The next morning Jack's head was pounding, but more importantly, there was a large welcome screen blocking his view. It was a large scroll but far more ornate than anything so far. The script was overly flourished in this opinion, and there was a gold leaf border. It was a welcome to the game letter, and Jack assumed that it meant the game was now live to the universe instead of just those on the Frontier.

Jack had a broad grin that made him look a touch special as he dismissed the screen. The strong ale had placed a boulder in his head that rolled around with excruciating pain every time Jack moved, but he had had such a fantastic night it was worth every bit of the pain. Jack planned on going downstairs and getting a glass of ale, hair of the dog and all, hoping that it would take at least the worst of the pain out of his head. Jack drained the glass quickly and went to the alley outside to piss and perhaps vomit. Horgoth and Borstan were just arriving in the front of the inn when Jack had come out of the alley, having not vomited after all.

" Are you ready to see what I have for you?" The man said.

Before Jack could respond, a prompt came up.

Would you like to complete Ride Shotgun?

Yes or No?

Jack selected yes mentally with excitement. The exp. hit and leveled him up to level two, taking away the ill effect of the hangover and feeling very, very good. The way that the level up felt was unimaginable. If this is how all leveling would feel, Jack was confident he would be doing more.

Hargoth began pulling out the gear that he had obviously traded for before Jack had even woken. First was a scale mail overcoat with what Jack had to imagine were thousands of thing metal pieces of uniform size. Next came thick supple recently oiled leather boots with metal bands going down the front and sides vertically. Followed by a solid black round shield. Hargoth didn't end there next came a spear with a wicked foot long leaf-shaped head on a thick wooden pole. Then an iron short sword that reminded Jack of a Roman gladius. The final piece of equipment Hargoth handed Jack was a better backpack.

Words ascended the right side of his field of view.

You have received Warriors Scale Mail Overcoat of Fortitude

+5 to Fortitude

+50 to armor

Durability 90 of 100

Quality great

You have received Boots of Minor Protection

+10 to armor

Durability 40 of 50

Quality well made.

You have received Thick Round Shield

+20 to armor

Durability 60 of 75

Quality well made.

You have received Heavy War Spear

6-12 piercing damage

Durability 19 of 20

Quality well made

You have received Short Sword

2-6 damage slashing or piercing

Durability 13 of 15

Quality well made.

You have received Travelers Backback

Durability 13 of 15

Quality well made.

Hargoth extended a hand. "Well, Jack, I have done my trading here, and I am ready to move along. You are welcome to travel with us, but I can not afford to pay you."

Jack took the man's hand, warmly and said, "No... I'm not ready to move along just yet myself."

With that, Jack shook hands with Borstan, and the old warrior explained the armor choice. "The scale mail overcoat will fit over leather armor. That will give you quite the boost to armor without restricting skills or movement to the extent plate will." the gruff older man said.

Then Hargoth ushered the cart forward, and they were off to parts unknown. Jack took the items to his room and laid out the overcoat on his bed. He was looking intently at all the small plates, appreciating the craftsmanship. Then a window popped up, displaying all the overcoats stats and then another to tell him that he had learned the skill Examine. Jack could have face palmed himself. The realization that he had tried to command this kind of box to come up by thinking of it rather than examining anything back in the forest made him feel a touch daft. Jack put on the overcoat setting himself to getting used to its weight sooner rather than later, and he wondered how long it would take. Jack knew from military experience that a man grows accustomed to the weight of his equipment quickly if he wears it continuously. Jack felt healthier or more robust in an internal way because of the bonus to his fortitude. His stamina bar had grown, which if he focused had a bar like health and mana. Jack was excited to get another piece of gear with a bonus to see if he could feel them all. He couldn't help but wonder how a Wisdom benefit would feel. Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, Charisma, Jack had a notion of what these things would feel like but not Wisdom.

Jack was pulled out of his introspection by a pounding on the door to his room and a friendly voice, "Yo, Jackie, put it away man, and come downstairs." Tom yelled.

