CHAPTER 11 DAY 9
I woke and walked into the bathroom. I was greeted by a half naked Gina. She was doing makeup in the mirror and was just staring at me. I was in shock and pleasure at the same time. She had a towel around her waist and a black lace bra. Her figure was well muscled. I couldn’t break my eyes from her. “Should I charge you?” she finally said.
“Um sorry, I forgot…the door wasn’t locked. Sorry, I…” I couldn’t get the words out. I was just starring. Finally I turned round. “Sorry Gina, just make sure to lock the door next time. I will also try to remember to knock.” I went to bed forgetting to pee.
I awoke at 9:20am having to pee really badly. I rushed to the bathroom and knocked before entering. Gina had already left so I was relieved, literally and figuratively. I went to fridge and found another egg sandwich with a note, “my fault don’t be embarrassed.” I wasn’t embarrassed, just a little lusty maybe.
A good days of hard work would erase my lecherous thoughts. I went to the trailers and got to work. At lunch I called for two roast beef subs. When they arrived I ate one and half and Flicka got the remnants. I got all the rafters done and managed to get plywood siding on five units and the windows and doors cut out. The sun was getting close to setting so I headed for the cabin.
Gina wasn’t there so I showered and as I was exiting with a towel wrapped around my waist Gina walked in. Her jaw dropped as she starred at my upper body. I turned red, smiled and rushed into my room to dress. Gina went to the kitchen to prepare dinner as I heard her taking out pots. I put on some comfy clothes and sat down at the desk in my room. I used the desktop to search the forums for Fantasy Realms.
There was a lot going on with the new players entering this morning. The highest level character claimed to have been reached was eighth. Many discussions centered on NPCs and interactions with NPCs. Many guilds were recruiting on the forums. I went to game website. It had a bunch statistics. The center land mass had 48.5% of players. Paging down Hyraenfel had 3.9% of the players or roughly 15,000 players. Bluewater Bay had 1,068 players who started there. The place was going to be a lot more crowded when I got back. The site also had a count of the number of copies of the game that had sold to date, 9,456,329 and it was ticking up one or two every second as it updated in real time.
I switched over to a site with prices for equipment. A +3 magic/ +1 channeling ring was selling for between $120 and $150. The price had dropped a lot in a week and would continue to fall. No one had +5 magic/ +1 channeling rings for sale yet though. If I could get my enchant: imbue to 7 then I could return to Bluewater Bay and get the +5 magic enchantment. The few +4/+1 rings available were selling for around $350.
“Dinner is ready,” Gina called from the kitchen. Well I had a plan for today then. I went into the kitchen and smelled something good. On the table were two plates with ravioli and greens.
“Looks great!” I said and made satisfied noises as I ate. The vegetables had a lemon butter sauce and the ravioli had a meat and cheese filling with the same lemon and butter sauce. It was excellent and I didn’t have to fake loving it.
“The ravioli were left over from the ones I made today and the chef said they were excellent. He let me take the extras home because we only serve fresh made ones. I got the greens and lemons on the way home. I put the purchase on your account but they asked me to have you stop by to confirm.” Gina talked a little more about the lunch shift today. She had to go back for the dinner shift. I talked for a few minutes about my day but Gina said she needed to take Flicka out now in order to get back. She got Flicka’s leash and Flicka wagged her stubby tail and waited for the walk. I went and rinsed the dishes and put them in the dishwasher. I sent an email off to the supermarket through my online account letting them know it was ok for Gina to put things on it. I put a weekly limit of $300 which I would have to check with Gina to make sure it was enough. I usually spent about half that on myself and never ate all the food I purchased. That completed I went to Cocoon and logged in.
I woke in a bed. Looking around it looked a lot like Zolan’s alchemy shop from Bluewater. A figure moved nearby and I recognized it as Celina working. “Your up? You have been out for two days. I was worried but Harrash said that was normal for you. I have 37 potions ready for you. I also used the recipe you gave me and brewed 48 battle potions for our warriors. I was just waiting on the scouts to bring back more ingredients to make more. I told them they could put you in the spare cot in my master’s shop as it was raining yesterday.” Her well-formed body moved in the low-light. I watched her grace and hidden power. Muscles moved beneath her short hair coat. I tore my eyes from the sight.
