Chapter 41
“Glad to see you’ve survived this far,” Jargonaut says, his voice booming through the crowded tavern. The men nearest us flinch and glare at the noise. “Hope you’re enjoying yourself since you can’t win.”
I wonder if he is always so condescending or if I’m just lucky enough to be on the receiving end of it.
“Yep.” I give him a thin smile. “Still here.”
“Not much longer, though. The Challenge ends soon. You’ve got to have a pretty big quest in progress to keep up with me now.”
Anything I say to him is just asking for him to contradict me. It suddenly makes sense to me why it might have just been easier forBalderdash13 and SteelFeather to go along with him.
“You’re probably right, Jargonaut. I probably don’t have a chance.” I heave a deep sigh, acting the part of the vanquished enemy. “It’d be nice if I could end the Challenge with this quest chain taken care of. Tie up loose ends, so to speak.”
“A noble pursuit,” he says. “Come. Sit with me. Tell me what you’re working on. Maybe I can help.”
Balderdash13, SteelFeather and I follow Jargonaut to a nearby table where he half-charms, half-forces the existing inhabitants to get out of the way. Sure, these NPCs are just code, but it’s not like he’d be more polite IRL.
“So, tell me,” Jargonaut begins. “You are lucky enough to have my attention and you may even be able to talk me into helping.”
He leans across the table at me, grinning.
“Well, uh, you see, there’s a thing. A goblet that Lord Crimson stole from Mayor Barnaby and I want to get it back for him.”
“A goblet?”
I nod.
“Is this some kind of special goblet? Will you get some kind of special power or armor or you can sell it for a lot?”
I shrug. “I won’t. No. I just need to return it to the mayor.”
“And then you’ll complete the quest and gain a lot of XP?”
I hesitate. He’s not dumb, but that doesn’t mean I need to volunteer any more information than necessary. “Yeah, I guess.”
“Alright.” He nods. “Could be interesting. What’s your plan?”
“I, uh. … I don’t have a plan. Right now I’m still trying to figure out where Lord Crimson is and where the goblet might be. Maybe I’ll get lucky.”
Jargonaut laughs and waves dismissively. “Oh, that’s handled. I have that info. My question to you is what do I get?”
“I, um …” I’m confused. Didn’t he offer to help me? Isn’t he the one that initiated this conversation? Am I going crazy?
“What’s all this?”
Erinocalypse stands at the end of the table, by my elbow, looking at me accusingly. I answer, slowly, deliberately. “We were just discussing Mayor Barnaby’s quest and how we could work together.”
To Erin’s credit, her face only registers surprise for a moment before she pushes it away. I immediately get a private message.
Erinocalypse: What are you really doing?
SirAsh3r: The is what I’m doing. I think he has some attributes I can use to advantage.
Erinocalypse: WE can use
I close the message window without responding to her correction. Jargonaut has been talking at both of us while we had our private conversation and I need to stay focused.
“… So the only way you’re getting in is if someone else draws him out,” he finishes.
“I’m sorry. You think the goblet is where?”
“I don’t think, SirAsh3r. I know. If it’s that valuable to him, he wouldn’t keep it anywhere but his primary estate. The manor house is behind a tall stone wall. Probably crawling with soldiers, or at the very least a labyrinth of rooms.”
I look at SteelFeather for confirmation.
He nods. “Yeah, when we asked permission to stay in the town, the guards kept us outside the front gate. Maybe there’s another reason their security is so tight, but it makes sense.”
“And,” I turn back to Jargonaut, “you think we can just draw him out? That it will be that easy?”
“Well, I can.”
I somehow miraculously resist rolling my eyes as he continues.
“I’m a Level Eighteen—that’s almost Twenty, you know—tank. It’s going to take probably eight or ten of his soldiers to take me down, and that’s if they’re working together. If Lord Crimson thinks that I’m invading his castle, he’ll throw everything he has at me.”
