Level 3: Ticket Counter
“Your education with me is drawing to an end, at least as far as what you can expect from levels and monster hunting and fighting. The next best lesson is doing the things we have taught you.” It had been a week since Selina had left with her new team and Mother Martin had taken over the final parts of teaching Terry about the dangers of the Deck and the dangers of the levels in preparation to help him become a full time player. Her lessons were more direct and had more experience behind them, the lessons from Selina had always seemed memorized out of a book.
Mother Martin continued, “Before you leave I want to tell you about the options you have as far as choosing what gateways to tackle and where to go. Remember how progression works with the gateways on each continent?” With the last questions she raised an eyebrow at him.
Terry answered back quickly, “A player needs to complete a total of 8 different gateways before they can gain access to the final requirements of a continent. The 9th gateway they enter leads to the 9th level which is a combination of the four scenarios found in the other gateways. After that a Player can access the final levels in the capital.”
There were other stipulations as well, like only being able to access hoard or boss levels once while being able to do objective or platform levels as many times as you like before going to the 9th level. Players used this tactic to rank up and get more prizes for the final levels.
“On that same line” Terry asked before Mother Martin could continue, “what happens if you go to each continent and complete all the single use levels?”
“Before I answer, name all 4 continents?” Mother Martin seemed to like getting another answer before he could get one.
Terry intoned, as if reading the answer from a textbook, “Diamondland, Land of Heart, The Clubs, and Ace of Spade.”
“Very good” she replied and went on to answer, “no one has completed all the required levels on all the continents. High level players have beaten 2 continents, but it can be tricky traveling to all four continents for a variety of reasons and this ties into the lesson I had for today. So I will start here. Players are free to play levels in Heart, the entire land is open and very few people will stop you from playing there. This is mostly true for the Diamondlands as well with some notable exceptions. We have famously difficult to reach levels outside of the major areas that have built up around a gateway. I will expand on that later though.”
“Ace of Spade is a difficult place to get into and it is also difficult to access levels as they are regulated by the ruler and he controls every aspect of the gateways and who can use them. The leaders of that nation govern the use of everything you can own and truly it is not a friendly or approachable place.”
“The Clubs is even more-so, they have no government and are ruled by several gangs who work out of chaotic and unorganized districts. It is believed that no one enters that continent and no one completes the levels there. Even the people of Heart are banned and they are mainly just delivering food.”
Terry wrote that down like a diligent student, but the question remained, what would happen if you completed all the levels?
“Now that is the lesson I want to teach today” Mother Martin interrupted his inner thoughts, “You need to know more about the continent you are on before you can really even think of going anywhere else.”
The next 2 hours were spent going over the notable towns and areas that held gateways. The continent was mainly elevated peaks and cliff lands, far strung fields and rocky badlands. The west side, where he was currently staying, was a collection of large steps leading northward where the tallest peaks on the planet could be found. Under the center there was a large drop leading to an extremely misty and massively unexplored area. The entire southern triangle was covered in thick dense jungle apparently. There were points on the cliff edge about the canopy, but very few citizens ever journey into the western and southern parts of the continent.
There were small towns and large cities all along the western coast and steps, most were above sea level, but had a way of traversing the cliff side to establish docks and trade with the neighboring continent, Land of Heart. There were 3 towns of note, Iron Bay was the center and most populated trade center. To the south was a mixed colony and lumber post known as Teak Nest, sharing a name with the earth trees that were similarly found here; the outpost was apparently founded by another OOT from earth. The final town was to the north and was predominantly gnomes.
Kimberglade was the oldest and most developed non-mining gnome-governed village on the Diamondlands. The race of gnomes was predominantly curious and prolific. They were daring and renowned for their tinkering and creative minds, they apparently were responsible for much of the Deck’s scientific and technological advances including a steam engine that could power zeppelin-like airships. They also were notably copious as well, families often working to have many many children. Terry found it staggering that Gnome mothers could produce family’s usually of 15 and up to 20 children, usually following an alphabetic naming system.
