“Let’s get moving,” the Blood Smith said as she stepped from behind the tailgate. She had two full mugs of beer, and she gave one to me as she walked by.
I took a sip of the thick malty beverage, and joined the other dwarven guards along the side of the ponies that pulled the wagon. The next few minutes were a series of starts and stops as our group moved the wagon up to the massive door of the stronghold, waited for the guards to sign us out, backed up a bit so that the doors could open, and then moved on through. Gratia sat on the seat of the wagon between Artus, who drove, and Allurie, who still looked incredibly depressed. My dwarven friend seemed delighted to be leaving her stronghold though, and she breathed in the fresh mountain air with a loud inhale every few minutes of travel.
The next few hours seemed to fly by. There wasn’t a big rush to our pace, and Beernie didn’t sing one of her marching songs. The walk across the gravel mountain road was actually kind of pleasant, and if this road had been in the real world, I would have guessed many people would have enjoyed the hike through the rough terrain. I didn’t fit on the bench with my three friends, but I was fine walking. My legs were long, and I didn’t seem to get tired in the game world.
The rougher grass covered slopes begin to transition into steeper hills, and the dwarven guards had gone through an entire keg of beer as they walked. I had finished my first glass, but had declined to drink more, since I wanted to keep myself alert during the walk. About an hour later I realized that I probably couldn’t get drunk because this was a virtual game, but then I wondered if Zarra’s team had actually programmed a way for me to get intoxicated from drinking. I kind of wanted to test it out, but I figured that this was a bad place to try it. I would do the test once Artus, Gratia, and I reached Arnicoal.
“The hills are gonna drop into the valley after that last crest!” Beernie shouted from the front of the pack of armed dwarves.
“Thanks for the news!” Gratia yelled back.
Artus and Gratia exchanged grins, but Allurie seemed to slouch in her seat a bit more. The elf girl had been silent the entire journey, and while I didn’t mind the break from her sexual advances, or talk of finding a man for me to love, I was feeling bad about her glum mood.
We encountered some steeper hill slopes around the next bend of the road, and Artus had to apply the brake on the wagon while Gratia pulled on the ponies. I had never thought about how difficult it would have been for the original wagon settlers of the USA to make the trip across the country, but the steep slope really slowed our progress, and it took the entire group pulling on the wagon to slow it down enough so that it didn’t smash itself to pieces at the bottom of the hill. I had a new respect for the “Oregon Trail” people that probably had to do all that without the aid of a band of strong dwarves.
“It is easier with a tree or something nearby. I use a block and tackle to help break, but there is really only one hill between Cutno and Arnicoal. The three of us won’t have a problem with it,” Artus said as we finally reached the bottom of the slope and began to ascend the other side.
“There is only one more after this. Then the slope is more mild,” Beernie commented. The woman had carried her shield, axe, and mug halfway full of beer while she tugged with her shield carrying hand on the rope attached to the front of the cart. It actually didn’t look like she was working that hard, but I saw that the rope was extremely taut, and when the ponies accidentally brushed past it during their own pulling motions the cord let out a sound like a bass guitar note.
The wagon crested the next hill and we all took a break to catch our breath. The valley of Cutno stretched out below us like an emerald ocean, and I could see the waves of various farm lands, and the island of the distant city. The castle looked like a gray mountain on top of that island, and I recalled the journey we had made in the underdark to reach Gratia’s stronghold.
The openness of the scenery was a bit of a contrast from the purple planet floating in the sky above, and the orange rings of the celestial body looked as if they were spun with little bits of stardust. The sight made my mouth hang open with awe, and I kind of wanted to sit here all day and just stare at the world of Ohlavar Quest.
I love this game.
“Arnicoal is that way. I can just make out the peaks of its closest castle,” Artus said as he pointed to our left.
“I can’t really see anything,” I said as I raised my hand over my brow to shield the late day sun.
“Me either. Fenia, gnomes, half-orcs, and elves have the best vision,” Gratia explained.
