CHAPTER 19

"All right, I'm out," said Max, slinging his bow over

his back and heading toward the market.

A second later, everyone else had scattered as well.

"That guy's a born leader," Lis said quietly to Krolina.

"You think Eilinn didn't notice?"

"What are you still here for?" Lis turned to me.

"You wanted to take me to the instructor," I reminded him.

"Oh, right. Kro, are you coming with me?"

"No, I'm going offline. See you, boys!" Krolina stuck her tongue out at us, turned on her heel, and disappeared into a shadow that meant she'd logged out of the game.

"Let's go," said Reineke, and we started off down the street.

"Have you known each other long?" I asked Lis.

"Kro and I? Yeah, it's been a while. We've been through the ringer together. A while ago, we were together in a different clan, then we jumped over to the Thunderbirds. She did a little before me. Doesn't matter. Turn left here."

As we chatted away, we came to a small alley with six or seven buildings lined up side by side. The entrance to each had a carved plywood sign above it: a shield and sword, a staff, a bow, and so on.

"This is the instructor street," said Reineke, and pointed toward the building with the shield and sword. "That's where you're going. Stay here and wait for me when you're done."

I walked in. Elysium does nothing if not break down stereotypes. I expected some gray-bearded and gray-haired old warrior covered in iron, maybe even missing a limb, who would greet me with a thundering voice of steel, "Hello, hero! Have you come for your lessons?"

Well, something like that.

Ha! The interior of the building looked something like an old wooden hut, just without the fire pit. And inside it, sat a gray old man carving something out of wood. He looked at me and asked, "What can I do for you, sonny?"

"I need skills...I guess. Maybe I'm not in the right place?"

He's probably playing a joke on me. I thought about Lis. This must be where they teach crafters! What a little joker!

"Are you a warrior, by any chance?" the old man asked me.

"Yes, a warrior."

"And what level are you?"

"19."

"Then you're in the right place?" He smiled again.

"Who would you like to be?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well," the old man began, spinning his short knife in the air, "there are all different kinds of warriors. Some attack, others defend, and all of them have their own kind of weapon. Some prefer swords, others go with maces or balls and chains. So who are you? Or who do you want to be?"

"Phew, gramps, I'm not sure. Well, I don't want to protect. I have a shield, so I guess I don't want to go with dual swords. And really, I'd rather do without swords altogether for now. I do have this pretty nice mace, though."

"Well, there you go. So, you're an attacking warrior whose main weapons are the shield and mace, at least for now. Right?" The talkative simpleton suddenly turned serious and got down to business.

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Great. Then I'll make you a warrior. Just bring me ten enemy swords, clubs, or just any melee weapons, but make sure you get them in battle. Then I'll make you a warrior. Okay, that's all for now, off you go. I have to finish this whistle for my granddaughter."

You have a new quest offer: In Search of Steel.

Task: get 10 weapons from defeated enemies.

Reward:

400 experience

Opportunity to get your first class skills

Accept?

I was mad as a hornet when I left the old man. All I needed was a quest back in the lowlands; those swords were everywhere.

"What, the old man got you all confused?" Reineke

walked up to me.

"No, not that. Where am I supposed to get ten swords? There are only animals around the city, so I'll have to go a ways to find them."

"I'm starting to feel like the Wizard of Oz!" laughed

Reineke. "Calm down, my good man, I'll help you in your hour of need. I'm about to port to a little village where the bots are all around Level 20 and mostly goblins. Well, there are animals, undead, and unhuman, too, of course, but mostly it's just humanoids. You can get everything you need from them, and you'll even do some levelling-up. What do you think, want to come with me?"

"Well, of course!" I nearly jumped for joy. "I'd love to!"

"Oh, and here." Reineke pulled an amulet on a chain out of his pocket. "This is for you."

"For what?"

"Just a gift," Lis smiled. "I carried it around for a while

when I was at your level. Someone gave it to me, as well, and I left it in my room after I leveled-up and found something better. Honestly, I almost never sell my old weapons and armor. I feel like I'd miss them. Anyway, you don't need armor, since they gave you a good set, but you could use this amulet. Take it."

I opened my exchange window, received the amulet, and checked it out.

Temple of Strength Amulet

+9 to strength +13 to stamina

+7 to agility

+14% to critical strike chance.

When combined with the Blow from Below ability, 50% to your ability to instantly repeat it.

Class limitation: only warriors

Minimum level for use: 15

Elite! He gave me an elite amulet. I was in shock, to say the least.

"Cat got your tongue?" Lis asked amiably.

"Like you don't know. You don't mind giving me something elite?"

"My dad once told me to pay it forward," he said.

"Let's head to the village."

"The scroll isn't too expensive?"

"Well, I need to go there regardless. By the way, have you forgotten anything?"

"To say thank you?"

"What do I need your thanks for? If the goblins kill you right when we get there, where will you respawn?"

"Oh, da-a-amn!" I even felt a little embarrassed.

"Where's the northern gate? I had my respawn point there?"

"Whatever, let's go. You can relink in the village. You'll probably die at some point anyway..."

"How will I get back from the village?"

"Well…by walking. You don't have the money or abilities for a horse yet. But it's okay, the locations between there and Brad aren't too bad. Although there are PKers… And it's far. Or you can go to a different city—Khitskern and Fladridge are nearby.

"But I have to get back to the old man to finish my quest."

"You can finish it with someone else. They'll ask you if you've already been to another instructor, and you'll say you have. Then you just tell them what you got, and you'll finish the quest. They all have the same abilities."

After I linked to the respawn point and confirmed it by seeing the stone blink, Reineke pulled out a scroll and used it. We stepped into the portal that opened.

It left us in the middle of a village square. I could tell that it was the square thanks to an obviously communal well, a few stands, and some tongue-waggers sitting around discussing everything under the sun. Well, the respawn stone also helped. I didn't get a message with a story like, "....this village was founded by two brother hunters after a long trek through forests, mountains, and dales..." It turned out that not all settlements and sites deserved their own backstory. Or the developers were just too lazy to think one up for all the different places in the game.

The little village, from what I could tell, was small, with maybe a bit less than 40 homes. It was surrounded by a palisade wall, behind which, judging by the treetops peeking above it, was a forest. My map, which I opened as soon as we left the portal, helpfully told me that the village was called Tocbridge.

"Reineke, where are those two cities?" I asked Lis, correctly assuming that he was pressed for time.

"One is here, the other is here." He pulled his map out of his bag and pointed to them.

"Oh, wow, you have a map, too. Not just the built-in one."

"Yep. You can get one in a quest after Level 40. Or you can buy one, though they're really expensive."

"Does it show everything? The whole continent?"

"Not everything for the quests, no. You reveal it as you go along, and it shows where you've already been. The one you can buy shows everything, though, except dungeons and secret areas. But it's seriously expensive."

If someone at his level thought it was really expensive, then for me it was unthinkable. But who really cares? I had the built-in map, after all. The cities were very close. While it was a five-day walk to Brad, the other two were just a day and a half or two days away. One was to the north; one was to the east.

"Okay, I'll see you. Send me a message if you need anything."

Reineke shook my hand and headed for the village gate. When he got there, he turned and called back "Don't forget to do some quests!"

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