Corey took a few deep breaths to calm himself, allowing his clenched fists to loosen. “Why is dad always like that,” he grumbled to himself. “He’s always doted on Beth, spending thousands of credits on her vocal coaching because he just knows that she will be a superstar one day.”
“Meanwhile,” he added with a scowl, “He makes me go out and find odd jobs to pay for anything I want, and then tries to take it all from me anyway.”
Corey took a couple more deep breaths and sat down on his bed. He couldn’t understand why his dad was so harsh toward him, yet so lenient on his sister, even before the cancer. “Things will only get worse now,” he grumbled.
Letting out a sigh, he thought, At least Beth stood up for me. She might be a spoiled brat most of the time, but she always seems to come through for me when I need her most. He also had to admit to himself that despite how unfair everything was, he would do whatever it took to help his sister. It’s not like her life is very fair right now, he thought.
Deflated, he realized that he wasn’t even that mad about the car. What really bothered him was his dad’s overbearing attitude. It was like his dad thought he wouldn’t help.
With a sigh, he asked the empty room, “How could he honestly think I’m that selfish?”
Shaking his head to clear it, Corey laid down on his bed, putting on his N-Cog headset and resting his head on his pillow. As soon as he was comfortable he pressed the button on the side of the N-Cog unit, causing the screen in the visor to jump to life.
He went through the log in process and selected Dungeons and Destiny, launching the game. He closed his eyes as his body entered the sleep-state required for neural integration.
This time, he was in a circular room with white marble walls with light grey veins running through the stone. There was a dark cylindrical pedestal in front of the wall, centered in his ‘vision’ with his game avatar standing in a proud stance atop it. The pedestal had two plaques, the first reading continue, and the second reading delete character. There was no option to create a new character, and wouldn’t be unless he deleted his current one.
Unlike most Virtual Reality Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games, or VRMMORPG’s for short, Dungeons and Destiny didn’t seem to have classes like warrior or mage at the onset, but you could use both swords and spells or whatever you wanted until you built your character into a class you unlocked later on.
When Corey had played other games, he’d needed to create alts, that is, alternate Avatars, to try different play-styles or aspects of the game. Here, he could try all the skills out as a jack-of-all-trades to have decent success in everything until he decided to specialize one or two skills. He hadn’t read anything stating that you couldn’t specialize in everything, but even if he could, the grind would be insane.
I’m sure a few crazy players will try to max everything, Corey thought with a chuckle.
It was tempting, but he knew he’d be better off finding something to spend most of his time with so that he could become truly powerful. Trying to max all of his stats would be enough of a task to start with. He could always dabble in everything else just to see what it was about, but he knew from experience in other games that it was far more rewarding to focus on one aspect of the game until you mastered it once you found something you enjoyed doing.
Right now, he knew he should be focusing on becoming mayor and leveling the town. He might even have to delay his plans to max his avatar’s stats, at least for now.
Corey looked to his avatar. The rat smashing beat-stick was slung at his side, which made Corey laugh, “It even updates, that’s so cool.” He startled himself a little at the sound of his own disembodied voice, which made him laugh again, the sound echoing spookily. “Enough of this, let’s go.”
He mentally selected continue.
He appeared back inside the body of his game avatar.
He was again glad he’d managed to get the name Corey. Having something super weird like Korgathfirelance, another randomly generated name, or use numbers instead of letters just didn’t appeal to him. He had often had to resort to those options in other games. However, this one didn’t even allow numbers or symbols.
Dungeons and Destiny didn’t even have multiple servers to choose from. The idea was to make the world so big that everyone would be able to play the same server. This all meant that some players were eventually going to have seriously weird names.
As he looked around the dimly lit cellar of the inn, he again appreciated all the sensory input and wondered how they’d managed it. Heading up the stairs, he almost covered his ears when he opened the door because of the people yelling over top each other in the busy inn. On his way out he gave a nod to Anna, and she gave him a wink.
“That is one odd NPC,” Corey said with a chuckle as he exited the inn. Walking down the cobbled street, he crossed it as he passed the blacksmith and moved on toward the bakery, which was a little farther down and just passed the cobbler’s shop.
