Large Guild Keeps are now available in end level zones. These Keeps are capable of providing all the amenities of a city, but will require staff to make those amenities available. In some cases, repairs will be required before a Keep is usable.
“Aha. There must have been a leak on the internet. This is why it’s so busy here,” Alburet mused as he watched people in the lobby suddenly streaming toward the stairs. “Looks like they were just waiting for the announcement. They’re all going to go try to find one of the keeps.”
“We could do that,” Karen chimed in quickly. “We could totally do that.”
“We would be needin’ a large party of powerful adventurers to take such a keep,” Stacia tried to caution Karen.
“It would be fucking epic, though, if we could grab the first one,” Karen retorted, turning to Alburet. “We can do this.”
Alburet could see the desperation in Karen. He had to admit the idea was appealing, to be the first would surely bring them even more fame and renown. “We probably won’t be able to pull it off today, Karen.” He watched her lips tighten and held up a hand, “Hold on. I like the idea, but it will take a day or two to line up a really serious attempt at it. I have some favors I can call in with people.” He grimaced as he imagined Vladimir laughing over his audacious idea. “The raffle is tonight at the guild hall after sun down. We can put the idea to them then. If a majority of the guild wants to do it, then I’ll call in my favors.”
Karen flung herself at him, wrapping her arms and legs around him and kissing him hard. Alburet reacted like he used to, catching her and holding her tightly as they kissed. With a start, he realized what he was doing. He was about to push her off when she let go and beamed at him. “Best guild leader ever!”
Alburet looked at Stacia with guilt etched on his face, to be met with her loving smile. “It be fine, Asthore, I have been tellin’ ya tha’ all along. All I be askin’ is tha’ I be allowed to get what ya just did. It be only fair tha’ way.”
Alburet was torn. She was right, it would be only fair. But his father’s teaching still loomed large in his mind, insisting that it would be wrong. A part of him insisted he was being an idiot and that Karen sure knew how to kiss. He nodded at Stacia and turned away, to find Fluff watching him covertly. He smiled at her as Karen cheered before the kissing started behind him. He watched Fluff’s eyes track over to the women behind him. It was easy for him to see the sadness and longing in her face before she looked away while blushing slightly.
“Fluff,” Alburet said softly. “When you’re ready, neither of them will tell you no.”
She jerked, her head snapping back to look at him. Her cheeks flamed, “I…”
He rubbed her ear gently, “It’s okay, it really is. Take your time. None of us will think anything but the best of you.”
She dropped her eyes and nodded, her voice quavering, “Okay.”
He stepped forward, hugging her and planting a kiss on her cheek, “We will never hurt you, trust us.”
Fluff laid her head on his shoulder, her voice barely audible even with her mouth next to his ear. “Would… you… watch? Tomorrow, when Stacia helps me?”
Alburet tightened his arms around her just a touch. “I would be honored, Fluff. We should make sure that is the right thing to do first, okay?”
“It be fine,” Stacia said from behind him, making them both start. “She be dealin’ with some rough parts of her issues now. Iffin she wants ya there, it be a good thing.”
Fluffball looked at Karen, catching her hurt expression, “Karen? Will you…”
Karen turned at Fluff’s unfinished question, her eyes showing her emotional turmoil. “If you want me to help Fluff, I will.”
Stacia nodded, “Tha’ be fine. I just be needin’ to check somethin’ with me Ma’, otherwise we will be good to go tonight.”
“This did distract us from the conversation just a moment ago,” Alburet said, letting Fluff go as he realized he was still holding her. “I’ll need to make arrangements with people, so give me a minute to set up some meetings. Once I get them slated for tomorrow morning, we can head off to the Blighted Hills.”
“Going to go without us?” Gerald called out as he and Marysue approached.
“We were going to check the fort while we waited,” Fluff told Gerald.
“She’s right, but first the big news,” Karen bounced in place excitedly. “I was convincing Alburet that we should go after one of the keeps mentioned in the announcement. He wants to check with the guild before we try it, and he wants to set up some help with his contacts.”
Gerald paused, rubbing his chin, “It would definitely raise our standing. I was hearing just before the immersion test started that we might actually be slightly behind the group over in Asia. You know how into gaming the Asian culture is, I won’t be surprised if they come out ahead of us on this.”
Karen frowned, “No. I want it first.” She turned to Alburet, who was busy sending messages via his Mindstone. “Al, we need to do this first.”
Alburet put his stone away, “Then you better hope that they don’t have the kind of contacts I’ve been able to set up. Going sooner than tomorrow would be a really bad idea, though. I have the meetings set for tomorrow morning, so we’ll probably have a good idea of when we can try after that.”
“Fine,” Karen started for the stairs. “We might as well get going, if we aren’t doing it today.”
As they followed her up the stairs, Gerald stepped close to Alburet. “I think the nobles are unhappy with us.”
“Why?”
