There’s nothing worse than traveling with NPCs while on a quest. Traveling with them was boring. I wanted to stop and explore but the dwarves weren’t having it. There was a silver lining to that cloud though. We discovered something interesting when it was time for Nelly to log off for the night.

“Tether yourself to me,” Gertie offered. “That way you can keep up while you’re away.”

“I think I’m going to call it an early night too then,” Sasha said after Nelly logged out. “I want to get some reading in tonight. I’ll be on first thing tomorrow.”

“Okay,” I replied. “Meet you then.”

Once they were gone, I pulled Gertie aside. “Want to explain these skills to me? We were in such a hurry that I didn’t get to ask you.”

“They’re self-explanatory,” Gertie replied. “Have you tried any of them yet?”

“Well, no…” I admitted. “You didn’t give me any dynamite.”

“Dynamite? Hah!” She choked back a laugh. “You aren’t ready for that. Try something simple, like a pebble.”

“A pebble?” I asked, wondering what it had to do with making things go boom. “You want me to blow up a pebble?”

“Exactly!” She replied. “Pick one out and I’ll show you.”

Still not understanding why I’d ever want to blow up a pebble, I did as instructed. I held it out to her and she gave me an affirmative nod.

“Now say ‘Make Explosive’,” she instructed.

“Make Explosive?” I asked and nearly dropped the pebble when it began vibrating.

“Good,” Gertie replied, clapping enthusiastically. “Now, throw it over there.”

Utterly confused, I did as she asked again, half expecting it to explode on impact.

She smiled. “Now say ‘Detonate’.”

I frowned. “Detonate? Are you saying…”

My question was drowned out by a loud crack and a puff of smoke where I’d thrown the pebble. Gertie followed when I went to investigate.

“You did it!” She said with a slap on the back that nearly knocked me over. “See! It’s easy.”

“But…” I stammered. “What about the dynamite you used…”

She chuckled, cutting me off. “It’s much too early for that. You’ll blow your arm off.”

“What do you mean?” I asked. “Aren’t Demolitionists supposed to handle explosives?”

“Sure,” she replied with a wink. “Properly trained ones. That you are not. You have to understand that explosives in the hands of a Demolitionist are twice as deadly as they are to anyone else. When you give the command ‘Make Explosive’, you infuse what you’re touching with mana. That both tethers it to you and makes it unstable. That is why the pebble exploded when you used the trigger word ‘Detonate.’ You can substitute any word you want for that so long as the intent to use the skill is there.”

“Interesting,” I replied while thinking of all the glorious ways I could use the ability in combat.

Unfortunately, Gertie had to go and ruin it. “While this skill is potent against structures, you will find it less effective against the living.”

“What? Why?” I asked. “Won’t they blow up? You just told me I’d blow my arm off.”

Grom howled with laughter and Gertie elbowed him in the ribs. He rubbed them and glared at her.

She sighed. “That is the crux of it. While there are penalties if you misuse your skills, they aren’t designed to be used against monsters or adventurers. Certain…um…divine restrictions were put in place to prevent demolitions from being misused.”

“That’s not fair!” I whined.

“It’s fine,” Gertie tried to soothe me. “We have other ways of dealing with vermin in the mines.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, not seeing any other skills. “At least with Grom, I got Whallop.”

“Alright, watch,” she said, digging through her bag again. “You can make this with a basic recipe. It will make anything that wants to come near you regret it.”

In her hand, she had a vial filled with black goop. She picked up a rock and poured the stuff on it. Then she threw it and snapped her fingers. “Kaboom!”

Like my pebble, the rock exploded, coating the area in a thick black mist.

“Is kaboom your word for Detonate?” I asked.

She smiled and nodded. “Yep. It adds a little flare, don’t you think?”

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“What was that black stuff?” I asked.

She fished out a small leather pouch from her bag. “You’re going to need this to make monster repellant.”

Alchemy Kit

Crafting Item

“Repellant?” I asked. “What if I want to kill monsters?”

“You can use those two lovely ladies,” she suggested. “They made quick work of the rats down in the mines.”

“Or you can always use Whallop,” Grom added. “Don’t forget your primary class.”

“So crude!” Gertie chastised her brother. “Sometimes it’s easier to make the pests go away rather than chasing them down and getting ichor all over your pant leg. Of course, if you want to be a Neanderthal like my brother here, you can go right on ahead.”

“What else can I make besides monster repellant?” I asked.

She handed me a list of recipes. “I’ll give you ingredients for these. It will be up to you to find more recipes if you want to further your alchemy skill.”

Monster Repellent

Alchemy Recipe

Silent Foot Oil

Alchemy Recipe

Cleansing Acid

Alchemy Recipe

“Thanks,” I replied. “Is there anything else I need to know?”

“Yes,” she replied. “Out here, there is little danger when you make things explode. However, when you are underground or dealing with structures, there is a good chance that targeted explosions can weaken their integrity. You now have an innate ability to spot weaknesses. Whether you ignore or exploit them will be up to you.”

