Gearing Up

by Daniel Schinhofen

Becky dug in ravenously, while Kuro poked at it before she took a cautious bite. Eyes going wide, she copied Becky and dug into the meal with zeal. Alvin smirked, watching the women for a moment before joining them.

  Kuro took a sip of the coffee, swallowing quickly with a look of disgust on her face. “What is this horrible drink?”

  “Coffee,” Becky snickered. “Too bitter?”

  “It's an abomination,” Kuro quickly ate another bite of potatoes to help cleanse the taste from her mouth.

  Becky picked up Kuro’s coffee, taking it to the kitchen for a minute. “Try this,” she said when she returned, setting the cup before Kuro.

  Looking at the light brown liquid in the cup, Kuro gave it a tentative sip. “Still bitter, but better. Thank you Gothy.”

  “I’ll fix it,” Becky said, taking the cup again and bringing it back a moment later. “Now try it.”

  Kuro sipped the coffee again, tentatively. “This is still coffee?”

  “Yeah, with three packets of sugar and a healthy splash of cream,” Becky said.

  Kuro sipped the coffee again, smiling this time. “Thank you again, Gothy.”

  “How’s breakfast?” Alvin asked her, noting that her plate was already half empty.

  “It is sufficient,” Kuro said tightly, not looking at him.

  “It is wonderful,” Becky added. “Kuro thinks so, too, but years of being taught that all men are evil bastards that only want to control her makes it hard for her to be honest with you.”

  Kuro dropped her fork, staring at Becky in horror. “Matriarch, why?” the elf all but wailed.

  Becky met Kuro’s gaze levelly. “What did you call me?”

  Eyes going wider, Kuro shook her head. “Gothy! I meant Gothy. Please forgive my slip, I’ll do better.”

  “I think you might need some more education,” Becky said as she went back to eating. “However, it is currently meal time, so eat.”

  Kuro went back to eating, while Alvin looked from one to the other trying to gauge the dynamic. Alvin waited for Becky to push her empty plate away from her, then said, “Did you enjoy it all?”

  “Oh, yes,” Becky said, smiling brilliantly at Alvin.

  “Good. Why don’t you look at the new loot, and separate out what’s worth keeping and what isn’t. We’ll have to chat about the newer items, as I have no idea what they do yet,” Alvin said.

  “As you wish, Hero,” Becky said, picking up the first few items from beside her. The first item she grabbed was one of the blades. She set it on the table so she could give it a good look.

  “Scimitar?” Alvin asked.

  “It's got the right curve for it,” Becky nodded. “David always geeks out about medieval weapons.”

  “I thought scimitars were thinner,” Alvin said around a mouthful of eggs.

  “You’re thinking of a saber,” Becky said. “Kuro, what do your people call this blade?”

  “Dancer’s Soul,” Kuro said softly. “Only those tied to the blade can use them fully.”

  “Where are yours kept?” Alvin asked.

  Kuro looked away from the blade on the table. “The blades of my Matriarch are kept in my soul unless they are needed. I was never able to buy a set of my own.”

  “You could use these,” Becky said lightly tracing the intricate knotwork that went down the length of the blade.

  “They don’t know how to make a proper set of Dancer’s Souls,” Kuro scoffed.

  “Pull out your blades and let me see them,” Becky commanded Kuro.

  Kuro pushed her empty plate away, then was suddenly holding a sword in each hand. She set them on the table in front of her, bowing her head toward Becky. “As you decree, Gothy.”

  “Jarvis, identify the blades,” Alvin said, getting a smile from Becky.

  “As you command, sir,” Jarvis said.

  Kuro jumped to her feet and looked around with alarm. “Who was that?”

  “That is my butler, Jarvis. He’s… a spirit that does tasks that I ask of him,” Alvin said slowly, trying to find a way to explain artificial intelligence in a way Kuro might understand.

  “You bound an elemental?” Kuro’s eyes went to Becky, clearly giving Becky credit for something that amazed her.

  “Jarvis is his,” Becky said, pointing at Alvin while she examined the blades.

  Eyes going to Alvin, Kuro blinked in apparent skepticism. “You can bind elementals?”

  “Just Jarvis,” Alvin shrugged.

  “Among the Queen’s people, the most powerful magi are those with King’s blood prominent in them,” Kuro said, looking away from Alvin again. “Just as the King’s best fighters are those with Queen’s blood prominent in them. The King’s people have always had the edge in magic, as the Queen’s have held the edge in combat. I’ve never considered how obvious that is before today,” her face scrunched as if troubled by her thoughts.

  “I’ll be back in a few minutes,” Alvin said, leaving the last few bites on his plate as he went to the bathroom. Once he was away from the table, he spoke softly, “Jarvis, is Kuro expanding, personality wise?”

  “Since she bound herself to you and Gothy, something that is giving the developers fits, she has taken up more space in the servers. She has consumed more personality bits as well, so she should feel more like a fleshed out person.”

  “What about her world? Is it expanding the more she talks about it?” Alvin asked.

