“The hell you will,” Rose said. “You’re not leaving my sight lady. After all the hell you just put us through. You owe me armor . . . like, forever or until I leave this world, but I’ll let you know if that ever happens.”
“You . . . you want me to stay with you?” Marie asked, confused by the statement.
“You’re our friend,” Rose stated. “When friends do something stupid, you don’t just get rid of them. If they do something evil . . . maybe you get rid of them. Same goes for you Gras.”
“Ashley Wednesday actually,” Gras said, his nameplate changing to match.
“You know that’s a girl’s name, right?” Olaf asked.
“What?” Gras snapped. “That rotten adventurer. If I ever catch him, I will skin him alive.”
“How about Sooty Wednesday?” Loral suggested.
Gras sighed in defeat, but his nameplate updated again anyway. “Only because you asked,” Sooty said, clasping Loral’s hand in his own.
“Now what?” Micaela asked. “We got to the happily ever after part, right? So, what’s the after?”
I took a deep breath. “God Ivaldi, we have done as you’ve asked. Your daughter lives, peace is restored, and the Duke is defeated,” I said loudly to the empty temple.
“So, you have,” God Ivaldi’s voice boomed, filling the temple, the embers of the forges suddenly heating up and growing bright. The central forge, God Ivaldi’s forge belched flames filling half the room and when they faded, the God stood there. He was not looming over us this time. Instead, he was only slightly taller than Mardi . . . Marie. I needed to get used to calling her Marie from now on.
“Father,” Marie said courteously.
“Daughter, it pleases me to see you alive and well. I am sorry for the cost to make it so,” God Ivaldi said.
“It is well, father,” Marie said. “Now I am free. I can go with my friends and explore the World Tree as only a mortal can. I will build my spear and I will join you and mother again one day.”
I was tempted to protest that it was my spear but figured this wasn’t the time or the place.
“I am so very proud of you. You have matured. Perhaps becoming mortal was just what you needed,” God Ivaldi said. “But there are rewards that must be paid.” The God released Marie’s hands and turned to face the rest of us.
“Bye-bye Jacko, you have caused me no end of trouble. Do you have any idea how much trouble I am in with the pantheons because of your Goddess Issara?” God Ivaldi complained, glaring at me and raising the temperature in the room several degrees until finally, he huffed. “I am sorry for interfering with you. I cannot give you the power you rightfully earned. It is not permitted. However, . . . as a one-time apology, I will grant you a boon. May your growth and development accelerate until level 20.”
“All of us,” I said. I know I was risking his ire by doing so but the God really put me in a tough spot.
God Ivaldi looked for a minute like he wanted to protest but a rumble of thunder I had come to associate with my own Goddess, stopped his protestation in its tracks. “Fine,” he said, grumbling. A new buff appearing by my status bars in my UI.
Boon of God Ivaldi – All experience gains are increased until level 20
“Thank you,” I said graciously, there was no need to be a jerk about it. The man was giving us a very nice bonus.
“Now, as to your quests,” God Ivaldi said, flooding my vision with completion notices.
Quest Alert: Welcome to the Rebellion 1-4 (Recommended Level 10-12) - Completed
The rebellion in Anvilton is ready to strike its final blow. They have gathered all the resources they can and are ready. They will strike when the time is right. Will you help them when the time comes?
Reward: +150,000-Experience, Mark of Anvilton, Friend of Anvilton (‘Local Hero’ title now includes Anvilton)
I wasn’t even there when Olaf said he got his completion for this quest.
Quest Alert: Extended Guard Duty: Protect the Daughter of Ivaldi (Recommended Level 8-10)
The Dwarven God Ivaldi has asked you to protect his daughter and help her through her strife.
Reward: +100,000-Experience, Holy Fired Light Leather Jerkin
Okay, that was awesome. I wanted to check the leather jerkin that just dropped into my arms but there were more notifications.
