World Tree Online: The Order of Epic Grinders: 4th Dive

by M. A. Carlson

  “Thanks,” I said, watching as her group started moving away, Red and Pollock the last to leave. Of course, Red was berating Pollock the whole way, though it seemed Pollock didn’t care much.

  “Well, that was exciting,” Marie said. “You really do attract all sorts of trouble, Bye-bye.”

  “Uh, no, that time it was you attracting trouble,” I protested, smiling and chuckling.

  “It was your gem that got their attention,” Marie countered, not smiling, or finding the humor in it that I did.

  “You’re the one trying to become a Goddess,” I replied, oblivious to the fact that Marie wasn’t amused.

  Marie opened her mouth to reply but nothing came out. She closed her mouth and opened it a few times before harrumphing and crossing her arms.

  “See, I’m not the only one that attracts trouble,” I said, looking to Rose who looked less than pleased.

  “One in however many doesn’t prove anything,” Rose said, her arms crossed.

  “Sure, it does. In fact, you could even say that most of the trouble we’ve gotten into since Hurlig Ridge was all Marie’s fault,” I said.

  Looking affronted by the comment, Marie snapped back, “Oi, do not try to blame all the misfortune you have brought upon us, on me.”

  “Unless it’s true,” I said, smirking at seeing the Dwarf riled up.

  “Well, I never,” Marie said, uncrossing and re-crossing her arms before stomping a few feet ahead of us.

  “That’s not exactly fair,” Rose said, looking . . . angry with me. “You know, if it hadn’t been Marie, it would have been something else.”

  “Yeah, maybe,” I said. It would be nice to allay all blame, to disentangle myself from everything going on, but it just wasn’t true. And Rose was right, if it wasn’t Marie, Epic would have found some other way to target me.

  “Go apologize,” Rose said. She didn’t exactly order me to go but it was close enough.

  “Hey, Marie, wait up,” I said, jogging to catch up.

  “What?” Marie asked harshly.

  “I’m sorry. I took the teasing a little too far,” I said.

  Marie frowned, responding slowly, she said, “Thank you for the apology. But you are not entirely wrong, a lot of the trouble that follows us around is due to me. I want my divinity back so badly that I may have been a little short sighted about the cost. Like with the ancient dragon. I have been thinking about all the ancient dragons I know of, where they roost, and if they are within our ability to slay. Of all the ancient dragons I have ever heard of, they would all obliterate us with little to no effort. And it vexes me. It vexes me greatly. And still, I want to pursue it, knowing it will cause you and the others untold amounts of trouble.”

  I could understand that. I really could. I wanted my spear upgraded as much or more than Marie did. “I have my share of the responsibility to bear. I recently found out that Chaos has a . . . grudge against me.”

  “So, we are both cursed by trouble,” Marie said jokingly. “Do not worry, your secret is safe with me.”

  “So is yours,” I promised. “I’ll tell you what. If we can get through the temples quickly enough, I’ll see if I can do anything to help with your ancient dragon research.”

  “I appreciate it,” Marie said with a firm nod.

  A few minutes later, we arrived at the Temple of the Goddess Issara. City Patrolmen were still in a line going out the door. I ignored the line and entered without a problem. Marie and Rose agreed to wait outside of the cloister for me while I paid my goddess a visit.

  “Back again? Good, I was worried about you. I feared you may have given up,” the Goddess Issara said as her statue came to life and transformed into the childlike form with the wooden sword in hand.

  “I have a possible solution . . . or at least a partial solution. I just need to beat Chaos,” I answered.

  “Good,” the Goddess Issara said, holding out an expectant hand and threatening me with the wooden sword in the other. “Now, my tribute?”

  Thankfully, I made sure to buy extra at the end of last month. And when I say extra, I bought almost 50lbs of candy, broken down into ten tributes. Having given her one of the tributes last month, I had nine left. With no effort at all, I produced a 5lbs sack of assorted high-quality candy and handed it over. I felt like I finally had a handle on my Goddess’s facetious behavior.

