Resurgence: The Rise of Resurgence Book 1 (32 page)

“It only requires two items to get a title. The higher the item, the higher the title. You need to get a ring and a crown from a false ruler. That’s as detailed as it got.”

“Good to know. Any crown we get, that doesn’t have any stats obviously, is yours first bro. Personally, I think the whole thing is pretty cool.”

“On the real bro. I think I could even live with Court Jester TheClaw.”

When we got to the entrance of the caves we saw that the first guards had respawned. It made sense since it had been hours since we cleared these out. I volunteered to check up to the door and see what respawn looked like, and the guys agreed.

After a quick run through the caves I saw that all of the mobs had returned up to the door. We could easily stay here and farm these guys for cash and experience. I was tempted to do so. But first I wanted to take care of some logistics.

“I’ve been counting up our cash guys. And we have over 100 Gold from all of these mobs. It was quite a haul. I hate to waste time but we need to think about how we are going to spend this cash. I’m tempted to just keep farming this location until we have enough gold to buy all of our horses. But that leaves us with another problem.

“If we leave this location, I worry that the whole thing will reset and we won’t be able to come back here and keep killing. But separately, once we hit level 15, I want to make sure Dan and Allister get their next spells. Also, to make sure we don’t lose this place in our downtime, I was thinking of doing a rotational thing, like taking watch. You know, so we can get some sleep too. What do you guys think?”

“Might as well put me to work. I will come up with a rotation, that will naturally benefit everyone’s sleep cycle, and allow us to continue a presence in this place. We can take 3 hour shifts, which will give everyone ample time to sleep, although the middle two will have it rough. I’ll take one of those since I don’t sleep much anyway,” Dan offered.

“Sounds good, and I will take the other one. So one of us has to remain here for the next few hours,” I added.

We came up with a rotation, with Jason taking the first shift, me the second shift, Dan the third, and Wayne the last. I asked Wayne if he would be ok with that. “Alex, I’ve had to work out in the cold, freezing my balls off, dealing with drunks and women who drank themselves to the point they thought they were 10s. I can handle playing the game for a few more hours. You know, doing something I enjoy.”

“So you will just talk with Jenny. Got it!”

If there was a way to kill other players in the game, good chance Wayne would have done it right then. But the red spreading throughout his face made the evil look in his eyes totally worth it.

* * *

I logged in after the first shift was completed and after taking an hour and a half nap. Jason was sitting in the same position as when we left. He got up and stretched a bit when he saw me approaching. “That kind of got boring really fast.”

“Sorry about that brother. I knew it was going to suck.”

“Enjoy sitting around then. See you in nine hours.”

“Oh, I’ll be exploring this place some more. So I’m hoping it won’t be as bad for me. Good to have a skill that allows you to go anywhere, just as long as nothing hits my fragile form.”

Jason laughed and signaled he was logging off. Once he was gone, I started practicing my Blacksuit. I didn’t plan on going into the castle at all. Instead I planned on mastering this skill through practice. I wanted to be able to do it while standing, walking, running, or hell even sliding along the floor on my knees. To use Conceal/Stealth, the character had to at least be stationary for the time it took the Stealth to engage. After that, you could initiate Conceal at any time.

But Stan had implied that the Blacksuit could be used at any time, and even while on the run. So I was going to baby-step my way from where I was at to where I wanted to be. However, there was one thing I did want to check out, before I started my practice.

I initiated my Blacksuit and headed into the cave, bypassing all of the guards, and going through the door. Once I was in the manor, I headed up to the second floor. We had killed the Yellow mobs four or five hours previously, and I wanted to see if they had respawned yet, but they had not. I was going to check again before I logged out when my shift was done. I was betting they were on an 8 hour respawn. And the boss, the Undead Regent, was likely to have an even longer respawn.

