Town Builder - 83 -

Chapter 83:

Did the admins not know that I was familiar with the Matriarch? Could they track and review prior interactions between the game’s governing AI and me? The Matriarch looked smug, but she was only facing me, her back to the lawyers and the woman.

The contract appeared in my vision overlay, overriding my settings. As agreed, it was all my experience in exchange for a sealed common box. I was required to do the impossible; in just one hour, I was to deliver the horns of an ancient red dragon—a creature whose level would be in the 500s, if not higher. So, I would fail to deliver in one hour, and my experience would be forfeited, but I got to keep the box. It seemed like an awkward way of doing this, but the contract skill required both parties to put something to exchange.

The admin woman requested the contract be placed before her and nodded after a time. I motioned the screen over to her, and she inspected it for a moment. “Very well.”

“How will I know when everything is complete?” I asked before the lawyers disappeared. As the contract read right now, I would lose all my experience in one game hour, but I assumed the paperwork in the real world would take much longer. I wasn’t even sure who would be the caretaker of my body when I was freed. I had hoped Mad Dog would do it, but I hadn’t really asked him.

The woman had a tight smile. “Four game days, and everything will be completed on our end. Your American citizenship has been reinstated already. The immersion pod and all life support are yours. You have 90 days to claim them.”

Just to be a little cheeky, because why not, I asked, “So, how much do I get paid as an employee for those four days? Do I get health benefits?”

One of the lawyers leaned in to whisper in her ear before she spoke. “No, you will be listed as a freelancer, no pay, no health benefits. But a clever ask.” She vanished, and then her lawyers followed.

Blood Crisis slapped me on my back, “Looks like your freedom is in sight. Clever, that last bit in trying to get them to pay for your health insurance.” I laughed with him but realized the implication was that I was trying to get them to cover my debt and transport. I was just trying to be funny and came off much more clever than intended. I thanked my lawyer for his work, and there were still papers to sign and benchmarks to meet, but in essence, I was free and had retained what was most important to me.

On exiting the game, I immediately met with Mad Dog. We hugged as he heard the news: “Well done, mate. Now you can focus on the important stuff, like building an Empire and leveling.”

“Not quite yet. Give me a second. I want to check something.” The common reward box from the Matriarch was in my inventory. I thought she might have been clever and put the red dragon horns in there thereby letting me keep my levels. There was only one thing in the box: a ragged book with smeared pages. I identified the book. Damaged Book.

I frowned, “Something wrong, Tallis? Looks like you are choking on a roo tail.”

“Just not what I expected,” I said and quickly cheered up. Maybe Kuba, my grand master archeologist, could make something of the book, but the pages all looked destroyed. “So, now that I will have my freedom, I will be needing a place to stay. Do you know any place that is accepting residents who are in a coma, can’t pay a dime, and are locked in a medical pod that probably costs thousands in upkeep?”

The wolfkin rubbed his chin in thought, “There are a few guilds that might be wanting to take on that responsibility. I hear the Sleeping Sorcerers have a few hard-wired players. The Comatose Berserkers are actively recruiting too.”

I laughed at Mad Dog, not believing the ridiculous names. “How long did it take you to make those guilds up?”

Mad Dog’s face was serious, “They are real, Tallis.”

I was shocked as I had thought he would have invited me with open arms. Getting to Australia would have been difficult, but once there, everything would have been fine. I secretly checked, just to confirm those guilds were real, and both names popped up in the search. Damn.

My face fell, and Mad Dog laughed uproariously, “I’m pulling your tail, mate!” He slapped me on the back, causing a point of damage, but this time, he was listed as a Duchy ruler, so it didn’t trigger the guards. “We already looked into upgrading one of the units in the complex for you. It will be ready when you arrive. Reborn Apostle has an uncle with a charter jet to get you from the States to Down Under. Chaotic Heart submitted your immigration papers as soon as Blood Crisis said the deal was done. And Black Beauty is interviewing nurse techs to maintain your equipment when you do arrive.”

I was speechless, and the game had tears form in my eyes, “Wow, thank you.”

“No problem, mate. You did a lot for us and we are making good profits so far,” the wolfkin smiled at me.

The hour expired, and I received notification that I had just failed my part of the contract. A contract extension briefly came up but was denied by the other party, and all my experience vanished. I was now level one, and all my skills were level one. One of the game’s adjustments on the restart was you couldn’t have a skill higher than your level. You could still earn experience toward the skill, but the skill was level-capped.

I looked at my skills and frowned. The middle column had my skill, and the right column had how much experience I had toward leveling the skill. The only bonus for me was I hadn’t lost the stat bonuses I got at the prime levels of a skill. So, my stats were closer to a level ten player. The stats I lost from going from level 2 to 39 would be released each level I gained, but I wouldn’t be able to reassign them. A compromise I didn’t mind making.

