“Does it mean that the questing system is inaccurate?” Treetop asked.
“Perhaps it’s not over,” LadyHeadshot replied, her cheeks almost matching the cherry color of her lips from whatever it was she was drinking. Despite the drink, she still had her wits about her.
“I think it’s a good thing,” I added. “If I had to guess, I’d say the one week timetable was at the most a rough estimate. The real quest was completing the mission of defeating the goblin army. Once we accomplished what was needed, the time no longer mattered. This means we can get creative in how we solve quests in the future.”
“Good point,” Vector said. “It’s rather likely that the game developers, or AI, whatever it is that is running this world, weren’t expecting for our friend here to defeat the boss monster leading the army.”
“Helped defeat,” I corrected.
“Groin shot!” Treetop trumpeted.
After telling him twice that I had pierced the hobgoblin in the hip joint, I no longer tried to argue. Besides, they had all seen it at least five or six times from the augmented broadcast on the tavern wall.
“Well, at least the remaining event information updated, even if it is still rather vague,” Drool said.
Quest Type: (World Wide Event)
The Goblin War!
You have defeated the western goblin army, but it will take more than that to get rid of this foe that has been around centuries before any humans ever graced these shores. Will you wait for the goblins to bring another larger army, or will you attack the goblin stronghold and take the fight to them?
Reward: Unknown
She continued, “It’s almost like they are encouraging us to attack the goblins.”
“I think that is exactly what they are doing,” Vector replied. “I wonder if the entire plan is to get us to take the goblin city before the rest of the world opens up to us. It’s not exactly easy to search for the government’s secret purpose for making Freedom when there’s a war going on.”
Turning to me, Vector asked. “What are you going to do now?”
“Start training. Cornelius recommended that I seek out Achilles. What about you guys?”
“I see. We are going to do the same. Cornelius is holding his own training camp and it’s cheap compared to purchasing a mentor. We will stick with him for now, then probably upgrade after some basic training.”
“Cornelius is incredible. I was there when he soloed two hobgoblins.”
“He is… I think I already know what you are going to say, but I wanted to ask anyways. Did you want to join us, Lucius? We are likely going to end up as a sub-guild to Harrison’s if talks continue the way they’re going.”
“Thank you, Vector. Really. I’m honored.”
“But Victoria is better looking,” Treetop interrupted.
Vector chuckled.
It surprised me when I felt the heat rise up in my cheeks.
I changed the subject. “I’d recommend partnering with her guild too. She may look young but she has a few ideas that I think will be very financially rewarding.”
“We already are,” Drool replied with a smirk. “She told me about the bank idea. We’re in.”
“Oh really?”
***
I neared the new building that was destined to become our guild hall. It was closer to the front gate than the Willingham bank. Since it would second as a player-run bank, this would be a huge advantage. It was close to a story and a half tall with much larger logs used for its construction than the norm, giving it a solid foundation. It was only as wide as The Over Eatery but could fit nearly five of them within its depth. It had been a storage facility, so the room was easy to come by.
The entrance was left wide open, its double doors held there by junk filled crates. I scaled the three step porch and got a closer look inside. Besides random crates, self-standing shelves and some tables littered with more junk, it was barren. There weren’t even any rooms. It was perfect if you were starting from scratch. We’d just have to hope enough people joined up because it was a big space.
“Lucius!” Kline called. The lot of them were near the back of the room clearing the area.
I headed toward them, unequipping my chainmail, and substituted a light leather vest in its place. Part of me didn’t want to go armorless, but the chainmail was too much. This weighed a fourth as much. Time to get my hands dirty.
After about an hour of moving things around, we had three long tables and a desk positioned in the back corner of the room with wooden chairs to spare. Chairs, tables, crates and bins had all been gathered to the side and organized. It looked as if we were setting up for a secret conspirators meeting.
“Everyone, please take a seat,” Peter said.
We all sat around one of the tables and relaxed. Victoria sat at the head of the table, while Peter remained standing. Oliver fetched enough wooden cups for all of us out of his inventory, setting them before him. A glass bottle followed, from which poured a red liquid, just filling each cup with enough for a drink. When the cups were passed around, Peter began.
“Since we have entered Freedom we have been met with trial after trial. Each trial we have faced has further prepared us and brought us forward to today. Today was a good victory.”
It was hard not to fall for the ceremony of it all. I grabbed my cup and held it up.
“We have made some good friends.”
Peter nodded to Kline and me.
“We have unlocked many tools that will help us in the future. The chief of those being the ability to create a guild. As we grow in number with a unified goal, may we only grow stronger and wiser to face the trials ahead!
“Kline. Lucius. Since you have been with us since the beginning, we wanted you to be the first to join the guild. We are naming it Prodos. It means progress. That is, if you will join us. What do you say?”
“Sounds like fun to me. Things haven’t been boring since I met you guys,” Kline answered.
Peter raised a brow. “Lucius?”
“I can’t leave Kline by himself. He needs his game master around or who knows what he’ll do when he levels up.”
“You’re like my game mother! I love you, mom!” he jested, pulling me to himself in a crushing embrace.
“Such a beautiful family.”
Utter shock stopped our mouths. Everyone’s eyes were pinned on the unlikely source of the comment. Oliver was looking as stoic as ever. Had he just made a joke?
He looked back and forth between us for a long moment. The sides of his mouth twitched, then spread wide, baring his teeth.
Victoria squealed.
The laughter spread, until Oliver himself gave a throaty chuckle.
“Well, that settles it,” Peter said when things had calmed down. “Welcome to Guild Prodos!”
***
“How are you doing?” Victoria asked. We found ourselves alone, the only ones still sitting at the table. Peter had gone to market, and Peter and Kline were considering what to do with the ten-foot shelves that had held a lot of goods.
“Really good actually. There is still a long way to go, but I know what I need to do now.”
“You are going to take Cornelius’s advice?”
“Yeah.”
“So that means you’ll be gone for a while?”
Leaning forward, I rested my chin against my knuckles. “I’ll be leaving the group for a while, but I’ll still be around.”
“So you still aren’t over that…?”
“I don’t know if I will ever be fully over getting hurt like that, but I do think I will master it. I need to get stronger and to do that I need training.”
“I understand.”
“Hey. You know where I’ll be. If you need me just ask.”
“So you wouldn’t be opposed to something that might require sneaking out again?”
“You have plans, do you?”
“Always.”
“Then how can I say no?”
***