Chapter 36: Training Plans

Claire felt shaken to her very core, and if Brent’s open mouth was any indication, then the feeling was mutual. After Chase had said it he just left the words hanging between them and watched their reactions. Their guild leader seemed caught between relief to be saying this truth after so many years and apprehension as to their reactions once the disbelief wore off.

“Not dead?” Said Brent. “How can he not be dead? All the stories say he is dead.”

“We tried,” said Chase, shrugging. “We tried many times, but must have missed something because he just kept jumping back up again. It was quite the spectacle actually. Every time he came back alive he was more furious than the time before.”

“So what did you do?” Asked Brent. He was shaking his head head and he crossed his arms.

“Basically we left Solomon’s sword in his heart—or where I assume his heart was—which left him in an unconscious state. Then we imprisoned him in a place where no player or NPC could ever find him.” Chase raised a hand as Brent began to open his mouth and added, “and don’t ask me where. I am saying more than enough to get us all killed as it is, the location is not pertinent to this conversation.”

Claire looked at Chase and saw the shame in his eyes, the way he hunched his shoulders and had dropped his gaze to the ground. She could not see any lies in the way he was acting, and thought for the first time since she had met him that he was being completely honest with her.

“And this is why they wanted to kill you?” She said.

“The reason they wanted to kill me—as you can now plainly see—is that I wanted to tell people. I had grown weary of being given this false acclaim around the world for something that I never did. Ok, I did shoot Oscuro in the eye, but the Old Guard and I never finished the job, not in the slightest. I have been living a lie for the better part of the last fifteen years. Perhaps it never bothered my guild mates, but I could barely look at my self in the mirror.”

“I can only imagine,” said Brent, sounding suddenly very understanding. “Did you have a plan to share it with Esem?”

Chase nodded and drained the last of the water from the water skin. Only drops came out now and he looked around nervously for other ears listening in, as though Solomon himself was about to jump out and attack him.

“I had a friend who worked for the AION Post. I was preparing to meet him and tell him the story when I got a note that my life was in danger. I fled my home that night and didn’t stop until I got to Ghelion on the training island, the rest you two know.”

“Incredible,” said Brent. “Did you tell Ghelion about this?”

Chase finally smiled.

“Ghelion has known about this ever since it happened,” he said. “Our Advisor knows a lot more than he lets on. As soon as I saw Ghelion after Lord Oscuro I told him everything. Advisors cannot just willy nilly spill things told them in confidence from their contracted players. Besides, I’ve always trusted him. Seemed foolish not to tell him everything.”

“He must have been disappointed,” said Claire, thinking about the advisor. He always seemed so in control and such an advocate for what was proper she couldn’t imagine him being happy about this news regarding the Old Guard.

“Actually,” said Chase, “Advisors are not designed to be too judgmental. It was more important that we had chosen of our own free will to not finish off the Dark Lord. Since that was our choice, he was fully committed to keeping the secret.”

“Did the Old Guard ever try to go back and kill him?” Wondered Brent. “It’s been, what, 15 years? I am sure Solomon could have figured out something by this point.”

“I brought it up a few times,” said Chase, avoiding their eyes. He seemed to be wanting to wrap up this conversation. “But I don’t think they really want to do that after all this time. Esem is fine, Oscuro isn’t able to come back even if he is still alive, and the story is so ingrained in every player now that the shock might have unintended consequences.”

“Is that what you think?” Said Claire. “Because they sound like the words of someone else.”

Chase briefly smiled and then nodded.

“Look, keep this to yourselves for a while, okay? I don’t feel like rehashing it again for the rest of the guild. It brings up a lot of…bad memories. Got it?”

Claire and Brent nodded. Brent said “of course, Chase.”

“Thanks,” said Chase. “I’ll get around to telling them the full story after we have a decent training system under our belts. Which I sill need to detail as soon as these wastrels finally wake up. Ah ha! I think I can hear one coming now.”

A slender hand appeared on the doorway frame, and then a yawning Amelie pulled herself through the entry. Her hair was messy and Claire noticed that she likely needed to start putting it up instead of allowing it to hang everywhere.

“G’morning,” said Amelie as she wandered over to the three of them. “I really should not have slept in so long but I was so tired after this journey.”

“No worries,” said Chase, patting a patch of grass beside him. “We needed some extra rest today. Come sit here.”

Amelie knelt beside him and smiled at Claire and Brent, noticing their swords.

“Have you been training?” She said, looking at Claire.

As ever Claire felt a twinge of annoyance run up her spine, like a cat getting its tail stepped on.

