“Ryan Wolfe,” Ryan told me and shook my hand. He was one of those guys that liked to squeeze just hard enough to let you know he was stronger than you were. As if the huge muscles under the leather belts he called a shirt wouldn’t give it away. There was a large cliché two-handed barbarian sword strapped across his back. I wondered how he could draw it in a fight.
“Mave Pollaris,” The friendly Latina introduced herself.
She had her hood back revealing dark brown hair and a pretty face. She wore glasses and had a nice smile, her eyes squinting as the smile threatened to overtake her entire face. Her face was vaguely European with a strong nose and chin. She made my heart twinge as she reminded me of a loving wife I had left behind. She held a legit wizard’s staff in one hand, and a glowing light ball in the other.
“Dark,” the Edgelord said as he invaded our meeting.
They must be an item, or he must think they are, because the way he separated us was possessive. His severe look was almost comical with thick eyebrows that threatened to become a single entity and hair he had to flick out of his vision. I don’t even think he was old enough to shave yet. Or just an unfortunate that wasn’t able to grow in a full bread. I should ask Loki if he had some extra black nail polish for the kid. He had a spear that didn’t match his samurai chest plate and very tight black pants. Who knew that one could get skinny jeans in the tower?
“Halloway,” Alan introduced himself and shook my hand.
Wise, he didn’t use the misspelled name. My respect slightly grew for him. He had a large round shield strapped to his back and had sheathed his short sword. He almost looked like a proper little Asian Viking. For some reason I liked him already.
“What do you say Viktor? Someone who can manage all this, with a spoon, and had a valuable skill like that would be a great asset to our organization.” Ryan asked grandiosely, as if his organization wasn’t four people dressed like murder hobos in a badly written D&D campaign.
“Well, let’s talk particulars. Loot rules and pay rates, not to mention I have some trouble in Volstad. Which is why I am out here in the woods alone in the first place.”
“Trouble?” Ryan’s face darkened.
“Yea, I met and had some disagreements with some fellow chosen, so I had to flee the town.”
“Which ones?” Ryan questioned and the whole group took on a tense look.
“Vinlanders.” I answered. This seemed to relax Halloway, who looked relieved at my answer. Dark didn’t seem to care either way and just kept looking tense and edgy. Mave was the one who surprised me and let loose a string of Spanish that could only be expletives.
“Oh, them.” Ryan grumbled. “Yes, they tend to be on everyone’s bad side. If you ware with us, they won’t do anything to you.”
“Awesome. I also me the bull guys, but they didn’t want to talk to me.”
“The Toros. Par for the course.” Halloway said. “They tend to keep to their own.”
“Too much bad blood from the old world.” Mave elaborated as I raised an eyebrow in question. “And the racists pendejos only make it worse for them.”
“They seemed alight.” I said with a shrug. “So, about the loot and pay?”
“I’m boss, so fifty percent goes to me, and the remainder goes even split to you all. That for coins and things we sell, the keeper loot goes round robin.” He explained, brooking no negotiation. It wasn’t great, defiantly greedy on his side. But I needed this group to survive Volstad. And I had worked for a lot less favorable terms for most of my life. His cut was basically the government taking taxes out of my paycheck.
“Okay, deal.” I offered him my hand again and he tightly squeezed it.
[You have been invited to join the Red Wolves guild.]
[Y/N]
I hit Y. Though I was tempted to hit no, just to be contrary. It had helped me in the past.
[You are now a member of the Red Wolves.]
And with that little bit of system fanfare. I had a group of people to watch my back.
A pleasant chime noise soon followed announcing more quest stuff.
[Quest Updated]
[Quest: Explore Floor 1: Midgard]
[Subquest: Take part in the following group activities.]
[ - Complete a dungeon: -1/1]
[ - Raid a village: 0/1]
[ - Kill a beast: 0/1]
[ - Make landfall in new lands: 0/1]
So, my exploration of a dungeon was broken. That was fantastic. I took a moment to report and send along a quiet message about it to my benefactor.
I ignored the exploration and raiding activities, but I did wonder what constituted a beast. Probably something big and mean if it was a group activity. Like that troll I had fled from.
Mave asked to meet Pest, so I scooped him up and offered him in her. She shoved her staff and orb into Dark’s hands and scooped him out of my hands. She coo’ed over him like an infant as he struggled to get loose. She kept calling him a Musty Man and didn’t seem to care that he was covered in spider goo. It was cute so I let him suffer.