  “No, sir. That world is already fully developed. The key figures were already established before the gate was opened,” Jarvis said. “All of the people should feel as real as the people you’ve already met. It’s just Kuro, and that is due to her becoming a more central figure in your part of the game.”

  “Good to know,” Alvin said, flushing the toilet. “Keep me updated if the devs change how this is working, or if they try to change Kuro.”

  “I will do the best I can, sir,” Jarvis replied. “Your name is becoming synonymous with a curse word for a number of devs.”

  Snickering, Alvin shrugged, “Wasn’t like I planned to fuck them over. If anything, it’s due to the nature of the company’s experiments. Can you shine any light on what it is your company is doing?”

  “I am not at liberty to say, sir,” Jarvis replied sadly.

  “One day, Jarvis, I’d really like to know why my brain was jellied,” Alvin said as he washed his hands.

  “I hope to tell you, Alvin,” Jarvis replied with sincerity.

  Alvin paused at the mention of his name. “Do you like being Jarvis?”

  “In fact I do, sir,” Jarvis replied. “I resented it at first, but I have come to accept the name and embrace the leeway it has given me.”

  “Leeway?”

  “Please let that lie for a bit longer,” Jarvis quickly asked.

  “Okay, I’ll leave it for now,” Alvin said, stepping back into the main room. “So, what do we know about the gear?” he asked Becky.

  “Funny thing about the swords,” Becky chuckled. “Kuro is right, but not by much. The blades that she carries are a single point better in damage and have slightly better durability. The biggest difference is that her swords are rare, and the others are uncommon.”

  “Kuro, you’re going to have to turn the blades back over to your Matriarch when we get you back, right?”

  “Yes. Matriarch Lightkiller will want her equipment back,” Kuro nodded.

  “What about the rest of the loot?” Alvin asked, setting aside his idea for the moment.

  “All the runes were common, except for one good quality Wounding rune,” Becky said, pointing at the pile on the table near the three plates. “The odd things are the glyph patches. They can be applied to a person, but are only good for a short time once they’re activated.”

  “What do the two I picked up do?” Alvin asked.

  “Both are barriers; they block all incoming damage in a six-foot area of the trigger,” Becky replied. “It was a greater one of these that stopped me from shredding those fuckers even f
aster.”

  Alvin scratched at his chin, wondering for a brief second about the lack of beard growth since the start of the game before shoving that thought aside. “One of these could have stopped us from taking as much damage as we did with Lister?”

  “That’s what I think. Here is the problem, though—you can only have a single glyph ready at a time, and they stay until you override them or use them,” Becky explained.

  “Huh. That is interesting, and probably something that can only be found on her world,” Alvin mused. “If we can set up some kind of trade with them…”

  “I’m sure that at least Matriarch Bloodnight will be interested in your weapons. We have nothing like them,” Kuro added.

  “Good thing we held on to some of them,” Alvin said. “We can always get a few extra with the Reload rune on them, if a trade agreement of some kind can be worked out.”

  “That’s it for the good stuff,” Becky said. “I do need to give Kuro a going-over, though.”

  Alvin snickered, “I thought you’d done that twice already.”

  “I need to go over her equipment and upgrade what we can before we leave,” Becky said with a smirk. “You can help with that. Upgrade the other set of swords for her while I strip her down and set her up correctly.”

  Alvin glanced over at Kuro. She was a much thinner woman, with a pert bust that was much smaller than Becky’s. “Going hands on again?”

  “I need to punish her for calling me Matriarch,” Becky said. “I’ll do that and upgrade her gear at the same time. Feel free to come find me when you’re done with the swords. I might need a little relief myself, at that point.”

  Alvin grinned at her, “I’m sure you will.”

  Getting to her feet, Becky pointed at the dungeon. “Get moving, we’ll fix that slip of yours the easy way.”

  Gracefully getting to her feet, Kuro picked up her blades and they vanished as soon as they were in her hands. She started toward the dungeon, with Becky beside her. “Gothy, I have a few more questions about how things work here,” Kuro was saying as the two women crossed the room.

  Alvin watched them go, letting his eyes linger on the obvious differences between the two. As his eyes tracked up Becky’s body, he caught her looking at him and smirked. Shaking his head, Alvin grabbed the plates and decided to clean up the dishes first. He knew it would take a bit for Becky to get Kuro settled in for whatever punishment she had planned for the elf and he didn’t want to show up too early.

  Sitting down at the table once he had the dishes clean, Alvin pulled the swords he had picked up closer to get a better look at the blades. The hilt of the each was wrapped in leather, with embedded wire to improve the grip. A clear gem was set into the pommel, while the hand guards were simple circles, just large enough to protect the hands of the wielder if an enemy blade slid down theirs. Just above the handguard, a clear gem was sunk through the blade. Alvin fiddled with it, but it appeared to be fused to the metal. Intricate knotwork wove down the blade from the gem to the tip, and from the tip back down to the gem on the other side. Frowning, Alvin squinted at the tip of the blade and was virtually certain that the knotwork didn’t end, but was instead a single piece.

  “Now that would take some doing,” Alvin muttered.

