Trying one last tactic before I had to burn down part of my own garrison, I activated my other ability from Tessel’s Promise, summoning a corrupted wolf.
The wolf appeared near the mimic and opened its jaws. Roots shot forth from the corrupted wolf and slammed into the side of the treasure chest–shaped body. The tendrils broke through, and oddly, clear blood began to leak from the side of the mimic.
The corrupted wolf convulsed and began to pump acidic sap into the mimic even as the tongue of the creature lashed out to grasp the wolf. As the mimic began to reel the wolf toward its tooth-lined maw, I activated the second—and last—charge, summoning another wolf.
The second wolf also launched roots from its mouth, piercing the front of the mimic. The mimic made a strange whining noise as it plopped the first wolf into its mouth and began to chew. The mimic’s mouth sizzled as it tried to chew the wolf, which all the while was pumping more of its sap into the mimic. The mimic’s health bar finally dropped to zero even as the first wolf died in its jaws, crushed and chopped into a pulpy mess. With a clang, the “lid” of the mimic slammed shut as the whole creature dissolved into a pool of foul-smelling goo.
Your forces have defeated a mimic. 120 experience received.
Walking over to the remains of the creature, I caught the glint of coin and a stone scroll case. Not wanting to fall for another trap, I ordered the wolf to paw at the items and pull them from the steaming pile of dissolved mimic. Eventually, the wolf found a total of twelve gold pieces in addition to the scroll case. I began to carefully examine the scroll case.
“Sir, allow one of the men to open that. It could be another trick,” Blevins said. I looked at the private, surprised he was concerned over my safety.
“We don’t want to have to burn down the room and all my work if that scroll turns out to be another trap,” Blevins added, revealing his true concern and renewing my dislike for the man.
“Blevins, open the case,” I ordered firmly. The weaselly man sweat as his shaking hands slowly opened the thing. It was high time he put his own worthless hide on the line, especially after hiding behind the supply wagons instead of joining the fight. Thankfully he didn’t fight the order, having some respect for the position of authority I held. Blevins hissed a sigh of relief as the case opened without incident. I was kind of hoping a mini mimic would eat Blevins’s arm but had to settle for whatever loot was inside.
Garrison Upgrade Voucher: Use this voucher to upgrade one of your buildings to level 2.
That was a welcome reward and I was pleased that the AI seemed to be giving appropriate, class-specific loot most of the time. I thought briefly which building would benefit the legion most with an upgrade in level before I walked to the war table and made my selection.
Aid Station has been upgraded to a level 2 Field Hospital. Forces under your direct command will now receive a 5% resistance to all disease/poison effects. Healing done with bandages is also increased by 5%. You may now expend coin and resources to enable the respawn of any named npc under your command. Cost for subsequent respawns will increase. To purchase a respawn you must be at your war table in the garrison at Hayden’s Knoll or the one in Holdfast.
I didn’t want to lose any of my named npc’s. Opening the Field Hospital tab, I looked at the costs involved in adding a respawn for Brooks, Wrend, and Tavers. The system gave the cost but did not specify how much it would increase with each npc death. I would hopefully never have to find out, and I didn’t begrudge spending resources to keep my key soldiers safe.
Npc’s available for respawn protection:
First Sergeant Brooks: 25 gold, 50 resources.
Sergeant Wrend: 25 gold, 50 resources.
Corporal Tavers: 25 gold, 50 resources.
Thankfully, Blevins wasn’t on the list, as he was associated with the defensive garrison and not part of my legion directly. Having to spend resources on keeping him alive was not a decision I wanted to make. The annoying private wasn’t going to trigger a moral decision for me today at least.
I ordered respawn protection for all three, depleting my gold all the way down to five and my resources down to seventy-two. The zone did provide a slow trickle of income and resources, so I would recoup the losses eventually. Not to mention, with the zone unification quest, I predicted I would be seeing some significant increase in both resources and gold.
