Chapter 026
Shadebreaker Deal
Outside the nightclub Rose Bird, Ethan stood near the location where he'd originally seen Owney "The Owl" Johnson get gunned down.
Looking around at the relatively quiet street, the afternoon was turning into what looked like a busy evening. NPCs walked the sidewalk and a variety of old vehicles passed by on the road.
He didn't see any players nearby, and realized it might be foolish for enemies to come anywhere near Rose Bird while so many of The Green Fists were inside. Unless they had a death wish, it wouldn't be a good idea to attack him right there.
It sounded like a strange conclusion, considering The Owl was killed there, but Mr. Gallagher was likely aware of who was also around at the time. The entire hit had been an inside job. He didn’t think he had to worry about getting taken out just yet.
Ethan opened his screens to explore the level five notifications. The first one he looked at was talents.
Ambidextrous: [ 1 ]
Awareness: [ 1 ]
Handy: [ 2 ]
Knives: [ 2 ]
Negotiator: [ 2 ] [ +1 ]
Before he even looked at the new offerings, he knew something would need to be incredibly awesome in order to spend a point on it.
Throwing single points into talents just to acquire them wasn’t the best idea, at least in his mind. It would leave him too weak all across the board. He'd come up with a plan to make his new daggers more powerful, and he wanted to stick with it.
Ears
With this acute sense of hearing, your ears will pick up on sounds others might miss. It enables you to overhear whispered conversations or detect approaching footsteps from a much further distance.
History
Recall significant facts and details about New Horizon City and all districts in which you have visited, read about, or heard about. Each point invested gives you a deeper understanding of historical events, cultures, and figures.
Kindred
Allows you to perceive impending actions from vampiric entities. The more points you invest, the greater you are at detecting and being able to react to the actions of vampires.
Ethan had almost no interest in any of them. He'd already decided to pursue a more aggressive path that increased his chances of surviving fights with other players. While Kindred could do that, it wasn't immediately obvious that he needed it.
In his mind, it was more important to have the ability to eliminate threats completely before they could do anything to hurt him. Kindred sounded good and might help accomplish that, but it felt almost too specialized.
Awareness already showed him nearby players and NPCs. While Kindred might add awareness of the creatures he wanted to kill most, it left out too many unknown enemies.
He also knew that Stalvek, Rooster, and Viri were still human. Kindred wouldn't work against them. Did it work at all against other players? If so, how did the system know what their next move would be before the player even knew?
He suspected it didn't. In other words it was too specialized for the time being. He didn't want to use a point on a talent that only worked against NPC vampires. Not knowing what challenges awaited him in the near future, he didn't want to go down that path yet.
The History talent still didn't interest him.
Ears was slightly interesting, but how often would he need to have such a talent? He'd been able to overhear some basic conversations already without even having the extra ability.
As he and Jason had already discovered, the game had plenty of ways to spend points unwisely. If a player wasn’t careful they could really mess themselves up.
Sticking to his original plan, Ethan decided to put his new point into a talent he already had, hoping to maximize his abilities with Sadie’s Fangs.
Upgraded Talent: Ambidextrous - You continue increasing your ability to use two items or weapons at the same time. The skill improves with each point increase.
+250 XP
You have 7,836 XP total
You need 2,164 more XP to reach level 6
"Excellent," he said, feeling sure about his choice.
From there, he didn't see any noticeable way to redistribute his one talent point now that he was level five. He switched over to the affiliations screen and found the option listed under The Green Fists.
Courage of the True
Stay true to the goals and objectives of The Green Fists. So long as you remain a member of The Green Fists, you will receive the following option at every fifth level, allowing you to realign your abilities to the needs of the gang.
Talent Redistribution: At every fifth level [5, 10, 15] you may choose to move one of your existing talent points to any other talent you already have. Bonus modifiers cannot be moved. Moving the last remaining point of a talent will cause you to forget that talent. Cannot be undone once confirmed.
Below the description he saw the option to redistribute one point. Selecting it took him back to the talent screen, where he was now able to select and move it.
Not wanting to be a handyman forever, he moved one of the Handy points to Awareness.
He planned on holding onto one just in case Mr. Gallagher gave him more things to fix, and he wouldn’t be able to move another one until level ten anyway.
Upgraded Talent: Awareness - Your range of awareness increases in effectiveness, doubling from 100 feet to 200.
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You have 7,836 XP total
You need 2,164 more XP to reach level 6
While he would have made the point move regardless, Ethan had to do a double-take after receiving the upgraded talent notification. It didn't come with any experience gain.
