Chapter 41

Waiting

The four Regulators who had died in the rabbit tunnels were wearing new clothes, and when they found out their friends had returned they eagerly grabbed weapons and armor. They discussed the final battle until dinner, and Torger especially appreciated having a home cooked meal again. The strawberry pie for desert was fantastic, but he really chowed down on simple bread and butter, staying away from venison marinated with lemon and peppers. It wasn’t bland venison, but he had enough of camp cooking deer to last him for weeks.

The next day Rome set out to make his rounds, taking gold nuggets and health potions. He traded the gold nuggets with Kirsk for iron ore, and then headed to trade iron ore and food with Strong Arm for more gold. Then he went to Kellogg Hill and walked until sunset. He arrived at the beach and found Baybil.

Rome said “Torger thought you might need some health potions. I have seven low health to trade.”

Baybil and Quickly both looked offended. Quickly said “We can train without them. The dwarves get hurt, and they learn. It’s how it has always been, no need to change anything.”

Baybil was offended for a different reason. “Torger abandoned us yesterday, and now he wants to make a profit off of our misfortune? We dwarves are greedy by nature, and his greed is high up there. Tell Torger he has become more dwarf-like than he knows.”

Rome turned to Teleport back to Home. Baybil stopped him. “No need to let those go to waste. I’ve got some coins from these simmets.”

Rome looked at him. “Under Torger’s rule, dwarves keep most of what they earn. The coins belong to the kids.”

Baybil was a little embarrassed. “Yes of course. I’m holding them and will distribute them at the end of our training, minus our fees of course.”

Rome corrected him again. “You are both employees of Rich Fields. You get a percentage of the gold mined as your payment. You don’t get fees for doing what is in the best interest of the village. Although you are the tribal chief, this training falls under the category of village subsidized worker.”

He withdrew a pouch and handed it to Baybil. “Three point eight ounces of raw gold is your payment from Strong Arm. Split it between yourselves, or buy these potions. But Torger doesn’t want money, he wants your permission to upgrade his armor in Sequoia.”

Baybil almost refused as a knee jerk reaction, the bitterness was still deep, but he changed his mind and nodded. “You all need better armor and weapons. He can upgrade as much as he wants, but no other trading with elves.”

Rome nodded and handed over the seven potions. “I’ll be back in a week with seven more.”

Quickly grunted and Baybil gave an appreciative nod. Rome disappeared in a pale green flash. Baybil looked at the battered kids and knew they still had a lot of work to do.

The next day Torger was in a hurry to get to the elves, but everyone saw how useful Rome’s Teleporting was. Torger asked Rome to continue making his daily rounds, while the others began walking to Sequoia. Rome didn’t mind. Torger paid him five silver coins per successful transaction, which was cheaper than paying travelling merchant fees. Rome spent one silver per day on ale (forty coppers per pint plus a generous twenty copper tip), a few coppers on laundry and a silver per week on new clothes. Occasionally he would gamble some on the new craze Torger had taught them, Yahtzee. But like most dwarves he was saving up for big ticket purchases at the next Mayor’s council in January.

Some dwarves talked about getting new leather boots, new cooking pots and pans, or binging on the variety of foods coming in from hundreds of miles away. Rome had his hopes up that he could find better mage’s armor or a diamond staff, but magic items usually came from elves, not dwarves. Rome had one unused ability point from fighting the Giant Moles and rabbits with Graul and Torger. He wouldn’t be getting experience anytime soon, so he used it on mana. He smiled at the idea the others were out looking for fights to buy the spell he already had.

Torger and the others made a zig zag path to Sequoia. They killed three rocs, two bears, four cottols, and four trolls along the way, all between levels 17 to 21. The higher levels made the tyter prey a little faster, stronger, and tougher, but the regulators were on average level 40. The matches weren’t fair, but the important thing was they all gained two ability points. They had a long way to go. Teleport 1 cost six ability points, and Teleport 2 cost ten ability points. They were all done with gaining “easy” levels- investing in strength, health, stamina, mana, and level 1 spells. A few of them could invest a little more in one category or another, but it was clear once they hit level 42, gaining levels would come to a near stop as each additional spell cost several ability points.

