Sorcerers quest, p.10
Sorcerer's Quest, page 10
After killing the last sidhe that leveled her up, she realized how tired she felt. She had been playing for hours, running around and killing creatures. It was different from the real world. In Arantor, one’s body had no true need to rest, it was all simulated so that the mind didn’t forget those bodily functions. She the soreness in her arms and legs felt real nonetheless after the hard work of the morning. She was also hungry. Neither she nor Grendalt had used many combat rations since they were killing creatures so fast, but even those couldn’t help fatigue or hunger. A few minutes rest and a proper meal was what they both needed.
Jane checked the time and realized she had been playing for more than four hours. No wonder she was so hungry. She still had almost six more hours of game time she could use today, but that would be all her extra time. She hoped she could hit level eight and get a good group or two in a dungeon before the day was over. It would be close, but she looked forward to it. Groups were where the Sorcerer was supposed to shine, and as much fun as she had already, she was looking forward to that.
The quest rewards in the starting area were nothing special, but they gave Jane a few new pieces of armor. Well, armor being a relative word. It was all cloth based since the sorceress received hefty penalties for wearing any heavier armor. Overall, they only provided a marginal defense boost. At higher levels her items could also boost her stats, which would make her casts and abilities even stronger. The loot from the creatures was poor. As low level creatures they only dropped the most common of items. She sold it to the local NPCs. It wasn’t even worth trying to sell in the market.
She and Grendalt had only one last quest: deliver a note to the innkeeper in Meraville. They had waited to do it until Jane had hit level five so that they wouldn’t have a reason to come back to the starting area. Meraville would be a great place to get a meal anyway. Before they headed out she examined her inventory for anything to sell, as well as make sure she had her best armor equipped. Her armor was currently an odd assortment of colors and thick and thin cloth types. It looked like something a blind man would put together. She frowned and set her display to “themed,” and her odds and ends armor pieces shifted to match her main armor, in this case her robe.
She still had her starting robe, as she hadn’t earned a new one through a quest reward. Her bulky cloth gloves became tapered, exposing her fingers with a ring connecting the material to her middle finger. The bracers became more like bracelets and the shoes grew a—fortunately small—heel. Form did not replace function in the game, so her armor performed based on its stats, no matter what it looked like. Jane tried not to think about how much better she felt now that her clothing was coordinated. Two days ago she would hardly have cared, but now she couldn’t help thinking how nice it felt.
She and Grendalt headed down the road towards Meraville. Grendalt seemed to consider accompanying her to get some food as part of his accepted duties. Jane only aggroed a few mobs along the walk, and they dispatched them quickly before they could get close.
She had learned a few more abilities as she leveled, but they were pretty generic. Her two new damage spells were one that dealt damage over time called Electric Pulse, and the other that would deal damage in an area instead of just to a single mob called Fireblast. She hadn’t used either yet, as it was quicker to just hit each creature one time than rounding them up for her area spell or waiting for her damage over time to tick their health down. She gained a second heal called Invigorate. It restored a player’s hitpoints over time, but she hadn’t had the need to heal anything just yet so it sat unused so far. She already had plenty of abilities to keep track of for a level five, even if three of them were passive. Honestly, she was just elated knowing what she could do. She could stand on her own. She hadn’t needed Grendalt yet, although he had helped speed up her leveling. She was eager to see what sort of help she could be for a group.
The only drawback so far was her snail’s pace xp. It was going to take forever to catch up to the guys. She was tempted to ask them to prestige and join her, but even if they grouped with her all the time they would still get more xp and eventually outpace her.
Well, the xp nerf wasn’t the only drawback she supposed, thinking about her new body. She tried not to think about Dave or the thought she had about running a finger along Grendalt’s muscles. What was going to pop into her head next? At least she hadn’t done anything stupid yet, just thought about it.
She considered taking a break; logging off, eating lunch at her shelter, and then coming back. It would give her a bit of time to think without worrying about her avatar’s body interfering with her thoughts. She decided not to though. Despite the difficulty of adjusting to her strange body, she was enjoying herself more than she cared to admit. Spellcasting on the sorceress felt so different than her usual clunky actions as a warrior. A few stray thoughts seemed like nothing considering everything else.
She did decide to finally put in a bug report ticket while she and Grendalt waited for their food. She was having fun, and the class would be worth unlocking even if it took years, but she could get into far more trouble if she didn’t report the bug. She would have time for a bit more fun and then it would be back to her warrior. On the bug report, she was intentionally vague—merely mentioning a strange reset and a sudden class change without any more details. She could explain anything else to the Game Master that answered the ticket.
Submitting the report sobered her mood a bit, but she really didn’t want to get fined or banned from Arantor. She knew it was the right choice. She put the thought aside as a serving girl set her food down on the table. She had ordered onion soup with a small side of venison and bread rolls. She dug in.
Grendalt ate slowly, his eyes on the door and windows as much as his food. Jane almost laughed. The way Arantor was, this was probably one of the safest places a player could be. It would have been comical if Grendalt wasn’t so serious about it.
