by Jason Cheek
“And a beer.” Tinyr sighed. “So let’s get moving. The sooner we finish this up, the sooner we can start drinking.”
“Oh, before I forget. You need to update our maps with the location of your town.” Sarka said turning around before she’d taken three steps.
“Maps? You guys have maps?” I asked in surprise.
“Yun, that’s your guys’ second job,” Sarka said, shaking her head. Taking the list of gear I was looking to purchase, she ran off with Unalia to tow.
“Really, dude?” Tinyr said, giving me a disappointed look. Taking the list I’d prepared, he ran off in another direction.
Seeing Yun’s shaking head, I looked at him incredulously. “Whatttt?” We were turning around to head down the street to the nearest General Store when the door to the administrative building slid open to the shouts of anger.
“Where the hell is all of the boss quests we were supposed to get?” A man’s voice complained loudly.
“Yea, Julia said her group had five quests for the dungeon, not just three. What the hell is this raid level escort quest into the mine about? It even has a time limit” A familiar female voice groused in irritation. “This is bullshit. Freaking buggy ass game, I’m sending in an admin ticket.”
There were some more angry comments as more and more players standing in line got into the discussion. Bumping Yun’s shoulder to get his attention, I silently gave him a wide-eyed look as I crooked my head in the direction of the shops. Giving the angry players one last look, he nodded for me to continue as we took off down the street. As soon as we got out of range of the growing mob, I met Yun’s eyes as he spoke softly.
“Did we do that? Did we invalidate everyone’s boss quests for the mine?”
“Looks that way,” I answered, frowning thoughtfully. “That would explain why none of the Valkyrie players had the Slave Master armor.”
“Does that mean the dungeon has been permanently cleared?” Yun asked in confusion.
“No clue, man.” I shrugged. “It sounds like they still have the kill quest for Goblins and Kobolds. From what I’ve read on the forums, the game developers wanted to make the environment permanently alterable by the player base. So the question to me is: Does that mean it takes a couple of days for new bosses to appear in the dungeon, or is there a time limit for the Delonshire guards to take the dungeon back from the Goblin invaders once the War Leader is defeated?”
“So, you mean there is an additional quest we could have grabbed?” Yun asked thoughtfully. “That makes sense in a way.”
“You guys are heading back tomorrow. Why not swing by the admin office before you head out with the Valkyrie players to see if there are any new raid escort quests available?” I asked. “If there is, it could be something like the survivor rescue quest. That could be pretty badass.”
“Oof,” Yun exhaled deeply “Yea, I think we’d want you in the team if we’re going to do some crazy shit like that again.”
“Oh yeah, have fun with that tomorrow, man,” I said, laughing out loud at the unhappy look on Yun’s face. “You can let me know how that went the next time we meet up.”
With that, we got moving. I was curious about the change in the quests with the dungeon but not curious enough to wait in line again. Honestly, I had other things to worry about for right now. Surprisingly enough, we got everything knocked out on my to-do list, including swinging by the Explorer’s Guild to get my cartography skill. I also ended up spending a bit more money on getting maps for the Light Elf areas around Delonshire which Yun and I managed to finish up within the required timeframe that the girls had set.
We were actually on our way to the Inn when Tinyr and Sarka messaged saying that they’d managed to get everything on their lists and were on their way, so I was feeling pretty good when we pulled up in front of the Inn. Yun stayed down with the sleigh as I ran up to my room for the last of my gear when I nervously stopped before my door with my hand on the latch. The horrid, growling, shredding noises coming from within made my blood turn cold. Drawing my Brutal Skullsplitter blade, I shouldered the door open and stepped into the room prepared to fight.
For a long second, I couldn’t see anything through the cloud of feathers floating in the air, but slowly I made out the form of Neysa’s silvery shape. The Direwolf whelp was standing in the center of the room. Her intelligent, brown eyes sparkled as she watched me expectantly. Feathers were stuck to the fur around her muzzle and scattered across the entire room were the shredded remains of the mattress and chunks of the wooden bed frame. Even the drapes had been torn down from the windows and shredded. The only items not completely destroyed, I realized as my eyes took in the entire room, was the packs of supplies that I’d prepared ahead of time for my NPCs.
