Author Frank Morin
patreon
Ch 47 - Confection talks
🕑 Added 2024-10-14 22:28:22 +0000 UTCInside the nicest wooden building in the center of town, made out of fine, finished lumber and with huge glass picture windows, we met in a conference room that could have been plucked from any corporate offices back on Earth. The long, mahogany table could seat a dozen, surrounded by comfortable captain’s chairs. A wide window provided a great view of the main street.
“Where did you get all this?” I exclaimed.
Paul, the old guy on team The Great British Baking Show, patted the table and spoke in a Scottish accent. “One of the special loot boxes I got when I named this building as town hall.”
“Wow. What else did you get?”
“We can chat about that later,” Crystal interrupted as she dropped into one of the chairs near the end of the table. Definitely from New York. That’s an unmistakable accent. The others took chairs near her, with Paul at the head of the table. I guess that made him the mayor, or something.
Crystal gestured to a chair on the opposite end of the table. She looked annoyed for some reason. I remained standing. “I’m Lucas.”
“I know who you are,” she said, her frown deepening.
“But I don’t know you.”
“The system must have given you my name.”
“But we didn’t,” Paul smoothly interjected. “Lucas, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Paul MacDonald. Happy with my team assignment too.”
“I hope you got some baking abilities.”
He smiled widely, but Crystal interrupted again. “I’m Crystal Bennett. The four of us are the town leaders, and we have a lot to do, so let’s get on with it.”
I really wanted to ask how they got nominated to run the entire town, and how Tony and Burns had already snagged seats. I wasn’t gunning for a spot on the town council. She just annoyed me.
Burns said, “Lucas, first big thing. Me and Tony hit level 25. Turns out we can not only make a second spell permanent, but we unlocked class selection!”
“Whoa. That’s huge. I knew we’d get classes at some point, but not when.”
“Level 25 is the golden ticket,” Paul said. “Crystal and I are almost there.”
“But you’re not,” Crystal told me, squashing the good mood. “All reports agree you performed with exceptional skill during the recent battle, so I do not begrudge the time we’ve spent sharing privileged information about unlocking classes. What I do not understand is why we’re wasting precious time on stories about the second stage from a man who only barely reached level 7.”
“Because I’ve been there.”
“How, exactly? The AI voice clearly explained that one must reach at least level 10 to enter. Not to mention the fact that with your level, you should not have survived. I heard you ran into some very powerful monsters and not only survived, but killed them.” Her tone made it clear what she thought of that.
“Were you this judgmental back on Earth, or is it a new ability you’re trying to level up?”
She slammed the palm of one hand onto the table with a loud report, glaring. “We don’t have time to waste on fools.”
“Then how did you get elected?”
I couldn’t stop myself that time. I was getting so tired of everyone assuming I was a weakling, even after I killed the stage boss and saved Burns and his entire team from the herd.
Crystal lunged to her feet and her arms swelled noticeably, just like in One Piece. That was cool enough that for a second I almost forgot how much I already disliked her.
“Enough,” Tony said, his voice calm but firm. “Both of you, stop it.”
Crystal hesitated, her glare fixed on me, violent intent clearly warring with restraint. I expected her to whine and demand, “I’ll stop if he does.”
If I poked at her one more time, could I get her to jump over the table?
“How about we restart this conversation over a box of donuts? Hard to get mad when Boston creams are involved,” Paul said.
A wooden box appeared on the table in front of him, filled with 2 dozen donuts. It was like he’d snatched the display window tray right out of a Dunkin Donuts. The box held chocolate glazed, cream-filled, sugar-frosted, and yes, even Boston cream, with a hint of custard poking out one end.
“Best magic I’ve seen so far,” I laughed as I tapped into my insane agility stat to snatch up the Boston cream closest to Crystal before she could reach it.
I wouldn’t egg her on any more yet, but that didn’t mean I’d let her get the first donut. People acting like arrogant jerks didn’t get dibs. The donut was soft and warm and melted in my mouth in a burst of sugary delight.
Crystal glared just long enough for Tony to snag the next Boston cream. She had to look away from me to get the last one. Burns didn’t care, but took a frosted cream-filled.
Paul selected a chocolate glazed donut, ate half of it in one bite, and sighed deeply. “Nectar from above. Smooth, light, and not claggy in the least.”
I inhaled my donut, then snagged a chocolate glazed too. A warm sensation of wellness spread through me and I finally focused on the donuts enough for Identify to kick in.
