Origin ARS 6 Page 2

  Herbert sat next to her, and made a concerted effort not to start practicing his dance moves. He was quite dedicated to his craft.

  Scott and Rhea sat next to each other on the couch. It was Scott who spoke first. "Alright team. It's time to decide what we are going to do with ourselves."

  "What do you mean?" asked Ero.

  He looked to the tiny fairy then said, "Well, we've finished our last job and spent half of our general fund on this room. We need to get some money flowing, but we also need to train. You and Rhea both have to leave the group for a lengthy period of time as well."

  "Rhea? You do, too?" asked Ero. After Rhea nodded, Ero tilted her head to the side and asked, "Why?"

  "Business in the Divine City. We need to slow the board down so I am going on tour as the face of our empire. I'll be in and out for the next four years in ARS time."

  "Oh! How long will you be gone?" Ero leaned forward, her eyes wide and sad.

  "About eight days at a time, with four days here afterward," said Rhea.

  Ero asked a question that Scott had also been about to ask. "Can't you just do that thing where you make more than one copy of yourself?"

  Rhea sighed. "Not really. It would be seen as a sign of rudeness if I bifurcated like that. It's one thing to have aspects running the game world. It's another entirely to log in as a player and play while I am supposed to be focusing on the fans. It's like I don't think they warrant my full attention."

  "Bad PR?" asked Scott.

  "Yes, very much so," said Rhea with a sigh. "That's the last thing we need. Let the player base think I couldn't be bothered to give them my all when my family calls for a tour of the commonwealth."

  "Hmm, so we only have you with us for what, another three or four days?" asked Scott.

  "Two actually..," said Rhea.

  Scott winced. "It's really going to impact your training isn't it?"

  "Can't be helped. I can make up for it in various ways, but we do need me to do this if we are going to buy a little more time. Even if it only gives us an extra year or two, that's a lot of time to plan and train," said Rhea.

  "True. Maybe it's not so bad," said Scott.

  Rhea gave him a mildly hurt look and he waved her off. "Don't take it like that. I'm talking about everyone. Ero needs to have proper medical care, Herbert needs to get a little older, and my magic needs a lot of time and effort to develop."

  "So, what are you saying?" asked Rhea.

  He took a moment to respond. There was a lot to say and he wanted to say it right. He leaned forward and allowed his eyes to grow hazy, a distant look arose within them. "When I first came to ARS, I was like a little kid. I ran around like a happy idiot and did stupid things at times."

  Scott's eyes narrowed a little. "I can't do that again. It's fine to have fun, but we can't just wing it. I need to be better than I was before, more focused. I can take the next few years to develop my powers and train. Out of all of us, I am the only one who doesn't have an innate capacity to mesh properly with this world."

  "You don't mesh?" asked Ero. Herbert chittered a little and she translated his mousy chatter as a similar question.

  "None of us are native to this world, but everyone here besides me has spent most of their life dealing with a similar state of being. I've only dealt with it for a few months. My game playing knowledge only helps out by a small amount. I need to redefine myself completely," said Scott.

  "So, what do you intend?" asked Herbert by way of his fairy translator.

  Scott looked down at the tiny Grassrat. "I need to become what I pretend to be. I am a sorcerer, a twilight master. I need to live up to that and stop merely playing a game."

  "You need to train," said Ero, on Herbert's behalf.

  "I need to train, true training," said Scott in agreement.

  The Grassrat waddled forward and reached over the gap between the table and couch to place one paw atop Scott's knee. He chittered something then inclined his head.

  "I understand," said Scott.

  "Wow! You can speak Grassrat now, Scott?" asked Ero.

  Scott shook his head. "No. I just don't need a translation to know what he meant."

  Herbert had left his world behind and sought to become something remarkable as well. Though they were of different species, they were brothers of a kind.

  "What will you do then?" asked Rhea after a moment.

  The sorcerer took a breath. "I'll spend most of my time in training or challenging tough opponents in the field. When everyone is together we can go on specific missions. Once we have things sorted, I'll need to head to Twilight Desert to undergo real training."

  Rhea nodded her head. "I understand. That would help a great deal. Though, the monster level in that area is quite high, we could all undertake training there."

  "We can? I only knew that it was a place where twilight sorcerers gathered," said Scott.

  The elf maiden grinned at him. "Yes, it's one of the better places to train since the monsters tend to be able to take a lot of punishment. Good for skill development. There are even a few dungeon areas that have cropped up there recently."

  "Cropped up? You make it sound like the gods didn't just put them there." Scott smiled at her, a twinkle in his eye. It was nice to just sit and talk about things like this.

  Ero reached over and lightly stroked Herbert's fur while Rhea explained the truth about the dungeons of the world. "Dungeons, monsters, and things like that happen on their own here. There are certainly many pre-set areas, but mostly a dungeon happens when creatures at odds with the local government take over a location. The levels, bonuses, even the layout of the dungeon can change drastically after an abandoned place becomes a dungeon and the new owners start tinkering with it."

