The Dragon's Wrath: Ashes of the Fallen (5 page)

Even so, I didn't have a current melee weapon outside of my dagger that doubled as my skinning knife. It really wasn't that great for combat… assassinations and last line of defense sure, but not an offensive weapon in the least. I mean, at least not for me seeing as I had no skill proficiency with daggers or knives in general.

"We good to give it a go?" asked the dwarf with little emotion showing.

"I don't have a melee weapon, so it might be risky," I replied cautiously.

To my surprise the dwarf disagreed with me completely.

He looked down at his gear before stating his position, "I improved my armor considerably from that last boss and that Rusty Iron Xiphos is an upgrade as well. I think, if ye can cc that healer and kill them in order, I think, I can hold out."

Well, I was interested.

It's hard to turn down loot and experience when it stares you in the face.

I was a little regretful for not turning in the second quest and picking up the third, but it wasn't like I had a chance to do so, seeing as we never left the dungeon. Eh, it didn't really matter anyways, if you can do it once, you can do it again.

"I'm in, I think we can blow the priest up before it gets a chance to heal, long as you can tank the guard and two goblins for a bit," I said while thinking over the best strategy. "Actually, I think we should focus one of the normal goblins first, then swap to the priest second, I'll cc it before it can cast anything."

The two of us looked at the rest of the party members that were standing idly by and the archer and mage didn't bother to say anything. They were basically along for the ride, so we took their silence as a verifiable yes.

"It's risky, I don't like it," said the priest after everyone else had already agreed to go forward. Well, despite his protest, his buddy was the tank so he was dragged along kicking, figuratively of course.

Without much room to kite or maneuver we decided to stay put in the single room with the boss and his entourage, since a two second run through the narrow passageway wouldn't really do us a lot of good. Plus, we needed to make sure we killed the first goblin immediately, and then transition to the priest before any healing could happen.

I decided to go with a little dramatic flair this time around, taking a stance with my legs spread a bit past shoulder width and with my knees bent.

Bending both elbows and bringing my palms close to my chest, tucked in on the right side, I began to chant my three verses as electricity started to arc between my fingertips. As three seconds passed in the blink of an eye, four small lightning bolts could be seen circling around each other as if stuck in a current.

Aiming at the nearest goblin that was sitting on the floor, I held my breath for a split-second as I thrust my arms forward and touched the base of my wrists together, opening my hands outwards as I directed the flow of electricity towards its target. Two seconds later, the blinding flash and loud crack of thunder that followed dazzled, as it always did. The four entwined bolts of lightning split the air and entered into the body of the goblin and then immediately arced out onto the four unsuspecting goblins nearby.

As raw power passed through their veins and they all started to momentarily convulse in place, a bolt of ice smashed into the very same sitting goblin as a cloud of white frost exploded into the air. Then as the electric current discharged into the dark ground below and the goblins regained their mobility, a small shard of ice was shot through the air.

Afraid to blink, as I might miss it, the shard of ice pierced right through the sitting goblin's neck and went out the other side, as the goblin fell back and grasped its throat. I immediately retracted my arms while holding my bent stance and began to gather a surge of balled up electricity, all the while watching as the first goblin clutched at its throat as it began to bleed out.

The goblin priest's hands had begun to immediately glow a golden-yellow as it prepared a holy spell in order to heal its comrade, but I was faster.

My cast time was the same, but I started sooner.

All the while, the dwarf had already charged into the fray and shouted his taunt at the remaining goblins as three of them began to pound their weapons furiously into his already cracked shield. His stalwart defense held without much issue at the moment, but time was a negative and limiting factor.

I needed to hurry.

"Lightning Bolt!" I shouted quickly as I thrust my arms back out with open hands as a ball of lightning crossed through the air, leaving a trail of lingering electricity between my hands and the head of the bolt.

In an instant, the goblin priest's hands that had been raised above its head stopped glowing as its body shook violently from the spell rebound of a failed cast combined with the paralyzing effect my lightning. As it struggled to voice its screams, its eye bulged out as if they were ready to explode as I created a tether of lightning between us.

Channeling my arc lightning, the pulsating beam of waxing and waning electricity connected the two of us in a gross mismatch of power. Watching its health rapidly decrease while stuck in place, a well-aimed arrow landed in the right eye-socket of the priest as its head snapped back and it fell limp to the floor.

