Last Horizon: Beta

by Daniel Schinhofen

  “Help yourself Lav, they’ll be practicing for an hour and the food is all for us.” Will watched her with dancing eyes as he began to assemble a small sandwich.

  She gave a soft laugh and began to make herself one as well while the band played. They sat there for an hour nibbling food and enjoying the music. When the hour was up the band began to pack up. The Cello player came up and greeted them, “Well, Will I hope that evens us out. It was a pleasure to play for a lady in the park.”

  Lav giggled and accepted his hand lightly, “You play wonderfully.”

  “My girlfriend insisted I make sure everything was good. I believe her words were 'if you mess up this romantic date you will sleep on the couch'.”

  Will laughed, “Everything was good man, and yes we’re even. Thank your girlfriend for me as well please.”

  Nodding, the Cellist went back down and helped the rest pack up the chairs and leave. “This has been a wonderful night.” Lavender murmured looking at Will though lowered lids.

  Will beamed and stood up, quickly packing up the left overs and table. Carrying them back with them, he assisted her again with the ramp and getting into the truck. Sometime later found him pulling back into her complex and parking.

  He made quick work of the ramp and chair again, carrying her one more time. As he set her into her chair for the last time she reached up and pulled his head down for a kiss. A few moments later he was heating up as they broke.

  He looked into her eyes, noting her flushed face and rapid breathing. He walked with her back to her door in silence. As she unlocked her door and opened it she turned to face him. “Will...”

  “Lav,” they both stopped and he asked her to continue but she shook her head making him continue. “Tonight has been one of the better days of my entire life. You have given me joy and I am thankful for this time.” He paused then continued looking into her eyes, “I want to come inside with you and spend more time. But I will not, I want this to be the perfect first date.”

  Lav listened her faces going though many emotions before settling into a sad smile. “Yes, of course.”

  Lavender dropped her eyes. Will knelt and touched her face so she turned to him. “I say this because I truly want more, Lav. You are unique and very special to me, please see me again.” He then leaned in and kissed her softly.

  She returned the kiss with passion, turning it from a good kiss into a blistering kiss. Her arms went around him and pulled him almost into her lap. She suddenly released him and set him back, at which point he groaned at the lack of her. “That is a promise of more later,” she said firmly and with that went inside and closed the door.

  Will groaned again and let his head thunk into her door. Muttering to himself, he stood slowly. “Down boy, we’re doing the right thing. She deserves so much and we will give it to her at the right pace.” Turning, he walked to his truck, not knowing she’d heard every word.

  Lavender sat there for a bit, listening to his truck pull away and shuddered slightly. She felt on fire and cold all at the same time. Her mind was foggy and she felt like she was floating. She had never felt this way before, though she supposed she had heard of it enough. Shaking her head, she took a cold shower before bed and went to the land of dreams where her not-knight waited for her.

  THALLIEN'S FOURTH REQUEST

  They regrouped the next morning at eight and fast traveled to Thallien's. A moment later Felton and Emelia appeared and they started chatting as they started up the path collecting mats. Felton was going on about a new quest chain that he had gotten from the master weapon smith in Dalton. When he finished they agreed it sounded like a good chain.

  Dumadin turned to Terets, “So how did it go?”

  Amythyst giggled and looked over her shoulder at him. “It was wonderful,” she answered before Terets could. “He was the perfect gentleman throughout the night. The picnic was romantic and incredible, with the string quartet he had to play for us.”

  Terets reddened slightly as Dumadin chuckled. “We went shooting, then had a picnic with a lot of talking and having a good time.”

  Dumadin smiled, “Glad to hear it. So when is date two?”

  Terets rolled his eyes and Amythyst giggled again, “None of your business. Not all of us telegraph when we are going to be meeting a lady... or two.”

  Dumadin started laughing as they walked, “Touché. Okay. I’ll abide and stop asking. I’m glad you had a good time, Amythyst.”

  Felton waited to make sure the conversation had ended before clearing his throat. “So, about this new eight hour block play time. Me and Emelia discussed it and after this journal we’re going to drop out until they fix it. We’ll be over in Dalton if you need us for anything quick and easy, though. We have a cruise coming up in a few weeks and that lasts until just before beta ends.”

  “Oh, is this the Oriental cruise?” Kittish asked eagerly.

  “Yes,” Em answered, “we’ve had it planned for a year now so we aren't going to miss it.”

  “Well shit,” Dumadin said, “we’ll miss you guys while you’re gone.”

  Felton laughed, “Sorry man but needs must after all. We should be back for the last month of beta, and we will be making your wake. I talked with Bill and Gabriel, they are going to make it as well.”

  “That’s good. If only the others were still around… oh well, half of the Bananas will do.” Grinning, Dumadin started to rehash some old raids again.

  After an hour of climbing they reached the canyon and looked around. The plants had a light frost on them and the river had an edge of frost. “I guess winter is coming,” Terets said, looking around.