Class Quest Alert: Holy Crusade (Recommended Level 12-15, 5 or more Adventurers)
God Ivaldi has appeared before you demanding you put a stop to Duke Shrove du Anvil in a Holy Crusade for the sake of Dwarf-kind.
Reward: +100,000-Experience, Mark of God Ivaldi, Holy Fired Light Leather Boots, Holy Fired Light Leather Leg-Guards, 10-Sigils of the Goddess Issara
The pants and boots added to the pile. I knew those were the only quests I had left so I was surprised when another popped up.
Hidden Quest: Demon Purge (Recommended Level 30-36, 30 or more Adventurers)
You have purged the world of the Demon Brute that inhabited the body of the former Duke of Anvilton.
Reward: +750,000-Experience, Horns of the Demon Brute, Holy Fired Light Leather Gloves, Holy Fired Light Leather Shoulder-Guards, Holy Fired Light Leather Bracers, Holy Fired Light Leather Belt, Holy Fired Light Leather Helmet. Holy Fired Phalanx Shield
The shouts of amazement from my friends were deafening as we were all buried under equipment. I knew that the Duke was too difficult for us to defeat. And then the experience tallied up and the level increases came fast.
Congratulations! You’ve reached Level 18!
+1 to bonus Holy Spells, +1 Intellect, +1 Charisma
Congratulations! You’ve reached Level 19!
+1 to bonus Holy Spells, +1 Intellect, +1 Charisma
Congratulations! You’ve reached Level 20!
+1 to bonus Holy Spells, +1 Intellect, +1 Charisma
“How did we kill a raid boss meant for 30 plus players?” Olaf asked.
I smiled blissfully. It was finally my chance to get her back.
“Bye-bye’s fault,” Micaela said quickly before I could even utter a syllable. “He tricked us, and I used my ‘Summon God: Fenrir’ one-time spell. It was because I was so distraught and overcome with grief after seeing my friends die.”
My jaw dropped. How the hell did she do it again? It was supposed to be my chance to turn the tables on her.
“Leave it to Jack to keep our lives interesting. Still, I just gained three levels, so I’m not going to complain. Hello, level 20,” Rose said, her eyes focused on something in front of her. Most likely her status screen.
Olaf couldn’t decide between frowning at me or thanking me. I would worry about him later.
“God Ivaldi, why so much?” I asked, referring to the last quest. I didn’t mean to complain . . . I was probably stupid for even bringing it up . . . but that seemed like way too much of a reward, even for a level 30+ hidden quest.
“Usually, the rewards would have been Mystic Quality gear in the level 30-40 range. You are all much lower level than that. I was able to bend the rules a bit to reward you appropriately. None of it is Mystic Quality except for Miss Thorn’s other shield half. But everything is Good Quality, and the value balances out from what you would have gotten otherwise. And you did save my daughter so,” God Ivaldi shrugged. “Just make sure you tell your Goddess, will you?” God Ivaldi asked the last part with a whisper I was sure only I could hear.
“I will,” I promised.
“Well, if the rewards are all to your satisfaction, I believe I have overstayed my time. Be safe, daughter. We will see each other again soon,” God Ivaldi said his good-byes and disappeared in a blast of fire from his forge. And when he was gone, all the forges seemed to have died out.
“I do love this group,” Rose said, admiring the black chainmail and plate armor she now wore. The plates were dark red and small, mostly located over vital locations while the black chain-mesh covered everything else. But her shields were the most impressive part. The other half of the ‘Shield-Wall of Thorns’ was c
alled the ‘Shield-Wall of Roses’ and when the pair was linked together, they formed a giant Rose surrounded by thorny vines of metal. It looked like a piece of art but deadlier.
“Hurry up, Jack, put yours on,” Rose ordered, seeing I was the only one not wearing his new armor.
I hadn’t even looked at my new equipment. I suppose equipping it and looking at the whole picture wouldn’t hurt.