I wanted to be angry with the little shit for possibly causing me trouble with my reputation with the town. Neysa hurriedly padded over to me as I squatted down to discipline her for destroying the room, but one look at her cute, furry face, and I felt my anger instantly disappear as she stood up on her hind legs to happily lick my face in welcome. Ruffling her soft silver fur, I hugged the little bitch to my chest as she began to whine and yip excitedly. Holding her back to look her over, I cooed at her lovingly in a baby voice.
“Who’s my rotten little girl?” Still speaking in my baby voice, I held the Silver Dire Wolf up to look her over. She’d noticeably grown much bigger in the short amount of time I’d been away. She was now almost the same size as the wolves I’d fought against my first night in the forest. Looking into her eyes as I ruffled her fur, I continued talking to the little wolf.
“Listen, I know you don’t like being left alone, but today’s adventure was just too dangerous.” Tilting her head to the side like she could understand my words, Neysa whine-spoke to me as she gently pawed at my face. “Yea, I know you don’t like it when I leave you behind, but soon you’ll be with me whenever I head out. I promise. But, on those times that I can’t take you with me, you need to be a good girl and not eat our room.” I chided with a soft rebuke.
The look Neysa gave made left me anything but confident that she wouldn’t do this again if she didn’t get her way. ‘Freaking just like a woman.’ I sarcastically thought with a mental laugh.
“Come on, let’s go. We don’t want to keep Uncle Yun waiting.” I said, this time sighing out loud. Ruffling the little wolf’s fur one last time, I hurriedly gathered up the bags of equipment and supplies before heading out the door with Neysa following quick on my heels.
I went ahead and paid for the room’s damages before I left. Nettya, the NPC wench that was watching the busy bar, was nice enough about it all with my increased reputation and high charisma, but the room’s destruction still cost me two gold pieces. I tipped the comely woman an extra silver in thanks and headed out the door with Neysa in tow.
The tables we were meeting everyone for dinner was right in front of the Inn, so luckily we didn’t need to go far. As soon as I looked out across the field of tables, I saw the Valkyrie players already drinking it up. They’d taken over three tables in the center of the field of tables. As we approached, tables raised a boisterous toast to Sarka and Unalia who’d just walked up ahead of us. Tinyr was already there with a large mug of beer that reminded me of something a German beer hall would hand out for Oktoberfest. As soon as we walked up from the other side of the field, everyone gave another cheer of welcome as the waitress set down four more mugs of rich dark beer.
“Star’s buying!” Tinyr shouted out happily as he threw down a few silvers on the waitress’s tray. Obviously, leftover money from my purchases from earlier. Another ragged cheer rang out from the inebriated Valkyrie players as I shook my head at the little thief and laughed.
Still, I couldn’t help but join in on the cheerful mood as Sarka handed us both a beer and gave her man a hard peck on the lips as I began packing up the gear that everyone had bought onto my sleigh. As Neysa raced around the tables excitedly checking out the new smells, I finished up my packing just as four
waitresses plopped down several steaming platters of sausages, rotisserie chickens and a few massive bowls of baby rosemary potatoes.
I quickly sat down at the table and got busy. I’d forgotten how hungry I was until I’d smelled the food. There were no knives and forks, just large pewter platters and oversized earthen clay steins filled with ale. People just ate with their hands. It reminded me of eating at one of the Medieval Times Dinner and Live Shows combined into a mini Oktoberfest. Grease ran down my chin and covered my hands as I dug into the food and guzzled ale, while everyone talked excitedly about their dungeon dives.
It was raw and fun. No one worried about germs or dirt inside the video game. Neysa was incorrigible as she begged or stole tidbits off the table and from people’s plates when they weren’t looking. The Valkyrie players just laughed and played along with the Silver Direwolf pup without complaint, laughing at whoever had their food stolen from the little thief as she danced around the perimeter of the tables like a little predator. I was well into my second ale when the extra table we’d been using for the empty platters of food was suddenly flipped over onto its side with a loud crash.