“Donuts. Confection. Consumable. Uncommon. These Earth treats could seduce a fang-toothed devourer. Contains a buff to improve health point regeneration by 25% for 5 minutes.”
Too bad the buff wasn’t stackable. I could easily see myself eating a full dozen to increase regeneration by another 300%.
“How did you unlock a donut ability?” I asked around a bite of chocolate.
“My team arrived here first. We got a bunch of special loot for founding the settlement. I even got a title. Master Chef. Automatically upgraded my Base Camp kitchen to legendary tier and added a separate confection oven.”
“You need to try the Death by Chocolate cake,” Tony said around another half donut.
“I would love to. In fact, how do I get my hands on another tray or 20 of those donuts?”
Paul grinned. “I’ll add you to the queue.” He then produced several woven baskets full of french fries, tater tots, and waffle-cut fries. They were crisp and hot, as if they’d just come out of the oven.
“Any ketchup?”
“I’m sorry, but not yet.”
They were still delicious.
Crystal sat back, once more in control. She finished her third donut before saying. “Okay. I may have gotten a bit excited, so I will try again. Lucas, we brought you here because you are said to possess knowledge of the second stage. We need as much intelligence as possible as we plan our strategy for moving up to 700 people from Stepstone to a new settlement up there within the next 4 days.”
Paul gestured with a golden cruller he pulled out of nowhere. “I have to admit, I’m curious too.”
I repeated my standard line about the loot that boosted my stats at the price of slowing my leveling speed. Burns confirmed he’d seen me exhibit strength way beyond even his. They tried to ask follow-up questions, Paul and Burns intrigued, Crystal and Tony doubtful.
Instead I launched into my tale of survival on the second stage. I skipped the part where I turned into a werewolf and skimmed over most of the details of the battles, instead focusing on the fact that the werewolves and zombies were more intent on killed each other.
“They all had levels in the high 30s and into the mid-40s?” Paul asked, looking suddenly sick, as if he’d just eaten several dozen more donuts at once.
“Yeah. The werewolves regenerate almost immediately from even mortal wounds. They can tank a lot of damage before they run out of juice, and the zombies had energy weapons like these.”
I dropped one each of the laser rifle and the stun gun onto the table.
“How many more of these do you have?” Crystal asked as they examined the rifles.
“Not nearly enough for everyone. I do have a few partial or broken ones. Any of your crafters have skills that might help with repairing these?”
“I doubt it,” Paul said with a grimace. “But as more of us get classes in the coming days, we might unlock some.”
“We need to focus on getting as many people to level 25 as possible,” Tony said. “We’ll need as many as we can get for our advance party.”
“Whoever goes up first is going to need to be strong. The werewolves hunt in packs and the zombies travel in groups. I glimpsed the boss werewolf, and he was terrifying. Had to be at least level 50. I don’t know if the zombies have a boss too.”
“Level 50?” Crystal asked softly.
I nodded and repeated my suspicion that the alpha had way more power than a few levels suggested. “I have no doubt he’s going to be insanely difficult. At our current power levels, we cannot defeat him without significant loss of life.”
“We need to level our elites,” Tony said grimly.
“We do, but at the same time, we can’t forget the folks who still haven’t hit level 10,” Paul reminded him.
“As folks unlock classes, they gain access to class spells. That increases our power many-fold. We need that strength to take on the second stage,” Burns said.
“Sure, but we need to make sure everyone gets up there,” Crystal responded.
“Hold on,” I interrupted. They looked like they were sliding into an old argument that I doubted they’d ever really resolve, but they’d glossed over something very important.
“What did you say about class spells?”
Crystal scowled like she wanted to object, but Burns spoke before she could. Grinning, he said, “Level 25 is way more important than we ever imagined. Unlocking classes is huge. Classes unlock new abilities and, more importantly, class spells.”
Tony surprised me by interjecting, looking as excited as Burns. “Most of us have been running low on temporary spells, and even with two permanent spells, our magic power is limited. Classes unlock a new category of spells called class spells.”
Burns nodded eagerly. “They’re spells related to the class we select, and we get to equip up to 3 class spells at a time.”
I leaned back, mind spinning with the ramifications of that. I’d suspected classes would be important, but this was huge. Three more spells that didn’t have severely limited uses would unlock whole new levels of power. They were right. We needed to get as many people to level 25 as possible. It would be a game changer.