I stood up and walked to the bench. Celina pointed to vials aligned neatly on the counter. I gathered them up without saying anything and walked outside into the bright sun and toward the bench I had used before. I told one of the passing catman, who had three of the rings I had created on, to bring my weapons for enchantment. Soon weapons were stacked on the table, bows, swords and spears. I found 12 spears, 10 swords and 17 bows that could take a tier 3 enchantment. I got to work giving them all +15% damage enchantments. I had 30 spears, 8 swords and 6 bows remaining that could not take a tier 3, I prepped them all for tier 1 enchantments. A catwoman came by and started taking away the finished weapons. I was out of magic and had to wait for some more potions from Celina. I pulled out some stone and made 10 more rings as my magic replenished quick enough to cast the simple stone shape spell. Lunch was brought so it must have been around lunch, it was a meat stew again.
After my third bowl of stew a child cat came by with more potions so I could return to work. I enchanted the bows with +1 agility, the swords with +1 strength and the spears with +1 constitution. The rings I made all +3 constitution rings. It was late afternoon and I was finished. I had 8 potions left and slide them into my bag. I hoped what I had done would make a difference. I went looking for Harrash and found him down on the beach with four catmen. They were assembling a large raft with a sail. I joined them briefly to just take Harrash’s supplies out of my bag. I had maybe 3 hours of game play left before my scheduled log out.
I walked around the village. Everyone was busy but I eventually found Karanith. “I have finished with the enchanting. I wanted to ask if you have any master’s in the village that can teach me new skills?”
“The warriors have been quite pleased with the magical equipment. You have done what you promised and more,” she said looking me over. “We have three master’s left in the village. A tracker, farmer and a gem crafter.” At least she was direct and I didn’t have to draw things out.
“I would be interested in gem crafting Karanith.” I replied.
“Ah yes, thought you would interested in that. Well I suppose we should head to house and start them.” So Karanith was the master gem crafter. “We only have some small emeralds to work with but I should be able to teach you the basics.”
We went into her house. It was a plain single room house. A cooking area, a bed and a large table. Karanith went to chest by the bed and pulled out a tool box and brought it to the table. She pulled out the tools and a bag of emeralds she emptied on the table. We then got to work. After an hour I got the skill and learned I didn’t need the tools because the stone shape spell worked on the gem stones.
I pulled out some onyx stones from my bag and formed a ring and embedded the emerald I had just finished in it. I cast a +3 magic enchantment on it and the result was pleasing. Emerald ying-yang ring of magic, +3 magic, +1% magic total, +1 channeling. The +1% didn’t have a huge effect on my 690 magic, only adding 6 magic. But it was a scaling item! Fantastic. Karinith gave me the bag of emeralds, 34 in total. She hadn’t practiced her craft in a long time and if she needed more she knew where to find them on the island. I spent the remainder of my time making nine more rings to “update” my current rings.
Enchant: Imbue 7 Tier 5 unlocked: +2 Magic, Tier 5 imbue spells can now be learned, New Title: Novice Enchanter
Awesome. I now had access to +5 stat enchantments. Unfortunately my enchant skill needed to reach level 7 before I could prep the objects for the enchantment. I had twenty rings to sell but needed to get back to a city. Maybe I should skip out. I thumbed my translocation stud for Bluewater Bay. The prompt came up to return to Bluewater Bay. I released the stud. I opened the map to see if I could get back to the island. My world map showed the island, it was 112 miles to from the city. Karinith was eating, surprise, surprise, a meat stew in a rocking chair. She had been quiet while I had worked.
“Do you have a translocation ring in the village?” I asked. Karinith looked at me.
“Yes and no. We moved it away from the village after the first attack. Celina can take you to it.” She said. “Are you leaving us?”
“I need to go to the city to do some business and possibly find some help for you.” I added the last bit having thought some PCs would love to defend this village from goblins. I am sure there was a quest in it.
A few moments later and I was following Celina through the woods to the translocation stone. We chatted on the way and she handed me 5 more magic potions. She was definitely flirting with me. I guessed her age to be early twenties. The walk took two hours and we walked into the night. The stone was in a ravine. When we climbed down I attuned one of my free studs to the stone translocation circle.