That seems like a big assumption and an oversimplification of the problem. But it might give me just enough of a window to get inside. And if I can take down some soldiers along the way, maybe even Lord Crimson himself, that could get my XP over the edge.
“Alright, that all sounds reasonable.” More or less. He doesn’t need to know my doubts. “But what’s in it for you? I have a chance to complete this major quest and maybe level up. You could die and lose everything.”
I want to punch his smug condescending smile right off his face.
“This kind of battle is why I play the game. It’s why I tank and why I have 2.7 million YouTube subscribers. I won’t die.”
“Okay.”
“And I’ll have these two helping me.”
“Uh, Jargonaut. I don’t really need to worry about trying to win,” SteelFeather stammers. “I’ll just get in your way and slow you down.”
“No, man. You’ll be great.” Jargonaut claps his hand onto SteelFeather’s shoulder, gripping hard.
Balderdash13 doesn’t bother objecting. She swallows and I see her very slightly shake her head. I wonder if anyone else notices.
“So, okay. Let me just … clarify,” Erinocalypse says. “You three will throw yourselves on your swords, so to speak, to create a diversion, while SirAsh3r and I infiltrate the manor house and complete our big quest?”
I notice she changed ‘my’ quest to ‘our’ quest, but I don’t know yet how to extricate myself from that.
“What you don’t seem to be grasping, Erinocalypse,” Jargonaut says turning toward her, “is that creating exciting game footage makes us all look good. I’ve already won and this helps gamers all over the world. I’m just that nice.”
I send Erinocalypse a private message.
SirAsh3r: Don’t fight it. Let him have his glory. It will keep him occupied while we rake in the real XP.
She looks at me, looks back at Jargonaut, takes a deep breath and breaks into a wide grin that I am willing to bet is totally fake.
“Great. That’s really nice of you. Really great.”
“Yeah, that’s great,” I echo. “I’ve been thinking about a plan.”
Jargonaut interrupts me with a laugh. “Already? You only just learned where it is.”
“Well, yeah, but, I mean …” How do I explain to this Neanderthal the concept of thinking ahead?
“This is what we do.” He barrels on, disregarding whatever I was about to say. “We’ll show you where the manor house is, give you a few minutes to figure out how to get in there, coordinate exactly when the three of us will attack. Then you’re in and out; just send me a PM when you’ve got it.”
“Yeah, that’s good. But, that’s not what I was going to say.”
“What do you think we should do, SirAsh3r?” Erinocalypse asks turning completely toward me, giving me all her attention and essentially daring Jargonaut to interrupt.
I make sure to meet all their eyes, looking at the other players and not just Jargonaut. This can’t be all about him railroading the group into his plan.
“I was just going to say, it’s already pretty late and we all still need to rest for at least six hours. Since the Challenge ends at 8 a.m. tomorrow, I suggest we each get our rooms now, and then we’ll have several hours in the morning to make our assault.”
“That’s a good idea,” SteelFeather says. “Plus, we’ll still have some pre-dawn darkness to sneak around in.”
“Right,” I agree. “And then you all will have sunlight for your actual battle.”
>
Jargonaut nods. “Yeah, that could work.” He’s already standing up before I realize he has agreed. “See you in six hours.”
Balderdash13 and SteelFeather follow right behind him, leaving Erinocalypse and me to the table. The rest of the inn is slowly emptying; the table are all full but there are no longer crowds of patrons vying for the bartenders’ attention. As I watch, all three of our fellow players are able to get a room and head upstairs.
“We should go to bed too,” Erinocalypse says as she sits down across from me.
“In a second.”
I cross to where Mayor Barnaby has been sitting in his corner, watching the whole exchange. I’m not sure how much of it he heard over the din, but he offers me advice before I can ask.
“Drawing the soldiers out of the manor house for a battle is good diversion. It could work. But I worry about you getting inside undetected.”
“I know. I have some ideas but I won’t know if they’ll work until I try.”
“I understand. Good luck to you. If you can return this Goblet of Vigor to me, there will be a huge reward for you.