While passing the Cobbler’s shop, he couldn’t help but look into the window at the boots on display. They were impressive, and there was even a set of iron or steel greaves. He squinted at the greaves to get a closer look, and was surprised to see its description.
[Enchanted Truesteel Greaves: +100 armor to feet and shins. Durability: 200/200. These greaves are enchanted to change size to fit any owner, and to distribute damage equally upon the armor.]
He was tempted to go inside and ask how much they were, or if there was a quest to earn them, but he needed to focus on the competition.
The smell of fresh baked bread was intoxicating as he neared the bakery. Entering, he was greeted by a skinny man in a tall white chefs hat. The man stood behind a wooden counter covered in flour and was currently kneading some dough by picking it up and slapping it down.
“Welcome stranger!” Pat said, pausing in his kneading of the dough. “I’ve seen you going about the town, it’s nice to finally meet you. Are you here for some of my famous bread? It’s only ten copper’s a loaf. I’m Pat by the way.”
“Hello Pat. I’m Corey, and I actually came to talk to you.” Then, as Corey noticed Pat’s smile fade a bit, Corey quickly added, “But that loaf of bread does sound delicious, I’ve heard good things about it.”
Pat’s smile returned. “Excellent! I’m glad to hear my reputation proceeds me. Here you go.”
He handed over a loaf of hot steaming bread that resembled a baguette. The smell of fresh baked bread already had Corey’s mouth watering. Corey gave him the ten copper coins he’d gotten from Anna. Maybe that quest had been worth it, this would surely help him gain Pat’s vote.
Corey took a bite of the bread and his mouth was not disappointed. The flavor was amazing and somehow matched the aroma in excellence. The texture was amazing as well, with a crunchy outer shell and spongy soft goodness inside. Corey had always loved the smell of fresh baked bread, but it rarely tasted quite as good as it smelled unless you added butter or jam. This bread though, it was something else. Corey told Pat as much, and was given another large grin.
“Yes,” Pat responded, “It’s my secret family recipe. It not only revitalizes your energy, but heals some of your health as well. It doesn’t hurt that it tastes better than any other bread out there.”
“Indeed,” Corey said, feeling a little awkward for his use of the word. It was so easy to get caught up in the medieval vibe. “So, I’m interested in filling the vacancy of mayor. Is there anything I could do to convince you, and possibly your neighboring merchants, to support me?”
Pat’s smile disappeared as he furrowed his brows in thought. “Well, that is a bit of a problem. I’ve already given my support to another adventurer. She was quite convincing and showed a determination I’ve not seen in years.” Pat then gave a sad smile, adding, “I’m sorry, but you would have to do something truly magnificent to outshine that young lady. If you would like to learn the art of baking though, perhaps you could work as my apprentice, or fill in as one for a few days anyway.”
“Bought his bread for nothing…” Corey grumbled under his breath, though it was apparently not as quiet as he’d intended.
“What?” Pat responded, “You presume to garner my support for ten copper? Forget becoming my apprentice. If you feel that the bread was not worth the ten coppers, you can just get out. Do not return to my store.”
[Quest Update: Recipe for Disaster. Quest Failed. Speak with Pat to attempt to unlock this quest line again.]
Oh crap, Corey thought, Now I’ve done it. I really need to stop treating this like any other game. The NPC’s in this game certainly didn’t act like the soulless code constructs that other games had presented in the past. This was seriously next level stuff, and Corey realized he needed to do something fast.
“No, please forgive me Pat! Your bread is amazing and worth more than what you charge, I’m just disappointed that I was too late, I didn’t mean to insult you. Please let me make it up to you.”
Corey doubted he had any hope of gaining Pat’s support now, but he certainly didn’t want to make him an enemy. One enemy on the council would be one too many. Even if the other council members disagreed with Pat, they would obviously respected him as a member of the council.
“Well,” Pat said with a frown, “I suppose I was a bit quick to anger, it’s in my blood. You’d do well in the future not to offend a Northman. Most of us from up north have at least a bit of elven blood in us, so we take our pride seriously. I’ll forgive you this once, but take care what you say if you hope to enter the world of politics, one misspoken phrase could end your political career.”