Immediately turning to the next goblin, I waved my right arm over and kept it extended as another [Arc Lightning] was thrown out. The third goblin was instantly locked up as the dwarf took advantage and slit its throat in barely a second as I almost lost my concentration.

The mage to my side was trying to cast a frost bolt at the goblins but switched to the guard as they were falling too fast. The archer did the same while I tethered the last of the normal goblins and watched as it slowly died in place.

With only the guard left, the dwarf had no issue defending himself as I quickly ran over to the priest and looted the hand-axe mid-fight, then ran behind the guard and began to hack away. Out of mana, I could only use what items I had left, and decided to wield an axe in my right and a dagger in the left as I hacked and slashed, and slashed and stabbed as furiously as I could.

Blood was splattering everywhere as the goblin guard shrieked in pain and threw its shield wildly about while thrusting and swinging its spear in a loose circle. I nimbly dodged the shield this time around, wiser to the mechanics of the fight, and simply rolled to the side and resumed my attack on its flank.

One [Heavy Thrust] later from the guard as it attempted to kill our tank with its last blow, and I was able to chop deeply into the neck of the goblin, cutting the entire length of the axe-head into its throat. Then with as strong of a pull as I could muster, ripped it out as its head flopped about.

As the goblin guard fell to his knees with his head loosely held on, I took my new hand-axe and hacked once more all the way through, severing it completely as it fell to the floor and rolled away. It was disgustingly gruesome, but it got the job done.

I wasn't about to die to a goblin a second fucking time.

There would be no letting down of my guard, before the fight was truly over.

I learned my lesson the first time and I would make sure a dead creature was truly dead from that point on. But, damn, I was getting mad again and I didn't really understand why. Maybe it had to do with the competition, the nature of the game, but I was getting angry during a lot of these fights.

Whatever, it was working for me, so I couldn't complain.

"That was easy," said the dwarf after we all had a moment to breathe.

"It actually was," chimed in the priest a little later. "I didn't have to heal you nearly as much since they all fell so fast. What changed? It was supposed to be harder."

"Less goblins," the dwarf replied casually. "I only saw three of 'em and the two smaller ones fell quick. I'm half tempted to try the fourth floor right now."

I was in agreeance, now that we had learned the mechanics of the fight and the group was in sync, we had a pretty good chance of clearing through the entire dungeon. I didn't want the group to end so long as the goal line was in sight, but before anything could be said to persuade the group, my hopes were crushed.

"Ah no can do guys, I've got work in five hours," interrupted the mage as he waved. "I'll see you guys later but I'm logging off, need some sleep, good run all."

"Eh, work," mumbled the dwarf, clearly disappointed.

"Let's sort the loot and be on our way then?" proposed the priest as he eyed the items on the floor. There wasn't a whole lot from this boss, just a [Crude Iron Dory] which was a decent quality, common grade spear that was slightly better than the [Old Dory]. Oh, and the hand-axe I picked up, a [Crude Iron Hand Axe] that was a decent quality item as well, and was surprisingly decent.

It was actually better than the two-handed axe I was using before and could easily double as a small woodworking axe or as my one-handed axe for my tanking set, paired with a shield. I started to laugh a little as my quest to become a full-fledged Viking was progressing smoothly. Now all I needed was my longship and a few warriors to run around with me… and maybe a pet dragon.

If we could have a pet dragon, that is.

"It is three in the mornin'," said the dwarf with a sigh. "Guess it ain't a bad time to call it quits, can hit it again tomorrow."

"I could kind of guess from the accents, but Aussies yeah?" I decided to ask, just for future reference. "It's only ten in the morning here, so figure you're on the other side."

"Yeh, it's a bit late 'ere," he replied. "We'll be back at it, I'll invite ye if yer around." At that moment, I received a friend invite from the dwarf and I readily accepted it, seeing as I had no reason not to. He was a good player, had his head on straight, and was a bit aggressive, all the things I valued in a party member. Now his name was visible in the drop-down menu that listed all of my two friends and I started to chuckle at how empty it truly was.

But hey, I was on the road to popularity now!

Ellieby was the first one, that trader I had met previously, and now, this dwarf tank known as Barik Grimsson was on my friend's list as well.

