I grimaced. “Looks like the bandits were hired by someone,” I said, taking out the letter and emeralds from the bandit chief’s belongings and slid them across the desk. “The leader of the bandits had these in his tent.”
Master Herrington took up the letter and read through it, his expression growing angrier with every word. He growled and picked up one of the emeralds, producing a small lens of some sort from his desk and peering through it at the gem.
“How dare she! That cursed bitch!” he growled, slamming the gem and letter back onto his desk.
He took a moment to compose himself, taking a few deep breaths and gently rearranging the gem and letter on the desk. “Thank you again, adventurer,” he said in a controlled voice. “This has been quite… educational for me.”
QUEST COMPELTE: More Bandits!
You have gained 400xp! Your reputation with the Herringbone house has increased to Friendly.
“I take it you know who sent the letter then?” I asked.
He looked at me and frowned in thought, taking my measure before answering. “Yes. My former partner, Valerie Kel. She’s been obsessed with taking what is mine ever since I dissolved our partnership several years ago. Her last attempt was a proposed betrothal between Dove and her scoundrel of a son. The nerve of that woman, thinking that I would allow my daughter to marry that dullard.”
“But I won’t have to worry about her schemes any more, thanks to you,” he said with a gesture towards the letter and emeralds on his desk. “With this evidence I am sure that Baron Carmichael will see to it that she never bothers me and mine again.”
He tapped his fingers against the desk in thought. “I will need to present these emeralds as evidence, but I wouldn’t feel right not compensating you for their value,” he said, closely examining the gems as he continued. “I could replace the gems with those of equal value from my stock if that is satisfactory. Or there is something else you would like in trade?”
A translucent window appeared in front of me with a list of available options.
-- Two fine cut emeralds of Master Herrington’s design.
-- One Necklace of Intellect +4.
-- Training in Jewelcrafting.
-- 50 gold pieces.
-- A permanent 20% discount with shops run by Herrington Enterprises.
Damn it, I thought, knowing right away what I was going to choose. All of the options were valuable, but the ability to create my own gems to use for Soul Mastery was too good to pass up. I selected the training option and the window disappeared.
“An aspiring jeweler, hmm?” he said with a grin. “It is a very lucrative profession, but it does require a lot of hard work to make it so.”
He collected the evidence and tucked it into a drawer, pulling out a small pouch in its place. “Take this,” he said as he handed it over. “It includes everything you will need to begin your new craft. Thank you again for saving my Little Bird, and feel free to visit if you ever have need of training or new designs.”
Knowing a dismissal when I heard one, I nodded in thanks and made my way out of the house.
As soon as I reached the main road, I opened up the kit and peered inside. Within the small bag was, of course, the Jewelcrafting Primer and the tools that went along with it: a small vice, a magnifying glass, miniature chisels, hammers, and even a small saw.
I opened the book and hit accept.
You have learned the “Jewelcrafting” skill.
Jewelcrafting – this crafting skill is the art of creating beautiful jewelry that both improves your look, and your abilities. This crafting skill includes three sub-skills: Lapidary, Infusion, Jeweler.
-Lapidary allows for the cleaning, cutting, refining, and engraving of precious gemstones.
Needed Item: Jewelers Tools, Vice, Magnifying Glass.
-Infusion allows for the use of mana to bring out the magical properties of a completed gem or piece of jewelry.
Needed Item: None.
-Jeweler allows for the creation of finished jewelry and the setting of gems.
Needed Item: Jewelers Tools, Vice.
Jewelcrafting XP: 0/500
Starting Jewelcrafting Designs:
-Rough-cut Malachite C: Uncut Malachite Yield: 1
-Copper Ring BlankC: Copper Bar, Forge Yield: 30
-Copper SettingC: Copper Bar, Forge Yield: 60
-Lesser InfusionC: A Cut Gemstone, 200 mana Yield: 1
-Ring of
Skill Synergy Detected: Lapidary/Mining – The skill necessary to clear and cut gemstones can be applied on a macro level to more efficiently separate ore from the surrounding rock.
Now that was interesting, I thought. Being a jeweler helped with my Mining efficiency? Score!
Maybe there would be more of synergies as I learned more skills. Since I was on a roll, I pulled out the Cooking Primer and used that as well.
You have learned the “Cooking” skill.
Cooking – this crafting skill is the art of creating food and drink that can provide enhancements. This crafting skill includes three sub-skills: Butcher, Baker, Cook.
-Butcher allows for the harvesting of meat and organs from living organisms.
Needed Item: A small blade.
-Baker allows for the preparation and baking of breads, cakes, and other such foods.
Needed Item: A Fire or Oven.
-Cook allows for the preparation and cooking of standard food items.
Needed Item: Appropriate Cookware.
Cooking XP: 0/500
Starting Cooking Recipes:
-Waybread – a traditional traveler’s staple, grants +5% out of combat regeneration for 6 hours. C: Flour, Water, Salt
-Cooked Meat – Take meat, apply fire, yum. grants +1 Constitution for 6 hours. C: Meat, Salt (Optional)
Skill Synergy Detected: Dissection/Butcher – The art of precise surgery lends itself to the removal of the tasty parts of living creatures. All attempts to harvest meat or organs using either skill have an increased efficiency.
