Spellcraft

by Andrew Beymer

  "The why is I'm pretty sure I’m about to make a shitload of gold off of somebody who's buying a sword for their twink character," I said.

  "Damn," she said. "How much are we talking?”

  I checked my total from the Auction House. My eyes bugged out yet again when I saw the number on display there. I'd had maybe a few dozen gold pieces yesterday, though that’d gone down considerably after buying supplies from Trelor. Now my balance was showing close to ten thousand gold pieces. Even after the Auction House took their cut. That sword wound up going for a shitload of money thanks to last minute snipers.

  I shook my head and blinked a couple of times to make sure I was seeing things right, but sure enough there it was. The combination of all the Horizon weapons I'd sold at a slight discount, the bidding on those potions, and that sword with the slightly better than normal spell infusion compared to what was on offer from Horizon had given me more money than I'd ever possessed in my life. I didn’t even need to know what the current exchange rate between Horizon gold and real world money was to know that was a shitload of money!

  "Holy shit," I breathed.

  “Are you going to tell me what’s going on here already?” Keia asked.

  I pulled away from the auctioneer. I also noted the way the auctioneer hit me with a grin and a considering look.

  I leaned in close to Keia and whispered the amount of money I'd just earned. Her eyes went wide as she stared.

  "Seriously?" she asked. “You’re not bullshitting me?”

  "Totally serious," I said. "Would I lie to you about something like that?"

  "Damn," she breathed. "You're rich! I haven't heard of anyone throwing around that kind of money so far. I mean there are people who have a lot of gold, but I haven’t heard of anyone having that much at once.”

  “They must be out there if they’re willing to bid on this stuff and send their gold pieces my way,” I said.

  "Holy shit," Keia said, repeating it over and over like a mantra.

  "Holy shit is right," I said, shaking my head and double checking the balance again to make sure it was real.

  Then I realized I had some more work to do. At least if I wanted to keep the money rolling in I had work to do, so I took out some of my stacks of potions that had that unrestricted bonus. Apparently they were the only ones in the entire game that had that bonus, and I was going to take advantage of my unique positioning in the market.

  I only put a few of them up. I still wanted it to look like they were scarce. If I put them all up at once then they might think I had plenty and that’d drive the price down. Better to have them go out in a trickle and keep people guessing about what my actual supply was.

  I might even have to cut off the supply from time to time to freak people out and shock the market. I was going to have to experiment and play this very carefully.

  I figured those potions could turn into a steady income of a few thousand gold pieces a day for a few months if the money kept rolling in. Assuming Lotus didn't decide to get a wild hair up their ass and nerf my potions as well as the ones that’d come after I listed my stuff.

  That was the last thing I wanted, but I figured I could at least be happy with the small windfall I got thanks to my flower picking habit. It was a hell of a lot more than I thought I'd get.

  "So what now?" Keia asked when I was done listing more stuff and moving my current earnings to my vault.

  "I think we need to go pay another visit to Trelor’s Oddments," I said. “Because I have some questions.”

  “Back there already?” Keia asked. “We just left that jerk.”

  I gave her the old side eye. Clearly she was still annoyed with Trelor the magnificent because of what’d happened the night before. Though her griping did give me an idea.

  “Fine, we don’t have to go to Trelor’s first,” I said.

  “We don’t?” Kris asked.

  “Nope. We’ll swing by the forge to have a look, then head over to Trelor’s Oddments.”

  Keia sighed. “That’s even worse than going straight to that crazy wizard’s place!”

  “Careful what you wish for,” I said with a wink.

  54

  R-E-S-P-E-C-T

  “Visiting the Auction House is one thing, but this is just tempting fate and asking for trouble,” Kris said.

  “Come on,” Keia said, daggers appearing in her hands. “You don't want to have a little fun with Horizon Dawn?”

  Kris looked at the group surrounding the forge. I'm sure she was thinking about all the scuffles we'd been in and weighing our chances of survival against the group hanging out there.

  “Yeah, y’all can have this one,” she said. “You're gonna walk over there, that group that's casually hanging out trying to look like they're not watching the place while they totally have it under surveillance is gonna do the human shield thing, and before you know it we're in another fight that ends with us barely scraping by or getting tortured. No thanks. I'm sitting this one out.”

  “You're probably right,” I said. “But I have to get access to a forge somehow, and this is the only one in town for some reason.”

  “Your digital funeral,” Kris said. “I'm gonna go hang out where there are lots of goblin guards to make sure Horizon Dawn doesn't try anything.”

  “She might have a point,” Keia said, eyeing the crowd of Horizon Dawn tabards gathered around the forge but not actually using the thing.

  “She does have a point,” I said, stepping out of our little hidey-hole around a corner and walking with more confidence than I felt towards the forge. “At least the three stooges aren't out there right now. It looks like a bunch of underlings pulling shit stakeout duty.”

  “They're also standing in a nice group,” Keia said in a singsong voice.

  I grimaced. I'd explained to her why I wasn't going to overload a gem in the middle of town, but if anything that only made her more eager to offer that up as a solution. I wasn't sure if she was having a little fun, or if she really thought blowing up a bunch of innocent goblins and players was worth it to take out some Horizon people.

