Marcus woke up in the morning feeling refreshed. He checked his notifications to find that his [Well Rested] buff was activated. He smiled.

Orin said, “What are you grinning at first thing in the morning you ass.”

Marcus could see that Orin was definitely not [Well Rested]. Or Orin could not be a morning person altogether. Marcus told Orin about his buff. That earned him a string of expletives from Orin.

The dwarves soon broke their fast, boiled eggs and coffee, and packed up everything. The party soon started to make its way towards Solaris. It took about five hours of walking but they reached Solaris. They split up when they arrived.

“And remember”, said Orin, “We are meeting at The Flying Sow at noon for lunch. We need to have a word about your adventuring future Marcus Blank. Also, I really want our quests to turn into a major quest.”

Marcus simply shook his head and said his goodbyes to the dwarves. He started to make his way towards Sinanan’s blacksmithy. He reached The Tools of the Trade in about twenty minutes. He could see Sinanan working at the forge. Marcus waited a few minutes before Sinanan noticed him. She had been really focused on her work.

Sinanan stopped her work and walked up to Marcus, wiping her hands on the apron she was wearing. It took some moments for that to happen.

Sinanan said, “You are back. Can I hope? Were you successful?”

Marcus handed her the necklace. There was a look of pure joy on Sinanan’s face as she took the necklace. Marcus got a notification and he looked at it. It was the notification for completing the quest. He got 100 experience points as Sinanan had mentioned.

“Your reward then”, said Sinanan, “Now I have two twinblades with me. One is the Fine Iron Twinblade and second is the Magic Iron Twinblade. I made the Fine Iron Twinblade. The magic one was given to me as a payment some years back. It is well maintained.

Marcus checked the information of both the twinblades.

Fine Iron Twinblade

Physical Attack: Base 15 + Strength 5 + Dexterity 12

Magical Attack: 0

Block: 20%

Critical Attack Chance: 2%

Critical Attack Damage: 10%

Requirements: 10 Strength, 15 Dexterity

Description: A finer version of the iron twinblade. Twirl it to slash many enemies with higher damage.

Magic Iron Twinblade

Physical Attack: Base 10 + Strength 1 + Dexterity 3

Magical Attack: Base 10 + Intelligence 15

Block: 20%

Critical Attack Chance: 2%

Critical Attack Damage: 10%

Requirements: 8 Strength, 10 Dexterity, 10 Intelligence

Description: A twinblade with Magic attack. Scales more on intelligence and provides high magical damage.

The Fine Iron Twinblade focused purely on physical attack. It scaled at 50% of strength and 75% of dexterity as Marcus could see. The Magical Iron Twinblade added magical attack to the twinblade and scaled a 100% on Intelligence. Its physical attack was low and magical attack was almost double the physical attack. He compared the attack rating and found that the Fine Iron Twinblade would have an attack rating of 32 while the Magic Iron Twinblade had the attack rating of 38.

It would make sense to take Magic Iron Twinblade. However, there would be some catch, which he suddenly realized. The Fine Iron Twinblade’s attack would be blocked only by the adventurer’s physical resistance while the Magic Iron Twinblade’s attack would be blocked by both physical and magical resistance. This would be offset by the high attack rating and that made sense to Marcus.

Marcus chose the Magic Iron Twinblade. It was the best option for him. He had high dexterity and intelligence. With the magical twinblade equipped, he had the physical attack of 31 and magical attack of 48. This made a total attack rating of 79 which was quite a high number.

Marcus said, “Thanks. I am assuming our business is concluded.”

Sinanan nodded, “Yes.”

“Good. Good. Good. You see though. I had an interesting chat with Thanandara you see. The goblin chief. He told me that you were not telling the entire truth to me.”

Sinanan wore a look of confusion on her face. She asked, “Why did you talk with the goblin chief?”

So Marcus slowly started telling her what all had happened to him during the quest. Sinanan’s face paled as she heard the story. At the end of it she was quivering with rage.

She launched into a string of expletives and Marcus noted certain words for later research. It took some time but she did calm down.

Sinanan said, “The goblins did not deserve that. They were not evil, just trying to survive. Their bad luck was that they were near a town.”

Marcus did not say anything. He felt that silence was best in the current scenario. Sinanan would tell him what he wanted to know in time.

Sinanan asked, “Do you know much about goblins?”

Marcus replied, “I have read about them on the internet. Is there more to them than what is written?”

“No, the internet basically sums up goblins in general. Their behaviour, their strengths, their weaknesses, their culture and other things. However, it does not talk about specific camps.”

