Chapter 31: Information Dump
With input from Manarag, I drafted a large smithy. It had four anvil workstations with racks for tools at each. Each station had its own forge as well. One station was larger, with more space and storage capacity for the master smith.
Only one smelter was in the building, but that was all Manarag had requested. So I was hoping that Manarag could take on three apprentices, as he already had the orc prisoner. I did my best to make the exterior of the structure aesthetically pleasing. With my artistry carving skill, I think I was getting a slightly better look at my drafting plans. The two skills seemed to be meshing better than before. It was probably from an update I wasn’t aware of. I examined the plans.
Rare Blacksmith, Health 90,000, Requires Masonry: Structures 23, Woodcraft Carpentry 23 (Bonus 5% chance to upgrade smelted ore quality, +4 to Forging skills, +25% to forged item durability)
Those bonuses seemed good, I guess? I would have to ask Manarag. I had been hoping for a Very Rare structure plan, but this improved his current workspace, which doubled as his home. His family would be thrilled to get their house to themselves. Living inside a blacksmith must have been noisy, but I needed to realize this was a game. My mind shifted gears. I should try drafting a house tonight. I wasn’t sure what bonuses I could get for a residence, but any bonus would be useful. Could I somehow control what bonuses were applied? I felt that was within my grasp, but I would need to puzzle it out.
Jaesmin was up and making breakfast. She was tossing some fried strips of meat into an egg scramble. I really should get all my meals at the inn for the bonuses. I ate the food anyway and smiled…yep no bonuses, but at least it was seasoned properly and tasted good.
Jaesmin smiled as she ate her own food, “The townsfolk are gathering at lunch to see the barracks and gatehouse being completed. You should be there and give a speech or something.” I checked the timer in my interface. Just 7 hours and 22 minutes left to complete. That was great.
“Definitely!” I set an alarm in my interface to alert me thirty minutes before. “We will finish the brewery today, and then I think we will start on the new plans I drafted last night. Is there anything you want to do today?”
Jaesmin paused before talking, “Some women in town said it would be nice if we had a town park and gardens. The weather is cold right now, but it would be nice to go where flowers are blooming in the new season. Many people admire your gardens, but only the children dare venture there without your permission.”
This was very interesting information. I looked at my town interface. We still had a lot of space inside the temporary earthen walls Sanso’s golems had built. I laid out some wide roads in the village and marked a three-acre section surrounded by the roads as the town park. “I marked off a section for a park and gardens, but I don’t think I want to divert any of my stick golems to maintain them. They need to supply our cook and alchemist with ingredients.” Jaesmin nodded in understanding.
“Could you ask the druid? Don’t they do such things?” Jaesmin questioned to my confusion. I didn’t think about that, but I wasn’t about to go wandering in a forest alone.
“When I have time, we can…” A loud knock and two giantkin strode in when I called for them to enter. They were grinning, and they carried the odor that my own bedroom smelled like after having sex with Jaesmin. I made a priority note immediately. BUILD A VILLAGE BATHHOUSE. The updates continued adding more to the senses, whether pleasant or unpleasant. I was happy the two giantkin were getting along so well, but the lingering body odor wasn’t pleasant or necessary for a game.
Tanguin slapped my back with a grin, “I was surprised you haven’t been by to see those phantasmal dwarves at work. They are almost done!”
Galana rolled her eyes and then spoke. “Every day we came back from the hunt, he watched them like a hawk spying on a mouse. Here are the latest harvest numbers. We wanted to talk about setting up a guard at the new portal stone. No one has come through, but eventually, as the village grows, it will become active.” Galana appraised the food spread on the table, a little disappointed, but helped herself to a pitcher of apple juice, the whole pitcher.
“I have a question…” I paused, not sure if the question was appropriate, “What level are the two of you?” They looked at each other, and Tanguin spoke for them.
“I am level 77, and Galana is level 68. You can not see that in your interface. Do you always check?” I went and looked at my interface, and their info was now showing their levels. I checked…nope everyone else in town didn’t have the information.
“No, I can only see it once I gather the information. My analyze skill is still too low. It is at level 16…so that means I can only identify levels up to 33.” That was my skill level plus my current level.
