Red and Goodman reached town without much trouble Red leveling up on the way, she dumped most of her points into agility and a couple into constitution. Now at level 16 she was far above average. Goodman kept his own level to himself when Red asked but she suspected he was above her. Crown city was the main town and their spawn point it was a huge place taking up a large portion of the bottom of the shard. It was separated from the rest of the shard by the silver waters river. Then there was a large open space which ended in the cities wall. Just behind that wall was the Crown citadel, which was currently closed to the public. There were several theories about this, the two main ones being, it would open up during an event. And the other saying you would get to go inside at the end of a quest chain. The citadel was huge with taking up several city blocks worth of space and its tallest tower was obscured by clouds. No guards were ever seen patrolling its walls and its gates were heavily barred and guarded from the outside. Past the citadel was the city, a wide main street led to a square where a market was and different streets led to residual areas, smaller shops, eateries and taverns. There was even a university and a great library called the Crownland archive.

Goodman was walking front using his weight to push his way through the crowd, Red followed behind and admired the way afternoon sun bounced of the windows of the buildings lining the street. The architecture in the crownlands was like Victorian French with wide main streets build for carriage traffic and many, many thin winding alleys and narrow side roads. The two trotted along getting only the occasional curse or insult slung their way if Goodman shoved someone especially hard. It was just after lunch and many of the NPCs were heading back to wherever they worked or lived, and the players to find quests or collect crafting supplies. Some were even trying there hand at trading, having laid rugs down to display their wares. They shouted into the crowd that dominated the street.

“Crafted weapons!” They called, “Player Crafted, better than anything store bought!” and, “Potions, Health, mana and strength up to grade 3!”

Red listened to the tradesmen, then asked, “where are they getting such high level potions?”

“There not,” Goodman called over his shoulder, “at best they are grade 2 with a secondary effect.”

“Like what?” asked red.

“I don’t know, let’s ask,” Goodman stopped and back towards the potion seller shoving someone out of the way as he went, “what are you selling?”

The potion seller Grinned, “Best potions you can get, made them myself.”

Red pulled her cloak around herself and tilted her head slightly downwards causing shadow to hide her entire face, “you got an alchemy skill?” she said.

“I did, I did.” he said, “now I’m the highest level alchemist in town. Probably on the whole shard.”

“Well most people can’t leave the city yet, still leveling through training with the guard and such.” Goodman said.

Red picked up a yellow potion and examined it, no text appeared, “I can’t examine it?” she said.

“That there is grade 2 potion of strength.” said the seller.

Text appeared next to the bottle in Reds hand stating ‘grade 2 potion of strength,”

“Seems like you could scam us pretty easy,” said Red as she put the potion, back on the mat.”

“Hardly get a good reputation if I did that now would I? I’m trying to start a business here.”

Another player walked past behind eyeing the potions on the mat but didn’t stop. The seller watched him go then turned back to the duo, “are you going to buy something? You’re scaring of the business.”

Goodman scratched his chin then reached down and picked up the strength potions, “how much is it then?”

“That one is 100 gold.

“I’ll give you 50,” said Goodman Grinned at him.

“50? I’d barely be breaking even nope it’s 100 or nothing.”

Red said, “how about 60? and we’ll recommend you to our friends.”

The seller looked the pair up and down with his hands on his hips. Goodman was in his patchwork plate with one green leg, he looked like a high level player, but Red had a grey cloak wrapped around her which covered her completely and the hood of it hid her face in shadow.

“You in the one percent?” he asked.

“Sure are, just got back from the forest.” Goodman replied.

The seller nodded, “70.”

“Deal,” goodman opened up a trade window with the seller. While the seller was distracted with Goodman Red leaned down so she looked like she was examining more potions, she activated her quick hands skill and slipped three inside the various pockets on the inside of her cloak. She head a soft ping and a notification appeared at the bottom left of her vision informing her that her quick hands skill had leveled up. She smirked under the shadow of her hood and stood up straight just as the two men finished their transaction. The duo disappeared into the crowds leaving the seller yelling into the street. After 5 minutes Goodman looked down at Red

“So what did you get,” he said.

Red shrugged, “I got three but none have labels, I’ll need to get them appraised or something.”

Goodman nodded, “well I’ve got some of my own stuff to do before we find ourselves a wannabe wizard. Lets split up and meet at the sword and arms in 3 hours.”

“Alright sounds good.” said Red.

The two nodded and split off. Goodman continued down towards the market square, and Red disappeared into a nearby ally. Neither were worried about the other betraying them. Goodman lacked the contacts to find someone with a high intelligence stat, yelling on the street wouldn’t work for what they needed. So he had kept the scroll, Red new the right people to talk too and where to go to find them. Besides they were both high level players. They would run into each other again even if they tried not to.