Sinanan paused, took a deep breath and continued, “The camp near Solaris is not full of hostile goblins. Well there are hostile goblins elsewhere but this camp was not one of them. Their chief Thanandara ensured that. He used to deal with my father. You see, adventurers and non adventurers do not trust goblins by default as they normally are thieves and pillagers. However, this group under Thanandara was different. They just wanted to live their lives normally, away from everything. They did not bother us and so there were normally no quests to wipe them out or you know harm them in any way.

Their camp was in the woods, far away from Solaris. So they were under attack from monsters of the wood on a regular basis. They had weapons but they were not up to the mark. I do not know how my father came in contact with them but he did. He felt pity for Thanandara’s tribe and became their blacksmith on the side. No one in Solaris knew about it.

After the death of my father, Thanandara asked me for my help the same way my father did. You know, make me their blacksmith but I refused. I did not feel the same way as my father felt. I just wanted to be a blacksmith for the adventurers. I wanted to save sufficiently so that I could get to Opulential City. It is the capital of this land mass, Umanahash.

However, with the rise of The Fire Forge, I was out of work quickly. I did not have the savings I wished for. So, I reached out to Thanandara. However, Charthuk, the Umaru who runs The Fire Forge, came to know about this somehow. He also knew of my father’s connection with the goblins. He threatened to smear my father’s reputation and mine if I did not give the goblins inferior quality products.

I got scared and caved in. The goblins figured out very fast. They can quickly tell if something is of inferior quality. Enraged, they tried to attack me and I ran. That is when I lost my necklace. I did not know Thanadara had found it. I also did not know that Charthuk had put on a quest to wipe out the goblin camp. That was excessive. And unnecessary. I do not understand his motive.”

Sinanan stopped. She was thoughtful for some time. Then she turned to Marcus, “Can you investigate this? What is Charthuk’s true purpose in killing all the goblins?”

Marcus knew what it was. It was a quest. He sighed and said, “Yes, I will try and find out.”

He got a notification. He studied it.

Quest: Charthuk’s Ambition

Find out why Charthuk wanted the goblins dead and return to Sinanan.

Reward: 500 experience points

The reward was a bit disappointing this time. There were no weapons or armor or units for completing the quest. Only experience. He would take it though. It would be good to level up fast.

Marcus soon finished his discussion with Sinanan and started off towards The Flying Sow. He would be meeting the Ori brothers there. He entered and went to the common area. The Ori brothers had not arrived yet. He sat down and waited for them.

They entered in about an hour. Marcus grinned as he saw them bustle into the common area. They exchanged greetings and ordered something to eat. They discussed random things because Marcus knew that dwarves talked business only on full stomach. He had read about it.

Once they were finished, the dwarves ordered drinks, ale specifically. Marcus ordered wine. He had [Alcohol Tolerance] at level 1 but he did not want to push it today. He needed a clear head.

Marcus said, “So, what did you find out?”

Orin said, “Nah-uh. Newbies first.”

Marcus told them about his conversation with Sinanan. The waiter came with their drinks while he was telling the dwarves what had transpired. They all seemed to be deep in thought after Marcus was finished.

Orin broke the silence, “You know. There was something fishy about Charthuk but I could not put my finger on it.”

“That is because you did not care initially”, said Oril, “You just wanted to kill lots of goblins.”

“Ha ha ha. Gork you. As I had said earlier, Charthuk was the one who had given us the quest. He had cited harassment from the goblins as his reason. That the goblins were raiding their merchandise which they sent to other villages. We did not ask questions at that time. However, once we had turned in the quest for destroying the goblin encampment, we did some research.”

Orin took a drag from his mug of ale and continued, “It seems that there have been no deliveries from Solaris to any villages for a long time. You know, no deliveries of weapons or armors or other blacksmith thingies. There have been other deliveries though and they have not had any problems. So, what in the gorking world was Charthuk talking about?”

Orim said, “So, we asked around. It seems no one had trouble with the goblin encampment. The goblins there mostly kept to themselves. Why did Charthuk make up the lie then?”

Orin rubbed his hands together, “Charthuk told us to come tomorrow. He has another quest for us. I sense a major quest.”

Orik said, “This is the fifth major quest that you have sensed since you started adventuring.”

“But we have not had the major quest yet. It is supposed to start at the beginning and continue till the end. I am already at level 17 and there has not even been a peep of the major quest.”

“Have some patience, you gorking monkas. We will get the major quest soon. Some adventurers do not get till they reach level 30.”