“Um,” Corey responded, “Thanks. I promise I’ll remember that. Would you like me to leave now? Or is there something I could do for you?”
“I think, for now, leaving would be for the best. I have already given my support to another adventurer anyway. Feel free to come back to buy more of my bread though. I won’t hold your slip up against you. I may also be willing to teach you a thing or two about cooking in the future.”
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
[System Message: Cooking profession trainer, Pat, has been unlocked. Speak to Pat at any time to begin your training.]
Corey closed the prompt and left the bakery knowing that he’d blown his chances there, but still hopeful of other prospects. He ate half of the warm flaky bread as he walked over to the cobblers store. Pausing in front, and not wanting to enter while eating, he stuffed the rest of the small loaf into the right pocket of his pants. The bread might come in handy later, after all.
“It’s not tater tots, but it will do.” he said with a chuckle.
He entered the store, hoping that Clyde the Cobbler hadn’t already given his support to the other player yet.
The shop smelled of cured leather and glue with a hint of sawdust. Inside, the store was filled with large wooden shoe racks that resembled bookcases. It also had a large wooden counter tucked into the corner to the left of the entrance with various vices and tools laid out upon it. There were even some unfinished shoes, presumably works in progress.
“Greetings my good man!” Clyde said, entering from the back room and gesturing with one arm to his entire store, “I’ve got an excellent selection of fine boots. I have work boots, traveling shoes, and even some high-steel greaves special ordered from Brian.”
As Corey looked around, the selection was pretty good. “Why did you order greaves from Brian without already having a buyer?”
“Well, I did have one, but he can’t buy them anymore. He kind of… died. He had such beautiful feet too. Such a pity.”
“Right,” Corey said, feeling in his gut this was the start of another quest. “And what killed him?”
“Well, the client was Todd, a young lad who had joined the guardsmen under head guardsman Gary. There were some roving forest goblins, and while his group of guards fought them off, young Todd took a spear of shadow from a goblin caster to the chest. Pierced him right through the heart.” Clyde put a hand dramatically over his chest.
“You see,” Clyde continued, “he was waiting on his breastplate as well. He really shouldn’t have been so engaged without the proper equipment.”
“I see…” Corey responded. “Is that why it’s enchanted to change sizes for anyone? I imagine it would be hard to sell otherwise.”
“Why yes, but we had Edith the enchanter put the enchantment on it before he died, as it will distribute the damage to the entire piece as well. This way, an arrow or spell will need to do enough damage to destroy the entire greave before harming its wearer.”
“That sounds amazing! But, does that make it more expensive?” Corey asked, realizing that he had literally no money. He was almost regretting his run straight here from the starting zone. The only money he’d managed to earn had already been spent on that loaf of bread.
“Oh yes, it is more expensive with the enchantments, since, as you can understand, Edith needs to make a living too. But, the expense is worth it for the reasons I described. This set of greaves would be a mere five gold.”
“That’s more than I’ll be able to afford for a while…” Corey responded.
“Well as an adventurer, perhaps you will get lucky and find some treasure or something. But keep in mind, this is the best price you’re likely to find for something of this fine quality. You’d pay twice as much in the capital.”
“Because of the cost to ship them?”
“Yes, including the cost of guards to fend off bandits. And if you were to have them commissioned directly from a smith in the Capital… Well, they have more overhead, so it would cost you twice as much either way to buy them there.” Leaning on the counter, Clyde inspected Corey critically and added, “So what are you here for? Some sturdy leather boots perhaps?”
“That would be awesome,” Corey responded, “But I actually came in here for something else I’d like to discuss first. I’d like to earn your trust and gain your support to become the mayor. Is there anything I could do to help you at the moment?”
“Hmm, you seem like a nice boy, but I’m sorry. I’ve already spoken with Pat and Diana, and we have agreed to support another adventurer, Xena. She was quite helpful and I couldn’t go back on my word easily. You would have to do something amazing to sway our votes once they are cast, I’m sure you understand.”
