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  “I was here, quite clearly, before that ingrate. Why did you not offer me a quest?”

  “Sir I didn’t know you were interested. You simply began inspecting the goods. ``I thought you were shopping.”

  “Excuses! Go speak with Master Culvins on my behalf. I demand he give me whatever quest he’s offering.”

  “Sir I can’t do that.”

  “Listen here you!”

  “Manners, mate. They’re free.” Ben cut in with a smile, winking at Doctor Delirium as he handed the clerk the note.

  Delirium sneered. “Fuck you and your manners.”

  “Somehow that sounds kinky.” Ben mused aloud before turning to peruse the shop’s supply of alchemical tools. He heard a snarl, and then a deep gong sound as well as a shriek. Ben spun and saw that Doctor Delirium was now outside the shop.

  Doctor Delirium was also missing half of his health. Next to his player name Ben saw a pair of handcuffs. He winced. That was an Outlaw icon.

  While most VRMMOs used Red Names for player killers, other systems were used to enforce a variety of other rules and codes of conduct. Red name players, indicated by the eponymous crimson character name, was a status reserved for players that initiated hostilities and killed another player. Their name’s coloration served as a warning to the majority of players.

  Outlaws were players who violated in-game rules but not enough to warrant banning the players in question. Players who delved far enough into in-game Outlaw status would end up with a permanent icon next to their name to indicate their inclinations.

  Delirium’s flash of temper had left him with the equivalent of a misdemeanor. Minor and quickly resolvable, but Ben bet it wasn’t how he planned to spend his first day in Seeds of Lysium.

  Ben didn’t feel particularly sorry for the other man. This Doctor Delirium had brought it on himself from square one. Seeds of Lysium wasn’t just a game, nor was it like any other game in human history. People had been hearing this for years. Some, like Delirium, just weren’t willing to accept or adapt.

  “I’m sorry about that, but I’m glad the shop’s Security Array is in working order.” The clerk said before continuing. “This is a gift from Master Culvins.”

  Ben looked at the cauldron in the clerk’s arms and smiled. It was likely as run of the mill as such things could get, but he’d take it. After all, it’d spare him having to find one later. Now all he needed were tools, recipes, and ingredients.

  Put that way, Ben realized he had quite a bit of ground to cover. Perhaps this Pride of Rubina quest would help with that. “Could I ask you something?”

  “Of course, traveler.” The clerk’s tone was wary, but Ben couldn’t blame her for that.

  “What can you tell me about the Pride of Rubina.”

  Chapter Eight

  The clerk’s eyes widened before she sighed. “It’s a cargo ship. According to reports it was run ashore by Fog Goblins in a lake somewhere north of town. But so few can brave the elementals of the Deep Woods between here and there. It truly takes a Dragonkin...”

  Ben grinned as he watched the clerk’s eyes widen. That probably meant him. “Like me?”

  “Yes.” The clerk all but breathed. “Like you.”

  “Well then, perhaps you should tell me more.”

  The clerk shook her head. “I’ve told you all I can. Master Culvins can probably tell you more about the ship.”

  Ben nodded slowly. “I take it he had important cargo aboard?”

  “Only one thing of true value. Everything else is replaceable.” Culvins said from the doorway as he stepped out. “I take it the trouble has been resolved?”

  The clerk nodded vigorously as Ben glanced over and saw Delirium was no longer at the door. Culvins simply nodded and motioned for Ben to follow him into the back of the shop. He led Ben to his reading nook. Ben looked around as he approached. From the looks of it, Culvins used the area for research notes and reference tomes.

  “So I suspect my clerk told you the basics.” Culvins said as he took a seat and motioned Ben into the other. Then he handed Ben a set of notes and a hand-jotted map.

  “The very basics. Cargo ship the Fog Goblins ran ashore.”

  “That’s about all there is to the job in truth. Reach the lake, find and enter the Pride of Rubina, and recover the Alchemist’s Lab Notes from aboard the ship.”