Finally they came to Sequoia on the sixth day. Lagwil greeted them personally, with her border guards. “Welcome Torger, Regulators. We haven’t heard from you in a while. How can I help you?”

She spoke with a warmth and kindness Torger had never seen before. He was immediately guarded. “Hello Lagwil. I am here to trade. This is a powerful containment stone, and I was hoping your alchemist could assist me.”

She said “Of course. Come in to the village.”

The Regulators stayed behind as expected, and Torger began walking toward the center stone. Lagwil walked beside him as an equal, not in front of him with guards behind Torger. He thought it was strange. “Lagwil, if you’re not guarding me, why do I need to go to the center stone and sit through the Winds of Truth?”

“We can never fully trust anyone. I’m sorry if that makes you uncomfortable, but you will never gain enough love points to bypass the testing. As you know, it is a short and painless process and not too far out of our way.”

The Winds confirmed he was there to trade, but instead of asking him for the containment stones, she led him into the village itself. It wasn’t until he was near the first occupied tree that she said “This is as far as you may come. Hand them over please.”

Torger had mixed emotions. Very few outsiders were allowed to see the village itself, but he still wasn’t trusted enough to meet the alchemist.

Lagwil was gone for ten minutes and returned holding the large stones glowing purple. “These are haste two stones! They are very powerful. Where did you get them?”

“We conquered a cave. I would rather not say more, I hope you understand.”

She caught on that Torger was playing a little tit for tat. She ignored the jab and said “It is good you have a pair. One gets infused into each boot, and the wearer automatically keeps haste two on their feet all the time. Do you want these on your boots?”

Torger didn’t know what the containment stones were and didn’t have the best quality of steel boots. Guntrink was in a rush when he was making all their armor. “I think I would like to get the best quality I can, before investing such a precious and rare item. Are there any recommendations he has?”

“Actually this alchemist is a she. And she recommends putting them on Master Boots.”

“What is that?”

“You know Jex’s Bow is a Master Bow. If she dies, the Bow reappears at her respawn point with her. If she dies permanently, the Bow reverts back to the previous owner. It was made by a true Master. There are boots that could hold the same properties, but they are rare.”

“Hmm, I doubt I’ll ever come across a pair like that. And my boots are too uncomfortable. I’ll return to the village and come back with the best pair our blacksmith can make. How much?”

“Two gold.”

“Ouch. Why so much?”

“Two, each. The higher the level a spell is, the fewer have the ability to infuse the stones. Most elf villages have one alchemist who could handle level three spells, and only a handful of elves, and of course wizards, could infuse level four spells.”

“Wizards? I’ve never heard of them here.”

“They are recluses. They live in areas far away from any inhabitants. But they can teach apprentices many wonderful things. The nearest wizard is Ristopan. He has taught all the Pomo alchemists how to create and infuse level two and three containment stones.”

“He sounds like he could be helpful to us. Where is he?”

“That is something we are sworn to secrecy. What do you need help with?”

“It seems we are at or near our maximum on all our stats. It would be nice to go over the cap of our strength and such. Maybe a wizard could help us with that.”

“Oh. I didn’t know you were that far advanced already, or even what the caps are for humans. Different, uh, forgive me, prey, have different stat caps, but we have never seen a human learn to use magic, so they reach their maximums fairly quickly. As for a wizards help, that is unlikely. They usually take an apprentice on a twenty year contract, and, sorry.”

Torger wasn’t disturbed by the reminder he would be dead in less than fifteen months. It motivated him to try harder and to think outside the box. “Thank you Lagwil. I hope to be back in ten days or so with a new and nice pair of boots.”

“Good bye Torger. You really should learn teleport two, if you have the ability like Rome does, and save yourself the walk.”

“Yeah, we’re working on it. Or, with haste two on my feet, the walk would be… hastier.”

The Regulators talked about the news as they walked back. They knew it was a three day walk if they didn’t wander aimlessly looking for monsters. Torger was torn between gaining experience to get Teleport 2, or getting Guntrink working on the boots right away. As they walked and talked, Graul had an idea.