  “Oh good, you have returned. My friends, please come into my home, “Thallien's voice was rough, as he called to them from his cave.

  They filed into the cave and greeted him. Thallien sat huddled at the table with his journals on it. He had blank paper and ink before him, as if he were writing. “I am glad you made it back here. I can point you to the next journal,” he coughed and winced as he seem to spasm. “Getting old is no fun at all. The next part of my journals is to the far south. It was lost in a set of ruins in the middle of a jungle.” Pulling a map he marked it to show them where it was. “The ruins will probably be inhabited by the same type of creatures as when I was there. They are a hybrid of man and weasel, they will not stop fighting until dead.” He coughed heavily and his whole frame shook.

  Amythyst cast Healing Light on him, “Thallien are you feeling okay?”

  He waved her off, “Just old and the winter is taking its toll. I am not injured or sick as it were, though I think was not feeling well when you dropped the last journal off. Will you take this quest for me?”

  Quest: Find Thallien's journals, part four.

  Collect the journal from the Southern Ruins and return it to Thallien.

  Warning this is a group quest and all but impossible alone.

  Reward: One hundred thousand experience and ten gold bars.

  “We’ll be glad to help you Thallien,” Dumadin answered for them. “Is there anything we can do to make you more comfortable before we leave?”

  Thallien shook his head, “No, but I thank you for caring about me. I am trying to get my words in order for my memoir. Fare you all well and I will see you upon your return.”

  The group nodded and left the cave, “So, back to Veno to grab a portal to the closest place we can get to I guess.” Terets said. His friends agreed and they appeared near the gates of Veno and walked to the magi guild for the portal.

  The Mage on duty explained the closest he could get them would be a place called Managalpa. Paying for the portal, they found themselves outside of a city. Walking into the main square they were met with the message of having found Managalpa.

  The xp bonus increased them all to level fifteen and the group laughed as they started walking south out of the city.

  “Okay, let’s see what we should take here,” Dumadin said as he looked over his options. The other three do
ing the same as Felton and Em chuckled at them.

  Em spoke up, “The improved gathering is a nice boost. Getting two ore chunks even 20% of the time makes it very nice indeed.”

  “Sounds good, will probably grab it when the game goes live then,” Dumadin mumbled as he scanned though abilities.

  “So many choices,” Terets complained as he scanned the options.

  After almost an hour they had all chosen what they wanted. “Taking Seeping Wound will help me hold the aggro better on large groups as I have to keep switching targets anyway. The aether cost is low enough it shouldn't hinder me from getting Anger Howl off when needed.”

  “I went for Backstab to give me a solid opening when you have them gathered and we start to peel them off,” Terets added.

  “To make sure I get DPS in and can still get the HoT off I went for Poison Cloud. It’s an AoE DoT, the aether cost is a little less than Chain Lightning because it doesn't have a stun.” Kittish chimed in after them and looked at Amythyst.

  “I took Magic Shell,” Amythyst finished, “it negates a single magic ability cast near the caster. It stays up for one minute or until a spell is negated. The aether cost is cheap, but the five second cast time sucks.”

  “Could be useful if we know we are going into a fight against casters, though,” Dumadin added. “What’s the range on it exactly?”

  “It’s a shell extending for ten feet from the caster, I can't cast it on others.”

  Felton chimed in, “I took Master Crafter Weapon Smith when I hit fifteen. It opened up the quest line I’m currently on. Just need to find a suitable metal to make a master craft weapon from now. Once I make it and show it off to a master crafter my ability to craft enchanted weapons comes open.”

  “What kind of metals are we talking about?” Dumadin asked as they continued their trek.

  “Well from what I was told; mithril, adamantine, elementium, or starmetal will work. Which makes me sad now that we gave that chunk away to the Baron.”

  Dumadin shrugged, “We had no idea man, my bad. Hopefully we can find more for when you come back from your cruise.”

  Felton bobbed his head in agreement, “Yeah, if it wasn't beta I would be more miffed but right now, meh. It all gets reset anyway but I want to see what I can do before beta ends. That doesn't include the Grand Master or Legendary Crafting Abilities either. Supposedly with Grand Master I can make weapons with two enchantments on them like Terets’s blades he rarely uses. The Legendary Crafter according to rumor makes Unique Items. Which means only one of them can be in the world at a time and the crafter helps guide what kind of ability it has.”

  The group whistled at the possibilities that would open up. “The trick to those though is like the current quest. Taking the ability isn't the only step. There are quests associated with each of them that help you prove your worth. The Master Crafter I am working with told me the story of his teacher who was a Grand Master. Supposedly one of the dwarven kingdoms sent a large band into the earth with him to take the heart from a Fire Lord.”

  Terets laughed, “That sounds like old Rag, 'Too soon Executus'.”

  The group started laughing and joking for many minutes before Emelia coughed. “For that to happen eventually we’ll need to get a raid group together.”

