Part 1

Scot spent his off day like any other. He popped into the kitchen and looked for something to eat. He stole a pop tart from Cliff which he knew would not be missed. He slept and went online to read forums on the capitol of Heaven kingdom. They pretty much said what he expected.

He read his email and was surprised to see that the Dark Gamers Union replied so fast.

Dear Tinker we have read your email and discussed it in depth. You are not the first to ask such a request from us. We have a proposal. You pay us a minimum monthly fee of 50 pounds to gain access to our lowest rank in the Union. The more you pay the better access to information you will get.

Understand that even our lowest rank has a lot of accurate information compared to public forums. Those that post the information do so for the money they can earn in game as well as outside. We have been operational since the opening day and in time more members will join us and more information will get posted. We believe in take as much as you give.

You may also post information with your access code. Your code is 890718 and the bank details will be on our page as soon as you log in.

Good day

The Bishop

That was not entirely what he expected to get, but it is a start. He logged onto the page to have a look around.

The web page was neat and there was really no confusion. It had its own search engine so that you can look for key words and was easy to navigate around.

He read a few topics about how people suggest to level faster. He also read that the best low level swords a player can get for cheap is the sword you get from basic training. So he kept on reading. He was interested in professions as well. The information was to the point. No dark gamer would focus on just their profession. They would focus on gaining levels and looking for good hunting grounds. That was where the money was. They said they would keep an eye on it and speculated that the rewards could be great the higher your skill gets.

He logged onto Royal Road when his lock out expired. He had much to do today. He woke up inside the small temple and was greeted by a priest.

“Welcome out lander, we have healed all your wounds. You are at the temple in Avelon, have a good day and try not to die”. Tinker could feel his shoulder- and head wound was fully healed and no scar remained. ‘Seems like priests can do so much more than my bandages’ he thought.

Tinker needed to buy supplies and see if he could get passage on a wagon heading towards the Capital. Finding a merchant wagon was not so hard. He found a wagon heading towards the capital. He signed on as body guard and chef, as long as they provided the food he would cook. The wagon was leaving in 2 hours. The first stop he made was the Golden Apple. He bought supplies from Morrain at cost price. He stocked up on herbs and other items, but not meat as he was planning on hunting on the trip. He also bought a big pot, nearly 3 times the size of the one he used now. A person never knows when a big pot would come in handy. Mistress Anan added a few more spices he would need which was very kind of her. He said his goodbyes as he did not know if he would see them soon, but he promised to be back someday.

He went over to the warrior’s guild. There he found Aragon and the party leader. The leader informed him of what happened to them and that the quest had failed. With that information the quest disappeared from his personal bar and his Infamy increased by 20 and fame decreased by 20. In addition the mage guild was now hostile towards him. He was not sure, but he read that Infamy is for criminals and murderers. In the grand scheme of things it did not matter too much. The leader left while he and Aragon stood facing each other. Aragon was glad to see him.

“My friend what happened to you?”

“I died and came back to life. How did things go on your side?”

“Well. We encountered no threats on our way back to the city. Does dying hurt?”

“It does. The yeti’s crushed my ribs and punched me off the cliff. Not the best of feelings I assure you.”

“I understand. It must be great to come back to life. What will you do now? Are we going to hunt some more?”

“No. I am leaving and not sure when ill come back, but I will. Tell the others goodbye for me. I am leaving soon.”

“I shall do that. Also I need to give you a parting gift.”

He took out a big back pack from his pack and handed it over.

“This is a new magic imbued back pack. Its size is about 4 times larger than your current pack, as long as you have the strength to pick it up and walk with it. In here is a big piece of yeti leather. I looted 1 of those we managed to kill and got it. I thought you might be able to use it in the future.”

Tinker read on the dark gamer’s webpage that the amount of japtem you can carry in your backpack is only affected by your strength and stamina. Thus if you have a lot, you can carry a lot, but if you carry a lot your combat skills suffer greatly. During all of this Tinker forgot about his new skill. He has been online for nearly over an hour and forgot to use the skill. He whispered Morph Strength and thanked Aragon for the gift. He talked some more and left Aragon after a firm hand shake. He went to the front desk and saw the old man writing things down in a book.

“Sir I would like to buy the same swords and armour I was given when I joined the guild. Is that possible?”

“Yes, only a fool warrior would not have back up and spares of his items.”

“Indeed, I need 2 swords like these and the same leather armour.”

“Alright, that will be 5 gold and 60 silvers.”

“Ok, here you go.”

