Quest completed: Kill at least twenty goblins
Receive: 2 gold and increased rep with all Stormguard reputations
“Well done,” the Sergeant replied with a smile before handing over the two gold. “Let me know if you kill any more goblins before you leave the area.”
“Will do,” Alburet replied, snapping another salute. He turned to find the others all staring at him, “What?”
“Why the fuck didn't you have to turn in any heads?” DrFrank snapped.
“Because I was polite, and acted like a respectable person by not running up and demanding things. The Sergeant might also have given me a slightly different version as I went back into old habits of addressing a superior officer. I had to kill twenty goblins minimum for the quest I had.”
Marysue shook her head, “So we can get different quests from the same NPC? Just by how we ask? That’s a new take even by Mindblown's normal game standards.”
“They increased the number of AI's used in this game as well as the quality. They’re using their latest iteration of AI's which are supposed to be able to emulate emotion better.” Gerald said with a thoughtful expression. “Anyway, we have another quest to turn in,” he hitched a thumb at the Quartermaster.
The four all ran over to the Quartermaster while Alburet walked over with a smile. He waited for the others to receive their rewards before he saluted the quartermaster. “Sir, here are the supplies you requested.” Alburet dropped the ten supplies he had gotten onto the desk. “Also, here are the armbands I retrieved as requested.”
Quest completed: Capture at least five goblin supply caches
Receive: A Mindstone and a leather jerkin (armor 15)
Quest completed: Goblin armbands
Receive: 5 gold and increased rep with all Stormguard factions
You are now at Liked with all Stormguard factions
“Well done. Here are your rewards. If you come across any more supplies or armbands I will gladly take them from you.” the Quartermaster said before holding up a hand. “Also, I've had reports of some farmers freed from the goblin fort. As such I am authorized to give you all one piece of equipment from my list.”
Quest completed: Save the Slaves
Receive: Any one item from the Quartermasters stores
He turned a book around to the group, “Just touch the item you want and it will be yours.”
DrFrank grabbed the book skimming it quickly before selecting a ring with +2 intelligence. “I'll take this one, thanks,” he said with a chuckle and handing the book to Gerald.
Gerald, then Marysue followed finally by Fluffball all selected their rewards. Gerald took a mail coif, Marysue took a necklace of +2 wisdom, while Fluffball took a two-handed axe. Alburet finally picked up the book and went through the options while the others all used their Mindstones to friend each other.
Everything seemed to be an upgrade to what he had, but the box marked with just question marks caught his eye. “What's in the mystery box?”
The Quartermaster smirked, “If I knew it wouldn't be a mystery now would it? All I know is that when I touched the box it said the contents would be unique to the one who opened it. So I left it alone. Who knows what could be inside?”
Laughing, Alburet touched the box, claiming it, “Let's find out, shall we?” The box appeared on the desk and Alburet touched it, accepting that the contents would unique to him via pop-up. The box vanished and a set of dark red leather gloves appeared before him.
Alburet paused, his lips quirked up as he examined the gloves, “Well, guess they are meant for me after all.”
Demon Lord’s Gloves
Unique Scaling Item, Part of the Demon Lord set
Armor 8 to hands (up to 100 depending on level) stacks with Demon Skin
Strength 8 (up to 100 depending on level)
Intelligence 8 (up to 100 depending on level)
Indestructible
You may use any weapon regardless of Strength required
Becomes Soul Bound when equipped
Other parts of set:
Robe
Crown
Boots-Equipped
Pants
Belt
3 pieces bonus: ???
6 piece bonus: ???
Alburet put the gloves on to the disbelieving stares of the others, “So nice of you to leave me the box, guys.”
“What the fuck, a set item in a mystery box at this level?” DrFrank said in disbelief. “That is so fucking lame.”
“Kind of unique anyway,” Gerald mused, “I mean, who takes that gamble when there are clear upgrades to be had? Anyway, let's touch stones so we can contact each other. I want to head back out and into the dungeon for another round.” He tapped his Mindstone to Alburet's, both of them accepting the request to friend the other.
Marysue smiled as she exchanged names with Alburet, “Take care, and thanks for the interesting day.”
Alburet exchanged friends with DrFrank and Fluffball as well, then found himself without a group as Gerald removed the DPS as he and Mary headed for the exit, followed by DrFrank asking if he could do a full clear with them.
“So, I notice your boots match your gloves.” Fluffball said with a raised eyebrow. “How did you get the boots?”
Shaking his head, Alburet replied, “Long story. Short version of it was I traded an item to an NPC for them. Kind of odd to have two set items in the first few days, though.”
“Yeah, pretty rare I'm going to say. So we going to group up and kill some more goblins? I still have a few hours before I'm going to log off.” Fluffball asked as she sent a group request to him.
Accepting the request, Alburet smiled, “Sounds good to me. Let's hit the merchant outside to sell off junk first though.” Fluffball agreed and walked with him outside and over to the vendor.
