by Adam Horne
“He probably knows we’re in the same guild.”
“How? You don’t have one of the tabards the others wore.”
“He probably identified me.”
“You can identify people?”
“Sure, I figured you already knew. If you focus on someone like you did with the rabbit’s foot, you’ll see their name and guild affiliation. I’m almost to the encampment. I’ll message you again when I’m done.”
“I’ll just meet you at the graveyard.”
“Haha, you’re a comedian.”
Kelath laughed to himself. Througar could think what he liked, but there was no way he would escape from there alive. Kelath left the riverside and climbed the hill back to where he’d resurrected before. He sat on one of the headstones but didn’t have to wait long before a dwarf with red hair materialized in front of him. He concentrated and a tag appeared above the dwarf’s head.
Througar
He concentrated a little longer, and a window popped open that showed more information. He could see Througar’s current stats. He was a second level fighter and all his class skills were at ten. Kelath couldn’t see anything about skills other than the ones for Througar’s class however. There was also a model of his character that showed the armor and weapons he carried.
When Througar came to, he looked around the graveyard and patted himself down.
“What happened?” asked Kelath.
“They took me inside the tent to talk to Itrix. I told him I wanted out of the guild, and he asked why. When I said I wasn’t going to pay them a bunch of money, he ordered one of his goons to kill me.”
“Was it Brill?”
“Yeah, the one with the great sword. He killed me in three hits!”
“Wow, it only took two for me. That breastplate was totally worth it.”
Througar fumed. “Go ahead and gloat. I’m sure this is very funny for you.”
Kelath laughed. “Nah, I won’t rub it in. I was pretty pissed when he killed me, so I know how you feel.”
“I’d love to go back there and tell all the new people he’s recruiting about the raw deal they’re getting.” Througar stared to the north. “Do you think we could take that wizard?”
“Maybe, but even if we get past him, they’ll send others to stop us. I don’t like that Itrix is duping people, but what’s the sense in getting killed again?”
“You’re probably right,” said Througar, although he sounded reluctant. “I can’t believe I’m going to have to pay all that money before I can leave his crappy guild. This sucks!”
“Sorry, man,” said Kelath. “This game seems to take things a lot more seriously than the ones we used to play. We’ll have to be more careful in the future.”
“Yeah, well I’m going to call their customer service when I log out and give them an earful. Maybe they can remove me from the guild.” Througar let out a wry chuckle. “Nothing I can do about it now, so we might as well try out the rest of the game. If we skirt around the guild encampment, we can follow the road east to a little village. We might be able to find some quests there.”
“Sounds good to me.” Kelath handed back Througar’s things and shouldered his pack. “You can lead, since you know the way.”
Chapter 5
They traveled east over a series of low hills for several miles before cutting north and finding the road. Small groups of other travelers moved along in front of them in the direction of the village. Fields appeared on either side of the road with farmhouses visible in the distance. After another mile, they reached the town square and a small cluster of shops and residences. A sign identified the village as Millville.
A stone windmill rose on a hilltop on the far side of the village, showing how the town got its name. The town hall stood prominently on the north side of the square, along with an inn, a small store, a bank, and several houses spread out between them. A large number of other players stood in the square or went about business in the various buildings nearby.
“The first thing we should do is sell the items we looted earlier,” said Througar. “Then we can buy supplies and leave the rest in the bank. Any money or items you leave there can’t be looted from your body by other players.”
“Sounds good,” said Kelath.
The general store was quite popular, with most of the people entering the village heading there first. Kelath looked around with curiosity at all the goods for sale. Sacks of grain and farming tools leaned against the walls, as he would expect to see in the main store of a small farming community. Bags of flour and other culinary supplies lined one shelf, and Kelath made a mental note to check if there was a cooking skill when he had time later. Weapons or armor were conspicuously absent from the shop, which Kelath found odd since most players would want to upgrade those as soon as possible. Maybe only larger towns sold adventuring equipment.
They stood in line behind a handful of other players and waited for one of the shopkeepers to become available. After a couple minutes, a bald man in an apron called them up to the counter.
“What can I do for you?” asked the clerk.
“We want to sell some items.”
Througar dumped the contents of his backpack on the counter, and Kelath created another pile of his own. Since he had lost half of his loot when he was killed, his haul looked tiny in comparison. The man separated the bird feathers and rabbits’ feet and totaled them up. He counted out a number of silver coins and placed them in a stack before sliding them in front of Througar and sweeping their sold items into two different bins.
“Thirty silver for all that?” asked Througar. “I got twice that much the last time I was here.”
“The market on bird feathers has bottomed out,” said the shopkeeper. “Everyone coming in today has an armload of them. I’ll need a silo to store them all! You’re lucky I’m even willing to buy any more.”
Througar grumbled but picked up the coins anyway. He dropped half of them into a pouch on his belt and held the rest out to Kelath.
“Most of that stuff we sold was yours.” Kelath thought Througar was attempting to give him extra to pay for the VR gear. “Why are you giving me half?”
“You warned me about Itrix and held onto my stuff for me. If you hadn’t said anything, I would have lost a portion of my loot too. Plus, it’s easier if we split the money evenly.”