“Yes,” said Brent, when it became clear that Claire wasn’t going to answer. “First ones up.”

“You are both so dedicated to your training, I have been slowly reading my book of magic. It’s quite a difficult book to read, actually. I get the impression its more about Esem than it is about using magic.”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

More like you’ve been reading it every time we have some work to do, thought Claire to herself. During the wagon ride Amelie had spent most of her time with the book open on her lap, riveted to the words, and occasionally telling the guild what she was reading. It had become quite tedious knowing that every time she shut the book with a great, contented sigh, they were about to receive a lecture.

“I’ve thumbed through a few magic books in my time,” said Chase. “Dredman always said they teach you about how AION designed the world, and somehow through that you figure out how to manipulate it through magic. Never understood the bloody things myself.”

“It’s not exactly light reading,” said Amelie, nodding her head. “It’s part history, and part philosophy. I really don’t know how I was able to cast that healing spell in Moon town, but something about the first chapter I read allowed me to do it.”

Chase shook his head in wonder and looked like he wanted to ruffle Amelie’s head affectionally like he might Thomas.

“I have told you that you’re the first person I ever saw who could cast a spell so quickly,” he said. “But don’t worry if other spells come slowly. A good goal for you is the master three or four spells on your first contract. A good mage learns to couple their spells with their class abilities and from there they become a force to be reckoned with.”

“Chase,” said Brent curiously. “Is it true that Melamy of the Old Guard barely knows any spells, and only relies on her abilities to fight?”

“That’s half true,” said Chase, nodding his head. “Her main goal was always to protect Redstar so that he could be the one to cast the spells. She relied on her Shield ability to protect them both, and he delivered the pain and punishment to those in their way. Mastering extra spells was pointless to her. She obviously knows two or three decent healing spells, of course. Solomon had to force her to study them, and even sent her to a mage school.”

“There is a school for mages?” Said Amelie, raising her eyebrows in surprise.

“Of course,” shrugged Chase. “There is a player founded school for most any class you can think of. Avalon is actually famous for its magic schools. If you ever get to a contract and feel stuck we can always send you to one.”

Just then the remaining guild members appeared, walking through the dormitory door and into the courtyard where they shielded their eyes from the light and grumbled about the others talking too loudly. Alexander and Marlon were both looking cross at Thomas who was the only one who seemed perfectly energized to begin the day. When they came over Marlon pointed a thumb at the little boy.

“This one decided it would be helpful to wake us up as a rooster,” he said. “Just came into my room and crowed for a solid minute before I threw my herbalist book at him.”

“Same here,” said Alexander, staring daggers at the grinning boy. “Nearly gave me a panic attack.”

“Don’t worry, lads,” said Thomas with a wink. “Both of you were snoring so loudly I woke up a dozen times in the night so now we are even.”

For breakfast they had the remaining apples and bread from their bags. The venison from the night before had been sprinkled with a substance Chase had bought called salty powder which would preserve the meat into a dried out and hard meal but would take a few days to cure. Without a way to keep the meat cold Chase had regretfully said it was their only option. The salty powder had made Claire’s nostrils flare when she smelled it and she was not looking forward to eating the rest of the venison anymore.

“Well,” said Chase after they were done munching on their food. “I think it’s time to give you all the lay of the land. Alex, can you give me a hand?”

Claire watched Chase lead Alexander to a door in the side of the wall which opened to a dusty looking room. She could hear someone grunting under what sounded like a heavy load. When the pair emerged Alex was holding a large chest in his arms, forearms straining from the weight. Chase appeared a moment later carrying what looked like a chalk board and an easel.

“Just place it there, Alex,” said Chase, pointing beside where he had set up the easel and the black board. “We left them here the last time we were training.”

“What’s in the chest?” Said Thomas.

Chase opened the lid to reveal an assortment of leather training armor. Claire exchanged an excited look with Brent. It was apearing that Chase had actually thought this out more than she had ever expected, and was glad that her doubts about his methods thus far were being slowly disproved by the man himself.

“We left these here the last time we were training,” said Chase, plucking a leather vest from the chest. He dusted it off with one hand and looked at the piece fondly. “They helped us train and I think they will do the same for you—old as they might be, they still have some use in them.”

“Here, here,” said Marlon, cheering Chase’s words with an apple core.

“Now, I expect a few of you are wondering what my designs are for us this summer,” began Chase. He took a piece of chalk from the open chest and began writing on the black board:

Goal-Year 1

Complete first contract

“I know that you have heard completing your first contract in a year is impossible,” he continued. “But I know you can do it because I have done it before, and I did it right were you are sitting, here, in Fort Lazerpail.”