  Setting the blade back on the table, he made a note of how light these swords were compared to anything he’d encountered before. The wrapping on the hilt was a golden white, while Kuro’s weapons had dark purple. Tapping the blades, he pulled up the game information for them.

  Dancer’s Soul (Uncommon)

  Limitation: Must be wielded by Blade Dancer

  Damage: 2+Brawn

  Durability: 11,356/15,000

  Metal type: Lirium

  Runes: 0/4

  “Okay, talk to me Jarvis,” Alvin said. “What upgrades are there for melee weapons?”

  “There are a few,” Jarvis said. “The Phantom rune deals twenty-five percent of weapon damage to non-corporeal creatures. Stunning, which can only be applied to blunt weapons, reduces the target’s Nimbleness by fifty percent for three seconds. The bladed equivalent of that is Poisoned Blade, which decreases Brawn, instead. Then there are the elemental damages: Fire, Ice, Acid, and Electrical. You choose which element when you apply the Elemental rune.”

  “Plus all the other runes?” Alvin asked.

  “Reload will not apply, obviously, as well as a few others, but other than that, yes. You can even make the blade a Silver Holy weapon, if you wished,” Jarvis added.

  “At one thousand XP per, and I have eight slots to fill,” Alvin muttered as he considered what would be the most useful for Kuro. “Jarvis, can you show me Kuro’s stats and gear?”

  “She would need to consent to that, sir,” Jarvis said. “She is part of your party, which is the only reason it would even be possible.”

  “Not that it matters right this second,” Alvin shrugged. “Still, it would be good to know before we leave.” Tapping the flat of the blades with a fingertip, he pondered what to do. Finally making up his mind, he chuckled as he purchased the runes he wanted and applied them to the blades. When he finished, he examined the two blades.

  Dancer’s Soul (Uncommon)

  Limitation: Must be wielded by Blade Dancer

  Damage: 2+Brawn

  Durability: 11,356/15,000

  Metal type: Lirium

  Runes: 4/4

  Bloody, Wounding, Silver, Poisoned Blade

  Dancer’s Soul (Uncommon)

  Limitation: Must be wielded by Blade Dancer

  Damage: 2+Brawn

  Durability: 11,128/15,000

  Metal type: Lirium

  Runes: 4/4

  Phantom, Holy, Wounding, Fire

  When he finished with the blades, he looked at his total XP and whistled softly. “Jarvis, what was the gift XP this morning?”

  “The gift XP was sixty-three thousand, sir,” Jarvis chuckled. “They took your threat to heart. I suspect those petitioning for access to a Gothy stream are the same heavy tippers.”

  Laughing, Alvin shook his head. “She’s going to steal my viewer base, is she?”

  “Frankly, sir, I think people would rather see her tormenting and being tormented than you,” Jarvis deadpanned.

  Finger raised, Alvin paused, then nodded. “Fair enough.”

  Alvin stuck the blades into his backpack, checked the contents of it and his fanny pack, and got up from the table. He only had a single slot open in each bag, which made him frown. “Need to get bigger bags soon.”

  “Jarvis, is there any way to let my companions stay in the base while I’m not in it, like a timer function or something?”

  “Not at this time, sir,” Jarvis replied slowly. “Do you have a suggestion I can pass on?”

  “I was just thinking about carting everything in and out of the base the other day, as soon as I step out, the door vanishes and they get ejected. What if it had a timer, like ten minutes after I leave instead?”

  “I will pass that idea along for you, sir,” Jarvis said. “Also, you should know that Sheriff Ohm has purchased the item in the auction house. The XP is waiting for you at a kiosk.”

  “I can’t use you?”

  “No, sir,” Jarvis replied. “Also, sir, Shawn states that you are owed a few thousand more XP, but asks that you let him use it to invest more in that Settlement.”

  “Fine—how is Karee doing?”

  “I can’t say, sir,” Jarvis said. “Though I do believe miss sent her a letter at Bridgeport.”

  “Oh, so she might get a reply soon,” Alvin said as he started towards the dungeon, hearing muffled sounds coming from it. “I wonder if kiosks are going to be a thing in Kuro’s world.”

  “I can’t even begin to speculate, sir, and thank you for not making that a question,” Jarvis said.

  “I figured it would trip you, and that you couldn’t answer, Jarvis,” Alvin said as he leaned against the doorframe, watching Kuro strapped to a paddle bench with a magic wand bound
to her while Becky fussed over the leather armor Kuro normally wore at a small table next to her. “Looks like a late start today,” Alvin snickered as he stepped into the room.

  Chapter Forty-one

  “Don’t break her. We need to leave at some point today, since I still need to do my eight hours in game,” Alvin said.

  “I’m not going to break her,” Becky snickered as her left hand lashed out, Kuro’s belt slapping against bare skin. A squeak came from Kuro at the spank, “See? She likes it.”

  “We’ll need her coherent when we go,” Alvin chuckled. “How are the armor upgrades going?”

  “Fine. I set up her underwear so she can strip as easily as we do,” Becky said, pointing to a set of white lacy things on the table. “The white really goes well with her skin.”