GreenPiece: -200 reputation with Akzar and all its factions

  Current rank: Despised

  Points to next rank: 150

  Shit, that’s not good. Our trespassing had lowered our standing in the city, which meant our quest had just become more difficult.

  Like the outer ring, this one’s streets and avenues were structured to perfection, but the buildings themselves were much less uniform. They were the same gray-black color but varied in size and shape.

  “Over here,” Bob urged, leading us into a side street.

  I glanced behind us and saw that D’kin had already killed one of his opponents and was making short work of the other one. I hurried after my lieutenant.

  “We don’t have much time,” Bob said as we ran down the street. “Once that guard kills the other one, he will call for patrols to hunt us down. We have to get to Duladeen first.”

  “Where is her house?” Yulli asked. The nimble scout had no trouble keeping up with our rapid pace.

  “It should be just around the corner,” Bob said. “It’s a large smithy. Barska took me there for a new sword once and I struck up a friendship with one of their smiths. Here we go.”

  We passed the next junction and came into view of a large, black one-story building.

  Bob frowned. “Something isn’t right. It should have bellows on the outside, and the doors are closed.”

  Shouting and yells of “Intruders!” rang out, and it sounded like they were getting closer.

  “Over here,” Yulli said urgently. She led us into a narrow alley between two houses and drew her bow.

  We hid behind a protruding wall section just in time to see a six-hob patrol passing by the main road.

  “They are looking for us,” Bob said grimly.

  “Yeah. We need to find your friend. Now.”

  “I am sorry, Dread Totem, I do not know where that is,” he admitted.

  “There’s a simple solution to that,” Yulli said. “Let’s ask someone.”

  “Like who?” I asked.

  In response, she nocked an arrow and let it fly in one smooth motion. I followed the arrow as it shot through the alley to land in the heart of a hobgoblin guard. He and two other guards had just entered the other end of our alley.

  The remaining two hobs looked at each other in surprise and turned to flee.

  We couldn’t allow them to go and call for reinforcement. I cast Shadow Teleport, intending to cut off their escape, but to my surprise, the spell fizzled. I blinked into the shadows and was promptly ejected, my body thrown against the alley wall. “Stop them,” I groaned, clenching my teeth at the unexpected pain.

  Luckily, both of my companions were trained veterans. Yulli shot a stream of arrows, and one of the fleeing guards’ back turned into a pincushion. Bob reached forward with his hands, tripping the last guard with the vines he had learned to control.

  The toppled guard yelped in surprise, then Yulli and I fell on him. The scout boss easily held his hands behind his back, pinning him down. I activated Mana Infusion, filling my muscles with magical strength. Taking care to avoid his sharp teeth, I placed my hand over his mouth, preventing him from screaming.

  “Where is Duladeen?” I asked with a threatening tone.

  The guard mumbled something unintelligible.

  Bob shook his head. “It is no use asking a mere grunt something so complicated, Dread Totem.”

  I analyzed our prisoner and realized he was a simple, unseeded, level 10 guard. A fodder mob.

  “What then?” I whispered. “Someone might have heard the fight. We can’t stay here for much longer.“

  The guard struggled against Yulli’s superior strength. With her 26 points in Physical, she had no problem keeping him pinned down.

  “Allow me,” Bob whispered back.

  He bent near the guard’s head. “Building in grid F32 restructured. Location of residual resource, intersected with constructional update?”

  I raised an eyebrow. That’s a less complex question?

 

  The pinned guard grunted his response. “G12.”

  Bob nodded and got to his feet. “It is not far from here, Dread Totem.”

  “That’s it?”

  He nodded again.

  “Okay. Yulli, hold him down tightly.”

  “The other guards will be here soon,” Bob whispered urgently. “They are trained to efficiently comb the streets. We should leave.”

  “This will only take a second,” I said and drew my black sacrificial dagger.

  The scout lifted the guard’s arms even higher, immobilizing him.

  I bent down and slit the pinned hob’s throat. There was no sense in wasting easy faith.

  Hobgoblin Guard, Level 10, Sacrificed

  +10 Faith Points

  I waited a few seconds for the dagger’s darkness to consume the guard and took the void crystal it left behind. “Okay, let’s go.”

  We followed Bob through some more narrow alleyways. Occasionally, we heard patrols approaching us, but my lieutenant seemed to know where they would be going next and led us without further encounters.

  We eventually stood at the end of another alley and peeked into one of the main streets. There was a rectangular gray stone house in front of us which was oddly tall for its size. A black billow of smoke rose from its chimney.

  “That’s the place,” Bob said.

  I stepped into the street. “Let’s head in.”

  “Intruders found!” a call sounded from my right. A patrol of eight guards down the street had spotted us. These hobs looked stronger than the gate guard and wore shining metal armor.

  “Hurry!” Bob urged, and we ran to the gray house.

  The guards started running at us, and I estimated we had maybe 20 seconds before they reached us and cut off our escape. I hoped my lieutenant knew what he was doing.

  We burst through the door and found ourselves inside the house. The interior was one big open room. A forge and an anvil were situated on the other side of us. An L-shaped desk bordered a small area at the entrance. There were shelves on the wall behind the desk where dozens of small, intricate metal statues and figurines stood.