  "Some of that dynamic world-building stuff you mentioned before?" he asked.

  Rhea raised one hand up and made a magnanimous gesture like she had become royalty. "But of course, good sir." she said with a soft laugh.

  The group discussed various things for a time. The discussed plans for the future and plans for the present. Eventually, plans for that day came up. Scott brought up a subject that he thought might be beneficial. "I think we should get a transit pass and ride around for the next two days to unlock the major towns in this kingdom."

  Rhea immediately nodded her head. "Good idea. Right now, the way that the stats work would make taking the train the better idea compared to world travel, but by the time we leave this area altogether we could probably run faster than the train."

  "My thoughts exactly. At that point we could save a lot of money when we need to come back here simply by using world travel instead of keeping up with the transit pass," said Scott.

  "We should get the weekly pass for you and two day passes for me. It costs more than buying two day passes, but it would still let you travel around quickly for the rest of the week." suggested Rhea.

  "So, one silver and forty copper. Doable."

  "What about Herbert and I?" asked Ero with a pout. Were they being left out?

  "You can ride for free. Small children, small pets, and fairies ride for free. At least you ride for free as long as you stay fairy sized," said Rhea. "Though you do need to ride with a paying customer."

  "Neat!" said Ero lightly. She then unleashed a throaty chuckle and offered the group a sultry gaze. "I'm a free ride."

  Scott laughed at her antics a little then looked at the group. "So, we're agreed then? We're going to spend these two days setting up shop in the area by going to all of the major stopping points and making fast travel markers?"

  The others agreed readily. However, after they stood up another thought occurred to Scott. "We should check the local bulletins to see if there are any easy delivery jobs..."

  "Ah, there we go. I was just about to suggest that," said Rhea. "If we're lucky we can earn a little coin and social experience for doing easy missions."

  "Let's hope so. We go to the city courthouse right?" asked Scott.

  "
We need to do that today, but we both have a Crysta-com. Once we get there we can register for day labor assignments and download the local bulletin app for Valkovia. After that we can just update it whenever we arrive in a new town in the kingdom. We'll have all of the general quests and missions available to the public right at our finger tips."

  "Sweet, like a local online job board," said Scott. That would prove to be quite convenient!

  "Exactly like that, yes. The general jobs tend to be numerous, but don't pay much. We should snag several at once, though there is a limit of two at a time per person or four for an official work group. Group work is more dangerous but pays more so we should get those sorts of jobs when we are all together," said Rhea.

  "Think we should just get eight separate jobs today?" asked Scott.

  "Six. I hate to say it, but they probably won't recognize Herbert as a qualified applicant," said Rhea. She looked down at the tiny Grassrat and smiled. "Though, I think he is more than qualified for most jobs."

  Herbert chittered his appreciation at her sentiment. She reached down and rubbed the top of his head. In response his left foot started tapping in excitement.

  "Alright. Well, if Herbert can't accept jobs on his own we should just do group assignments, instead. That way everyone receives experience and a fair share," said Scott.

  "Sounds good." replied Rhea.

  The foursome finished everything they needed to do in order to prepare for their day then headed down to the courthouse. Along the way, they stopped at the mainline bus station on Tenth Street near the East Gate and purchased their transit passes. Money seemed to flutter away like butterflies on a warm summer breeze of late, but such was life. In order to live there were expenses to be paid.

  Since they had a pass they decided to take the bus to the courthouse. They waited only a few minutes for the next bus to arrive as they had luckily picked an opportune time.

  A Valkovian city bus was both similar and quite different to one from Earth. It had no wheels. Instead it hovered a few feet above the road and glided through the air without sound. There were two types of buses, the standard transit bus, and the express bus. The transit pass only paid for the standard bus fare. Express bus rides did not make stops save for the two bus terminals that they operated between. There were several such buses and each one took passengers to a different quadrant of the city. Four of the major bus terminals were situated near the gates, so the express buses were typically used to ferry people into, out of, and around the city at a high rate of speed. Such convenience cost a great deal more than the standard fare.

  Once they were seated on the bus, each of them took in the sights and sounds of the local people. The bus occupants alone comprised a large number of different species. Humans were the most common, of course. But there were a few fairies, blood trackers, and Scott was certain that he even saw an elf near the front of the bus. He stared at the probably rare sight of an elf riding a city bus without shame. Sure, Rhea rode the bus with him, but she gave him other reasons to stare at her. Soon he discovered that the elf in question wore a well-crafted business suit. He had a brief case chained to his wrist, and wore dark sunglasses.

  For a moment Scott wondered if there was such a thing as an elven mafia, but let it go. Whatever that guy was doing was none of his business.

  The foursome chatted amiably and noted several sights of interest as the bus continued on its silent way across the city. Two stops later, the well-dressed elven courier left the bus and a familiar sight got on. It was the mother and daughter honey badger duo he had seen on his first day in town. A slight smile crossed his lips. It was good to know that they had made it through the attack. The little girl was adorable.

