When Jicker had planted explosives to reinvigorate the world, he hadn’t managed to cover everything. He’d hit pretty much every major city, and most landmarks, plus plenty of other more random locations, giving a little over three quarters of the continent. But that still left a lot of area that was untouched, and as he stepped out of the cavern, he was glad it was. Shielding his eyes against the sun, he looked out over the small farms surrounding the mountain foothills and beyond that, nothing but untouched grassy plains dotted with tall drooping trees. A cool breeze was blowing in, sending ripples over the long emerald grass, giving life to an otherwise still landscape. Pulling his hood up to shield his eyes, he began to head away from the mountain, hoping his eyes would adjust to natural light soon enough. It would be a pain if it turned out that gremlins couldn’t handle light.

It had been so long since he could relax that it felt strange just walking in the open, and he had to fight off the feeling that he should try and hide. But apart from the occasional bird over head, and a rabbit he saw racing away in the distance, the area was completely empty. It became relaxing in a way, and he found his thoughts drifting randomly as he walked, about his situation, how he’d gotten into it and what to make for dinner. He was paying so little attention to what he was doing that it too over an hour for him to realise that he had no idea where he was, or where he was going.

Sitting down underneath a nearby tree, he considered his options. He hadn’t remembered to ask where Mount Kaloh actually was on the continent, it not being a place he’d ever been since it didn’t have much use to most people other than as a starting or mining location. It was why it had been missed in his attack in the first place. He could go back and ask for directions, but that would be more than a little awkward. He could log out and try to look it up he supposed, before suddenly remembering something.

“Didn’t Sarah say she gave me some kind of communication thing?” he muttered to himself as he went through his pack. Going through its inventory he eventually found it, a small glass tube filled with a thick black liquid.

Ink vial of Tolson

Item type: Summon

Grade: Unique

This vial is used to summon the totally awesome avatar of Tolson

To use: Smash and wait.

Jicker had a sneaking suspicion she’d written its description herself. Figuring he’d give it a shot, he hurled it down at the ground, sending ink and broken glass scattering around. At first, nothing happened, and then nothing continued to happen for almost fifteen minutes. He was about to log out and see if he’d done it wrong when the ink began to lift off the ground and flow together into a sphere the size of an apple. Rippling, the ball sent a number of lines into the air until it formed a rough sketch of a small fairy, hovering above it.

“Hey Matt, or Jicker I guess, sorry about the wait, but I had to finish off something before logging in. I was wondering if you were ever gonna use this thing, what do you think?” It said, Sarah’s voice coming through at a higher pitch.

“It’s pretty cool actually; I haven’t seen something like that before. What is it exactly?”

“I’d be surprised if you had. This is something I added into the game myself, so currently only three exist. I call it an ink sprite, and it’s not really good for much really, if I'm honest. As you can see,” She said as she turned sideways, becoming a nearly invisible line, “It’s basically two dimensional, so it can’t really interact with stuff very well, cant travel far from its summoning point and it only lasts up to an hour, but I'm still pretty proud of it.”

“Wait, you added it in?”Jicker asked surprised.

“We can get away with a little bit here and there, as long as it doesn’t affect anything in any real way. Speaking of which, are you calling about some new creation?” she asked, a small question mark flowing up above her head.

“Hah, that’s cool, but no nothing that serious actually. I kind of... need some directions.” He said slowly.

“Hmm? Of like, what to do next? I can’t really tell you, even if I did have ideas.” She said confused.

“No... I need directions from here to the capital.”

“...You’re kidding me. You finally get out of an area most people never do, and you didn’t even think to check where you were before travelling?”She asked incredulously.

“I know it’s not exactly my best moment, but there’s no need to rub it in. Now, can you help me out here?”

“Fine, fine, I won’t make fun of your clear and obvious mistake. For now.” She said quickly. She paused for a moment and the ink sphere below her folded out into a large map. “Let’s see... you’re pretty far north so there aren’t a lot of big cities up there. Your choices really come down to either Ardenvale or Carthan, though you hit them both pretty hard. Carthan still one of the biggest market hubs around, so if you’re looking to get some better gear, head east until you hit the coast, then head south, should take about a week and a half.