“You guys are fucking dead!”
The abrupt noise whipped my head up as I sprang to my feet ready to fight. Everyone around me hurriedly shot to their feet with their hands on the hilt of their blades as my eyes settled on the group of sixty or so players that were gathering around us menacingly with their iron blades already bare. Our waitress screamed and took off running for the main building as most of the players eating at the nearby tables backed away quickly from the impending violence. I felt the adrenaline spike begin pumping through my veins as I shifted my shield solidly to my back and made sure the Greatsword of Corruption was loose in its sheath and ready to draw.
My eyes quickly swept over the players surrounding us. Only a handful had the moniker Syndicate in their names; the rest were regular players. Still, they all had the guild title ‘The Syndicate’ displayed under their names. Guess the fuckers finally got around to starting an actual guild, I snorted in derision. If their structure was anything like it was on Chaos Online, only the players with Syndicate in their names would be a part of the guild’s inner circle. The rest was just filler that got the hand-me-downs of the rest of the guild. Most of the player arrayed against us were between levels 10 to 15, only the twenty-five we’d slaughtered earlier today were level 20 or above. Even so, quantity had its own quality. I doubted we’d make it out of this fight alive against these odds.
Looking at my teammates and the Valkyrie players around me, I could tell most were nervously eying the overwhelming force we now faced. Still, no one looked overly concerned. Hell, there were even a few that were obvious debating if they should keep ahold of their ale or draw their weapons. I could understand the sentiment. We were in the middle of town. These guys would have to be a bunch of idiots to attack us now. Before I could contemplate the situation further, several familiar faces stepped out of the Syndicate ranks triumphantly.
“I told you they’d be here.” Snufu Sevenfive angrily said spitting on the ground in-between us glaring.
“Those are the assholes that attacked us in front of the mines.” I heard another familiar pissed off voice speak out from a Light Elf named Onepunch further back.
“Yea, those guys are dicks that camped us for an hour in the woods yesterday.” Another indignant voice called out from a fighter named Glaildor. The same punk and friends who’d I’d caught spawn camping Sarka and Yun in the woods. I heard a number of raised voices swear in recognition around the circle. Obviously, more assholes that had fallen victim to my particular flavor of justice.
“Shut the hell up!” PunkuGood yelled out over his shoulders at The Syndicate players around him, before turning to face me. As the angry muttering died down, PunkuGood gave an ugly laugh as he met my eyes. “As I said earlier, you fucked with the wrong guild, asshole.”
The punk laughed in my face like he’d told me off or something. As his cronies chortled behind him, I focused on quickly inviting everyone into a raid as we slowly stepped back away from the tables to be able to move more easily. While the numbers against us concerned me on one level, I wasn’t too worried.
In any game, it was unwise to attack other players in town and the waitress they’d let escape was probably already sounding the alarm. The guards, even in a low-level town like Delonshire, were tough as nails at our current level and didn’t typically put up with players attacking each other within the town’s limits. All we had to do was hold out until the cavalry arrived. Also, with my current reputation, I shouldn’t have any problems with the guards for a change. I tried to fight the savage grin that came to my lips at the thought of slaughtering these asshats again but finally gave it up as a lost cause. All that we had to do was wait for one of the fuckers to attack first, and we’d be golden.
“What the fuck are you grinning at loser?” PunkuGood spat as he flipped over the table we’d just been sitting at. Food, plates and ale mugs loudly clattered across the ground as the rogue, and his guildmates stepped over the overturned table to surround us. “Hand back our stuff, and maybe we’ll kill you quick-“
“Why don’t you shut your face and get the hell out of here instead.” A sarcastic feminine voice rang out, cutting PunkuGood off in mid-rant as we all looked over in surprise at the new group of players that suddenly appeared behind The Syndicate’s ring. My eyebrow arched in surprise as I met the speaker’s sky-blue eyes. The woman was stunning in her tight brown leathers and thick mane of black hair that cascaded down her back. “Or not.” She said, casually cleaned her nails with the point of a dagger. “That works too.”