“Wait, her name is Xena?” Corey said with a laugh. “Is she a princess too?”
“Why yes,” Clyde responded. “She hails from a distant land, Blaxendorf. It is far to the south, bordering the furling land. There, the nobility train as great warriors. She said she was here as part of her training but would likely stay. I didn’t realize you knew her.”
Great, Xena, a warrior princess beat me to it… Corey thought. Then, he added in a grumble, “If she’s a princess, then I’m a prince.” Corey quickly added in a louder voice, “Uh, I of course understand and respect your honorable decision to keep your word.” Corey hoped that he hadn’t messed up another interaction. After all, he might need some of the boots sold here. They did look much nicer than his own.
“My pardon Prince Corey, why did you not tell me sooner that you were a prince? Surely I can outfit you with something more worthy of your station. Your shoes… Well, I believe I have something better.”
[System Message: You have chosen the backstory of traveling prince. You are a prince from the distant land of Blaxendorf. It is a province with a large noble population, where all of the nobility are considered princes and princesses until one of them distinguishes themselves as a great warrior to become the new Queen or King.
It is the custom to send the youth out into the world to build their fame and experience, and they are given the challenge of leaving with nothing but the clothes on their backs and a small knife.
By choosing this backstory you gain +5 Respect from most friendly NPC’s, but also gain +5 Distain from any rebel factions. Good luck Pauper-Prince!]
What the heck is respect and distain? Corey thought. I bet it works along side reputation.
Corey fought the urge to let out a sigh. “I don’t have any money yet. Is there something I could do to earn a pair of boots?”
“Hmm, it’s hard to say without inspecting your feet. Come and sit over here and take off those poor excuses for shoes.”
Corey did so, sitting on a hard wooden bench to take off his shoes. He put his feet up onto a cushioned ottoman in front of him at a gesture from Clyde. He hadn’t been prepared for the creepy foot massage that passed for an inspection. The intense stare coming from Clyde didn’t help matters either.
“These are indeed princely feet. You simply must have something better, I insist. Besides, you have a very common size, so I should have something…” Clyde got up and fished out a pair of boots from one of the wooden cubbies along the wall. “Yes, these will do.”
“How much are they?” Corey asked, moving to put his own shoes back on.
“No, no, no. Don’t put those on. Wear these, they are only five silvers, but I’ll loan them to you until you can pay me, or finish a couple tasks that I have as payment. In addition, once you have paid them off, or completed the tasks, I would be happy to teach you the basics of leather-working, and the sub-skill of cobbling. What do you say?”
[Quest Available: Strings Attached. These boots come with more strings attached than just the laces, but if you are willing to help Clyde with a couple of tasks, he will wave the five silver cost of the boots. You will have five days to complete his tasks, return the boots, or pay for them.
If five days pass and you have not done so, you will lose favor with Clyde, and until the silver is paid, or the boots returned, you will be unfriendly with the local guards. After paying for the boots or completing the tasks, Clyde will teach you Leather-Working and Cobbling. Accept Quest?]
[Yes] or [No]
Corey accepted the quest. Having some better boots hadn’t occurred to him until now, but with the realism in this game, his feet were getting pretty sore. Even though the foot massage had been super creepy, it had almost been worth it for how much better his feet felt.
“Sure,” Corey said, vocalizing his choice just to keep up appearances. “What tasks did you have for me? Didn’t Xena already agree to help you with these tasks?”
“No,” Clyde said, “she preformed some other tasks. She also refused to even allow me to do a proper fitting,” he added with a huff. “She was in a big hurry to become mayor, though I don’t know how she expects to do anything quickly with those sorry shoes.”
That’s right! Corey thought, this is a race, how could I get so distracted? “Alright, what are the tasks, I’d like to get back to my own race for mayor as well.”
“Well, I have two tasks. One would be getting some needed… leather from Anna the Innkeeper. I trust that you will be discrete in this task… And, the other task is to gather me some quality hardwood. I use only the best hardwood for the soles of my boots. You can, however bring me enough quality leather or hardwood to make up for only bringing one or the other.”