Ardenvale’s a bit smaller, but they still have one of the widest varieties of trainers around, especially for where you are. So if you’re looking to pick up some more skill’s that would be a good place to start, so just head south west for about... let’s see... three days? And then follow the main road down into town. That good enough?”

“That’s perfect, thanks for this.” He said as she folded her map back up. “I think I’ll head to Ardenvale and try and get a hold of a few of those skills you recommended. So, do I need to get a new ink vial to talk to you again?”

She shook her head. “No need. As soon as the summon ends or times out, all the ink and glass will come back together just like new, but it’s on a 48 hour cool down, so don’t use it for fairly useless things, like say, directions.”

“Ha ha. Alright, I've got it, so I’ll get moving and you can get back to work.”

“Oh joy, filing. Catch you later then.”

“Later Sarah.” He said as the fairy collapsed back into the ball, the glass fragments on the ground lifting into the air before rushing inwards, reforming the bottle around it. Picking up the item and putting it away, he pulled out his compass and figured out which way he needed to go. Realising he had been travelling east to begin with was slightly annoying, but he corrected his course and made his way to the road heading west. It was little more than a trail of compacted, barren dirt but it was enough to navigate by and, now having a proper destination, set out properly.

He hadn’t realised how much he’d gotten used to moving only short distances in the Pit, and before long his legs began to ache. With the sun bright over head, a breeze and nice scenery, it should have been a pleasant trip. But it was such a shift from his recent activity that he was having difficulties. As the trees slowly became denser, he decided to take a break, and made use of the time by practicing one of the oldest forms of herbal analysis. Namely, eating bit and pieces of plants and seeing what happened.

For the most part there was no effect, apart from the bitter taste of leaves, though he had a few successes, though not very useful ones.

Broad leafed crawler vine

Item type: plant

Grade: common

Can be used to heighten sense of smell

Black rimmed toadstool

Item type: plant

Grade: common

Can be used to reduce taste and cause rashes

Red striped lily berry

Item type: plant

Grade: uncommon

Can cause minor paralysis if ingested

“Are you okay kid?” A voice called out as he was picking himself off the ground after his latest test. Getting to his feat he turned around to see several wagons travelling along and that one had stopped nearby. The speaker, an elderly looking man, stood up on his cart as he called out before almost falling off backwards as he got a better look at him.

“Argh! What in the gods name is-” The man got no further as it was at this point he properly lost his footing and tumbled back out of sight. Not wanting to just leave the man, Jicker hurried over to make sure he was all right.

“Old man! You okay there, or do you need help?” he asked.

“I... What? You can talk?” the man said nervously, sounding surprised.

“Never seen a gremlin before? That explains the reaction then I suppose. Anyway, are you okay?”

“Nothing bruised but my pride, I think. Sorry about before, with all the different people you see travelling I shouldn’t have reacted like that. But after what happened a few months ago, everyone’s a bit on edge.”

“I’ve been stuck under a mountain for a long time now,” Jicker said, trying to play dumb. “Everyone keeps mentioning something, but what actually happened?”

The old man looked at him oddly for a few moments, and Jicker hoped he hadn’t pushed too far. He’d been wondering how the NPCs had reacted to his attack, but in the Pit he hadn’t had the opportunity to ask anyone.

“If you don’t know, then I suppose you’re one of the lucky ones, though I can’t think of how you haven’t heard by now. There was a... they’re calling it an event, but truth is it was a damn apocalypse. Something tried to destroy the whole world, and came pretty damn close as well. It seems the gods stepped in though, and were able to stop enough of the destruction that some places got spared. They also shielded most of us, so the body count wasn’t nearly as high as it should have been... a lot of people thankful about that.” The man trailed off, looking into the distance as he relived some memory. He coughed abruptly and shook himself out of it. “Anyway, what are you doing out here on your own...son?” He hazarded awkwardly.

“I don’t look that weird do I? Anyway name's Jicker, and I'm heading up to Ardenvale. I was just stopping to study up on some of the plants around here, see if they’re useful.”

“Redgar. You a doctor or something?” He asked as he introduced himself, offering a hand.