After some trial and error, Jack managed the use the shield straps of his old worn shield to bind it to his new backpack. He spent his 5 points one each to Strength, Fortitude, Dexterity, Charisma, and finally, Will. When he was all squared away and feeling like a real RPG badass, Jack went downstairs. Tom had ham, eggs, and ale in front of him and was going to town greedily. Jack looked at Tom eating and felt the pangs of hunger myself. Ordering up the same as Tom was having, Jack settled into a chair opposite the man.

" Do you have plans about what to do next?" Jack said.

Tom laughed in genuine mirth and replied," You sure tied one on last night. We planned to visit the Adventurers Guildhall, that guy Jasper told us about, by the gate, and get to questing." Tom looked at Jack as if to ask if they were still on then added, "How the hell are you not hungover? Maybe the dynamics are off."

Jack laughed as well. "No, I started the day with a vicious headache, but it just so happens I leveled up. I guess leveling up removes effects because right after, I felt good as gold. So, here I am, fresh and ready to go. I bet it heals you too though I don't know for sure, so don't go betting your life on it." Jack said.

Jack's food arrived, and he dug in as Tom chattered about his planned build. Tom wanted to be a bard of some sort because he loves music and planned to be a caster anyway. Tom explained that learning to imbue his music with magic was the most fantastic thing that had ever happened to him. Tom also informed Jack that just playing most of the night in the inn and imbuing the music had allowed him to get to level four in Inspired Performance. Jack glanced over at the man and noticed he was lazily plucking the strings. He realized with respect that if any playing gave the man experience, Tom would be a leveling machine.

An hour later, having joined the adventures guild, they were staring at the bulletin board in excitement, Tom said," No fucking snakes or giant insects."

The place was nuts. Pendershold had been busy before but this was a completely different level. The players had indeed arrived and brought a certain frantic excitement with them. It felt like the opening day of an amusement part or something.

Jack laughed" Don't be going all bitch on me before our first encounter."

Jack was hoping for humanoids. Jack explained to Tom that humanoids were far more likely to carry usable weapons and equipment to his reckoning. Tom relented to the logic of that, and they shifted to looking for the right quest. Tom spoke up, "Got something here in the city. Theives are holding someone for ransom. Levels 1-4"

Jack replied that it sounded good and focused on starting a party. It worked easy enough as a box displayed.

Invite GutiarHero To Party

Yes or No

Jack selected, yes, mentally. Once Tom had accepted, Jack asked if he could share the quest, and Tom zoned out a bit as he tried. Another box popped up.

GutairHero has shared I Know People.

Do you accept?

Yes or No

Jack smiled to himself, accepted, and tried to bring up the details. The details said to see Roland, the groundskeeper at The Church of Divine Light. Jack brought up his map, didn't find some handy marker to help them out, and decided they would have to walk till they found it or ask for directions. Tom didn't waste time thinking as Jack had. The bard immediately asked the first person who got close for directions, and the adventurers set on their way.

The church wasn't hard to find in the least. It was a big impressive building, and the kindly lady tending the garden in the courtyard told them where they could find Roland. The man was the groundskeeper and lived in a small cottage that was far more like a shed, behind the church. The man looked withered with skin more like leather than flesh, but he told his story in a robust, confident voice.

The man began, "It's my niece Tamora. She has been taken by these thugs....."

The story was sad and the pain evident in the man's voice. Jack couldn't help but feel the pain in the words and he vowed to find this girl come what may. He let Tom do the talking to the man because he seemed to be less affected by the story and focused on fueling his anger.

When they found the warehouse that supposedly held the girl, Jack said, " Ok, we are going to walk past on the opposite side of the road at a normal pace and get all the info we can. Then walk around the block and see if we can get a view of the rear and if we decide to go, approach it for a second time on the same side of the road and go to work."

Tom nodded, " Sounds good."

As they walked past, Jack took in all he could. There was a brewery on the corner, and the warehouse was the next building on the block. As they approached the target on the left, Jack took in all the information he could gather. There was a guard at the door who was so lax he didn't look far from sleep, and Jack began examining him. There was a short sword at his waist and a dagger in the calf of his boot. Then it happened, the box came up. The man was a level 2 Rouge.

"Wow, that shared," Tom said.