  Ben considered, “How do you know the notes are still aboard the ship?”

  “Several reasons. Chiefly that the Fog Goblins rarely take interest in such things. It’s not a weapon, armor, or food and so it’s not useful to their eyes.”

  No surprise, Ben conceded. Humanity was too far behind the Pepedians. Enough so that a Human’s only value to the gray-skins was as raw materials for their genetic piracy and the resulting genomic horrors. Ben shook his head to clear it and focus on the task at hand.

  “Where might I find these notes then? Finding sheets of paper scattered across the ship could be time consuming to say the least.”

  “Fates willing, it will be in the captain’s cabin. Lab Notes are always bound as a journal for transportation. In all honesty I have little interest in the rest of the ship’s contents. It’s been long enough that anything recovered is, by right, yours. All I request is the Alchemist’s Lab Notes.”

  “And any other alchemical supplies or equipment I find? What sort of equipment was it carrying?”

  Culvins grinned. “While not particularly notable overall, several alchemic sets of above-average quality were aboard the ship. There was even a rare set aboard. They’re yours if you can recover any of them. As to your reward, I’ll trade the Alchemist’s Lab Notes for this Valuable Skill Book.”

  With that Culvins pulled out an Alchemy Skill Book. The blue symbol on the cover was a big hint to Ben, but he still invoked Discerning Eye. Sure enough it was a Valuable Ranked skill book.

  By itself the skill book wasn’t worth it as far as Ben was concerned. It provided a comparative advantage, sure, but such advantages were mutable. The time he’d earned from completing the tutorial so quickly, and his early acquisition of the Alchemy skill were far more reliable advantages. And rare or not, he could certainly find the skill book when he got closer to needing it.

  But from what Culvins had said, the Pride of Rubina had been carrying other alchemical supplies. A good alchemic set would serve him well, especially this early on. Another comparative advantage, but one that he’d hold for longer. Perhaps recipes and ingredients as well.

  Ingredients, while nice, were less useful from Ben’s perspective. Basic ingredients were all he could use right now. The sheer number of players harvesting and selling basic ingredients would ensure their availability. More advanced ingredients would be useful. However with ingredients the quantity available and the consistency of availability were more important. One instance of, say, a 10 minute stat-buffing alchemic pill was nice. The ability to produce and offer that same pill once every day was an entirely different discussion.

  Recipes were an entirely different discussion. Every one Ben earned was a whole new product line he could offer. Recipes from quests were useful as much because of rarity as anything else. Ben didn’t know what options the game had for recipe sourcing, but quest recipes were often difficult to acquire, thus creating a barrier to entry others would have difficulty overcoming. That was an advantage he could use, especially this early into the game.

  To that end he looked at Master Culvins. “I don’t suppose there would be recipes aboard the Pride of Rubina?”

  Culvins shrugged, “Maybe. Those would’ve been in people’s personal effects. Recipes are fiercely guarded things. Too valuable to simply hand out.”

  Ben had suspected as such. Still there was a good chance he’d find at least one recipe from the sounds of it. The ship was previously transporting sets of alchemic tools and these Alchemist’s Lab Notes.
Chances were good someone aboard had a recipe or two before things went south.

  Ben nodded, considering.

  “I’ll do it.”

  As Ben spoke a window popped into existence, just offset enough to avoid disrupting Ben’s sight lines without being easily missed.

  Quest: Pride of Rubina - You’ve been tasked by Master Alchemist Culvins to find the Pride of Rubina and recover the Alchemist’s Lab Notes contained therein. You’ve been told the Pride of Rubina ran aground in Triple Lake Hill Zone.

  Nothing ventured, nothing gained, Ben concluded as he accepted quest. Taking his leave, he finally stepped out of the Alchemy Shop. So long as he came out of this with a set of alchemical tools and at least one recipe Ben would consider it a worthwhile investment. Even one of those would be a win.