Goodman headed towards the market square this was where most players came to look for party members or just talk about things. He walked towards a large white building with silver windows on one side of the square. It looked like it used to be a block of flats but the city guard and acquired it at one point and turned it into a forward barracks. This was where most of the players that were doing the city guard tutorial questline were based. As he approached he saw a bored looking player in a chain surcoat which had a silver crown embroidered on it, the symbol of crown city. The player was leaning on his spear and watching the crowds. When he saw Goodman approach he perked up

“Goodman!” said the guard. He stood up now and let his spear rest on the wall behind him.

“Jaks,” Goodman Grinned, “how's it going?”

“Boring, they’ve got me standing out here everyday.”

“Got any skills from it?”

Jaks nodded, “I got this diligence skill, easier to spot unlawful activity. That will do me a lot of good when I finally get to the forest,” He sighed, “where have you been? Got anything good for us?”

“Actually, yeah I learned about a skill I think you're all gonna like,” Goodman said

“Nice,” said Jaks, “come on, I’ll get the team in together in the mess.”

“Aren’t you meant to be guarding out here or something?”

Jaks snorted, “yeah, god forbid they fire me and I get to do something fun.”

They both laughed then Goodman said, “I’m gonna need a new sword too before I go sharing.”

“Another one?” Jaks opened the door to the guard post and the two stepped inside, it was dark and a little damp. The stone floor was smooth from its years of use, “you really do get through them, the guy that minds the armoury is going to notice,” Jaks laughed and then pointed down the hall, “you know where the mess is, I’m going to get the guys and a sword.”

Goodman nodded and walked down the hallway where Jaks had been pointing. He went through the third door on the left entered the mess hall. It was large room that took up most of the ground floor looked like it used to be several different rooms but the walls had been knocked down leaving a ridged ceiling with lots of pillars. There were a few people in the mess already and they looked up when he entered. They called him over when he walked in, and they chatted about the city guard questline, a lot of the people doing it were bored with it but didn’t want to abandon it because they had heard that if you abandon the tutorial quests the faction that gave it to you would hate you.

“Having the city guard hate you would probably mean you would have to leave the city, we’re all tanks and swordsmen we don’t have the contacts to sneak about the city. We wouldn’t make it in the wilderness either it's too high a level.” one of the players said.

Goodman nodded, “I’m glad I didn’t sign up to it. That’s for sure.” he said.

It was then that Jaks came into the mess he had a sword in one hand which he tossed to Goodman, behind Jaks were about 20 other people they were the usual bunch that Came to hear what Goodman had to say, all of them were malcontents in city guard bored with the monotony of the quests and slow exp gain. None of them had very high Rep with the city guard but they couldn't be hated since they still did the quests even if they weren’t to a especially high standard . The group took sat down on the chairs and tables around the mess Jaks handed Goodman a small bag of coins and a roll of paper which had information on skills that the questline had been teaching and how to get them. He nodded and grinned, then started talking about the skills he had learned and the monsters he had fought when out in the forest. He told them when about how he had discovered the usefulness of unmoveable. He also told them about the beast riding skill that Red had discovered. The players perked up at this asking questions about what sort of monsters could be ridden and how long it would take to learn. Goodman explained that he didn’t know but if they could get their hands on horses they could probably level it up reasonably fast.

“Where are we going to get horses?” asked a player wearing the a baggy chain top and simple cloth trousers.

“There are some around town,” said another player, he was in his full surcoat and his sword and shield, Goodman suspected he was meant to be on patrol right now but had come here instead.

“If we could get some and learn to ride them I bet we could get through the forest to another town, then it wouldn’t matter if the guards hate us.” said the first one.

A worried muttering ran through the crowd as they thought about abandoning the city and the guard. More than a few were all for it though and they spoke louder than the others.

“Is there another town?” one player asked.

Goodman spoke again, “there is, I’ve never been there but I have the quest that is supposed to take you to it.”

“Alright,” said Jaks, “so we know we have somewhere to go, and we know how we could get there,” he paused then said, “but how are we going to steal the horses of the npcs.”

Goodman grinned, “I know someone who might be able to help with that,” he said.

