by Edward Brody
“Stable is looking good,” I said.
“She’ll be done early tomorrow morning,” Aaron said. “Since it’s mostly just basic walls, the build time is a lot faster than our houses.”
“Nice.” I walked over to the large area where Jax had cleared several trees. “Get them to start the foundation tomorrow.”
Aaron perked up. “Tomorrow?”
I nodded. “We got over 3,000 gold and some decent loot from the treasure map—lot of gems too. We’ve got enough to pay for a foundation.”
“Hell yes!” Aaron said. He rubbed his fingers against his chin a couple times. “Maybe I should head to Thorpes now and try to catch the builders before they head home.”
“Just wait ‘til tomorrow,” I said. “I know you’re just going to go gamble.”
“Pssht,” Aaron spat, and tossed a dismissive hand. “You don’t know that.”
“I know,” I repeated.
“Maybe I’m just as excited to get this castle started as you are,” Aaron countered. “Or maybe I just want some company tonight. You are Jax have bunk buddies, but the Sizzler’s been sleeping alone. We need more girls in the guild, man! It’s beginning to feel like a sausage factory around here.”
I glanced at Jax, and he shifted uncomfortably at Aaron’s comments.
“Yeah, well you really should really wait ‘til tomorrow,” I insisted. “The sun is almost down, and there could be bandits out there.”
Aaron crossed his arms and snorted.
I reached into my bag and pulled out the mace of crushing that we had looted from the treasure hunt. “Got this for you, Oz.”
I read the stats off to Ozzy as he walked up to me and took the mace from my hands. “Oh shit,” he said. “This is a huge upgrade.”
“Maybe you’ll go 3 and 0 with this,” I said.
“For sure…” he cooed.
“Speaking of,” I continued. “If anyone sees a level 1 mentalism spell, let me know. I looted a levitation scroll, so I really need to level up that branch.”
“What?!” Aaron snapped. “Levitation? Like, a flying spell?”
I nodded.
“You didn’t even tell me you learned mentalism,” Aaron sneered.
“I learned it in the Sands. I didn’t think to tell you, since I haven’t gotten anywhere with it yet.”
“Damn, dude,” Aaron said. “You’re killin’ it.” He leaned forward like he was looking behind me. “Nice hood by the way. Just be sure that people don’t mistake you for an orc.”
I smiled. “Got this from the treasure hunt too. And it’s just a classy fur hood, not a full set of orc gear like a certain idiot decided to wear.”
Aaron smiled, but then he tilted his head as if he had changed thoughts. “And schematics? Please tell me you found me some sick item recipes for me to make.”
“No schematics,” I said. “But we did get the Bloodmoss for the Bloodthirsty Blade.”
“Nice,” Aaron said. “What about the Heaven’s Shroom?”
“Give us time,” I said as I lowered my hand a couple times. “Gotta take things one step at a time.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Aaron resolved.
I turned to Jeremy. “Let me show you around.”
I gave Jeremy a general rundown of our village, showing him the sleeping quarters where he would stay, the sparring area, my home, Aaron’s home, and told him the plans for the stable and the castle. As we walked towards the shop, I gave him a brief history of how we opened it and our relationship with the dark elves. When I pushed open the door, Gerard tensed up.
“Hey,” Gerard said loudly. “It’s that guy!”
I slapped my hand on Jeremy’s back a couple times. “So, you remember him?”
“I remember every customer,” Gerard said, “and every thief.” He snarled.
“So then, I guess you have your first proof that Reborns exist.” I grinned widely.
Gerard shuffled and scrunched his brow as if he were thinking hard, but then his face went soft. “Well, yeah. I guess I have to believe it after seeing him die,” he said as he looked at Jeremy, “unless you’re some sort of shapeshifter.”
“Sorry about the other day,” Jeremy said.
“He’s part of the guild now,” I explained.
“What!?” Gerard shouted. “He threw his arms down and leaned over the counter. “You let this guy join the guild after attacking us!?”