I waited two days for Brooks and the legion to return from the destroyed bridge. During that time, I sent word to Delling to see if he was interested in or even able to rebuild the bridge that linked Hayden’s Knoll to the northern transition point. My only concern was that there may be new dangers unlocked by having another active transition point accessible; open transition points gave potential enemies another flank to attack us from.
Soldiers continued to respawn during my wait at the garrison outpost. The day after the mimic attack, the replacements that had originally spawned in Hayden’s Knoll before I switched spawn points arrived. I called a meeting with the nco’s, wanting to get Brooks and Wrend’s take on when we should head out again.
“Sir, I think we should wait until the legion is at full strength. I agreed with you taking our limited forces to the ruins and the northern transition point, as there was no intel showing large forces that may oppose us. When we continue east to finish unifying the zone, we will face two potential enemies in the ogres and the elves,” Brooks advised.
“While I hate to disagree with top, I think we need to be more aggressive. Don’t give these pukes a chance to organize. Hit them with everything we have right now. Show them we mean business and they can either join us or be carved into little pieces,” Wrend added, a vicious sneer on his face, one I was all too familiar with from our time in the prison wagons. I thought about it for a minute. I was torn; I wanted to get the zone unified quickly now that I knew Narbos would be coming for me with his own army.
“We’ll wait. Having a full-strength legion may also make the elves and ogres less likely to want to tangle with us. Once our numbers are back up, we’ll head out. The only thing I’m not waiting for is the nco respawns. The first should be respawning soon, but the second will take at least another week after that. Spend the time we have training the new men and getting them integrated into the legion.
“Brooks, you may have to take over one of the companies that’s short an nco,” I ordered. While we waited, I used the gold and resources that were trickling in to replace our wagons and siege equipment. The wait was necessary, but I wanted to get back out there. War was coming, and we needed to be prepared. When I was once again pulled from the game as the medpod updated my medications, I reflected that one of the hardest lessons I’d ever had to learn as a soldier was that, sometimes, all you could do was wait.
Chapter 6
Matt Delling stepped off the bus and headed toward the political science building at the University of Georgia. The heat and humidity beat down and he looked forward to the cooler air of fall. Despite the well-kept green spaces of the campus, stately brick buildings, and the overall quiet feel of this part of campus, Delling was nervous. The department head had called him and the other two students involved in the Limitless Lands experiment in for a meeting. While the dean hadn’t told him what the meeting was for, he assumed she had made her decision on who would receive the scholarship to graduate school.
Between the three contestants, he felt that Brandon’s character Narbos had progressed the furthest. He was higher-level than Matt and controlled an entire zone. Danica had been at the back of the pack since the contest started. Matt had a sneaking suspicion that her difficult start was due to some machinations Brandon had implemented against her early on.
They were still unsure what the criteria were for judging their performance, and Delling guessed that the lack of information might even be part of the experiment. He felt he was on the right path, and with Raytak back, the zone would be booming soon. Given a few more weeks, Delling was sure he would outpace Brandon and widen his lead over Danica.
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“Hey, guys, how are things going?” Matt asked his two classmates who were already in the waiting room.
“Not too bad, Matt. I was just getting ready to destroy your zone . . . but that can wait till after the meeting,” Brandon said, his goofy grin letting Matt Delling know he was having fun and not trying to insult him. The two were at each other’s throats earlier in the contest. Matt hated Brandon’s arrogant attitude and Brandon didn’t care for Matt’s challenge to his top slot in the class. The two ended up spending so much time together in class and working on projects that they finally became at least tolerant of each other, if not exactly friends.
“My workers’ paradise is progressing nicely as well. While you two knuckleheads go about war-mongering, the peaceful people of Ironloch are building toward a bright new future,” Danica said while waving her arms in a grandiose gesture. The three of them chuckled as they waited. While not close friends, all three had been in classes together from their first year at the university and worked together on several school projects during that time.