Red disappeared into the an alley after saying Goodbye to Goodman. Then when she was out of sight she used her leap skill to make a 6 foot jump and grab onto a silver window sill, she pulled herself up and grabbed the next, and the next till she was on the roof of the building. From here she could see a the city, it was a huge and sprawling place with buildings packed in tight, it was almost too big a city for the small area that it occupied. Most of the buildings were painted white but many had not been cleaned in a long time and so huge black stains marred their facades and in the alleys you wouldn’t even be able to tell they were white. The drains and the tops of the chimneys and any other parts of the houses that could be metal were a sill bright and silvery. They reflected the sun making hundreds of little bright spots in the marred and dirty city. The roofs were mostly sloped and tiled but that wasn’t much a of a problem for Red or anyone like her, the agility stat made you naturally surefooted and Red had invested heavily into it. She stayed where she was plotting a route through the chimneys and across the roofs to the tea room that her and the other non-aligned thieves used as a meeting spot. As she focused her vision sharpened and she could make out the chipping paint and marred metal on each chimley she could tell which tiles were loose and which were slippery with soot. She smiled and stretched out her arms and legs then she ran. Hopping over chimleys through the slow smoke that drifted out of them jumping over the small gaps between them and activating leap when it was a larger one. She caught drain on a building on the end of a street swung round and then clambered up it to the roof. She could see the rooftop terrace of the tea room they operated from now. Vines and white flowers grew on an arbor that covered most of the terrace and around the outside were numerous pots filled with various flowers of all colours. It was more than likely that the developers intended it as a romantic location not base for a budding thieves guild. Red landed with a short roll on the rooftop terrace. The whole terrace smelled of flowers and the air felt felt thick with their life. Sitting at table were two other players both were wearing cloaks but had their hoods down. Red recognised them as, Sgt.cook and Pigeon. Sgt.cook looked like he was in his mid twenties he his cloak was black with a gold trim, it hung loosely at his sides giving Red and anyone else a view of the studded leather armour he wore and the vast array of knives across his person, he also had a short sword strapped at one side. Pigeon hood was pulled back too, he had a typically handsome and face that let him blend in with all the other typically handsome players about, in the real world he was likely to have girls swooning at him but here, he was practically plain. His cloak was draped over him preventing anyone from seeing what armour or weapons he had. When they saw her land they waved at her before returning to their conversation.

Red pulled her own hood down revealing her short ginger hair and almost boyish face. She walked over to the others but instead of sitting at the table she leaned against one of the nearby wooden pillars that held up the arbor. She kept her cloak wrapped around her.

“Just get back did you?” asked Sgt.cook.

“I did, a little while ago.” Red replied. A waiter appeared at the door of the terrace carrying a cup of sweet tea, he set it down on the table close to Red and then quickly left. The three were silent until the door closed then Sgt.cook spoke up.

“Good trip was it?” he asked.

“It was, actually,” she said

“You must be near level 20 now,” said Sgt.cook, the two eyed her and she grinned

“Near,” she said.

Sgt.cook laughed sipped his own tea. Pigeon watched her for a second longer frowning then said, “get anything good then?”

“As a matter of fact,” said Red, she opened her inventory and materialized the scroll. “I was hoping one of you might be able to help me with this.”

The too focused on the scroll reading its description, “no one in our little gang has the stats for it. But I might know a guy,” said Sgt.cook Pigeon sat back in his seat staring at the scroll

“I thought you might,” said Red.

“Where did you get it” asked Pigeon, still staring at the scroll.

“A dungeon in the forest.”

“Like a chest right? You went in sneaking and found a chest?”

“No, I met a guy and we went in and killed some stuff, this was in a chest that was attached to the boss.” Red picked up her tea and sipped it, as she did she saw a figure crouched on a nearby roof.

“You beat a dungeon boss?” asked Sgt.cook, pigeon was quiet his mouth clamped shut.

“Not exactly. The chest as attached to it so we just took the chest, you know we’re being watched don’t you?” said Red, she made a wide gesture with her arm, from a distance it would look like she was just talking but the two in front of her knew that she meant the building across the street.

Sgt.cook nodded, “he’s been there all day, I think it’s a player on a quest from the thieves guild”

“They got a quest to watch us?” Asked Red

“Part of the dynamic quest system I think.” said Sgt.cook

“Don’t worry about him,” said Pigeon, “you didn’t actually fight the boss? You just took the chest?”

Red glanced up at the player on the roof again and then she turned back to the others, “we fought him a bit but yeah, we really just took the chest.”

Pigeon nodded seeming satisfied with the answer.

“Who’s this guy you know then?” asked Red.

Sgt.cook pulled up his menu and poked at it, in his hand materialized what looked like a business card, “here’s his contact card,” he said, “he mostly hangs about the archive with the other wannabe wizards.”

Red took the card and looked at it, the only thing on it was a name, Amok. “take these too. I’ve got so many from some dumb alchemy quest.” he handed her a small leather bag.

“What are they?” She asked.

“Flash stones, they light up.” he pulled one out his pocket and tossed it over the side of the building a moment later there was a flash of white light. Red blinked her eyes few times, and looked back at Sgt.Cook,

“He’ll figure the scroll out for me? Your man.” she said.

“So long as you pay him.”

Red nodded pocketed the stones and turned to leave, when Pigeon, spoke up “you get the card from your man?”

Red turned back and pulled her hood up, “I didn’t.”

“Get it,” said pigeon. Red nodded once then turned hopped up onto the edge and leaped away.

Red still had time before she had to meet Goodman. She landed on a nearby roof and ducked behind a chimney. She peeked around the side and saw the figure that was watching them before was still on the roof, still watching the other two. The tea room was placed on the corner of a street that intersected with two others. There were two roads to either side of the tea shop that led into one main road in front of it. The Watcher was on the roofs to the left of the tea shop while Red had jumped to the right. All the houses were terrace houses. Red snuck along further up to were the two streets converged and then used her leap skill to jump over then she stalked her way back up towards the watcher.