Artistry: Drafting (FOCI SKILL) 6. 48

Earth Magic (FOCI SKILL). 6. 42

Enchanting: Ritual Magic 6. 10

Masonry: Structures 6 43

Reading: Common 1 4

Air Magic 1 7

Air Magic: Force 1 6

Air Magic: Lightning 1 4

Analyze 1 19

Artistry: Carving 1 13

Axe 1 13

Axe: Two Handed 1 15

Concealment 1 7

Cooking 1 8

Earth Magic: Stone 1 45

Enchanting 1 12

Enchanting: Runic Script 1 14

Laborer 1 24

Leadership 1 20

Masonry 1 42

Masonry: Foundations 1 44

Nature Magic 1 15

Nature Magic: Plant 1 16

Ranged 1 36

Riding: Land 1 41

Spirit Magic 1 7

Spirit Magic: Life 1 2

Woodcraft 1 34

Woodcraft: Carpentry 1 36

Woodcraft: Furniture 1 12

Woodcraft: Lumberjack 1 7

Now, I needed to level as quickly as possible to regain my drafting skill and building skills. “Where is Grinder when you need him?” I asked with pain after looking at my character sheet. It took a few minutes for me to explain the details to Mad Dog, and he started pulling together a team to power-level me.

I first needed to go shopping and purchase enchanted equipment for a level one character. Walking through the bustling shops of Malcum, I felt just like a noob player. The players were all excited as they raced about, selling, buying, and completing quests. I had missed this part of the game as I had started in Malcum alone.

Well, I skipped the level one equipment and went straight to level three. It wouldn’t work until I reached level three, but I was hoping to get there quickly. Every level I gained would raise my skills. Mad Dog introduced me to my power-leveling team. “Golden Storm is a crafter but just level three at the moment. You already know Ghostly Mermaid, she is level five and will be in charge. The last member is Infinite Panda, and she is one of the new players auditioning to become a full member.” I also had Simba, who was extremely angry as his level mirrored mine, and he was now level one.

Golden Storm was a human male with heavy plate armor who specialized in metalsmithing. He had cascading golden locks and had a lop-sided grin when he talked. “I will be your tank,” he said, shaking my hand.

Ghostly Mermaid was a blue-skinned water elementalkin with a focus on water and ice magic. “Tallis, when are you going to start building the skyship cradle?”

I winced as my drafting skill was only six now. I figured I wouldn’t need it for a while as I already had a large catalog of plans to redraft. “When I reach level ten,” I said reluctantly. Mad Dog was only level 9, and it had been 51 game days for him.

Mermaid was not put off, only smiling, “Well, we should get out there and get you nine more levels!”

Infinite Panda was a raven-haired elf with dark skin. Her leather armor and blackwood bow told me she was going to be out scout and a ranged attacker. Her RBF told me she didn’t like to speak when we shook hands.

“Do any of you have companions?” I asked, looking over my party. Jaesmin was level fourteen and wouldn’t be able to come with us. My bodyguard, Yorric, was also much too high a level, but he still planned to trail us on his mount and rescue me if I got into trouble.

Golden Storm waved his hand, “I do, but he is doing all the grunt work in my forge. Ghostly Mermaid has one as well, but he is off a trading quest.”

“Well, this is Simba. He is a nature mage and melee attacker.” Simba just crossed his feline arms, clearly wishing he had somewhere else to be.

Mad Dog wished us well and Ghostly Mermaid shared a quest with the group. “Neral said this was the best quest for time investment for experience. We should get you to level two today.”

Cleardusk Rising – The cleardusk lions are growing stronger to fend off the encroaching player swarms. Break their will by slaying ten alphas. Bring the pelts to General Tanguin to prove your valor. REWARD: 10 silver, 100 experience. REPEATABLE.

That was twice the normal experience for a tier one quest. Alphas had a minimum level of five, but we had a map showing where the low-level ones spawned. We spent most of the afternoon in the plains, going from spawn site to spawn site. We were not the only ones, as player guild teams littered the low-level area of the map even though it was expansive.

We still managed to get our quota and some decent experience from wandering monsters and spawn sites. While skills were held to a level, spells were not. My spell list was impressive for a level one player.

Spells. Tier. Level. Sphere

Meld Wood 1 22. Nature: Plant

Stone Bullet 1 12. Earth: Stone

Summon Earth 1 14. Earth 

Summon Stone 5 49 Earth: Stone

Hail of Stones 5 44 Earth: Stone

Vine Growth 3 9. Nature

Summon Wood Elemental 5 20. Nature: Plant

Summon Boulder 8. 13 Earth: Stone

Force Shield 1 18 Air: Force

Restore Health 1 13 Spirit: Life

 Unfortunately, I could only cast tier one spells. My favorite spell, Hail of Stones, was tier five, requiring my stone magic skill to be at level seven. I tried casting it, only to find the mana I invested to just evaporate into the air with no spell coalescing. Still, it gave me time to swing my axe and level my stone bullet spell.

We returned to Malcum and turned in the quest to Tanguin, who gave me a hearty pat on the back, grinning awkwardly at me the entire time. While it wasn’t enough to level up, I was so close to level two that I knew drafting a few plans tonight would push me over the limit.