I kept thinking about our current issue and how we could be in multiple places at the same time. One more run through of the castle and we would all have our level 15. Jason and Dan needed their spells, which meant at least one of them needed to go to Port Town. I needed to sell all of the spells we had found and the Dark Caster robe, but that required a trip to the Dark Race city. And Wayne needed to drop off the robe for Tim. Any of us could have done that last one, but we wanted to help Wayne out in this case. As Dan said earlier, it would allow us to “Not player hate, but player congratulate.” Whatever the hell that meant.

I kept practicing my Blacksuit and thinking through the problem when Dan arrived as my replacement. I didn’t chat long as I desperately needed some sleep, but I wanted to find out how Dan planned to pass his time.

“Oh you don’t have to worry about me Alexey, I am going to be chatting with peeps at the Tavern. I have a long list of friends that I drink with and I’m going to find out the latest rumors and dirt!” Dan told me.

“Sounds good Dan, have fun. And remember…”

“I know bro, no mention of the castle.”

“You got it TC. See you in a while.”

I moved to a safe location and prepared to log out. I had a plan forming for how we would address our situation, but it was going to take us away from leveling for a bit. But first something needed to be tested. All that could wait till we were all online though.

* * *

September 7th, 2043

When I logged back in I saw everyone was already there. Wayne was off to the side, sitting against a tree and Dan and Jason were having an animated conversation. I still needed to check on the mini-bosses in the four rooms, as I had forgot to do so before logging off. I told the guys my intentions, triggered my Blacksuit, and made my way into the cave. To the casual observer it looked like I was using my Conceal/Stealth. But I was getting better at the Blacksuit, and it came much easier this time around.

I went through the first floor and up to the second floor, hitting the library first, since that would have been the last mini-boss to spawn, but there was nothing there. I checked the dining room next, given it was the first one we killed, but it too was missing. There was a chance this would happen, but I had hoped against it. The “treasure” we collected could be considered the mini-bosses and the main boss, and it was only a one-time deal. I returned to the group and told them what I found.

“Well that sucks, but at least these guys are still Blue to us and we can get some experience,” Wayne said.

We were all in agreement there and decided to continue killing the Blues, if for no other reason than we wanted the money and our levels. I think the other guys were feeling the same thing I was as well, a hope that the mini-bosses and the main boss were just on a really long timer.

Before we headed toward the first guards I asked Dan what he and Jason were talking about when I logged in.

“Have you not checked your mail bro?” Dan asked.

“I hadn’t, no. I get lots of mail with people asking me about buying stuff since I am a player seller. I was going to go through them when it was my shift today.”

“Check it out man, you should see a message from AltCon. It’s pretty cool.”

I did as Dan suggested and looked at the mail I had in my inbox. There were many messages from players, and one from AltCon. I opened the message and read:

As a special reward to all of our Beta testers, AltCon is offering a number of our previous titles at a 50 percent rate.
You can find the titles listed below.
Simply follow the instructions provided and get your hands on some of AltCon
’
s greatest games.
Thanks for being a part of our adventure!

What followed was a list of eight different titles and instructions on how to purchase them.

“That is pretty cool. Nice of them to offer that to us. So what were you guys discussing?”

“Well Alligation wanted to log off before you got on and purchase them now. Then when you ran off to check for mobs he was arguing he had plenty of time to get it done. I almost had to have Wayne intercede on behalf of the rational. Since, you know, no one ever thinks I’m rational.”

“Which one did he want so bad?”

“What do you mean bro? All of them of course. We all gonna be rocking these games.”

“Oh. Does it work with the new RAC?”

“Nah. It’s for the old systems. But man, AltCon is a great company, how could we not get them!”

“If you say so. But I think I’m going to pass. At some point they will make more games for the RAC and I will just wait for those.”

Dan was silent for a few heartbeats and then asked me, “You don’t have a desire to buy these Alex? I mean you have to admit it’s a great deal and from a great company.”

“The deal is pretty good, for sure. But without the RAC as the platform, well, I don’t feel like strapping back into my old couch. So great company or not, I think I will wait.”