“He saved us while we were adventuring in Nestle Rock,” I explained.
“But he killed several of our customers, and he attempted to steal from us!”
I had to admit, I felt a little less like a jerk knowing that at least one other guild mate was as highly reluctant to let Jeremy join as I was.
I glanced at Jeremy, who was obviously feeling uncomfortable. “Yeah, but he’s promised to change his ways.”
“That’s what they all say,” Gerard hissed. “Reborn or not, thieves get caught and then when faced with punishment, they say they’ll change. But as soon as they get comfortable, they go right back to causing trouble.”
Jeremy held up his hands and took a step back. “Really, man. I’m really sorry. I was new and naive. I’m a team player from now on.”
Gerard wrapped his arms hard against his chest. “I like you, Gunnar, but I don’t understand this odd decision.” He shook his head slowly. “But Unity has been doing things a little differently than I’d expect. I mean, we have dark elves working with a village consisting primarily of humans. Who’d ever think that would happen? I’ll welcome Mr. Jeremy over there with open arms, but if he tries to steal from our shop again or does anything that would negatively affect our guild or property, I’ll kill him personally.”
I smiled. “I’d expect nothing less of you, Gerard.” I turned to Jeremy. “Any gold or items that you find and are willing to donate, give them to Gerard. For now, if you need any substantial money or items from the shop, talk to me. Once you’ve been with us a while, you’re free to take whatever you need.”
“Thanks, dude,” Jeremy said.
“The only other instructions you have is to not get too complacent. Stay busy doing quests or grinding—whatever you can do to level up. We don’t know when, but there could be a war coming to these parts soon, and we need to be as strong as possible when that happens.”
“A war?” Jeremy asked.
“Yeah, it’s a long story. I’ll tell you about it later. Or there could be an attack from bandits or any other people who might take aim at our guild. We need to be prepared for whatever happens.”
“Understood, boss,” Jeremy said. “Are you going to go on any other quests tomorrow?”
I paused and thought about my plans for the next day. “I think I might head to Highcastle and compete in the Arena with Oz. It’s pretty good gold and XP if we win, and I can always find some mobs to grind on the way back.”
“Okay,” Jeremy said. “I’m a little too low to compete in the Arena myself, so I’ll try to find something else to do.”
“Group up with some of the others,” I said. “And if you can, try to get Aaron to go out with you. He needs to get a few more levels under his belt. Whatever you do, just have fun.”
“Sounds good to me,” Jeremy said.
I scanned Jeremy up and down and slowly moved my fist out in front of him. I still had my reservations, but I was beginning to trust him the more I hung around him.
He smiled and bumped my fist.
“Any mentalism spells in the shop somewhere?” I asked Gerard.
“Afraid not.”
I dropped off the rapier, gold, and gems that we had looted from the treasure chest with Gerard, and grabbed the six red and blue inscription powders that had been traded or sold to the shop.
I left Gerard and Jeremy to their own devices and headed back to my home. Once inside, I took a deep breath, scooted my crate beside the bed and sat down. I flipped open the lid and rummaged through the items that were inside, grabbing all the blank runestones that I had skimme
d from the shop since its opening.
I noticed the runestone to the Vale and the Sands, and I had a strong urge to recall to the Mist Vale Village. The last time I was there, I was still shaken by my time in the Sands and sort of left things off with Adeelee on a bad note. Stopping by to say ‘hi’ and have an elven pie with her might be nice, and I wanted to see what it felt to be around her again, now that Keysia was sort of in the picture.
I didn’t know which elf I liked more… Keysia or Adeelee. Psht… I snickered at the thought. I couldn’t believe it was possible to actually have emotions for elves—elven NPCs even. If someone had told me that a month prior, I would’ve laughed in their face.
In the corner of my crate was a lockpick, and I smiled when I saw it. It was the lockpick I used to unlock the door in my escape from the Sands, and I promised myself I would keep it for good luck. I reached behind me and plucked a few strands of fur from my hood and tied them together to form a long, furry string. I looped the string around the lockpick, kissed it, and hung it from a nail on the wall that had been left over from when my home was being used as a shop.