“So you roleplay as well?” Fluffball asked as they walked.
“Well, I got time and I think it's fun to really try to immerse oneself into the game,” Alburet replied. “I notice you like to groom your ears.”
“It's an easy quirk to roleplay. Also it feels kind of good. The sensation I get is like the warm feeling you might get if a loved one strokes your hair.” Fluffball replied with a slight blush, “So it works out.”
“Interesting,” Alburet said with pursed lips in thought. “So maybe they’re working out how to adapt the system to reflect how to accept non normal stimuli. If it works maybe they’ll lift the same sex mandate their games have currently.”
“Oh, so you think the Lunari are a test run to allow cross gender characters?”
“Could be, after all it's not like you have those ears or tail in real life. That means that your brain is trying to figure out how to interpret the data the game gives it when they’re touched or groomed. At least that's my theory on it, anyway.”
“Huh, I didn't think of it that way. I hope you’re right because that would mean I’m helping to further an awesome goal.” Fluffball smiled brightly as she spoke, as if pleased with the idea.
Alburet came to a stop before the merchant and addressed the man, “Good day to you, merchant. I have some items I would like to be rid of, if you are interested in buying them.”
“Let's see what you have,” the merchant replied with a bored expression.
Alburet unloaded the rusty weapons and tattered leathers he had looted onto the table the man had next to the wagon. “This is all of it.”
The merchant went through the stuff, setting aside all the weapons. “I can buy everything but those. The smith across the way might buy them. For the rest of this stuff, say fifty silver?”
“Works. I’ll have some more later to sell you as well,” Alburet said, shaking hands with the merchant before accepting his coin and putting the weapons back in his bag.
Fluffball stepped forward and unloaded all her non weapon stuff for sale. “I also would like to sell you these items, sir. I heard what you said about the weapons so I have kept them.”
“O
h, an adventurer who listens to us, how novel.” The merchant chuckled, “For that I offer you sixty silver in trade.”
Her smile growing, Fluffball accepted with a shake of hands. “A pleasure doing business with you sir, we’ll be back in a few hours with more.”
“I shall look forward to it,” the merchant replied as he watched them walk over to the smith.
As they approached, Alburet noted the dwarf smith setting aside a finished sword. “Greetings sir smith, the merchant tells me you might be interested in buying the weapons we retrieved from the goblin fort?”
Looking up, the dwarf nodded, “Aye tha' I would. Lay them out and I will let ye know wha' they be worth.”
Alburet and Fluffball set their weapons out in separate piles, which the smith looked over. “I will give each of ye fifty silver for the entire lot.” Alburet nodded along with Fluffball, each of them accepting and taking the coin before informing the dwarf they would be back later with more. “I look forward to it,” the dwarf replied, watching them leave the keep.
“So Fluffball, may I just call you Fluff?” Alburet asked as they paused outside the main gates.
“I don't mind, but you told Gerald earlier not to call you Al. Why was that?” she asked as they started into a jog towards the goblin fort.
“I just don't like to shorten the name, but I will let you cut it down.” Alburet replied as they went around the people engaged in fighting.
Bob cackled, “So the women can call you Al, but not the guys?”
“He all but seems to disappear at times, doesn't he?” Fluffball asked, glancing back at Bob. “Then he speaks up to remind us that he’s there.”
“Yeah, but without him I would be way worse off as a Summoner. He has helped me time and time again when things have been going badly. I’ll put up with the comments for that kind of help.” Alburet said, then grinned evilly at Bob, “Unless he gets really bad.”
Bob just yawned as they jogged on, “Yeah, yeah, whatever.”
Fluffball shook her head, “I can just see an imp acting like this if they were real. The AI does an amazing job at lifelike NPCs.”
“Of course I am real,” Bob scoffed, “I'm just not two-souled like you two.”
Alburet was about to reply when he spotted a goblin coming right at them, “Company.” He slid to a stop, casting retribution on Fluffball. “You're the tank, Fluff.”
Fluffball got a red glow to her as she leapt at the Goblin Scavenger the two-handed sword he had given her arcing around to hit the mob. She let out a savage roar as the blow connected and the goblin seemed to pull back slightly from her. Bob and Alburet started peppering it with Fire Blasts as it did so.
The fight didn't last long and Fluffball took minor damage. “That was fun,” Fluffball said as they started moving towards the right corner of the fort that Alburet had used before. “At ninth level I got Intimidating Roar, it shakes the target making them fearful.”
“Useful, but what’s fearful really mean?”
“Good question. I have no idea really, but they do seem hesitant to try and attack me when the debuff is on them. Cool-down is a minute and it only lasts ten seconds. I’ll use it when appropriate normally. Any idea what you get next level?”
“I think the pamphlet said I get a Lesser Destroyer, which I hope is my tank minion.”