“Do you wish to come with me? I am only going to be there for an hour or so. Just run some errands and come back.” Celina seemed uncertain. I let her decide for herself.
“Will you protect me?” She finally asked.
“I will.” I responded.
“Ok”
We got on the ring and I transported us both to Bluewater Bay. I was pretty sure I could since a single person could transport up to four PCs with them.
It was night and I led us to the auction house. I put each of my rings up for sale at 150 silver each. They were all +1 channeling and +3 to another stat. I choose to sell them for in game currency even though I could get over $100 for each one. It was dark but I side tripped to see if Zolan was harvesting tonight. He was not, so I went to the Union Hall. Celina was following me trying to take in the sights. I called on Katrina. The sun had just come up and Katrina didn’t look upset at the early call.
“Daedalus, good to see you. I see you have brought a friend. Any news on my friend.” Katrina opened.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“Unfortunately I have not reached your friend. My new friend here Celina is from a cat clan. I shipwrecked on her island and I am helping her people fight off goblin pirates. I need some spells and wanted to request aide from the new arrivals.” I replied.
“Yes your people have come in a large wave. They are permeating the land as prophesized.” The conversation went back and forth. Eventually it petered out. I asked for the spells, +4 magic, +4 intelligence, +5 magic, +5 constitution, +5 strength, +5 agility and +5 stamina. The total was 6 gold! Oops I had barely 30 silver. I excused myself and ran to the exchange hoping my rings had sold.
Fortunately all the rings had sold and I had 3000 silver waiting. I ran back to the Union Hall. Celina and Katrina we having tea and talking when I returned. When I came in the both laughed. I had not even noticed Celina was not following me. I pulled out the silver and paid for the spells.
“One more favor Katrina. I would like to pay for you to teach Celina the skills enchant and enchant: imbue.” I did not even know if this was possible. The world seemed to pause. Maybe a NPC could not learn skills from another. I pulled out 200 silver and placed it on the table.
Finally Katrina spoke, “It would be my pleasure, just 100 silver.”
“She can use the other 100 silver to purchase spells. And take these in case you need them.” I pulled off my seven emerald ying-yang rings +3 magic/+1 channeling and +1% magic. “I will be back in two hours and we will return to the island.”
Your relationship with Celina has increased to companion.
What? I opened the net forums. I didn’t know what this meant. I stood there reading. Basically a companion NPC “has chosen to follow you and listen to your orders. The relationship could deteriorate and you could lose your companion at any time.” Many players had acquired companions and described the relationship. What I found odd was I thought our relationship was neutral and it had jumped straight to companion? Maybe her talk with Katrina had something to do with it?
Shit. I hoped the rings were not the cause. I needed those back. I just gave them to her so she could learn enchanting. I also had a flashing icon that I could now open called “companions.” I opened it.
Celina, Novice Alchemist
Race: Beastman, Subspecies: Catwoman
Description: Golden hair, golden eyes, 5’7”, 154 lbs
Level: 5
Strength 7 Carry Capacity, Small Hit Point Increase, Damage Increase on Physical Attacks
Constitution 4 Hit Point Increase, Hit Point Regen
Stamina 8 Stamina Pool Increase, Stamina Pool Regen
Agility 8 Improved Defense Rating, Ranged Attack Bonus
Speed 9 Movement Speed
Intellect 11 Learning Speed, Small Mana Bonus
Magic 3 Mana Pool Bonus
Channeling 0 Mana Pool Regen
Charisma 7 Interaction Bonus with NPCs
Luck NA not available to NPCs
Primary Skills (over 4+)
Alchemy 7
Herbalism 5
Cooking 4
Running 4
Wow she was much quite good. She could make me potions and help with my enchanting. I placed another 100 silver on the table, take her shopping too. I will be back in three hours.
I went out into the morning. Players were constantly running here and there. Some yelling as they went. I needed to find three trustworthy players to take back with me. Two female humans in the beige beginner clothes were passing in front of me, “where do we start? We are already a day behind everyone else.” I fell in behind them listening to their conversation.
“The forums say we should talk to the NPC guards first. They will give us beginner quests close to the city.”