She hid behind a chimney let her grey cloak flap slightly so it blended in with the smoke she peeked around the side the watcher was a short, he had simple leather armour and no cloak. Two daggers were on his belt and he had a small crossbow on the ground next to him. Red considered simply killing him. She could tell from his gear that he was below the average level, and since she was one of the top players she could likely kill him in one or two strikes. He wouldn’t even know what happened. Killing him would mean he would be reset to level one and losing all his stats on his character. He would keep his skills but if any of them were above level 5 then they would be set back at level 5 and any that had stat requirements, like leap did, would be locked until the requirements were met. She didn’t need to kill him, she thought. But it did bother her that he was spying on them.

Before she could decide what to do the wind picked up causing her cloak to flap and her to stumble slightly, she stood on a loose tile which broke away. Although Red caught her balance the tile slid down the roof fell of and shattered. The watcher turned and yelped. He Grabbed his crossbow and fired. The bolt hit Red in the shoulder and she grunted. Her health dropped dropped just into the yellow. The watcher was trying to load another bolt but Red recovered and tossed out a throwing knife which struck the watcher in the hand. He yelped and dropped the crossbow. Red couldn’t see how much damage she did to other players but from the way the watch turned to run she assumed she had done a enough to scare him. The watcher turned and immediately leaped further down the roof dropping the half loaded crossbow. His leap wasn’t nearly as far as Reds were and he didn’t get far. Red picked up the crossbow and finished loading the bolt. She took aim and fired at the running player. The bolt flew through the air and shattered on a chimney near the watcher.

“Damn,” muttered Red. The watcher however was startled by the bolt and slipped on the tiles he fell then rolled down the the sloped roof and over the side. Red heard head the thump when he hit the ground and the surprised gasps and shouts from the players and npcs on the street. She heard a soft thump behind her and then Pigeons voice,

“You killed him,” He said.

“He fell of the roof.”

“You made him do it though.”

“I didn’t make him fall, he slipped.” Said Red.

“You shot at him” Pigeon was shaking his head.

“But I missed,” they heard someone yell for a potion or a healer, “there see? He’s not even dead.”

Pigeon sighed, “you can be a right arse you know?”

Pigeon could hear the grin when Red spoke, “Sure can.” she said.

It was several hours later when Goodman arrived at the Sword and Arms. Red had been waiting in a doorway on the opposite side of the street. She said she had contact and the two set off for the archive.

It was one of the larger buildings built in with a central square that served as the entrance and storage for the more common books and scrolls. Then it stretched out into three different wings each with their own subject. Before the players had arrived it was pristine with all the books neatly packed away in shelves and not a spec of dust to be found. One week into the beta and the place looked like it had been looted. Books were scattered across the floor huge stacks of them leaned against each other and there were old and sometimes rotting meals left lying around. Several bookshelves had fallen over leaving entire sections inaccessible. Even if you could get to them it was impossible to find anything if the books did get put back on shelves it was never in the right place.

Goodman turned up his nose when he walked in, the thick scent of rotting meat hung in the entry hall, “this is the place?”

“Yep,” said Red.

“It reeks”

Red only shrugged. She pulled the card out of inventory and showed it to Goodman, “we’re looking for someone called Amok,” she said.

Goodman nodded, and went through the doors at the end of the hall that led to the main reception area. Red pulled her hood further over her face and went after him. The main entrance hall was grand the floors were marble and tall stone pillars ran up the walls to high ceilings. Across the room were grand stone doors flanked by two huge staircases that led up and away to other wings of the archive. There were red and brown stains across the smooth stone floor. One started in a puddle then left a long streak as if the thing leaving it had been dragged across to a wall, where a bigger pool lay.

“What the fuck,” said Goodman

“You didn’t hear? Some guy started saying he had discovered a spellbook,” said Red.

“So they killed him?”

“They wanted the book. No one’s figured magic out yet and the tutorial quests were so boring all the npcs got murdered. It’s prison rules here.”

“What about the book?” Goodman had walked over to the stain on the wall and ran a hand along it, the dried blood rubbed of onto his armoured hand.

“Guess it was nothing, just like everything else they found,” Red said, “Keep your sword handy. We don’t want to get shanked.” Goodman could hear the grin on her face.

He sighed and wrapped one hand around the hilt. Red had, had a knife drawn under her cloak since they had crossed the threshold. They duo went towards the stone doors and Goodman put his hands on one and pushed. They moved slowly open grinding against the floor. When the gap just wide enough a bolt flew through and buried itself in Goodman's shoulder. He yelped and pulled back, Red laughed, “I thought that might happen.”

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“You could have said something.” Goodman pulled the bolt out of his armour.

“Could have,” said Red, “you alright?”

“Armour took most of it,” He frowned and focused on the upper left of his vision where his health and status were. There was a small box with a picture of a green droplet in it under his health. When he looked at it words appeared underneath, poison, “it was poisoned.”

Red nodded, “we better get a move on then,” she made a gesture towards the door.

Goodman nodded back he turned and and instead of pushed the door he took a deep breath then let out a short loud shout and kicked it hard. The door flew open with a loud crash that echoed down the corridor.