The right side of the building was an open lot, and two men were talking. One of the men leaned against the building, and the other stood in front of him, neither gave them much focus. Jack didn't examine them because he would have had to stop and stare at them, perhaps drawing attention. Jack and Tom went around the block talking strategy. Jack asked what offensive abilities Tom had and was pleased to find out his short sword skill was level 2. He had a wand of inflict minor wounds that had 6 more charges and regenerated 2 per day. Jack was displeased when they did not get a good view of the rear of the warehouse on the other side of the block.

While they walked, Tom said, " I learned to put people to sleep with a song, and I think I should give it a try on guard. With any luck, we can get as many enemies possible without being drawn into a pitched fight."

Jack was impressed by the statement and asked Tom how he learned that. Tom explained through his ever-ready evil grin that he hadn't retreated to his room that evening alone. After what Tom assured him was" the best fucking game experience of his life, no pun intended," he explained that the lady just wouldn't shut up. Tom was strumming away, thinking intensely about the woman going to sleep. At that point, Tom decided to try to put her to sleep. He began placing mana into his playing the same way he did any other music-based spell and "bada bing she went right to sleep."

Tom unslung the lute and begun playing as they approached the front of the building. Jack was surprised that there was no light effect or anything as he saw the man yawn, slump against the wall, and then slide down in a deep sleep. Jack didn't give any thought to the morality as the drug the man into the alley between the warehouse and brewery and drove his short sword deep into the man's throat. The poor guy woke from the spell induced sleep to the pain of death. Jack quickly searched the man and found ten copper coins, a health potion assuming the label saying healing potion was correct, a short sword, and a dagger.

"Sell everything neither of us can use, then combine it with any gold we collect and split that 50/50. Sound fair?" Jack said, holding out to Tom the short sword.

Tom, who was only armed with the starter crossbow and short sword, looked at Jack with shock. Tom just dropped the starter short sword when he tested the fit of the new one in his scabbard and found it acceptable. Jack could tell Tom was a little uneasy about him killing the sleeping man and decided to make things clear.

"Let's get this straight right now. I don't leave enemies behind me to ambush me on my way out or come up from behind when I'm engaged to stab me in the back. It's a rule." Jack said this while maintaining a steady gaze that said, speak now. Tom's eyes dropped for the few moments while he took a deep breath.

When he responded, he raised his head and looked Jack square in his eyes and said, " I understand your logic and don't object to this action or the idea in general. I am against blood for blood sake." moving the questioning stare back to Jack.

Jack felt more respect for the man, "No non-combatants, no unneeded bloodshed, no cruelty," he said, extending a hand.

Relieved, Tom took the hand with a smile. Jack said he would try to peek around the corner and examine the men on the side of the building with Tom watching the entrance if someone came out. One was a level 2 Rouge with only a dagger, but the other was a real threat, Jack noted, seeing a level 4 Warrior armed with a long sword. Tom strummed a tune that pumped Jack up, making him feel more powerful, and upon focusing, his hud came up, and an icon showed that he was Inspired. The buff was 10% to all stats for fifteen minutes.

With nothing left to do but get to it, Jack suggested they try to take out the weaker one first. Then proceed to take on the stronger one unless they both got all the way to them. If they did, Jack would face off against the warrior, trying to let his shield take the damage until Tom could finish off the rouge. Tom nodded his agreement, and it was game on. Jack leaned his spear against the front of the building and prepared his bow. When Jack had his bow ready, and an arrow nocked, he looked to Tom, who raised his wand and nodded. They stepped out from the side of the building, not visible to the men and let fly. The victim saw the shots coming from the far side of his field of view. That was a bad thing because he began to turn toward the direction of the sudden movement. The attacks hit with brutal efficiency. The arrow hit first a little left of center mass with an evil thwack that Jack would have known was a home run even if he hadn't seen it hit, and may have also pierced the heart. Tom, who would have hit the man center chest with the attack instead, got a square hit to the man's face because the enemy began to fall back from the arrow.