  The Goddess was silent for a moment as she went through the sack before saying, “I suppose this will do. I was hoping for more variety.”

  Okay, maybe I hadn’t gotten a handle on her facetious behavior. “I’ll try to bring you something different next time,” I promised, trying to figure out what I was going to do with 40lbs of expensive high-quality candy.

  “Good, I will hold you to it. Now, on to business,” the Goddess said, shifting form again into her more adult form. “Hurligville is in trouble. I suggest you make your way there as soon as possible. Good luck!”

  “Wha-” I started to ask only to find myself outside of the cloister with Rose and Marie looking at me in surprise.

  “That was fast, everything okay?” Rose asked.

  “I’m not sure,” I said, confused. I quickly relayed what the Goddess Issara said.

  “Then we should get moving,” Rose said. “Let’s get Marie safely back to the hotel. I’ll use my travel method to visit my Goddess once I know Marie is safe.”

  I understood what Rose meant. She had the ability to travel through a puddle of blood to the Temple of the Goddess Lilith. Then using another ability, in which we exchange a little blood, she would be able to travel instantly back to me. Creepy Vampire stuff, but it worked.

  “Now wait just a minute here you two. There are things I still need,” Marie insisted.

  “What’s that?” Rose asked.

  “That is for me to know,” Marie said. “I believe there is an office on the way.”

  “Office for what?” I asked next, but Marie wasn’t answering. Marie’s stopped at an unmarked building in which she insisted we wait outside. Neither of us was overly happy but there really wasn’t anything we could say or do about it.

  Not much later we returned to the hotel, and as promised, Rose travelled to visit her own Goddess.

  “That is so . . . ghoulish,” Marie commented.

  “Agreed,” I said. It was good Rose was already gone or she might have been embarrassed. “But don’t tell Rose I said that.”

  “Agreed,” Marie said. “So, now what? Dragon research is obviously not an option at the moment.”

  I sighed, feeling bad about that. “I’ll make a trip back to Root City once we’ve got a handle on Hurligville. I’m sure I can get a few books and who knows, Homer might already have one.”

  Marie scoffed. “Not bloody likely.”

  I agreed but didn’t say as much. Instead, I changed the subject. “For now, I have a book to read. Hopefully, I can finish it before Olaf and the others return,” I said, pulling out the ‘Magical Preparation’ book. “And if I do finish it and have some extra time, I’m going to use my ‘Meditation’ skill on it.” It was just past two and the others were due back by five. With just three hours, I might not even finish the book, even with my ‘Speed Reading’ skill.

  Skill: Speed Reading

  Rank: I

  Level: 29

  Experience: 15.54%

  Description: Being able to read faster and comprehend more

  Skill Effect (Passive): Read 34% faster. Increases your Intellect and Wisdom Experience Gain by 29%.

  “Then I am getting a drink. Care for something with your book?” Marie offered.

  “Sure, tea would be great,” I said.

  I should have paid more attention to Marie and the devious grin that adorned her face.

  “I’ll be in the lounge,” I said, pointing to a corner of the lobby with a couple of couches and chairs. Naturally, I chose the largest and cushiest of the chairs. I opened the book and started reading.

  The concept was . . . different from
what I knew of casting spells. Basically, I would need to create a . . . data partition and dedicate the space to the prepared spell. Where I created that partition, I wasn’t sure yet and it seemed I wouldn’t be finding out just then. Olaf returned.

  “Hey, Bye-bye, all good, mate?” Olaf asked.

  “Yeah, you alone?” I asked.

  “For now, Heath said something about going to visit his girlfriend, but I wasn’t able to weasel any details out of him. We’ll leave that for Mic, Rose, and Baby,” Olaf answered, grinning slyly. “Speaking of, where is Rose?”

  I told Olaf about our run in with the other players and then about what my Goddess said regarding Hurlig Ridge.

  “For now, don’t forget that province those players mentioned. Might be worth a look into once we level up some. That said, as soon as the others arrive, we’re leaving. We can eat once we get back to Hurligville,” Olaf said, looking worried.

