Brent Roth - The Dragon's Wrath: A Virtual Dream (20 page)

After three seconds had passed from when the [Holy Blast] had hit the wolf head-on, two seconds after that soft white hue had appeared on the ground underneath the wolf, the ground erupted.

With a sudden dim outward pulse and then a rapid collapse of light the small space immediately above the ground erupted in a plume of white fire, shooting straight up towards the sky and engulfing the wolf entirely in flame.

The wolf cried in pain as it found itself burning from the [Holy Fire] that had been cast underneath it. Unable to withstand the damage the Alpha wolf collapsed to the floor with smoke rising off the freshly burnt corpse.

The fight was over.   

Katherine soon collapsed to her knees as she struggled to breathe while Selene fell back on her ass. Plodding down on the ground with hands clasped on her knees taking in the scene before her, Selene could only muster a sigh of relief.

The fight had progressed smoothly until the second [Northern Alpha Wolf] appeared in front of them. If Selene could have maintained enough of a threatening presence to hold the wolf's aggression the fight would have been much easier.

But threat maintenance and monster aggro was something many players struggled with in gaming and is why players who play the role of a tank typically specialize in threat and aggro management.

As an archer or hunter archetype, Selene could only produce as much threat as her damage done and when compared to the flashy holy spells that Katherine used, were inconsequential to most creatures.

She simply wasn't built to tank effectively.

Selene spoke up first, "Ah that was tough."

Katherine had used nearly all of her mana during the fight and had just regained enough to cast another [Holy Light] on herself, bringing her to a comfortable health level but not enough to heal her mangled left arm. Selene looked over at her childhood friend and felt remorse for having nearly failed her once again.

She may have been the level-headed and grounded one, the more experienced and mature one but in the difficult moments Katherine always came through where she had sometimes failed.

For Selene it didn't mean anything for the little events, but this was now the third time she had nearly failed in a critical moment that could have left either of them dead. Katherine would never say anything of it and Selene knew that too, but it wasn't of any consolation when she knew Katherine had saved the day with her quick thinking and strategic use of spells even in the most dire of situations.

That same Katherine, who was so insecure over her looks despite being an absolute beauty, who was often immature and silly when going about her daily life but incredibly poised and sharp when it mattered.

It hurt Selene's pride knowing that she wasn't nearly as dependable as Katherine despite all of the appearances. That it was basically her little sister that she was failing hurt Selene even more.

Katherine had regained her composure as she used [Holy Hand] to heal and restore her mangled arm back to its previous state, smiling once she had finally returned herself back to normalcy.

Katherine then turned her attention to Selene and spoke up, "I think I ruined some of those wolf pelts… do you think the Master will be upset?"

Selene nearly choked on her saliva and started coughing, eventually clearing her throat enough to get out a bewildered statement, "That's what you're worried about?! And who's our Master?! We're just temporarily repaying a debt!"

Katherine immediately stood up and raised her voice as she replied, "Selene! I swore I would serve him if he rescued you, we owe him our lives! Why are you so obstinate?!"

After uttering the last line Katherine had puffed her cheeks while placing her hands on her hips like an angry child, causing Selene to burst into laughter moments after she was choking in bewilderment.

It was just that kind of relationship.

The two eventually gathered six wolf corpses and found four were in excellent condition minus the few arrow punctures, but two were severely burned and wouldn't be of much use except for their leather and meat.

Upon further inspection by Selene the corpses averaged a rough 100lbs which would generally prove difficult for the two women, except for the fact that Roth had provided them with a way to a means.

As Selene dragged the bodies together Katherine had returned with a makeshift sled that Roth had built for the two of them, allowing them to stack all of the bodies without issue.

After loading the six nearest bodies there was only the male [Northern Tundra Alpha Wolf] all the way at the back and both women decided to walk the roughly one-hundred and fifty yards from the sled.

Though once the two of them arrived at the location they were startled by what they saw, a white wolf pup barely a month old playing in the snow by its lonesome.

* * *

Chapter 28: Working Through the Days

(Thursday, March 11th Game Day / Sunday, January 24rd Real Day)

The sun had set a few hours before as I continued to dig through the night, with the intent to cease whenever Selene and Katherine had returned.  Well into my second stint of digging and shoveling dirt, I had made considerable progress but was still incredibly far from being finished. Working well into the darkness of the night wasn't something I would normally want to do, especially on such a moonless evening, but Katherine and Selene had yet to return.

I was beginning to worry and started to question myself; maybe I shouldn't have sent them to hunt after all.

Selene and Katherine had been gone for nearly seven hours before they finally appeared at the edge of the forest. They were a sight for sore eyes with a large sled piled high with the corpses of seven wolves, nineteen foxes, and thirty-seven rabbits.

