by L. R. Wolf
Chapter 35: Dreamers Unleashed
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Aya was startled awake to the sound of horns blaring and a notification flashing in her vision. She opened it, a man’s face appeared above the notification, she recognized him as Jason the CTO of Dreamscapes. His voice filled her ears as he began to read the notification in his strong baritone voice.
Greetings once more Dreamers! I am Jason Reese the CTO of Dreamscapes Technologies! It is with great pride that I announce that both the Dreamscape servers and Infinity are once again open! We here at Dreamscape Technologies deeply apologize for the outage of Dreamscape services. As an apology, every Dreamer affected by this outage will receive a two week free pass of any and all Dreamscape services! Also, each Dreamer within Infinity will be able to choose two epic items from a list that will be made available in your mail as well as a free pet and mount available from the in game Marketplace. Also, as an added bonus, both mercenaries and bodyguards are waiving their fees and loot shares for the next month! Go forth, Dreamers and WELCOME BACK TO INFINITY!
Jason’s face disappeared once he had finished reading the notification aloud. Aya sighed and sat up rubbing the sleep from her eyes. A few hours ago, she had bid farewell to the last of her family, but now that the Dreamscape was once again up and open she knew she would be seeing more of some of them. She had added everyone to her friends list to keep track of when they were on. She already knew certain family members wouldn’t be back to see her for awhile, if ever unless they needed or wanted something from her within Infinity. She looked around the tent she shared with Elohwa. Her Companion was sitting at the small table in the middle of the tent. She had been in the process of eating one of the hearty meals provided by the kitchen when she had received her own message.
Elohwa dismissed the notification, her eyes travelling over to Aya. Both women knew that Aya wouldn’t be nearly as strong as she had been before. Her power was going to be cut drastically and the uber luck buff she had been blessed with for the past week was likely gone. They would have to be more careful in the world now. Elohwa gestured to the seat across from her where she had already prepared a hearty meal for Aya. A mug of something hot sat by the plate.
Aya, having never been a morning person, stumbled off the cot and over to the plate of food. She picked up the mug and sniffed at it, her eyebrows rising in surprise. “Is this….cocoa??” So far she hadn’t seen any sign that there was cocoa much less chocolate in the world, to have one of her favorite drinks sitting in front of her meant someone had to have messed with some programming. “How did you...where did you get this?”
Elohwa lowered the peach she was about to bite into as she watched the joy on Aya’s face as she sipped at the strange concoction she called cocoa. “I asked Voksil if there were any foods or drinks that you particularly enjoyed and he mentioned this. Admittedly, I had to go to Brackerd about it. He was able to create some especially for you. Is it right?”
Aya sighed happily as she sipped at it again. “It’s actually better to have this when it’s super cold outside, but I haven’t had this in forever so right now it’s absolutely perfect!!” She took another sip before she looked up to see Elohwa staring at her. “Oh, I’m sorry, do you want some?” She extended the mug out towards Elohwa.
Elohwa took the mug, the heat warming her hands. She had never had this thing called cocoa before, but it had smelled good when Brackerd had given it to her. She sniffed at it again before taking a small sip. The hot liquid burned her tongue, but the flavor was incredible. She had never had anything like this before. She took a few more sips before she remembered it wasn’t her drink. She looked up at Aya who was silently laughing behind her hands. She could feel her cheeks turning red in embarrassment at hoarding the cocoa. She passed it back across to Aya. “I am so very sorry, it really is very good!”
Aya giggled. “No that’s ok. It looked like you enjoyed it so you can have the rest. I’m sure I can get Brackerd to make us some more later.”
Elohwa smiled as she closed her eyes and enjoyed the hot beverage. She knew that Aya was right and that this would be a wonderful drink to have on cold days. She filed it away for later. “With other Dreamers coming back into the world, what should we do? Shall we go through our loot?”
Aya pulled at her bottom lip in thought, she pulled the Book of Treasures out of her bag. Every time they had used a page to teleport to a chest the page would eventually reappear once the chest itself respawned. The pages were once again filling the pages. “We could probably go and get some more chests. Dreamers were only here for two days before the servers came down so I would guess that no one is even close to being able to even get to the raid area much less kill anything within them to get to the chests.”