Tinker made some gold from all the hunting and selling of the odd items, but most of the 20 gold he had left was earned from his salary at the warrior’s guild itself. He took his new items and put them in his new back pack. It looked better than his previous pack. He then transferred all the other items he carried with him over as well. He stored his old back pack in the new one. What really helped was that the back pack space was like a void. You can store many shields and swords and other items into one back pack, more than a normal person can carry. At least this feature was a plus. Nobody wanted to go back to town after only picking up a few items. Thus a person can stay longer in the field or dungeon before you have to return to towns.

“Ah crap, Morph agility.” It was nearly 7 minutes since he last used the skill. This was going to be tough. A person can easily forget to use new skills. Tinker called forth the Settings menu for the skill. There he read he can only rename the skill. He went into his general settings and looked around at the different options. He saw an option that notified a person when a skill is activated or when it expires. He did not really need the system to tell him what skill he activates because he activates it verbally. He left that off and turned the latter on. Now every time his skill expires he will get notified and can use the skill again.

Before he left the guild he went looking for instructor Canobi. “Hello, I want to ask you about basic training.”

“Yes, what can I help you with”

“I heard that one receives a sword when one finishes basic training. How long will it take and can I get swords best suited for me?”

“You would receive only 1 sword. A bit shorter than the basic sword most warriors get. It will be of the same quality and do less damage. Also it will take about a month. Most finish it over a few months but the fastest take a month.”

“Ok, how long will I need to train a day and what other bonuses do I get from doing it?”

“You will need to train the entire day. You have already spent a few hours hitting the scare crow. You only have about 440 hours remaining until you pass. In addition you gain base stats and on completion you can take the next training course.”

“Wow that is a lot of time. I can do it over a period of a few months and at any training hall right?

“Yes”

With that news Tinker left. Maybe if there is time in the future he will get around to it, but to grind day after day like that is insane. He went over to the merchant as he was ready to go to the next town. There he would find another group that was headed towards the capital and join them.

The progress was slow. He was sure if he walked he could have gotten faster to the towns than the wagons, but he did not know the way so this worked fine for him. Most of the time he sat on the wagon breaking and repairing his leather armour. In the morning he made breakfast and at night before they camped he would make food again. He cooked for himself, the merchant and the other body guards. They said the roads were safe but the odd crime and attack by monsters do happen. On the journey they encountered no monsters or enemies. He did jump off the wagon now and again to collect plants he thought might be useful.

After 3 days they came out of the mountain range to a small town called Doxtan. The merchant said they would spend about 2 hours here and then head out again. They were heading for a bigger town called Reeseville. It was about 2 days’ journey away. The sight after Doxtan was a pleasant one. The mountain range was slowly getting smaller in the distance while the air felt warmer and more grassy open plains were visible. The type of plants he harvested became more diverse. The extra leather armour he kept breaking and repairing was losing durability. He needed more leather to keep on repairing them. The chest armour’s durability had nearly decreased by half. He focused more on breaking and repairing his leg pieces after that as he did not want to waste gold. He decided to repair less and go hunting at night when they made camp. There should be some creatures he can harvest for meat and leather.

It happened in Reeseville. He was looking for a merchant wagon he can guard that was heading towards the capital. Most merchants wanted to charge him but he knew he would find someone that would pay him or let him go for free. So he kept on looking

“Hello tinker, are you there?”

“Um yes who is this?”

“You need to select the chat window and then reply, otherwise I can’t hear you.”

Tinker selected reply and started to talk. “Yes, sorry about that. It is the first time somebody whispered me in game”

“I see. You have been playing for nearly 3 months and this is the first time somebody whispered you. That is weird but I guess you’re a loner. This is Cuzen from school.”

“Ok, I figured that. How have you guys been?”

“Just busy, We have been heading towards the Capital for the past week. I tried to whisper you about a week ago when we started, but you did not reply. We are having lunch next to a lake and I decided it was a good time to try again.”

“Sorry about that. About a week ago I died for the first time and could not log in for 4 days. I have been heading towards to capital for the last 5 days.”

“Yeah, I understand. It’s been a while since we died. We try to avoid it ‘cause we don’t like losing points in our professions and skills. We work hard to level them and a death only slows down our progress.”

“I have not really checked my stats in a while. But I lost a level. I will be at the capital in about 2 weeks. My progress is slow. I am traveling with merchants and we stop every night.”

“I understand, We are just over a week away. We are walking and making good time. We will find stuff to do while we wait for you. Talk later if you are online. Now I have to brave Yuri’s latest cooking recipe.”

“No problem. Talk to you later”

Cuzen requested to be friends with you.

Do you accept or decline?

“Accept”. Cuzen has been added to your friends list. “Morph strength.”

Saying it every 5 minutes till he stopped playing this game better be worth it.