  But the most notable thing in this weird little smithy shop was its occupant. Standing at the anvil and pounding on a piece of metal with fur-covered arms, was a two-and-a-half-meter tall Minotaur. I now understood the need for the high roof; that thing was as tall as an Ogre, and his horns nearly reached the ceiling.

  The Minotaur turned to look at us as we entered his shop. It laid down his hammer and gave us a wide, welcoming grin. “Welcome to Duladeen’s metallurgy lab!”

  I stared, gaping at the Minotaur. His voice, though gruff, had a definite high pitch to it. It was not a ‘he’ as I had first thought.

  “Greetings, Duladeen.” Bob inclined his head.

  The female Minotaur looked at him curiously. “Do I know you?”

  The sounds of the guards approaching became louder.

  “It is I, Borbarabsus. You forged my blade,” he said urgently, gesturing to the sword at his side. “We conversed for some time, and though it was a while ago, I had hoped you might vouch for me and my companions.”

  The bull-woman tilted her head and studied Bob. “I am sorry, you hobs all look alike to me, but I do remember that sword.” Her face grew angry. “That was before I was forbidden to forge weapons. But what was that about vouching–”

  The door flew open and hobgoblin guards burst in, their weapons raised.

  “Hey, what do you think you’re doing?” Duladeen demanded in outrage. “I’m not forging anything illegal here!”

  “Intruders!” the lead guardsman called and pointed his weapon at Bob. “Attack!”

  My lieutenant easily dodged the blow and drew his own sword.

  “Wait! I vouch for them!” the Minotaur’s voice boomed over the noises of clashing weapons.

  GreenPiece: +150 reputation with Akzar and all its factions

  Current rank: Unfriendly

  Points to next rank: 1,000

  Quest Updated: Akzar Access I

  You have gained access to the inner ring.

  Quest Type: Simple, chain

  Reward: 1,000 XP

  As one, the guards sheathed their swords, turned, and left the smithy.

  Vic snorted in derision.

  We were lucky the Minotaur’s endorsement had raised our reputation back to Unfriendly. It would have been damn hard to walk around the streets with that ‘Despised’ flag singling us out.

  “Thank you,” I said.

  The bull-woman tilted her head again and looked at Bob. “You allow your slave to speak for you?” She sounded puzzled rather than annoyed.

  I had to keep the fact that I was the one in charge hidden, but not my rank. After all, the gate guard had already pegged me as a boss. And we had an honest reason to be in the city.

  Bob, tell her why we’re here, but don’t reveal I’m the leader, I instructed mentally.

  Bob nodded at the smith. “This goblin is a capable enchanter. We are here looking for a specific type of metal for him to work with. I am not really familiar with the inner ring. I have only been here once, when you forged my sword.”

  The Minotaur-lady snorted, her cow-like nostrils flaring impressively. “I can no longer arm you. I tried striking it out here on my own. I left my master’s smithy and used all my savings to buy this place, but your kind doesn’t take kindly to members outside of your own race making weapons. Without a hob administrator, my skills are wasted. I make metal figurines now, but the demand is low and the money is barely enough to keep the forge burning.”

  “I am sorry to hear that,” Bob replied carefully. “But it is not weapons we need. We are interested in buying Viridium.”

  She tilted her head again. Her massive horns probably weighed five kilos each, but she moved like they weighed nothing.

  “Viridium? That metal is hard to forge and not durable enough to be worth the effort. You’d be hard-pressed to find a smith outside of the upper ring capable of working it.”

  Something about the way she chose her words made me suspicious. I analyzed her.

  Duladeen, Minotaur Smith

  Level: 41

  HP: 510, MP: 255

  Attributes: P: 41, M:0, S: 5Skills: Barter 18[+3], Gore 32, Smith 51…

  Duladeen’s Smith skill was at the Expert rank! According to Malkyr, my big, boisterous player friend, that was the rank needed to work with Viridium.

  I decided to wager a guess. “Do you have some in stock?”

  She grinned, showing a very un-cowlike row of sharp teeth. “As a matter of fact, I do. I am the only smith in this ring who can work the metal.” Then she scowled. “If I was a hob, that would be enough to let me set up shop in the upper ring. Those narrow-minded, rule-loving, no good–”

  “How much do you have?” I said, cutting her off.

  “Twenty ingots,” she grumbled.

  “Can you get more?”

  “I can order more from the upper ring. I can probably acquire 10 more within a few days.”

  That was not nearly enough.

  I tried another approach. “Are you willing to establish a trade route with another settlement?” Maybe once a trade agreement had been made, I would be able to use the Export Office at Goblin’s Gorge to bring in quantities beyond her actual stock.

  She looked at me and tilted her head again. “You’re a funny goblin. No, to answer your question. Only the hob nobles may negotiate a trade agreement, and they are all residents of the upper ring.

  Quest Updated: Akzar Access II

  Gain access to the upper ring.

  Quest Type: Simple, chain

  Reward: 2,000 XP

  I sighed. I just knew the game was going to kick me in that direction. “How much for the Viridium you have in stock?”