I wasn't expecting much from the Call to Arms so everything else was a bonus.

I was only really expecting to find some quests, random pick up groups, maybe some loot, and a bit of experience, but as it were, I was forging some early connections that could be quite useful down the stretch. It was always a good thing to have potential allies in a game that was so heavily focused on both the Player versus Player action along with the Player versus Environment aspect.

"Ey, mage isn't yer first role is it?" asked Barik with a grin.

"Nah, started with archery then worked my way into axes, picked up lightning just recently actually," I replied honestly. I had no reason not to be upfront anyways, no one knew anything about lightning magic in general, since it was an unpopular proficiency. There was little risk in him or anyone else finding out I was a bit special.

"Right, figured that was the case," said Barik plainly as he turned to walk away with a light wave. "Be seein' ya."

"Likewise, thanks for the group," I followed up as the party disbanded and everyone went their separate ways, not wanting to waste another minute.

It was always funny how abruptly groups disbanded and fell apart once the goal was reached. You could spend hours with some people, develop a short but ultimately temporary acquaintanceship and then when the task at hand was complete, in a matter of seconds everyone would bail as if they couldn't stand to be in the party a minute longer. Heck, the dungeon wasn't all that hospitable anyways, so I couldn't blame them.

But, online relations were certainly strange.

The funny part, was that it wasn't always like that.

In the past, people treated online communication as an extension of normal face-to-face communication, using proper manners and such as if it were required. Then somewhere down the line, as more kids gained access to the net perhaps, acronyms and slang became more prevalent. Now, it was almost weird to see interaction sometimes. Just like the archer in the group who didn't talk, that was considered normal behavior.

It was socially a bit strange, but not online.

Not here, in this game.

Well, we had been pushing hard for around two hours, so even I was feeling a little fatigued after the party disbanded. Not that I was exhausted but, it was just one of the game's strange features to prevent excessive grinding. It was a bit odd that it hit so quickly though. Maybe that had to do with the harsh environment of the dungeon, breathing in this smoke… an added effect for realism, perhaps.

Oh well, it was a good enough of a time to take a break.

Chapter 44: Perusing for Profit

(Saturday, May 29th Game Day / Friday, February 19th Real Day)

After finishing my breakfast and taking care of my, duties, I walked back into the cube and started to connect all of the required attachments. Most of them were sensors but the ones that attached to your head were used to send and receive electrical signals from the brain; those were the important ones. Sometimes, when strapping up, I would get that feeling of déjà vu, as if I had taken the red pill at some point.

If that was really the case, I'm not sure I would want to face the reality.

Well, my reality was what I wanted it to be anyways.

Once I initiated that log in sequence and the room starts to dim until it's pitch black and I can no longer see the hand in front of my face, it would only be a minute before the game state takes over and my consciousness fades to the other realm.

And, that's exactly what I did.

As if life were a dream, I found myself waking up from my nap underneath a tree as the cold night air sent a chill through my body. The silence of the night was a little unnerving but it was also comforting in a strange way.

I could barely make out the sound of voices off in the distance but I wanted to enjoy the serenity of the moment, and pretended not to hear. The stars were shining brightly but the colorful aurora was barely visible from here.

It was a shame.

Even so, it was still a lovely sight while lying on my back, watching for shooting stars and other odd events in the night sky.

I started to wonder how Selene and Katherine were holding up but I had a feeling they were doing just fine. They had a large population of fellow NPCs to keep them company after all, there was no way they could be lonely now. If anyone was lonely, it was probably me, but I was actually pretty content with how everything was progressing.

"Well, time's a wasting," I said out loud to myself while getting up.

A quick walk to the dungeon entrance proved to be pointless as all of the groups that had gathered were looking for members for the first and second floors. I was already beyond that and didn't want to waste my time farming or grinding out floors I already conquered, especially with a new group that didn't have the experience.

I was already entering with an elitist mentality, no longer beginner friendly since I had already been there and done that… it was a pitfall every adventurer fell victim to at one point or another. When you're a beginner, a noob, you want people to give you a chance to prove yourself.

Then once you've proved yourself you change your tune and think to yourself, "I don't want to go with noobs that have no experience." Yeah, that wasn't right. I'll give it a go with whoever is available, once I get my new quests.