“Eh, bits and pieces. It’s why I'm heading to the city; need to get a proper education and all that.” He replied, he replied helping the man to his feet.

Redgar scratched his chin. “We’re heading there at the moment actually, me and the rest of the caravan. You seem trustworthy enough, so if you can help out and lift your weight, you can jump on my wagon and get a lift.”

“Really? That’d be a huge help, thanks.” Jicker answered happily.

“Not much of a change really, won’t slow me down none and even if it did, wool doesn’t mind. Two questions though: are you any good in a fight, and is the smell a gremlin thing?”

Jicker frowned and raised an arm, taking a sniff. Ah.

“Like I said, I've been stuck in some fairly rubbish conditions for a while so sorry about the smell. But I can get by in a fight, and I’ll tell you what, first decent sized body of water we pass, I’ll jump in and see what I can do.” Jicker offered.

The man laughed. “Fair enough. In that case, grab your things and hop on; we don’t want to get separated from the rest of the caravan.”

Getting a proper look at the man, Jicker got a proper idea of just how small he was compared to the average person. Dressed in a worn but sturdy brown leather coat, he was at least twice Jicker's height, his legs being bigger than his entire body. Deep crease covered his face, signs of a life of rough conditions and plenty of sun. Despite this he moved around like a much younger man, picking a large floppy hat up from where he had fallen and clambering quickly back up to his seat. Grabbing the traces for the two horses than had been waiting lazily, he gestured for him to hurry up.

As Redgar snapped the reins and the horses began to move, Jicker sat down and got comfortable. Getting up to speed, they dropped back in line with the rest of the caravan and while it was hardly a sprint, it was still far quicker and easier than walking.

“So, how long until we reach Ardenvale?” Jicker asked after a few minutes.

“Be a little more than two days if the weather holds. It’s a pretty easy run there from here, so odds are good you’ll be the most eventful thing until we arrive.” He answered lazily, keeping his eyes on his horses.

And for the rest of the day, he was right. As the caravan slowly but surely ate up the miles, Jicker managed to become bored for the first time in ages. He tried to relieve the feeling by introducing himself to the other carts and wagons, but they had a similar reaction to his appearance to the one Redgar had. In the end he settled for flicking through his medicine book and seeing if anything stuck out to him.

He must have fallen asleep at some point; because before he knew it they were slowing down and stopping by a large wooden building as the sun was setting.

“What’s going on?” he asked, yawning.

“Awake are you? Well, it’s a pretty safe trip, but there’s no sense taking extra risks for nothing so we’ll be spending the night at the inn and heading off again in the morning.” He said as he began to untie the horse’s traces. “They have decent beds and food here, and could probably run a bath for you as well.” He added pointedly.

“Message received loud and clear. I’ll go get myself a room then.” He said, hoping down and heading for the door.

“Make sure they know you’re travelling with the group, they‘ll give you a better deal.” The driver called from behind.

As he opened the door, he was hit with a burst of applause, and for a brief moment he thought it was for him. But on looking around, he quickly realised it was for the woman on a small stage carrying a lute. Apparently he’d just missed a performance, but by the look of a small line of people holding instruments beside the stage, it wasn’t going to be the last. Carefully making his way over to the innkeepers counter, trying to avoid getting stepped on by drunken patrons, he reached up and rang a small bell. After a few moments, a cheerful matronly woman came out from the back and after a moment of looking around, spotted him and greeted him with a warm smile.

“Hello dear, and welcome to the Bardic Spoon, where we sing for your supper. What can we do for you today?”

“Hi, I just came in with the caravan, and I’m looking for a room for the evening, if one’s available.”

“Ah, I should have guessed. Yes, we’ve got a number of rooms upstairs available for a decent price, including both an evening meal, which you’re just in time for, as well as breakfast. Drinks are extra though, but I doubt you’ll be drinking that heavily if you’re travelling with that lot. Will there be anything else?”

“Yes, actually, what are the odds of me getting a bath tonight?” He asked, pulling open his pack to get some of the gold that Morthoc had given him. He hadn’t actually checked how much he’d been given, so he hoped he had enough.