“What is the most barren, desolate place we’ve ever been?”

“Huh?”

“A place we’ve gone a few times, where there are almost no buildings or people for a hundred miles.”

Torger thought about it. “Cathedral Gorge, Nevada.”

“Exactly. That sounds like a potential place for a recluse wizard.”

“Maybe, but it will have to wait. I want to make sure Home and all our allies are doing well. Hopefully I can restore relations between the dwarves and elves.”

“Then we’ll go. If there is a wizard there, we could all become super powerful.”

Torger thought about the proposition. He reluctantly agreed. “I need to stay here, and Rome needs to keep up trade relations, but it could be beneficial for the rest of you to go. If there is a wizard there, great. If not, hopefully you can get to teleport two by the time you get back.”

For the next week Guntrink made repairs to all their armor, which cost Torger nearly four ounces of gold nuggets. While Guntrink was working on their steel armor, Torger went to pay Strong Arm a visit.

When he arrived and was comfortably seated in the tavern with a mug of mead in his hand, he said “I see Stone Fist is hard at work building more housing. That’s good. It’ll boost morale.”

“I wish I could say the village was paying for it, but I can’t afford it. The two miners hired him to build them each a private house. Their families will appreciate the space and privacy, and for the village it means five less dwarves in the common houses.”

Torger liked the idea of miners paying for their own upgrades, but pushed the thought aside. “I need another special project Strong Arm. I want to put your outstanding blacksmith skills to the test again.”

He nodded for Torger to go on.

“I talked to Guntrink, and he said he could do this, but I want a second opinion, and a second price. I have some containment stones. Rare ones. I need the best quality, most comfortable and durable boots you can make. What do you recommend?”

“It depends on what you need. Are you looking for something that will stop a bite from a tresser?”

“What’s a tresser?”

“A big reptile, weighs a couple tons. Stands on its hind legs, about fifteen feet long head to tail tip. Wickedly sharp claws and teeth that would shred your steel chest plate and hardly slow down in the process.”

“Boots that would stop something like that seem like a bit of overkill. I’m glad there are none of those around here. My boots will be mostly for traveling by road, but I’ll be in an occasional scrap with a razorling. I want something light for the long journeys, but tough enough to stop most claws.”

“Steel with leather on the inside would be my standard recommendation, but I sense you want something a bit stronger. I could make ‘em outta mithril, but that would be expensive. Too much for boots, unless you wanted a complete set of armor.”

“Mithril. I’ve heard of that. What is it?”

“It’s an ore, like iron. But it needs an additive, it’s an alloy. Just melt the components together and form. Stronger and lighter than steel. But as I said, it’s a little bit rare, and expensive.”

“Back up. What additives go into iron?”

“I melt iron ore, remove the impurities, then add a little carbon coal, not too much and not too little, and it becomes steel. Too much carbon coal makes it cast iron and brittle. Same with bronze. Mostly copper with a dose of tin and it becomes bronze, which is better than straight copper armor for fighting, but not as good as iron. But we’re getting off topic. You are definitely beyond bronze armor and weapons. You’ve almost outgrown steel. I’ve got three pounds of mithril, just enough to make you a pair of boots, but you’d be better off with a mithril sword.”

“That’s about what Guntrink said. But I’ve got my heart set on these boots. What’s the price difference between steel and mithril boots?”

“Steel, with leather inserts and lined with cottol fur, nice and fancy, would be seventy silver. Mithril would be a gold and twenty silver.”

Torger was expecting it. Strong Arm beat Guntrink’s price by fifteen silver for the mithril, and he had already proven himself a quality blacksmith. “I’ll take them in mithril, leather, fur, the best you’ve got. It’ll be the last pair I buy, unless I die on some quest and lose them when I respawn.”

Strong Arm said “If that’s how you want to spend your money, that’s fine by me. Which one’s the priority; the boots or the alchemy you call ‘black powder shells’?”

“I’ve got some time for both. So make ten shells, then the boots.”

“OK. They should be done in two or three weeks. I’ll keep Rome updated on the progress.”

“Thanks.”

