The priest was staring intently at me, waiting for an answer to his question. How did I come to create a magic item that no one else had ever made? I had no intention of lying outright, but I did not think the whole truth would be a good tactic either. After thinking for a while, I said, “I wanted to grind Greater Transmutation. However, I did not have any materials not earmarked for other projects, except for the rabbit’s feet. Since I did not have ten of one colour to raise the quality tier, I just tried using one of each, seeing if that would get a result. I was quite surprised by the outcome.”

“I see. You’re telling the truth, but not the whole truth. Obfuscating details, but no outright lying,” the priest said after a few seconds. I hated speaking with priests in the game. Unlike the rest of the NPCs, they were told by the AIs in the pod whether you lied or not. After almost ten seconds of silence, he finally said, “Nevertheless, the answer is satisfactory and this is a new magic item. We’ll not divulge how it is made, but know that such items will be greatly valued amongst us Natives.”

“I’ll se—” I started saying, but was interrupted when I got bombarded with system prompts.

You’ve unlocked the achievement Magic Item Inventor.

The previous achievement has been upgraded to First Magic Item Inventor in Blackport.

The previous achievement… in Astia.

The previous achievement… in the Empire of the Endless Sky.

The previous achievement has been upgraded to First Magic Item Inventor in the World.

One Time Rewards for Achievements Received

Magic Item Inventor

100 Free Experience Points

First Magic Item Inventor in Blackport

500 Free Experience Points

1 Draconian Essence Shard

First Magic Item Inventor in Astia

1000 Free Experience Points

3 Draconian Essence Shard

First Magic Item Inventor in the Empire of the Endless Sky

2500 Free Experience Points

6 Draconian Essence Shard

First Magic Item Inventor in the World

6000 Free Experience Points

1 Draconian Essence Crystal

Your Reputation with Blackport’s Temple has been increased by 110 points. Your Reputation makes them Accept you.

Raise your reputation to 250 for Liked

Lower your reputation to 99 for Wary

Current Reputation: 110

‘Great, I did it again,’ was the first thought to pop into my head, followed by, ‘Holy shit, an Essence Crystal and enough Shard to create another one. Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit. Wait, why did I first get the achievement now?’

I dismissed the prompts and focused on the priest. He had a satisfied smile on his face. When he saw me focusing on him, he said, “The Gods have been generous it would seem. Five new achievements, but you seem to have a question.”

“Eh, yeah,” I stammered at his sudden prompting, “Why did I get it now, and not when I created it?”

“Simple. This is an item that has never been seen before in Carn, so it needed to be verified by a servant of the Gods. Until it was verified and a value determined, no achievements could be granted,” the priest answered. On hearing his answer I recalled that tidbit of information. In my previous timeline it had been the same for anyone attempting to port over real world technology to the game. It needed to be verified before it counted as a real item.

I checked the Lucky Charm, and it now had a standard value of five platinum, but would probably go for at least double in any retail or auction setting. Fearing the worst I pulled out a rabbit’s foot and saw that they had gotten a value as well. It was luckily priced very low at five silver. Still more than I had just paid individually for the large shipment of them, but it could have been worse.

“Okay, I think I understand,” I said and said my goodbyes. I focused on the other aspects of my achievements. The Draconian Essence Crystal and Shards had manifested in my inventory. They weighed nothing and were soul bound, meaning I could not drop or trade them. It was a nice reward, but not of immediate use. I would need three of the same Crystals to take the first step towards another race. However, I was not interested in any of the Nine Ancient Races, not when there was a tenth option: High Human.

While the benefits the High Human was not as powerful as the benefits of the Ancient Races, they did not have any penalties either. A major drawback was the many Essence Crystal it would need. Just to take the first of nine steps, you would need an Essence Crystal of each of the nine races, instead of just three. Of course you could always go for a hybrid, half one thing and half something else which only required slightly more crystals than a pure race. With no immediate use, I put them aside for the moment.

The XP was great, and would make it much easier to reach level ten. However, I would not be able to immediately boost my way there. I still needed another eighteen skill level ups to get there, but if applied correctly the 10100 free XP should be able to get me six skills levels, or maybe a bit more.