Orin groaned, “I do not wish to wait so long. I just want to get started.”

The other dwarves shook their heads. It seemed to Marcus that they had had this conversation before.

Marcus said, “What if I come with you tomorrow to meet Charthuk? I have to investigate the blacksmith after all. You can introduce me as your party member.”

Orik nodded, “We can do that. But first. Most important. We need to get you some decent armor.”

The others nodded. Marcus said, “So, let’s go now.”

“Can’t we do it tomorrow?” asked Orim, “We are going to a blacksmith after all.”

Marcus shook his head, “I do not trust this Charthuk. Let’s go and see what Sinanan has for me.”

They paid for their meal and drinks and left the adventurer guild. They walked up to Sinanan’s smithy. It looked as if she had closed for the night but it seemed that she lived next to her smithy. Marcus knocked on the door and it opened to a surprised Sinanan.

“Marcus”, exclaimed Sinanan, “What are you doing here so late? Is it something you found out about Charthuk?”

“Can we come inside?” asked Marcus.

Sinanan nodded and let them in. Her house was simple in design. They stepped into a living room which had a few couches and a coffee table in the centre. There were doors and a passage leading to other parts of the house but Marcus did not give them much notice. Marcus and the dwarves sat down. Then they told Sinanan what they had discussed.

“So you are going to meet that bastard tomorrow”, said Sinanan. It was not a question so no one answered.

She turned to Orik, “You were right. He does need armor. I asked around after you had left Marcus. Apparently, Charthuk has given two more quests in line with eradication of the goblin encampment. There was an orc encampment to the South East of the goblin encampment and Charthuk has had that destroyed. There was a lizard folk encampment to the South of Solaris and Charthuk has had that destroyed too. I do not know what his plan is but he is becoming dangerous. I am also planning to move out of Solaris now. I do not want to join him.”

Sinanan then led the others to the smithy. Marcus suddenly remembered that he had looted some goblin equipment. He had five goblin armors, five goblin knives, two goblin swords and a pair of goblin boots. Sinanan gave him thirteen hundred units for everything. Marcus was not pleased.

“So, now to the armor”, said Orin, rubbing his hands together. Sinanan asked Marcus a lot of questions regarding how he would like his armor, how it would affect his fighting and how much would he like to move while wearing it. She also asked whether he wanted to use more spells in the future. That would determine the weight of the armor. Apparently, heavier armor increased the mana cost of certain spells.

So Marcus had to think. And he had to research fast on the side. He was not happy about not having time but it would do for now. Orin and the others strongly believed that Marcus really needed armor before meeting Charthuk tomorrow.

After much debate, downright arguing and research, Marcus’ armor pieces were finalized. He scanned them.

Leather Cotton Armor

Physical Resistance: 5

Magical Resistance: 2

Description: An armor made up of a combination of leather and cotton giving you the protection in the form of best of both worlds but actually has less resistances than pure armor.

Marcus frowned at the description. He knew if he had selected pure leather armor, then he would have gotten physical resistance of 10 and the same would have been the case with magical resistance if had worn pure cotton armor. But he knew that hybrid armor would help him in the long run.

He examined his pants.

Pure Cotton Pants Armor

Magical Resistance: 5

Description: Light, breezy and yet perfectly snug, the everyday wear for a combat mage.

Marcus shook his head at the description. He had not bought a helmet yet but had bought bracers.

Iron bracers

Physical Resistance: 7

Description: Light and sturdy. Better than leather yet not quite in the category of heavy armor, these bracers would serve to protect an adventurer well.

The description was almost normal according to Marcus. He now checked his defence stats. His physical resistance was now 20 while magical resistance was 15 after wearing armor. It was decent according to Marcus. The dwarves were satisfied too. Sinanan also gave Marcus a nod of approval when he donned the complete set.

It had cost him twenty thousand units. Marcus wondered how he would pay such an amount to Sinanan but Orik had come up with a solution that Marcus did not like. Marcus had used his NAIF badge to pay, increasing his debt to NAIF. It was now 1,50,000 units.

He was not happy but there was nothing he could do about it right now. He checked his balance. He had about 5,000 units with him. He needed them for his daily expenses.

“All right”, said Orik when they were finished, “We meet tomorrow at 10 o’clock in the morning at The Fire Forge. Let us see what all this is about.”

Marcus and the dwarves said goodbye to Sinanan. The dwarves started towards an inn which was near the town’s market. They were staying there. Marcus made his way towards the adventurer’s guild. As he neared the guild building, he heard a commotion. Someone was talking. Marcus could clearly hear desperation in that person’s voice.