“Ah, I was hoping you’d say that. It takes all kinds dear, but most kinds have a sense of smell. I can have a bath drawn for you in your room in a few minutes, for not much more, as well as our laundry service, which comes to, let’s see... 15 gold.” She said plainly.

Jicker winced. Looking through his bag, he’d come up with only a little over twenty gold, and while it was a fair enough price for a meal and a stay at a decent inn, he didn’t like having to spend over half his funds. Still, he didn’t have a lot of options.

“Agreed.” He said handing over the money. “Though I think we can skip the laundry, no point in washing rags.” A thought struck him. “Actually, do you have any old clothes around the place I could buy? Anything better than these would be good.” He continued, pointing at his tattered clothing.

The woman tapped her cheek. “We have a few bits and pieces that people leave behind, but I’m not sure we’ve got anything that would fit you. I’ll have someone take a look, but I can’t make any promises. If it’s not too much trouble, would you mind taking that bath before you eat?”

“Is it really that bad? Fine, I’ll take it as soon as you can fill it.” He said sounding resigned.

By the time he’d cleaned up as much as he could, the water had turned a greenish brown, almost black with filth. As he dried off with a towel they’d provided a knock came at the door.

“Sir, we’ve found some clothes that we believe would fit you, so feel free to look through them. Shall I leave them by the door?”

“That’ll be fine.” He replied from inside. Waiting a moment, he went and grabbed them, and had a look at what they’d found. Looking at them it appeared to be a variety of various pieces from some of the smaller races, but largely clothing for children. While it wasn’t exactly what he wanted, it was another step in the right direction. He picked himself out a decent pair of brown pants, a dark green shirt and light grey jacket that had what looked to be a cat face on the back. He grabbed a well worn pair of shoes as an afterthought, having gone without for so long. Putting it all on, he was surprised to see one of them was magical.

Cloudy Cats Happy Coat!

13 defence

This jacket protects the wearer from most weather, because cats don’t like rain.

*This item was created as part of the 5th annual design contest for children by Annie-age 6

Special: wearer ignores all low to middle level wind and weather effects. +5 cold resist, +5 fire resist, +5 shock resist

While the appearance wasn’t what he’d have chosen for himself, he couldn’t argue with the effects. At his level, effects like that were hard to come by, and it could be useful even at higher levels.

“Thanks Annie.” He muttered to himself before throwing on his pack and heading back downstairs, the rest of the clothes under his arm.

As he stepped down, the innkeeper spotted him instantly, calling out to him.

“Ah, there you are! I'm glad see you’ve found some things that fitted? We’ll discuss payment for those in a bit but for now take a seat and I’ll have someone bring out your food.”

Right, he’d need to pay for these, he thought, and if they knew this was magical, then it probably wouldn’t be cheap. Taking a chair at an empty table, he opened up his bag and began emptying it, looking to see if there was another bag of gold or something that he’d missed, or something valuable he could trade. The compass might be worth a bit but he didn’t wasn’t to trade away a gift like that, and it was valuable to him in its own right. His pills would be worth a little, but since they weren’t an established item, he probably couldn’t expect very much for them.

“Hey, little green dude.” A voice came from behind him.

Turning around, he saw a large man with a giant red mohawk, covered in scars and wearing a deep crimson suit of armour.

“Um, hi? Can I help you?” Jicker asked, hoping he wasn’t about to get into a fight for some reason.

“Yeah, where’d you manage to find those shells? I’ve been looking around and I can’t find any.” The man said, pointing over to the table, where a stack of the azure roach shells were sitting. He’d kept them mostly as a token of his first species, but he hadn’t really thought they’d be good for much. After a while he’d picked them up out of habit, and had started grabbing the ones Snuffles brought in as well.

“I got them in the Pit, over in Mount Kaloh. It’s about a day’s travel-” he began but the man cut him off, waving away his words.

“Yeah, I know where that is, should have figured. Pity, they don’t let most races in. Are you collecting them as well?” he asked.

“Collecting them? What do you mean?”

“You don’t know? A heap of the art guilds have put a decent bounty on the things, and a few others have put one out for the destruction of the species. I’m not really up to date on why they’re so valuable right now, but it’s a good bit of cash at the moment for an easy enough quest.” He said.