All in all, those were some great instant rewards for unlocking an achievement. What was weird was the odd number of reputation points with the temple. An even hundred would seem the normal reward instead of one hundred and ten. However, I thought I might know where to find the answer. I had never really taken a look at the permanent buffs given by my Achievements, so I pulled up the Achievement Panel. First I took a gander at the six old achievements.

First Arrival in Blackport

1% increased reputation gains in Blackport.

Completed All Starter Quests

1% increased reputation gains in Blackport.

First to Complete All Starter Quests in Blackport

3% increased reputation gains in Blackport.

First to Complete All Starter Quests in Astia

6% increased reputation gains in Blackport.

3% increased reputation gains with Astia’s Adventurers’ Association.

First to Complete All Starter Quests in the Empire of the Endless Sky

10% increased reputation gains in Blackport.

7% increased reputation gains with Astia’s Adventurers’ Association.

First to Complete All Starter Quests in the World

25% increased reputation gains in Blackport.

15% increased reputation gains with Astia’s Adventurers’ Association.

10% increased reputation gains with all Temples.

It gave a boatload of reputation increases, and the last line for the First to Complete All Starter Quests in the World would explain why I had gotten 110 reputation points with the Temple instead of 100. Unfortunately the increases were not cumulative, only the highest rank of the achievement counted. However, if there were two different achievement chains that gave the same increase, they were cumulative.

Nevertheless, a ten percent increase in reputation gains with all Temples was nothing to scoff at. Nor were the other increases. A total of 26% increase to Blackport reputation gains from First Arrival and First to Complete would make it quick to get the amount of reputation points needed with the Lord to establish a permanent residence. And the 15% increase with the Adventurers’ Association reminded me that I should take a look at the available quests at some point. Though I doubted there were many gathering quests yet.

Next I looked at the new achievements, but ignored all but the last entry.

First Magic Item Inventor in the World

When successfully finishing a magic item, rewards 5% XP as Free XP.

When creating a magic item, increase success rate by 1%.

I was floored. 5% of the XP as free XP, when successfully crafting a magic items was freaking great. Especially since I was planning on taking up Runesmithing. However, I thought that paled in comparison to the increased 1% success for creating magic items. That was huge, the same as having an extra Lucky Charm.

I was happy with my gains, even if it would probably have some kind of negative effect or reaction from the other players. Like having to pay more for the damn rabbit’s feet, and someone figuring out how to make them. Nevertheless, I had managed to pick up over five hundred trophies on the very cheap, before I upset the applecart.

Having arrived at Ilat’s gazebo, I had barely managed to set up things when Ed’s party arrived by means of teleport. Meaning they had probably just cleared the first run in the dungeon. Glancing at the event log confirmed it.

I started back in on butchering when I heard someone speak from behind, “This is not your usual spot. Took me some time to track you down.”

Turning around I saw Hannah standing there. Relief flooding my system. She had not killed herself just yet, and I hoped it stayed that way, it meant I had somehow changed the future even more than I had hoped. There was however a pretty large difference. Gone was the overly revealing clothes, replaced by something a bit more modest. Not that it did not accentuate and tantalize the imagination with what it did reveal. However, compared to her normal attire, it was large change.

“Hannah, it’s been a few days. I’m surprised you haven’t been by to see me,” I greeted her with a genuine smile. Deciding to tease her a bit, I said, “It seemed I could not turn around without you being there.”

“Yeah well, I’ve had a difference of opinion with management, and we’ve parted ways,” she said with a frown.

“Sorry to hear that.”

“I’m not, it was for the best. I’ve decided to go back to my roots, with a one-woman show.”

“Ah. That explains why no assistant, and I must compliment your change in wardrobe,” I said.

“Thanks.”

She was about to say something else, when I heard Blaze in the background exclaim, “Wow! It’s HannahVixen.”

Followed by what sounded like a hand hitting the back of his head and a “ouch”. Smiling wryly I said, “He’s a fan of yours, but please don’t judge the rest of us by his behaviour.”

“We’re going into the dungeon,” I heard Ed order.

“But it’s Hann—” Blaze of course complained, but was cut off at the same time there was a flash of light, indicating they had teleported into the dungeon.

“Anyway, what’s the focus of your new show?” I asked after a few seconds of awkward silence.