  Whatever. I kept walking towards the inevitable confrontation Kris had predicted that couldn't end with my usual explodey solution because of the collateral damage risk.

  I felt like I was a glutton for punishment. That was the only explanation for why I’d decided to make a quick stop by the forge on the way to to Trelor’s Oddments.

  I'd felt compelled to check it out and see whether or not Horizon Dawn was still keeping an eye on things to keep me away from the one bit of crafting I had yet to really explore and exploit. Unfortunately there were plenty of Horizon Dawn stooges waiting for us, they were hard to miss in those Horizon tabards, and one of them immediately got the far-off look in her eyes that said she was talking to someone via private messaging or group chat.

  I swore a couple of times.

  “So much for the three stooges not making an appearance,” I growled.

  "I don't know what you were expecting," Keia said.

  "That they’d get lazy about guarding the forge the same as they're lazy about everything else?"

  "Yeah, that might've been possible once upon a time. Back before you personally pissed off Torian and he figured out who you were in real life," she said. "Something tells me he's not going to let go you stealing me away from him."

  I turned to her and arched an eyebrow. Smiled. "Really now? I stole you away from him?"

  "Well I don't know if I’d call it that exactly,” Keia said with a wicked and mischievous smile.

  My face fell. I'd thought we had a good thing going here, but her words made me think maybe she wasn't feeling the same way. Had I completely misunderstood what was going on here? It seemed impossible to misinterpret all the face sucking we'd been doing.

  "Oh my God," she said with a roll of her eyes. "I can't believe you. It's like you've never flirted with a girl before."

  "Not often," I said, not wanting to reveal that my flirtat
ion experience with the fairer sex had mostly been confined to an ill advised dance in the seventh grade when Christine, in her infinite wisdom, had tried had set me up with Debra Thomas.

  Debra had been a nice enough girl. The only problem was I had no interest in her, and Christine hadn't listened to my many protests. I’d often suspected Christine might’ve had a thing for her and figured getting me with the very straight Debra was the next best thing back before Christine could admit who she really was to herself. So I ended up with a girlfriend whether I wanted her or not.

  Our “relationship” had lasted for several months of us not talking in that special awkward way that only a couple of seventh graders discovering the pitfalls of dating for the first time could, until I'd finally broken it off with her in a conversation by her locker that was every bit as awkward as the circumstances that brought us together in the first place.

  Even then I’d been sort of insulted by the relieved look on her face when I told her we were through.

  This experience with Keia was nothing like that, and I had no intention of letting her know about that past experience if she hadn't heard it through the school rumor mill at the time. Honestly I'd been so focused on my quest for vengeance lately that I hadn't had any time for romance, but now that it had come looking for me I wasn't going to knock it.

  "I was kidding," Keia said. “So don't look all freaked out.”

  "You were?" I asked.

  "Of course I was," she said. "I was never Trent’s to begin with, so you couldn’t steal me away from him.”

  “That's a good point,” I said.

  “Of course that's not gonna stop him from thinking you stole me and trying to make your life miserable,” she said.

  “Like he needed an excuse,” I said with a laugh that didn't contain much humor.

  No, the only thought of Torian that brought a real smile to my face was the memory of the look on his face in that alley when he’d realized he wasn't as in control of the situation as he'd thought. Or the look of terror in his eyes as he was dragged away by those goblins who were using their swords like can openers on his plate armor.

  “As far as excuses for him to beat you up go, getting the girl seems like a good one,” Keia said with a twinkle in her eye.

  “You're just full of good points today, y’know that?” I said, smiling right back at her.

  “I'm always full of good points. But seriously. I'm glad you're here and I’ve really enjoyed the time we’re spending together.”

  I gave her the old side eye. “You’re sure you aren't just using me to piss Trent off?”

  “I mean that's a bonus, but it's mostly you. Like we're easily talking ninety to ten you versus pissing off Trent.”

  “I can respect that,” I said, then grinned even wider than I was when she was giving me a case of the warm fuzzies. “You know, that also gives me an idea.”

  "What's that…"

  Anything she was about to say was lost in a squeal as I took her in my arms and twirled her around. I dipped her down like we were in a classic Hollywood movie or something and planted my lips firmly on hers.

  Which had the effect of giving one hell of a show to all the Horizon Dawn people who’d gathered around the forge to create that damned human shield again. The angry muttering that came from them, coupled with some angry glances, was more than worth not being able to use that forge. Especially since I figured a few of them had to be streaming the video from our mini makeout session and sending it to Torian.

  My only regret was I wouldn't get to see the look on his face when he saw that video. It was the first time I'd ever wanted him to be around. Where the hell were those chuckleheads?

  I pulled her up and broke the kiss. She had a flush to her face and was breathing just a little heavily. She reached up and pulled a strand of hair away from her face. Damn she was beautiful.

  I'd always thought she was beautiful as a human in the real world, but I had to admit that the whole elf thing certainly added a little something to her natural allure.

  "What was that for?" she asked.