Torger was happy with the idea of getting the best boots available, but in the back of his mind he knew he needed to replace Red Fury too. He ordered another round of drinks for himself and Strong Arm, and they talked and laughed until the barkeep told them he was closing down for the night.

Three days later Torger commissioned Guntrink to build him a mithril sword with the little bit that he had.

After that Torger helped his friends pack all they could for the long journey ahead of them. Rome had gone to Yosemite and back that morning instead of his usual trade route. Torger had given him all the refined gold he had- eleven ounces. Rome returned with five magic duffle bags the elves made, and to Torger’s relief, brought back three ounces of gold. They had no idea what the wonderful duffle bags cost, since the two they had came from the dead dwarf Treluge. Now every Regulator had his own (and her own) magic duffle bag, able to condense items to one twentieth the original size and one tenth the weight.

Things were finally prosperous for Torger, and he delighted in being able to provide each of them with five new water skins and several pounds of dried fruits. He even could afford to give them each a pound of salt and a pound of dried jalapeños bottled with vinegar and crushed garlic. Their venison and rabbit wouldn’t be so bland for the trip. In fact the spicy recipe Torger was addicted to had become a big hit in the dwarf communities in the last month, and Torger was taking in several coppers per day from selling the sauce. His “private” farm supplied all the jalapeños and garlic. He paid a farmer overtime from village funds to tend to the mayor’s private garden. A little unethical perhaps, but a pittance of what the village paid out weekly in wages.

He watched as Rome cast the spell, sending five of their friends to Parker. Torger wished them luck and hoped they were prepared. He had tried to talk them into waiting for another week until Arden had ten shells, but they were sitting around the village with nothing to do for too long and were fidgety. Torger gave Arden his mace, and kept the shotgun for himself. He had plans for it that involved Strong Arm and Rome, and the others didn’t need to know about it in case the idea failed.

After they were gone Rome said “I have a message from Lagwil that you should be setting aside gold. They will expect their full sixty pounds of refined gold in June, thirty for each gold mine.”

Torger sighed. “I assume you already crunched the numbers.”

“I did. If production stays current, we will make it half way. Either Modesto needs to drastically increase production, or you need to raise taxes.”

“Not good. I need to think of something else. What do dwarves want? The miners are getting way more gold than I am each day. I need something to sell to them.”

“True, they have a lot of gold, and taxing them would be the simplest. Or you can go kill monsters, get something they don’t have from pelts or loot. I’ll think about it.”

“I will too. Let’s keep this problem to ourselves for now.”

Rome agreed, and they went about their daily business for the next week. Rome made his trades, and Torger mingled with the villagers in both villages, clearing out pesky bears and cottols that came too close. He gained an ability point, bringing him to four, almost to five.

Baybil and Quickly returned, and the kids looked a bit tougher and more confident. Torger put the three kids from his village into the mines, and Baybil did the same with the boy from Rich Fields.

Rome reported the elves too finally learned how to fight without help from dwarves. But he knew nothing about the inner workings of an elf village. As much as he tried, he couldn’t find out what they wanted to trade; they would only talk to Torger about it.

A couple weeks later Torger took his mithril boots and sword to Lagwil. She accepted two gold and sixty silver coins to infuse the boots with the Haste 2 stones, and the sword with the ruby containing Fire 3. Red Fury was back! And Torger could run, jump, and side step much faster with the boots on. She smiled at his improved speed and confidence, but it was clear there was still a little unease that he had tricked the elves into working with dwarves for the kids training. He didn’t know if either side would truly get over it. He saw such great potential when they were working together, and it all unraveled because of one little mishap by a child.

To release his frustrations with the situation he went looking for prey and killed three bears on his walk back to Home. His feet were pampered in the soft fur, and it helped to make him calm down again. Those three kills brought him to five ability points, and he spent them expanding the village again. It increased to have a shield diameter of five hundred feet.

Chapter 42

Nevada

Rome cast Teleport 3 on five of his friends, and they disappeared in a flash of green light. They appeared in the abandoned dwarf village of Parker. The shield was still intact, but they saw two razorlings by the river to the north. The abandoned crops were occasionally eaten by deer and rabbits, which were eaten by the razorlings. In the village everything looked the same. Outside the village, it was natural and wild nature.