“While the traditional gaming shows focus on the large guilds and big splashy news stories, I’ll focus on the small guilds,” she answered, “And of course you.”

“Why me? I’m an uninteresting nobody.”

“Who’s gotten two first in the world achievements personally, and one first in the world achievement for your guild.”

“Pure coincidence.”

“I don’t believe in coincidences,” she countered with crossed arms. Something she should not be doing. It drew attention to something which was already distracting enough. In an effort to not come off as a jerk, I turned my attention to the rabbit on the table, and picked up the knife.

“Has the interview already started?” I asked.

“We can start it now,” she said and began her intro. After she finished, she asked her first question, “It’s been a bit more than a day since you were falsely accused by BIS for hacking. How did that even happen?”

“I don’t know, I haven’t been provided any information.”

My lack of knowledge seemed to disappoint her, but she quickly moved on. “Are you going to sue the BIS?”

“Can’t, they had a legal warrant. Or well I could, but it would take time and cost money that could be spent more wisely elsewhere. The outcome of any suit I make is most likely in their favour, so I choose to just move on.”

“This is the first time you’ve been interviewed since the incident, why do you think that is?”

“Because no one is interested in the truth.”

“I am,” she said with a cute little pout. “So what is the truth?”

“That I’m innocent of any charges, which both the BIS and Perennial have released statements to that effect. Someone acted overzealously on some bad information.”

“Anything else you can add about the situation? How did it feel being accused of something you didn’t do?”

“Not really, and it felt shitty. Still feels shitty. Some people still believe I’m guilty of the crime, though it’s been proven that I am not. As I said, people are not interested in the truth.”

“Moving on. You just invented a new magic item, can you tell us what it is?”

“I actually invented it several days ago, but since I didn’t get it verified by the priests before today, I didn’t get the achievement until today,” I said, hoping to dissuade some curious souls from looking into the trophies. Not that it was likely to prevent others from figuring out how to create the charms.

“But what is it, and what does it do?”

“Trade secret,” I answered with a wink.

“Come on, you can share it with me,” she pleaded, with huge puppy dog eyes. Shaking my head, I looked down on my half-forgotten rabbit. With a huff she said, “Fine, I’ll just ask your guild. It’s time I did an interview with them anyway.”

“Good luck with that,” I said with a smile. Turning a bit more serious I said, “I do mean that. Good luck with striking out on your own again. If you need someone to talk to, not interview, but just a friendly ear to listen, you’re welcome to find me.”

She looked taken aback by the last part. After half a minute of her just staring at me, probably trying to gauge my intent, she finally said, “Thanks, I might take you up on that.”

While I would not attempt to prevent her from talking to my guild, I was worried about what they might say. They were still pretty distant since I told them the truth, though the whole thing with the Dawnguard spy did seem to have swayed them a bit into believing me. At least that was the case for Ed and Robin.

It took them three hours to clear the five runs in the Sewer Dungeon, longer than normal because they were interrupted by Hannah and her requests for interviews. As far as I had overheard, none of them had spilled the beans. When they went in the last time, I stood and waited impatiently near the gazebo. I had been timing them, and when I gauged it was about time for them to return, I started cooking some food.

“Interesting selection of skills,” a voice drifted out from the plant gazebo.

Startled I looked up, and saw Ilat Baisley looking at me. Nodding my head in greeting, I said, “Thanks. Yeah, I’m working towards being able to provide my guild with most, if not all the things they need.”

“A laudable goal, but a seemingly impossible one. That would require many skills, though I see you’ve been awarded some by the Gods.”

“Yes, they were generous, I had not expected such a windfall.”

“Sometimes the reward for doing something is far greater than that which is stated. Especially if they come at a cost,” he said, before closing his eyes again. I wondered for a second if I should say something else, or just let the conversation end on that note. Before I could make a decision, a flash of light heralded the return of Ed’s party.

“Many thanks for clearing a section of the sewer,” Ilat said as usual to the party when they returned. They just nodded and turned to walk away, thinking there was nothing else to be gained. However, they all spun around when Ilat started speaking again, “You’ve proven that you’re willing to help the town, doing what is needed instead of looking for the higher reward. Since that’s the case, I have got another task for you. One that is much more rewarding, but the perils are greater too.”