“Subtle,” said Red.

Goodman smiled a toothy smile, “you know me,” he said.

On the other side was a jury rigged crossbow trap which had been shattered when Goodman had kicked the door open. The door led into another open space, this one however was filled with toppled shelves and books scattered over the ground. There was a large pile of ashes in the middle of the room which had two scorched skeletons in tied to stakes in the middle of it.

“What the hell is wrong with these people?” said Goodman his mouth was hanging open and he couldn’t take his eyes of the scorched bones, “are you sure this is a good idea?”

“Yeah, it’s just a game,” Red shrugged, “no one actually got burned, besides I think these were the quest npcs.”

A door slammed shut somewhere and the sound of running feet could be heard. Then a scream. The two turned and saw a small robed man charging at them he was holding a letter opener over his head like a knife. His hair was long and brown and matted with blood, there was a crazed look in his eye.

“You’ll never get it!” he screamed and charged at Goodman bring the letter opener down on his breast plate. Goodman made no move to stop him letting the small weapon bounce harmlessly off his chest, he was about to laugh when Red shouted, “Goodman!”

That’s when he saw the bottle in the robed man's other hand. A yellow liquid sloshed about as the man swung it towards Goodman's face. Goodman shoved the man back with one hand and held the other up to protect himself, the bottle smashed against this armoured arm and the liquid immediately started to eat through the poor quality plate. Goodman watched it as it chewed away at the metal destroying the armour he had built. He turned on the man and Screamed, “Do you know how long it took me to make that?”

He pulled back his arm and punched the robed man in the chest sending him flying. There was a terrible crunch both when his fist connected and when the man landed.

“I’m going to stamp on your head you little fuck!” Goodman roared as he stomped over to the were the man fell, he rose his foot in the air but as he brought it down a dagger bounced of his boot causing him to slip and lose his balance. His boot landed just to the side of the robed mans head.

“Temper, temper” said Red her hand slunk back into her cloak. She walked slowly towards Goodman, her hand was wrapped tightly around her dagger and she was mentally preparing to leap.

“One minute you're whining about the brutality of this game, the next you're caving a man's chest in.” She said, her knuckles were white.

Goodman looked at her, then back at the man he was standing over. The robed man looked terrified, he looked like he was struggling to breath and there was blood around his mouth. There was a dent in his chest where Goodman had hit him. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, “Fine,” He said and took a step back from the man.

Red let out the breath she had been holding and relaxed her grip on her dagger. They stood over the man and watched his eyes move back and forth between them.

“You know anyone called Amok?” asked Red.

The wannabe wizard didn't say anything, just stared at her.

“I don’t think he can talk.” Said Goodman

“You really hit him hard,” red knelt next to the man and poked at his side. Then she started fiddling with her inventory.

“It’s not my fault. He destroyed my armour,” Goodman held up the his arm, the forearm of had been almost completely burned away leaving a huge hole in the armour. “What are you doing?” said Goodman

Red materialised one of the potions she had stolen earlier, “I want to see what this does,” she said. She pulled the cork out of the top of the potion, it was a dark yellow that looked a lot like urine.

“Hold on,” said Goodman, “you can’t do that. What it kills him?”

“He’s going to die anyway, if the potion kills him he can respawn quicker.”

The man's eyes went wide and he stared at the potion.

Goodman stared hard at the man “He looks like he is getting better to me. He’s not bleeding anymore.”

“He should be?” Red put the potion down and looked closer. The man's the blood from the wound in his chest had stopped flowing, “that doesn’t normally happen” said Red.

Before Goodman could reply another door along the hall slammed open and a new person wearing grey rags that were probably at one point robes fell out. Two others followed him one was holding a small knife and the other had a glowing Red potion in his hand. The one in rags rolled to his feet and and started to run. The knife holder screamed something and then the other one threw the potion. If glided through the air and smashed against the floor next to the running man and burst into flames.

“I should learn alchemy,” said Red.

“We should probably go,” said Goodman. Red nodded,

“Grab him when he comes past,” she pointed at the running man, “this one's not going to be any help.” she nodded towards the man lying next to them. Goodman looked down at the man, he looked pale skin eyes wide. He was afraid. Goodman sighed.

“Sorry mate,” he said, “you’ll respawn though, it is just a game.”

Goodman stepped out into the path of the running man and grabbed him as he tried to get past. The fire from the potion had slowly spread to a nearby pile of books and thick smoke was floating up into the room. The two chases screamed something again and started running towards Goodman, but as soon as they started moving a throwing knives thumped into their knees and they fell to the ground. Goodman trotted towards a door and pushed it open. It led to study room, all the tables had been shoved against the side and there was a chalk circle on the floor filled with interlocking shapes and words written on top of each other. Red followed Goodman in and barred the door with a chair, then stepped forward.

“Put him down then.” she said. Goodman threw the man down and he yelped as he hit the floor

“We’re looking for someone called Amok,” said Goodman, “you seen him?”

“I am him,” said the man.