Like a light bulb going off in my head, I had a flashback to the first time I’d seen the dark-haired beauty. I remembered the savage delight in her eyes as she sprang onto the worgs back as her team stopped to fight the group of Raiders when we’d crossed the deadman’s zone to the entrance of the mine the very first time. Concentrating on the rogue, I was rewarded for the effort when a name appeared over her head. Kenzie McMillan, Devil Dogs. Seeing the look of recognition on my face, the woman gave me a knowing wink as she tipped her head in my direction.
“Can’t we just stab them in the face and be done with this?” Another voice tiredly spoke out from the new group of players. “I hate all this talking.” The speaker was the same fighter I’d seen the day before. As I focused on the new group of players, the name Thomas Anderson shimmered over the fighter’s head along with the Devil Dogs’ guild tag.
The entire group looked tough as nails as they readied their weapons. The Syndicate players shift uncomfortably as they warily looked around at the group of fifteen players that had drawn weapons behind them. Immediately, I began sending out raid invites to the new group without hesitation. It was a calculated risk, but I figured right now we didn’t have much to lose. Even with the fifteen new players, we were still going to be outnumbered by two to one. Besides, it was the only way we could ensure that we didn’t accidentally attack each other if this whole thing actually went down.
“Is that all you’ve got?” PunkuGood asked, his lips twisted into a sneer. I saw the rogue’s lips move as I realized he must be giving commands in raid chat. As the Syndicate players began spreading out and readying to attack, I hurriedly began passing out orders to the raid as I cast Holy Shield and Ice Barrier on myself in quick succession.
“As soon as they attack I’ll start the combat off with a Frost Nova. We’ll keep them locked down. Cast order is me, Yun, Lylirra, and Sara. Everyone else, focus your attacks on their healers and mages first.” I was preparing to blast the other team when I heard a new shout call out from the far side of the Inn.
“Halt in the name of the Delonshire Guard!”
PunkuGood’s face filled with black hate as his eyes focused on the group of NPC guards heading across the field towards us. For a second, it looked like The Syndicate’s raid leader was going to go ahead and order his people to attack a
s shouts for ‘Call out the guard’ rang out from the soldiers, when the moment passed as PunkuGood’s second in command urgently hissed in his ear. Realizing that his people were going to be outgunned and outnumbered in any second, PunkuGood’s lips twisted in rage as he spat darkly, “This isn’t over asshole!” before turning around and running off with his people towards the edge of town.
The rest of us just let them go, including the Devil Dogs, which just made me think that their warrior, Thomas Anderson, was talking shit earlier. Who the hell wanted to jump into a fight when we were still feeling pretty good from all the dark beer? The thought gave me pause as I remembered the last time I’d headed out with AJ and the rest of our friends to go clubbing on the Fort Lauderdale strip. It had taken three of us to hold AJ down, so we didn’t get into a massive brawl at the last dance club we’d hit. As soon as AJ started feeling good, he was ready to throw down. ‘So, maybe I’d have to keep an eye out for Mr. Anderson,’ I thought as I dubiously eyed the Devil Dogs high-fiving each other. As the Delonshire guards raced past us, I heard a familiar voice call out behind me.
“Starting trouble again, Startum?”
“Miya, it’s good to see you again so soon,” I said with a half-bow, my eyes immediately going to the Elf’s massive breasts as an annoyed frown instantly appeared on the captain’s face. It was hard to not picture the beautiful woman’s naked body after holding her in my arms within the mines. I tried to shake the inappropriate thoughts from my head as I saw her lips twist in irritation. “I mean, Captain Faelwen.” Before either one of us could get snappy with the other, Urael, the waitress that had been serving us, stepped up and gave me a curtsy.
“Master Ironwolf, it’s good to see you’re well. I was worried I wouldn’t make it back in time with the city’s guard before those newfar attacked.” Urael said, suddenly blushing as she realized her slip of the tongue. “No offense intended.”
“None taken, Urael,” I replied with a smile. “Thank you both for your timely rescue. Otherwise, I’m afraid the altercation would have turned quite violent.”