“It seems there has been a shift in power among the noble houses. House Theron is suddenly poised to be a major power once again. It’s common knowledge that Alpha Company is behind Lady Theron finally naming an heir. Several houses, both major and minor, stand to lose rank in the shuffle. I think we will be getting cancellations on the last few meetings we were supposed to have.”
“Good, that means we can actually go out hunting without having to wait,” Alburet laughed. “House Jones, House Dracon and now House Theron all count us as allies, so we should be okay.”
Gerald nodded, “That may be why we haven’t seen any push back. Just keep it in mind if we’re going to rock even more boats.”
“Will do,” Alburet replied.
The portal delivered them to a vista of rolling hills covered in brown, dead grass. The requisite guard stood watch just outside the gate of the fort.
“Alpha Company?” the guard queried. “You lot sure are busy today.”
“What do you mean?” Alburet asked.
“Already had two groups from Alpha Company come through here.”
Alburet looked at Karen, “We aren’t going to have to go far today, I think.”
“Do you remember anything about the members of either group?” Karen asked the guard.
“Well, the first group had a dwarf with a green beard, which is a bit unusual. The second group had two Lunari. The red-furred one was a mean bitch.”
Alburet sighed, “Great, just what we need, idiots who won’t listen.”
“What’s up?” Gerald asked.
Alburet filled him in about the issue between Ironhand’s group and Bloodmoon’s group. “We’ll probably be hearing from Ironhand soon.”
“I’ll go grab the quests from the fort,” Marysue cut in. “I’ll share them with you when I get back.”
“I will go with ya,” Stacia said.
The two of them went into the fort while the others talked. “She was a bit pushy back at the testing facility,” Gerald recalled. “Should have considered that before bringing her along when we came back into the game. You think the healer and DrBone will step away from her?”
“They seemed like they might. They looked pretty unhappy about what Bloodmoon’s been doing. It very well might devolve into a fight.”
“Hmm,” Gerald chewed his lip. “It’s possible. I don’t think they’ll do very well, though, if they’re stupid enough to ini
tiate a fight.”
“I’m more worried about the other group,” Alburet replied. “We can wipe the floor with them, but I don’t know how Ironhand’s group would do.”
“Which way did our guildies go?” Karen asked the guard.
“North-easterly,” the guard pointed out the direction.
“Gives us a place to start,” Alburet sighed as he summoned Tiny. “Tiny, we’re going to be hunting in the Blighted Hills. We might wind up getting into a fight with some other two-souled.”
“I will protect you and the mistress, master,” Tiny rumbled.
“Sounds good,” Alburet nodded and summoned Bob. “Bob, we’re in the Blighted Hills today. Might also see some fighting against other Two-souled.”
Bob was grinning like a maniac, “Sounds good to me.”
The quartet outside the gates looked at Bob a little oddly. Karen spoke first, “Bob, you okay?”
“I have two wives! Two gorgeously hot, sexually inventive Succubi Ladies!” He bounced up and down, “I got married last night. It was so awesome!”
They congratulated Bob, who was energetically bouncing in place wearing a huge grin. “The best part is they already have more lined up. Once master gains enough prestige, they’ll invite even more to the family. Or if I can reach the rank of Imp Lord. Or even both.” He looked awestruck at the thought.
Marysue and Stacia got back in time to hear the last part, “Tha’ be wonderful, Bob. Ya be a married Imp, now. How does it feel to know they be countin’ on ya?”
Bob stopped bouncing and his face became pensive, “It’s a little frightening, actually. I mean, their livelihood now rests squarely on me as their husband to provide for them. Neither of them is talking kids yet, which is a blessing, but I’ve only ever had to worry about me before.”
Alburet grinned, “But how does it feel to know that they love you and will be there to pick you up?”
Bob started bouncing in place again, “It is so wonderful. I understand now what Tiny had been telling me.”
Gerald coughed once, “Maybe we should get moving and talk on the way?”
They headed out, going north-east. Stacia and Marysue shared the quests with the rest of the group. Bob was waxing on about how wonderful married life was, not caring whether anyone was listening.
Quest: Kill twenty Restless Dead
Reward: Improved reputation with Stormguard guards and fifty gold
Quest: Kill twenty Boney Dead
Reward: Improved reputation with Stormguard guards and fifty gold
Quest: Kill twenty Rotting Dead
Reward: Improved reputation with Stormguard guards and fifty gold
Quest: Kill the Renegade Necromancer
Reward: Item from the Quartermaster stores, improved reputation with all Stormguard factions and a hundred gold
“The quests don’t seem to be very varied, do they?” Karen asked.
“I was thinking the same thing,” Gerald frowned. “I was sure they’d have had their best AI’s working on this.”
“Stacia,” Alburet asked to make a point, “what was your eighteenth birthday like?” Stacia began to describe her birthday while wearing a goofy grin as she recalled a night of laughter and mistakes. When she finished, Alburet gave her a peck on the cheek, “Thank you, Kitten.”