I looked at both Tony and Burns more closely, triggering identify.
“Burns Turner. Level 25 baby human. Team Pirates of the Caribbean. Class: Tempest Marshal.”
“Tony Waldau. Level 25 baby human. Team Avengers. Class: Paladin Savant.”
So identify now showed classes. That was helpful. Hopefully it would start providing more info like it did for some monster types. Their classes looked interesting, but didn’t tell me as much about their builds as something from classic fantasy might like Fire Mage.
“We’re deviating into subjects that are not relevant to you yet,” Crystal interjected. “Time is limited. If there’s nothing else . . .”
She clearly wanted me to bow out, but I said, “I want to highlight the fact that the zombies and werewolves seem to love fighting each other even more than they do us. That might change once we arrive up there en masse, but one of the major reasons I survived was because they were so busy killing each other, I found ways to take advantage of the moment.”
“Hopefully we can work with that,” Burns said.
I swept my gaze across the council and smiled, hoping to convey a sense of cooperation. “It’s been great chatting. I can see you’ve got a lot to figure out. I’ve shared what I can. If you’ll excuse me, I have to get hunting. As you know, I’ve got levels to earn.”
“Hold on,” Burns said, even though Tony was nodding in support of my plan and Crystal looked annoyed that she was missing her chance to kick me out. “We’ll table the discussion about prioritizing leveling for now. We have some other matters to discuss that you should be here for.”
I reluctantly returned to my seat. I needed to get out and hunt, and I really wanted to ride Switchblade some more. To make the time more productive, I snagged another donut, a honey-glazed that was still warm and sticky.
Burns continued. “Tony is putting together hunt teams to harvest as much experience from the remaining bulls as possible.”
Tony looked as unenthusiastic about including me in those teams as I felt. The bulls could help folks on the lower end of the pool rise to level 10, or even help boost some of the forerunners up to level 25, but they were not what I needed.
“I don’t think—“ I started, but Burns held up a hand.
“I felt you should be aware of other priorities, but that was not where I was hoping you might fit in. You’ve shown a knack for exploring and surviving in unexpected situations against long odds. Now with your hover bike, you’ll enjoy unparalleled mobility.”
At least he wasn’t suggesting I ‘share’ the bike with more deserving individuals.
He added, “One of our other major priorities is finding the remaining survivors still stuck or lost in the canyons and foothills to the east.”
“You want me to explore up there and help find them?”
He nodded. “I will be tasking other explorer teams as well, but if you’re willing to take a scout role in that endeavor, you could help identify threats or pockets of survivors to direct the other explorers to as needed.”
I’d already planned to explore higher into the mountains for more dungeons or stronger monsters, but hadn’t decided if I would head south or east. East it was, then. “Sure.”
“Good,” Tony said, giving me an approving nod like he was encouraging the fat kid in school to participate in gym class. “I’m glad you can find creative ways to help the cause of the wider community, despite lagging in the first few days.”
Maybe his class should have been Inspiring Schmuck. I just shrugged and said, “It might surprise you how much I have actually done to help.”
“We’ve seen your bravery and quick thinking,” Burns interjected. “Before you go, I’ll be designating half a dozen expedition leaders. I can link you all in a small group chat for easier communication.”
“How can you do that?” I’d barely used my team chat and hadn’t seen any broader functionality.
Paul said, “One of the town founder perks I received. I can assign town leadership.” He nodded to the group around the table. “As well as assign special groups that open group chat functions and the potential for additional rewards.”
“I’ll always take more rewards.”
“Good. We’ll set it up—“
He was interrupted as Cyrus’s voice boomed loudly outside for all to hear. “Congratulations! You plucky earthlings are doing great. Not only did you defeat the stage boss days ahead of schedule, but 2 of your leaders have reached the all-important level 25.”
“Why is level 25 important? Because not only does it unlock the second permanent spell slot, but also unlocks access to classes. That’s right, once you hit level 25, you will be able to select a class.”
“Available classes will vary depending on your performance so far, your abilities, and current permanent spells. Once you choose your class, you cannot change your mind, and your new Class Spells tab will unlock. You will gain the ability to select up to 3 class spells to equip at any given time.”
“More details to follow, but congratulations again. You will need all of those shiny new spells if you hope to survive higher stages. So don’t waste time.”
“Curse him,” Crystal muttered. “We were going to make a big announcement about the classes.”