Marcus looked carefully at who was talking. It was an Umaru, clutching the robes of an adventurer elf. Marcus could tell the robed elf was an adventurer because the elf had his staff in front of him and was threatening the Umaru to let him go. The Umaru finally did it and Marcus approached him.

The Umaru said, “Oh thank god. Another adventurer. You got to listen to me. Please. It’s urgent.”

“Okay”, said Marcus, “But not here. Can we go somewhere else? I don’t think you will be allowed inside the guild considering the commotion you just caused with the elf who went in.”

The Umaru glanced at the entrance and Marcus did too. Destiduous stepped out. He said, “Is this person bothering you Marcus?”

Marcus said, “He said he needs help. I am going to see what this is about.”

“Are you sure?” Destiduous looked uncertain, “This Umaru”, Destiduous checked his name, “Tarkar Sunnik just harassed Gulzarn about a rubbish quest regarding demons. There have been many complaints from other adventurers that he is babbling nonsense and spreading unnecessary fear.”

“I am not lying”, said Tarkar, “This is urgent.”

Destiduous said in a heated voice, “Talk of demons is not appreciated. You know the law. NAIF would be on your gorking ass if you continue like this.”

“But I am not lying. I have proof.”

Destiduous looked at Tarkar for some time. Then he said, “Come with me then. Let me see about this quest of yours. If it is official, then we can put it on the quest board.”

Marcus said, “Hold there Destiduous. Do you mind if I join you guys? I would like to accept it if it is an interesting quest.”

Destiduous rolled his eyes and said, “Your funeral.”

Destiduous led Tarar and Marcus into a private meeting room. He closed the door behind them and sat on a chair. Marcus saw that the room was not that small and could seat at least ten people. There was a table in the centre with ten chairs surrounding it. They all took chairs facing one another. Destiduous had his back to the door, Tarkar sat facing the door and Marcus was on an end facing them both.

Destiduous said, “Talk.”

Tarkar said in a slow voice, “What do you know about demons?”

“That they were sealed by the game masters about 500 hundred years ago. Considering the death and destruction they caused, Lord Rauros and Lady Leyda prohibited anyone from talking about them as it would disrupt the hard earned peace. The scars of the demon war would fade over time but if we kept reliving them, there would always be a nutcase who would try to take revenge and get himself or herself killed and release the demons again.”

Tarkar nodded. He said, “There is a small army of demons sealed beneath Solaris. I do not know the exact count but it was sealed by placing three seals around the town of Solaris. The seals initially were guarded by specific guards chosen by Lord Rauros. However, with time, he did not want anyone to know about the seals. So, he made three encampments over there. A goblin encampment, an orc encampment and a lizard folk encampment.”

Marcus started as he heard this and both Destiduous and Tarkar looked at him. Marcus explained to them what he and the dwarves had discussed. About the destruction of the three encampments and who had given the quest for their destruction.

Tarkar nodded, “I wanted an adventurer to investigate the same. There is a demon sympathizer in Solaris. Soon after the encampments were destroyed, someone went to where the seals were located in the encampment and destroyed them. All the three seals are broken. Now, someone just needs to open the gate and the demons sealed in Solaris would be free.”

“How would they open the seal in solaris?” asked Marcus.

Tarkar said, “The same way they destroyed the other seals. With lots of energy.”

“And how would they get this energy?”

“I am assuming sacrificing people”, said Tarkar but he seemed unsure.

Marcus said, “All right. Back up. How do you know all this stuff if it is not allowed?”

Tarkar shifted a bit uncomfortably. He said, “I am a librarian. I also research demons in secret. I know it is illegal but someone has to do it to ensure that there is no demon invasion in the future. Like the situation right now.”

Destiduous said, “So you think there will be a demon invasion in Solaris?”

Tarkar nodded. Destiduous continued, “So, instead of going to NAIF, you went searching for an adventurer to help you stop it? Are you insane?”

Tarkar was looking really uncomfortable now. He said slowly, “I did go to NAIF. They said to make this scenario a quest. A major quest.”

Both Destiduous and Tarkar looked panicked now. Marcus was getting a bit of what was going on. However, he was still confused about certain things.

Marcus said, “Okay. So this is a major quest. Stop the demon summoning. This would lead to a further chain of quests for me. So, why does it seem that you guys are not really happy about this? I mean do you not like adventurers to get major quests or something?”