Instead, she tried to start a conversation with him.
“So what’s your story?” she asked, between spoonfuls of her soup.
Grendalt just shrugged, his eyes scanning the room one more time. They were more gray than blue at the moment, but she could see both colors in them. “What’s yours?” he asked in reply, finally looking at her.
She frowned. “What do you mean?”
Grendalt shrugged again. “Nothing.”
“You can’t just say nothing,” she said.
The shapeshifter’s face contorted a moment in a grimace. It was unnerving because Jane could actually see his features change with his emotions. It shifted back to what seemed his normal features as he looked at the ceiling in thought and then back at Jane one more time. His eyebrows were raised as if to ask if she really wanted to hear the answer.
Jane cocked her head and tried to return an of-course-I-want-to-hear-that’s-why-I-asked face. It must have worked because Grenalt shifted his shoulders and started speaking.
“There’s something not right about you,” he began, scratching his long stubble. “You are a new sorceress, yet those two from Echelon didn’t know who you are. Neither did Conti. He can keep things close to the chest, but he clearly had not met you before or knew you well enough to trade favors. You hold yourself well, like you’re someone important, but you also seem oblivious about it, as if you are not. Becoming a sorceress is a long process, but somehow you accomplished it without getting noticed by those who pride themselves on noticing everything. Also you seem surprised at every turn as if you’ve never read up on the class you spent so long to unlock. And you act funny,” he finished.
“I act funny?” she scoffed.
“As if you are wearing a skin you are not used to. It’s like when I try out a new shape. I can’t help but wonder what all these little details mean.”
Jane didn’t answer. Instead, she pushed back.
“And you are a capable, insightful gamer, playing a rare, powerful class, and yet somehow you got yourself tied up deep in a contract,” she said. She plunked her spoon down into her bowl and leaned forward, not breaking eye contact. “To top it off, until three hours ago you couldn’t be bothered to get past level one. I don’t think I’m the only odd one here.”
Grendalt smiled grimly, his canines looking longer than normal and his eyes swirled with color. “I suppose that is so.”
Jane leaned back into her chair. Grendalt looked away, studying the door and windows again. A compassion for him washed over Jane. Something had happened to break this man. He was all that she had said he was—capable and insightful. He definitely was not weak. She wondered what could break such a man. Jane had heard of people whose real life had been so difficult that they did anything to get more and more hours in Arantor to escape reality. Usually they did not sit around at level one though, but were leveling and playing so they could get more tasks that would let them earn more hours. Grendalt did not fit that pattern, but something had definitely happened to him.
But he had been right about her and she hardly knew him, so she didn’t press any further. He had shown her that she was not doing a good job keeping her head down. She had already caught the attention of important people in two top guilds before she hit level two. Maybe it was best she had already put her ticket in. She just wanted to try out the sorceress before everything got fixed. She vowed to fly under the radar as much as possible until she talked to a GM.
The two continued in silence as they ate their meal, as though they had both silently agreed to stop pushing each other. Grendalt finished his food quickly and excused himself outside. She took her time to finish up and use the facilities before following.
She walked outside to find Grendalt in human form, leaning against the side of a building across the way. Jane couldn’t help but stare for a moment. Her new body told her to enjoy the view, and she had to admit it was a good one. Even across the way she could make out his well toned muscles and rugged face. His eyes were closed, but he seemed like he would be ready in an instant if he thought danger was around. She shook her head at herself and averted her eyes—looking around the town square instead. This was not her usual self. She hadn’t stared even remotely that hard at someone like that since her last boyfriend.
She couldn’t help but ask again if this was what she wanted or just an affect from her new avatar. It was impossible to tell, but she also didn’t want to log out just yet. She still had enough game hours to hopefully hit level eight today and try out an instance.
She walked over to him. No time like the present to get started again. The town square had plenty of players milling around, but not so much as to feel like it was crowded. Some were always coming or going, either picking up quests or turning them in. There were plenty of NPCs around, many of the kind found in most small towns. Armor and weapon vendors, reagent and profession vendors, repairers to fix damaged equipment, and the plethora of NPCs to make the town seem real. There were also of course the NPCs that had quests, which were the ones most of the players were standing near. A few players were haggling with each other, buying or selling items, others were standing around talking. It was an area where players could use that extra half hour, so many chose to do so.
Walking across the square she felt her share of stares. She glanced around. More than one set of eyes looked away as her gaze landed on them. She frowned as she continued toward Grendalt. Players couldn’t tell another player’s class from a glance. They could see she was probably a spell caster, but not what kind. The only thing special about her was being a sorceress, she was as low level as anyone else here. Had word of her spread already?
She was near Grendalt when two players approached her. The older one wore blue robes. Robes meant that he was some sort of mage or priest or such. The other wore platemail, and looked like a fighter or warrior. He definitely did not look the paladin type—he was far too unkempt for that. Both had identical blue and gold livery on their armor marking them as part of the same guild. The one with the blue robes spoke first.