“I want to explore the shore from the lower city. The forums said there is a crab harvesting quest there.”
“How about we buy swords and go outside. There are some easy rats there if we work together.”
“I think that NPC is following us, will he mug us?”
Oh they were talking about me. I decided to step forward and introduce myself. “Sorry ladies, name is Daedalus. I was just looking for a group for a difficult quest. I wanted to see how far along you were.” I turned to leave.
“Are you a golden ticket player?” the red head asked with a slight English accent. Maybe it was Irish.
“I have played a bit longer than most yeah. But the quest is difficult and I don’t think…” The blonde women interrupted me.
“We are in!” she blurted. “Where do we go? Don’t worry we are both experienced gamers.”
They had no gear. “How much silver do you have for gear? And what archtypes are you building?” Who was baiting who at this point?
The redhead spoke first “My name is Gwyn and this is Carrie. Not original I know. We have 10 silver each. I plan to build a Valkyrie warrior and Carrie is going to go paladin tank.” They were both around 5’10” and had the beauty of the artificial PCs.
“OK, here take this and get geared up. Talk to Captain Bellemy at the east barracks for the rat quest. Meet me at the north gate in an hour and we will level up and then travel to the island.” Their eyes popped as I handed each of them 200 silver. “Oh and I can take one more person so if you can find a healer to add to our group bring them along.”
I turned and left and hoped my investment would be worth it. I went to the north gate and sat down to wait. I drank a fortify magic potion to raise my magic by 10 points for 8 hours. I made seven replacement rings without emeralds. They were just +1 magic/+1 channeling. I didn’t want to burn through too many magic restoration potions and these were cheap.
I had just finished the last ring when they girls came running up. They both had piece mail armor and swords. It had actually been longer than an hour. They looked really young and innocent.
“OK, here is the plan,” I said. “We travel the wall for the next two hours and then take a break. I will be support and healer.” I invited them to the group and they accepted. “You got the quest?” They nodded.
“We found a fourth. He will be here soon, maybe 15 minutes,” Gwyn said breathing heavy. “He is new too and plans to be a fire mage and healer mix. He played yesterday and went to get the quest and buy a healing spell to join us.”
“No problem. With four we can hit the rat caves and sewers accessible outside the walls. I have them on my map but have never been.” I sat down and started making rings again. I focused on the task and didn’t notice the girls watching me. As I finished the third ring a man in robes came running up. It had taken him over thirty minutes. Oh well. I handed two rings to Carrie and one to Gwyn. Carrie’s were +3 con/+1 chan each and Gwyn’s was a +3 str/+1 chan. I then took off my +3 str/+1 chan ring and gave that to Gwyn as well. Their eyes popped as they put them on and saw the stat increases. I turned my attention to the man in brown robes, “Im Daedalus, if you do well I will gift you two rings as well.”
“Name is Terry. I am new to gaming but this is a blast. I have 4 hours before I have to go to work though.” He introduced himself. I added him to the group.
“OK lets go then.” I headed directly for a rat cave I had discovered on a previous trip. While walking I started picking plants. Gwyn asked what I was picking and I explained they were herbs for potions. I then thought for a second and pulled out two battle potions and gave each of the women one. “If things get hairy drink this.” Gwyn kept asking questions and I told explained what herbs to look for. Soon everyone was trying to pick the plants. Unfortunately their skill was non-existant so they destroyed them most of the time. I was patient and just kept correcting them on how to properly harvest, if they did this for 4 hours they would get the herbalism 1 skill and then could gather on their own.
We got to the cave and three rats were outside. The girls waited for the orders. They were experienced gamers, as inexperienced players would just rush in. “OK they will probably rush as a group. Me and Terry will cast our ranged spells and you two will hack away. If you get in trouble get behind me but we should be able to heal you faster than you are injured.” I planned to “analyze” every rat and hopefully raise my skill.
The first battle was a little rough. Terry said he was out of magic at the end. I sighed and gave him a few potions and also made an emerald ying yang +3 magic/+1 chan ring. I gave him one of my lesser +1 rings and put the emerald ring on my newly barren finger. I also gave him my last fortify magic potion and told him to drink it. He was a noob and it showed. He didn’t need to use so much magic in that fight. He kept casting heal whenever the girls took damage but they would only take 18 or so and he would heal them for 100. I told him to hold healing if their health fell under 100.