Matt planned to go on to graduate school and eventually into politics in his local area. He knew from their conversations that Brandon was under a lot of stress and pressure in school; his family had high expectations of him. Brandon was a smart guy and Matt had no doubt he would do big things as long as his parents didn’t burn him out too early. Danica had told him she planned to teach because she loved politics, but wanted to work with high school students which was her true passion. His train of thought was interrupted when the dean waved them into her office.
The three of them took their seats in front of the imposing desk of the dean, Leslie Hallman. She had always intimidated Matt for some reason. Though she had never been anything but pleasant and professional with him, he got jittery when a single person had so much control over his future.
Dean Hallman flipped through some files while Matt looked around the office while waiting for her to begin. The office was richly decorated with an expensive-looking desk and leather-bound chairs. All the furniture was new and different from what he had seen in his previous visits. No wonder the cost of tuition—as well as his student loan balance—kept going up each year.
“I’m sure you’re all wondering why I called you together today. Don’t worry, the news is good,” the dean advised.
“I wanted to let you all know that the school and Qualitranos have been excited with the progress you all have made in governing yourselves. Qualitranos has agreed to grant a scholarship to all three of the participants.
“We here at the university are also pleased with your progress. All three of you have taken different paths of governance in the experiment and worked hard to be successful in your endeavors. There will be a slot for each of you in our university’s master’s degree program. The scholarship should see you comfortably through the entire program. Congratulations and well-earned, you three,” Dean Hallman said with a genuine smile on her face.
All three of them digested the information while the dean handed over three envelopes containing their paperwork for the scholarship. Brandon and Danica both had silly grins on their faces. Matt was sure that he had one plastered on his own face as well.
“Thank you, Dean Hallman, for your support during the experiment. What should we do with the gaming equipment and our game accounts?” Brandon asked.
“I think you will find it in the paperwork. Qualitranos has graciously said you can keep both as a thank-you for helping them in testing new aspects of play,” the dean told the three of them. The meeting over, Matt and the others shook hands and were escorted from the office.
“Wow, that’s great news for all of us, but don’t think this will stop me from conquering your zone, Matt,” Brandon said as they left the building.
“Challenge accepted. I think my friend Raytak may have a thing or two to say about you attacking me,” Matt advised.
“What’s the deal with that guy anyway? Why is he helping you?” Brandon asked as they walked toward the parking garage and bus stop area.
“He has his own reasons, but I will tell you he knows his stuff about warfare. You’re in for a beating if you try to take us on,” Matt replied.
“Let the best man win then, my friend. How about we make it interesting? Loser has to reroll a level 1 toon and send all his money and items to the winner. Deal?” Brandon offered. Thinking about it for a moment, Matt shook his classmate’s hand, sealing the deal.
“What about you, Danica? Do you want in on this action?” Brandon asked.
“Nope, I’m not that into my current character. Playing her felt too much like I was doing schoolwork. I think I’ll reroll a new character and join some other friends that play. It will feel good to just play for fun with no stress,” Danica advised.
“So, can I have . . .”
“No , before you ask. Neither of you can have my stuff. I’m going to sell it all and send it to my new character,” Danica said, cutting off Brandon’s question.
“Worth a try at least. You guys have a great day. Congrats to everyone,” Brandon said before walking off to the parking lot.
It felt like a huge weight had been lifted from Matt. His main concern for the last few months was how he was going to pay for graduate school. That burden gone, he could focus on preparing for the more grueling classes. But first, he felt a thank-you letter to Qualitranos was in order.
Chapter 7
Yendys logged back into Limitless Lands to meet up with her friends. Excited at what they had scheduled for the day, she tapped her foot impatiently while sipping a lemonade at the Petty Dispute in Hayden’s Knoll. She knew she was early, but she logged in anyway in the hope the others would be early as well. Sadly, they weren’t, so now she and Crunchy had nothing to do but wait. It was intolerable! Crunchy was sooooo bored!
Looking down, she could see Crunchy gnawing at the table leg.