The shield seemed to be holding them out, so the Regulators went into a cave and found rooms dug inside. They relaxed and discussed strategy, but there wasn’t much to discuss. They had to head due north for a couple hundred miles through barren sand, and kill anything that came near. Graul had his shield and Inferno, Antic had the new and improved Power Cord, (he paid Strong Arm to remove the Lightning 1 and Fire 1 gems from his spear and put it into his new halberd), Jex had the Bow of Artemis the Huntress along with now thirty arrows. They had steel shafts and new gold arrowheads, but from experience a gold arrowhead would become very dull after two shots, and loose mass in the sharpening process.

Brun had a gold staff, and Arden had a steel shield and steel mace. Arden wasn’t good with his weapon, but he planned on doing more blocking than anything. They all had full sets of steel armor, and each had a spare full set in their duffle bags. They had thanked Torger, but saying “Thanks” seemed empty for such extravagant spending. They had guessed he had spent all the gold the village had for their trip. It would be a shame to die from some super beast in the middle of the desert and never be able to recover it. Brun and Graul had Teleport 1, in case things got real crazy.

At sunset they set out to wander in the desert. Crossing the river was easy. Summer was winding down and the water was low, and the duffle bags floated. Once everyone was safely on the other side, they got attacked by seven razorlings. Graul called out “Rome, stats!”

Rome wasn’t there. Graul and Arden each blocked one, while Brun cast Poison 2, infecting three of them. Antic kept one focused on himself with the halberd, and Jex shot the other four, each through an eye and into the brain. Then she shot the other three. The battle took less than thirty seconds, but it was enough for them to see it would be difficult without Torger and Rome. Jex dulled seven of the thirty arrows, and they couldn’t do that too many more times unless they found more billiks to sharpen their legs into arrows for her. But even those would break on impact most of the time.

This brief and easy fight was troubling. They had just started the long journey and if they encountered several more fights like that one, Jex would become useless. Morale plummeted on the first day, one hour in to a trek that could take a month to complete. They collected the arrows but left the razorling feet and kept walking.

Everyone walked in silence for a half hour until Graul spoke up. “Brun and I have Teleport 1 so we could get back to Home instantly, in case things go horribly wrong. I suggest the rest of you save your ability points and buy the spell too so you don’t have to die to get back.”

The comment made sense, but being reminded of the high likelihood of the group failing to make it lowered morale even more. Graul immediately regretted saying anything.

They travelled the rest of the day without incident, and followed the river north for three more days, but walked at a slow pace. Once they got to a point where they had to abandon the river to keep heading north, the difficult part of the journey began. They made camp for the night in a great flat expanse of nothingness. There were a few shrubs, but no water and on the night watches they saw no birds and heard no coyotes. On the third day they ran out of water and were still far away from Cathedral Gorge. Graul looked at his Maps as they were setting up tents for the night. “Hey guys, we’re going to have to head west in the morning. We need water and I doubt there is any to the east or north.”

Arden looked at him. “West is Vegas. There is nothing there.”

“It became a city because it had a spring for stage coaches to water their horses. Either we go out of our way west one day, or die of thirst.”

They walked west all the next day but didn’t find a spring. By then their throats were so parched that no one talked because it hurt. In desperation they didn’t set up camp when it got dark but kept looking for the spring. They knew one had to be close because they saw birds and heard coyotes around sunset.

As they continued to wander aimlessly they saw a few coyotes come look at them from a distance, realize they were outmatched and walk away. That happened three times and Arden told the others the coyotes were probably protecting their water. Late in the night they finally found it. Brun was the first to spot it and when he pointed he tried to say “Over there” but his throat felt like it was packed full of sand and he painfully coughed instead of articulating the words. Everyone got the idea and looked. Arden was the first to drop his shield and duffle bag and run to the water. Everyone else followed a second later.

The water felt like they were swallowing a smooth delicious cream that soothed their throats instantly. They couldn’t drink enough and soon all five of them had their heads buried beneath the water.

