Restoration: The Rise of Resurgence: Book II

by Joshua W. Nelson

  Jolston looked around the room one last time and began to stand from his chair. “If there is nothing else, I will leave you…”

  From the back of the room Jolston heard someone whisper, “Tillson, tell him!”

  Terrence Jolston slowly sat back into his chair and then looked down the table at Tillson. “Tell me what?”

  Tillson was staring daggers at one of the technicians on the other side of the table. Finally, he began to speak. “As you are aware, sir, our core group of players are single, with little family. However, there remains about 25 percent of our control that have spouses or significant others.”

  “I am aware of the numbers, Tillson. Get on with it.”

  “The game has been leading to some serious arguments.”

  Jolston sat back in his chair a little more and waved for Tillson to continue.

  “As you are aware, during the initial installation or subsequent maintenance calls, our RAC technicians installed audio mics in the homes of our test subjects.”

  “Of course I am aware, Tillson. I came up with the idea.”

  “Yes, sir. Sorry, sir.”

  “Get to the bloody point.”

  “We’ve been picking up chatter from some of those with spouses and significant others. They don’t like the way the game has been dominating the lives of their loved ones. Some have asked their partners to leave the game and go back to regular work.”

  “And you weren’t planning on telling me this? Why?”

  “The number is not significant, sir. We factored in that some players would leave voluntarily as it was.”

  “And how many have so far?”

  There was a long, pregnant pause.

  “None, sir.”

  “That’s right, Tillson. None. The conditioning has been working, and they have no desire to leave Resurgence, which is an extension of AltCon.”

  “That’s why my suggestion is perfect, Mr. Jolston!” yelled out the man who initially whispered to Tillson.

  “And you are?”

  “Henry, sir. I work on…”

  “I don’t care, Mr. Henry. What’s your suggestion?”

  “Right. Well, you see, I figured if the conditioning was working so well on our subjects, then why not have a ‘Family Day,’ if you will, and have all the spouses and whatnot come in and see what their loved ones are doing. And when they get in the RACs, we zap ‘em!”

  “Zap ‘em?”

  “Well, you know, put them into a contained experience where they could see the world for what it is, but really we lay a dose of conditioning on them.”

  Jolston didn’t say anything for several minutes. For some in that room, that was the longest three minutes of their lives, Mr. Henry included.

  “I’ll take this to the Old Man when I see him later today. I think the idea has merit. However, I will likely use a different set of words to explain what will be done. I don’t think he would appreciate the term, ‘zap ‘em.’ Neither do I, for that matter.”

  “Yes. Of course, Mr. Jolston. Sorry.”

  “No need to apologize, Mr. Henry. I appreciate the courage to speak out and the initiative of devising a suitable solution. I don’t have to worry that such things will be kept from me in the future, do I, Mr. Tillson?”

  The ice in Jolston’s voice was unmistakable. The question was largely rhetorical, as everyone in the room knew the answer. Still, Tillson could be seen shaking his head vigorously when he responded. “No, Mr. Jolston. I’ll make sure you are fully informed about everything.”

  “Good. Dismissed.”

  Chapter 13

  On the ride back to the Keep, I contacted Tyke. “Hey, Tyke. Alex here. Got a moment?”

  “Sure, Alex. What’s up? Got more gear to sell?”

  “Nah, nothing like that. When you guys reach your Level 27, go see Sir Arthur. When you do, contact me. Don’t worry, you will understand why. We’ve already got things ready.”

  “Ooh, mysterious. I like it. We are almost to Level 26 now, so will probably be two or three more days. Can you guys wait that long?”

  “No worries. We don’t really have much of a choice. Again, you’ll understand when you see Sir Arthur. Good hunting.”

  After finishing with Tyke, I informed the group that our third party was a few days out from leveling to where we needed them. This was met with groans, but there wasn’t much else we could do.