Quest Offered: Bring it Back
Description: Obtain the Goblet of Vigor and return it to Mayor Barnaby
Reward: +400 XP, +25% regard with Allynton, +25 Gold Crowns, Forest Trekker Leather Boots
“Absolutely. Thank you.”
I make my goodbyes and go to seek out a room for the night. Erinocalypse is right behind me.
“Hey, SirAsh3r, what’s our plan for tomorrow? We can’t just waltz in.”
“Yeah, I know. Let’s just go to bed. Think about it. We have time in the morning to sort it out.”
“Did you see how much XP this quest is? That should put us over Jargonaut.”
“Yea? I haven’t done the math yet. And we also need to hope he doesn’t get enough XP killing foot soldiers to put first place out of reach.”
“But there’s hope,” she says.
“Yeah. There’s hope.”
We get our room assignments and separate at the top of the stairs, agreeing to meet first thing in the morning. I have an idea for how I’ll get into the manor house but … I’m not sure I want to share it with her. It’s almost like Erinocalypse has forgotten that this is a competition and there can be only one winner. If I share my edge, I lose it. If we collaborate and both successfully complete the quest, what are the chances she’ll actually be able to pull ahead of me? I’ve gotten this far by working alone.
Except for that troll battle. And getting free of the goblin. And the rescue mission to Helena. But I would have done those alone if I could have. And this quest tomorrow morning I can do alone. Or, I mean … Other than Jargonaut and his flunkies providing the distraction, I can do the rest alone.
I don’t know how to tell Erin, though.
Chapter 42
Jargonaut and his cohorts are waiting for me downstairs at the inn six hours later. The fire is still roaring, but there’s only one NPC on duty right now and no one else in the place. We have it to ourselves. I wonder what all the other players have planned for these last few hours of Challenge time. If they’ll keep pushing in that unlikely event the rest of us die and they might win. Or if they’ll just spend the last bit of isolated game time enjoying the experience.
At 7:59 a.m. the Challenge ends. We’ll be disconnected from the full immersion virtual reality for the first time in forty-eight hours and forced to deal with real life again. Less than three hours to go.
But some of us have even bigger problems to go home to. If I don’t win the Challenge … I don’t even know how to end that sentence. If I don’t win the Challenge, I’m done. I have no money and no job waiting for me. I can hope I’ll still have friends but since they’re all gaming friends, if I can’t afford the internet or Toterra Online subscription, I lose them too.
But Jargonaut—he wins either way. If he wins the Challenge, he just gets more fame and love and money. If he loses, he’ll probably still figure out how to leverage this experience into more attention for his brand.
He doesn’t need to win.
I do.
I realize Erinocalypse is watching me as I come down the stairs, ruminating on exactly what is at stake. I don’t know her story. Maybe she thinks she needs to win too. But, she’ll have to figure that out for herself.
“How far is Crimson’s estate from here?” I ask SteelFather, who is closest to me as I approach.
“Maybe a forty-five minute walk,” Jargonaut says over him. “Let’s get going.”
SteelFeather shrugs at me before following Jargonaut out the door. Erinocalypse grabs my arm and we walk several paces behind the other three.
“So? Do you have a plan?”
“I, um … Maybe. I want to see the estate before I decide anything definite.”
“Look, whatever you’re thinking, I don’t want this to just be a repeat of that rescue mission. That was boring. I’m going inside this time.”
“I can’t stop you.”
She glares are me. “I’m serious, Asher.”
“I know. I get it. We’ll figure it out when we get there.”
Erin rolls her eyes, sighs and jogs up ahead to join the others. I stay by myself following behind and enjoying the isolation. I don’t know that I can stand hearing Jargonaut talk about himself. Probably not ever, but certainly not this morning.
He leads our small group in the predawn dark, out through the town, down one of the roads leading northwest and cuts through the woods on the outskirts of the farms.
“We save a bunch of time this way,” he calls over his shoulder. “Just watch out for boars.”