“That explains Siddly and Tiddly.” Terry muttered to himself.
“Exactly” Mother Martin had a habit for answering hypothetical questions and statements. “Tiddly is the youngest in his family, at least at the moment. Mama Firladden is apparently pregnant with a future Uriddy.” Terry chuckled at the name as Mother Martin failed to hide her smile at the somewhat silly name. “Gnomes have a shorter pregnancy, and other sorts of silly customs for families. For instance all gnomes have a single name till they are considered adults then they are given a new family name, it can usually pertain to the gnomes station or life's work. But it is more often a joke or subtle joke to that profession or station.”
“What do you mean?” Terry asked, somewhat interested.
“Well, Mr. Firladden is a Tanner.” Mother Martin explained
-
Well Terry was in class Rosa contented herself in the library with one of the house staff to assist her in collecting books. She had been hard at work any time Terry was learning from his other teachers. Rosa wanted to be a good familiar and that meant being able to help in all aspects of a level, even the combat.
She was not foolish enough to think that she could fight alongside Terry, but a familiar could provide many advantages for their partner. She read up on any and all subjects she believed would assist and help him move forward. Mother Martin had a wide range of books, scrolls and tomes from her long life traveling over the Diamondlands as a player completing levels. Mother Martin had even allowed Rosa to read her own memoirs. She was not the most exciting writer, but her insights and Rosa's ability to ask questions to the person involved gave a unique opportunity to gain advice that could assist Rosa and Terry.
Rosa had taken a particular interest in magic and magical theory. As it was her only foreseeable way to assist Terry offensively, she wanted to learn more and more spells and incantations that she might be able to complete using her own mana pool.
She had successfully cast the Light charm and was even able to gain a few points of familiar exp. Rosa could gain exp as a familiar which was different from that of a player. The description she had given to Terry was more along the line of an actual video game. In a level if she interacted with a situation, she would be granted exp along with Terry and would rank up in a danger rating reserved for beasts and monsters on the Deck.
Since she was a knowledge type familiar it made sense for her to learn and try to improve that knowledge and magic was a very fascinating field. Her gift had been for any bit of knowledge on the Deck and the levels therein, the Deck’s magic had several fields of disciple and becoming a magical theorist was not simply choosing one field to focus on.
Terry often found her and checked in with her several times a day, as he walked in she did not look up from what she was doing, but did ask, “How was your lesson?”
Terry crashed into a soft bean bag and started rubbing his eyes, “Pretty good, Mother Martin says we should be able to move on to the next gateway once Morris is back from the Bay and that is supposed to be tomorrow. Are you ready to rough it, away from all this?” He motioned to the entirety of the library.
“Oh I have been ready and I even got some answers to a question you had a few days ago.” Rosa answered finally looking up.
“Did you find the recipe for chocolate using the equivalent nut here?” Terry sat up.
Rosa shot him a dry look with a deep sigh for his antics, “not that one, but also sort of, there is a legume that grows on Heart. That can be churned into a butter that is more like chocolate, sorta like Hazelnut spread, but I meant the other thing with your knives.”
Terry nodded, moving on, “Oh yeah, well he has not talked to me much since the fight…”
“And traditionally he will not. You should only be able to hear the voice of a soul weapon when you are in a state near to that of the master inhabiting the weapon or if you gain insight to the connection that it has to the original wilder. I still have found no reference to this Master Koren in the knife histories and any blade histories.” Rosa cut him off.
Terry could follow what she was explaining, but some of it was over his head. The daggers were unique because they contained the soul of a master of the weapons. This master could teach Terry, but he had a hard time connecting with the weapons outside of combat, and combat was ideally not the best time to learn to use the weapon.