“Okay…I appreciate that.”
“Don’t worry. With this guild debt hanging over my head, I’ll be holding on to every copper that comes my way from here on out.”
“Fair enough. So what’s next?”
“We don’t have enough money to buy anything useful, but we can train new skills. Let’s find the training hall.”
They exited the store and wandered into the open square at the center of town. The sound of people sparring drew their attention to a building on the southern edge of the square, and they found novices practicing on straw dummies in a side yard. Inside were a number of trainers instructing other beginners in new skills. A dwarf in padded armor yelled commands at a group practicing with wooden swords in the middle of the room. Kelath spotted a man in black leather armor at the back of the building who was throwing knives at a target on the far wall and pointed him out.
“He looks like he could teach me something new,” said Kelath.
“Yeah, and I’m guessing the loudmouth here is the one I’m looking for. This will take a few minutes, so why don’t we meet outside when we’re done?”
“Good plan. See you in a bit.”
Kelath walked around the perimeter of the room so he wouldn’t get in the way of the people practicing sword thrusts. He approached the man in leather armor, who eyed him suspiciously as he retrieved his throwing daggers from the target.
Unsure of what to do, Kelath held his hand out and said, “Hi, I’m Kelath. I was hoping you could train me.”
“Yes, well you look like you could use training.” The man ignored the implied handshake and brushed past Kel
ath to return to the spot where he’d been standing before. When Kelath didn’t move, he asked, “So should I use you for a target?”
Kelath realized he was standing in front of the target and blushed before jumping out of the way. “Sorry, I wasn’t thinking.”
“That’s obvious.” The man threw a dagger, which hit directly in the bullseye. He continued until all five of his knives struck the middle of the target. He ignored Kelath as he gathered them up and proceeded to attack the target again.
Kelath’s confusion turned to anger as the man repeated his routine, paying no attention to what was obviously a prospective student. He’d never come across a non-player character acting so rude. They were usually helpful, selling items, teaching skills, and handing out quests. If the only thing the AI had learned from interactions with human players was how to be a jerk, he wouldn’t play for much longer.
“Aren’t you going to train me?”
The man looked Kelath up and down, his eyes lingering on the pouch on Kelath’s belt. “And why should I do that?”
Kelath smiled, thinking that maybe this game was deeper than he’d imagined. If this was really the rogue trainer, then he would act like a rogue. Kelath reached into his wallet and pulled out a silver coin.
“Will this make it worth your while?”
“Now you’re talking my language. Follow me.” The man took the silver piece and led him into a hallway with several small rooms on either side. He stopped and opened one of the doors. “The trainer is in here, but I’ll give you one lesson for free. Don’t walk up to people and immediately blurt out your name. Make them work for any information.”
The man chuckled to himself as he returned to the main room, but Kelath didn’t get the joke. He focused on the man to use the identification skill, but rather than learning a name, all he saw was a question mark floating above the man’s head. He couldn’t be sure if his own skill level was too low or the man had some way to hide identifying information. Kelath walked into the training room, wondering if he could learn how to hide his own name.
A number of tools and paraphernalia used for illicit activities filled the room. A table stood in the corner with a set of lockpicks and several practice locks to train with. There was a small laboratory with jars holding various herbs and vials marked in a script he couldn’t read. Books were stacked in piles on the floor, with one open on the top showing anatomical drawings of monsters and the weak points where an attack would do the most damage. An aging dwarf, his hair and beard more gray than brown, greeted Kelath as he entered the room.
“Hello, young rogue.” The dwarf held out his hand. “I’m Plinth.”
Kelath shook the dwarf’s hand. “Wow, you’re much nicer than the first guy I met. I’m Kelath.”
“You didn’t pay attention to what he said, did you?”
Kelath frowned. “Why do you ask that?”
“Because he told you not to tell your name, and already you dropped it.” Plinth held up Kelath’s money pouch to his ear and shook it so the coins inside rattled together. “Along with other things.”
“Hey, that’s mine!” Kelath snatched the wallet back. “And anyway, you told me your name first.”
The dwarf laughed. “I gave you a fake name and shook your hand to get close enough to check your purse. Judging from the weight of it, you can’t afford much training.”
“What will fourteen silver get me?”
The dwarf studied him closely, then said, “It appears you have a little experience, so you can’t afford extra training in skills you already know, but I can teach you a new skill. What would you like to learn?”
Kelath looked at the vials and jars around the laboratory, assuming they were meant for some kind of craft skill. “That looks interesting.”
“Yes, I’m mixing up a few poisons. I can teach you the basics, although you’ll probably turn my precious herbs into trash instead of a real poison. For fourteen silver, I can teach you how to make a recipe that will damage your enemies for a short time after you strike them.”
“Fine, fourteen silver, but I get to keep any of the ‘trash’ I make.” Kelath held out his right hand to shake, covering his money pouch with his left.
Plinth eyed him coldly then burst out laughing. He gave a hearty shake and said, “I like you, Kelath. It’s a deal.”
Congratulations! Your Bargaining skill has increased to 1.