I also spent a few hours at Fareth’s Inn, celebrating the day with my party. Infinite Panda was starting to loosen up a bit and even smiled when she got drunk. This was going to be my days going forward, grinding quests in a team—maybe not the same team every day—but interacting with others was fun.

That evening, I didn’t get to drafting right away, as I had lord duties to go over in my interface. Player-on-player crime was up, as was the revenue from the NPCs and players. In just a few days, my income was going to be cut in half. I was not concerned, as I had a large reserve in the Duchy's treasury and would only need to place a few plans on the player auction if I needed funds.

One of the things not often discussed on the forums was the emphasis on using skills on autopilot when you could perform the skill yourself. Being a game, there were many shortcuts, but this was the best way to level skills quickly and helped shorten the time needed to accomplish tasks. Sanso, my earth mage, for instance, had significantly developed his building skills in my employ.

The other issue I was dealing with was players trying to purchase mounts in Plainsrider. I had considered my horse production to be for my army's cavalry, but players were getting persistent and attempting to backdoor their way into acquiring one of my elite mounts through quests and charisma. I wasn't sure if they could succeed, but I decided to price them at ridiculously high amounts for the players. That way, even though I would lament the loss, I would still have the gold as compensation if they were purchased. I also made sure we were only selling the lower quality mounts horses.

Shipments of building supplies were still being stolen heading out to Phoenix’s Rest. It wasn’t the whole shipment, just some things that were loaded into the wagon that somehow failed to arrive. I assumed it was Gray Weasel or a guild. Mad Dog and Galana had done everything they could with caravan guards. It was not slowing the town’s construction as we were more short on builders than materials but I still found it annoying.

After doing my due diligence as lord, I drafted three simple rare plans during my remaining night. Each took just over three hours and was identical. Even though they were rare plans, they were not special, but I assumed having the word rare in them would drive up the price.

Rare Guard House Plans, Health 120,000 Requires Masonry 43, Woodcraft Structures 23 (Bonus: Houses 12 City Guards, Spawn Rate of 1 Guard per day, LEVEL 22)

They were highly valuable for this early part of the game as they generated twelve guards much higher than the player level. I had also drafted these plans before I became an Eternal Architect, so my bonus to repair the building was not attached. I was guessing on the market they would be sold for around 10,000 gold each. Not a bad haul for a night’s work—and yes the experience from drafting the plans helped me reach level two.

The next three days proceeded the same. We had to venture further and further from Malcum to find suitable monsters to fight. The player influx to Malcum was still growing, partly because we were such an ideal newbie area. Not only did I have to administer Malcum, but I also had numerous documents coming from the lawyers as things got closer and closer to being finalized.

I was just a hair breath from level four when my lawyer confirmed it was done. Nothing spectacular happened in the game, and maybe I felt the weight lifting off my shoulders, but I couldn’t be sure. I was now truly free, and I could move my body and equipment.

I was celebrating with my guild and discussing operation: Bring Tallis Down Under. Of course, it was not going to happen today. The NPC auction closed tomorrow, and the next incursion event is three days after that. As long as nothing terrible happens, maybe we can arrange something after the incursion. Securing the private jet would only take a day if they’re available. Black Beauty had plans to hire three med-techs to care for my medical pod 24/7.

Once I was residing at Mad Dog’s compound, it was going to be about rebuilding my body. Cloning had come a long way, but there were a number of laws, and it was costly. After I repaid the corporation, I could start to focus on raising money. Now that my event was being taxed at 50%, it was time to start posting some of the more valuable plans. They took a lot longer to draft than the simple rare plans I had been posting but should generate hundreds of thousands of gold quickly.

In the morning, I was fortunate to run into Kuba. I had looked for him a few times to see if he could make use of the ruined book the Matriarch gave me, but he had been off to other cities recruiting his staff. “No work has been done on the library this week,” he stated flatly. I didn’t want to lose this NPC, but the library was not a high priority right now.

“I will be able to shuffle some builders soon. I will not fail,” I said a little nervously. The higher quality stone was being made by Sanso, and it was in short supply. Most of it was being sent to the important buildings in Phoenix’s Rest. I really needed to find a dungeon with a high-tier stone. The two other dungeons near Malcum were short runs and quest-related. “Is there anything you can do with this?” I handed him the ruined tome.

He took it in his hand and turned it over, “The binding looks to be of the third moon elf dynasty, but their title has rubbed off the spine. It will take a lot of mana to restore it to its original condition.”

“You can do that?!” I asked, startled. Trash items like this book were common in the game.

“I can do things most others cannot,” he stated succinctly. He then began pouring mana into the book as he worked his powerful restoration spell. The book slowly regained its luster and condition in his hand. He was sweating profusely from the effort when he finished.

“Ha, I was right! Third Dynasty!” He opened the tome and was quickly engrossed. He mumbled to himself as he paged through it to the end, and I patiently waited. Excitedly, he addressed me, “This book is from the library of the Lost City of Elyendell!”

The start of a new quest epic quest chain popped up in my interface asking if I wanted to accept it. That sneaky Matriarch had helped me, but where and what was in the Lost City?