“Quest? You’re a player?”

“Hair didn’t give it away? Name’s Bloodhawk, barbarian of the bloody guild. Anyway if you’re not doing a quest on these things, why’d you hunt so many?”

“Well, they’re pretty good eating to be honest. Better than anything else I could get.” Jicker offered.

“Yeah, I’d heard they cook up pretty decent, but what do you mean they were all you could... Hang on; you said you got them from the Pit? Man, I’ve heard of that place, props on getting out little dude. Well, if you’re not using them, mind if I buy them off you?”

“Name’s Jicker, how much we talking?” Jicker asked quickly, offering a hand.

Bloodhawk almost crushed it in his own massive paw before responding. “I can’t give you top rates or anything, and I kind of want to make a profit here myself. Let’s call it...” he paused and looked to the ceiling, seeming to be doing some calculations in his head. “Twelve gold a shell? And I’ll give you a round two fifty for the full stack of twenty there.”

Jicker raised an eyebrow and held up a finger, before reaching into his pack and pulling out another two stacks. “That’s sixty three shells all up,” he said, “Feel like buying some more?”

Blood hawk grinned.

In the end, they settled on seven hundred for the lot, giving Jicker more than enough for his new clothes and a decent amount to get by for quite some time, and was apparently enough to complete Bloodhawk’s quest. Happy with his new found windfall, he spent the rest of his night listening to the various musicians that came up to the stage to play. There was a wide variety of music played, but apparently the flavour of the month was to write songs about Maser and the upheaval. Hearing about the apparent evil monster he was, and how he’d ruined so many lives quickly soured the evening. Heading up to his room, he decided to turn in.

~~~~~~

By the time the sun rose, the main room was all but empty, with only the caravan members and the inn staff themselves being awake. The others had either left during the night, or were still trying to sleep it off. Even though they’d all woken early, it still ended up in a mad rush to get everything together and back on the road as soon as possible. In less than half an hour they were back on the road, on their way to Ardenvale, leaving Jicker to once again aimlessly staring at the slowly passing scenery. Eventually he gave up, hopping in into the back of the cart under the covers and telling Redgar he was going to take a nap. Once he’d gotten comfortable amongst the wool bales, he opened the menu and decided to log out for a bit.

~~~~~~

He’d had the headset off for less than fifteen minutes, and had just started making a toasted sandwich, when there was a knock at the door. Wondering who it was, he opened it to see one of men in suits who had collected him before.

“Hi, Smith wasn’t it? What’s-” he began before he was cut off.

“Mr. Harper, are you alone? Is there anyone else in the building?” He said briskly, looking around.

“What? No, there’s no one else here. What’s going-”

“Area is secure, sir.” Smith said into an earpiece, cutting him off yet again. Before he could try and get an answer, the guard turned towards a pair of black cars as they opened up, revealing August Fronz, flanked by several more men in suits. While the executive approached with a seemingly casual attitude, the others were all on high alert, constantly scanning the surroundings.

“Ah, Mr. Harper, may we come in?” August asked once he reached the door. Knowing it wasn’t a real question, Matt moved out of the way as they stepped through, a few staying outside.

“What’s going on, sir.” He asked nervously. The last time he’d spoken with the man, things hadn’t been a good note, and now that he’d come here in person...

“I take it, since you’ve only just logged out, that you haven’t seen the news of the last few hours?”

Matt shook his head, now more confused than worried. August snapped his fingers and a laptop was presented to him, a video paused on the screen.

“This was going to be recorded but quickly became a live news broadcast at two o’clock this afternoon.” He said before hitting play. Looking to the screen, Matt saw it was of a man in his late twenties standing at a podium, with multiple microphones in place, camera flashes going off almost constantly.

“Journalists, and the people of the world that are listening, thank you for coming. I arranged this broadcast by promising vital information regarding events in Genesis. And that information is this: I, Scott Gerard, am Maser.” The man said solemnly.

The room was suddenly in an uproar, as questions were shouted across the room, while people tried desperately to get in contact with their superiors. Holding up a hand the man continued.