  “I’m sure Micaela and your daughter are fine. There is no sense in worrying until we find out what’s going on,” I said, trying to keep the big man calm.

  “I know, it’s not like if they die, they won’t come back. Still, I know how much Hurligville means to all of us, I don’t want to see it destroyed,” Olaf replied. “As soon as Heath and Rose come back, we’ll go. Marie, would you mind collecting Loral and Sooty, let them know we’re moving out as soon as possible.”

  “And why can you not go get them?” Marie asked, looking somewhat put out.

  “Because you know where they are,” Olaf answered lamely, getting a dirty look in return.

  “Fifth floor, room 505,” Marie said, then added, “There, now you know.”

  Olaf seemed to consider arguing before he replied, “Okay, I’m on my way.”

  “Good,” Marie said, watching Olaf head for the stairs. “Let him interrupt them for a change.”

  “Marie, sometimes, you’re just mean,” I said, opening my book again only to close it again as Heath appeared. My heart stopped, startled by the sudden arrival. I really should have expected it by then, it was Heath’s ‘go to’ move.

  “Better him than me,” Heath said. “Glad I waited to drop ‘Stealth’.”

  “Tell me about it,” Nahid said, appearing in a similar fashion.

  And again, I felt my heart stop in my chest. “Would both of you stop doing that?” I almost yelled.

  “Good times, little sister,” Heath said, giving Nahid an approving thumbs up.

  Nahid smirked and nodded, then vanished again.

  “You better not go teaching her any of your bad habits,” Marie said, glaring at Heath. “She has got enough of them from Sooty and does not need you compounding them.”

  “Who? Me?” Heath asked, feigning innocence.

  “Yes, you,” Marie replied, not looking the slightest bit amused by the Thief’s antics.

  I decided to intervene before things took a turn for the worse. “So, Heath, did everything go alright with your girlfriend?”

  Heath shrugged and vanished. I really should have expected it by now.

  “Heath’s got a girlfriend?” Rose said from right behind me, making me jump clear of my chair.

  “What in the name of all that is holy is it with people trying to give me a heart attack today?” I complained, glaring at my smirking girlfriend. “It’s not funny,” I insisted.

  “Oh, but it is,” Rose said, giggling in amusement.

  “You know, one of these days, you really will kill me,” I said, pouting. “Like, I’ll be standing next to a cliff and you’ll suddenly appear, and I’ll jump right off the side.”

  Rose smirked and said, “Yeah, but what a way to go.”

  I couldn’t help but snort and shake my head, unable to fight off the smile on my face.

  “Ah, good,” Olaf said, rejoining us. “Just waiting on Heath.”

  “He’s here,” I said, looking to the chair he appeared in, trying to spot him but failing. My ‘Perception’ and more specifically, the subskill ‘See Intrigue’ was just not as effective as it used to be.

  Skill: Perception

  Rank: I

  Level: 100

  Experience: N/A

  Description: The ability to perceive the world around you, often being able to see things others cannot.

  Skill Range: 20.00 yards

  Chance to See: 35.00%

  Chance to Identify: 60.00%

  Chance to Track: 60.00%

  Subskills:

  See Intrigue

  Enables you to see unusual behavior and hidden objects or beings.

  But given we were not currently in combat and the risk was minimal, I decided to activate my ‘Detection’ skill and see if it helped at all.

  Spell: Detection

  Level: 14

  Experience: 22.39%

  Description: Magically enhance your senses to improve your 'Perception'

  Spell Cast Speed: Instant

  Spell Effect (Active): Augment your senses with magic to detect more than you would otherwise. Increase Chance to See +7.00%

  Mana Cost: -5-MP per second

  Alas, Heath was still invisible to me, but Nahid’s shaded form became visible to me.

  “Good, good,” Olaf said. “Then as soon as Sooty and Loral join us, we’ll be ready to go.”