In Reeseville he encountered a player called Sam. Sam was a merchant and looked like he was about 30 years old. He came from the capital on a quest and was heading back there now with the new items he bought here. In Reeseville a strong strain of cherry fruits grew that were bigger and sweeter than the other areas’ cherries. The nobleman from the capital would pay a lot for large amounts of the cherries. With them they can make good food and even better alcohol. Sam had a wagon which he told Tinker was a corner stone for every merchant. With it a person can transport a lot more items than you can normally carry in a back pack. Sam overheard him talk about the capital and decided to introduce himself. The terms were that Tinker can ride with Sam if he would act as bodyguard and drive when Sam gets tired or needs to log out. No fee was needed. Tinker agreed and they set off.

Sam was doing most of the talking. He explained why he became a merchant and how he use to do the whole adventure and combat thing in other games, but now it’s all about the money. He was level 52. Which was impressive considering he only did quests related to the merchant class. Later Tinker would read that Sam the merchant was part of an elite group that ranked as the 10 Richest people in Royal road. Sam gave him some tips on how to earn more money and said that forming relations with powerful people and those with influence help earn you money. Most merchants like to buy in bulk, so it is faster to sell in bulk to a merchant then stand around all day selling one item at a time, if you are able to sell them.

Sam was a sharp man. They were together for an hour when Sam asked why he keeps on whispering Morph Agility and Morph Strength. Tinker explained it was a skill that he needed to cast every 5 minutes to level it up. He could see the cogs work in Sam’s head, but he left it at that. When the first night arrived Sam logged out. Tinker went looking for monsters to kill. He found a fox and a pack of wolves. He took the meat and leather and went back to camp. He stuck to his routine. Break the leather piece and repair it. Mumble Morph stat every 5 minutes. Make food in the mornings and nights. The weekend was about to end in the real world and Sam said he would be online less because he had to work.

Tinker informed him he was on holiday and planned on playing a lot. Thus Tinker would be in charge of driving the wagon from now on towards the capital. Sam would relieve him when he could. Thus a 2 week journey was reduced to just over a week. The horse did well to keep up with Tinkers pace because when Sam was offline he would push the horse hard and feed him a bit extra for the trouble.

At night times while he was cooking Cuzen would whisper him and they would have a quick chat. He figured that Yuri was the hunter and their cook. Cuzen always mentioned what they were about to eat before he said his last goodbye.

Tinker and Sam arrived at a huge gate. He assumed it was the main gate but later would discover he was wrong. It was only the north side gate. Sam parted ways with Tinker and went towards the market place to sell his items. He gave Tinker a big bag full of cherries as a parting gift. He whispered Cuzen and asked how far they were. He said they will be arriving tomorrow some time.

Tinker went straight to the training hall. He had many hours still to complete his basic training. After the wagon rides he was getting a bit restless. He did not really count killing a fox and wolves as combat. He went at it for a couple of hours and then would rest. He did this for an entire day and half, well into the night until he could do no more. While he was sitting against a wall sweating like a pig a warrior approached him.

“Evening. How goes the training?”

Tinker was not sure the person was talking to him, but since no one was next to him he assumed he was talking to him.

“Slow”

“Yes I recall when I was doing the basic training program. Took me over a month to complete it. A new guild member of ours was also here training but left some time ago. Those that train here in our guild have standing orders to keep an eye out for people also doing the basic training.”

“Why is that?”

“Well I assumed you heard we are recruiting players doing basic training here. So, do you want to join our guild? We are new like most guilds and a bit smaller than most. We prefer quality over quantity.”

“That’s good” Tinker said slowly.

“My name is Gambit, Warrior and co founder and co leader of the Brotherhood of Steel”.

“I did not really plan on joining a guild and just came here to meet up with friends. Can I maybe get back to you sometime. I just started resuming basic training and will not finish soon, think I have about 430 hours remaining before I am done.”

“Not at all. If you plan on remaining here and resuming your training we will probably run into each other again. So long and good luck.”

“Cheers man”

If he had to guess he would say that the warrior was a barbarian and more than a few levels above him. The problem was that barbarians looked like humans but were only bigger in size. It was hard sometimes to figure out if a person was a large human or small barbarian. Those taller than 7 feet were normally barbarians. And those shorter than 6 feet were humans. It is those that are in between 6 and 7 feet that caused the confusion.

The others would be arriving the next morning so he logged out and took a nap.

He was back and sitting in the training hall. He might as well get some training in while he waited. He whispered Morph agility and started his attack on the scarecrow. About an hour passed before Cuzen whispered him.

“Yo, we are heading to the palace main entrance. We all agreed it is the one place we all want to see before we go our separate ways.”

“Ok. I will see you guys there.”