It made a bit of sense. He'd started the game with the Handy talent already. Why would the system give him additional experience simply for reallocating the point?
Downgraded Talent: Handy - Your ability to fix things becomes more difficult. It will take you longer to accomplish tasks that were previously easier to finish.
You have 7,836 XP total
You need 2,164 more XP to reach level 6
Shrugging, he already half expected something like that to happen. Losing one point as a handyman wasn't too awful. He'd basically just traded it for better fighting skill.
He scrolled back up to view his current talent point distribution.
Ambidextrous: [ 2 ]
Awareness: [ 2 ]
Handy: [ 1 ]
Knives: [ 2 ]
Negotiator: [ 2 ] [ +1 ]
Happy with the current spread, he closed out his screen and took in his view of the street.
A new notification arrived, surprising him, although it shouldn’t have.
New Rank: D-class Soldier - You have been given a rank in The Green Fists organization. Your rank now allows basic privileges and protections so long as you follow the rules of this organization. Complete additional missions and follow orders to gain higher ranks.
+250 XP
You have 8,086 XP total
You need 1,914 more XP to reach level 6
“Excellent,” he said, "maybe the other players will hesitate before attacking me now."
Shortly after closing out the screen, his next notification arrived.
Upgraded Inventory: Additional Slot - Your number of inventory slots has increased by one upon reaching level five. Your next regular slot increase occurs at level ten.
+250 XP
You have 8,336 XP total
You need 1,664 more XP to reach level 6
Looking at his inventory revealed he still only had seven total slots. He absolutely wanted the Pockets talent, but he wasn't ready to sacrifice early points that he felt were better used towards making himself deadly.
Five of his slots were taken up. One had his apartment key in it. The other four slots held his three elixirs and the potion.
Out of curiosity more than anything, he tried to put his key into his wallet. The system didn't allow him to do so. That was unfortunate, but he guessed it made sense.
The whole point of a limited inventory was to convince the player to seek ways of expanding it or to force them into more carefully choosing what they carried around with them.
By coincidence, or most likely design, it also made the Pickpocket talent more valuable, since players would only have important items on them.
At the start of the game he'd been a bit concerned. So far it hadn't been too bad, considering he hadn't had time to find a bunch of garbage to hold onto. His only real complaint would be the letters he would need to remember throwing away.
Closing out the inventory screen, he glanced around again. It was 4:21 p.m. and the sun was just starting to fall behind some of the taller buildings.
Ethan had about an hour and a half to two hours before nightfall, but less than one hour before his planned meetup with Mia and Jason.
Having accomplished plenty, he set off by foot towards Emma’s Kitchen. As he walked, he admired the NPC outfits he was starting to become accustomed to seeing.
All the fedoras, waistcoats, suits, and dresses looked amazing, and certainly they looked much better than the t-shirts and jeans he was more familiar with.
His Awareness now doubled, Ethan noticed many more NPCs and players. From the sidewalk he was able to identify plenty of dots deep within the buildings that he couldn’t before.
A few instances made him realize that his Awareness operated as a sphere. Some of the shops and businesses apparently had apartment units above them. If the buildings were high enough, it made sense why he couldn’t see anyone within them before the upgrade.
The walk itself didn't take long, as he'd learned the area quite well already. Ethan arrived at Emma's Kitchen, eager to meet up with Jason and Mia. His new reporter friend was nowhere to be seen.
Stepping inside, Emma greeted him bright eyed and cheery as usual. He gave her a big wave and a happy smile, then turned to see Jason. He was seated at one of only a handful of free tables. The rest of the place was packed full and Emma was working hard.
Going over towards Jason, he saw his friend was looking pale and clammy underneath some new expensive clothes.
As he approached, he noticed Jason's hands were shaking slightly. The guy was wearing a finely tailored black suit with a forest green tie, and he had a forest green Boston scally cap that matched perfectly.
"Hey, man. You're not looking so good," Ethan said, taking a seat next to him. "Even with the new suit."
The other player managed a weak smile. "Yeah, bro, I'm not feeling too great. I got in a fight with another player earlier and he cut me good with some kind of poisoned blade."
"Ouch," Ethan winced. "Where did he get you?"
"The left side, here." Jason pointed to a spot just below his ribcage. Ethan couldn't see the wound but he did see the damaged suit. "I got lucky it wasn't deep, but the dude's blade was poisoned or something."
"What gang?" he asked, "The Cortez or The Borrells?"
"Neither one, bro. This guy was just doing his own thing. I tried to recruit him, to get him to go talk to Mr. Donovan like you convinced me to, but he wasn't interested. Attacked me instead."