“So what’s the plan, Chase?” Said Alexander. He was looking intently at the blackboard.

“Obviously, since we have different jobs, we will each have different training. Fortunately, three of us are Fighters, and that training can be made more efficient together. Brent, Claire, and you, Alex, will be training alongside one another for the entire summer. And each of you have a goal of your own.” He turned around the write more on the board:

Fighters-10,000 goblins

“10,000 goblins?” Alex looked confused. “We have to kill 10,000 goblins together to finish our first contract?”

“No,” said Chase, shaking his head. “You have to kill 10,000 goblins apiece. And that won’t get you to pass your first contract, but we will cross that bridge when we get there.”

“How are we supposed to do that?” Said Alex. “We only saw a few goblins on the way to the fort. We would have to kill dozens of goblins every day for a year to reach that number.”

“That is where this comes in,” said Chase, reaching back into the chest. He pulled out a folded piece of paper and opened it, proudly displaying the guild a map. “This is a map of the forest we are in, see? This is Fort Lazerpail, and here is where we came in.”

Claire watched with interest as their leader pointed to different places on the map. Besides the fort and the entrance to the forest there were dozens of little black ex’s crisscrossing parts of the forest.

“All of these ex’s,” explained Chase, “are goblin encampments. Some are in caves, others just camps scattered about. Solomon is the one who found them all, and marked them on the map. You see, we found we were wasting too much time waiting for the same goblins to respawn, so we went searching for every single one we could. Using this map—.”

“We can gain experience everyday without having to wait for the goblins to come back,” said Alexander, realizing in his voice. “That’s incredible, Chase.”

Rare to ever hear Alexander complimenting someone, thought Claire. But she couldn’t help but feel impressed herself. The would undoubtedly prove a great resource to them.

“As for the 10,000 goblins number that may be negotiated,” said Chase, folding the map back up and placing it carefully back inside the box. “That number is not arbitrary, as it is what The Esem Survival Guide recommends for the Fighter contract. Of course, the guide recommends fighting swamp rats, of course. But goblins are far superior.”

“What about the rest of us?” Asked Thomas. He was peering curiously into the chest. “I can’t gain levels just by killing goblins. And I don’t think stealing the leaves off trees is gonna get me very far.”

“Don’t worry, Tommy, I haven’t forgotten about you. The goblins are all guarding treasure of some kind, plus whatever you can scavenge from their pockets will count to your levels.”

“Convenient,” said Brent.

“Efficient, more like,” said Chase. “Amelie and Marlon, I am afraid my expertise does not include your jobs, but so long as you are studying your tails off every day with those books you will make just as fast as progress as the fighter are. Amelie, be careful casting spells by yourself, and Marlon, you can come with us to collect ingredients, If I remember correctly the goblins often have some choice herbs hanging out to dry you can add to your mushroom collection.”

“Makes sense to me,” said Marlon. “I don’t suppose that chest has anything useful for a herbalist, hmm?”

“Actually.” Chase bent over and riffled through the chest. He had to pull several bits of training gear but soon was holding a small wooden box with a silver clasp. He handed the box over to Marlon. “This will get you started. It was Solomon’s first set of alchemical equipment. He finished that contract in three months, but don’t think you need to rush it so fast. Should have everything you need to really begin mixing us some potions so that Amelie doesn’t have to keep healing us herself.”

“Marvelous!” Exclaimed Marlon, opening the box to reveal half a dozen small containers, tubes, and flasks. For once he genuinely sounded pleased and not sarcastic in the least. “This is everything I need! I almost wish I could tell Solomon thanks.”

“Right,” said Chase. He turned back around to the board and began scribbling more words. Claire couldn’t make out what he was writing until he stepped out of the way.

End of Summer goal:

Fighters tournament

“What’s the fighter tournament?” Asked Brent. He was clutching the shaft of his sheathed sword so tightly his knuckles were white. “I’ve never heard of such a thing in Avalon.”

“It’s exactly what it sounds like: a tournament for fighters. This is what is called a Contract Tournament, and is only for those who have chosen the Fighter class for their very first contract. Killing goblins is all well and good but the very best way to ascend levels is through combat with another player. Over the next five months I think the three of you will be enough on your way that the tournament will be a breeze.”

“Well done, Chase,” said Amelie brightly. “Seems like you have it all thought out. And we were thinking you were just making it up as you went along.”

Thomas laughed for an uncomfortably long time at that remark. When Chase had finally gotten him to settle down he wiped his hands clean of the chalk dust.

“Well, guild,” he said ignoring the Thomas’ stifled giggles. “Time for us to go hunt some goblin.”