“Since you found the weapons here in the Diamondlands it is reasonable that the master originated here. But there are not many that use mixed matched utility and throwing sets of knives, let alone two knives. There was a master who used a flame sword and a throwing knife, but this is a known and legendary set. There is also a hunter who had a very powerful knife but it is said that he was absorbed into his bow and not the knife.” Rosa was annoyed that the master who had wielded the set Terry now had, was not listed or documented. It just made the task of connecting with the weapon tougher and thus made the ability to use the weapons slightly harder.
-
A few hours later Terry and Hurk were heading off to the gateways to do another level, just for some fun and prizes. They were both close to the threshold of level 1 and Terry almost wanted to see if he could push himself over before he went north to the other level. He left Rosa in the library reading.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Hurk and Morris had expressed interest in coming along and moving to full time players as Terry’s team. Morris had returned to his apprentice work in Iron Bay for a short time after his sister left town. He stated that he would take a final assessment for blacksmithing, Terry believed there was more to the situation then Morris had explained, but had not pushed to learn more. Terry recognized that Morris was a slow and calculating person and it would be rude and overstepping to try and gain more information on his new friends' feelings about his sister leaving at this time.
Hurk was a lot more of an open book, he had returned to the Bay a few times to see friends but always came back to the academy. Hurk was an avid trainer and bodybuilder, and the better facilities at Mother Martin mansions allowed him and Terry to work together. Terry was a good enough partner in training that he and Hurk had become fast friends.
“With this I should pass into level 1, I did a good deal of monster hunting before getting my tutorial.” Hurk explained excitedly.
“You were a monster hunter without upgrades?” Terry asked intensely.
Hurk explained, “it is not unheard of, but it is more dangerous. I couldn’t really get a job in town. They might have taken me in, but I am a goblin and we have a bit of reputation. You can earn a tutorial by working in a profession or gaining a calling, anything along those lines. It had worked for others in the past so I tried to be the best I could with what I had.”
“Who extended the tutorial to you?” Terry asked. He had learned about the 4 gods and the tutorials they could offer.
“I got the Jack” Hurk answered unknowingly quoting the AC/DC song. “His levels are the random task sort. I didn’t meet him, he just spoke aloud and he pushed me to complete some random errand while escorting a NPC around. It was simple enough, but it is rare to fail a tutorial.”
“I know Morris said he got his from the Queen, do people here get a tutorial from the Joker usually?” Terry had not needed to tell anyone where his tutorial had come from.
“Oh the Joker handles a lot of tutorials, it is sorta his thing. The other gods can give them, but the joker is sorta the main induct-or for anyone joining the levels. The histories state that he is the one who initially came up with the idea in the first place and the others agreed that it could be a good way of inducting the worthy or something along those lines.” Hurk explained as they reached the gateway and entered the arch to the locker room before the level.
They changed and changed subjects to more ideal topics, both feeling the anticipation before going into the situation that could be a level. Even if the random task was not usually dangerous one could not count on anything in the randomness of the levels. Terry and Hurk had their own weapon anyway. Terry had still not told anyone about the fact that his daggers could talk and he was not sure why he didn’t. He felt like he needed a leg up in a world that had taught him so much and seemed to have too many secrets.
Once they entered the level however, it was apparent they would not need the weapons. The level was a large arcade filled with so many upright cabinets and different carnival-type games Terry did not even want to try and count. Hurk instantly got excited.
“I heard this, it's a bonus level. We just gotta…” Hurk was cut off as the announcement came from the level.
“Welcome to the ticket counter, you will have 2 hours to get as many tickets as you can from the assorted minigames. Tickets can be sold at the booth at the end for special items and prizes. Cheating will not be tolerated. Please follow the rules for each game or you will be disqualified. Left over tickets will be considered exp. However you cannot turn all tickets into exp at your current level”
“Yeah that!” Hurk said excitedly. The pair jogged around looking over the colorful cabinets and fair-style game. There was everything Terry had seen on earth and many he had never heard of before. The timer for the level appeared in Terry's HUD.