Corey looked more closely at the boots and realized that they did indeed have wooden soles. “Great, I’ll get on it just as soon as I can. But first, who would you recommend I talk to next to gain support to become mayor?”
“Well, I’m afraid that we already sent Xena to speak to Agatha the Alchemist. And since she and her husband, Terry the Tailor, are the last members of the council not to already support either of you, you’d better hurry. You will need both Agatha and Terry’s support to have the majority vote on the council, and Xena is likely already working on her tasks.”
“Thanks!” Corey said as he finished lacing up his boots and started for the door. “I’ll get you those supplies as soon as I can!” And with that, Corey burst out the door and ran down the street to find out if he was too late.
He panted and tried to catch his breath as he slowed to a walk in front of the Alchemy shop. It was right next door to, and sharing a wall with, the tailor’s shop. The Alchemy shop side of the building was painted purple and had a wooden sign with a vial carved into it sticking out from above the door. The tailor shop half, on the other hand, had been painted an awful green color and had manakins in the front window. Some of them featured sturdy looking clothes that resembled a military uniform, long robes, or a large backpack, which looked super useful.
The windows to the alchemy shop were smokey and he couldn’t see anything inside.
The bell attached to the top of the door rang as he entered.
“Greetings!” Agatha said. “Would you like to buy a potion? Perhaps something that is sure to make you irresistible?”
“Um, no. I’m good I think,” Corey responded. “I was actually here hoping that I could help you. I would like to gain your support to become mayor. I already have the support of Anna and Brian. What could I do to earn your support?”
“Hmm, I suppose I would have to give you the same quest that I gave to young Xena. Terry and I both use a certain plant for a large portion of our work. He uses the fibers to produce a sturdy resilient cloth, and I use the flowers to produce healing potions. The plant looks like this,” she added this last by walking over and picking up a vase with a single flower in it.
The flower had a tall, thick, green stalk, a couple diamond shaped leaves, and a bright purple flower on top. Corey walked over and upon closer inspection, saw that it had white lines like a starburst coming from the faintly glowing center.
“This is lifebloom. It is fairly common in the forest to the southeast portion of the valley, but doesn’t grow at the higher elevations, so don’t bother climbing the hills or looking in the mountains. I’ll need 100 of them for you to gain my support. If you don’t get back before Xena though, I’ll have to support her. I’ll still compensate you with coin though, as well as allowing you to train with me or Terry as an apprentice if you would like.” She gave a small smile and a shrug.
[Quest Update: Lifebloom Wanted. This is a sub-quest of Mayor Indeed. Bring 100 Lifebloom to Agatha to unlock Alchemy Training. If you are the first player to bring 100 Lifebloom to Agatha, you will gain her own support, as well as that of her husband, Terry, to appoint you as Mayor. If you fail to be the first, but still deliver the flowers, you will be compensated with an undisclosed amount of coin, and unlock training for Alchemy and Tailoring. Accept Quest?]
[Yes] or [No]
Corey accepted the quest, then asked, “How long ago did Xena start looking for the flowers?”
“Oh, that was about an hour ago, I’d say.” Then just as Corey was turning toward the door she added, “She will likely be back any minute now. The flowers aren’t far from here, and they grow like weeds in some of the glades.”
Corey slumped his shoulders. “Well, I still have to try,” he said, moving for the door. “Thanks!” he added. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
He left, and a dark thought crossed his mind as he headed to the forest. She will be bringing the flowers, the temptation whispered in the back of his mind. This game did allow for player versus player combat outside of the towns.
But, could I really kill her and take the ones she already gathered? Or would they not drop on her death and stay in her inventory? he thought. Thinking it over for a moment, he realized that in either case, she might have to respawn, which had a time penalty in some games, which could be just as good.
Then, Corey dismissed the dark thought, not wanting to go down that path, even in a game. He hated spawn campers and people who harassed new players, and certainly didn’t want to become one himself. Besides, maybe she had logged out or something.
As he Entered the trees lost in these thoughts, and worrying about what his backup plan would be, he didn’t even notice the girl skipping out of the trees only fifty yards south of him with a wide smile and an armload of flowers.