Yeah, she should have known better by now than to gripe about Cyrus out loud.
Cyrus’s laughter echoed through the room, his jovial tone more intimate. “Everyone deserves to know the game secrets as soon as you do, Crystal. So many of the things you humans do are endearing. I’m so impressed. You honestly felt you control access to information. What a fantastic power play.”
Crystal cringed, glaring around the room. She didn’t seem to realize the danger she could have faced if Cyrus chose to get annoyed with her instead of cheering her on.
“So how many class spells do we get to choose from when we pick our 3 new spells?” I asked to divert the conversation to safer ground.
“That’s a productive question, although you’ve got a long road ahead of you before you get your class, Lucas. I am looking forward to seeing the creative ways you use to get those last 3 levels.”
“Thanks,” I said dryly.
“It is my pleasure, as always.”
After a moment, when it became clear he wasn’t going to say anything else, Paul said, “You sound like you chat with that thing a lot.”
I shrugged. “He’s nicer than some humans I know.”
Cyrus’s voice boomed loudly over the town again.
“To help keep you all motivated and focused on your end goals, which is one of the habits of people who want to live out the week, here’s another glimpse of your final challenge.”
My vision blinked out for a second. When it returned, I no longer sat in the conference room. Instead, I was looking down on a huge throne room, as if I clung to the peak of one of the enormous stone ribs holding up the roof.
The hall was larger than a football field, the floor a vast expanse of fine tiles worked into intricate patterns I bet made up some kind of magical runes. Marisara, the nymph queen, sat on an ornate throne carved out of some kind of crystal that glowed with a silvery light.
She wore the same fine gown and outfit as in the last video Cyrus showed us, her ornate trident held upright in front of her. Arrayed before her was an army of the same angelic men in the last video, as well as dozens of gorgeous angelic women. They had the same watery wings and were clad in form-fitting gowns of silver scales that rippled with rainbow lights. They too carried tridents.
Behind the army of angels stood half a hundred stone gargoyles, crafted in gothic horror motifs. Devils, ogres, 3-headed dogs, and more stood at attention. Most looked larger than horses, while scores of smaller winged gargoyles clung to the lower reaches of the pillars around the outskirts of the room.
Marisara’s voice echoed through the chamber, her rough voice carrying easily up to me. “Invaders have been spotted in the lower reaches. Activate the veils and bring me their eyes.”
Eyes? That seemed random, although I had no idea what evil nymph queens might want as trophies. Would she mount our eyes on her wall, or eat them as some kind of soup delicacy?
The gargoyles spun and lumbered out the door, then the angelic warriors floated into the air and followed. In a moment, the hall appeared empty. I relaxed. I’d feared we’d see her split another enemy in half.
Marisara turned to stare directly at me, her flawless face cold. “You will die before you even see my throne, just like all the others.”
Huh? Could she see me? Was I actually there in her throne room? I’d assumed I was watching, but through some kind of more interactive VR experience.
Marisara sprang from the throne like a Yoda ninja psycho death nymph. She reached me in a blink, her glowing trident slamming right into my eyes.
I recoiled with a shout of terror as the vision snapped off and I returned to the council room. I tumbled to the floor, my shout of surprise mingling with everyone else’s as they too recoiled from the vision, white-faced and startled.
“Did everyone else just get speared through the eyes?” I asked as I climbed back to my feet. I liked VR games sometimes, but total immersion executions were not my thing.
Crystal visibly shuddered. “Eyes? What are you talking about? She threw her spear at me. Felt like I got skewered in the gut.”
Odd. How could we all watch the same video and see different things?
“Trident,” I said as I mulled it over.
“What?”
“She doesn’t use a spear, at least not the one I saw. Spears with 3 points are called tridents. Like Aquaman.”
She scowled and Paul said, “I started drowning, like she dropped a prison of water over my head.”
Tony and Burns exchanged a look, but neither shared what they’d seen. “We all saw a different ending? Why?” Tony asked.
Cyrus actually answered. “That was my best approximation of how Marisara might react when she finally meets you. She has such diverse interests.”
“I prefer boss monsters with only one power,” Burns grumbled.
“That would be terribly boring,” Cyrus responded in a chiding town. “And you may discover hidden benefits from those visions.”
That sounded like he might be giving us a hint. I needed to consider that more, but for now I asked, “Does this mean her army will start hunting us?”
“Not yet. Use the time you’ve got left wisely. Have a nice night.”
