their quest to be awesome?”
He laughed. “I tell you what. I will go and train daggers for you. I want to see this operation for myself. Just make sure the take at the door is accounted for.”
“I would never think of dishonoring you,” I said. “And thank you for helping.”
With the venue settled and location known, I reached out to Gor and KILLian. To no surprise, KILLian had secured three trainers, while Gor was talking with his first.
I texted Gor and told him to get the guy or move on. We’d be starting the announcement soon.
In the next fifteen minutes, Tommy and I reached the location.
KILLian stood next to the door with three people in tow. Each one looked like a badass. She walked up to me with a big smile. “I think this is going to work.”
“Hey, bitches!” Gor yelled from down the street. He walked up with two big guys. One held a sword and the other an ax.
“Okay, great, we’re all here.” I said, drawing everyone in closer.
The next fifteen minutes were spent going over the details of who would do what. Then we went into the building and set up stations around the space. A trainer at each station.
“Okay, I think we’re ready,” I said.
KILLian nodded and started the message that woul
d go out to the rest of the city:
Sick of fake foam swords and plastic rods? Come to 417 Holder Ave. for real lessons, from real trainers. Level your skills and start kicking ass. Cost: $100 per hour.
“Well, let’s hope you get bites,” Tommy said and went to his station.
I worked the door with a guard near me. A few minutes passed and no one showed. I wondered if we should put out another notice on general chat, but then a guy came running down the street, looking at the address numbers until he spotted me.
“You the training center?”
“Yes,” I said. “A hundred bucks, and you can go in.”
“Thank God.” He took out two fifty-dollar bills and handed them to me.
I stepped aside and watched as he went to KILLian’s caster trainer station.
“I’m here for the training,” a woman called out.
“Sure, the fee’s a hundred bucks, and thanks for coming over.”
“Thank you,” she said, and three more came up behind her. Then, down the street, I saw a flood of people jogging and looking at the addresses before spotting me.
“Please, people, form a line against the wall,” I said and many fought like musical chairs to get the best spot against the wall.
Soon, the line stretched longer than I could see, down and around the building. I worked hard to never fill the room, and let people in as others came out. The line waited patiently, and it made me wish I had doubled the price and tripled the size of the venue, but I could do that the next go around.
Six hours later, the line thinned, until I finally cut it off, as I noticed it was only people who were going back in line to get another training session.
I stared at the money on my screen, shocked. I’d never seen that much money in my life. I had $24,000 in my possession. Instructing the guard to stay at the door, I walked in, half believing we’d actually pulled it off, and half believing I was living some sort of dream. If money was this easy to make here, there were no limits in what I could do. The trainer course could be just a first step in a ton of paid for services provided by us. I wasn’t thinking of thousands anymore, but hundreds of thousands, millions even.
