Yvvaros: The Digital Frontier (11 page)

“I picked up some blueprints for a basic Guildhall earlier this morning,” he said. “Blueprints are the first thing you need in Yvvaros for setting up any kind of building. You’ll still have to gather the supplies, the wood, the iron, and the clay on your own, but without this, you wouldn’t be able to actually build anything.”

“Sounds good,” said Silverstrike. “How much?”

The merchant smiled.

“500 gold and the blueprints are all yours.”

“500 gold?” Luke had trouble hiding the annoyance in his voice. “That’s not exactly affordable.”

“This isn’t a low-level item,” said the merchant. “The only reason I even have it is because another player I made a trade with scored one as a random item with his preorder bonus. It’s going to be even more expensive if you try to get blueprints from an NPC.”

“He’s right,” said Silverstrike.

Luke chewed on his lower lip.

Well, we’ve already come this far.

“Look, we don’t have that much money. Is there any way we can come to an arrangement? It’s going to be a long time before most of the other players are in the market for something like that.”

After a moment of thought, the merchant waved a conciliatory hand in the air.

“There is something I could use a little help with. It’s more of a personal matter, rather than business.”

“Go on,” said Silverstrike.

“I got hit by a PKer during my level one Merchant class quest.”

Luke glanced over at Silverstrike, who mouthed the words “player killer”.

“Yvvaros doesn’t really have any significant penalties for PKers, other than the bounties that NPCs and players can place on people.” The merchant scratched his beard and then looked down at the ground. “I’ll give you the blueprints if you track this guy down for me and bring me everything on his body.”

Luke smiled.

“I think we can help you with that. What’s the guy’s name?”

The merchant leaned in closer to the two of them.

“His name was Arex.”

“There must be some kind of mistake.”

After speaking with the merchant, Luke and Silverstrike went to the inn. The news about Arex had left Luke speechless, so Silverstrike had agreed to look into the merchant’s request in exchange for the blueprints.

“Two players can’t have the same name,” said Silverstrike. “And besides, ‘Arex’ is a pretty unique sounding one.”

“I know, I just…” Luke felt a strange conflict brewing inside of him. “There must be more to it than what the merchant told us.”

Players don’t just kill other players for no reason?

“Well, I told him we’d look into it.” Silverstrike leaned back against the wall of the inn and frowned. “Look, I know he’s technically in our guild, but we don’t really know this guy. He was just in the right place at the right time.”

“I guess…”

“Besides, Yvvaros doesn’t really have many penalties for player killing. Even in Stark Town and Kantor, you can do what you want, to who you want. The worst that can happen is a large enough bounty being placed on your head to incentivize other players to go after you.”

Luke still felt skeptical.

He didn’t seem like a PKer… did he?

“We should at least hear his side of the story, first,” said Luke. “There could be something that makes it a little more, well, justified.”

“Sure, man, of course.” Silverstrike was toying with one of his daggers in between his fingers. Suddenly, he stopped and looked at something behind Luke, who turned around just in time to see Tess heading over.

“Hey guys,” she said. “What’s up?”

She had on new equipment, a purple and white gown that fit her perfectly, along with a medium length healer’s staff.

Speaking of which, I’m overdue for an upgrade of my own. I need to get some money…

“Tess,” said Silverstrike. “We have a problem.”

The two of them explained what had happened with the merchant. Her face slowly shifted into a confused, worried expression.

“Why would he do something like that?” she whispered. “This doesn’t make any sense!”

“That’s what I think,” said Luke. “We just need to-”

“We don’t know him.” Silverstrike interrupted Luke midsentence. “That’s the real truth here. He was helpful against the worm but come on, that’s the full extent of the time that we’ve spent with him.”

Luke looked at Tess, and could tell that she was thinking the same thing that he was.

Could I really have been that bad a judge of character?

“Whatever…” Luke shrugged. “It’s not like we can snap our fingers and make him appear and answer for what he may or may not have done. Let’s just head back to Dunidan’s Rest, start gathering the materials we need for the guild hall, and wait for him to turn up.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Silverstrike walked a little ahead of the Luke and Tess as they started making their way down to the border of the desert. Tess sidled up next to Luke and leaned her head in close to his.

“Do you really think he did it?”

Luke shook his head.

“I don’t know…” He gave her a resolute smile. “We’ll figure it out, regardless.”