I left my shovel and jogged over to where the girls were, relieved that they had made it back, but more curious as to what had taken them so long. Though that thought was fleeting, as I was soon overcome by surprise at what was in Selene's arms.

I slowed my pace and spoke openly, "Ah? Selene? Katherine? What's that?"

To which Selene was the first to reply, "Just as it looks, we found a wolf pup and I intend to raise it as a pet."

It was a straightforward reply that left little room to respond so I ended up ignoring it while pointing behind them, "Is that the sled in the distance there? Did everything go smoothly?"

Selene replied again, "Kind of, sled's all yours," and then walked off to the cabin.

She was a bit solemn and even if it didn't show on her face I could tell she was upset over something.

I would have to figure that out later.

Turning my attention to Katherine who looked completely exhausted and ready to collapse, I walked over and decided to pick her up and carry her like a princess.

As I grabbed her and hoisted her up she quickly objected, "Ah! Wait! Master what are you doing?!"

"You've worked hard, I'm just rewarding you. And what's this 'Master' word I keep hearing?"

"Mm…."

Katherine had gone silent but had put an arm around my neck and seemed to be silently enjoying it.

I figured it was a good time to tease her, "Oh? What's this?"

"Hmph you're so unfair…."

"Hah, yes mi' lady, I'm quite unfair."

While carrying Katherine to the cabin I couldn't help but laugh at the situation, only to receive a light hit on the chest for it.

The lady doth protest too much.

Especially when she's blushing crimson red and smiling with her face turned away from me. 

Once we entered the cabin I set her down and she bowed her head while performing a curtsy as she quickly turned around and sat next to Selene, covering her face with her hair at the same time. I had previously admitted that I was attracted to Selene's personality but I was quickly warming to Katherine's as well. They both had their charms, even if they were Artificial Intelligences.

Actually, I almost forgot they were NPCs for a minute there… add in that I'm sleeping in this room with both of them and there is only one large bed. There were two women, one man, and one bed in the only cabin within ten miles.

There was either trouble brewing or there was trouble brewing.

In an attempt to tackle things head on I started the difficult conversation first while we ate dinner at the fireside in the center of the room, "So, for sleeping arrangements…." As I trailed off Selene and Katherine's ears perked up and their eyes intently stared on.

It was a little nerve racking.

But, it had to be done, "Well, there's only one bed-."

Before I could continue on Selene had cut me off, "We can sleep on the floor. That black bear pelt isn't the most comfortable but it will suffice."

…I had planned to share my bed but I realized it was a bit sudden. Strangely, it wasn't long ago that Selene had taken the initiative with me when we were lying together in the Earl's lodge.

A woman's mind is a curious thing.

I decided to chalk that incident up as a momentary indiscretion in the heat of the moment and squashed any notion of future romantic intent so long as it was just the three of us in this cabin. It wouldn't be fair to the other girl, whoever the other girl ended up being… because even if I started with Selene I couldn't discount Katherine's extreme beauty.

Katherine was simply too attractive to ignore.

After dinner had been completed and the wolf pup had fallen asleep curled up in a cute little white furry ball, I stepped outside for a moment to let the girls change out of their dirty clothes and wipe themselves off. While they did that I went and pulled the sled over towards the cabin… and to put it lightly, it was heavy.

Returning to the cabin I found the two of them prepping the floor to sleep on and couldn't accept it. "Hey, take the bed you two. It's not much, but it's better than the floor. Once we fall asleep I'll be transported to the Adventurer's Realm after all."

It sounded strange saying it out loud, but since the NPCs all had Artificial Intelligences there were obvious disconnects between some of the functions of the world, such as how players disappeared after logging out.

The attempt to solve that confusion ended in programming all of the AIs with the information that Adventurers were summoned by the Gods to a different realm at times and wouldn't always have a corporeal body in this realm. It was also a part of the explanation for why the Adventurers could die and resurrect while the NPCs would face permanent deaths.

If anything, Dragon's Wrath was their real world and their life and we were just playing in it.

Sometimes, if it weren't for the system messages, I questioned whether I was actually in a game or if I was indeed transported to another world.

What is reality, anyways?

Eleven days passed in the blink of an eye as I spent at least twelve hours a day digging away; some days were spent mindlessly, others I read the news or listened to music. Either way, nearly a month in-game had passed by the time I finished my excavation project and April in-game was nearly at an end.

I still had hope that I could finish the lodge before April turned over to May but the real crux of the matter was that I was now in my fifth real-week of playing the game and was sharply falling behind in the leaderboards.

The first three real-weeks were spent working the land, toiling in the dirt, laboring with the trees, and scaling a mountain. By the fourth week I was able to get some real leveling in with the absurd quest bonus I received from rescuing Selene, but now by the fifth week I had stagnated.

