Limitless seas book 2, p.17
Limitless Seas, Book 2, page 17
“Okay, let’s see what else is in here.” Larson pulled out the smaller chest and opened it for all to see. Inside were a pair of bronze bracers, a necklace, and a drinking stein made of bone and bronze. Shada used her new ability on the items, and all three were revealed. Larson laid them out with the rest of the loot as Shada shared what the system had to say about the objects.
1. Makon Figurine: This figurine holds magical potential, but your skill at identifying it is too low to understand its function.
2. Two-Headed Ogre Figurine: This figurine once possessed powerful magic but is now drained of that power.
3. Prescient Shield: This round steel shield is enchanted with minor protection spells and can sense incoming attacks and inform the wielder of impending danger.
4. Gauntlets of Bear’s Strength: These gauntlets imbue the wearer with extra strength. Once per day, the gauntlets can be activated to double the strength bonus for 10 seconds.
5. Necklace of Missiles (14): This necklace can be activated to launch a ball of magical energy at any target within a line of sight. The missiles do minor piercing damage and are very difficult to avoid. There are 14 remaining activations on this item. Once all the charges are expended, the necklace will crumble to dust.
6. Barkeep’s Bane: This drinking horn is magically enhanced to fill itself with average-quality ale a random number of times per day. The number of times it can be filled varies from 1 to 10, but it will never give the maximum or minimum amount 2 days in a row. To power the device, a copper coin must be sacrificed by tapping it on the bottom of the drinking horn.
Larson wanted all the items, of course, but they had agreed to let Wrend have the first pick.
“Well, I’ll take this as my first choice, and since you’ve already used up the ogre figurine, I’ll take this as my second choice. Your go, Captain,” Wrend said with a smug grin plastered on his face as he snagged the gauntlets and the necklace. He was right; the ogre figurine had been used up by Bug Bartholomew, so it would rightfully be counted as his first choice. He had wanted the gauntlets. They were powerful but large, bulky things, which was probably why one of the imps wasn’t wearing them. Sadly, he needed to take the makon figurine as his second choice so he could show it to the sea lords of Stratwall Harbor, which meant that he would likely miss out on the shield.
“For my last pick . . .” Wrend hesitated. His hand reached for the shield before he changed his mind and scooped up the drinking stein. He gave it a try by tapping the bottom with a coin. A frothy ale filled the cup and the sergeant downed it in two gulps, a look of satisfaction on his face.
“The shield is ours, then. Do we have a count on the coins?” Larson asked.
“Aye, Captain,” Tarley said. “We’ve got a total of 14,229 scales, 8822 fins, 3319 landsmen gold, and forty-two of these coins that we think are platinum. We’ve divided up the gems by color and size. None of us are qualified to put a value on them, but we did the best we could. Each party will have about two dozen of the stones.”
“Those platinum coins are used by the dwarven clans. Each one is about ten gold,” Wrend told them.
“You keep those. It’ll be harder for me to spend them in the Isles,” Larson said. They divided up the coin, with Larson getting more landsmen gold to make up for the value of the platinum. He looked to Tarley, who nodded at the valuation. Wrend hadn’t tried to cheat him on the unusual currency.
“Not a bad haul all around. More than enough to fund our trip home, fill our purses, and put a little bit into the company coffers,” Tarley said.
“I assume our agreement still stands regarding Shada?” Larson asked. If things were going to go sideways with the Imperium soldiers, this was when it would happen. Wrend looked at Shada in disgust. The other soldier in the room wore the same expression.
“I’ll abide by it. As far as the Imperium is concerned, she’s assigned on permanent detached duty to watch for any more portals, and you’ll send word directly to me if another of these portals pops up. Other than that, she’ll stay out of Imperium lands, or we’ll have to pay you an unfriendly visit. Also, if word of our deal gets out, Ignominia will come for the lot of you,” Wrend said, reluctantly agreeing to the terms.
“Good,” Larson said. “The journey home should be swift, but don’t grow lax. The sea has more ways to kill you than you can imagine. Tarley, on the way back, work out the shares for everyone. Be sure to deduct the shield from my share. I’m going to keep it and donate my old one to the armory. If you’d like, recruit someone to take your place on divvying up our plunder. I’ll have the final say on who gets the job, but I’d like it to be someone you trust and who has a head for numbers.”
“Will do, Captain. I’ll head back to the Lost Soul and we can get underway,” Tarley said. Larson’s cabin emptied of officers and soldiers as they made ready to sail. There was a modest but favorable breeze, and it should speed their way home. He was worried about Bug Bartholomew, but the two-headed engineer seemed almost back to his usual self as the knowledge that had been forced upon him was still being sorted out in his dual minds.
The crew went about their tasks with a pep in their step as word got out of a sizeable haul of coins from their journey to the Hypogean Realm. There was nothing like the promise of a fat purse to raise morale. Once the ship was squared away and Larson confirmed they were on course, he headed to his cabin to find out what options he had opened up with his new level. He had just closed the door when a wave of exhaustion hit and he slumped to the floor, unable to even slither the short distance over to his cot. It must have been that time once more for the long sleep his body seemed to need every now and then. At least it happened now and not in the middle of the battle they had just won. Strange sounds and voices were heard, and his vision faded. Pain and weakness flooded him as his mind powered down into a dreamless state.