  In the meantime, we wouldn’t stay idle. The group had elected to start mapping out the swamps in preparation for tackling the next part in Lady Tessa’s quest. No one wanted to start it up right away, but the more prep work we did, the sooner we could attack it after finishing the storyline.

  When we weren’t mapping and gaining experience, I planned to talk with Waseem and see what was next on the docket for my Rogue specialization skills.

  *

  “Back so soon? I didn’t think I would see you for another week at least.”

  Waseem was in his usual spot at the Pit, and I sat next to him once I reached his table.

  “You were right about the different routes. Took no time for me to learn once I started getting really into it.”

  “Excellent. Then we can begin the next part of your training,” Waseem said and walked over to the side of the room. “Climb these rafters here to the ceiling.”

  As soon as I focused on the structure I saw a route that would lead me up. Not waiting for any further instruction, I bounded up.

  “Perfect. Now come back down. I want to show you something.”

  Once I was back down and standing next to Waseem, I looked to where Waseem was pointing, a piece of wood on the route I had taken up.

  “What do you see here?”

  “There is scuffing from where my feet were on the wood.”

  “Exactly. Any investigator worth their salt would note something like this and follow the trail as it led up. Now put on these boots.”

  Waseem handed me a pair of pure black boots that slipped over my regular armor. They had a +10 to Climbing Skill. The ascent was already very easy, so I didn’t notice any difference.

  When I came down, though, I couldn’t see any new scuff marks from my climb, and I purposely used different holds to get up.

  “Covers my tracks. Excellent.”

  “To a degree,” Waseem said. “Look closer.”

  When I did, I saw thin black fibers embedded in the wood that must have come from the boots themselves. I tweezed one out with my fingernails and showed it to Waseem.

  “Now it would take a pretty damn good investigator to notice that, but it is still leaving a trail. A Master Thief doesn’t leave a trail.”

  “So, let me guess. The way around it is through the same tool we use for all things Rogue—Shadows.”

  “Bingo.”

  I looked at the wood that made up the rafters and the side wall of the Pit. I was trying to work out how this would work on my own.

  “So the shadows have to take on some substance then, right? Become a bit corporeal in order to support the move but not leave a trace?”

  “In a nutshell, yes. Any time you are undertaking a Rogue action, you should already have your Blacksuit on. In that regard, the transition becomes much easier. Theoretically, you could do it without the Blacksuit. Do you see the gap between the rafters above?”

  I looked up and saw where Waseem was pointing. There was a large gap between each of the supporting beams. I could make a jump from one to the other, or swing between the two, but I wasn’t tall enough to reach out and grab the second from the first. Wayne might have been able to, but there was no way I could have.

  After nodding my head in affirmation to Waseem’s question, he said, “I want you to go up there and suspend yourself between the two. Reach out and hold on to each side.”

  “Not happening. No way my arms or legs would cover the distance.”

  “And yet…”

  Without saying another word, Waseem ran up the side of the wall and leaped over to the beams that ran
along the ceiling. Immediately after landing on the beam he reached across to the other side and started to fall. And then stopped.

  But there he was, hanging without any support between the beams. I couldn’t see the shadows coming off of him, either.

  With a flourish, Waseem flipped in the air and landed in a crouch at my feet. He then slowly stood up and bowed dramatically in my direction. I was damn impressed and clapped without even thinking about it.

  “Damn show off.”

  I turned and saw Stan leaning against the side of the Pit. One moment no one was here, and the next Stan was before us.

  “How long have you been here?”

  “What makes ya think I ever left?”

  “Sneaky Halfling,” Waseem said, but smiled in Stan’s direction.

  “How was that even possible?” I asked.

  “Waseem there is a Master Thief. I ain’t got many kind words to say about the pompous bag, but there is none better at the trade. What you just saw is something only a Master could do.”

  “And Dhalean is a Master Assassin. All Rogues of our level can don a Blacksuit, but no one can top Dhalean’s skill when it comes to infiltrating a location and hitting a target. He can’t steal a purse to save his life though.”

