by Jakob Tanner
“See anything you like Shade?”
The Lirana shrugged. “Nothing I’d actually pay for.”
Despite the fact when I met Shade he was quite a low level, his gear never appeared so. He equipped himself with a set of twin silver daggers on one side of his waist and on the other, a pair of brass revolvers. I had a good feeling he had stolen the gear off someone much stronger and wealthier than himself.
So good for him but I had 574 gold coins burning a hole in my pocket and I wanted to spend it. In the corner was a scraggly old man in a yellow robe sitting at a stall with staffs laid out across the table. My eyes glowed greedily, examining the cool weapons. The staffs came in all shapes and sizes, some straight and metal, others made of carved wood with runes and crystallized etchings. The coolest staffs had heads with balls of molten flame cores constantly ablaze or large sculpted jewels—ruby or emerald—harnessing loads of power. I was quickly disappointed though. I eyed their stats and saw most of the staffs had high level requirements. The lowest was for level 20.
“What’s the best staff you have for someone at level 11?”
The old man stroked his wispy gray beard, grinning with his three teeth. “I have the exact thing for you.”
He got off his stool and bent over a chest full of staffs. He rummaged through his wares until eventually he pulled out a long wooden staff of gnarled wood. He held it in both of his hands and presented it to me.
I frowned. It was a very boring staff. Twisted wood, not much different from my current Apprentice’s Staff. If anything, it looked worse. The staff curled into thin wispy twigs at the top. I was very disappointed but then its stats appeared.
Wooden Staff (ATKP: 25-40, MTKP: 55-97. +1 Upgrade Slot. REQ: Apprentice Mage Class, Level 10)
Alright, those were good stats. Definitely an improvement on my current weapon. It was a drag it was so boring, especially compared to the upper level wares. But sometimes you had to prioritize the stats over aesthetic coolness and, at the very least, this wasn’t going to be my end-game weapon so I wasn’t committing to it for life.
“How much do you want for it?”
The man stroked his beard and shrugged, “300 gold coins.”
My jaw dropped. He was asking for more than half my gold and the staff had zero cool points.
The merchant noticed my incredulity, selling it to me further. “This staff is the best thing you’ll find for your level. I’ve seen staffs require level 15 with worse stats than this.”
“True,” I said. “But c’mon man. This looks like someone picked up a fallen branch in the forest.”
The merchant smiled again. “Ah, you’re forgetting the upgrade slot. You can get a diamond or a ruby and attach it to this staff here, not only improving the stats but also making it look more stylish, if it is so important to you.”
I had not thought about the upgrade slot. It was an added bonus, but how much were rare upgrade jewels going to cost? Also, the merchant was being very pushy. He wanted the sale. He needed it.
“You know what,” I said. “I’m going to take a look around. I’ll come back.”
“200!” yelped the man. His voice cracked.
I smiled. I had him.
“150,” I said.
The man clenched his fists. “175.”
“Deal,” I said.
Barter (Level 2) Success!
You increased your bartering skills by 0.3
The staff appeared in my inventory slot and the 175 gold coins disappeared, leaving me with 399 gold coins to my name.
I thanked the merchant and turned to Shade who was licking his furry hand and rolling his eyes, bored.
“Can we get going to the casino place?” he said. “I want to go there.”
“In a minute,” I said. “I want to see if I can upgrade this staff right now.”
I strolled further through the market until I found a pretty Aeri woman selling jewels and artificing supplies. Overtop the red tablecloth she had different-colored crystals, special oils to imbue into carved woods, and insignias to brand staffs with as well. Holy crap. This was all really good stuff. I wanted to buy it all.
“Hi, do you have staff heads for this?” I asked, showing the merchant my newly acquired purchase.
She smiled. “Yeah we’ll have something for you. Give me a sec.” She crouched down and looked underneath her table. As the woman rummaged through her stock, two goblins approached the stall and eyed up the magic runes on display. One pulled from his pocket a cloth sac and hung it at the end of the table while the other grabbed the wares, tossing them in.
“Hey!” I said, “What are you guys doing?”
The lady jumped back up to her feet and the goblins hurried away through the crowds.
“Hey! Stop!” screamed the Aeri merchant. “Someone help!”
A quest prompt appeared:
New Quest Alert: Stop The Bandit Thieves!
Stop the thieves from stealing the jeweler’s goods!
Quest type: Unique, dynamic
Quest Difficulty: Medium
Reward: 400 EXP + ?
Accept: Yes/No ?
I accepted the quest in a flash and raced after the thieves.
My eyes locked onto the two bandits shoving their way through the crowd. They were far ahead of us. There was no way we’d catch them by merely running faster. I ran through the crowd all while letting my fingers dance, twirling as they summoned an icy thunder through my legs and feet. My increased speed, shot me through the crowd. But I only had thirty seconds to utilize the buff and all these people and stalls were going to get in my way. I jumped onto a wine merchant’s barrel and jumped again, soaring over the crowded market. Onlookers watched in awe as I stepped over the crowds with my mana platforms. I landed at the southern entrance to the Trader’s Forum, now only meters behind the bandits.