Another winner! I thought. Being able to get extra meat from my dissections would be very useful in keeping my zombies healed.
I headed back into town, going through my new recipes and putting together a plan to use them. I was really excited by the prospect of being able to create my own gems to fuel my Soul Mastery skill, and once I was set there, I could sell the cut gems for more coin, or use them to make magical jewelry which seemed to always be in demand.
I entered the Silver Fish and found an empty table in the corner where I could work without interruption. I ordered an ale to keep the innkeeper off my back and settled in.
I took out my jewelers’ tools and mentally initiated the Jewelcrafting skill. A new quest appeared, followed by the crafting menu which was similar to the Dissection interface.
QUEST ACCEPTED – Jewelcrafting I – Lapidary
Lapidary is the basis of the Jewelcrafting craft skill. Use the skill to craft 10 rough cut gemstones.
Criteria: Successfully cut 10 rough cut gemstones. 0/10
Reward: 200 Jewelcrafting XP
There was only one choice available,
With a groan, I hung my head in my hands. I had a grand total of zero malachite left in my inventory. I’d sold them all during my time mining copper.
So much for grinding out some gems.
I finished my ale and headed to the auction house, grumbling the entire time. A quick search for uncut malachite reminded me why I had sold them all off. The current market price was almost two gold a piece. I could afford it, but I didn’t want to buy them when I could just mine them myself.
I had a good supply of Uncut Aquamarines in my bag from my tin mining, but a brief search for Jewelcrafting recipes that made use of the gem came up blank.
I had a choice. I could either pay premium for gems or revisit the copper mines for a bit to load up on malachite I could use to grind
Jewelcrafting until I gained enough skill to pick up designs for the higher tier gemstones.
It was just about lunch time, so I logged out and made myself a sandwich while I weighed my options.
I hopped onto the forums, and some quick searched confirmed my fears. Leveling Jewelcrafting was an expensive endeavor. It required a lot of gemstones to rank up.
According to the top threads on the subject, it was also one of the slower going professions in terms of progress. The base chance of a successful cut was just around fifty percent for same level recipes. So even if I was able to grab a recipe for aquamarine, I’d be pretty much throwing away the gemstones.
I put together a quick spreadsheet and did some calculations. Buying the gems and sticking with my current tin production would actually be less cost effective than going back to the copper mines and finding the gems on my own.
Well, the numbers don’t lie, I thought, planning for a night of copper mining.
In the meantime, I’d get back to my leveling and finish off the quest to clear out the spooky cave. The sooner I gained a few more levels, the sooner I could make another run at the Sunken Forge.
***
47
When I got back into the game, I visited the clerk to see if my auctions had sold, collecting another two hundred and eighty-five gold from the sale of some ant parts, some tin, a stack of aquamarines, and the emeralds.
I cancelled the rest of my gemstone auctions, paying five gold as a cancellation fee. The fee was well worth it when compared to the cost of the gems themselves, and I hoped to be able to use them soon.
All in all, I was up another two hundred and eighty gold, and half of the previous night’s tin was still pending sale.
The loot I’d collected from the bandits fetched another handful of gold from the blacksmith, helping to offset the cost of repairs.
The door to the shop opened, admitting some familiar faces. “I know you want to play more, but it’s your own fault that you have to retake that exam, Ced,” Leilani said as she walked into the shop, followed closely by Cedric and Kelikk. “Next time you should think about studying instead of playing games. Mom’s going to give me a lecture from playing with you for this long as it is.”
“But sis, what am I ever going to need statistics for? I’m going to study biology in college, not math,” Cedric grumbled, “and I’m acing Bio!”
Kelikk chuckled and stroked his beard, gazing around at the weapons and armor with a hungry look on his face. Eventually he noticed me standing there and waved. “Hey Kababala! How’s it going?”
“Hey guys,” I replied. “It’s going pretty good. Selling some loot before heading out to explore a spooky cave for a quest. Want to join me?”
Cedric’s eyes lit up, but a glare from Leilani was enough to snuff out his excitement. “My darling brother here has been slacking with his statistics studies and has to retake his midterm tomorrow or risk failing the class, so I don’t think we’ll have any time to run quests today.”
Kelikk nodded. “We just finished up clearing out a den of some sort of mutant rats in the sewers and needed repairs, or we’d already have logged off.”
I looked at the human paladin, his avatar a lot older looking than the teenager behind the controls and felt a little sympathy. “Statistics isn’t that bad,” I said with a smile. “I mean, you’re playing a game that’s pretty much run on statistics. Probability math, number correlations, weight tables... You’re swimming in it, kid.”
At the perplexed look on his face, I was pretty sure the thought had never crossed his mind.
I chuckled and continued, “Plus, if you intend to go into any sort of research-based career, you’re going to have to know how to measure and present the results of your experiments. Acing Biology is great, but Statistics will be important too.”
Something I’d said must have sunken in. The perplexed look was gone, replaced but one of consideration. “Never really thought of it that way. Math is just… so boring,” he said sullenly before throwing his hands into the air in surrender. “Fine! I’ll go study for my stupid exam… after I get my gear repaired.”