It was only the right thing to do.

After a bit of a jog to the town square where everyone was gathered, I wasn't too surprised to see large crowds mingling about. A bustling quest hub with people looking for groups was a natural occurrence out here. Especially since the Call to Arms basically advertised this specific locale to the entire northern region.

This was, after all, the lowest level beginner dungeon available to those in the North and possibly the only one within a few hundred miles. There were probably other dungeons out there, but they had yet to be discovered. The appeal of a beginner dungeon was something else, too.

One dungeon floor plus the two quests per could easily net someone enough experience to advance a character level or two. Figure with a decent group you could clear a floor in an hour or so, and that was about as fast as one could hope to level.

The constant fighting was also a boon to progressing proficiency, since you could really focus on one aspect and through repeated use, essentially power level your skills. There really weren't many options for those trying to raise their proficiency in holy magic outside of group scenarios.

And on the other hand, I wasn't going to mindlessly shoot lightning into the sky.

It just didn't work after a while, what with diminishing returns and all.

You needed a target, and to actually do something with it. I could hunt rabbits with [Lightning Bolt] for a month but I couldn’t expect great progress.

Granted there would still be some progress, just not much.

The game did try to balance realistic progression with some minor standard gaming restrictions, which was a necessary evil and a nice touch in the end.

The only real drawback to dungeon grinding was the monotony of it all, but if you had a good group of people that you enjoyed spending your time with you were essentially set. That reminded me though, that I needed a few things before I could return to the grind.

The most important and essential item, was a mask of some sort.

Wading through the crowd, I finally found a clothing store that was advertising items such as fur coats and one-size-fits-all leather jerkins outside of the store front and figured it couldn't hurt to take a gander.

I mainly needed a piece of cloth that I could wrap around my face.

Something as simple as a bandana would do, really.

Entering the store, I soon found myself waist deep in an assortment of piled clothes of various shades and sizes. Along the walls were racks with numerous jackets and coats, and slightly off to the side of the door was a small counter, with a sales clerk hiding curiously behind it.

Somehow, I was the only person inside the shop.

Of all the people roaming the streets, none of them had taken an interest in the goods for sale in these smaller shops that littered the town. It was a bit of a surprise but it made sense in a way. I figured most players didn't have a lot money to spend at the moment, so it did little good to waste time perusing a store.

The game was still relatively new anyways, and people were just now experiencing their first dungeon. The blacksmith and bowyer were busy, as were the proficiency trainers and the trade post.

That was expected, though.

If I was a crafter ahead of the times, I could have made a fortune.

There were at least one or two crafters attempting to ply their trade. Though they were largely inexperienced they were certainly on the right track.

Well, I had larger goals in mind and my NPCs would bear the brunt of the labor in the long run while I reaped the rewards. Not to say that I was or would take advantage of them. I believed in fair profit for all involved even if they were just limited artificial intelligences.

Yeah, I wanted a happy town, not one filled with corruption.

There's enough corruption in a person's daily life anyhow, no reason for people to bring it with them inside the game, where most of us come to escape from our reality.

"Ah, hello there," I said to break the silence as I eyed the goods messily spread throughout the store. As I nodded at the man behind the counter, he cleared his throat before acknowledging my presence.

"What can I do ye for?" he asked kindly with a hint of sadness to his voice.

"I'm looking for a mask," I replied slowly, so as not to appear impertinent. "Or, something that can at least be used like a mask, preferably a cloth of some sort so that I can breathe a bit better in the dungeon."

The man looked depressed but feigned a smile as he turned his gaze to a corner of the store. He was clearly an NPC but it was rather strange to see such clear emotions on him. Well, I couldn't really be bothered by it, as there were more pressing needs than the emotions of a random NPC.

"Hmm, yes, we have something like that," replied the clerk while pointing to a spot in the store. "Check over there, I believe you'll find what you're looking for in a small pile behind that large one with the blue coat on top, just over there in the corner."

"Will do, thank you," I said plainly while giving him a nod and a weak smile.

Shuffling through the packed store proved slightly difficult as there were simply too many articles of clothing lying about. Though it took some effort I eventually found my way to the large pile of outerwear with the blue coat on top. It was a rather ugly coat, but I was sure there was at least one flamboyant person out there that would love to showcase it out on the streets.