  Looking around, Ben decided to check out the stores in town before heading out. Market research was always useful, especially when just starting out. Plus he might just find something that could improve his chances of succeeding in this quest he’d been given. After all, Ben didn’t know if this was going to be a straightforward fetch quest, or whether it was going to prove to be a more complex task. At the high end it could even involve its own instanced zone separated from the rest of the system. Ben knew that the DM-AI used such instanced zones frequently and for a variety of reasons.

  What Ben did know was that the mission involved Fog Goblins. Which meant that he’d also be able to get some payback on the Pepedians. Or at least be able to contribute to the first volley of humanity’s cyberwar against the gray-skinned marauders.

  Curious to that point, Ben checked the official site’s information. It promptly told him that each settlement’s Guard Quartermaster was in charge of such bounties. Ben nodded to himself. He’d pay the man a visit, see if he could get any insight on dealing with Fog Goblins.

  Chances were he’d net another quest at the same time. Better to double up quests where possible, so far as Ben was concerned. If he was going to deal with the Fog Goblins anyways he might as well see if he could net extra profits.

  Chapter Nine

  The town’s Guard Quartermaster was in the main square, near the town hall. As Ben approached the man, he saw a half-dozen individuals wandering the main square. Visiting and departing the shops and stalls, visiting the town hall itself, and heading for the main gate. Other veteran players, professionals, and experts from the VRMMO scene clearing the tutorial.

  Ben’s time advantage was beginning to erode.

  Looking around, Ben nodded thoughtfully. Non-Player Character merchant stalls stood outside NPC merchant stores around three sides of the main square. Perfect. He could pump the Quartermaster for information on the Fog Goblins, check out the NPC shops, and head out for his quest. Ideally he’d complete the quest and be back in town right as the majority of players were finishing the tutorial. A second scan of the square showed Ben something else. Over the main town hall tower stood a clock with 24 hours. Ben looked at it, and realized it showed the real world time Useful, Ben decided as he approached the Quartermaster.

  “Well met, sir.”

  “What?” The quartermaster didn’t look up from his clipboard.

  “I’ve been sent on a task. It involves Fog Goblins. I heard you’ve an interest in such matters.”

  The quartermaster paused, then glanced over at Ben. Then, consulting his clipboard, the quartermaster spoke again. “Kill ‘em. Bring me ears. Bounty will paid out to... The Open Contract Workshop.”

  Ben blinked, startled. That was their real world business, not their in-game group. “What’s the bounty paid in?”

  “Ecreds.”

  Ben froze, then nodded sharply, pushing the thought aside as he continued interrogating the taciturn quartermaster. Unfortunately the man had no useful advice or insights, and Ben left a couple minutes later.

  He opened up the Open Contract Adventuring Team chat and sent a message.

  Last Falcon: If you don’t have anything else to do, prioritize offers involving Fog Goblins. At least for now, they’re paying the bounty in cold hard ecreds. No reason not to cash in.

  Ben closed the chat after seeing the exclamations of eager surprise rolling in. He’d suspected that Seeds of Lysium would offer more opportunities for payment, but he hadn’t expected in-game activities to receive real-world energy credits as compensation.

  Then again, the Fog Goblins were the DM-AI’s representation of Pepedian computer systems on the Galactic Datanet. In a sense fighting the Fog Goblins was a proxy war for humanity’s conflict with the Pepedian Empire. Victories in the system would, through algorithms and computations Ben had never bothered to study intensely enough to understand, become cyber warfare attacks aimed directly at the Pepedian Star Empire.

  When he looked at it like that? Yeah, Ben could understand providing a real world bounty as incentive for this in-game activity.

  As a Protectorate System humanity had an advantage akin to holding high ground. Protectorates were those parts of the Galactic Datanet judged too young, underdeveloped, or devastated by events to stand on an even footing with the majority of sentient species in the network. They were isolated by various safeguards, and any race so foolish as to take action against Protectorate Systems suffered consequences.

  From what Ben knew, Pepedia never expected anyone to discover the Sol System. Too far into the backwaters of the galaxy. Too far into territory Pepedia considered its backyard. Far too arrogant on far too many fronts.