“Lord Tallis, you really need to improve on that. Knowing what you face is important in your planning,” Tanguin said somberly. Galana butted in.
“Lord Tallis, the only two people in the village we do not know the levels of are Fareth and Zion. We can give you the level of the others if you want?” She finished with a nod to Tanguin, who sighed. I nodded in return, and they began.
“Well, Sanso is level 89. Manto is level 107. They are both fairly powerful mages. Your crafters, Tonna, your alchemist, just leveled up to level 50, and the enchanter, Persephone, was level 72 when she arrived. Manarag was level 70, and Curraen was level 62?” Tanguin listed off, and Galana nodded, confirming his numbers.
I had already learned that NPC skills were limited, so their level didn’t mean too much in terms of combat strength. “The rest you can analyze yourself…should help you raise your skill a bit. It would be best if you didn’t ask Zion or Fareth their level, as it is somewhat rude. If we find out, we will let you know.” Jaesmin had put out a loaf, peanut spread, and jelly, and the giantkin dug in, making P&J sandwiches. When they were satiated, they left to spend their day hunting in the plains.
With Jaesmin, I went to work at the brewery site. Sanso was working on the new roads I had laid out, focusing on the road around the future park. We didn’t finish the brewery before my alarm beeped. It was time to go see the barracks to its completion!
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Most of the town was gathered as the immense structure was quickly reaching its completion. My interface chimed, and the insubstantial dwarves evaporated. The building was done, and everyone rushed inside to check it out. I checked my interface and was very disappointed at the monthly maintenance cost of the structure, 11 gold and five silver. I hadn’t really considered this factor in my design. My expenses were piling up, but I joined the excited groups as they toured the building.
I found Galan and Tanguin in the bunk rooms for the infantry, and they looked concerned. The building had been modestly furnished, and the rooms had rough wood beds. What was the problem? Oh shit. The beds were too small. I checked my drafting plans, and I had made them for a human-sized person. The only good news was the rooms should still be large enough to accommodate larger beds and not lose capacity. I would need all new furniture for the building, what a headache. The woodshop and furniture building just moved up my list of priorities.
Other than that, the structure was great as we toured it. Tanguin was a kid in a candy shop…one without candy yet…as he raced through checking things out. Galana just grinned at his enthusiasm. As if the day couldn’t get any better, Savannah, the excitable elf girl, came rushing in. She said the adventurers were back and shopping in Tonna’s alchemy shop.
I left with the young girl and went to see the players. I had a lot of questions for them, and I was planning to tell them about the dungeon.
The three adventures with purchasing potions and talking animatedly with Tonna. Mad Dog waved to me and approached as the others finished up. “Tallis, mate! Your town alchemist offers such good prices. She said her brews got a decent boost from this building. Any more knowledge you wish to share with me? And mate…” he paused, “we got your change from the info on crafting legendaries. Guess how much?”
He had a huge grin on his face. I shrugged, and he belted out loudly, “One hundred thousand. American dollars, too. We had some rich bloke who asked to be the sole purchaser of the info. Two hundred thousand, and the transfer was done in hours! Our share is enough to buy one entire immersion pod for our guild! Do you have a bank account we can wire the funds to?” He asked, and I was shocked.
“That is an amazing amount of funds. I don’t know. That is one thing I wanted to ask you. Can you check on my body in the real world? I don’t have access, and I am unsure where my body actually is or what my bank information may be.”
“Not a problem! Grinder!” He called, and the player came up to us. “Log out and have Harry check on our new best friend here! What is your name?” I was about to say Tallis and paused. He wanted my real-world name. It took me longer than it should have to reach for it in the depths of my memory.
“William. William Carden. William Lewis Carden.” Wow. That name seemed so distant to me. Grinder nodded, sat down in a chair in the corner, and logged out. That was one thing about the game. The player’s body remained even if you logged out, so you needed to get to a safe place.
“So William, Bill, Will, Tallis? What do you prefer, mate?” Mad Dog asked.
“Tallis when we are in the game, I think.” I nodded as if affirming the name to him and myself.