  “That’s why you were to teach me Disembowel?” I asked Stan.

  “Aye. It’s one of the Assassin’s maneuvers for taking down a mark in one shot. It’s the easiest of the lot to learn, but there are many more you won’t be getting an education on.”

  Turning toward my newest instructor, after nodding to Stan in understanding, I asked, “And when we are done here, Waseem, I will be able to do that?”

  “Not a chance! You are never going to be a Master Thief, Alex. We aren’t training you for that. You are going to be our Jack-of-All-Trades.

  “But when I am finished, you will be able to Scale any wall. So let’s get started.”

  *

  It only took me an hour to get my first success with the shadows acting as assists for my holds. As soon as the first victory was noted, I received the prompt informing me that I had learned a new Skill: Scaling. I was at Level 1.

  As soon as I registered the new Skill, I told Waseem and Stan, and they began to run me through various routines within the Pit that would allow me to increase my Skill’s level. Over the next two hours, I gained another 10 points.

  “From this point on, start looking for more challenging ways to tackle a climbing problem. Look for the difficult routes, and then use your shadows to make the route easier. You should improve quickly with this Skill, if anything we’ve seen today can be used as a guide. Once you’ve done that, come back to me and I will show you how to fine tune the shadows to help with your Scaling.”

  “Sounds easy enough.”

  “You may also want to have a Cleric nearby. You know. For when you fail.”

  “And there are the words of encouragement I was waiting for.”

  Stan walked between Waseem and I while giving my newest teacher a dirty look. “Don’t listen to this fool. At least not entirely. He is right about challenging yerself, though. The sooner you do that, the quicker you can stop talking to this idiot.”

  “Your words cut deep, Dhalean.”

  Stan secretly loved that Waseem had no idea what his real name was, and he winked at me as the handsome Rogue used his moniker yet again.

  “Two words of warning for ya, though. Be aware of your surroundings at all times. You may be getting the climbing down, but you still can get caught up by magic. If something don’t feel right, just go around it.”

  I nodded at Stan. “And the second.”

  “I don’t care what this moron tells you. And he will sing ya a pretty tune. Should a been a Bard with all them fancy clothes. Bottom line, don’t go anywhere near the bank.”

  “Damnit, Dhalean! Stop stealing all my fun!”

  I nodded at Stan and looked over at Waseem. “I would have turned you down, anyway. I’m nowhere near good enough to consider something as crazy as that.”

  “Boy’s got more brains than you, Waseem, I’ll give him that much!”

  I left Stan and Waseem to argue and bicker like an old couple. I went back out into the seedy underbelly of the Keep and started looking around for places to climb. There were lots of options available, and I was about to engage my Blacksuit when I felt a presence coming up behind me.

  Before Waseem could put his hand on my shoulder I had spun around and had started drawing my blade. Once I saw it was my teacher, I sheathed the blade and apologized.

  “No need. Good awareness on your part. I was just coming out here to give you a small piece of advice before you departed.”

  He looked around the Stinky Pit, at all the other buildings in the nearby vicinity. “I realize that this looks like a place with ample opportunities to do exactly what we discussed inside. I would suggest against it, however. You see, these areas are all run by different gangs, and every last one of them is led by a Rogue of some skill. If one of them were to catch you running around their buildings, they would think the worst. Then they would blade you first and ask questions second. That is, if you were alive to answer them. Take my advice, and look to the other quarters to practice. It’s safer ground there.”

  I thanked Waseem for the wisdom and started out of the slums. Before I got too far, I heard him yell, “And don’t listen to that Halfling. Feel free to swing by the Bank and give it a good look-see.”

  I kept heading out of the area but distinctly heard Waseem cry out, “Damn you, sneaky Halfling! Stop hitting me. And stop hiding in those damn shadows!”

  November 9th, 2043

  Over the course of the next three days, we mapped out the area south of the main roads and past the Trolls. It was slow going, as we kept getting sidetracked by new mobs. There was no way we were going to skip out on the chance for experience and to learn what could possibly be waiting for us on the road to the Monastery of Might.