There was also the Dexterous Band that I noticed buried under my box of items. I had looted it a long time ago but never equipped it as I had been training magic at the time, but the +8 dexterity that it offered was too much to pass up. It was a hard call, but I decided to replace my Arcane Amplification Ring that gave me a 10% damage boost with Arcane Magic with the band. Combined with my Heritage Armor, the dexterous band just felt better.
I deposited the levitation scroll and other items that were in my bag that I wouldn’t be using any time soon, grabbed my chisel and started working on my inscription—something I hadn’t done since returning from the Sands.
I worked on inscription, sparred a little with the guild, and took some time to just chat and hang out with the gang for the rest of the night. It had been a good day with a successful treasure hunt, great loot, and we’d even added another Reborn to the guild. I didn’t want to push myself too hard.
Two great days in a row. I was so glad to be back in Edgewood.
I wanted to take a trip to Dragons’ Crest to get the last component for the Bloodthirsty Blade—Heaven’s Shroom—but after talking to the cartographer, I felt walking too close to a dragon’s den might be a little too dangerous at my level. Besides, I was closing in on level 20 and wouldn’t be able to fight in tier 1 of the Arena if I gained too much experience.
While I still had little hope of beating Meijir, it would be a good idea to fight a few more fights in tier one to suck up XP and gain some gold while I was nearing the maximum level of the bracket.
Two or three fights won’t hurt, I thought. Besides, I didn’t want to be outdone by Ozzy.
I’d take a few days off to fight in the Arena and do some basic questing and grinding, and once I hit level 21, I’d gather my guild and take a trip to Dragon’s Crest to look for the shroom. Seemed like a logical plan.
Chapter Twenty-Two
1/29/0001
Over the next two days, the stable had been completed and work began on the castle foundation.
Ozzy and I visited Highcastle and fought in the Arena once each day. We both won our fights, bringing my record to 3 and 0, and bringing Ozzy’s record to 4 and 0.
My first fight was with a pure mage who specialized in water magic. He had several tricks up his sleeve, like summoning a wall of ice around me and creating some sort of strange chilling effect that slowed my movement down by 30%. But, I used my Fireblasts to break through his wall, and when he had me down below 40% health, Boiling Blood nullified his slowing spell.
I was eventually able close in on him and use physical attacks to quickly dispatch him.
I got a reward of 550 gold for the fight.
The second fight was with a guy who had the title of ‘Ranger’. He was level 20 and my toughest opponent thus far. During our battle, he did his best to maintain his distance and fire arrow after arrow at me, and even summoned a large hunting dog that attacked me at the same time. But my magic proved too strong for the dog, and once I had dispatched his pet, we engaged in a hard-fought hand-to-hand battle. The fight was evenly matched until I landed a dirty blow below the belt and dispatch him with a hard slice of my sword while he was stunned.
That fight netted 600 gold.
With each fight, it seemed like Ozzy and I were getting more applause from the audience, more cheers, and thus, the Arena awarded us more money.
After each fight, Ozzy headed over to the barracks to train with the Fighter’s Faction, and I headed out to gain some additional XP on my own.
On the first day, I was randomly approached by a woman as I was leaving Inner Highcastle, who asked me if I’d accompany to her home to help with an infestation problem. I was hesitant to help, as the first time I had been approached for that kind of assistance, I was lured inside a house only to get attacked by Satorin. But she was a Freelander who was just visiting Highcastle to see the show, and she assured me that the infestation was actually outside her home, so I wouldn’t have to go inside any closed doors. It seemed like a good chance to explore the Freelands a bit more and gain some experience.