Twenty minutes later they returned to their equipment. Two coyotes were sniffing and scratching at duffle bags- specifically Antic and Jex’s which held the dried fruits and meats. The Regulators saw two harmless huge coyotes, but the beasts saw five unarmed meals. The animals ran forward and attacked. Instinctively Graul raised his left arm to block with his shield, but it wasn’t there, and a coyote latched on. As the teeth sunk into his skin a little, he was angry with Arden for convincing them all to remove their armor to make traveling faster.

At the same time Jex reached for her quiver that wasn’t slung over her back, Brun reached for his staff that wasn’t there, Antic didn’t have his halberd and Arden didn’t have his shield and mace. All five of them pointed at a coyote and yelled “Fire 1.” After several more spells the animals were dead. Graul looked at his arm and was surprised by how little damage he took from the bite. He remembered his first day on Nuva fighting a coyote and barely being able to walk after the fight. This time the teeth couldn’t sink in more than a quarter inch thanks to his thicker skin and bone and muscle density, and his thicker blood made the bleeding stop on its own almost immediately. They had come so far since their rude and humble beginning, and he was glad to have that fight show him all his progress. But as he thought about their progress, he dropped into depression knowing they had just over a year left. He quickly pushed the thought aside and set up a tent for the night.

The next day they were walking along soft sand and heard a distant rumbling like thunder, but there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. They thought little of it and kept walking, but a few minutes later they heard it again, much louder. Not knowing what was making the sound, and seeing nothing but desert, they had no choice but to keep going. A minute later they saw the sand bulge in front of them and then erupt in a spray of sand raining down on them. The sand clouded their vision and choked them, but they could see a giant snake come up out of the ground to their left!

Jex immediately shot it with an arrow, and the beast hissed but didn’t seem too injured. Arden cast Analyze 1 and Brun cast Poison 2. Brun immediately knew he made a mistake. He cast chicken pox and a mild venom on a venomous creature. The venom aspect of the spell was negated, and chicken pox would only be useful in a long drawn out battle.

Arden called out the stats

Giant Sand Snake Level 58 Health 602/700 Strength 31/32

The snake leaned down to strike at its nearest opponent, which happened to be Graul. He used his shield to block, but the snake mouth was so large its mouth completely encompassed the round shield, but couldn’t open any wider than that. It bit down and the shield got wedged into its mouth. Graul removed his arm, abandoning the shield, and a second later Jex shot it again and Brun cast Poison 3. The snake tried to crush the shield but it couldn’t, and then it tried to spit it out but its curved teeth didn’t allow for that either. After both of those fails to free its mouth it turned and went back into the hole in the ground it had burrowed. But as it did it whipped its tail and caught Jex in the arm. She cried in pain as she saw it had a barb on the end of its tail.

As the creature slithered away underground, a red rash formed on Jex’s arm. It quickly spread and Arden cast Heal 1, but it did no good. They were all worried for her, but they were also worried about a return visit from the snake. Graul said “Jex, I know you’re in a lot of pain, but we can’t stay here. We have to make it to the top of those rocks over there.”

Arden glared at him for being insensitive to his injured wife, but quickly realized Graul was right. He said “Come on hun, you’re tough. You can do this.”

Jex whimpered a little but grit her teeth and started walking. She felt woozy and fell down. Antic handed Arden his duffle bag and halberd, and picked up and carried Jex to the top of the rocks. She had lost consciousness during the walk. Six hours later she woke up completely refreshed and whole. Arden was on guard duty; he had stayed up with her the whole time.

They walked northeast for three days before running low on water. They had learned to do a better job of rationing, so they had four days instead of three days of water in their duffle bags. When they arrived at Cathedral Gorge everyone but Graul looked at it in wonder. He and Torger had seen it several times, but it was still cool. There were what looked like spires made out of clay rising fifty feet out the ground with smooth vertical walls.

They walked forward and were looking forward to getting some shade. Graul was excited to be there again and took the lead. As he was walking and talking Brun yelled “Look out!” but it was a second too late. Brun had seen the unnatural shimmer of the magic shield just before Graul walked into it. Graul was sent flying back thirty feet as multiple spells riddled his body.