  The third stop was the one they needed. The foursome exited the bus only a short distance away from the courthouse. Rhea pointed out that the actual place that they needed to go was next to the large intimidating building. The courthouse had large stone pillars and short staircase. It looked fairly similar to the sort of big city courthouse one might expect from Earth, but instead of a statue of a blind woman wielding a scale, there was a massive eye superimposed over a symbol for the sun. It was carved just above the entrance doors.

  The inscription below the eye read: Let us shine the light of civilization upon the world, that the eye of truth might discern justice from vengeance.

  The imposing building was not their stop that day, however. The place they needed to go was a small side-building off to the left of the courthouse. Rhea led the way as she had actually been there before. Once inside the two story office building, they filled out the appropriate paperwork and moseyed on over to the local job board in order to acquire the app.

  Rhea showed Scott how to scan and download apps from local sites such as the job board. He used his Crysta-com to do as asked and soon he had a list of all of the generally available local jobs.

  "What about specialized or private jobs?" he asked.

  "Well, there are guilds and organizations that we could join," said Rhea. She looked over her own job board information for a moment then looked back to Scott. "You might seek out the Grande Cabal, I have never been to one of their guild offices, but they like to take in magic users and I hear that they don't impose too many restrictions."

  "Sounds promising. I suppose there are a lot of places and people in the world that we could get more specialized jobs from?" he asked.

  "Absolutely. They don't generate a quest screen like on the casual server, but they still count toward social experience and if you sign a contract for payment it is enforceable at the courthouse." she said.

  "Hmm, and the chances some quest giver might skip out on paying us?" asked Scott.

  "Well, these general jobs are paid in advance. So, all we do is show proof that we finished the task and the payment is released to us," said Rhea. She took a breath then continued, "Private jobs are different. You work for a specific client. If they renege on their part of the deal, you take the contract to court. If it seems plausible that they did fail to pay, the government awards you a settlement and puts out a public warrant for the apprehension of the client."

  "They get arrested for non-payment?" he asked, surprised. People failed to pay their debts all the time back home. Few people went to jail for it unless there were specific criminal actions attached to it. Failure to pay debts was a civil issue and not a criminal one.

  "Sort of. They are brought in and made to pay their debt to the government, plus court fees. If they pay, then there is no problem. If they don't they are taken to jail and are required to work off the debt at standard minimum wage, minus accommodation expenses."

  "I see, so a non-paying client gets brought in by the cops and made to pay their debts?" asked Scott.

  "Not just the police, no. A public warrant means anyone can bring the client in." She thought about it for a moment then grinned. "There are even cases where the wronged party takes up the warrant and arrests the person who failed to pay them properly. In that case they not only get their money owed from the job, but they get to earn bounty hunting money and a little more respect from the local government."

  "Good to know," said Scott. There were financial dangers to the acceptance of private jobs it seemed, but at least there were options to enforce payment for services rendered.

  Ero fluttered over to Scott and landed on his shoulder. She leaned forward, her expression curious, and asked, "Are there any good jobs?"

  "Not sure, yet. We need four group jobs. Herbert can't take any, and we have not gotten you a Crysta-com, yet," said Scott.

  Rhea spoke up. "Here's one. We can even start it before we leave town."

  "Oh? Which one?" asked Scott.

  "Public service announcement thirty-six." she replied. Scott immediately scrolled down till he found the announcement that she had mentioned.

  [Public Service Announcement #36]

  Barbecue Delivery

  Downtown Bar & Grill is looking for someone to deliver two cases of barbecu
e to Primrose Acres by 12:30 PM.

  Mission Requirements: Acquire the package at Downtown Bar & Grill then deliver it to the Primrose Acres Militia headquarters by 12:30 PM.

  Success: Deliver the package before time expires.

  Failure: Fail to deliver the package before time expires.

  Rewards: 120 Copper Fayth

  Penalty: If the delivery is late, you must pay the purchase cost. Each package is valued at 600 Copper Fayth.

  [--]

  "Holy crap, that's pretty good pay for a simple delivery!" Scott stared incredulously at the amount of coins offered. How could they afford to pay so much to deliver barbecue?

  "It's typical for out-of-town deliveries. See the penalty. If we're late, it will cost us twelve silver. Our pay is ten percent of the item value to ensure speedy delivery. I'm sure the Downtown Bar & Grill factored the delivery charge into the order fee," said Rhea.

  Scott checked his Crysta-com. It was eight in the morning. "Can we get to Primrose Acres by noon?"

  "No problem there. It's only eight miles outside of town, and on the bus route," said Rhea.

  "Sweet. Let's take it," said Scott before he accepted the contract. He did have a curious thought cross his mind afterward. "You'd think that a business would have someone on tap for this sort of thing."

  Rhea shrugged. "They probably only do out-of-town orders for special occasions."

  "Right," said Scott. That made sense. He looked over his Crysta-com again and soon found another job that he liked, and then another. Delivery jobs seemed to be the simplest thing to do at the moment and there were several more that involved Primrose Acres.