  As far as fauna went, we had a new and diverse set of beasts to contend with. Most of these creatures either resided in the swamp itself or on the marshes that surrounded the putrid water. There were various reptiles that resembled crocodiles and alligators, but they had a nasty venom that added to their bite. We only got hit with that once, and thereafter we made sure to buff our resistance against Poison.

  The most annoying of the reptiles, however, were the snakes. Unlike in the real world, snakes in Resurgence appeared to be pack animals. We never saw a lone small snake, but always a number of them. Plus, their aggro range was so large that we were targets long before we saw them. Without warning, we would be attacked by snakes numbering anywhere from five to seven.

  They didn’t do a huge amount of damage, nor did they have a lot of hit points. But the longer it took us to take them down, the more damage they were going to do. That could eventually spell disaster. Think of it like a screen door. Slam it once, and it’s probably no big deal. Slam it repeatedly, though, and it will eventually fall off its hinges.

  Even worse, we couldn’t really have Dan kite a bunch of them because of the large aggro range. Dan could be out running two of the slimy creatures around and suddenly run through the aggro bubble of another pack.

  Only once did we see a larger snake, a Swamp Boa. The Boa was unique in that it had a special attack that “strangled” the attacker—in this case, Wayne. The attack did little damage, but the sudden loss of air caused Wayne’s Vitality to drop sharply.

  Where the fauna was cool, the flora was awesome. For the first time, we were attacked by something that wasn’t either a person or an animal. The trees literally came alive and beat on us soundly. The loot was likely for crafting, as it involved pieces of wood, or vines, or the like. I took it all, and would see about selling it at another time if scheduling permitted. With our quests and my training, I didn’t have the time I’d usually devote strictly to selling and buying.

  The Swamp Treants were made up of various parts, each of which had dif
ferent functions. Their roots acted as legs for movement and would lash out in an AoE fashion, wrapping around a character’s feet. They used their branches for hitting and bashing, while the vines struck quickly and unpredictably from all different angles and had a chance to leave a DoT poison effect.

  The root attack was random, and Wayne had no problem maintaining aggro on the mobs. We all got hit by the vines at some point or another, though, and a successful root would bump the player to the top of the mob’s aggro list. It would turn immediately to that character and begin attacking. The end result was all of us taking some sort of damage.

  We were still able to survive the experiences, thanks in large part to our levels and our gear. Additionally, the fact that it was a different type of combat invigorated the group. Grinding can get stagnant and boring. Pull, establish aggro, wait, engage, kill, and loot. Over and over again. Even the most die-hard gamer will suffer from a bit of ennui.

  Another bonus was that the new mobs were giving us decent experience. Over the three days that we waited for Tyke and Jenny’s groups to reach their Level 27, we reached 28. I had put another four points into my Wisdom Stat at 27, hoping to quicken my progress through Scaling. So at 28, I was back to bumping up my four important Stats: Strength, Constitution, Dexterity, and Chance.

  Speaking of Scaling, I was definitely making progress. Although, I had to admit, I was starting to get a bit tired from constantly being online. Where my teammates were spending eight hours on Resurgence, I was doing closer to 12.

  I would log on early and get an hour of training in on Scaling. Then I would continue talking to other players and try to determine if any had seen mobs that could qualify as the home of the Wanderer’s suspected code. Once the guys logged off, I spent another hour utilizing my Blacksuit to continue my practice at Scaling. Before logging off I would go back to the Keep to start all over again. Travel time was minimal with the horses, but even that factored into how long I was staying online.

  We still hadn’t found anyone that had met with Constantine like we did with Tristan, but we also hadn’t found the Monastery yet. Our plan was to continue looking, obviously, but it would all have to wait. Because on this third day, Tyke sent me word that he had spoken with Sir Arthur and his group was ready whenever to start the next quest.