The next battle was three more rats. This battle went well. Things started to roll then. We killed 40 rats in no time including a boss rat that had 300 hit points. In the final room with the rat there was a magic dagger that added +2 to stealth when drawn and a bunch of copper coins. I let them divide everything and we rested. I made another +3 magic emerald ring for myself while we recovered. The cave had taken an hour. I passed the lesser ring to Terry and upgraded again. I only had about 40 minutes before I was due back to meet Celina.
Artistry: Gem Crafting 1 +1 Agility, you can successfully work with gems up to tier 2
“OK we are going to clear another cave and then you can turn in your quest and meet me back at the Mage Union Hall.” I led them to the other cave on my map. The cave system was much deeper. Fifty rats into the cave and we finally came to a massive rat. It was the size of a horse, analyze didn’t work which meant it was over level 2. When it did 50 points of damage to Gwyn on its first hit I was worried.
“Terry heal them I am going to cast a spell.” The battle went on as I charged my rockball for 60 seconds before releasing it. The stone tore through the rib cab of the rat and out the other side. The huge rat charged me. I drew my sword and engaged.
You have been hit by Alpha Rat, 67 damage
Damn that hurt. I swung and hit. The girls were on the flanks hacking away as well.
You have been hit by Alpha Rat, 77 damage
Not good. Terry healed me and I regained 100 health. I swung again and the rat monster swayed. The girls hacked away but in its death throws it attacked me one last time.
You have been hit by Alpha Rat, 92 damage
Fortunately the rat collapsed after the last attack. We searched the chamber and found some silver and copper. The only item was chest plate. It fit Carrie so she was given ownership. It was not magical but had a great defense stat.
OK I have to run. I raced back to the Union Hall. I was over an hour late. Celina and Katrina were having tea again. They both smiled as I rushed in. “Sorry I breathed heavily.” Found some allies. They should be here in a while. We will leave when they get here.
I sat at the table and Dexter brought me tea and sandwiches. I just devoured them. Celina had new clothes and bag of holding and some daggers. She looked pretty bad ass. “I am just going to work until they show up.” I started making more rings. I managed to get three emerald ones done before Terry, Gwyn and Carrie walked in talking vibrantly.
“Ah good. We will travel to the island and I have to log out. It will be safe to rest as Celina’s people will make sure we are safe.” They were all just staring at Celina. “Oh these are my friends Celina and Katrina. Our quest is to help Celina’s people from goblin pirates.” I handed Terry my three lessor rings and gathered the group together. I smiled at Katrina and teleported us away to the stone on Gina’s island.
It was late. My in game timer said 14 hours. Wow. Two more hours and I would trigger the games lockout mechanism. It would keep me from logging in for 8 hours. The others were looking around. “Feel free to talk with Gina and head to the village. I have to go. I play 6pm to 2am eastern time zone usually. See you later.” I logged out before they could respond. I trusted them not to pillage my body.
My body was stiff. I was thirsty. I was hungry. Flicka was at my feet and jumped up her tail wagging. I got down and went to the fridge. Two large hamburgers with all the fixings greeted me. Thank you Gina! I grabbed two beers, opened a bag of chips and dug in. The burgers were amazing, the cold beer and salty chips. I was in heaven. I almost forgot Flicka but gave her the last bite. I took Flicka outside. I played fetch and Flicka played keep away. I went inside and showered and went to sleep setting my alarm for 5pm. It would be a wasted day.
When I woke I heard Gina in the kitchen. I went in to great smells. She was by the stove making a beef stroganoff. She was steaming some brocholi as was. She smiled as she saw me. “Looks great,” I said. I had the urge to put my hands around her waist but restrained. I sat down at the table and Gina served me. She got me a glass of OJ and I noticed the fridge was packed with food. She must have gone shopping. I had three servings while I listened to Gina talk about her day. She had class today and had to work the night shift at the restaurant. Gina looked more lively, more happy, than yesterday. I was sad when she took Flicka out for a walk and then had to leave for work.