Tess reached over and took his hand into hers. It felt warm, even though Luke knew that it wasn’t supposed to, that it wasn’t something the game should be able to simulate. It brought back the vivid memory of the moment the two of them had shared the night before.

“I’m glad that I’m in a guild with you, Kato,” whispered Tess. Luke squeezed her hand softly, even though he knew that she wouldn’t be able to feel it.

The edge of the desert was much more active than the three of them had seen before. Due to its proximity to Stark Town, some new players had taken to lounging about and organizing their groups in the area.

“It will be less crowded as people start to reach higher levels and journey further off,” said Silverstrike. “At least, I think it will.”

Zone 006, Dunidan’s Rest, was an ideal spot. After they’d killed the worm and claimed their zone, the area had reverted to a naturally calm state. The zone wasn’t deep enough into the wild for persistent spawns to be much of a threat, which, combined with the Oasis, made it an even more lucrative prize.

“Alright, well, we’ll need some wood.” Luke was at the front of the group as they drew into the center of the zone. “That’s probably going to be the biggest material resource.”

“Wood, clay, and iron,” said Silverstrike, “along with other miscellaneous stuff like glass and maybe cloth that we might end up having to buy.”

“Okay,” said Luke. “I guess I’ll get to chopping.”

“I’ll go with you.” Tess hopped over to him, her face adorned with a coy smile. “I actually got an ax as part of my preorder bonus.”

She reached into the satchel around her waist and pulled out an ax that looked far longer than what the tiny bag should have been capable of holding. She examined it for a moment before tossing it to Luke.

“Perfect,” said Luke. “What about you, Silverstrike?”

His friend shrugged his shoulders and gestured south.

“I know exactly where to look for clay, but it’s a bit of a walk. On the far southern edge of the Sarchia Desert are the mud pits of Farswick’s Folly. I’ll be able to dig for clay there.”

Luke nodded.

“Alright, just be careful.” He set a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “This is looking as though it’s going to take a bit of time, but think about how awesome it will be when we finish. We’ll have one of the first guild halls in Yvvaros. We can even set up a shop in it if we want, and eventually start a little town.”

Tess clapped her hands together in excitement.

“Yes! That sounds awesome!” She took off to the north, back toward the Inner Plains, where they could find the trees they needed. “Let’s go!”

Silverstrike smiled at Luke.

“You heard the lady.”

It took Luke a minute to catch up with Tess after her spirited head start. Her enthusiasm was infectious, and soon the two of them were laughing and teasing one another. Luke jogged to keep up as Tess skipped along.

“I’m going to build a garden!” announced Tess.

“Our guild hall is going to be in the middle of the desert, in case you forgot.”

“We have an oasis in our zone, silly!” Tess veered over to Luke and playfully bounced against him.

“Hmmm, good point,” said Luke. “But it just seems a little, well, unnecessary. We should focus on getting the basics built first.”

“Fresh food and fresh water are the basics, Kato!” Tess skidded to a stop. “Speaking of which…”

The two of them had made it into the grasslands, and Tess sat down as she began rifling through her satchel. After a moment, she pulled out a long loaf of bread along with a couple of bluish looking vegetables that Luke was positive did not exist in the real world.

“My stamina bar is almost empty,” said Tess. “Here, you can have some too.”

Luke looked at his own stamina bar.

Jeez, mine is almost empty! How did I not notice?

Tess began nibbling at her food, taking small, mouse like bites out of the bread. Her expression looked as though she could actually taste it, and Luke found it to be one of the most endearing things he’d ever seen.

“Thanks, Tess,” he said. “Thanks for… well, thanks for being part of the guild.”

Tess batted her eyes at him.

“Is that really what you’re trying to say, Kato?”

Luke shrugged.

“I mean, it’s been cool hanging out with you. And getting to know you in-game.”

What does she want me to say? We kissed, and I still don’t know what it means.

Tess took another bite out of her food and rolled back so that she was lying on the grass and staring up at the sky.

“I wish real life worked more like this.” She paused, and Luke heard her let out the faintest of sighs.

“Well, magic and monsters would certainly make things more interesting,” said Luke. Tess shook her head.

“That’s not what I mean…” She patted the spot next to her, and Luke sat down.

“What do you mean, then?”

Tess was silent for a long moment.