Destiduous said, his voice barely a whisper, “This means that the major quest for all adventurers this time is demon invasion. The last time it happened, many adventurers and non adventurers died, Marcus Blank. Permanently.”

There was silence after his statement. Marcus said, “How do we stop this Tarkar?”

Tarkar said, “I have identified the location of the final seal. It is in the centre of Solaris”, Tarkar shared his map and there was a location pointed on it. Marcus could not exactly identify the place marked though. Tarkar was still talking, “I just wanted the name of the person destroying the seals. From what you have told us Marcus, it seems that this Charthuk seems responsible. I need confirmation though. We cannot condemn anyone based on speculation. We need solid proof. So, the next part of your quest is to get the proof and stop the breaking of the seal.”

Marcus said, “I have not accepted the quest though.”

Destiduous sighed, “You do not accept major quests. They are accepted on your behalf. You do not have the option of not doing the major quest.”

Marcus looked at the interface he had hid earlier while entering Solaris. The right side showed

Major Quest

Stop Demon Invasion in Solaris

Someone is planning to break the seal in Solaris and summon demons. Stop them or it would lead to destruction of Solaris.

Beneath the major quest was his quest that he had received from Sinanan.

Marcus said, “Ok. But, what about the energy part? Are you sure this Charthuk would require sacrificing people to break the seal?”

Tarkar said, “At other locations, the encampments were destroyed and many goblins, orcs and lizard folks were killed. Whosoever broke the seals at those locations used the energy released from their deaths. However, in Solaris, they will need to kill a lot of non adventurers to get that much energy.”

“What about adventurers?” asked Marcus, “Can someone kill adventurers for opening the seal?”

Tarkar frowned, “I don’t know. It could be a possibility. But would it work? I mean adventurers resurrect after all.”

Destiduous said, “The point is not whether adventurers could be sacrificed or not. The point is to stop before the demons are summoned. Also, I need to have a word with NAIF and adventurer guilds everywhere. If we are going to have a demonic invasion as the major quest, then all the other major quests would have been cancelled and replaced by this one. Also, I would like to keep loss of life minimal. What are Lord Rauros and Lady Leyda thinking? They will not be game masters for long if they keep this up. Marcus you may go now. Investigate this tomorrow morning. You look like you need sleep.”

Tarkar looked as if he wanted to say something but stopped himself. Marcus left the room while Destiduous and Tarkar continued to discuss the demons. Marcus could not sleep now. He knew he should not look into the demons on the internet. He went to the library.

The librarian on duty looked at him funny when Marcus asked for information on demons.

The librarian said, “So Tarkar gave you the quest?”

Marcus nodded and he was taken into a private reading room. There he was given ten thick tomes. He gave a large sigh and started with the first. He did not have much time. He needed to be as up to date about demons as possible before he went to meet Charthuk with the dwarves. He started to read. Solaris would not fall, he vowed.

***

“Are you mad”, shouted Leyda at Rauros. They were in their bedroom. Rauros had given the final instructions. The war scenario was activated. Soon, all the adventurers would have their new major quest or have their existing major quest replaced.

“Demon invasion. This was the war scenario you envisaged. We vowed not to have another demonic invasion after what happened the last time. We lost too many Umarus. The Umarus shall boot us off if we have another demonic invasion and it gets messed up like the last time”, Leyda shouted with her volume increasing with each word.

Rauros said, “I am taking precautions. This will not be like last time. I have been planning something like this for quite some time now. Only I did not tell you because you would get really really angry. Like right now. See, you are very angry. And I do not like you to be angry. There is something special that I have planned this time.”

Rauros paused for dramatic effect. Seeing the anger on his wife’s face he continued hurriedly, “We both select champions. Champions that would help turn the tide of the battle against the demons. I have sent you some profiles of adventurers. Choose your champion from them. Give them special gifts. They would be leaders in the upcoming demonic invasion. Think about it. It will be fun.”

All the while he was talking, Rauros was slowly slinking towards the door to their room. He opened the door and practically ran out closing it after him once he was finished talking.

That’s right, thought Leyda, he better run. He knows he is a dead man considering the shit he has just pulled.

Leyda took a deep calming breath. She started looking through the files of the different adventurers Rauros had provided. She could not stop the demonic invasion scenario. But she was going to make it difficult for Rauros to cause further destruction. She would need help. Only two champions won’t do. She needed an ace.

She looked through the files and selected her champion. However, her memory jogged after she had gone through the files. She opened the file of the adventurer whose name she had thought of.

“Found you”, she said, “My Ace.”