Ethan nodded. No wonder his social screen had showed that Jason was injured. "What was his name? You kill him?"
"Nope, the guy ran away after he cut me. He's probably hoping I die slowly and he gets some type of delayed credit for my death."
"What was his name?" Ethan repeated.
He could tell Jason was exhausted. The player wasn't being his normal chipper self, and whatever his injury was, it kept him from talking so much.
"Oh, yeah. Sorry, bro. His name is Mikael Morris. He was level four this morning when he got me. He's level five now."
Ethan nodded. He hadn't seen that player around, even with his increased Awareness.
"And you don't have any elixirs or potions or healing talents, huh?"
"Nope," Jason shook his head. "I'm broke as all get out, too. Mr. Donovan gave me forty dollars for the last mission I turned in, but I spent it all on a couple of rings and these new clothes."
Ethan smiled. "They do look pretty sweet."
"Yeah, bro… But that was before the fight. I'm gonna have to sell something just so I can heal myself. This is gonna kill me."
"I think you'll be okay. I might be able to help," he suggested. "What's it called, the sickness?"
Jason said, "just a second. Oh, yeah, it's Plague Scurvy."
Ethan leaned back in his chair, knowing he had a couple of options. He could give Jason his Nectar of the Dark Ancients, but that would be costly. Then again, he had plenty of money he hadn't spent yet, having opted for cheaper clothes than his friend.
He himself hadn't had enough time or energy to do any shopping for jewelry or gloves. He wanted to have enough on him just in case he ran across the right item at the right time. Ethan obviously didn't want to throw money away, but Jason was a friendly player that had the potential to become an awesome teammate.
As he'd overheard Mr. Donovan, the NPC was obviously thinking along the same lines that he'd been thinking. Running around with another player or two might be the best idea for a while. That would mean he needed to keep Jason and Mia from dying.
His other option to keep Jason alive was to give him the Shadebreaker Serum. It would at least keep his friend from getting any sicker. Then, they would just need to find a second and possibly a third dose from some place that wasn't the Sunflower Apothecary.
He decided rather quickly on the second option, thinking he would return to Lillian Lancaster's shop regardless of the warning from his bosses. By all accounts Mia was also broke, which meant he would need to be stocked up for all three of them. Keeping the little group alive was probably worth using his limited inventory slots, at least for a while.
Ethan pulled the yellow bottle from his inventory and set it down in front of Jason.
"You can have this," he said.
He let the guy investigate it for a few seconds.
Jason picked it up and looked. "Bro… This might be able to help me!"
Ethan laughed. "Yeah. It can, but you'll need more than one dose. That's the only one I have on me. You can have it. Looks like you need it."
His eye's lit up and he smiled with excitement. Jason opened the bottle as he said, "thanks, bro!" The words had barely finished coming out of his mouth before the bottle reached his lips and he downed the contents.
"Ugh!" Jason said, "tastes like burnt Werther's candies!"
Ethan nodded. "That's exactly what I thought."
Setting the empty bottle down, the other player wiped his face and perked up a bit.
"Feel any better?" he asked.
Jason said, "nope, but maybe optimistic or something like that. You're a good dude, you know it? I saw some of these in the shop windows. They want like two or three dollars for these elixirs at most places."
"Yeah, that sounds about right."
"Well, I owe you, bro!" Jason finished. "Don't let me forget it!"
Ethan smiled. "Nah, just stay alive long enough for us to survive the next few days."
"Oh, yeah? Why? You got something planned?" the guy started talking quickly again. Ethan assumed he actually did feel somewhat better, since he kept talking. "I did this mission for Mr. Donovan where I had to talk to a mole in The Cortez Family. Had to be all secret about it and stuff. Anyway, the guy told me about this NPC named Billy Sadler."
"Yep, I know that NPC."
Jason nodded. "Well, after I turned that mission in, Mr. Donovan was telling me about how you was working on Billy Sadler stuff too. I guess he could mention you to me since we know each other."
Ethan considered the thought. It made sense, based on what he'd learned so far. "Yeah, that checks out."
"Yeah, bro!" Jason kept talking. "So maybe we should try to merge our storylines somehow. Like if we can be working on the same mission, then we don't have to be running around by ourselves in this damn city getting attacked by maniacs."
He smiled, having had the same thought for a while already. They would definitely be safer in a group, so long as they all worked well together.
"Let's talk about that, actually," Ethan said. "Now that we're able to fight and we have some similar missions, we might as well."