“Hello, are you Jasmine?” he asked, all but cutting her off. She either had to stop or rudely step around them. She decided on the former, rolling her eyes before looking at them.
“And who is asking?” she replied. If they knew her name then word must have spread.
“I’m Darian, and this is Zendar,” he said. “We represent the Mundan guild, part of Elrich alliance. If you are Jasmine we would appreciate a minute of your time.” He gave a smile. Zendar shifted on his feet and gave a small nod.
“Is this an offer to join your guild?” Jane asked, looking at him.
“Yes, but—” Darian started.
“Then no thanks. I might be guildless at the moment, but I have a few in mind to apply to,” she said. She needed to get back into Dragon’s End. She had not realized she wasn’t part of it until now, but it figured with everything else being reset that she would not be in the guild anymore.
“We do have an alternative then,” Darian continued, not skipping a beat. “I am not sure which guilds you are looking at to join, but we could help you level, provided you can supply some services to the Mundan.”
“So a contract then?” Jane asked.
“Of course. We can—”
“Then again, no thanks,” Jane interrupted, shaking her head.
She stepped around them to get to Grendalt, but Darian kept talking.
“It would be very generous. On top of helping you level we would be willing to supply game time for you for some services as you gained higher levels.”
“Game time?” Jane asked, turning back towards him. “What do you mean?”
Zendar looked puzzled. His hands were folded across his chest. He spoke for the first time in the conversation. “This is on the assumption that you don’t have prior obligations via contract, and details are dependent on your Alignment, but it’s fairly traditional for a guild to provide game time for a sorcerer’s services.”
Jane frowned. Alignment again. She couldn’t see her Alignment currently—it only became visible after level ten—but it couldn’t have shot up far from just a couple days’ of game play. Chances are any contract would be less generous towards her than Zendar was implying if the details were dependent on Alignment. The game time was tempting, but she bet it was just a way to hook her in before getting her tangled up in the contracts.
“No thanks. I’d prefer to level now, if you don’t mind,” she said, motioning towards the quest NPCs.
The two looked like they were going to continue speaking but then closed their mouths and nodded.
“If you change your mind though, please come look us up,” Darian said. He turned and left. Zendar gave a small salute before leaving himself.
Jane shook her head. As she turned to find Grendalt, she realized he was standing behind her. His arms were folded across his chest and he was scowling at the two as they left.
“When did you get there?” she asked. He just shrugged, his glower fading as Darian and Zendar walked father away. Jane realized he was probably why the two decided to leave. Even low level, Grendalt looked intimidating when he wanted to.
“Well let’s get going,” she continued. “Those mobs aren’t going to grind themselves.”
Grendalt nodded and the two picked up the first few quests for the area. They were ready to leave to start questing when they heard a voice behind them.
“Excuse me, are you by chance Jasmine?”
Jane sighed.
Chapter Seven
Twenty minutes later Jane and Grendalt finally made it out of town. Four more representatives from four different guilds had approached them before they finally got away. It was only after Jane realized she had used up her half hour for food and social time that she put her foot down and stopped being polite. All had offered her a guild invite and a contract that was supposedly generous on her behalf.
She refused all of them, but could see the draw most people got caught up in. She hadn’t been worth bothering until now. No one needed a below average warrior, but even a below average sorcerer seemed to be worth the time to investigate. One guild had offered her three weeks of game time for just signing the contract. Three weeks. And that was on top of other time she would earn through the contract. It was enough for her to look over the contract. After the third page of stipulations and requirements she closed it and said no. She was no expert in the legalease of contracts, but the contract had a minimum of three months and she could see plenty enough ways for them to hook her in for longer or to fine her for failures. She didn’t know enough about what sorcerers were capable of to even know if she could fulfill that contract.
But now they were finally able to keep questing. She still hoped to reach level eight and do an instance before her time ran out. She had all afternoon to do it, but with the low xp she gained, she wasn’t sure how long it would take.
She was killing some local trolls, looting their bodies for some charms they had used to cast a spell when again someone spoke behind her.
“Hello,” the voice said.
“What do you want?” she snapped turning around. She had wasted enough time today hearing offers, she wasn’t in the mood for more. As she turned she saw a low level player in a cloth shirt and pants. He was clearly a spell caster, but Jane couldn’t tell what. She wondered where he got the shirt and pants, most low level cloth items were robes of some sort.
“I’m sorry,” he said. He was clearly startled by her response. “I didn’t mean to be a bother. I’ll leave.”
She sighed at herself. She doubted he represented any guild. “No, I’m sorry,” she said. “I’ve had an interesting time the last hour. What can I help you with?”
“Well, if you’re sure it’s not a bother,” he stammered out. He seemed to be getting himself together after her yelling at him, but still sounded nervous. “I saw you killing those trolls, and I need a few of them too, and you were killing them so fast and I figured you might have other quests around here and I was wondering if I could join your group.”