Gerald frowned but nodded, “Point. But that just makes the quests seem even more odd.”
“What if it’s so they can gauge how well the AI’s do? We know the natives can hunt and do quests, too,” Fluff put in her thoughts. “It might explain why the gods have set things up as they have. Why have strict classes, spells and abilities if not to test the AI’s?”
“Ya be talkin’ about Delta World, then?” Stacia asked.
“Delta World?” Gerald asked.
Stacia started to tell them about the legend of Delta World, only to be interrupted as the ground around Tiny exploded upward, showering them all with dirt. Three skeletons stood up from the disturbed earth, surrounding him. The group converged on them. Gerald picked up two of the Boney Dead, leaving Tiny with just one to worry about. Karen, Fluff and Bob all targeted the one on Tiny. Alburet cast Demonic Vitality and Demonic Retribution on Tiny before taking up his axe and imbuing it with flames.
The skeletons wore pieces of leather armor and wielded older weapons that didn’t have as much rust as some others they’d collected before, but it didn’t help them against the combined onslaught. Alburet was barely able to get a single hit in before the others killed it. As they moved over to the two on Gerald, Stacia joined them with her blades out. “Me Daze and Ally abilities do nay work on them,” she told the group.
“Like the spiders, then,” Gerald grunted as he blocked another attack. “Two Imps, then, after this fight.”
“You got it,” Alburet replied as he swung his axe at the next target. “They don’t seem very tough.”
“We’re in the zones we should be in,” Karen shrugged. “Little surprised the others are out here, though.”
“Must have been hoping that Bloodmoon would leave them alone if they jumped to a higher-level area,” Marysue opined.
As they cut down the last skeleton Alburet’s message icon started flashing, so he left looting to the others as he tapped it.
Message from Ironhand:
Bloodmoon is here in the Blighted Hills with us. We hoped that going into a higher-level area would help, but it hasn’t. She’s being more aggressive now. She followed us once already when we moved. She’s going on and on about how Gerald is taking over the guild from you and promised to promote her to second in command and how we should just quit the guild now before she kicks us out.
Alburet snorted as he read the message, “She’s causing trouble. This time, she’s tossing your name around, Gerald. Ironhand says she’s saying you’re going to usurp the guild and make her your right hand.”
Gerald shook his head, “Wow, I didn’t think people were this unimaginative. Shall we make all haste that way to straighten her out?”
“Sounds about right,” Alburet said, pulling out his Mindstone to let Ironhand know they would be along. He put it away and they took off at a jog.
They had to pause to dispatch two small groups of zombies as they moved across the hills. As they crested the next hill, a small town spread before them, nestled in among the rolling hills. The buildings were in horrible disrepair. Many of them were missing roofs, and Alburet couldn’t see a single intact door or window anywhere. They could see two groups moving around the town, almost looking as if they were playing tag. Both groups stayed well away from the bell tower in the middle of the town.
“Straight in?” Gerald asked.
“Yup,” Alburet agreed as they started down the hill. Karen and Marysue were panting a little from all the jogging. Fluff and Gerald barely seemed effected and Alburet had barely started to break a sweat. The effect from his boots had provided a powerful boost, allowing him to move faster with his minions out.
As they made it to the edge of the small town, they had to fight off a ghostly apparition that took reduced damage from physical attacks. Luckily, Marysue was able to really put a hurting on it with her Light-based magic. As it died, Ironhand and his group came running out of the town one building away from them. They were all wounded and breathing heavily as they stumbled out of the town.
Marysue invoked healing on them, catching Ironhand’s attention. He waved the rest of his group over. “You made it,” Ironhand panted. “She’s trying to kill us now.”
“Come over here,” Gerald told them, beckoning them over.
As the two groups came together, Bloodmoon and her group came running out of the town. “Stop running! We just want to play with you,” she was saying. She skidded to a stop when she saw Alburet and his group there, healing Ironhand’s group. “Well, fuck,” Bloodmoon spat. “Ran off to the dictator and his harem.”
Alburet raised a brow, “I did tell you earlier about antagonizing other groups.”
“Wh
at the fuck ever, it’s not like they’re gonna die for real. We were just looking to have a little fun is all. Maybe you and me should go a round,” Bloodmoon sneered. “I’ll let you kiss my boots and tell me how good I am after I stomp you. If you win, ha, I’ll join your little sluts there and be another of your cadre.”
Gerald took a step forward, “Did you just call Marysue a slut?” His voice could have frozen water at fifty feet.
DrBone stepped away from Bloodmoon, “Told you this was a bad idea. Alburet, I tried to stop her. She just doesn’t listen to anyone.”
The lion maned Lunari stepped aside with DrBone, “I did heal them, I mean, that’s what I do. But I didn’t do anything to harm the others.”
Alpha Company (Alpha World Book 3) Page 29