  "Because it looked like you wanted me to, and because I figure it’ll really piss off Trent when word and screenshots and stream saves get back to him," I said. "It's the least we owe him for all the trouble he's been causing us, right?"

  "Admit it,” she said with a wink. "You just wanted to use me in your devious revenge plan.”

  "That's totally it," I said, and laughed when she blinked and looked indignant. I reached out and took her hand. “Just giving you a little taste of your own medicine. Now come on. We should go talk to Trelor. He might be able to point me to a forge and answer my questions about those potions."

  "Right," she said, glancing back at the Horizon human shield that’d formed around the forge. “What about those assholes? You sure you don't want to lob a failed spell infusion at’em?”

  “I'm not sure I don’t want to do that, and that's why we need to get out of here before I give into temptation,” I said.

  "Hey," Kris said into party chat. “You done fucking around at the forge or what?"

  I peered around the circle looking for Kris, but she was nowhere to be seen.

  "Me and Keia are heading over to Trelor’s Oddments now," I said. “Where are you?”

  “Um…”

  “What is it?” I said with a sigh.

  “I kinda let some Horizon Dawn people herd me away from the circle,” she said. “They're just walking behind me right now, but more of’em keep appearing down any escape route I try. I feel like whatever they're herding me towards ain't good.”

  “Great job,” Keia said, rolling her eyes.

  “I don't suppose you have one of those plans to save my ass kicking around?”

  “Working on it,” I said, though I had no idea how I was going to save her ass from this one.

  I looked around the circle, and my eyes landed on one of the goblin guards walking by. The goblin looked up at me, gave me a wink, and sketched a small bow.

  “Are there any guards around?” I asked into party chat.

  “A few,” Kris said.

  I walked over to the guard and got down on my knee. Which earned me another respectful nod. It seemed the goblins liked it when I did that, and I wondered if any other full-sized humans had ever bothered to get down on the goblins’ level to talk to them.

  "How can I help you today Conlan?” the goblin asked.

  Holy shit. Talk about surprises piling on top of surprises. "You know my name?"

  "Of course," the goblin said. "How can I help?"

  "Well you're certainly moving up in the world," Keia said.

  "Whatever," I said, then turned back to the goblin. "I have a friend who's in some trouble.”

  "The intimidating woman who got in trouble with Horizon Dawn a few days ago?" the goblin asked. “She seems to get in trouble with them a lot. You might want to advise her to stop doing that.”

  I decided I wasn't even going to be surprised that not only did the goblin know my name, but also knew about my friends and was aware of the incident a couple of days ago. I got the feeling these guys gossiped quite a bit.

  Which only added to the sense of realism I got from them.

  "The same one," I said. “And believe you me, I’ve tried. Would it be possible for you to maybe help her make it to Trelor’s Oddments in one piece?"

  "Consider it done," the goblin said, again sketching one of those little bows.

  I was starting to get the impression that maybe those bows weren’t as sarcastic as I’d initially thought when they first started doing them, and I wasn't going to knock it.

  The goblin scampered off to talk to other guards. Meanwhile I started walking towards the Magic District.

  “Follow the goblin guards,” I said in party chat.

  “Seriously?” Kris asked. “That’s your plan? Stick close to the… Holy fucking shit!”

  “What?” I asked, worried something might be happening to her before the g
uards could get in place.

  “There were a couple of Horizon Dawn people doing a piss poor job of hiding in the shadows in an alley, and they just fucking disappeared!”

  I grinned. “Yeah, like I said. Stick close to the guards and make your way to the Magic District. I think you’re gonna be fine.”

  “Those assholes in that alley aren’t gonna be fine from the way they’re screa… No wait. Screams just got cut off. It’s like a fucking slasher movie from the 1980s or something!”

  “Yeah, but in this case the slasher is on your side,” I said. “I’ll see you at Trelor’s Oddments.”

  “Got it,” Kris said. “But if I hear any ch-ch-ch or someone running sparking knife hands along a wall I’m getting the fuck out of here.”

  I shook my head, but at least that was one problem taken care of. I was pretty sure Kris was going to arrive in one piece thanks to some accommodating guards and a hell of a lot of pent up rage and frustration at how Horizon Dawn had been treating them.

  "How did you do that?" Keia asked.

  "What do you mean?" I asked.

  "I mean I've never seen them act like that with anyone. They mostly seem to hate anyone who moved in on their territory, and that's been everyone since the game launched.”

  I shrugged. "Did you ever stop to consider that everyone you know who's been moving through their territory has been doing their best to try and kill them at worst and treats them like shit at best? Maybe that's the difference."

  "Maybe you have a point there," Keia said. “Horizon Dawn didn’t ask them what they thought about having their town taken over.”

  "Of course I have a point," I said with a grin. "Those assholes are always pushing players around. I bet they’d try to push around someone who worked for Lotus if they could. I mean…"

  Keia grabbed my arm. I blinked as I realized we were in front of Trelor’s Oddments. I’d been so lost in conversation that I hadn’t even noticed. Keia pushed the door open and I forgot whatever I’d been about to say. Because no sooner had the “Horizon Dawn pushes around Lotus” thought occurred to me than I saw exactly that scenario playing out in front of me.