  That brought them back to reality again and heads started nodding. “Makes sense, there are only a relative few Grand Masters. There are only three or fewer Legendary Crafters for each profession in the game currently as well.”

  “That is correct,” Amythyst cut in, “Sis said that they limited the NPCs down to a dozen each of the Grand Masters and three Legendary Crafters per profession. To unlock that ability truly you need to do their quests.”

  “When we get to live we have us a goal, then. Get Felton the quests when he gets there and get them done. Game first player Legendary Weapon Smith, sound good to you?” Dumadin asked.

  “Fucking yeah man, back to my old days in Galaxies.” Felton cheered before being clipped in the head by his wife.

  “No,” Emilia stated after the slap, “not again. You will not be doing massive spread sheets and running factories dedicated to this.”

  Amythyst jumped in, “You are correct Em, he won't be able to go to that extent. Each weapon has to be hand crafted with the best mats, which are rare. At best he will be able to churn out a dozen weapons a day.”

  Em settled down slightly, “Okay then. I will not have you spending ten plus hours a day just on crafting again, though.”

  Felton hugged his wife and danced with her a little bit, “Okay. I will not spend that kind of time on it again, my word. I still want that ability and being game first, though.”

  Em laughed at her husband’s mania, “Okay, I will help you with that when it is time.”

  TULUM TIKAL

  Almost a week later they’d forced a path through dense jungle and were closing in on the ruins. On the trek Kittish found some different herbs, bone lichen and flatleaf. Not sure what they could make, she stuffed them into her pouch to ask Smee about later. Emelia also got a few nodes of silver and gold on the way.

  “Nice variety of stuff here, those panthers suck though,” Dumadin muttered and slapped a mosquito on his arm.

  “Yeah, stealthy bastards they are. Being able to restealth in combat is just wrong,” Terets muttered.

  “Heh, you mean like the old blades let you do?”

  “But I couldn't restealth if I was seen, unlike those damn cats.”

  Amythyst giggled, “I think he’s jealous.”

  Terets rolled his eyes, “That is not the point.”

  Before they could respond Emilia, at the front, gasped and stopped as she had broken though into a clearing. Before her were magnificent ruins of almost Mayan design. “That is so beautiful.”

  Agreeing, they studied the sight before them. The walls surrounding the ruins were broken and in rubble in many places, with plant growth showing clearly as the cause. The buildings had the same issue, over half of what was before them was just jumbles of stone blocks with plants growing over and through them. The surviving buildings were grand of scale and size. In the middle of the ruins sat a ziggurat, easily twelve stories high. Teeming though the ruins were the creatures that Thallien told them off. They were humanoid standing weasels, from what the group could see from this distance. They didn't wear much in the way of clothing besides loin cloths, and carried rudimentary weapons of obsidian.

  “Wow, that is epic looking,” Amythyst sighed as she gazed on.

  “Yeah, this place looks amazing,” Kittish agreed focusing on the weasels. “You know what they remind me of? Remember the rat creatures with the musk of fear from that old rpg?”

  Terets and Dumadin laughed, “Oh yes, what were they called?”

  Felton smirked, “Shevin or something similar, I believe.”

  Nodding, they took a seat and watched the ruins for a while, trying to discern any patterns to the movement of the inhabitants. “Can almost guarantee the journal will be in the ziggurat,” Dumadin spoke as they continued to watch.

  “Yeah, that makes sense considering our other trials,” Emelia agreed. “You think there might be fewer of them when it’s night?”

  “Frankly, with the hundreds of them we see down there that is going to be our only real chance.” Kittish answered and sighed, rubbing her head.

  “Well balls then,” Amythyst grumped, “that means we can't go tonight. We’ll have to log in late tomorrow night due to the silly eight hour rule they currently have.”

  Grumbling, they all agreed and arranged to show back up around eight in the evening tomorrow. That left them with a down time of thirty two hours from now. As they all logged out, Terets glanced at Amythyst and motioned to her.

  After the others were gone he asked her, “Can I pick you up tonight for a quick dinner? Nothing fancy like last time just a bite out?”

  Amythyst’s smile bloomed and she readily agreed, “Oh yes, please. It takes you an hour to get into
Vegas, so give me another hour and I will be ready.”

  Terets nodded, “I am going to invite my daughter to meet you.”

  Amythyst stopped cold and her face drained, “But what if... she doesn't like me?”

  Terets smiled and pulled her into a hug, “She is my daughter. Give her a chance, Lav.”

  Shaking with fear she agreed and logged off, disappearing from his arms. He sighed and hoped he hadn't spooked her. He shook his head, his daughter had the right to meet any woman he found himself wanting to spend time with. Besides he had raised her right, he was confident that everything would be fine.

  The next night the group reformed at the agreed on time. Terets and Amythyst were there a few minutes early. When the others logged in they found them hugging and speaking softly to each other. Dumadin cleared his throat as he appeared, “So, everything okay?”