I chased after them. They made a sharp left and I followed them right into a sucker punch to the face.
I fell to the ground, losing 10 HP.
Looming over me were the two goblins bandits, knives drawn and ready to gut me.
Goblin Bandit
Level 7
HP: 200
MP: 8
I scrambled back to my feet as one lunged its knife towards my stomach. I whipped out my new staff, knocking them with a melee swipe. Gripping the staff with one hand, channeling all the mana around me, I summoned a fireball the size of a watermelon. I whipped it at the bandits. The flame shot knocked them back. Next, crackling lightning burst from the palm of my hand and captured the goblin with the sac of jewels. He hung upside down in the electric cage as his companion abandoned him and ran off down the alleyway.
I yanked the sac of jewels from the goblin. I found Shade behind me at the front of the alley, shaking his head.
“An enemy to thieves everywhere,” he said. “You’d make a great city guard.”
The lightning cage dissipated and the goblin scurried away from us. I didn’t care about killing him and getting his experience points, I had a much better reward coming from completing this quest.
A new prompt appeared in my HUD.
Quest Update: Stop The Bandit Thieves!
Good work! You’ve retrieved the jewels from the bandits. But what’s to stop you from telling the jeweler you didn’t catch them?
Choose:
a) Return the jewels to the jeweler
Reward: 400 EXP + ?
b) Keep the jewels for yourself.
Reward: Fire Ruby (1), Shard of Crystallized Mana (4), Orichalcum Bracelet (1), Gold Insignia (4), Gold Ring (8), Emerald Ring (2)
Whoah. I’d never received a quest prompt like this. This must be what the original prompt meant by “dynamic.” Shit. The second option was obviously the morally dubious one but damn it had a sweet reward for breaking the law. The “Shard of Crystallized Mana” alone would net me thousands. Not to mention all the incredible status buffs these rings offered.
I turned to Shade. “Why are you looking at me? You k
now what I’d do.”
The merchant woman came to my mind. Silver-haired. Purple-eyed. An Aeri like me. In terms of social hierarchies in Laergard we were definitely at the bottom, hated by the Rorn and viewed with suspicion by everyone else. We were one of the ancient races, though we were much more resented than revered. I shook my head. I wasn’t going to screw over the lady. I was going to do the right thing and get my experience points. I didn’t need any of this high-level crafting gear at the moment anyway. Sure, it would save me time later, but at the moment it was like being given a sweet ass Fender guitar when all I really needed was a used acoustic.
I selected the first option on my HUD and headed back to the market, Shade following behind me. The ever-bustling city had forgotten about our escapade by the time we returned. The market heaved with excitement, the chatter of haggling and coins jostling from one hand to another echoed throughout the maze of stalls. The only person who recalled the goblin incident was the jeweler woman waiting at her stall, clutching her neck with nervousness.
I smiled, handing her the sac.
“Oh my goodness,” she said, blushing and smiling. “Thank you.”
You have successfully completed Quest: Stop the Bandits!
+400 EXP
“Here,” said the Aeri woman, pulling from the sac a large ruby. “You can use this to upgrade your staff. It’s the least I can do for you. I’m sure most would’ve run off with this bag themselves.”
New Item Alert!
Fire Ruby (+30 MTKP, +30 Bonus Fire Damage, +15% Chance to inflict burn)
I held the ruby in my hands with awe, dumbfounded.
“I can upgrade your staff for you as well if you want,” said the jeweler.
“Sure,” I said, handing her back the ruby and then handing her my new staff as well.
“Give me one second,” she said. “Um, will you guard my stall as I do this?”
I laughed. “Of course.”
She sat down on the floor and focused on the staff and ruby, wedging the device into the staff head. She got up and handed me back my upgraded staff.
New Item Alert!
Fire Staff (ATKP: 25-40, MTKP: 55-97. +Fire Ruby Upgrade (+30 MTKP, +30 Bonus Fire Damage, +15% Chance to Inflict Burn) REQ: Apprentice Mage Class, Level 10)
Fuck yes. The once boring and lame staff was now definitely rolling in a pool of cool points.
“Thanks again,” I said.
“No, the pleasure’s all mine,” said the woman. “By the way, we need a couple of keen adventurers such as yourselves over in the Aeri district. If you were looking for work, I’m sure there’s odd jobs over there for you to do.”
Interesting. There were more quests to be found in the Aeri district then. Did we have time to do them though? It was midday and the clock was ticking on our quest for the king. But I was feeling less powerful than necessary for the mission. It was “hard difficulty” and so far the mobs we’d come across had been an absolute pain to fight. I was mostly thinking about the Sky Wyrms and the Arethkarian dreadnought. We’d been thrown into mid- to high-level content and we were still tier-1 class noobs. But then I realized something. This was normal for Arcane Kingdom games. I remembered the old single player version my brother and I used to play. If the main plot missions became too difficult, you had the option of temporarily ignoring them to go off and grind levels and side quests. Of course, those games were much more stilted and static open world experiences compared to Illyria. But an hour or two of sidequesting wasn’t going to hurt anyone.