  Sooty and Loral took almost thirty minutes to join us. Loral seemed pleased to see everyone again. Sooty looked annoyed. It took another thirty minutes for Sooty and Loral to prepare their wagons for travel. That’s right, wagons. They had three now. The Endless Savanna had been so good to them, that they now needed three wagons to carry all the materials they had collected on behalf of the group. Most of which was from the Grootslang and the Chimera we hunted and killed just a couple weeks ago.

  Olaf hired a portal mage to take us close to the Hurlig Ridge portal. He was expensive this time because of the wagons. Still, once we were on the other side it was a short jaunt, and we were there.

  I couldn’t help but notice that the scent of that area of Root City was still horrid. I didn’t know how anyone could get used to it, let alone live in it.

  I smiled as I thought back on Hurlig Ridge and my very first adventure in the World Tree. I remembered meeting Gavin, the sleeping guard at the ‘sleeping’ gate and his reaction to being woken up. I wondered if Old Benji was still around, still fishing. I was willing to bet Dogson was turning a steady business with all the adventurers that made Hurlig Ridge a popular starting zone. Our first dungeon, the Hidden Norse dungeon, was there. Was Hellgrid still the boss of the dungeon or had it evolved somehow?

  I walked up to the portal first to use my ‘Lore’ subskill ‘Provincial Portals’.

  Skill: Lore

  Rank: II

  Level: 89

  Experience: 66.47%

  Description: Lore is the study of the history of the World Tree and its denizens.

  Subskills:

  Provincial Portals II

  Your knowledge of World Tree portals magic, mythos and science has granted you the ability to read the portals for destination information up to recommended levels 1-30. Chance to glean additional information: 18.90%

  I just wanted to see if there was anything new to discover. I kind of wished I hadn’t.

  Hurlig Ridge – Level 1-30

  Hurlig Ridge is a forested area with a mountain ridgeline bordering the northern edge of the area. Once a relatively peaceful province, Hurlig Ridge has come under the attack of the undead. These creatures have slowly been pouring into the province from the recently lost province of Hurlig Flatlands. If that wasn’t enough, due to the reduction in the wolf population, now mostly zombie wolves, and a large nest of giant spiders has made Hurlig Ridge their home. *Warning! Warning! Chaos Invasion Underway! Travelers beware!

  “Ah man, trouble really does follow me around,” I groused, my shoulders sagging in defeat.

  Chapter 5 – Micaela

  The first thing Micaela did, before entering Ned’s Sundry, was to activate her ‘Local Hero
’ title. There was no sense in paying more than was absolutely necessary. Especially with the size of her shopping list, every copper she could save would be worth it.

  “Hi, Ned,” Micaela shouted upon entering the busy shop, waving to the proprietor. Ned waved back though he looked rather confused as to who he was waving to.

  “I’ll introduce you both to him shortly,” Micaela said, looking to her daughter and her daughter’s friend, Lady Bell. “First up, bags, this way,” she said, leading them over to the racks of bags.

  “How big of a bag should we get?” Bell asked.

  “For you, you’ll need to get something with serious weight reduction,” Micaela answered. “That said, I think Baby said she topped her bag out at a 50lbs capacity with a 40% reduction in weight. It was the best she could get in the province. I know it’s more than your current carrying capacity, but you’ll grow into it. I think she has a much better bag now. I have no idea what she did with the old bag, but I would assume she sold it. Anyway, you’ll want to look at the Fae shelf over there,” Micaela finished, pointing to a low shelf against the wall. If you looked closer, you could see several bags on display that were miniature compared to the bags hanging from the racks.

  “What about me?” Penelope asked.

  “A miner’s bag is going to give you the most carrying capacity, with your strength modifier it’s the best option for maximum capacity and weight reduction,” Micaela replied.

  “Isn’t that reserved for ore and rock and stuff?” Penelope asked. In other games, bags specified as a ‘Miner’s Bag’ were usually specific to mining materials. In this case, it was more to do with the way the bag looked. There was a single long strap for going over her shoulder with both ends connected at the same point to a thick-cloth bag that hung to the knees.