Halloway kept inspecting the spider corpses, cutting off bits and pieces from them. Mostly the mandibles from what I could see, but he also seemed to be cutting out organs from their bodies. Ryan went into the treasure room to see the chest and picnic basket I left behind.
Dark stood in the corner of the room like he was a naughty child holding onto Mave’s things.
Before long, Ryan came out and announced that the dungeon was cleared and a bust for the group. I shrugged unapologetically and they started filing out of the room. I quickly retrieved my picnic basket, and we made our way through a series of similar rooms that were full of dead spiderlings and some goblins. Judging from the wounds on the goblins it looked like they hadn’t all been killed by spiders. Some had weapon wounds. Looked like they had been attacked on both fronts, the Red Wolves from the back and spiders from the front. Halloway confirmed this for me as we walked. The dungeon had a maze-like quality to it of multiple rooms and before I knew it we were out in the fresh air. It was closing in on night and I noticed they had a small camp set up before a rock entrance that was built into the cliff. It looked like a cliché RPG dungeon entrance. I brought up my map and checked where I was compared to where my camp was. It wasn’t too far off, but I would have to cut a trail through the forest to get back to my stuff.
“Can I burrow a machete or something? And something for my feet?” Halloway came to the rescue with a pair of sandals that resembled the footwear from initial spawn gear and a bone that had been affixed with chunks of flint to form a crude cutting tool.
The others rested at camp, and he generously helped me as I began cutting my way through the woods.
“Hey, a word of advice now that we are on our own.” He began. “Be careful with Ryan, he is a bit…. Intense at times. It’s his way, or the highway.”
“Thanks for the tip,” I said. “I’m not too worried about it, I tend to get along with most folks.”
“Oookay.” He said drawing out the word.
“Hey, what’s up with Mave and Dark?”
“Oh, that. Yea, they came in as a package deal. Something going on there, but I’m not really sure what she sees in him.” Halloway explained openly. “He is about as useful as a wet paper sack, but she is beyond great. She can do magic."
"Magic? Like shooting fireballs and shit?” I asked pausing my trail cutting.
“Yea, it takes a lot of energy, but she can shoot these energy ball things that can devastate shit. It’s incredibly powerful. I think she called it a Photon Splash, or something like that.” Halloway chuckled. “She yells it out like an anime attack each time she does it, it’s funny as hell. But then she nearly passed out. Kind of strategically limited. But she can use that little crystal ball of hers like a flashlight which is handy as hell in the dungeons and a few other utility things.”
“That is amazing. I’ll have to learn how to do that.”
“Good luck, she either doesn’t know how she can do it, or doesn’t want to fess up. I have been trying to get it out of her for half a year now.” Halloway said as he hacked at some limbs in our way.
“Half a year? How long have you been here?”
“Oh, probably seven or eight months. Ryan has been here a couple years, he says. I joined up with him and we made this little guild. Collected those two a half year ago, like I said. And have been looking for a fifth for a while. We need five people to unlock the better dungeons.”
“You aren’t planning on sacrificing my noob ass to some dark demonic force to gain powers after betraying me in a long and drawn-out way, are you?” I asked, remembering a plot of a novel series.
“Uhm, not that I am aware of,” He answered. “Do you think that would work though?”
The way he asked made me think he wasn’t completely joking. I gave him a side eye and he eventually chuckled.
“Just a little sacrifice?”
“No chance,” I snorted at him.
We finished cutting through the woods to reach my camp and found Finley happily munching on random vegetation.
“Finley!” I announced to her and gave her a pat.
Halloway checked her over and looked around at my odds and ends scattered around my mess of a camp.
“How long have you been at this?” He asked me.
“Few weeks.” I answered.
“You don’t have a bad start then,” he said as he spied my hatchet and picked it up. “Not bad at all.”
“Thanks, I’m gonna go clean up.” I collected my clothes. “Please don’t steal my shit.”
He just chuckled at me again.
***
He had made himself at home in my camp and was munching at some of my granola by the time I got back. I felt refreshed and cleaned. I used the soap that I had taken from the earl and cleaned myself and my clothes as well as I could. I put them on even though they were wet. I packed up my stuff and loaded up Finley. I looked over the little camp I made. Another camp I constructed with my own hands abandoned. This one was only needed for a few days. The other camp, the one a few days out in the wilderness, I don’t think I could abandon so easily. The benefits of the site were too obvious to my gamer heart. Someday I would return and turn that little riverside camp into a true base of operations. Just like the quest system had wanted. A home base to strike out from. Especially if the welcome from the Vinlanders was so standard that the others tolerated them in the fort and town. It isn’t a place I wanted to stay in for long. I’d need to learn a few things, how to build a proper structure for one. But I’d go back to that camp someday. This little camp however, had served its purpose.