I followed her to her home, only a 10-minute ride from Highcastle, where a small, brown mountain seemed to be growing thirty or so meters from her front door. All around the landmark were deep indentations in the ground and areas where the grass just seemed to be uneven and sinking. At first glance, the mountain appeared to be a natural rock formation and the deep indentations looked as if something heavy had passed by, but she informed me that the formation was a nest of hardened dirt and there were giant mole-like creatures known as ‘borats’ that were creating a network of holes in the ground. She was worried they would tunnel under her home and cause it to collapse.
I accepted her quest to kill the borats, and I used time on both days to scare the borats out of their holes with fire magic and killed each one after they emerged. I must have killed at least 20 of the large, wolf-sized rodents before I got a notice that I had completed the quest and collected a 300-gold reward.
With each borat ranging anywhere from level 12 to level 16 they gave me a surprisingly low 300 XP each, plus the 1000 XP to complete the quest. The XP was okay. But, when considering the amount of time I spent to finish, 300 gold seemed cheap—especially when I could earn 600 gold for a fifteen minute fight in the Arena.
On the third morning after returning from Nestle Rock, I watched as several builders continued their work on the foundation. They dug a massive, square hole in the ground that was around 3,000 square feet wide, filling almost the entire clearance that Jax had created. It wouldn’t be the largest castle to start, but even if we built only on top of the starting foundation, four levels of rooms would give us a 12,000 square foot castle, which was more than enough for our guild.
Ideally, I wanted to build high, rather than wide, so that we could station archers at the castle’s peak and build protective walls or a moat around the castle. I wasn’t sure how it would turn out in the end, but that seemed like the logical way to proceed.
I leaned against a tree and watched as the builders poured buckets and buckets of tiny gravel into the hole, leveled it, and pack the pieces tightly together.
The air was growing even colder outside, and I pulled my hood over my head to shield myself from the chill. Though the cold wasn’t having any profound effects on me, it was annoying nonetheless.
“Well, you’re doing what you said you would, man,” Aaron said as he approached me from behind. “Building the castle and all.”
“We’re building the castle,” I corrected.
He turned around and looked at the five buildings that we had already built in Edgewood—three homes, a shop, and a stable. “Can you believe how much this place has changed? This used to be a tiny clearing and some trees. And now we’re going to have a castle?”
“We’ve made a lot of progress, for sure,” I said, “but it’ll be a while before
this foundation looks anything like a castle. We’ll need gold. Lots of it.”
“We’ll get there, man,” Aaron said. “So long as everyone keeps contributing. We’ve got enough in the treasury for another house now if we want.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Oh really? I haven’t checked financials with Gerard in a couple days.”
“Yeah, more than enough,” Aaron said. “All those gems you brought back from Nestle Rock are still sitting in the shop too. Once we sell those, that’s more cash.”
“Hmm,” I cooed. “I’ll take the gems with me to Highcastle today and sell them.”
“So you’re going to fight again today?” Aaron asked.
I shrugged. “Why not? The gold and XP is too good, and Ozzy has more wins than me. I figure he’ll end up fighting that Meijir freak before I have to unless he hits level 21 first. If I can win another couple fights, it’ll be worth it.”
“So you’ve given up on meeting the King?” Aaron asked.
I shook my head. “Not totally. My Ravager’s Hood and Dexterous Band are giving me some good dexterity gains, and if I can get that Heaven’s Shroom, the bloodthirsty blade will increase my damage output a lot. I feel a bit faster than before, and if Jeremy will loan me his shoes, that might give me the edge I need to keep up with Meijir’s speed.”
Aaron turned around where Jeremy was sparring with Jax, Ozzy, and Donovan. “Speaking of Jeremy, he seems to be getting along well.”
“Yeah, hasn’t robbed or killed anyone yet. Looks like he turned out to be a decent guy after all.”
Aaron chuckled. “What about you and Keysia? Anything new there? Been sneaking her into your house now that you’ve got a place all to yourself?”
I shook my head. “Nothing’s happened beyond that one night. We really haven’t spent any time alone.”
Aaron snapped his lips. “Rina and Jax have.”