“Crunchy! Behave in here. I don’t want to have to pay for a table . . . Fine, I’ll get you something to eat,” she said, waving over the server.
“What can I get for you, young lady?” the server asked.
“Nothing for me, but could I get whatever the lunch special is for Crunchy here?” she asked.
“Sure, I’ll get one lunch special for your . . . companion,” the server replied, an uneasy look on her face as the beetle glanced up at her, sharp horn and mandibles gleaming in the light streaming in from the window.
“Thanks! Oh, and you might want to just dump everything onto a large metal platter. Crunchy doesn’t do too well with plates. Well, he likes them just fine, but he usually breaks them. Most plates don’t stand up too well against a unicorn beetle.” With a nod, the server slowly backed away and Yendys resumed her wait while observing the other patrons. The crowd was a mix of npc’s and players, most of whom seemed content to enjoy the delicious food and drink that the Petty Dispute offered.
One small gnome did catch her eye, a level 8 player named Deacon. The player’s racial choice was a bit rare in this zone since gnomes weren’t very popular and tended to have their starting areas on a different continent. The gnome race in-game was a little goofy with large heads, bulbous noses, and prominent ears. They were short, of course, and often comical-looking. Not her taste in a character; after all, the noble halflings were much cooler.
What made this guy seem unusual was his gear, and not his race. He had a leather overcoat festooned with pockets and ammo loops. Strangely colored bullets were placed in the loops, and slung over his back was a large gun of some sort, the first she had seen in-game.
“Wow, if grandpa sees that, he’ll go crazy trying to get guns for his soldiers, won’t he, Crunchy?” she asked her companion. Crunchy paid her no mind as he went about devouring the food the server had just placed on the floor in front of him. The battered metal serving tray held a heaping portion of fried chicken, a mound of gravy-covered mashed potatoes, greens, and a hunk of cornbread. Crunchy was gobbling it down as fast as his mandibles could
scoop it.
“Sorry to bother you, but are you Yendys by any chance?” the gnome asked. Yendys was a bit startled, never having seen the gnome approach since she was focused on watching Crunchy’s dubious table manners.
Deacon, Engineer, Level 8.
“Oh, I’m Yendys. Howdy, Mr. Gnome,” she answered while holding out her hand to shake. Crunchy stopped eating and focused on the gnome with a menacing clack of his mandibles, probably annoyed to have his meal interrupted. Or maybe he liked eating gnomes. She shushed the beetle and turned her focus back to Deacon.
“I’m not going to cause any trouble. I just was sent to deliver something. Do you know a guy named Smashem? I was told to see you if he wasn’t available. Really, I just want to drop this off and get back to my own game,” Deacon said. Yendys nodded and waited to see what happened next.
Carefully, Deacon opened a large pouch on the side of his coat and removed a package wrapped in coarse paper with a piece of simple string holding it closed. A scroll was attached to the top. Placing it on the table carefully, Deacon slid it over to Yendys.
“It’s nothing bad, but there is an enchantment that will prevent anyone other than Smashem from opening it. I don’t know anything else, and I’m not supposed to tell you who it’s from,” Deacon added. When Yendys cautiously grabbed the package, she breathed a sigh of relief when nothing untoward happened.
Unidentified gift: This package is magically sealed and can only be opened by the intended recipient, Smashem. Attempts to open by any other will fail, and repeated attempts to open it may have dire consequences.
“Nice,” Deacon said as he walked toward the exit, his nameplate now showing he had reached level 9.
“Congrats?” Yendys said to the unresponsive gnome. The player had the glazed look of someone who was looking at his character screen while he walked away.
“Weirdo, but he was at least nice enough. We have a problem now, Crunchy. I need to know what’s in the package, or it will bug me to death. Let’s go shopping to take my mind off what might be in there,” Yendys said as she waited impatiently for Crunchy to finish his meal; she didn’t have to wait long.
Limitless Lands Book 4: Opposition (A LitRPG Adventure) Page 7