Everyone ran over to him and began casting cures as quickly as they could. Antic cast an Analyze 2 on him and saw his four stats, Health, Stamina, Strength, and Mana, were all at 1. They continued casting cures and just as Graul was regaining consciousness, a green light surrounded them all and they were teleported.

They appeared in a room completely made of one solid stone: a flat floor and ceiling, and a twenty foot circumference of a perfectly round wall. There was no door or window, no chair and no bed. Antic asked “What is this place? How did we get here?”

Of course no one had the answer. One minute later a hologram of an ancient looking dwarf appeared on the ceiling. It began speaking, but the sound seemed to come from everywhere in the room, not just the hologram. “What a curious group of travelers. Tell me, adventurers, why have you come in a group to seek apprenticeship? I will only take one apprentice, and only one of you is qualified. The rest of you are uninvited. Are you spies perhaps? No, I think not. You are too weak and confused. Tell me, wannabe apprentice, why have you sought me out along with unwanted companions?”

The hologram looked directly at Brun. Arden began to answer “We mean you no harm. We were hoping you could-“

“SILENCE you level thirty-eight pest. Of course you meant me no harm! I do not even acknowledge the presence of any creature below level fifty. Only one of you has achieved that first meaningful milestone. The level fifty-three black mage is the only one who may speak to me.”

With that pronouncement, the other four had their mouths involuntarily shut so they could only grunt. The hologram looked directly at Brun again. It said nothing, and stared at him without flinching for nearly two minutes. Finally Brun found his voice again. “Sir, we have come across a difficulty. We are very nearly maxed out… that is we have come close to the point in which we have reached the maximum amount of stats allowed to us. We sought you out to find out if there is a way we can increase our maximum strength, health, and mana.”

“I see. Hmmm. Had you ‘bought’ everything you could with ability points, then this would be a worthy visit. However, you have twenty-two more spells you could buy before you are truly ‘maxed out.’ Return to me once you have all thirty-eight spells available to you, and return alone. I could use a good apprentice. Now, since your intentions in disturbing me were innocent enough, I will release you and your companions…”

Before the hologram could disappear, Brun interrupted “Sir, may I ask your name, and do you have any advice for me to not die when the tyters come to hunt me?”

“Ahhh yes, the tyters. It’s a pity you won’t live to see your potential. As for myself, my name is Ristopan, level one hundred and two wizard. If you or any of your friends survive the hunt, I will take you in as an apprentice.”

The hologram disappeared and the spell binding the speech of the others was broken, but before anyone could say anything, the disembodied voice again spoke. “As a token of goodwill, I will tell you this. An army of goblins is marching towards your respawn point you call home. I will release you to a point one mile in front of them so you can see them for yourself.”

The voice ended, a pale green light surrounded them, and they found themselves in the abandoned village of Carson City. As soon as their senses returned to them, Antic pointed east. They looked and saw a cloud of dust not too far away. He asked no one in particular “Do we fight or run?”

Arden answered “Graul, maybe you could Teleport home and warn Torger.”

“No, I could get to Home by dying in battle, then warn him.”

“That’s no good. We need you or Brun to take all the equipment back. We don’t want to lose everything.”

Graul hated abandoning his friends. He saw Antic looking at him pleadingly. Antic would have loved to have Teleport 1, then he would volunteer to run away in the face of a losing battle. Graul looked at his friends. “We can run and warn the elves.”

Antic jumped on that idea. “Yeah, perfect. Let’s go tell the elves of Lake Tahoe. They’ll protect us.”

Brun said “No, we need to let Torger know to get the village prepared. We have to hope the elves can protect themselves.”

The idea troubled Graul. “We can’t bypass them without warning. I’ll teleport and give the warning, you guys run to the elves.”

Everyone agreed. Everyone except Jex put all their armor and weapons into their duffle bags, then Graul struggled to pick up all five bags. He looked at his Spells, selected Teleport 1, and was surrounded by a pale green light before disappearing.

The others ran towards Lake Tahoe, making good speed unencumbered by steel armor and weapons.