“Perhaps we should ask Brackerd? He might know if it is safe to do so. Any more chests that we can get would help the city a great deal.” Elohwa slowly sipped on the quickly cooling cocoa as she savored every drop.
“Good idea.” Aya opened a message to Brackerd.
Private Message to Brackerd- “Now that the game is back online, do you think we could still go after the chests with the Treasure Book? Or should we stop? Just don’t want to get banned or something.”
A few moments later he responded.
Private Message to Aya- “Mind if I pop into your tent real fast?”
Aya shrugged as if to say I don’t care until she remembered that he couldn’t see the gesture.
Private Message to Brackerd- “Sure go ahead. We’re all decent in here.”
Within seconds Brackerd appeared in the tent. Elohwa was startled enough to reach for her Twin Blades before she realized who it was.
“Hello, ladies!” Brackerd sat in one of the unoccupied seats at the table. He noticed Elohwa was nursing the mug of cocoa that he had made for Aya. With a grin, he reached into his bag and pulled out two more mugs and a giant waterskin. He poured something into both mugs, steam wafted up from within the containers. He held the waterskin out to Elohwa who took it and sniffed at it. The sweet smell of cocoa hit her nose and she gratefully refilled her mug. Brackerd laughed deeply as Elohwa was hesitant to pass the waterskin back to him. “It would appear we have managed to make your companion a chocoholic!”
Elohwa didn’t know what it was that Brackerd had just called her but she didn’t much care as she held the mug up to her mouth and closed her eyes.
“Ok, so to the matter at hand.” Brackerd took a sip from his mug before continuing. “You can continue to use the Treasure Book so long as there is no one close enough to go on the raids to get the chests. If I had to guess it should take at least a few months before that happens, though I fear I can only give you two more charges of maps so as not to give you too much of an advantage and I’m only giving you two extra days of chests because I know that you’re both probably going to dump everything you can into rebuilding Eventide Falls. Am I right?”
Both women nodded. Elohwa had already dumped all of the coins she had obtained from the chests into the city treasury bringing it to just over a hundred thousand platinum. To many that would seem like an absolute fortune, but she and Va'lore had both been planning out the city. To build even a fraction of what had been there previously would cost well over a million platinum. They had been fortunate that the vault had contained the amount that it had which had allowed them to easily purchase the buildings that could harvest materials and food as well as the workforces required for them.
“Thanks, Brack. We really do appreciate everything. And thank you again for what you did for my family. Everyone seemed to enjoy it.” Aya knew she couldn’t have done a better job than what Brackerd had done.
“It was truly my pleasure. It seems I need to make you two an endless cocoa spewing water skin, hmm?” Brackerd said it as a joke, but the hopeful look that suddenly lit up the women’s faces turned it from the joke he meant it to be into a reality. “Well then! I will get right on that!” He couldn’t help but laugh.
Brackerd
stayed a few extra minutes just enjoying the women’s company as they silently sipped on their hot cocoa. “Ok, ladies, I should get going. It’s going to be a big day!” He knew what was in store for them, but he didn’t want to ruin the surprise. He rose to his feet and was about to take his leave when he stopped and waved his hand, a brown waterskin appearing in his hand. “Before I go, I will leave this here with you two since you seem to enjoy it so much.” He placed the waterskin on the table before he disappeared. Both women immediately examined the item he had placed before them.
Brackerd’s Magical Endless Cocoa Fountain. This Waterskin has been modified to produce an endless supply of chocolatey goodness. Great for cold weather!
Both women laughed, before Aya grabbed the skin and refilled their mugs once again. The two sat in silence, smiles lighting their faces as they just relaxed and enjoyed the drink.
****
The rest of the day was spent gathering the Ancient Chests. Elohwa’s trap disarm skill was still climbing and she was able to disarm the traps surrounding the Ancient Chests faster and faster. They had gathered all of the Ancient Chests in record time. The women returned to their tent and changed out of their armor. It was still a few hours before Voksil would arrive with the kids to follow soon after as well as any other family member who wanted to visit now that Infinity was back online.
