The eStore loaded, and only two weapons were available to select. One of her eyebrows raised in confusion as she read the stats.
45 Colt 1911
Cost: $0.00
Ammunition: 7 rounds with 1 hollow point in the chamber. Delivers 30% damage with a 50% chance of Instant Kills. An Instant Kill requires the use of either a HeadShot or a CardioBlast skill. Chances of longer range accuracy are 25%. Greater chances for Instant Kill increase with higher levels. Requirements: Level > 1, Agility > 1, Intelligence > 1
Assault-Styled Saiga-12 Shotgun
Cost: $0.00
Ammunition: 2 rounds expended, 8 rounds available in the magazine. Delivers 60% damage with a 50% chance of Instant Kills. An Instant Kill requires the use of either a HeadShot or a CardioBlast skill. Chances of longer range accuracy are 25%. Greater chances for Instant Kill increase with higher levels. Requirements: Level > 1, Agility > 1, Stamina > 1
Since when did Conquest become a First-Person-Shooter game?
It didn’t make any sense. Conquest was a game in a fantasy setting. Standard weaponry choices were usually swords or battle axes infused with magical properties. What was even more confusing was that the weapons were the exact same calibers that she had recovered from the man’s body on the beach. Instinctively, her hand went to her waist where the sidearm hung in its holster. Likewise, the strap of the Saiga rested on her shoulder. It was a strange sensation when she looked down, for she couldn’t see them while logged into the Conquest server.
With a shrug, Brittany chose to purchase both since they were free.
ERROR!
Conquest servers detect an unfair advantage in your choices of weaponry. Your PvP Match has been forfeited, and you will receive a penalty of -20 XP.
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” she said through gritted teeth, “You’ll pay for this, Doug!”
ERROR!
You do not have sufficient XP to receive a penalty. You will hereby forfeit your next 20 XP earned.
This sucks.
She wanted more than anything to wipe that childish smirk off his smug face. His refusal to respond was quite telling. With a heavy sigh of annoyance, she switched to MMO mode and watched Doug’s avatar disappear in a wisp of darkness.
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In a flash of light, Brittany found herself back in MMO mode of Conquest. An alert popped up in her NR enhanced vision.
Please choose a Class:
1) Ballistics Expert
2) N/A
3) N/A
4) N/A
5) N/A
Brittany was upset. Prior to the game malfunction, her Class was Warrior and she had gained a significant number of associated skills. Starting over from scratch was not only frustrating, but being forced to choose a Class of Ballistics Expert in a Fantasy MMORPG was just downright confusing.
Brittany’s shoulders slumped and she selected Ballistics Expert. Another prompt followed:
Conquest Servers detect a shortage in your armory inventory. Would you like to begin a Weapons Quest?
Yes | No
She sighed. It seemed there wasn’t much choice, so she selected ‘Yes’. A virtual map appeared in her NR enhanced field of vision. She beheld the entire layout of Conquest, and a zoomed-in map identified her location with directions to what appeared to be a nearby city called Sariel.
Considering the placement of the city on the map, she was acutely aware that only a few hours earlier she had seen a strange plume of smoke rise into the atmosphere from that direction. Had she not known better, she would have thought it was a jet or a rocket - but that seemed highly unlikely inside this fantasy setting. Then again, guns were rather out-of-place too.
How odd…
The game had certainly taken on some strange new characteristics. In the corner of her NR enhanced screen she could see that her Class had updated to Ballistics Expert. Upon purchasing the virtual versions of her recently acquired weapons, she could now see the Saiga in her hand and the 1911 holstered to a belt wrapped around her waist. It looked rather odd, and clashed with her armor. She felt silly, and wanted nothing more than to find some standard medieval weaponry as soon as possible to replace the awkward belt.
Glancing at the map again, a looming icon in the top-left corner of the screen caught her eye. In the many times she had studied the map, never before had it identified the location of the legendary Tower of Babel. Her most recent quest had bequeathed the secret location to her, and she had been only seconds away from achieving Legendary Class when the server malfunctioned and whisked her to a faraway beach on the southern continent of Zion. Of all the places she could have respawned, the southwestern shoreline was as far away from her desired destination as she could get.
She grinned mischievously.
Maybe I can still get there before Doug and claim my Legendary Class!
She pressed on the icon. Instead of being transported, however, an error buzz sounded, followed by the brief flash of a red X on the icon.
ERROR!
Transport Portals are offline. Please try again later.
She tried again, with the same result. Her eyebrow rose in consternation, and she pressed on the icon of the nearby tribal camp of Naphtali instead. The same error occurred.
What’s going on here?
Brittany muttered a string of expletives and stared out at the path that lay before her.
I guess I’d better start walking.
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