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Going back was easier, since we followed the path we already cut. I just had to manage Finley though a couple tight places where we didn’t make a wide enough trail.
Pest was asleep, nestled amongst Mave’s décolletage. I had a twinge of jealousy, and by the sour look on Dark’s face, so did he.
“Oh, my goodness!” She announced as I led Finley into camp. “Who is this!” She asked but didn’t get up. I assumed she was reluctant to wake up Pest. Some people were like that, refused to make the bed if a sleeping cat were on it. I found it endearing.
“This is Finley. Provided to me by my glorious benefactor.”
“Benefactor?” Ryan asked. I felt like mentioning that may have been a mistake.
“Yea, I did a favor for the earl and got a few things.” I covered the slip.
I showed off my clothes and boots.
“Must have been a hell of a favor.” Ryan muttered.
I just smiled and nodded.
We settled into camp as the night fell and made small talk.
“So, how you all die?” The previously jovial atmosphere died. I heard crickets. Literally.
“That’s not a normal conversation topic,” Halloway stage whispered at me.
“Meh, we all bit it, why bother dancing around it?” I shrugged. “I impaled myself on a rake while trying to scare off a raccoon with a pull saw.”
The group stared at me, Mave had an open mouth expression and Halloway face palmed.
“What?” I asked with a nervous chuckle. Halloway couldn’t help it and laughed. Which got Mave to laughing and even Ryan cracked a smile. I couldn’t help but laugh along asking “What?” over and over.
As the mirth died down Halloway spoke up.
“Bobcat with a claw hammer.” He said with a commiserating nod.
“The hell?” I asked.
“That’s not even the kicker,” he added. “I lived in Las Vegas.”
“How in the hell did you fight a bobcat with a hammer in Las Vegas?” I asked him.
“I was a security guard at an apartment complex. Weird shit happened all the time. I figured it would be some deranged tweeker or pissed off apartment tenant who would go postal and take me out. I was wrong. Damn illegal pet bobcat.”
“The hell.” I said again. And he just nodded.
I looked at Mave, encouraging a story from her.
She took in a breath and let it out. “Road rage.” I stifled a laugh.
“What? Road rage? You must elaborate.” I asked with a grin.
“I had a fender bender and when I was talking with the asshole who rear ended me, he shoved me, and I fell on traffic. I got hit by a bus. I was holding a mace. I wasn’t able to use it on him in time.” She said with a bit of fire. “Ese hijo de la gran puta… Mas vale que le hayan dado la pena de muerte… Pendejo… Cabron…”.
“A mace?” I asked when she finished muttering her Spanish. I made a gesture like I was swinging.
“No, a can, mace, you know?” she made a gesture with her hand like she was holding a spray can.
“Oh, that kind of mace. I was wondering if you were just a secret medieval badass.”
“I am a badass,” she said with a serious look towards me, and I chuckled.
I looked at Dark and raised an eyebrow.
“The darkness took me.” Was all he said and then hid behind his hair. I groaned and Mave patted his hand.
“Boss?” I asked, glancing at Ryan.
“None of your damn business.” He snapped. The group collectively bowed their heads in submission at his outburst. I frowned. He really had them cowed. I might not play well with him in the long run but needs as they were I kept my mouth shut for now.
“Alright, I suppose with that, it is goodnight.” A round of well wishes and I bed down for the night. The traitor Pest never came to join me or the rucksack.
***
The next morning, we started to make our way back to Volsted, I led Finley instead of riding since I was the only one with a horse. Pest was still enamored by Mave. Chasing after her feet as we walked.
Mave was an odd one, she sung things I didn’t understand as we walked and was otherwise happy and content just being out for a jaunt. She was a bit off. I wondered if that’s what GODTOUCHED meant.
On the exact opposite her dour boyfriend acted like a wounded teenager who the sun burned. Stomping on the ground and sneering at anything having to do with nature. Which was everything out here.
Ryan led us, plowing the way like an ice breaker through the artic circle. I’m not sure exactly what he was plowing through on the open road, but you could tell it bothered him and wouldn’t stop him for any reason.
Halloway was the only decent one, chatting with me about random things.