But, good luck finding that one guy, mister store clerk.

A few steps past that large pile was the small one that the clerk had pointed out, which was literally just a pile of bandanas, scarves, and shawls. There was a colorful assortment of various sizes and lengths and it was precisely what I was looking for.

The shawls and scarves were the nicest looking of the bunch, with fancy embroidery that were more fitting for females than males, but there were a few semi-masculine ones that drew my attention. Though, one look at the mirror on the wall and all interest in a scarf was lost.

It wouldn't really match my blood-stained fur coat and leather armor.

Oh well, even I wanted to appear somewhat reasonable.

Rummaging through the bandanas, it took me nearly ten minutes to separate and find a suitable one to my liking. Narrowing down my choices to a plain white or black, I settled on the white one to match my gear. It wasn't perfect and was really quite pedestrian but I figured it would suffice for the task at hand. As long as it filtered out some of the ash and kept my mouth and nose from burning, I would be a happy man.

Walking over to the counter where the older man with intermixed white and blonde hair sat with his head hung low, I couldn't help but wonder what was bothering him. I didn't want to waste any time on some random NPC, but it was hard to ignore a clearly depressed person sitting in the corner of a dimly lit store, even if it wasn't a real person.

"How much are you asking for this bandana?" I questioned politely while placing it on the counter in front of him. He eyed the piece and sighed before looking up at me.

"Ten copper for the plain ones like that," he answered with little interest.

"Ah, I see," I replied while grabbing ten copper out of my pouch. "I'll take it then."

As I looked at the man in front of me, his eyes seemed to light up slightly when he saw the coins in my hand. Waiting for him to take them, I carefully watched as his mannerisms changed right before my eyes.

He eagerly took the coins from my outstretched hand and quickly changed his tune as a smile appeared on his face. "Oh thank you very much," he said gingerly, having temporarily woken from his depressed slumber. "If you're interested in any other goods, to possibly replace that stained coat of yours, I do have a line of furs in the back I can fetch for you."

"Hmm, I may have an interest in some female clothing, though I'm not certain on the size just yet," I replied casually while glancing around the room. "A gift for some friends of mine, you see."

"Well, I have plenty of clothes perfect for that!" he exclaimed. "All shapes, sizes, and colors, from moderate to extravagant, wool or linen, I've got them all!"

"If you have the time, I would be interested in seeing a few summer dresses," I stated with a kind smile. "They're tall women, but rather slender. Something loose and breathable, would do well I think."

"Right this way!" he said while standing up and leading the charge.

The chipper mood of the clerk gave some indication to his position within the store. I figured he was most likely the owner or at least tied to the profit in some shape or form, and a slow business day likely got him down. I didn't know much about the limited artificial intelligence system, nor did anyone outside of the developers really, but I realized with my interactions with Selene and Katherine, that they were quite far along with their emotional responses.

It was almost too real, sometimes.

There must have been a preset emotional trigger set into the businessman, so that his motivation and happiness was tied into how well he did financially. I mean, there was definitely some behind-the-scenes play at work with manipulated and scripted motivation, seeing how NPCs happily stuck to one job for their entire artificial lives.

They weren't truly of free-will, these NPCs.

Well, I wouldn't be the one to break that to them.

The thought of truly self-aware AIs kind of scared me a little.

It was a little too soon for that, anyways.

"Has it been a slow week for sales?" I asked genuinely yet not innocently.

"Ahh… yeah, it has been a rough month," he replied with a sigh. "Sales are always steady but, with such a large influx of foreigners, travelers and adventurers alike, business has boomed for a lot of my friends. I'm happy for them, but I have actually seen a slight decline in store traffic and most who come in don't buy anything. I don't understand why I'm the only one not making any money."

"The market is such a strange thing, isn't it," I stated quizzically.

"You got that right, I don't know what to do if business continues to dry up."

"Maybe I could help with that," I offered out of the blue. Though not entirely random, I had a theory on a possible market share that I wanted to test.

I also wanted to experiment with how neutral NPCs reacted to players that weren't from the same region. I was a foreigner here, a hundred miles displaced from the North I called home. This town had little relation to the Northern Triangle or Dragon's Breach, but my influence still carried slightly.