AIcorps'
projections were that the fastest levelers would hit level 50 in about three real-months of play. I was almost at the halfway point and was only level 26.

The highest current level amongst all players was 37 and there were quite a few in the low 30s as well. As an unemployed addict, I was woefully behind the others and that was simply unacceptable. In all honesty, I was barely above the average gamer in levels and without the support of a large guild I spent far too many hours attempting to build a village… I could only hope that the NPC-Recruiter would be usable.

There was no information available online on the system but I knew it existed from my [Land Management] menu and could clearly see it as a grayed out tab. It was all purely conjecture but I believed in my intuition.

My intuition had always been fairly sharp and was not often wrong… I've got an Ancient Relic's power to show for it after all.

By the fourteenth real-world day I had finally finished erecting my log lodge. It was a massive structure with misleading stature.

Standing only four feet tall at the surface at the lowest point, up to six feet at the highest point of the centerline of the roof, it simply didn't seem like much from the outside. But then all you had to do was walk down the wood and dirt ramp to find yourself inside a massive 57,600~ cubic feet structure.

The 60'x60' two-story floor plan with an 8' high ceiling at the minimum per floor provided roughly 3,600 square feet of surface on the basement or underground floor, while the partially buried first floor formed a square-ring that was open in the center allowing for a completely spacious and roomy atmosphere.

You wouldn't suffer any claustrophobia here.

Following the wooden stairs at either side brought you to the basement floor which had partial log walls that extended out a few feet to allow for some semblance of privacy but kept the entire place open.

I envisioned a large gathering of families sitting around a fireplace with tables strewn about the middle of the floor, beds formed along the walls with leather hides serving as curtains separating the "rooms" of the inhabitants.

Along the partially buried first floor NPCs would have space for their crafts and could perform their work indoors during the harsh winter while enjoying the sunlight from the wood cutouts that served as makeshift windows for the time being. I figured it could easily hold a few families without issue and with plenty of space to spare for storage.

Standing back and admiring my completed work that was economically a work of wonder, both in cost to acquire and in future cost to maintain; I felt incredibly proud. As my chest swelled with pride and the moment was being committed to memory I was disturbed by a system message:

[You have completed a Large Private Residence.]

[Information within the Land Management Tab has been Updated.]

[Do you wish to add this building to your list of Personal Homes?]

[Yes / No]

…I was a bit thrown off by the question.

Deductive reasoning proposes an alternate result if one selects [No] but it could certainly end up as a logical fallacy since I had no proof or information for the alternative. The building could just end up as unclaimed and I would lose my chance to claim it as my own property. I imagine that's how it works when players hire out others, a contract would be made and rights would be transferred.

Or something like that, at least.

I also didn't know what would happen if I selected [Yes], would it be locked as a [Personal Home] and that's all? I thought for a moment to contact a Game Master, to have him or her resolve my dilemma but for the most part they would only respond to issues within the game such as a bug or abuse.

I selected [No] and was flooded with system messages:

[The Large Private Residence has been converted to a Large Open Residence.]

[Rights to the Building belong to the Land Owner and can be accessed at any time within the Land Management Tab.]

[Information within the Land Management Tab has been Updated.]

[You have established a Public Property, do you wish to change the Territory Designation from Campsite to Village?]

[Yes / No]

Letting out a large heave as I relaxed my shoulders from the tension I couldn't help but smile. I was relieved that nothing strange had happened but instead, ended up with the exact result that was being sought.

I took a deep breathe of relief and stood still for a moment, then quickly selected [Yes].

[You have selected to designate your Territory as a Village.]

[All Land Management Sub-Menus are now available.]

[Information within the Land Management Tab has been Updated.]

Browsing through the tabs that had been previously grayed out, the majority of them were empty for now but showed promise for the future. They would come in handy one day but for now I let them be.

Then I made my way to the NPC-Recruiter tab, the one that I had been anticipating for quite some time.

Opening the tab I was soon stunned by the amount of subcategories that were immediately brought within sight. Expanding the menu to fill my entire field of vision I tried to grasp what I was looking at.

There was so much information that I was completely lost, unable to comprehend exactly what was hovering before me.

I decided to sit down and spend the next few hours going through every menu available. I might not have been the first to establish a home but there was a good chance I was one of the first to have stumbled into the NPC-Recruiter. I knew at the very least, that I was a part of the exclusive group of [The First Settlers].

That gave me some confidence going forward.

But before I could get too carried away I was alerted by another system message:

[Please enter the Name of your Village.]

[Once a Name has been designated, it cannot be changed.]

I looked out and around the land laid before me, taking in all of the nuances it offered and came to a conclusion.

[You have entered: Dragon's Breach.]

[Do you wish to confirm: Dragon's Breach, as the name of your Village?]