I found that he was a family man like me, and though a decent number of years younger, he had a kid when he was around fifteen. He and his girlfriend of the time, now his wife, were still together and a little nomadic. They tended to move to a new state in the USA each year. His last place was in Vegas, but before that he had lived in Texas, Oregon, Washington, Utah, and originally California. We had hours to kill so we covered a lot of chat. I bemoaned the lack of good food in the Pacific Northwest, where I was from, and he agreed.
We were also both nerds, loving video games and technology.
I had extoled the virtues of a certain post-apocalyptic game that I loved. The original two, not the later abominations. He had agreed and shared his love about some fantasy games made around the same time in the same style.
Mave interjected occasionally and shared her fondness for food from her home, which happened to be Puerto Rico, and her own joys in the adventures of a certain tomb pillaging maiden.
Dark mentioned something about all food tasting like sadness and only enjoying horror games. I bet his diet of ramen and microwave burritos were more the issue than the quality of the food in his local. He didn’t mention where he was from, but I assumed it had something to do with a land of pain and shadows.
Ryan didn’t participate in our conversation and glared over his shoulder like we were ruining his silence.
After a few hours we made it to Volstad and entered through the gate-tunnel as easily as I had alone. We made our way to the fort. Before we entered, I saw one of the Vinlanders leaning against a gate post. He was scanning the crowd, and as soon as he got a look at me, he went inside.
“Trouble,” I muttered. Halloway was still walking with me.
“It’s fine. They won’t do shit with us. We need to get you a patch is all.” He said and indicated the red wolf patch sewn onto the upper arm of his armor. Now that he pointed it out, I paid attention to the others. They all had one. “Karen will be able to make you one.”
“Karen?” I asked.
“The manager of the Chosen Tavern.”
“Karen is the manager? That seems like a paradox.” I pondered.
“I know, right?” Halloway agreed with me.
We made our way into the fort. I deviated from the group to take Finley to the stable. I slowly headed inside keeping a look out for bears. None seemed to be in residence.
“Hello?” I asked aloud, and a man popped his head out of a stall.
He was a middle-aged man and wore a local interpretation of overalls. They were made of the brown basic fabric that seemed to be a staple cloth in these parts but shaped like farmers overalls from back home. Instead of those neat little snaps that normally held them they were put in place with a ring and knot, like my belt.
“How can I help you?” he asked in a surprisingly deep voice. He was tan-skinned and had a clean-shaven face with short dark hair.
“Looking to stable Finley here. I’m a new recruit to the Red Wolves.” I said with a smile.
“You’ll be wanting standard care? Feed and board?”
“Uhm. I suppose, but any extra attention would be appreciated.” I said and gave her an affectionate pat. “She is a very good girl.”
“Yep,” he drew the word out. “Okay. Three bits a week.”
“Bits?” I asked.
“Them little copper coins, if you have them. I can never remember the name the locals give them. Or we can do a barter.” He said eyeing my gear.
“Alright,” I nodded. “I have the coin, still figuring out the value of them.”
“Damn,” he said with a grin. “Should have asked for five then.”
“Hey,” I drew the word out this time and gave him a mock glare. I mock sneered and scoffed at him then held out my hand. “Viktor.”
“Marcus,” he wiped a hand on his overall and shook mine.
“Oh, and I have a little buddy named Pest. Ferret. He kinda comes and goes, might pop in and check on her at times. They seem fond of each other.” I explained as I took my travel bags, picnic basket and rucksack from Finley’s saddle.
“No worries, we get all kinds in here.”
“I peeked in the other day, was there a damn bear in here?”
“Oh! Yea, that would be Bogart. He is gentle as a lamb.” He reassured me. “Just don’t get in between him and a fish. He loves his fish.”
“I handed him the reins and some coins.” I gave him four copper coins.
“Oops.” He said and tried to hand one back to me. “You said you were bad with coins, but hopefully you know how to count son?”
“I do,” I smiled at him. “That’s just a tip for keeping an extra eye on her. I got some people here who aren’t fond of me.”
I looked and jerked my heard towards the group of skinheads that had gathered just outside of the stables.
“Oh, those fuckers.” Marcus said darkly and looked at me. “Were you the one that tussled with them a few days ago?”
“Yep, that’d be me.”
“Then take this.” He said and used his powerful hands to force two of the coins back in my resisting hands. “The story about those jerks getting a run around had me laughing for hours. Entertainment like that is worth the discount.”
“I’m starting to gather they aren’t very popular?”