  “Fifty gold per ingot.”

  “How about 40?”

  She tilted her head again, even more than before. I idly wondered if she would overdo it and lose her balance. “You are a very strange goblin,” she remarked. “But I have nothing against your kind. You’re just a smaller kind of a hobgoblin to me. I’ll sell you each ingot for 49 gold.”

  I could see where this was going. “Forty-three?”

  “Forty-eight.”

  She was driving a hard bargain. Due to my low Social attribute, my Barter skill had reached its cap at level 11 and could not match her own 18.

  “How about 50, but you’ll also forge each ingot into a sphere for me?” I countered.

  “Hah!” She chuckled and beamed at me. “Agreed.”

  Twenty ingots at 50 gold each came out to 1,000, about half my fortune. I would need to use my funds sparingly if I hoped to make it into the upper ring and barter with the higher-ranked traders. “I’ll buy 10 for now.” I took out the required sum and placed it on the desk. “How soon can you have it ready?”

  She snorted. “All you want are simple spheres? That’s child’s play. I can forge more complex schemas than that. Ten spheres will take me about an hour.”

  That was fast; faster than any of my goblin smiths, and even Malkyr.

  I nodded at her, then exited the shop.

  Vic asked.

  I looked grimly at the tall walls deeper inside the city. I was not going to conform and play the long game.

  “Now we go into the upper ring.”

  2 – Admittance

  Now that we weren’t being chased anymore, I took some time to study my surroundings.

  The streets were just as orderly and symmetrical as in the outer ring, but the buildings themselves were less uniform. The conformist, militaristic architecture that dominated the outer ring had given way to more varied scenery. Not surprisingly for a frontier hob city, there were various shops selling weapons, armor, and other tools of war. There were also plenty of shops selling general goods, provisions, and adventuring gear.

  Vic, I don’t get why the new players were assigned to my clan. Akzar seems a much better place for new players to start.

 

  Maybe, I replied skeptically.

  We walked down the main road that circled the entire inner ring. We took a left at the next junction leading deeper into the heart of the city and found ourselves in front of another gate.

  The upper ring, true to its name, was built on top of a small hill at the center of the city. A few steps led up to the gate, and the gate itself had a raised steel portcullis. It was narrower than the other ones spread throughout the city, just wide enough for a single wagon to pass through. Three guards stood at the entrance and dozens of archers lined the high wall above them.

  Yulli bent to my ear. “I think we should tread carefully here, Chief. I might have to strain myself if we end up needing to fight.”

  The archers and two of the guards were all level 30. The third hob at the front, however, was a different story altogether.

  Calger, Hobgoblin Elite Punisher [Boss Tier 1]

  Level: 50

  HP: 1,055, M: 555

  Abilities: P: 47, M: 7, S: 0

  Background: Once an elite soldier, Calger left the army to fight for honor in the arena. He rose to a respectable rank but never beat the champion. After several attempts, he decided to quit trying and assumed the prestigious position of guarding the entrance to Akzar’s upper rings.

  I could understand Yulli’s concern. Calger was a level 50 boss and physically huge. He was enough of a challenge for the three of us by himself, even without the other guards.

  The powerful-looking hob raised his hand. “State your business.”

  I eyed him carefully as Bob took a step forward. Calger was wearing thick full-body plate mail. It was clearly infused with magic, as well as several other items I could sense underneath.

  “We are seeking entrance to the upper ring, esteemed Punisher,” Bob said cordially. “We wish to trade with the noble merchants inside.”

  I stifled a sigh. Despite his urbane speech, Bob didn’t really know how to approach a subject delicately. Any decent player would have first buttered up the guard to get on his good side, then tried to push in their angle.

  Calger shook his head. “You are not nobility. Do you have permission to enter?”

  Bob threw me a hopeless look then shook his head. “We do not.”

  The big hob nodded. “It is obvious by your slave that you were sent by a powerful warlord, but even so, everyone must follow the rules. You will need to gain permission first, like everyone else.”

  Ask him how, I thought to Bob.

  “There are two ways,” the boss replied after my lieutenant repeated my question. “One, you get a signed writ from a noble, but if you could get that, you would have done it already, so that leaves you with the second option.”

  “Which is?” Bob inquired politely.

  “You will need the sponsorship of two influential citizens from the inner ring, as well as a blessing from one of the city temples.”

  Quest Updated: Akzar Access III

  Gain access to the upper ring by acquiring a writ from a hobgoblin noble.

  Or:

  Gain the sponsorship of two influential citizens and the blessing of a temple.

  Quest Type: Advanced, chain

  Reward: 2,000 XP, access to Akzar’s upper ring

  Ugh, not again.

  The game was intent on having me run errands around the city. This quest would no doubt lead to follow-up smaller quests that would take even more time to complete. This was all fine and good for new players who were trying to make a name for themselves in the city, but it was an inconvenient delay for me.

  Still, Yulli was right. We couldn’t risk going up against the upper ring’s guards. We’d pushed through the first two gates with sheer brutality, saving several days of tedious questing, but we couldn’t use the same tactic again. There was no mild-tempered Minotaur to bail us out this time.