“Destroyers are the backbone of the Infernal army,” Bob interjected. “They excel at and thrive on being in the midst of combat.”
“Sounds like a tank minion to me,” Alburet grinned.
“They are slow, stupid and boring,” Bob said with a sigh. “They are only good for smacking things in the face while being smacked in the face.”
“Yeah, sounds like a tank minion alright,” Fluff nodded. “Once I hit ten I think I'm going to jump back to the capital and get my next ability. I might log for the night at that point.”
“Understandable. Here comes the next one.” Alburet said as the next Goblin Scavenger came running towards them.
They fell into a groove for the next hour, killing the mobs that came to them and occasionally pulling a loose one from further away. “It seems slower than I thought it would be,” Alburet said.
“We’re still in early access for the next day. Also, the monthly fee to play is kind of high, but then again so is a good VR rig. Still, it will keep the population low for a while. In a few hours this place should pick up as evening comes around. One of the reasons I like playing in the earlier part of the day.”
“Fair enough. So you going to be on tomorrow?”
“Yeah. If you’re on we can hook up again, unless you grind your way past me.” Fluffball said, getting ready as another goblin was coming to them.
“I'd love to hook up and grind with you,” Alburet said, intending the obvious double entendre.
Fluff blushed and turned away from him to hack at the goblin with extra fervor. Alburet wondered if he had taken it a step too far but focused on the job at hand. Just before the mob died the two-handed sword Fluff was using vanished in a shattering of blue sparkles. Bob's next fire ball killed the goblin thankfully, before it could do any damage to Fluff while she was unarmed.
As the mob dropped Alburet felt the rush of leveling as well as seeing the light around Fluffball. They congratulated each other, taking a moment to drop stat points in. Alburet checked his next spell, which was indeed Summon Lesser Destroyer. “Yeah new minion, woohoo,” he said smiling.
“Good, it means I won't feel bad for running off,” Fluffball said. “I think I'm going to call it for the day after I go train my next ability. Also good to know what a weapon breaking looks like.”
Alburet nodded, “Fluff, my last comment about grinding...”
“No. No, it's okay.” She said quickly cutting him off, “I'm just... Look, what I'm trying to say is we just met and...” Her skin under the fur was bright red.
“Ahh, poor little kitty wants it but is timid,” Bob laughed.
“Bob!” Alburet snapped, his face going hard. “Do not tease her like that, is that understood?” His voice was the hard steel he’d used when he had to back an inmate down on his old job.
Bob froze up before nodding once, turning and bowing to Alburet. “Yes, master.”
Fluffball looked from Alburet to Bob then back. Her voice was very soft, “Um thanks. I'll see you later okay?”
Turning away from glowering at Bob, he looked at Fluffball with trepidation. “I'm really sorry about that Fluff. I hope the rest of your night is good.” He held out his hand which Fluffball took, he turned it so the back of her hand was up and gently kissed the back of it. “Good evening m'lady Fluff.”
Fluffball stared at her hand even after he released it, her mouth open slightly and her eyes glazed. “Um, yeah. Night Al,” she pulled her Homestone from her bag in a daze and vanished.
“Ah. Good Summoner, bad imp,” Bob said. “I see you want to play the angles, eh?”
Alburet felt his face go blank again as he turned to the imp, “Bob. I like you as a minion and I think we work well together, but if you ever do that again I will be forced to be very, very unpleasant. Do you understand this simple warning?” His grey eyes sparked with untold wrath as he matched the gaze of the imp.
Bob took a step back, holding up his claws, “I understand, master.”
“Good. Now let's see about your bigger brother joining us.” Alburet said, dismissing the imp from his mind while he felt the anger boiling inside him still. He tried his best to get his emotions back under control, internally sighing over the fact he still had issues.
He opened the spell tab and looked over the spell. Summon Lesser Destroyer: Mana cost: 15% of total mana pool while minion is active. Duration: Until dismissed. The Lesser Destroyer will taunt enemies to it to help keep you safe. Alburet chuckled seeing the same phrase and motions to deal with the IRS to pick his minion and tapped the spell requirements for the actual summon, modifying them.
That done Alburet mimed opening a book and spoke t
he words to summon the IRS, “I summon the Infernal Retinue Society to aid me in my choosing of a minion.”
A glowing red pentagram appeared on the floor and began to blaze with hellish light. Appearing inside was the bipedal frog Bettzle who promptly put his glasses on. “Greetings, Summoner Alburet. I see it is time to bolster your ranks. You are looking for a Lesser Destroyer, correct?”
“Greetings, Bettzle. I am indeed trying to find the Lesser Destroyer that will be my helper.”
“Well, lucky for you we have a few to pick from. Your choice can never be changed, so pick wisely.” The toad gestured and four ID pictures with stats appeared before Alburet.
Alpha World Book One: Gamer for Life Page 16