The pair started with a wheel game, there was a whole row of different types, mainly consisting of different levertypes to pull or push to make the large wheels spin. The ticket numbers on the wheel ranged from 0 to 250. It seemed a good place to start and get some tickets regardless of skill.
Hurk's immense strength allowed him to activate several and have them all still whirring for a prize as he moved down the line. Terry giggled like a little school boy as he watched the stocky Goblin heave each lever from wheel to wheel.
Terry allowed him to continue and looked to the cabinet style arcade games. He had always loved a strong beat’em up side scroller and he found one shortly he did not recognize. It was called Dragon Dogs and featured an assortment of silly dragons in a variety of colors and dogs that would accompany them through the woods and fields while defeating many fantasy type enemies. The dragons had simple bite and claw attacks along with the breath weapon that needed to cool down after use. The dog companions could retrieve items dropped by the enemies and hold enemies in place with bite attacks. The combination was fun and the items were kept in a hoard that determined the ticket count at the end of a level.
Terry received 25 tickets after about 10 min of playing, then Hurk walked up with an actual 5 gallon bucket a quarter full of tickets in neat rolls.
“Where did you get a bucket? And all that was from the wheel games?” Terry’s bedazzlement was obvious in his voice.
Hurk replied coolly, “it was sitting there at the end of the row once I finished pulling all the levers. I read that these rooms can be all about strategy, it is all about knowing the best games to play to get good amounts of tickets.” Hurk was obviously excited and continued to move from carnival games to carnival games. He was of course very good at the Test Of Strength hammer game they found, each time he won the tall tower with the bell on top grew making the feat more impressive as Hurk kept smashing the button with the provided and attached hammer.
He was able to hit the top 6 times before it went too high for him to reach it and he moved on. Terry continued his perusal of the arcade cabinets and the occasional pinball machine, he was looking more for fun rather than actual score, happy to enjoy himself in the arcade.
He had not been in an arcade for years; they were mostly out of fashion for home consoles in his time as a teen and adult, but there had been the occasional pizza place and bowling alley section-arcade while he was a kid. His boarding school had a rec room area with pinball and a few cabinets he could visit on the weekends, but the socializing aspect had generally kept him away at least most of the time. He had visited the most during the school breaks when he had not returned home, spending hours getting timing and hand-eye coordination skills from the small variety of games there.
It was extremely nice to just roam and play and only feel a small pressure of time as he enjoyed the afternoon with Hurk.
He decided to continue to speak with Hurk about his past as a monster hunter. He had gotten some basics about predators that could be found in the area outside the gateway’s influence from Mother Martin and Selina’s lessons. They discuss curiosities and aspects of Hurk's life from that time. The biggest and hardest monster to fight, what was done with the materials from the creature, tactics, and even some stories from the aspects outside of the Hulk's own experience.
It was almost idle in nature the way Hurk went over aspects of his old career, there was excitement to the stories of fights, but they were never overly dramatic or suspenseful. Terry’s favorite as the time ticked by involved Hurk and another hunter taking on a large catlike beast with 6 legs and three tentacle-like tails. It had ambushed them while they were on the path of another monster and the other monster showed up as they were about to finish off the first. It was daring and interesting and Terry became interested in seeing and fighting the beast himself.
“I would have never had a career like that or this in my original world. I’d probably only see creatures like that in a zoo?” Terry remarked after Hurk finished and they were playing some two player hunting game complete with accurate looking guns.
“Creatures are not the only thing to worry about here, there are the bandits and shades too” Hurk intoned almost nonchalantly.
“What is a shade?” Terry asked.
“It is the spirit of the dead.” Hurk put it plainly.
“Ghosts!” Terry exclaimed missing a shot in startlement over the frankness of Hurk’s statement.