“Shall we check the loot we have been receiving from the chests?” Elohwa summoned Thorn forth so that they would be able to check the bags they had given to him.
Aya perked up at the mention of loot. They had been so busy and distracted that they hadn’t been bothering to go through the loot they’d been shoving in their bags from the Ancient Chests they were able to open. “Well, hell yes! Let’s take a seat and get some food and something to drink while we do that.”
Elohwa nodded and pulled out one of the hearty meals they had grabbed from the kitchen, unwrapped it and spread it out before her. She then pulled a wooden mug from her bag and poured some herbal tea from a special waterskin. She held out the waterskin to Aya. “It is a special blend of herbal tea. Would you like some?”
Aya reached across the table and took the skin filling her own mug with tea and handing the skin back to Elohwa. She took a sip of the fragrant tea before taking a longer drink and quickly emptying her mug. “Wow, that’s incredible. Umm, mind if I have some more?
Elohwa laughed her musical laugh as she lifted the skin to refill the Dreamer’s mug before settling back into her seat and opening her inventory screen.
Aya took another sip of tea before she pulled out her own hearty meal and unwrapped it. She grabbed a strip of still warm seasoned meat. She took a bite, the meat was perfectly cooked and perfectly seasoned and just melted in her mouth. She, too, opened her inventory to go through it.
The stacks of gems they had been hoarding had grown exponentially. A few ultra rare gems took up new inventory spaces at the top. Most of the weapons and armor loot they had received were of epic quality denoted by a purple glow surrounding the item. Aya picked out the strength based items and set them on a nearby cot to give Voksil later. Anything with dexterity she gave to Thorn to put into Elohwa’s pouch at his waist. She was almost done going through the items when one in particular caught her attention. One of the epic items was a permanent pet enhancement.
Deadly Poison Enhancement (Summoned pets)-Epic-This Enhancement will permanently infuse a summoned pet with the ability to inflict deadly poison upon the enemy. Poison scales with the power of the pets Master. Base damage 100 dmg per tick for 10 ticks. This enhancement also increases the armor and strength of the summoned pet. +150 Armor +50 Str.
Aya grinned as she took it from her bag and handed it to Thorn. He tilted his head quizzically.
“This is for you. It’s a permanent poison enhancement so you don’t have to keep guzzling poison potions.”
Thorns eyes grew wider as he examined the item before he held it to his chest, vines snaked out and wrapped around the enhancement before pulling it back into his chest where his heart would be. He bobbed his head in thanks before he flicked his thorns out to test his new equipment. They could see tiny drops of poison dripping from the tips of the needles. Thorn, happy with his new toy, sheathed the thorns so as not to accidentally graze Aya.
Aya went back to sorting through her inventory. She was able to add a few more rings to her fingers as well as a necklace and a bracelet for her wrist. None of the armor she saw was better than the armor that Elohwa had made for her so she set that aside to sell on the auction house for city funds. Some of the chests had contained rare recipes and schematics for a wide variety of the tradeskills. None of which she had picked up quite yet. Those she set aside for Elohwa who she knew was incredibly proficient with most of the crafting tradeskills. She was so engrossed in sorting her inventory that she didn’t even realize her internal alarm was going off warning her that Voksil would be there soon.
Elohwa gently kicked Aya’s leg to get her attention.
“Ow, hey! What….” Aya trailed off as she suddenly heard the alarm going off. “Oh thanks.” Aya rose from the chair and stretched a bit. While she had been sorting her inventory she had ended up eating everything in the Hearty Meal bundle. She ducked out of the tent just in time to see Voksil appear nearby. “VOKSIL!” He turned to see his wife motioning him over to the tent.
“Hello, dear. Jean and Donald will probably be here in an hour or so.” Voksil ducked into the tent before Aya redirected his attention to one of the empty cots that was beginning to sag under the weight of the loot that both Aya and Elohwa had placed on it for him. “Is that for me?”
Elohwa nodded as Aya enthusiastically added, “Yup! All yours, BUT!”