He walked over to the shopkeeper and started handing over his gear, muttering to himself about how this or that was unfair and how he was old enough to make his own choices. I saw the like pretty often in my classroom.
“Thanks for that,” the elf said, sighing as she looked at her brother’s avatar. “He’s got a good brain between those ears when he actually chooses to use it. Hopefully he takes this seriously or we won’t be seeing him in here for a bit.”
“No worries. Educating the youth of tomorrow is my job after all. Getting a kid to realize why knowledge is important is almost as important as giving them the knowledge itself,” I said, earning a surprised look from the pair.
“You’re a teacher?” she asked.
I nodded. “Yeah, I teach world history, but I have a background in both history and economics, as well as a smattering of computer science. If your brother ever needs some extra help, let me know and I’ll see if I can point him in the right direction.”
Leilani gave me a heartfelt smile. “Thank you so much. It means a lot to me. Hopefully you’ve managed to light a fire under his ass and he’ll study enough today to pass that exam.”
I laughed and nodded. “My pleasure. Well, I’ve got a spooky cave that I can hear calling to me so I’ll bid you good afternoon and take my leave,” I said, waving to Cedric on my way out. “Good luck on your exam, Ced!”
Remembering my dilemma from earlier, I paused in the doorway and turned back. “Hey, can I get your contact info? It would make it a lot easier to team up instead of just randomly running into each other.”
“Sure thing,” Kelikk replied. “Let me add you to my contact list and then…”
Kelikk would like to add you to his contact list. Would you like to Accept? (Yes/No)
I clicked yes and then repeated the process with Leilani and Cedric.
“Good,” Leilani added. “Having two adults in the party will be quite helpful.”
Kelikk nodded. “Definitely, that would make things…” he paused, finally parsing his wife’s comment. “Oh you,” he said, giving Leilani a faux glare and laughing. “I’m a young soul, what can I say.”
I was still chuckling at the exchange when I arrived at my destination, minions freshly summoned and ready to serve.
Before delving into the cave I recharged the spells in my staff and buffed up, giving myself and all of my minions Dark Shield and then casting Aura of the Grave.
I followed the new set of guiding hands and quasi-Latin karaoke, watching as a 10-foot bubble of necromantic energy pulsed out from my tiny reptilian form and over my minions, strengthening them. Conveniently, the game added a visual indicator for the edge of the aura in the form of a dim, yet easy to see dark purple circle.
Chief took point, leading the way into the dark cave with Martin and Chevy on his flanks, their maces ready. I had Steve equip his bow and follow behind, prepared to act as rear guard or ranged DPS as the situation demanded.
As we moved deeper, I scanned the cave, looking for any indication of the mysterious disturbances reported within.
The tunnel was barely wide enough for my three minions to move through shoulder to shoulder, providing a strategic advantage as far as I was concerned. Any enemies would have to go through my minions before they could get close to me.
In the distance I could hear the sound of dripping water, but anything beyond that was drowned out by the scraping of my minions’ feet on the stone.
Wanting to get a better idea of what we were walking into, I decided to put my Stealth to the test and scout ahead.
A quick command froze my minions where they stood. I squeezed between Chevy and Chief and then ducked into Stealth as I moved forward, leaving my minions to stand ready in case I had to make a hasty retreat.
I hugged the wall of the tunnel, tiptoeing further into the cave. After a few minutes of sk
ulking, the tunnel opened up into a wide cavern with a small pool of crystal-clear water at its center.
The surface of the pool rippled as drops of water fell from a large stalactite growing from the ceiling, and the silhouettes of several doglike forms lounged along its banks. Scattered amongst the dogs were several nests of some sort, but instead of twigs and sticks, the nests were constructed out of bone and other bits of former adventurers. I tried to get an idea of their numbers, but I was too far away.
Scouting accomplished, I started to back away slowly. Halfway up the path my tail clipped a loose rock and sent it skittering down the pathway.
Several heads perked up near the pool, zeroing in on the sound. With a flash, the creatures abandoned their nests and rushed towards me, faster than any animal had any right to be.
As they came closer, I was able to make out more of their features. What I’d mistaken for dogs, or wolves of some form were something completely different.
Instead of hair or fur, their bodies were covered in small green scales. Their heads were more reptilian, but completely eyeless and instead of eyes and ears, their heads were covered in a web of long, interconnected quills that pulsed and vibrated around the creature’s fang filled maws.
The lead creature got close enough that my Perception kicked in, revealing the name of the beast in white.
< Laeshhound >
The hound’s quills flared in a large fan and began to vibrate, emitting a pulse of sound that washed over me and left me slightly dizzy.
A sound somewhere between a tuning fork and a didgeridoo filled my ears, causing me to stumble off balance and bounce off the wall, losing precious ground as I raced back towards my minions.
Laeshhound has afflicted you with Sonic Dissonance!
Your agility has been reduced by 5!
Duration: 30 seconds
I stumbled again and glanced back. The beast was about 30 feet out, its maw dripping in anticipation of its potential meal.
Extra Credit Page 34