Hurk explained, “oh yeah, you see our spirit is enriched by the upgrades we have accepted. The Spirit is an eternal entity even though we do not know what happens when you die. We do know that the body is only a vessel for the soul and the soul, if strong enough, can transfer instead of going on. It can be placed in an item or drawn to a place or anything like that. A soul can also be split and put in multiple places or items. This is the creation of Shades, they are difficult to deal with but not always hostile. The process is jarring and can cause traumas that cause them to be erratic and their nature makes them tough to interact with or injure. Most of the time it is easier to get away than actually fight a Shade, though getting away is not always guaranteed.”
Terry’s thoughts wandered to his daggers, they had only ever spoken to him in the midst of battle. Was it smart to use them? He remembered identifying them and feeling the power they possessed. The energy from the identification had caused him to stumble and feel disoriented. He needed to learn more about the spirit that inhabited them and what it could do to assist him as a player.
When there was only 10 min left on the clock, the two counted their tickets in preparation for getting prizes from the ticket counter. Hurk had slowed down at the end, but had gotten close to 2500 tickets in total. Terry’s more modest and fun approach had got him a respectable 750 tickets. He had moved to more strategy efficient games at the end under Hurk's suggestion.
He had been surprisingly good at the shooting gallery and ring toss games, due in large part to the boost to his perception and dexterity. Terry was excited to see what prizes he could expect and wanted to save enough to get to rank 1 at the end of the level.
“I’m probably going to try and get some stuff to sell more than anything, if we are going to be traveling to other gateways we will need supplies and we cannot count on Mother Martin to always give us everything.” Hurk explained as they counted and discussed.
Terry nodded agreeing with the sentiment to pay their own way. He had kept his last prize of the interesting shoes from the race.
—Uncommon—
Up-gradable Sneaky Sneakers
These shoes silence the steps of the wearing no matter the speed the wearer is traveling. They will not stop outside noises but can have additional enchantments added to them by adding charms to the footwear.
+5 to speed and +10 to Acrobatics while wearing
No armor value
3 charm slots on each shoe (minimized charms effect added)
Terry was hoping to see a charm he could add on them for something like water-walking or anything like that. Morris had explained that the up-gradable nature was the best part allowing them to eventually match a legendary item, if he found the right charms to add.
Once the timer ran out the area around them changed from an arcade to a glass counter filled with prizes and ticket totals. Prizes ranged from 50 to 10,000 tickets in price and they made their selection with an android who stood behind the counter. The items came in all sorts and sizes; potions, small and large weapons, pieces of armor, and rolled documents in metal tubes. Both Hurk and Terry took a while going over each and every prize in their price range before making selections with the android.
“Do we get to know the properties of anything magical?” Terry asked the android.
The android answered simply, “Yes, I will give you descriptions of any and all items before payment”
“That is what I am talking about, tell me about those” Hurk pointed and started going through the different prizes. It almost took them as much time to pick prizes as it did for them to get the tickets to pay for them. But by the end both Hurk and Terry left the gateway with bundles of uncommon and rare packages containing several items to sell and split amongst the new and soon to be powerful team.
Terry received a notification as he left the level:
You have been granted experience. You have 85 points of experience. You now have 109 points of experience. You have unlocked utility skills. Congratulations you are now Rank 1.
You have gained the utility skill, Button Masher, your cool down between spells and special attacks is shortened. Continue Ranking to shorten this ability by .3 seconds each level.
This was a useful ability if he had more magic or special attacks both his spells were continuous and had long cooldowns before the count on them would replenish. He could use Call The Wind twice at his current level of mana before the bar was low and he was crippled with exhaustion.
When they got back to the house it was dinner time and Morris had arrived back so the three could have a get together to go over the gains they had gathered before leaving. They ate and kept the prize's identity secret so as to go over it all together. Morris had apparently brought them some special things as well and was happy to see that both were now Rank 1. Terry had kept just enough tickets to put him at 100 exp and he was excited to spend and consolidate the ability gains he had gathered that night in sleep and meditation.
But before they could sleep Terry decided to show his two new friends a custom from his own world that they would need to get used to if they were going to be an active player group.