Chapter 18
~
“Are we missing anyone?” Chairman Raines asked the technician as he joined the virtual conference. Trey looked down at his notes for a final time as the meeting got started. He didn’t have much to do as the gaming team went through their summary. From what he could glean, Limitless Lands was still a huge success, but there was concern about improving the experience and adding new content. Unlike older VRMMOs, there wasn’t an endgame grind, as the AI tailored content to the desires and needs of the players.
The players were a diverse lot and had different expectations of the game. Some wanted a more traditional feel, with epic quests taken up by their small team of adventurers, while others craved solo play. Ongoing development was happening to craft an engaging experience for those that wanted to play something other than an adventurer battling monsters. Some wanted to take on the task of building a business or focusing on trade skills. Those players needed a way to grow their characters without relying on fighting monsters, and so far, the AI had done a good job of keeping up with the requests for specialized classes.
Their AI, Clio, was limited to a certain extent, and it took her time to develop new NPC classes and types. While she hadn’t come anywhere close to reaching her limits, any opportunity to relieve the burden on her processing power was something they wanted to explore. At some point in time, Clio would reach her limit, and having processes in place ahead of time was something they were already planning for. The next item on the agenda interested Trey, and he felt a little guilty about it at the same time.
“Good, now let’s hear about the new NPC avatar program. Lou, what’re the initial results?” Raines asked. Lou and Trey worked together on the medpod program, but now that their program was chugging along smoothly, Lou had been recruited to assist the team that was developing options to relieve the burden on the AI.
“It’s early, but initial data is positive. The time and processing load to develop and maintain these unique NPCs is only a fraction of that needed for the AI to build one from scratch,” Lou told the group.
“How about a quick rundown of the program for those of us stuck in the accounting trenches,” asked one of the financial team, Leslie Moore.
“Uh, sure,” Lou started, tapping the side of his chin as he gathered his thoughts. “So the quick and dirty explanation is that it takes a lot of time for Clio to develop a new NPC that can be fit into multiple character storylines. She has to build a backstory, stats, gear, level, and class, all while making sure the NPC integrates seamlessly into the overall gaming narrative. In order to help out, one of our playtesting teams suggested we use abandoned characters to fill the roles.” He pulled something up on his datapad.
“Abandoned characters?” Leslie asked.
“Yeah,” Lou replied. “You see, as popular as the game is, some people quit for various reasons, or they abandon one character in favor of playing another. Sometimes, these abandoned characters are a perfect fit to become an NPC for certain story options that other players are following. Some have already become well-known heroes or villains that have created zone-wide recognition. Clio can take the abandoned character, give it a few minor tweaks, and send it off into the world to continue life as an NPC. We compensate the player who owned the character with some free game time, and they seem to enjoy watching the character they created stay active outside of their direct control.”
“I get it, but how many characters are we talking about?” Leslie asked.
“So far, not many. Only a few dozen as we gather the data. The ones we selected all had interesting player experiences that lent them to becoming good NPCs. Here’s an example I pulled up. This is a character called Narbos the Grimm. He was the character of one of the early players that interacted with the medpod team patients. He was a bit of a notorious character and gave a couple of our patients a difficult time, but he ended up changing his ways in the end and helped them fight off an invasion. The player that controlled him has moved on to graduate school and doesn’t have time to game much anymore, but he was excited to see his character live on as an NPC.”
“So what did you do with this new NPC?” one of the other participants asked. Trey thought he was from marketing.
“It was up to Clio, and she shifted his class a bit, using the abandoned character’s past experiences to make it fit into another player’s storyline. He’s back interacting with a new medpod patient on one of the developmental test servers,” Lou replied.
“Interesting stuff, but we need to keep the meeting moving,” Chairman Raines interjected. Trey was lost in his thoughts and kind of tuned everything else out after he was called on to give his department’s update. He was one of the first that Lou approached with the new program, wanting to add his father’s character. Trey declined to add his dad as an NPC; his loss was still too fresh and painful and he didn’t want his daughter, who was still an avid player, to see an NPC that looked and sounded like her grandpa. Lou had been disappointed with his decision but was kind enough to not press further. Commander Raytak had been one of the tech’s favorite patients to watch play the game, and apparently, the AI had specifically requested to add his character to the program.
“Thinking about your dad? I’m sorry if asking about him brought up painful memories,” Lou said, noting Trey’s down mood as the meeting concluded and the two met for lunch.
“You have nothing to apologize for. Maybe in the future, it will be good, but for now, it’s too raw for me and I’m not sure how Lauren would react.”
“Thanks. On a different topic, how is Mr. Larson doing?” Lou asked. Before being pulled away to work on the NPC project, Lou had worked on the deep immersion project with him, and Mr. Larson was one of their first patients.
“He’s doing well enough, but with the injuries he’s sustained, it’s slow going,” Trey said.