“Handy that,” said Red, “so you owe us one”

“I’ll give you one, I’m the best alchemist ont he shard. Probably.”

“Probably?” said Goodman, Amok only shrugged.

“Well who really knows, there’s no way to tell I’m no. Still a good ally to have, Your lucky you ran into me.”

“You ran into us.” Said Goodman.

Amok snorted, “details like that aren't really important.”

“Why were those guys chasing you?” asked Red.

“Oh they think I stole a spellbook from them.” He said, he fiiddled with his inventory and a book appeared in his hands

“Did you?”

“It’s a library I borrowed it.” He began flipping through pages and then stopped. “he who finds this book will unlock the true potential of the crown school of magic,” He read.

“Do you have to read the whole book?” asked Red

“Of course,” said Amok, “doing magic takes patience but it pays of.”

“Does it? No one's done any magic yet.” said Goodman he was looking down at the chalk on the floor an smearing one of the circles with his foot.

“And you killed the quest npcs, so you can’t have that much patience”

“They had us stacking shelves!” Amok almost shouted, “We were never going to learn anything that way.” he went back to reading but this time he didn't say anything Goodman looked at Red who shrugged.

“Listen, we need you to read something for us.”

“Here this is it,” Amok said, “you ready to see some real magic.”

Before the other two could reply Amok had materialized a staff and was waving it around in small circles above his head, he was also chanting in some language that neither Goodman or Red understood and both were pretty sure it was gibberish. Amok continued chanting and waving his staff about. He held the book in his other hand and read from the page. There was no outward effect and it continued for several minutes. Amok read quicker and waved the staff about in increasingly frantic circles until finally he dropped the book and swore loudly.

“This is so stupid, who the hell designed a magic system that relies on such stupid rituals and movements. None of it even works!” he panted.

“Can you read this for us and tell us what it is,” Goodman held the scroll out to him.

Amok scowled at him then snatched the scroll and unrolled it. He stared at it for a while deciphering what it said then the scroll started glowing green, Red and Goodman shared a look, Amok kept reading and the scroll kept glowing brighter, until it finally burst into green sparks.

“It was a spell scroll” said Amok slowly, his mouth was hanging open, “where did you get it?”

“A dungeon,” said Goodman

“Are there more?”

“Probably.”

“Well don’t keep us in suspense what was the spell,” Red said.

“Oh right,” said Amok, “it was basic earth magic.”

“What does that mean?” said Goodman

“I’m not sure, let me try something.”

Amok took a deep breath held out one hand flat for a moment. Then he jerked his hand upwards and a small chunk of the floor flew up and floated in the air. In front of him, he grinned closed his hand into a fist and the rock in front of him crunched.

“Amazing,” he said, and let the rock fall, “where did you get his?”

“A dungeon,” said Goodman, “you asked already.”

“You better join us now, it wasn’t easy getting that and you just used it up.” Red said

Amok nodded, “if there are more of those scrolls I’ll be right behind you.”

Goodman gave a big toothy grin and elbowed Red in the ribs.

“look at that,” he said, “we got a wizard.”

“The only wizard,” said Red.

Goodman fiddled with a menu and sent Amok an invite to the party. Amok accepted and the three stepped back out into the archive.

There was no evidence of the previous battle, it looked like the bodies had been dragged away. Long red streaks ran along the floor and into the narrow alleys between shelves. Amok grinned nervously, the second they had stepped out of the room he had hunched his shoulders and started looking about. During his time in the archive he had learned that a lapse in concentration meant a sharpened wooden bookmark in the belly. He didn’t fancy getting shanked and burned alive, getting some basic magic hadn’t changed that.

They walked back towards the entrance, Goodmans heavy footsteps loud on the stone floor. Red as usual didn't make any sound at all her cloak was wrapped around her concealing her body completely. Amok looked from shelf to shelf, and checked the roof and the floor and behind him. They walked in silence aside from Goodmans footsteps.

They walked through the door and into the entrance hall, Goodman started to walk towards the entrance.

“Hang on, you need to close it,” said Amok.

Goodman turned, “why?” he said.

“Their following us, you don’t want any of them behind us.”

Goodman rose an eyebrow and was about to say something when Red interrupted, “he’s right,” she said, “6 by my count, watching from the shelves.”

“6?” said goodman, “alright,” he walked back and pushed the heavy door closed. Amok visibly relaxed.

“You don’t want any of those alchemists coming up behind you, some of those potions will fuck you up,” said Amok

“I want to ask you about that actually,” said Red.

Goodman had walked passed them and opened the doors leading back into the city, “well you can do it later,” he said, “we’ve got to deal with these clowns now.” he sounded exasperated.

The other two joined him at the doors. Out in the plaza in front of the archive about 20 feet away were 6 players, all dressed in surcoats and chainmail, the surcoat had a silver crown embroidered on the chest. All were armed with a sword and a shield and there were several of the city watchmen standing around too. The sun was low in the sky now and the light glinted of the rooftops bathing the plaza in the sunset. The fountain behind the players glowed a soft yellow, and the stain glass windows of the archive shone in the evening light. Anyone passing by would have had to stop and mutter something about how beautiful it was and how amazing that it was all really just ones and zeros. It was a sight that made someone wonder that if humanity could create something so beautiful then truly they have grown as a species.