  Something occurred to him, and Ben popped back on the Adventure Team’s chat.

  Last Falcon: Someone find us a regional map. I need locations on everyone. Just in case. My location is Azure Bloom Town.

  Debtor Dreamer: Got one. Sharing now.

  Ben smiled as he saw the message. He had two members of the team in town, he realized. He added both to his in-game contacts list and walked towards the market stalls. Time for some window shopping.

  In practical terms VRMMOs classified items into three categories: Equipment, Consumables, and Tools.

  Equipment items used predetermined slots. Such as the chest armor that Ben found himself examining at the first stall. It was completely uninspiring, adding a single point to defense and made of cheap and sloppy leatherwork. Ben was sure a Novice-Grade Smith Player Character would turn out at least the same quality, if not better.

  “1 silver and 50 copper?” Ben muttered in disgust. This stall had armor with the same level and attribute requirements that was superior in effects. Most provided attribute bonuses. And those ranged up to five, ten, even fifteen silver. “Well that’s quite the price ceiling.”

  Curious to see if the same held true for consumables, Ben continued browsing. By the time he reached stalls holding consumable items, Ben had a fairly solid understanding of the price ceilings the system had set for the start. It left him with one conclusion, which he shared into the Open Contract Adventuring chat.

  Last Falcon: Competition for equipment’s going to be nasty. If you find something good, hold onto it. NPCs are extortionate.

  Chains of Gold: Seriously. Even in QRS the non-player merchants weren’t this greedy.

  Smiling Sun: Scuttlebut is drop-rates aren’t great outside dungeons and other instanced zones.

  Overwhelp: It’s better if you get first kill of a mob, but not by much...

  Another first kill advantage, this one for first killing an individual enemy unit. Respawns would occur, of course, but these respawns would receive normal bonuses. They had, in effect, already been killed once. Ben turned his attention back to the stalls as he churned the information over in his mind.

  Consumables occupied the next stretch of stalls, ranging from alchemical concoctions to magic scrolls and other ephemera. Each and every one shared a single trait: there were limited uses per purchase.

  Interestingly Ben saw grenades and deployable traps among
the consumables. None were cheap, but it was apparent the game was providing a wide variety of consumables to help player efforts. The prices on consumables were less bank-breaking than the cost of equipment. Ben wasn’t surprised. Equipment and tools had limitations on their usage, but they were reusable indefinitely. Consumables traded limited uses for more potent immediate effects.

  As an alchemist, this was where he’d create and contribute to the game’s available resources. Consumable items constituted the majority of alchemic concoctions as far as Ben knew. Developing and creating items that would heal wounded players, restore MP, provide resistance, increase strength, and a thousand other effects besides. And every purchase would go to keeping their nascent business afloat.

  “One health restorative, one mana restorative, no buffing options. High prices and bare shelves for all the consumable stalls.” Ben looked at the merchant behind the stall almost pityingly. This would be too easy once business got going. Which meant that the real competition would be in locations and offerings, and the real opponents would be other players.

  Ben smiled as something came to him. Opening up the Leadership Team chat, Ben sent his proposed name for the guild.

  Smiling Sun: I like it.

  Debtor Dreamer: You would.

  Chains of Gold: It available?

  Last Falcon: I think we’ll need to check at a town hall.

  Debtor Dreamer: On it!

  Ben made his way to one of the shops surrounding the square while waiting for the answer. A quick glance around told Ben that he’d found a shop full of Skill Books. Ben decided to look around, knowing full well that the items inside would be insanely expensive.

  He was right. Even the Common ranked Skill Books were a minimum of 1 silver. The smattering of Uncommon ranked Skill Books cost a gold or more. Still Ben decided it could be worth it to expand his skill repertoire. Double Tap, Attack, and Flashing Blade Aura made for a solid combat foundation. Perusing the selection of Rogue Skill Books gave Ben an acute insight into the Rogue class.