Equipment Slot
Name
Armor/Damage
Bonus Stats
Helm:
Holy Fired Light Leather Helmet
+25 Armor
+15-Intellect, +15-Wisdom, +20-Holy Spell Damage, and Healing
Head Accessory:
Empty
Shoulders:
Holy Fired Light Leather Shoulder-Guards
+25 Armor
+15-Strength, +15-Dexterity, +15 Intellect, +20 Holy Spell Damage, and Healing
Back:
All-Weather Cloak (White)
Chest Armor:
Holy Fired Light Leather Jerkin
+50 Armor
+15-Endurance, +15-Stamina, +15 Intellect, +30 Holy Spell Damage, and Healing
Chest Clothing:
White Cotton Shirt
+0 Armor
Wrists:
Holy Fired Light Leather Bracers
+10 Armor
+10-Endurance, +10-Stamina, +10-Holy Spell Damage and Healing
Hands:
Holy Fired Light Leather Gloves
+20 Armor
+10-Strength, +10-Dexterity, +10-Intellect, +10-Holy Spell Damage and Healing
Arm Accessory 1:
Sash of Hammerton
+20-Endurance, Signifies Allegiance to Hammerton, Only Functional in the Hammer and Anvil Mountain Valley province
Arm Accessory 2:
Empty
Finger Accessory 1:
Ivaldi's Gratitude
A gift of thanks from the God Ivaldi for saving his daughter. +10-Intellect, +20-Holy Spell Damage, and Healing
Finger Accessory 2:
Holy Order Ring of Justice
+5-Strength, +5-Dexterity, +5-Endurance, +5-Stamina, +5 Intellect, +5 Wisdom, +5-Spell Holy Damage and Healing, Increased experience gains for all Goddess granted skills by 50%
Waist:
Holy Fired Light Leather Belt
+15 Armor
+10-Endurance, +10-Stamina, +10-Holy Spell Damage and Healing
Leg Clothing:
Cotton Jeans
+0 Armor
Leg Armor:
Holy Fired Light Leather Leg-Guards
+50 Armor
+15-Endurance, +15-Intellect, +15-Wisdom, +30 Holy Spell Damage, and Healing
Feet Clothing
Silk Socks
+0 Armor
Feet:
Holy Fired Light Leather Boots
+20 Armor
+10-Dexterity, +10-Endurance, +10-Stamina, +10-Holy Spell Damage and Healing
Weapon:
Spear of Gungnir II
42-45 1h Dmg, 56-60 2h Dmg
The Spear of Gungnir is a legendary weapon of Odin, the All-Father of the Norse Pantheon. While this is but a pale imitation, it is still most formidable. One-Handed Base Attack Speed 2.00 – One-Handed Weapon Damage 42-45 (Scalable to Lvl 20 - +3-Damage per level) – Two-Handed Base Attack Speed 1.80 – Two-Handed Weapon Damage 56-60 (Scalable to Lvl 20 - +4-Damage per level) – +20-Dexterity, +20-Stamina,+20-Intellect, +20-Mana Regeneration, +56-Holy Spell Damage and Healing (Scalable to Lvl 20 - +4-Holy Spell Damage and Healing per level) – Unbreakable – Soulbound
Off-Hand:
Holy Fired Phalanx Shield
+50 Armor
+20-Endurance, +10-Stamina, +10-Holy Spell Damage and Healing
Charm:
Bag:
100 lbs. Traveler's Satchel
That was a lot of upgraded armor, the effects almost doubled what I had before.
Level:
20
Experience:
59.94%
Class: Initiate Warrior Priest of Issara
HP (Health Points):
3950
MP (Mana Points):
2870
SP (Stamina Points):
2300
Strength:
170
- Melee Damage Modifier
+170
Dexterity:
206
- Melee Critical Strike Chance
20.60%
- Hit Chance
70.30%
- Dodge Chance
20.60%
Endurance:
395
Stamina:
230
Intellect:
290
- Spell Critical Strike Chance
28.70%
Wisdom:
160
Charisma:
204
Health Regeneration per 10-seconds:
198
Mana Regeneration per 10-seconds:
100
Stamina Regeneration per 10-seconds:
115
Holy Spell Damage Bonus:
430
Holy Spell Healing Bonus:
366
Carrying Capacity in Lbs.:
850
The stat boosts were amazing. Nothing doubled or even came close to doubling, but I would say I gained about 40-points to each stat and almost a hundred spell damage. I was going to have fun with this armor.