Blaze and Ed seemed the most eager, but the others also seemed quite interested. I hurried over to join them. As befitting his role as party leader, Ed was the one who asked, “And what can we help you with?”

“Beneath the sewers lies an old dwarven city. It’s in fact their sewers we’re using, been maintaining the runes ever since the founding of the Blackport fifty years ago. However, with the Rupture playing havoc on them, I’ve had to spend my entire day here, containing the slimes or teleporting Travellers in and out of the sewer. I tire of this. Since you’ve proven yourself adept at handling yourself, and willing to help, I think you’re the right people to help me. Are you willing to do that?”

“We’re willing to at least hear you out, before agreeing or rejecting,” Ed said.

“It’s wise not to jump into a situation blind. The Rupture caused a temporal rift, what we call Echoes, twisted and hateful manifestations of the prior inhabitants, to form in the city. It’s what is deteriorating the runes. I need someone to go in there and repair the runes, if you’re willing I’ll grant you a scroll with Imbue. I only offer this scroll because you’re the first to impress me. One of you need to learn it, otherwise you cannot repair the runes,” Ilat said and suddenly there was a scroll and two runed rocks floating in the air in front of him.

“Uhm, I’m not sure any o—” Ed started.

Interrupting them, I said, “I’ll handle the repairs.”

“You’ve not run the sewer dungeon, and you seem ill suited for combat, replacing a combattant with a crafter hardly seems prudent. And the Gods have decreed the sewers and the city a dungeon. Limiting the number of people in the party to five,” Ilat pointed out.

“That’s very true, but this party have the Escort perk for their party, which means I don’t have to replace a combattant. And I already know Imbue,” I pointed out.

“Interesting point,” he mused out, and then turned to the party and asked, “Do you vouch for him?”

“Yes,” Kira said at once, before anyone had a chance to take a breath.

“Very well,” he said, and with a wave of his hand he made the scroll float to Ed, and the rocks to me. “The repair stone with the yellow runes need to be used where you arrive, while the other stone needs to be used in one of the control nodes. Simply Imbue it with ten mana, and it’ll repair the runes in the room. With the magic energies acting up, the repairs will only last seven days.”

When he finished speaking, a quest prompt appeared in front of my eyes.

Quest Offered

Type: Repeatable, Limited

Sewer Repairs

(Escortee)

Ilat Baisley has entrusted you to repair one of the control nodes that spawns the slimes in the ancient dwarven sewers used by Blackport. Make your way to the control node and activate the repair stone.

Since you’re an Escortee going on this quest, you receive no physical rewards.

Reward

250 Free XP

+25 Reputation with Ilat Baisley

+10 Reputation with all Blackport Factions

+15 Reputation with the Lord of Blackport

25 Guild Points

Do you wish to accept this Quest?

Yes/No

I of course chose to accept it and quickly said, “We’d like to gather some provisions before you teleport us down there.”

“Very well,” the floating Native said.

“I got food ready, and we need torches, rope and maybe a crowbar or two. And we need to ensure that we’re not carrying more than absolutely necessary, since I can’t bring my cart,” I said to the others and made my way back towards where I had left my stuff.

“Why?” One-Eye asked.

“Because he thinks there’ll be loot down there,” Blaze said. He made some air quotes as he said the next part, “Or maybe he ‘knows’.”

“This is not the place,” Robin said sternly. Staring down Blaze until he looked away. Turning to me she asked, “Should I pick a class now?”

“Depends on what you want, but I don’t see a reason why not,” I said, having already thought over the possibilities. As far as I could recall, Blackport did not have any hidden trainers, and there was no secret class I could remember that would benefit her.

“Ed hasn’t picked one,” she pointed out.

“I’m either wasting my time, or proving that he knows something no one else should,” the man in question mumbled.

“Don’t tell me you believe his reinc—” Blaze started saying.

Ed interrupted him, “Didn’t say I did.”

“You do know I’m right here?” It was more of a statement than a question.

“Yes, we’re aware that you’re crazy and might just be hallucinating this conversation,” Blaze said.

“You can believe that’s what is going on, but I don’t want you to talk about it where others could overhear. I’d like to point out the NDA you signed.”