The enemy warrior didn't lose a moment to shock or surprise and immediately charged the attackers. Jack just dropped his bow and grabbed his spear, stepping forward to meet the man's charge. After taking two steps forward, Jack braced himself with this shield and waited. The warrior tried a massive overhead swing that may have cleaved his shield in half if Jack had tried to block it. The attack wasn't in the slightest bit subtle, however, and Jack had plenty of time to make the decision to try to dodge the attack as opposed to meeting it. Jack took a wide step with his right foot shifting his weight and pivoting as soon the foot touched down. It worked well, and the brutal swing just whizzed by Jack, kicking up a storm of dirt when it struck down, leaving the man overextended. The warrior's death came next as Tom stepped forward and drove his short sword into the man rib cage on one side. The head of Jack's spear shot forward like a viper taking the man in the other side viciously. Tom yanked his weapon free, but Jack kept moving forward, forcing the wounded man to the ground and holding him down until the struggling stopped.

Jack was thinking about how badass they were while he looked over the men for valuable and easy to carry loot gold, gems, jewelry, and such. Then with a scream from Tom, Jack realized that the tables had been turned. Four men had come out of the front entrance, and three had begun assaulting them with ranged attacks while a massive third man armed with a fucking warhammer was rushing forward. Tom was down with a dagger that Jack assumed had been thrown, sticking out of his leg. He was reaching for his wand with one hand and grabbing at the dagger in his leg with the other, and if the charging man reached him, that warhammer would make mush of Tom's head. Jack reacted with incredible speed stepping forward, throwing his spear with all his might, and then pulling the short sword. The spear didn't hit anywhere near right, being more like a forty-five-degree angle instead of the near-horizontal it should have been. The superficial wound it caused to the man's unarmored calf did nothing to slow him. Tom tried to shuffle out of the way. Still, the hammer came down on his left shin pulverizing the bone beneath in the coolest/horrific bone-breaking noise Jack had ever heard, and he had heard more than a few.

Jack hit into the man like a freight train the arm with his shield pressed into the hammer wielder's right shoulder while the other with the short sword lashed out blindly. Like a piston slashing and stabbing, Jack turned the man's left side and hip into a gruesome mess of stabs and slashes in seconds. Jack was stopped cold when an arrow pierced his thigh. The shock made Jack's knees buckle for the briefest moment and gave the hammer wielder time to bring his weapon to bear on Jack.

The situation is fucked Jack thought to himself doing what he could to keep the big man between him and the ranged fighters who had not spread out to finish them off yet for some unknown reason. Jack said to himself the only way out is through, and summoned all the limited saliva in his mouth and spit right in the big man's face. The large man bellowed in rage and heaved the large hammer to begin a mighty swing. That is when Jack struck. The wounded man had been slowed, and the time it took for him to raise the weapon was all the window it took for Jack to jump forward. He was now close to the man where the hammer was near useless, but the short sword was deadly. Jack used the same series of quick stabs with the weapon. This time Jack could see where he was striking, and he practically sawed through the man's neck.

Jack was overcome by bloodlust, and no longer felt anything but power and rage. Jack just let the warrior's lifeless body drop, not even raising his shield to protect his exposed chest. He fixed his blood-drenched face on the three men and shouted. It was a primal bellow of rage that came from somewhere inside him, and he could see his mana begin to drop. The shout felt so good Jack had to force himself to stop when the bar reached about one third. The four men were shaking as Jack simply walked towards them. Every man kept his terror-filled eyes on Jack and collectively begun just stepping back unconsciously as he approached. The bravest raised weapons with no confidence, but one tripped over his own feet and fell flat on his ass, and the other simply bolted down the road. Jack kept stalking forward, and the man with weapons left his companion behind as he continued the unconscious retreat.

Jack stopped perhaps a foot in front of the downed man who sat there passively and bellowed, "Drop your weapons and valuables and run or get to fighting."

16 gold, a wealth of daggers, two gems, one ring, a bow, and a quiver hit the ground, and as suggested, the defeated men simply ran. Jack leveled up. He felt it, and oddly the arrow in the thigh just disappeared.

"Hold on a sec. And watch my back. I want to spend my level points," Jack said to Tom.

Tom was amazed explaining as he stared off into space while he looked at the log, " We got the experience for the men that surrendered. It appears you get the full experience for defeating an enemy if they surrender unconditionally. "

Jack brought up his interface and saw he had a shit ton of messages. The level up icon was the one he was interested in. Then he spent his points as before Strenght, Fortitude, Dexterity, Charisma, and Will. After collecting all the gear that had just dropped along with the warhammer, Jack asked, "Checkout the warehouse?"