“For God's Sake,” said Goodman. Red only sighed.

The leader of the players stepped forward, “Remember me?”

“No,” said Goodman.

“You’re that guy that wouldn’t stop talking about sand,” said Red

Amok stayed quiet.

“Dune, It’s my name I wasn’t tal-” Dune started then changed his mind, “You owe us.”

“Do we?” said Goodman genuine confusion in his voice.

“You took the treasure from the dungeon.”

“Oh,” Goodman.

“You know what we go when we killed that boss?” said Dune he took another step forward, “a key to an empty chest. So if you don’t mind handing over the treasure.”

“Well,” said Goodman, “alright.” He reached behind him, grabbed Amok and pushed him forward, saying on the way past, “time to bring something to the table.”

Amok turned and scowled back, “what am I meant to do?” he said. Goodman shrugged. Red had disappeared shortly after Goodman had started talking.

“Who’s this?” said Dune, he had taken a step back and put his hand on the hilt of his sword.”

“Hi,” said Amok, “I’m Amok.” the plaza descended into silence as each side waited for something to happen.

Red had leaped away when they had shifted their attention, she was perched now on an outcropping of the archive watching the scene. She was just wondering if she was going to have to do something stupid when Amok decided he should.

“Oh, alright,” he said, “one minute please.” he opened a menu and began fiddling.

“What’s he doing?” said Dune.

“New build, still learning the ropes.” said Goodman. A few Dunes follows sighed and muttered.

“Hang on, hang on,” said Amok, “almost got it.”

“Take your time,” said Goodman. Dune grumbled and folded his arms.

Amok tapped at his menu for a few moments more and muttered something to himself then clapped his hands together, “that ought to do it.”

He shook his hands and flexed his fingers then he started speaking, it sounded like he was speaking gibberish, but the green light came out of his hands and the earth around them shook.

“What’s he doing?” Dune said. He had taken a step back and drawn his sword his friends behind him had also pulled their weapons out but they had taken several steps back and looked ready to bolt.

“Magic,” said Goodman grinning, “it’s about time someone figured it out.”

Amok threw his arms into the air and hundreds football sized stones flew up out the ground and high into the air. Then he ran out of mana. He stopped glowing sagged down onto one knee and panted.

“Well, that wasn’t very good.” said Goodman

“Don’t be so sure.” said Dune he was looking up into the air his sword now held loosely at his side. Goodman looked up. The sky was spotted with hunks of rock. He saw a figure flash from the top of the archive over to a neighboring building and disappear over the rooftops

“She’s got the right idea.” he muttered. He moved quickly forward grabbed amok by his collar and hauled him over his shoulder, then he ran down the nearest ally.

“Oi.” shouted Dune, he glanced back at his own men who were all still staring at the sky then, “Come on, don’t let them get away!” the others all jerked back to reality and followed Dune down the nearest ally just as the boulders started to fall.

Goodman jogged, since that's all he could do in his heavy armour down narrow alleys and backstreets the boulders had spread out in the air and where falling in a deadly rain across this part of the city, he saw them crash right through many of the houses. They he jogged and jumped around in jerky motions trying his best to get hit. He moved out of an alley into another street, one of the stall owners was startled by the large armoured figure carrying another person bursting out an alley, then a boulder landed on his cart causing it to explode one of the large pieces of debris skewed him and suddenly he had a lot bigger things to worry about.

Behind him Goodman could hear the jangle of chainmail and new Dune had given chase, he also heard him swear when a rock landed close by almost crushing him. The knight turned and jogged down the street, Amok was squirming in his grip now.

“I’m better, it was a debuff cause I used all my mana, put me down!” he shouted. But Goodman jerked his shoulder suddenly and knocked the wind out of him. A Boulder landed 3 feet in front of him and he almost tripped over it.

“Christ.” he said. Then turned and went into another alley.

Behind him Dune and his gang were still jangling after him, weapons drawn and out for blood now. They passed the skewed stall owner and saw Goodman duck into an alley that headed back towards the archive plaza. Dune pointed back at his goons, “you lot go back and cut him off.”

“What are we even going to get from him?” asked one of them.

“Go!” Dune shouted and they turned and jogged back the way they had come. Dune followed Goodman into the alley and herded him back towards the plaza. He hefted his sword as he jogged and ran his eyes over his status bars. His stamina was lower because of all the running but it shouldn’t matter, they had him outnumbered and surrounded. A boulder crashed through a house next to him snapping him out of his thoughts. It tore through the chimney and when it hit the fire at the bottom it caused the cinders to scatter over the house. The fire started quickly and Dune stopped for a second to watch it spread rapidly around the room he could see through the window. Down the street he could hear Amok shouting and Goodman's armour, but now the fire was started to crackle and spit as it devoured the house. Dune took a deep breath and decided the fire was a problem for later, “how far could it spread really?” he muttered and turned back to follow Goodman down the street.