“Great, signed a contract with a mad man who—”

“Enough Blaze, just shut up,” Kira growled.

“Getting back on track, what class do you think I should pick? I haven’t had time to look over my options,” Robin asked again.

“It depends on what you’d like to keep doing. From what Sa— I mean Marion said, she wanted to explore the oceans, and I’m guessing you want to spend your time ingame with her, correct?” I replied with a question.

“Right, and to be honest I’m not much for diving dungeons, I prefer to stay above ground,” she confirmed.

“In that case there’s Seafarer, doesn’t boost your combat skills, but will boost a lot of sailing related skills.”

“Hard pass, I’m just going to be a passenger. Is there a lot of islands to explore?”

“Not as such. But there’s the Storm of Memories,” I said.

“What’s that?” Ed was the one to ask.

“It’s not actually one, but several areas in the ocean, where temporal rifts has opened. Covers large areas in storms and fog. Remains static, never moves. When the storm dies down you can sail into the fog and you’ll find Echoes of the past, shaped like islands with lot of valuable resources.”

“What are those Echoes? Ilat mentioned them as well, but didn’t really explain,” Kira asked.

“Here we go again, more knowledge he’s gotten because he’s either an employee or a criminal,” Blaze muttered. Ed rewarded him with a slap to the back of his head.

“Echoes are what they call areas affected by the temporal rifts. They manifest twisted spirits of the past, and changes the environment around them. In the case of the dungeon we’ll be running it means that the layout of the city changes and brings back citizens of the past. But warped and twisted by the energies, making them hostile to all outsiders.”

“Sounds like echoes are the devs way of explaining randomized dungeons,” Ed observed.

“You’re right, it is. But everything in the game needs an explanation for the Natives,” I said.

“If the layout changes, how can we find the nodes?” One-Eye posed a very logical question.

“The nodes are shielded, unaffected by the rift. So is the area we arrive in. We’ll be told which direction we need to go in, and the distance, so it should be possible to navigate.”

“How can you remember this, but not who the Dusts are?” Blaze challenged.

“Because I wrote several reports and analyses on the subject, I met the Dusts in passing once or twice. And they went by another name by then,” I answered with a sigh.

“This is all interesting. But doesn’t answer what class I should take,” Robin said, sounding a bit impatient.

“Well, if you want to explore, then either Explorer or Ranger will be good choices. You can always go for the generic Archer class as well. If we had been in the Cloud Empire you could have gone for Wind Ranger, but there is no hidden archer classes in Blackport. Unless you want to grind a lot of Temple reputation, and I’m not sure you can manage to get the required reputation before hitting level fifteen,” I said.

“What benefits do they give?”

“The Archer class gives bonuses to any archery related skills, while Explorer give bonus to survival and movement skills. The Ranger is a combination of both, doesn’t have access to some of the more powerful subskills, but it has access to subskills of each class,” I answered. Then quickly added, “Oh and when you learn a class, you’ll be teleported to the Deity of Secret’s library, you’ll get to pick one skill, spell or ability for free. Related to your class of course.”

“I see,” she said and finished the last bite of her food. “Let’s go shopping and then we can make a trip to the Imperial barracks for me to pick up my class, before tackling this ancient city.”

“Sounds like a good plan to me,” Ed said. Kira was the only one who helped me pack up. Thirty minutes later, we had shopped, rearranged our inventories, stashed what we did not need at the inn, Robin had picked up the Ranger class and we were back at the gazebo, standing in front of Ilat. Unfortunately one of the independent players had managed to hit level 10 before Robin, and snatching the First Class in Blackport achievement.

“So, you’re ready to head down?” Ilat asked Ed.

“We are, we just need directions,” Ed answered.

“The Echoes changes the unshielded areas constantly, the only thing I can tell you is that you need to head five hundred meters north,” Ilat said.

One-Eye immediately asked, “How will we know what direction is north?”

“Have you not the compass provided by the Gods’ Blessing?,” Ilat asked incredulous. One-Eye looked away with a tinge of red in his cheeks. “Are you ready?”

“Yes,” Ed answered for all of us.

“I hate teleporting,” I managed to grumble before the shitty feeling of being teleported washed over me.