“I know you all have questions, so let me try and answer some of them. Yes, I orchestrated the upheaval, with the aid of my guild, and yes, it was intentional. As to the why, it’s actually very simple. My guild was able to unleash a level of devastation unseen in anything but an act of god. With that level of power displayed, I put this forth to the world: Join us, work for us and grow with us. Because know this, you cannot oppose us.”

August chose this moment to pause the video, turning to Matt. “So, the first question that I need to ask, though I feel I already know the answer, is do you know this man?”

“I’ve never seen him before in my life, and I did everything myself. I told you that, you know that!” Matt said quickly, worried that they thought he’d lied to them.

“Indeed we do, but for legal reasons I needed to be sure. From what we’ve gathered from various in game messages amongst this guild of his, they saw this as a way of getting publicity, as well as some fame or infamy, depending on how things panned out.”

“Well, I don’t really see the problem, if I'm honest. I mean sure they didn’t do it, but if they want to take the credit-” Matt got out before August raised a finger, silencing him instantly.

“Keep watching.” Turning back to the screen, he saw that the guy on stage was still going.

“Over the next few weeks, we will be taking in new members, but after that the entry requirements will rise sharply, so I’d advise you to get in early. As to our future goals-”

There was suddenly a commotion from behind the camera, followed by several screams. Before he could even process what he was hearing, there was a gunshot. Like a puppet with its strings cut, the speaker fell back off stage as security rushed in from the sides. After a few moments of panic as the camera shook, the screen went black, leaving Matt struggling to comprehend what he’d just seen. He tried to get to a chair, but ended up falling to his knees. Someone had pretended to be him, and had been killed for it. If he’d gone public, if he hadn’t decided to keep quiet about his plans, that would have been him. Unable to handle it anymore, Matt threw up, emptying his stomach onto the floor.

August, standing by watching him, wrinkled his nose. “It seems this Mr. Gerard didn’t think about the full ramifications of the upheaval, in the same way you did. They caught the killer, I'm sure you’d like to know, though it seems they were simply a hired gun, and are refusing to give up their client, though evidence is pointing to one of the insurance companies that went under in its wake. Now I've got to go to a press conference, in...Three hours, to explain to people that this is an unfortunate situation, especially since they weren’t even who they were claiming to be.”

“Couldn’t...couldn’t you just let them be Maser? I mean-” Matt began, struggling to his feet.

“Mr. Harper, I’m surprised at you, letting someone else take the fall for you? Shameful of you, though to be honest, I’d be surprised if you hadn’t thought of it. No, sadly if I don’t make the declaration, the rest of his little guild will probably be hunted down. Besides, if someone else took the fall for you, you’d hardly continue your work for me now would you?” he said looking down at him.

“What are you talking about?” Matt asked, confused. August gestured, and the various guards he’d brought in left the room, shutting the door behind them, leaving just the two of them.

“Do you understand why I’ve decided to use you for this job, Mr. Harper? It’s not because you have some amazing skill at the game, or some angle that no one has thought of before. While you have the skills needed, that was just a throw away reason for the board to stop pestering me. Truthfully, I could go and pick up dozens, even hundreds of suitable candidates for this task, plenty of them more effective than you are.

But you have one key advantage that is hard to find, and that is the fact I own you. The moment you even think of betraying me or try to tell people about this situation, well I believe pictures speak louder than words.” He said, gesturing to the laptop, still paused at the last moments of the video.

“The moment that your identity got out, your life would be measured in days, if not hours. So unlike one of the other choices, I don’t have to justify my actions, I don’t have to ensure that its ‘legal’. You will do what I say, when I say it and you’ll keep quiet about it, or you’ll be in the ground before the day is out.”

Grabbing the computer and heading to the door, he tapped it lightly before one of the guards waiting outside opened it. Pausing to straighten his tie, he turned back to Matt. “For now, by all means, keep playing and get stronger. The better off you are, the more able you’ll be to fulfil my ‘requests’. But occasionally I’ll have word sent to you of something more...specific I need done, and I expect you to deal with it as soon as possible. Good afternoon, Mr. Harper. Oh, and clean up that vomit, it might be your home but it’s still disgusting.”