Goodman stopped. At the end of the alley Dunes friends had formed a shield wall. He tossed Amok down and said, “For god's sake” the Silver crowns inched forward. Then Dune appeared behind him.

“Goodman,” he said, “You’re under arrest for causing damage to the city.”

“He caused the damage,” said Goodman pointing at Amok who was picking himself up off the ground.

“Pphhff,” said Amok,

“Your an associate.” said Dune.

“I think you mean, accomplice” said one the silver crowns from behind the shields.

Dune waved his free hand dismissively “one of them,” he said.

“You can’t arrest me.” said Goodman.

Dune pointed his sword at him “I can, it’s one of the perks of finishing that guard quest.”

Amok finished brushing himself down and said, “he means because of her,” he pointed at behind him.

Red was standing a few meters away covered completely by her cloak. The boulders had stopped falling now and a thin mist of dust floated in the air. It was quiet apart from the sounds of a fire devouring a house a short distance away.

“Well,” said Goodman.

“Don’t,” said Dune.

Goodman Grinned, “looks like we got ourselves a mexican standoff.”

Amok sighed, Red smiled under the shadows of her hood, several of the Silver Crowns chuckled and Dune gritted his teeth.

“You are nothing but trouble you know that?” he said.

“I’ve done like one thing to you, and she was there too” Goodman pointed at Red.

“I’ll tell you what,” said Goodman went on, “Let's settle this now, you and me have a duel, first hit mode.”

“Why would I do that?” said Dune.”

“Because if you don’t some of us are going to die. You don’t want to weaken your little guild and none of us feel like dying,” Explained Goodman, “also it will get this over with a lot quicker and you can do something about that fire mister policeman.” Goodman pointed behind Red where the firelight could be seen flickering on the walls, it was obviously spreading.

Dune stood glanced back at the fire then at Goodman, the two locked eyes, one gritted his teeth the other grinned.

“It’s looking bad boss.” said one of the Silver Crowns, “I can see the smoke.”

Dune sighed then he said, “if I win you drop all your gear and the wizard comes with us.”

“Hey,” said Amok, but Goodman elbowed him before he could go on.

“If I win, we get to go free and keep doing whatever we want.” said Goodman.

“Not quite what whatever you want.”

“You know what I mean,” Goodman was fiddling with a menu. A small popup box appeared in front of Dune and he pressed a button on it. There was a loud gonging noise and a timer appeared in the air between them. No matter what angle you looked at it, it always seemed to be facing you. The two contestants rolled their shoulders and stretched out before getting their swords ready. Goodman opted against his shield which he tossed to Amok. he held his long sword in both hands and gave his characteristic grin. Dune looked deadly serious and held his kept his sword at the ready. The timer, ticked down,

3

2

1

Then another Gong sounded and the two fighters stepped forward and began circling each other in the narrow space of the alley. Goodman kept his grin and Dune his scowl. Goodman made the first move a non committal thrust which Dune batted away, he made a counter but Goodman ducked and the two faced each other again, Goodman was still grinning. Then Dune charged, his sword glowed faintly, Goodman recognised the skill, flurry of blows, it was a core skill for any melee fighter and worked with most weapon types. Dune swung madly his blade leaving faint trails of light in the air. Goodman was blocking well but losing ground. Dunes sword went out for a wide blow that would have hit Godman's head but before the blade even started moving Goodman rushed forward and smacked his shoulder into Dunes chest. It didn’t count as a hit because Dunes armour negated the damage but it did overbalance both men sending them stumbling to the ground.

Amok had took this break in the action to sidle round to Red, none of Dunes men seemed worried they had put down their weapons and were either watching the fight or the smoke trail in the sky. A few looked worried but most seemed to be enjoying the show.

Red was leaning against the wall of the alley watching the two heavily armoured men struggle to their feet.

“Will he win?” Amok asked her.

“Of course not. Goodmans a good tank but he doesn’t have any real damage.” she said.

“What are we going to do?”

“Well,” said Red tossing a small leather bag to him. “If you can’t beat’em.” she grinned under her hood. Amok opened the bag and looked back at her.

“Flash stones?” he said quietly. Red indicated with her head back towards the duel. There was single flash stone sat next to where Goodman was struggling to his feet. He put his hand over it as if he was pushing himself back up. Then when he was halfway to his feet he swiftly tossed it at Dune who had managed to stand up. The stone glided through the air and smacked squarely into Dunes nose. A blinding white light filled the alley. Goodman who had looked away when the stone hit got properly to his feet bonked Dune on the head with the flat of his blade, turned and ran back down into the alley. The others followed Red was laughing, Amok was rubbing his eyes.

“Flash Stones?” said Goodman, “I thought you’d be more of a smoke bomb kinda gal.”

“Well, I work with what I have.” Red answered. The trio exited the alley and disappeared into the chaos of the flaming city.