“Not by a long shot.” He finished and led Finley to a bay in the stables and made about removing her tack.
I took a fortifying breath and headed out of the stable.
The whole gang was there, providing all the guys from the tavern were the whole gang. Fat Pitbull was in the middle of their little formation, and they spread in a loose half circle around the stable yard. Tweeker Terry was to his side and behind him a little, looking twitchy. The asshole that threw pest was to his other side and Generic Goon number 1 and number 2 were on both ends.
After meeting the Red Wolves and seeing some real Norseman guardsmen I was less impressed with this group. They didn’t have any special gear or armor. Just the basic brown cloth and sandals from the respawn. Weapon wise they were just as simple with shafts of wood to use as basic clubs. The only real threating weapon was the machete thing that Fat Pitbull held. I noticed the side of his head lacked an ear, and instead had a wad of chewed up flesh. So being maimed was indeed a thing.
“Howdy,” I said politely.
Fat Pitbull sneered at me.
“Get him,” he said. Generic Goon 1 and 2 closed in on me from the sides and the others took a step forward.
“You don’t want to do that.” I said menacingly and activated my Intimidation skill.
[You have successfully used Intimidation on 5 people.]
[1 has fled.]
[0 has resisted your Intimidation attempt.]
[Congratulations! Intimidation has increased to Level 2!]
I noticed the bad grammar of the skill prompt and filed that away to report later.
Tweeker Terry bolted away like a frightened rabbit.
Generic Goon 1 and Pest Hurter hesitated and took a step back, the rest paused in their advance on me. I decided it was a good time to Inspect them.
Name: Samuel Davis (Fat Pitbull)
Race: Human
Type: Chosen
Allegiance: NONE
FLAGS: GUILD_LEADER(Vinlanders)
Health: Healthy
Energy: Full
Name: Terry Davis (Tweeker Terry)
Race: Human
Type: Chosen
Allegiance: NONE
FLAGS: GUILD_MEMBER(Vinlanders)
Health: Healthy
Energy: Full
Name: Howard Edwards (Pest Hurter)
Race: Human
Type: Chosen
Allegiance: NONE
FLAGS: GUILD_MEMBER(Vinlanders)
Health: Healthy
Energy: Full
Name: Bill Williamson (Generic Goon 1)
Race: Human
Type: Chosen
Allegiance: NONE
FLAGS: GUILD_MEMBER(Vinlanders)
Health: Healthy
Energy: Full
Name: Will Billingson (Generic Goon 2)
Race: Human
Type: Chosen
Allegiance: NONE
FLAGS: GUILD_MEMBER(Vinlanders)
Health: Healthy
Energy: Full
I was highly appreciative that the System included the nicknames I had given them this time. This alpha system was a trip, constantly learning and evolving. Every input and report I gave Loki seemed to tweak things for the better. Not to mention the System itself seemed to pluck things from my mind and run with it.
I wasn’t very impressed by what I saw on the Inspect. There wasn’t anything special about this group. Granted the information from Inspect was limited, but I was hoping for it to give me some sort of edge. I nearly burst out a laugh at the name of the two goons.
“What’s so fucking funny?” Fat Pitbull, aka Samuel, demanded of me as I struggled to keep a straight face.
“Bill Will and Will Bill.” I snorted and pointed at the goons. They shared a look.
“How did you know our names?” The unintimidated goon asked.
“I’m fucking magical,” I snapped at him. “So, listen here Samuel Davis.”
I stared into the eyes of the overly tattooed man.
“I’m part of the Red Wolves now, and even if I wasn’t, I wouldn’t need them to take care of you assholes. Hell, I wouldn’t need anything more than a god damn wooden spoon.” I pulled my trusty spoon out from my pocket. I heard a chuckle from behind me and saw Marcus watching us from the stables. I noticed he had a large hammer inconspicuously leaning against the wall next to him. I gave him a salute with my spoon and turned back to the Vinlanders.
“If I find out you are lying, I’ll be back.” Samuel said as he and his boys started to make their way back to their little club house. Terry was inside it, holding the door open and peering at me from around the corner.
“Whatever you say Sammy boy.” I said to his retreating back.
He growled at me but didn’t turn around.
I saw Halloway across the way, leaning against the building with their logo on it. He gave me a nod and I shrugged in response.
“Thanks Marcus.” I called over my shoulder.
“Just minding my own business here.” He said non-committedly. But afterwards I heard him chuckle. “A fucking spoon.”