“You can stop guarding your coin purse,” said Plinth. “There are only rocks inside anyway.”
Kelath pulled the edges of the bag apart and emptied the contents into his hand. He held several small, flat pebbles. The dwarf laughed even harder when his jaw dropped.
“Don’t worry,” said Plinth. “I would have given your money back in the end if there was any left over. Follow me over to the bench, and I’ll show you which herb to use and how to grind it.”
Plinth set a mortar and pestle in the center of the table then searched through the jars of herbs nearby. He twisted off one of the lids and pulled out several long, thin leaves with rounded bottoms that tapered to a point at the top. He dropped some into the mortar and mashed them with the pestle, twisting the tool to tear the leaves apart. After a couple minutes, they were ground into a fine powder. He placed the rest of the leaves into a second mortar and told Kelath to give it a try.
There was no shortcut for grinding herbs, which meant he had to move his hand in the correct motion to affect the items in the game. He wasn’t used to performing an action like this, and he had to try several times before he got the herbs under the tool so it could tear them apart. Although he felt ridiculous for being nervous, he kept looking at the dwarf standing next to him to make sure he was doing the motions correctly. Plinth nodded when he finally found the right angle and shredded the leaves into smaller pieces. He worked for twice as much time as the trainer to reach the same consistency, but he was excited that he’d been able to do it at all.
Plinth lifted a glass bottle from a shelf built under the table, took a swig, then poured a little into his mortar. He winked and said, “Dwarven whiskey…care for a nip?”
“No thanks. I prefer to be sober when working with poisons.”
“Suit yourself, lad. You’ll need the alcohol to draw out the toxins in the leaves.”
Plinth handed him the bottle and instructed him to add the same amount to his own bowl. Kelath spilled a little before getting it into the bowl and poured too much over the powder he’d made. Plinth mumbled about the waste of good booze but said the mixture should be fine. They let the leaves steep for several minutes before placing the mortars on top of a stove that stood in the corner of the room. Before long, steam floated over the rims of the bowls and dispersed into the air.
“Is it safe to be in here while cooking poison?” asked Kelath.
“Yeah, that’s mostly the alcohol anyway.” Despite what the dwarf had said, he walked over to the window and cracked it open.
When about half the liquid had boiled away, they removed the bowls from the fire. They scraped a bit of pine tar out of a wooden box and dropped it into the thick liquid that remained. Plinth stirred quickly with a metal spoon, and Kelath followed his lead. His arm was aching by the time they stopped, but Plinth seemed impressed when he peered into the mortar to see how Kelath had done.
“Not bad for your first time. The poison may be a little weak until you get the hang of how to make it, but it will still do the trick.” He took a small, flat tin and set it on the table. “Poison works best when applied to a blade where it can enter the bloodstream when you cause a wound, but touching it wouldn’t be a good idea. Be careful when you transfer it to the container.”
Kelath used the spoon to scrape the sticky glob into the tin then pressed down with the flat side until the lid screwed on tightly.
Congratulations! Your Poison skill has increased to 1.
You have learned the Wounding Poison (weak) recipe.
“Good job, lad!” Plinth clapped him on the shoulder. “Here
’s a couple pieces of scrap leather to apply it with, so you don’t get any on your hands or clothes. To use the poison, scoop out a bit and rub it on your blade. The tar won’t rub off in one hit, but you’ll still have to reapply when the dose wears off. This type of poison will do extra damage to your target for a few seconds after you make your strike.”
Kelath held the container in his hand and examined it.
Wounding Poison (weak): Causes a damage over time effect. Soulbound.
The item was soulbound, which meant he couldn’t sell it to other players. That was too bad since he was hoping for something that could make him some money, as well as give him an edge in combat. On the bright side, he wouldn’t lose the poison if he was killed by another player.
“Thanks, Plinth! I’m sure this will come in handy.”
“Don’t mention it. You’ll need to buy a mortar and pestle and find the ingredients on your own. When your skill increases, you’ll be able to learn other recipes from trainers, although it’s possible to discover them for yourself, too.”
“I’ll keep my eyes open. Thanks again.”
“Good luck out there.”
Kelath put the poison in his backpack and followed the hallway back into the main room. He didn’t see Througar training with the other recruits, so he headed out the front door. A dwarf with red hair stood in front of a signboard in the square, and Kelath trotted over to join him.
“Througar,” he yelled as he approached, “sorry it took so long.”
“You must have learned several skills while you were in there,” said Througar. “I was done ten minutes ago.”
“Nah, I only learned one, how to make poisons. I had to actually do the motions using the haptic glove, which took longer than I’d expected.”
“I forgot to mention some of the craft skills worked that way.”
“It’s fine, although it will be a pain if I have to make a lot of poison. On the bright side, I could consider it a form of physical therapy.”
“That’s the spirit! I haven’t tried crafting, but from what people have said, the system makes it easier to recreate recipes you’ve already made several times. You’ll spend less time on them, and the actions are simpler. At a certain point, when you can’t raise your skill on a recipe anymore, the game will automatically make the item for you without requiring your input.”