“Not bad, red really doesn’t look too bad on you,” Rose said, circling me. “Not bad at all.”
I didn’t know how to feel about the dull red leather armor that pretty much covered me from head to toe.
“Looks like a bullseye to me,” Olaf said, earning a glare.
“Like you have room to talk, Mr. Red Camo,” Rose retorted.
It seemed Red was the theme of the armor the God Ivaldi gave us. Then I saw both Marie and Sooty were also granted new armor as well as a lot of experience. Marie was now level 15 and Sooty was level 18.
But seeing Marie in armor like that, it made me realize, I still didn’t even know her class.
“Marie, what is your class?” I asked.
“I’m a Paladin of Mardi,” Marie answered. “Do not laugh, I cannot worship myself, but I am still considered an Avatar of my former being. And because I was a Goddess, I cannot worship another God.”
Well, that explained that.
“We’ve only got about two hours before we need to travel back,” Olaf said, choosing his words carefully. “We should get moving.”
“Let’s go,” Rose said.
I needed to make a stop to visit Goddess Issara but that might take more than two hours to complete. I had a lot of sigils and I wanted to take my time shopping. The shop would be there waiting when I logged back in.
We took our time finding a good hotel for Mardi, Gras, Loral, and Barkley to stay at. We made sure to move well away from the portal to the Hammer and Anvil Mountain Valley province. The last thing we needed is for a Dwarf to show up and recognize our companions.
After that, we found a shop to sell our old armor and any junk we had collected.
And finally, we stopped in on my lawyer. Greeble was less than pleased to see me, especially when he was required to return 1,234-Gold that was unspent. Considering it cost me 30,000, that was a pittance. However, the 20,000 I paid to have the contract enchanted absorbed most of that initial investment. I had a feeling he inflated the numbers on the spreadsheet he showed me for the advertising and the cost of the other players, but I wasn’t in the mood to argue with our limited time.
Before I knew it, it was time to go.
“Jack, you go first,” Rose teased. “We need to make sure you actually log out this time.”
I rolled my eyes. I pulled her close and kissed her for all I was worth and then stepped back into the blue portal. At least I was able to leave her feeling like I did last month. And I must say, it felt good.
Epilogue
/> Maggie hadn’t changed a bit since I last saw her except for a change of clothes. She was polite and courteous as always. She didn’t fidget or shift in her seat, I wondered if they would ever upgrade her for that.
We talked briefly and then she asked if I had any complaints or issues opening the floodgates. I started with being kidnapped and losing 3-days of game play due to the Stonebreaker Mafia in Root City. She said it never should have happened and raised an urgent ticket for it and promised to have more information when I logged back into the game. Then I mentioned the Meditation skill makes it look like I’m dead instead of sleeping or something. She raised another ticket and said they would try to fix that before I logged in again. I complained again about the lack of a summary option for system messages. And finally, I told her the story of Bushy Bunny and Jinn Sade and how she knew my real name. That was apparently a much bigger deal. Maggie asked permission to review my footage which led to another major issue when the footage came back scrubbed of any images of Bushy or Sade. I told Maggie that she also knew the real name of a player that goes by Pwn Star69 and to check his footage. I didn’t give his name because Jinn might have been lying to me, I figured it was better if Maggie had it verified independently. She raised a red flag ticket and said I would be contacted as soon as possible and that a criminal investigation was being launched.
After venting, Maggie and I talked a little more, mostly just her reminding me to stretch, and again, what I should and should not eat. Until finally, Maggie said, “See you in a week, Mr. Jacobs,” and the world faded to black around me.
The Mountain Valley War Page 69