“I can be who I want to be, here,” she whispered. “I don’t have to micromanage myself. I don’t have to hold back all the time, worry about what other people think…”

I thought I was the only one who felt that way…

Tess suddenly stood up and began brushing off her robe.

“Anyway, we should keep going,” she said. “That wood isn’t going to chop itself.”

The Inner Plains around Stark Town were mostly grass and hills. Look thought it made sense, given how focused Yvvaros was on dynamic player interactions.

New players could venture out and fight the low-level monsters near the town and be able to see anything approaching on the horizon with ease. There were no real hiding spots for PKers to camp out in, no traps for new players to fall for.

Further to the east, in the direction that Luke and Tess were headed, the plains gave way to denser foliage. The higher level Msitu Wilds were still mostly empty of players. The first few zones on the border with the Inner Plains and Stark Town were low level, but the challenge increased swiftly the deeper one went in.

Luke was in the lead, and he slowed to a walk as they began to approach the outskirts of the jungle. The area ahead was foreboding, with the trees and canopy forming a ceiling of foliage that was thick enough to block out the sun’s light.

Along with the vegetation was a strange, smoky fog, which Luke assumed came from the volcanic shields and mountains that he could see far off on the horizon.

“Let’s chop what we need and then head back to Dunidan’s Rest,” said Tess. “This area gives me the creeps.”

Luke nodded and pulled out the ax. There were a couple of trees around him, and he walked over to one and took a test swing at its trunk.

TANG OAK: Level 8

“Jeez, let’s hope the creatures in this zone aren’t as high level as the trees,” said Luke. “This isn’t exactly a newbie friendly place.”

He chopped as quickly as he could. The trees would automatically turn into neatly chopped pieces after enough cuts from the ax.

A bit unrealistic, but convenient.

Luke was surprised to find that he was getting experience for cutting them down. He had thought that only fighting and quests gave experience in Yvvaros, but apparently the game was more open ended in how players were rewarded for tasks. After the seventh tree he’d chopped down, two notifications popped up on his screen.

CARPENTRY +1

LEVEL 6 ATTAINED

“I leveled up!” He smiled over at Tess, who looked bored. “Just give me a second to spend my ability points.”

Luke dropped one point each into strength, speed, endurance, agility, and luck. He closed his journal, and noticed another notification.

NEW COMBAT ABILITY: CONJURE SWORD

“
Conjure… Sword?”

“Luke!”

Distracted, Luke turned around to look at Tess. She was over by a group of trees that were next up to be cut down. Standing by her was a familiar face.

Arex!

Tess looked as though she’d been frozen in place by surprise and Luke felt much the same way. The Red Mage didn’t say anything. Instead, he just stared at the two of him with his usual stoic expression.

“Arex…” Luke finally managed. “What are you doing here?”

“We’re in the same guild,” Arex spoke slowly, and his explanation left Luke baffled.

“The guild chat,” whispered Tess. “He must have heard us talking.”

Arex nodded. Luke started to move toward them, and the mage took another step closer to Tess.

“She’s right,” he said. “I was listening, and I heard you accept the bounty.”

“Arex, we didn’t-”

“Enough.” The mage’s hand glowed with blue energy. “Drop all of your equipment on the ground, including the guild charter, and then leave.”

Tess opened her mouth to object. Arex pushed his hand against her back and she flinched in surprise.

“I’ll kill her if you don’t play nice,” he said. “And then I’ll kill you, Kato. I’m level 8.”

“Arex, he’s telling the truth!” yelled Tess. “Kato was against taking the bounty from the start.”

Should have I been? Silverstrike was right.

Luke glared at the mage and slowly pulled his sword out of its scabbard.

“Why did you kill the merchant, Arex?” asked Luke. “What’s the point in playing a game just to grief other players?”

“In case you hadn’t noticed, your merchant friend is as crooked as they come.” Arex’s eyes narrowed to a slant. “He was conning new players out of their spawn equipment, stealing their preorder bonuses when he could. He deserved what he got.”

Luke took a slow step forward.

“And besides,” continued Arex. “It’s like you just said. This is just a game. Nobody dies for real in Yvvaros. Here, watch!”

Before Luke could react, Arex had readied an ice spell in his hand. White, blue energy glowed brightly in his palm, and he slammed it into Tess. Her health bar dropped quickly, only a sliver remaining in it when the damage was done.