As the door closed behind them, Matt was left sitting on the floor in silence, listening to them drive off into the distance. Only once the sound had vanished completely, did it start sinking in. Part of him was trying to come to grips with the fact his actions had gotten someone killed, but mostly he was left feeling empty. Like an automaton, he cleaned up, ate his meal and sat down, staring at the television without even turning it on. August words and the last moments of the video kept circling each other in his head. Eventually he collapsed under the weight of it all, and fell asleep.

By the time he woke up, it was pitch black outside, the only light he had was the faint glow of his clock on the wall. Standing up and unsure of how to act or what to do, he decided to drop back into the world of Genesis, having had enough of this one.

~~~~~~

Opening his eyes he found that he was still lying in the back of the wagon, though it seemed to be a bit emptier than it had been before. Before he could even get to his feet, the cover was suddenly pulled back revealing Redgar.

“Ah, you’re back.” He said, slightly surprised. “I wondered where you’d wandered off to, but I guess you were just asleep behind one of the bales? Anyway, up and out Jicker, time to off load.”

Hopping up, Jicker grabbed one of the bales and, wobbling under the weight, jumped down from the cart. Looking around he saw that they were in a large wooden warehouse, filled with various trade goods as traders and workmen moved around large crates and objects. Following Redgar to where he was piling up his wool, he spent the next few minutes helping empty out the cart.

“Thanks.” He said as they stacked the last bale. “Well, in case you missed it somehow, we’ve made it to Ardenvale, rolled in about an hour ago. Didn’t know where you’d ended up or I would have woken you up when we approached, so you missed out there. I take it this is your first time in town?” he asked as they began to head out of the warehouse.

“Yeah, first time anywhere really,” he said which was technically true, for Jicker at least.

“Well, since that event it’s not the same, but Ardenvale is a city of scholars and artists, or at least that’s what they say. It used to have lots of shining silver towers, huge statues, and one of the largest libraries and colleges in the world. Now all of that’s gone, but I’ll be honest, there’s something to be said for the new city.” He said as they pulled out through the gates, giving Jicker his first look the city, and the results of his work.

When he’d planned out the upheaval he knew he’d need to use a wide variety of explosives to do it properly. Not only because it would be too hard to get enough ingredients for a certain type, or for the various resistances of the locations. No, they had to be different so that areas could be reshaped and changed. The effects of a volcanic bomb left a very different mark on the country side than a winter blast charge, meaning that places that had once been nearly identical were now almost incomparable. He hadn’t thought about it much, but he couldn’t actually remember what he’d unleashed on the city before he saw the results.

The breath of a great sand dragon could either form into a high pressure spray of sand particles that would strip flesh from bone, or solidify into a super dense piece of stone, used to make their nests. By using and amplifying this second function, what remained of Ardenvale now sat in the shadow of an immense, black stone mushroom cloud. A few pieces had come loose, likely as it was forùming, but the rest seemed to be durable enough that scaffolding and buildings had been built against it.

“Scared the life out of me when I first saw it,” Redgar said after a moment, “Especially when they told me go sleep under it, but apparently its tough enough that it would take another event to bring it down. But more than that though, apparently a lot of the old city, including their fancy library, is caught up inside and a lot of people trying to mine their way in to strike it rich in there despite the risks. You’re the adventuring sort; think you’ll have a go?” He asked as they joined the line of people heading into town.

“Maybe one day, but I'm not ready for something like that yet. As it is, thanks for the lift Redgar, and I hope you have as profitable trip here.” Jicker said, offering a hand to the merchant.

“Here’s hope, and the same to you, whatever you plan on doing. I’d get yourself a room at inn if I was you, if you haven’t made plans already. They’re coming down on vagrancy a lot harder than they used to.”

“Thanks for the tip Redgar.” As they approached the gate, Jicker jumped down, needing to go a different way. “Maybe I’ll see you around sometime, but for now, take care.” He said, giving one last wave to the man before heading into the thriving city.

Ardenvale was recovering from the destruction, but it was a slow process. As it was the city seemed to be in a random state of repair, with newly built home sitting right next to crumbling ruins, a sturdy stone bank seeming untouched where across the street a church had been left as nothing but a tent on its old foundations. But despite the state of the city itself, its people were as active as ever with the streets crowded with people, stalls of every kind lining the main road from the gate as far as he could see.