“That’s…that’s cool bro. Everyone has their own thing,” Dan said a little absent minded. Then he got his usual goofy smile and said, “You know, like how I get down with horseradish on my French fries. That shit ain’t for everyone!” And with that Dan ran off toward the mobs.

I followed behind Dan, laughing and shaking my head. Who ever thought of horseradish on French fries. That’s just disgusting.

* * *

We tore through the mobs quickly. I continued to be conservative with my attacks so I wouldn’t pull aggro off Wayne, and Jason continued to unleash death through his spell. None of the guards dropped any loot, but lots of cash. And the casters in the bedrooms were still dropping spells and cash. We were in a good place.

But then two things happened. We finished the mobs, and Dan, Jason, and Wayne all got their level 15 while we were clearing. I still had about 20 mobs to go. And now the mobs were White to my teammates, meaning the mobs were level 15 as well.

It was time to break up the play and send someone back to Port Town with our loot.

“I think we are all in agreement here, that Dan and Allister need to get their new spells. Am I right?”

Everyone nodded their heads.

“Good. Then here is what we should do. Allister, Gate back to your bind point, in Port Town. Take all the money we have and hit up our merchant friend. We have about two hundred in gold. With that you should be able to get yours and Dan’s new spells. Then get a summoned horse and ride back here to us. You aren’t going to have enough to buy two horses unfortunately. While you are there, find out just how much you could sell one of these spells for,” and I handed Jason one of the Dark Caster spells. “How much did your level 12 spells cost you?”

“Five Gold for each.”

“If I was a betting man I would say you will probably be able to sell these for 1 Gold and some change. But if I was at the Dark city I could sell them for 3 Gold each easy. So I want to see what the one will get us, but don’t sell it. Makes sense yeah?”

“Yup.”

“Good. Once you get back we start back up with our slaughtering till we can afford to get some more horses. I will need one to travel to the Dark City. As of right now it would take me two days on foot. But with a horse, I can get there in no time.”

“Yeah, but you will be slaughtered if you try to enter that city Alex. The players might not care, but the guards will kill a half-elf as quickly as a bunny,” Wayne said.

“I know brother, that’s why I will be outside the city, somewhere safe, and using my Conceal/Stealth. They will come to me. And anyone that can use a level 12 spell won’t be worried about the mobs just past the newbie fighting area.”

“Smart thinking Alex,” Wayne said.

“This means some down time for us, but it needs to happen. Are we all in agreement?”

“Sure hombre, I’ll just chat with folks at the Tavern. I’m sure Wayne will find someone, I mean something, to keep him busy,” Dan said while inching away from Wayne, likely for his own safety.

“Kaitlin will never give you a hug now tiny.”

“Damn, thems fightin’ words bro!”

With that, Jason cast Gate and was gone. He responded moments later letting us know he made it safely to Port Town and was heading to get the spells and the summoned horse. Again, I was amazed at the technology of the game. Jason was hours away by foot, and yet it sounded like he was right next to us. The program for communications within the game was astounding.

Jason informed us that each level 15 spell was going to cost 10 Gold. So with Jason’s four spells and Dan’s three, he was going to spend 70 Gold. He also told us the merchant was happy to sell him the Summoned Horse spell for 1 Platinum. Apparently once you concentrated on the spell scroll and activated it through the blink, a token in the shape of a horse was added to your inventory. While the spell was tradeable, the token was not. Simply activating the token would produce a horse after three seconds. However, this only worked outdoors, as Jason attempted to do so in the merchant’s store. Dan also asked Jason to buy him some more arrows, which he was running low on.

We then waited for Jason to return, which thankfully would not take long with his horse.

Since we had some down time, I decided to ask Dan about how he got his wealth. He had avoided the question in the past, but I was really interested in whether it was an inheritance or if Dan had retired at such a young age.

“Hey Dan, I hate to take you away from your gossip mongering with your Tavern peeps, but I wanted to ask you a question. And you can totally feel free to tell me it’s none of my business if you think it’s too personal.”

“That is not why I went to Mexico bro! I don’t care what Wayne says!”