I’m not sure if it’s because we’re a big group, or because of another glitch in the game, or just luck, but we don’t meet any boars on our trek through the woods. With the small break in action, I take the opportunity to double check my inventory for Scaling Weed. I am so glad I grabbed extra plants when I was working on that quest. There’s not much, but there is enough for me.
We pause at the edge of the trees, watching the few soldiers that are awake and on guard this time of day. Jargonaut leans in close to me and Erinocalypse to talk as quietly as possible. “That tower you see over the top of the wall? That’s where Lord Crimson’s private rooms are. If the Goblet is anywhere, it’ll be in there.”
Erinocalypse nods and whispers to me, “Let’s go scout the perimeter.”
I follow her as we weave through the trees, around the back of the manor. Lord Crimson must feel pretty secure—or not have many enemies—to allow this cover so close to his walls. The sun is beginning to rise, but it’s still dark enough there’s no way any of his lookouts can see us. We make it completely around to the other side, passing four soldiers without being detected.
Attention: You have unlocked Active Skill: Stealth Level 3
Description: You are becoming more comfortable in the shadows. Your enemies will need to be more on their guard if they’re going to notice you.
Reward: +120 XP, + 15% chance of remaining unseen
Once we have given the structure a good examination, Erinocalypse beckons me further into the woods, away from view and out of earshot of anyone wearing a red uniform.
“So, I think the weakest place is that small drain at the bottom of the wall in this back corner. It’s going to be revolting, but that looks to be our best bet at getting inside.”
I nod. “Do you have a plan once we’re inside?”
She shakes her head. “I guess we’ll just have to fight our way to the top? It’s not ideal, but … no risk, no reward, I guess.”
“I don’t know. That sounds like a huge risk.”
“Yeah, but…What other choice do we have? If either one of us has a chance of beating Jargonaut, we need this quest.”
“That’s true.”
I don’t know when the right time is to break it to her that I’m going in alone. She’ll think I’m deserting her. She’ll think I owe her something. She’ll be furious.
“Let’s go back to talk to Jargonaut,” Erinocalypse suggests.
I follow her again, through the trees, through the dark, to where Jargonaut is explaining to the other two exactly how to battle NPCs. It doesn’t seem to occur to him that they’ve survived in Camlan as long as he has and probably know at least a little something about melee combat.
He doesn’t notice us approach, being so absorbed in what he’s saying, but SteelFeather does.
“You two find what you’re looking for? Are we ready?”
Erinocalypse takes a deep breath. “Yeah. I think so. Yeah.”
“Ok, here’s what we do.” Jargonaut takes control of the conversation again. “Give us five minutes to get in position. Then we go. Once the attack begins, you two are on your own. You get in and out however you can. We kill as many soldiers as we can. Whatever XP we get, we get. Every man for himself.”
All nods around the circle.
He leads the way to the front of the manor; Erinocalypse leads the way to the back.
I have just enough time to complete this quest before the Challenge ends. There is just enough XP involved between the quest and likely fighting, maybe even leveling up, to pull me ahead of Jargonaut. If I’m lucky, he won’t have enough to do to pull him too far ahead. Especially with all three of them out there taking shots.
This is still possible. I’m not out of the game yet.
While Erin was scoping out the best way for her to breach the wall, I had been doing the same, but came to a different conclusion. She moves ahead to the far corner, with the sewer drain, not noticing that I have stopped at the other rear corner. This is where I’ll make my ascent.
I reach into my backpack and pull out my stash of Scaling Weed. Checking one last time to make sure Erin isn’t watching, I shove a handful of leaves in my mouth and start chewing furiously. I’ve barely begun when she sends me a message.
Erinocalypse: Did you get lost? I’m waiting for you.
SirAsh3r: You go ahead. I’ve got a different plan.
Erinocalypse: WHAT
SirAsh3r: Divide and conquer
Erinocalypse: What the HELL SirAsh3r
Quest for Camlan: A LitRPG Adventure (Camlan Realm Book 1) Page 20