" Yeah sure," Tom still in a shock that his leg had both been destroyed and restored a few minutes apart.

The warehouse was dark compared to the light outside. The men stood inside an entrance room with cushioned benches along the wall on both sides. There was a door adjacent to the one they entered through. They waited a moment before proceeding to let their eyes adjust to the new environment.

The next area was a large training room with a matted floor and weapon racks along the walls. There were no doors along the left wall because it was the exterior wall that shared the alley with the brewery. There were, however, two doors on the far wall and four on the right wall. Jack motioned his head to the right, and the men tried the first door on that side and found it locked. Jack decided he was going through the door then just for the fun of it. After taking a few steps back, he charged the door with all his weight behind his shield. The door failed quickly, and Jack blew through the opening in an irruption of wood chips from the door jam.

Jack was fucking pissed when he took stock of what he saw. The room was a long barracks-like room with ten bunk beds and a large cage built into the far end of the room. The cage made Jack hold tight to his rage because it contained six captive women who had the glazed over look of holocaust survivors cowering in fear. Behind them came the clatter of armored men, and Jack heard a booming" Halt."

Jack spun around, ready for a fight when the wooden floor reached up and grabbed him. The massive wooden fist held him tight, not giving Jack an inch of movement as he tried to get free. It was a patrol, much like the one Jack had seen on the road. The caster had him caught in a spell, and Tom was surrounded, having two spears leveled at him along with an arrow pointed at his head. The plated commander spoke up, " Am I safe in assuming the bodies outside are your work?"

Tom spoke first and said," That would be a fair assumption."

" I'm sure you know that murder is frowned upon pretty much everywhere in the free world," The commander said, leveling both his gaze and the question on the restrained Jack.

The anger that Jack had felt upon seeing the women hadn't waned by being scooped up like a naughty child and bubbled over by this idiot's stupid question," Look at those women down there." Jack said, building steam." I don't even want to think of their horrors" still gaining volume and pressure. "This is your town. This was happening on your fucking watch," Jack continued finding his rhythm.

Then came the eruption, " How long do you think I worked to figure this out? Not fucking long. Less then twenty minutes from viewing a public bulletin board, I was here, and within half an hour, these women would have been free if your lazy ass hadn't got in the way. If you have even the slightest sense of honor, you'll walk to that cage and beg forgiveness. Now let me the hell down and next time do your own fuckin job." Jack said, having spent the bulk of his rage and now just staring at them fuming.

Tom watched Jack's anger induced meltdown with awe and respect. The play of emotions on the leader's face was priceless. First, the man was indignant that he would be spoken to that way, then angry at Jack's tone. Still, the mention of the women and dereliction of duty made the man look to the side and shift a bit uncomfortably. The commander looked at the archer and said," Lortan get those women free. Sabastian, you may release this man. He won't be attacking us."

The archer hurried to the cage and got to work on the lock with a pick while the large hand holding Jack slowly dissolved back into the floor. The commander continued, "I am going to take those women to the barracks where we will get statements and contact relatives if they can be found. When I reach the barracks, a detachment will be sent to collect evidence and clean the screen. You would be far better off not being here."

The prompt completing the quest I Know People and telling Jack that he needed to speak with Roland came up. Jack dismissed the message and watched as the women were ushered out of the building. When the patrol left with the women, Jack and Tom tossed the warehouse. The two men found that the doors off the training area they hadn't opened led to a private chamber. In the fancier room, they found the loot. The payday included six unidentified potions, 234 gold, a set of lock picks, and a fist-sized ruby and a kitchen with bread, dried meat, and a barrel of ale. Jack left the ale but tossed the bread into his bag and begun munching on the dried meat as they went.

Jack and Tom proceeded to the Market District to sell the loot and maybe buy some " cool shit" as Tom put it. Jack had settled on living it up that night and planned to ask around for the most expensive inn, have a bath, and a steak. Tom's eyes sparkled, and he said "bath" in a slow, longing fashion. They met with Roland gaining 50 gold and leveling again before heading into the Market District.