“But? But what??” Voksil raised an eyebrow as his hand hovered just above the Sword of Living Flame as he was about to take it.
“You can NOT put any of it on until you’ve picked out a vanity set, vanity jewelry and the anonymous item from the Marketplace. Otherwise, we’ll raise too many questions with other Dreamers.” Aya and Elohwa both were wearing vanity items that Aya had obtained from the Marketplace. She hadn’t even known Elohwa could wear vanity items, but she had noticed some vanity items specifically tailored for Companions. “Also, before I forget, if you give Thorn one of your old bags then he can resupply you through it and you can access it from your own inventory.
“Oh, okay.” Voksil reached into his satchel and pulled out his starter bag to give to Thorn, who placed it at his waist and added it to the two other bags there. Voksil then opened the marketplace in his interface. He thought of the anonymity item and it popped up in a window. He confirmed the purchase quickly and then immediately used the item that appeared in his inventory before going to the vanity items. Even though everything in the store was absolutely free for them due to Aya’s circumstances, he still bought the cheapest vanity sets. A Simple Silver vanity jewelry set and a Noble Armor vanity set. He managed to get the vanity items equipped in their proper slots right as another alarm went off for the two letting them know the children had arrived. With smiles, the three ducked out of the tent to go see the children and other family members who might have arrived. Thorn stayed behind and gathered Voksil’s loot, putting it within Voksil’s private bag that hung on the vines at his waist.
***
Aya’s mom and brother had returned as well as Voksil’s parents and sister. The group arriving shortly before the children did. The next hour, the adults smiled and laughed as Aya and Voksil’s two children played with their cousin who had been brought along. Once the kids were gone for the night, the rest of the family stayed a short while longer before they started on their own adventures in the Dreamscape.
“Thinking tomorrow we should get you out of here and take our own vacation somewhere.” Voksil opened his inventory once more and went straight to the bag that Thorn wore. He began putting on his armor, slinging the massive Unique sword across his back just as more horns blared and drums clashed immediately grabb
ing everyone's attention. A new notification popped up in their vision. Once again Jason Reese’s face and voice appeared in a short video.
GREETINGS DREAMERS! We have an important announcement! Our first ever Unique event will be starting in exactly 2 hours! This is a once in a lifetime event as it will never again be seen upon its completion. The event will take place in and around each race's starting area and will consist of twenty four waves with each wave coming an hour after the first for twenty four hours total. This event will forever change the world of Infinity! Should you allow the village to fall, it will forever be wiped from the map! Everyone who participates will be awarded the Accolade-Village Defender! Gather your friends and family! Gather your courage! Defend those who cannot defend themselves!
Thorn, not understanding what was happening shuffled his vines around while the three humanoids looked to one another, startled at the announcement. The world was about to change forever, and they would get to be part of it.
Chapter 36: Mass Exodus
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The first Unique Event was about to take place. The villages, where each race had started, would come under attack for the next twenty four hours. If a village were to fall, it would be gone for good. It was the Dreamer’s job to defend these villages against what was to come. Most people just used their recall to return to the village that they had started in. Since Aya and Voksil had spawned in two different locations, they would have to choose one or the other to try and save.
“Which starter area should we go to? I like the elven area, but I don’t want to leave the human area high and dry considering Trav is there and he’s the one that taught me my first spells for free.” Aya would never forget how much Trav had helped her even though he likely had no idea that the knowledge he had passed on to her had been instrumental in their survival thus far.
Voksil was finishing up equipping all of the gear that his wife and her Companion Elohwa had gathered for him. The Noble Plate armor Voksil had chosen appeared to be just regular silver plate, but each edge and joint had a thin band of gold to break up the silver. This particular vanity set was one of the cheaper ones. There really wasn’t much to it compared to some of the other vanity sets that were much more detailed and elaborate. The set he had chosen included a large two handed bastard sword. The only thing special about the sword was that the blade glowed with a golden hue when it was unsheathed. A very far cry from his actual weapon, the Sword of Living Flame. He had grabbed the first thing he had seen and thrown it into the appearance slots on his character tab with the intent of taking the time later to look at the other sets.