“I thought dwarves were the best at everything?” I asked her with a smirk.
“Aye, we are. When it is important. I can’t hit that city with an axe, so I don’t need to see it. We dwarves are the best at things that are useful!”
Our group of escorts let out a wallop of agreement, and then they began to walk toward the far side of the hill where the road began to decline into the main portion of the valley. Artus flicked the reins of the wagon, and the ponies strolled toward the last slope. This one was probably steeper than the earlier drop, but our crew was more experienced at the task now, and we managed to get the wagon down the gravel road without much hardship.
“How much food did ya bring?” Beernie asked once we hit the tail end of the road that led into the valley.
“We’ve got more than enough to last us the trip,” Gratia said.
“Good. It is nearly nightfall. It would be best if we camped with you tonight, and then said our farewells tomorrow morning. We’ll also need to drink these other two kegs of beer.”
“Or you could just leave them with us.” Gratia smirked at the other dwarven woman.
“Ha! That sounds like something I would have said.” The two women laughed, and even Allurie smiled at their exchange.
We reached the base of the valley, and then drove the wagon through the tall grass so that we were about a mile from the foothills. I doubted that the distance would be enough of a deterrent to a pack of long legged ogres, but Artus spotted a farm house another half of a mile away, and we decided to try and make it there before night truly fell.
The farm was larger than I expected, and I guessed that it was at least two hundred acres in size. There were countless fields, animal stalls, and three barns set behind a tall gate. I saw a handful of crossbow carrying guards at the front entrance, and a distant cloud of dust on the far end of the property made me guess that there was another group of guards on horseback making patrols. The armed men did wave at us as we approached, and their movement didn’t seem hostile.
“Leo, can you ask them if we can stay on their property? Chances are that they are human,” Artus asked when we drove up to the gate of the large farm estate.
New Quest: Convince the guards to let your party rest on the farm property tonight.
“Sure,” I said as the quest words scrolled across my UI screen.
I jogged up ahead of the party and waved to the men as non-threateningly as I could.
“Good evening!” one said as I got within speaking distance.
“Good evening!” I replied. “We are looking for shelter for the night. Then we are heading out tomorrow morning. Their names said Farm guards and all of their health bars were full.
“Who is with you?” one of the men stood up a bit higher and then looked behind me at the wagon. We had parked some eighty yards away, and he probably couldn’t see everyone in the dusk light.
“We are traders, heading from the mountains toward Arnicoal,” I said carefully. I didn’t want to give them too much information about Artus and I, since the city guards might still be looking for us.
“Dwarves?” one of the men asked.
“Yes. That is the most of us.”
“Are they from the mountains? I heard a rumor that some dwarves live there.”
“Other side,” I lied a bit since I recalled Gratia telling me that their stronghold was supposed to be a secret to Cutno citizens. “The trip was kind of difficult, and w
e really want to rest, we’ll keep to ourselves, unless you want to mingle.”
“From the other side? That’s a long journey. If you promise no violence to our people, you can stay inside the walls for the night,” the older of the guards said as he eyed my sword. I guessed him to be in charge, since the other men looked a bit surprised that he had offered so suddenly.
“That is fine. Thank you for your hospitality.”
“Aye. Go park your wagon by the far east barn,” the older man said as he waved to one of the far buildings. “If you are willing to trade some dwarven beer, I think the master would be willing to feed you all.”
“I’ll ask them. Thank you for your hospitality.” I nodded to the men, and they opened the gate to let us pass inside.
As soon as the wagon moved past the gate I saw the Quest Completed text flow onto the screen. You have gained 1 attribute point! I smiled again to myself as I walked. That had been an easy quest, so I thought the reward was fitting, but I also liked that Ohlavar Quest was rewarding attribute points based off of NPC interaction quests, instead of just killing monsters, or fetching things. Sure, it had been an easy quest, but that was because I was a pretty social guy, and I liked talking to people. I imagined that some players would have had a tough time convincing the guards to let them stay inside for the night.