“Sorry love but we got plans at the Grand Casino Pa—”
“We’d be happy to go help out the neighborhood,” I said.
It was time for some good old-fashioned quest grinding.
14
The Aeri district was the most distinct area I’d so far encountered in Land’s Shield. The grease and grime of the advanced magitech metropolis still abounded but was now hybridized with thick sprawling trees. It was steampunk meets nature. Great oaks formed homes with pipes wrapping around trees like metallic vines. Branches acted as bridges while hooks and cranes hung between them. Mana powered lamps lined the boulevards as nature and technology mingled intimately together.
Shopkeepers dusted the pavement outside their doors while craftsman worked behind the glass windows of their establishments. Little Aeri children kicked a ball in the streets, playing a game similar to soccer. One lonely kid kicked a ball by himself to the side. Many of the Aeri here were different from the silver-haired Eldra Aeri I had met back in the forests near Arondale. These were not your stereotypical elves: one passerby had sharp red hair while another had a bulkier stouter frame like the Rorn. Different Aeri sub-races. The red-haired Aeri were the Murgain, whose mana attunements revolved centrally around fire magic. The bulkier ones were the Chakren who specialized in earth magic. They were the only Aeri sub-race to not have a negative alignment with the Rorn. One Chakren sneered at me.
“Have you come to judge us, Eldra?”
Give me a break. Aeri on Aeri prejudice! I already had those short fucking Rorn giving me a hard time. Now I was getting shat on by my own people.
“Well this has been a warm welcome,” said Shade.
To emphasize Shade’s point further, a ball came flying out of the air and knocked me right in the face.
“Ow! What the—”
The little kid, who had been kicking the ball by himself, stared at me with wide-eyed terror at his accident.
“Does this always happen to you? Or do you just like balls in the face,” commented Shade.
“Very funny,” I said, picking up the ball and walking towards the little kid.
The young boy had scruffy silver hair and big bright purple eyes. The first Eldra Aeri I’d seen in the district. In fact, it was the same kid I’d seen earlier when we had first entered Land’s Shield.
“I’m so sorry, mister,” said the kid when I handed him back his ball.
“It’s fine kid,” I said. “Why aren’t you playing with the others?
The kid’s eyes fell to his feet despondently. “They said I’m not allowed to play until I learned how to kick a ball properly. I guess I still haven’t yet. Sorry.”
I sighed. Kids were such pricks sometimes. “Screw those kids,” I said. “How does this sound? If you tell us anyone around here who needs help with—er, quests—we’ll come back later and play ball with you?”
The kid’s eyes brightened up. “Really! You’ll come back and play with me?”
“Of course kid,” I said. “But, like I said, we got serious errands to run, so it won’t be till later this evening or tomorrow.”
The kid scratched his chin contemplatively. “Hmm. Let me think if my schedule is free then.” He then gave us an incredible bright smile. “It is! I’m completely free!”
I laughed. “Good stuff. Now where are those quests?”
“Try Old Noroo. She has a spider problem in her attic. She’ll never let me go up there. Oh, and Sabetha has been acting weird all day. Ask her what’s wrong. I’m sure if you speak to others in the district, they’ll have odd jobs or chores for you to do as well.”
Two markers popped up in my mini-map, one for Old Noroo’s house and another for Sabetha’s location, little question mark symbols indicating a quest was available. “Thanks kid. Practice your moves because later we’ll take on those other kids and crush them!”
The kid smiled excitedly. “I can’t wait. I’ll be right here.”
I grinned and left the lonesome kid with his ball and headed deeper into the district.
“I can’t believe you’re going to make us spend time with that kid later,” grumbled Shade. “Does that make him our ‘homie’?”
I laughed and shrugged. I didn’t have time to get into the precise definitions of urban street slang with a talking anime cat man right now. I went down a winding street, making sure to turn and go in the direction of Sabetha’s icon on the mini-map. Old Noroo’s house was at the other end of the district so
it made sense to start with Sabetha.
Approaching the icon, a woman with light bluish hair—indicating she was of the Aeri sub-race affiliated with water and air, the Al-Hari—stood outside a restaurant, holding onto a broom and staring absentmindedly.
“Hi,” I said, approaching the woman, snapping her out of her daze. “A little kid in the courtyard was concerned you weren’t feeling too great. Is everything okay?”
The woman clutched her neck in surprise. “Little kid in the courtyard? You must be talking about Fen. Such a sweet child. He hasn’t been the same since his father passed.”
“His father passed?” I said, sadly. My heart welled up for the sweet little Aeri kid. I’d have to go do more than play soccer with him.
“Yes,” said the woman. “He used to be such a carefree child. Now he’s so quiet and sullen he goes unnoticed. But he notices you though. He must’ve seen me. A few people have asked me if I’m alright and to tell you the truth, I’m not.”