“What about his sister? Did she ever make the leap and decide to game with him?” Lou asked. Mr. Larson only had a single surviving relative, an estranged sister that was torn between seeing her brother in-game or just saying goodbye and walking away. Both he and Lou had picked up that there was bad blood between the siblings, but it wasn’t Trey’s place to pry.
“She’s playing, the last I checked, leveling up her character until Clio thinks it’s time for them to interact,” Trey answered.
“Clio did give her the coolest class. Who doesn’t want to be a dragon? I bet you lunch that she roasts her brother the first time she sees him,” Lou offered. The monstrous classes were another thing being tested on the server Mr. Larson was on, and the marketing team all felt that playing certain monster types would be a big hit among the player base.
“I’ll take that bet,” Trey said. “From my own experience, seeing him in-game will, hopefully, mitigate some of the bad blood between them. It may be a little while, though, since she’s new to gaming and still struggling to get the hang of things.”
“Yeah, but what a way to learn, flying around as a fire-breathing dragon.”
“It’s not all fire-breathing and glory. The class is turning out to be a difficult one to level, and I think Clio should have started her out on something a bit easier.”
“Nah, it’ll be easy mode once she gets to a high enough level,” Lou offered.
“My concern is that she’ll get frustrated and quit before she gets a chance to see her brother.” Trey wished he could just spend one more day with his dad, even if it was inside the game. He hoped that Mr. Larson’s sister wouldn’t make any harsh decisions that could jeopardize what might be her last opportunity to connect with her brother.
Chapter 19
~
“Hurry up!” Sally shouted to herself as the countdown timer for her breath weapon ticked down. It took a while, and she knew it wouldn’t refresh before the fight was decided. The group of would-be dragon slayers seemed to understand the powerful ability was no longer a threat, and they pressed their advantage. Another arrow ripped through her wing and slammed into her shoulder as she slashed her claws at the two men attacking her from the front with axes. That one guy, the one that looked like a discount ninja, wasn’t anywhere in sight, which meant he was going to probably stab her in the back again.
Her health dropped into the red zone as the ninja guy appeared. When she tried to turn and bite him, the pair to her front charged in with their axes, chopping away the last of her health. She had done better this time, taking out two of the attackers before they wore her down. The respawn timer began, and it would be another hour before she could try again. Sally didn’t know if she even wanted to, never having been a gamer. She wasn’t doing too well in leveling up her dragon character, and until she did, meeting up with her brother in-game wasn’t going to happen.
The first level had been relatively easy, requiring her to fend off some rats from the nest she was hatched at, then finding a temporary nest to serve as her home base. Getting to level 2 was more difficult. It started with rats again, this time dire rats that were larger, and fighting them required her to learn how to use abilities for the first time. Thankfully, she only had one ability to worry about at first, Dual Slash. When she activated it, both her front claws lashed out to shred anyone in front of her. It did a number on the dire rats, but it had a one-minute cooldown timer and her attempts at regular attacks weren’t exactly on the same level as a pro gamer.
She had found a new respect for gamers, which was something she didn’t think she would ever admit out loud. How they could do this all day and not pull their hair out in frustration was beyond her. Once she had established her nest, a new quest appeared, driving her to search for an exit from the cave system she was trapped in. The spot where she had initially hatched was open to the outside, but it was now marked as a dangerous area, full of treasure hunters that were way beyond her low-level dragonling.
A useable exit was near the area she had just fought in. She could even feel a cool breeze as she neared it, but each time she explored further, a group of what the AI identified as dragon hunters showed up and killed her. They were between levels 3 and 5, higher than her level 2 dragonling, and they mopped the floor with her. While looking for another exit, she kept running into rats. This eventually let her level up to three, which unlocked a fire-breathing attack. That was fun, she was happy to say. Who didn’t want to breathe fire at someone at some point in their life? It did a lot of damage and would usually take out bunches of rats, but the dragon hunters were ready for it, dodging the attack and causing her to miss more than she hit. With a long cooldown timer, the Fire Breath attack could only be used once per fight.
Exit the Limitless Lands: Y/N?
Sally completed the logout procedure and exited the gaming pod that had been shoehorned into her hotel room. It was late, but she wasn’t tired. Somehow, being inside the game was a restful experience for her body, even if her mind was on edge from getting beaten on by dragon hunters. With time to kill, she left the hotel and plugged the hospital into the car’s auto-drive navigator. Letting the car drive itself, she sat back and thought about how strange her life had become in the last few weeks. The call from the hospital telling her that her brother had been in an accident was a shock, and it forced her to confront the feelings she had for her only sibling. They hadn’t been on speaking terms for decades, and she had hated him for the way he treated her late husband.
The hate and anger were still there, but there was something else. She felt a bit sorry for her brother. He had lived a lonely life, one filled with a constant drive to build his business large, and one that had left him with very few true friends to mourn his loss if he did pass away. She wanted to see him not as a comatose victim inside a life support pod. No, she wanted to see him one more time to . . . Well, that was the problem. She didn’t know what she would do once she saw him. Would she be able to forgive him? Would he even admit remorse for his actions? Sally didn’t know, but she was driven to find out. Unfortunately, the only way she would meet and talk with him was in that stupid game, which was far more challenging than she had thought it would be.