After a few minutes of travel across the farm, we had made it to the spot that the guard had indicated. I let my companions know that we needed to set up here, and the dwarves went to work unpacking our camping gear.
“What is that?” Allurie’s question surprised me.
“What?” I asked as I looked at where she pointed. It was the side of the barn close to where we were setting up our camp. It was almost night now, and there wasn’t enough light for me to see any features of the building.
“I see it. Grrrr,” Artus growled and I walked with him, Allurie, and Gratia to the side of the barn.
There were three pieces of thick parchment nailed to the side, and I recognized the drawings on them before I read the text.
“Wanted: The human Leo, for the murder of Kimmel Halafast, and six of Lord Halafast’s guards.” I read the sign with a groan. They had actually drawn my face pretty well, but then I remembered that I was still playing a game, and the AI wouldn’t have a problem crafting a stylized drawing of me.
“Wanted: The fenia Artus for the murder of Kimmel Halafast,” the cat man read after me.
“Ohhh someone wants me! This is fun!” Allurie cheered as she looked at her own picture and hopped up and down.
“They want you for conspiracy of murder, and aiding two murders,” I told her as I finished reading her wanted poster.
“So, that is bad?” she asked with a tilt of her head.
“Yes. If they catch you, they will put you in the dungeon— and I’m not talking about the good dungeon.” I raised my finger as the elf girl’s eyes opened with joy.
“Awww. That does sound like no fun. Darn.”
“Well, that settles it all then,” Gratia proclaimed with a huff.
“Settles what?” I asked.
“I’m not much for elves, and I know I’ve argued a bit with this one, but I’ve come to not hate her, and I need a helper or two for my workshop and gallery in Arnicoal. What do you say, Allurie?” the dwarven woman asked as she turned to the silver-haired elf.
“A job? Are you offering me a job?” Alluries eyes grew wide and seemed to glow in the star light.
“Aye. Now, it will be hard work. Starting a new business always is, but if Artus is going to help me, then we’ll have a good go—”
“Yes! Oh yes! I want a job. I love art! Hooray!” Allurie bounced up and down again and then hugged the shorter woman enthusiastically.
“But wait,” Allurie said after Gratia called her an idiot again and peeled the elf off of her shoulders. “What about Leo? I want to stay with him forever.”
“Let’s worry about that later,” I sighed as I looked at the wanted posters again. “We need to get to Arnicoal as soon as possible. If they put wanted posters up this quickly, I’m guessing that this thing with Lord Halafast might just follow me wherever I go like a heavy shadow.”
“You did kill his son, Leo,” Artus said with a growl.
“Yes, and while I don’t regret it, I’m worried about this coming to bite me in the ass again.”
“If you really want someone to bite you in the—” Allurie began, but Graita shushed her with a loud hiss.
“Let’s all get some rest. I’m going to return to my people for a bit. So don’t leave tomorrow until I get back. Okay?”
My three friends nodded at my words, and we returned to the campsite that the dwarves had quickly put together.
Chapter 6
“How did it go, Champ?” Ky asked as he took the VRIU mask piece from me.
“Great. Resting for the night, so I was going to go grab dinner with my parents.”
“Ahh sounds good. I’m glad they are here now.”
“Ha. Me too,” I walked out of the VRIU and glanced at the glass observation room. It was tinted because of the privacy button I had hit, but I was surprised that Zarra hadn’t said anything to me as soon as I got out.
“Is Zarra here?” I asked Ky.
“It is just me right now,” Jennifer spoke over the speakers of the room. “Ms. Zerne asked me to message her when you got out, but she asked me to tell you she wouldn’t be able to be here tonight, and that she was sorry.”
“Oh, okay, no worries.” I put on my robe and then turned off the tint to the observation glass.
“Can I get your feedback for her?” Jennifer asked as she stepped out from behind the glass. Her face suddenly blushed and she pushed her glasses up on her nose.