“That’s how she collapsed my mine,” Grom grumbled.

She grabbed him in a headlock. “You have no business out here and you know it. Your place is under the mountain with your kin.”

“I am not a dwarf anymore!” He bellowed.

Gertie grumbled in his ear. “Call yourself what you want. You’re still my brother.

Grom grunted but didn’t argue.

----------------------------------------

Along with my recipes, Gertie supplied me with a few samples along with ingredients to make more. The recipes were simple concoctions, requiring just a few ingredients and water.

“How do I make dynamite?” I asked. “Or any kind of explosive?”

She shook her head. “I’m not teaching you that. Not yet, and not until you need it. Learn the magic side of explosives and then we can explore the scientific side together.”

I sighed. That was the most I was going to get from Gertie. Fortunately, the class came with an affinity for alchemy, and that meant a trip to an alchemist may yield the information I needed.

For the rest of the journey, I practiced making things go boom. Make Explosive worked on almost anything. The only things that didn’t work were anything the game considered to be alive. That meant I couldn't make dwarves, or myself, explode. Gertie laughed when I tried to make her arm explode. Her tune changed when she saw me examining the base of one of the mountains. A certain spot at the base of the mountain caught my eye. A dim red light highlighted it, giving off the impression that it had a quest for me.

“If you blow that up, you’ll kill all of us,” she explained while pulling my outstretched arm away. “That glow represents a weakness. If you use your skill here, it will trigger an avalanche. Unlike you, we cannot respawn if we die.”

“Oh,” I replied. “Are all glows like that?’

She thought for a moment before replying. “For you they are. Other classes get similar skills that make things specific to them glow. You needn’t concern yourself with it unless you get a new skill. If you do, there will be a difference separating them. For now, you can rest assured that anything that glows is a weakness you can exploit with a well-placed explosive.”

I practiced for a while after that. Mostly, I wanted to test various objects to see how well they exploded. At first, it was just different-sized rocks. It turned out bigger rocks didn’t make bigger explosions. At least, not by themselves they didn’t. The thing controlling the blast turned out to be me. Just like how stamina affected Break Stuff, I could make bigger explosions if I pushed more mana into Make Explosive. That was when the size and quality of an object came into play. While a pebble could take the base amount of mana, it couldn’t handle any more. For that, I needed bigger rocks, or better yet, high-quality items.

I was able to dump all of my mana into one of the aquan blades. The resulting explosion was spectacular. Shards of white-hot metal shot out of a giant ball of fire. However, there was nothing left of the weapon. It was a shame. I’d been hoping to find an item I could use repeatedly.

I got bored after a while. Every now and then I found weak points in the mountains we passed but I couldn’t do anything without risking the lives of the dwarves.

Finally, I decided to tether myself to Gertie.

“Is there any way for you to let me know when we get to Kingstown?” I asked, before switching to semi-immersion mode.

“Sure,” she replied. “I’ll give you a nudge.”

I pulled up my data feed while watching my character fall in line with the marching dwarves.

“I wonder if there’s any info on the game yet,” I muttered as I browsed my favorite gaming site. “Let’s see. Anything on classes?”

First, I checked to see if anybody else had discovered secondary classes. There didn’t seem to be any info so either I was the highest-leveled player or whoever out-leveled me was also keeping it a secret. There was, however, one post that stuck out.

FriarStarter: Has anyone else unlocked a unique class? I tried to share data about my class but the trainer won’t offer it to anyone else. Then I got a system message telling me it’s a unique class. I can’t tell if it’s any good but unique has to be…right?

There were several replies.

ShardenFard: Did you do anything special to be offered the unique class?

FriarStarter: Not really. I met a traveling minstrel in a bar. He offered the Balladier class. It’s a variant of Bard.

TheDarkOne: Are you willing to do a full write-up on your class? I’m making a class guide.

FriarStarter: Does it matter if nobody else can get my class?

TheDarkOne: It doesn’t matter. I intend to include every class the game offers.

Another post caught my attention.

Unknown: There seem to be three major factions. Dwarves, Elves, and Humans. Several NPCs talk a lot about bases of power. Does anyone have any information?

Sh7fty: I can confirm Celestea Castle to be one. I don’t think anybody has been to the other continents yet. If they have, they aren’t talking about it.

I yawned as I scrolled through the banter. It was typical for there to be little info on a new game for the first few days. I was about to get up when an offer in the help wanted section caught my eye.

Info wanted. We are looking for details about all locations, quests, and classes. Choose your pay. We can provide both in-game and real-world currency. Your choice. All contributions will be paid this week only. Message us now.

It was an intriguing offer. There was already someone out there paying to gather information. Not me though. Info was valuable, and there was no way I was giving up my secrets. It was a shame there wasn’t anything worthwhile on the web yet. Except for that bard class, nobody told me anything I didn’t know.

I decided to soak in the tub while I waited for the dwarves to make it to Kingstown.