Corbin’s equipment, his bag and clothes, amounted to about a credit a piece. His new boots were about five credits. Not terrible, considering how early in the game he had acquired them. His dagger’s worth was something he couldn’t figure out as easily. He didn’t know its properties, and as far as he could find there was nothing in the game that did close to 200 damage for sale. The highest damage weapon he could find for sale was a huge, two-handed magic maul which did 130 damage. The maul was selling for 8,000 credits. Upon seeing this, Dakkon’s mind raced. Just how valuable was his dagger? It possibly dealt double that and wasn’t so cumbersome. Could it be worth two times as much? Three? Five? The idea of selling his dagger for 40,000 credits made his knees weak. He decided that his very next course of action after collecting his quest reward—should the dagger still be with him when he logged back in, instead of buried deep within the side of a cliff—would be to have his dagger appraised. If the dagger was half as good as he suspected it must be, he would have an amazing source of revenue for a rainy day. Of course, until the need arose, he’d use it to progress and find even more valuable things to sell.
Corbin needed a reality check. He knew it couldn’t be so simple to make a sum as large as 40,000 credits. With that much money, he could live for two, perhaps two and a half, years if he lived frugally—and he always had. It simply couldn’t be so. He pushed the matter to the back of his mind, and decided to watch ChronCast in hopes of finding another lead like the one that had helped him find the quest which he had just completed.
Corbin watched ChronCast for hours and, for the bulk of it, wished he hadn’t. Hearing the happenings of the world and the accomplishments of other players did nothing to dampen his desire to play. Over the course of watching, he learned tidbits of information about the world—there were two human realms, the Kingdom of Denmas, where Corbin started, and the non-allied Falgren Empire. There was an elven kingdom, Daedwyne, and the dwarven kingdom, Fvoskard. There were skirmishes between the realms, but there hadn’t been an all-out war since before the game’s release. What came as a bit of a surprise to Corbin, was of how little the world had been properly explored. There was no map of the world. There didn’t even seem to be a rough idea of how large it was. Both human domains were near bodies of water and had access to ports, but there didn’t seem to be any information about any continent beyond Validesh, named for the old Valin empire which united the land against a foreign threat whose name and location appear to be buried in the annals of time.
Corbin awoke some hours later, energetic, as though through force of will. He hadn’t expected he’d fall asleep, and so hadn’t set an alarm. He knew he had slept more than necessary, but it didn’t matter to him now. His exile had certainly ended. Although unsoiled, Corbin decided that the best way to keep his immersion pod clean was to treat it like freshly laundered bed linens. He took his second shower of the day, drank a pittance of water, and entered his chron pod. After the prerequisites were met, Corbin engaged his game and his lips curled into a large, expectant smile. The sweet smell of popsicles filled the air, and his eyes fell shut.
C
HAPTER 13:
R
EWARD
Dakkon opened his eyes back in Greenburne’s inn some five days after the village was raided by the trest. The common room was empty, save for the hairless proprietor who sat, sullen, on one of his stools.
“Where can I find Barrcus?” asked Dakkon.
“Oh?” the bald man stammered and rose to his feet. “Oh, our esteemed patron! Back for another meal by chance?”
“Not today,” said Dakkon. “I need to know where the village leader is.”
“That’s a shame. We may not have any more mutton, but I’ve got a stew that’s been in pot for six hours now, and will be mighty tasty I guarantee.” After Dakkon said nothing, the bartender relented, “His house is on the north corner of town. He’s currently overseeing restorations to the village, though, so he could be anywhere.”
Dakkon nodded. The words of the bald proprietor struck him. No more meat? He had forgotten about the animals in the temple. If the others had not returned and fetched them, then the area hollowed out of the mountain really must have collapsed in full. Before stepping out into the center of town where the well lay, Dakkon made sure his items were all as they had been, less 12 silver, then he looked at his stats.
|————
|Statistics ( ][][ ) ( ][][][ )
|————
|Strength: 10 ( ? )
|Stamina: 25
|Agility: 55 — (50 + 5 Equipped)
|Dexterity: 10
|Intellect: 10
|Luck: 0 ( X )
|Free Stat Points: 15
|Hit Points: 425/425
|Endurance: 238/238
|Mana Points: 200/200
|Leveclass="underline" 15
|EXP Until Next Leveclass="underline" [
|————
|Traits ( ][ ) ( ][][][ )
|————
|Appearance – 8 (Equipped)
|Heroic – 2— 2% [
|Hunter – 4— 22% [
|Steadfast – 1— 0% [
|Stealthy – 3— 0% [
|Thick – 1— 20% [
|-Stealthy: Gained from moving around hostile entities without detection. Every rank in Stealthy decreases the likelihood that the player will be detected by circumstances outside of his control.