“Well, Tallis, I bring a shit load of good news to you today! Your sheep, a devil to find what you wanted, but we got ‘em all. They are just outside of town with a shepherd NPC we contracted to get them here. Cost us a good amount of coin, but we owe ya. Got your tailor as well. You were right. Took us a few stops in two cities, but we eventually found an NPC willing to relocate. She and her son are wandering around here somewhere.” Oh, man. I didn’t have the heart to tell him I didn’t need the sheep or the tailor anymore.
“Oh great!” I summoned some enthusiasm. “We can get the mounts settled when you are ready. Just pay in the general store, and the grooms will let you know which ones you can select. Oh, and the town now has a portal stone.” I added with a smile.
Mad Dog’s jaw dropped. “Oh, that could have saved us a shit load of time, but what is a few days between friends!” He clapped me on the shoulder.
“I have another favor to ask you and your crew, Mad Dog.” I was smiling and trying to do my best to seem friendly and not too anxious.
“What can we do for you?! We are way ahead of our goal of raising funds, mate. As long as it doesn’t take more than a few days, we will be at your service!” He clapped me again on the back.
You have been attacked. You take 1 damage. Do you wish to call in the town guard? Do you wish to blacklist the player Mad Dog from Malcum?
The notification popped. The default setting for attacking in my village was blacklisting a player. Mad Dog lost 100 reputation from Malcum and was currently attack on site by the guards.
“Oh shit! Sorry about that!” I canceled the blacklist. “Thanks, mate! Grew up with four brothers and didn’t realize that could happen…well, I did. I just didn’t think I would do any damage from a pat on your shoulder! So what do you need of us?” He was more subdued now after his faux pas.
“Well, I have a dungeon I was hoping to get escorted through. It is a pretty low level compared to your party. Also, I was hoping to get escorted to a city in order to activate a portal stone there. Also, if you could finish off the goblins in the forest…” His face didn’t portray anything for a second before lighting up.
“Dungeon? You would be doing us a favor. Do you have the details on it?” He asked, restraining obvious excitement. I went and brought up the notification from when I found the dungeon.
Entrance to Crypt of the Phoenix King, Level 20, Floors 5, *Scaling Dungeon*
“I have not been there in a while but concealed the entrance. Galana said the giantkin text on the entrance said it was the crypt of the Brighthall Clan. Its third king with his followers.” I relayed what I knew.
Mad Dog snapped his attention to me. “Fuck, mate. A frigging scaling dungeon. Is it in your backyard? Do you know what a scaling dungeon is?” He was getting more and more excited. I nodded.
“God damn scaling dungeon. You are just full of surprises. Do you know the reset time for it? I mean, after you clear the lowest floor?” I shook my head no. “Yeah, when they reset, it is either seven game days or 30 game days. We can examine it after the first clear. The great thing is it should only go up a level in difficulty after each clear.” He started pacing.
He faced me, “Tallis, if this dungeon is as good as I think it could be…would it be ok if my guild, The Silver Linings Playbook, based operations in your village when the game launches? If we can control the dungeon, we should be able to level up the entire guild easily. I am guessing it is a five player dungeon. Most are, and you don’t know until you enter. It would say raid dungeon if it was a raid dungeon, that would be for 50 players. And if it was a solo dungeon, it would say that as well. So what do you say, Tallis?”
“Sounds reasonable, but if this dungeon is as valuable as you say…” I trailed off.
“Oh, you want compensation?” He smirked. “A man after my own heart! I don’t know you well enough to bring you into the fold. Maybe after everyone starts playing and gets to know you. How about 10%...no that wouldn’t be fair…25% of all dungeon loot. Sound good? We are doing all the work after all.” He had an expectant look on his.
I could get 100% to myself, but I could only bring one NPC with me and Jaesmin. Apparently, Simba was no longer an option unless I paid…oh, I had some funds now but needed a bank account. His offer seemed fair, and if my impression of the guild was correct, they should be good company and add to Malcum’s defense. “Agreed,” I said.
“Excellent!” He was about to slap me on the back again but stopped his action. Just then, Grinder returned.
“Hey, Tallis.” He seemed reluctant to tell me what he had found out. “I got some bad news, man. You are dead. Well, legally dead anyway.” Ah, fuck. This was not the news I was hoping for.