As he walked down the road amongst the jostling crowds, trying not to get stepped on, he thought about how he hadn’t been in large community in quite some time. The noise, the sights and even the smells were so realistic that it was hard to remember you were playing a game. Fortunately, or unfortunately, the other players managed to shatter this feeling quickly as they stood around shouting for attention.

“Looking for a group to hunt giants! Level 80 or higher!”

“Trading medium grade iron and coal! Will take gold or goods!”

“Quest assistance needed! Will pay gold to anyone who can tell me where I'm supposed to take this dog!”

The one good thing about being stuck in the pit was that he hadn’t had to listen to the messengers. Genesis had decided early on that having a big chat window for people to talk and trade in would ruin people’s immersion, which was true enough. However people being what they were, there were now hundreds of people, npcs and players, who spent most of their time standing around in public areas shouting out various messages that people paid them to say. Advertising at its finest.

If what Redgar had said was true, Jicker thought, then he needed to find a place to stay, and soon. He didn’t have any friends in town, and he certainly couldn’t afford to buy a house even if he could find one for sale. That left him with either finding an inn to stay at, which would burn through what little gold he had, or try to get a room at an academy or college. The various training building normally had cheap, temporary rooms for visiting students, so as long as he could get in that would do for the time being.

Asking for directions from one of the messengers, he headed to the eastern side of town to find what remained of Ardenvale academy. The white marble structure seemed to have either escaped most of the damage, or had been a priority to repair. Two curved wings of the building left it with a large contained courtyard, currently filled with students and players. Walking to the administration building, he got the names and directions to two of the professors that could give him the skills Sarah had recommended.

“If they accept you as a student,” The administrator said, “Come back here with a note from them and you can rent a room.”

Heading to the first choice, he was greeted by small elderly woman working in a green house. He didn’t even manage to say hello before the woman waved a trowel at him without turning around.

“Here to learn the skill of herbalism? Well I don’t have time to teach someone who can’t tell a weed from a tree, so here’s the deal, take one of the packs there on the cupboard and bring me a decent sample of all the plants written on a list inside. Show me you know what you’re doing, and I’ll teach you some of what I know.

Ding!

Quest: Pick for proof.

You have been tasked with collecting various plants and flowers from the nearby area to show your willingness to learn the herbalism skill.

Success: Bring the needed plant samples back to the teacher

Reward: Herbalism skill lvl 1

Failure: Don’t return with the items within 1 week

Stumbling back out of the greenhouse with the pack under his arm, he muttered a goodbye, unable to tell if she was being rude or really didn’t care. He decided it was probably the second after he got the same treatment from the next teacher he’d selected. The thin man that was apparently the anatomy teacher seemed to care even less.

“Look,” he said as he answered the door, drenched in blood up to his elbows, “This craft take both skill and a strong stomach, so if you really want to learn it bring me 10 fox spleens. And in good condition, not just a lump of meat you’ve ripped out of the carcass.”

Ding!

Quest: It’s what’s inside that counts.

You have been tasked with collecting 10 fresh fox spleens from the Greyleaf Forest to show your ability to learn the anatomy skill.

Success: Bring the needed pieces back to the teacher

Reward: Anatomy skill lvl 1

Failure: Don’t return with the items within 1 week

“Good old fetch quests.” He sighed to himself as he wandered out of the academy. It had been years since he’d done one of these, but they were all the same. “At least it isn’t rats I guess.” Making his way through the town, he went to find an inn for the night. He still had most of the day to work with but he wasn’t sure how hard it would be to find and collect everything he needed, and leaving things like a bed to the last minute was how you ended up in jail. Finding a reputable enough looking place and booking a room for the night, he sat and had a meal, considering his next moves.

Obviously he was going to need to go into the woods to get the items for the quests, but while he’d gotten strong enough to escape the Pit, it didn’t actually relate very well to the rest of the world. Still, he should be strong enough to go and pick some flowers, he decided, and finished his drink before setting out for the forest.