“Sure.” I took the stool I normally sat on and gestured for her to sit where Zarra normally did. “Do you need to take my blood pressure also?”
“Yes, actually, the VRIU does it while you are playing, but we want to check when you get out to make sure the calibration is correct. We won’t need to do it for much longer. There hasn’t been any deviation yet. Let me go get the tester.” She stood up to return to her computer room, and I found my eyes straying to her pencil skirt and lean legs. She was wearing high heels, and I realized that I had thought her pretty before, but she was really beautiful. I probably hadn’t noticed her because Zarra tended to overshadow everyone else around her.
“Okay, I’ll put this on your arm. There we go.” she hit the button on the wrap as soon as it covered my bicep, and then she slid open the controls on her digi-pad. “What did you think about this session?”
“It was great. Just a couple of questions. First, I got a nice magical sword. My first blue item.”
“Oh yeah!” Ky shouted from behind me.
“That’s great!” Jennifer said.
“Yeah. It has an ability that I didn’t understand. It said ‘reset mana fatigue’. What is mana fatigue?” I asked.
“Oh, you don’t…” Jennifer looked a bit confused. “Ms. Zerne didn’t explain that to you?”
“Not really.” I smiled. “I kind of felt like she threw me in the deep end and told me to swim. Not that I mind. It’s been great so far. Just not understanding some of the game mechanics.”
“Got it. Mana fatigue is what happens when you use too many abilities,” Jennifer explained with a smile.
“Oh, so it is like an inverse of magic pool?”
“Exactly! You’ll feel tired, then your vision will begin to darken and blur. Finally you’ll faint. If that happens you’ll have your eyes closed for twenty seconds and you’ll get logged out of the game.”
“I’ve used some abilities, but I haven’t noticed any of this spell fatigue,” I said.
“Huh. That is weird, you should have felt some. Especially when you used Rwunidar’s Might.” The woman glanced behind me with her blue eyes. “Hey Ky, can you check on the mana fatigue feedback? Maybe the VRIU is buggy?”
“Yeah. I can check on
it, but I don’t think this is strange. Leo’s a bad ass. I’m sure he could handle whatever the game throws at him. He’s the champ after all.”
“Ahhh.” Jennifer nodded and turned her eyes back to me. “Ky makes a really good point. Mana fatigue is calculated by the difference between the base attribute requirements for the ability, and your own ability ratings.”
“Oh, that makes sense. So with Rwunidar’s Might, I think the ability said 25 Body, and my body is 33.”
“Yep,” the woman blushed as her eyes looked over my robe. “It’s a really high rating. If the numbers are equal, you’ll be able to use the ability once per hour without mana fatigue. With your rating, you’ll be able to use it a bit more per hour without fatigue.”
“But I can’t use that ability anymore than once per every eight hours. So the fatigue doesn’t really seem to matter,” I said.
“Yep, that is how stances work. We wanted players to use them in combat without being worried about getting fatigued. They normally have some other sort of hang up that you have to worry about when you turn one on.”
“Like not being able to speak?” I asked with a laugh.
“Exactly!” She echoed my laugh.
“I guess that also explains why Ember didn’t make me feel any fatigue. I have way more attribute than the ability uses,” I said as I thought about the way I made my swords glow. Zarra had hinted that I was able to make them flare for a good reason, and I guessed that the difference in required attributes was at the core of that.
“Yep. Don’t fear, you’ll find a lot more abilities that will make you worry about mana fatigue, you’ve just begun to play,” she said with a smile of perfect teeth.
“Does mana fatigue work across the different magic types?” I asked.
“What do you mean?”
“So let’s say I used a bunch of Shadow abilities, and I began to feel fatigue. Then I switch and use some Light abilities. Is that like a different ‘magic fatigue pool’ or something? How do I know how much fatigue I can handle? I didn’t see a bar anywhere on my UI in game.”
Lion's Quest: Dual Wield: A LitRPG Saga Page 6
