Lost in the Game

Back to business

Shadow spent the entire day questing through the level, running into more and more people as he went about the tasks he needed to progress quickly to work on his guide, as well as farming the materials he needed to work on his profession. His new Wolf pet made quick work of most of the monsters around, as it leveled up quickly to match him.

It was also easy to keep it fed, as it ate various meats and even a few vegetables he had with him. It however did not like to be seen by others, and was almost always stalking next to or directly behind him as they made quick work of everything. He had learned kn precious floors, he could only get 10 levels per floor before he hit the cap, and had just finished as he completed one of a dozen quests he had ready to turn in.

He teleported back to the village, amazed it was the only one on the entire floor. His new Inn was the only one with a Tavern as well, so it was full to the brim when he walked in with villagers and players alike. Some of them had even begun playing music, and the building right next door was still for sale. He smiled as he around completing the quests, and was surprised when the Mayor stopped him and congratulated him.

"Can I ask a favor of you good sir?" the Mayor asked him.

"You can always ask. So long as you occassionally take no for an answer as well." Shadow said making the man laugh.

"For many years our small village has struggled, especially since we lost the Inn and Tavern. Now that you have completed rebuilding them, I wonder if you would be willing to assist us even further. Most of us would like to return our fair village to a bustling respite for the brave adventurers who travel here, and the first step is to recruit profession and class trainers. If we could manage even a few of them, we might be able to restore some semblance of normalcy as we return to a City." he said as Shadow had wondered about that.

The general trainer had the book to expand the leveling ability of each profession, and carried a few recipes here and there, but he had not yet found a profession or class trainer beyond the Rogues. "What kind of help can the village be? That will be a major expense for a single person to shoulder."

"We have access to building supplies, buildings and some of the old shops are still standing. After the fire burned 80 percent of the village however, most fled including the trainers." Mayor Wigham said to him as the quest screen appeared and he accepted it. He was amazed he had essentially became the owner of the entire village, and the construction screen was extensive.

"It may take a few days, but I assure you we will begin the process." he said as he walked into the Inn.

"What are you doing back so soon?" Arthur asked him as he entered.

"Turning in quests." Shadow said as his friend chuckled.

"Yeah, we were about to head back to floor 1 and hope the trainers there can help us. There aren't any here if you believe it, and the Mayor says they will be coming, he just needs to speak to the right person." Arthur replied.

"Yeah, that was an interesting conversation." Shadow said with a chuckle. "Seems it is a Merchant Quest to restore this village to a city. I think I need to go with you, except my quest is a little more complicated."

"Let's go." he replied as they used thier teleport Crystal's to return to the Capitol.

It took less than an hour for them to determine he had to repair the village locations before they could employ the trainers needed for the third floor. Shadow stopped by his shop quickly to collect the proceeds from the last two days and restock what he could quickly, however he knew he would have to spend tomorrow working on that so he could restock everything properly. It however gave him the funds he needed to complete his first quest, which was to rebuild all of the profession and class buildings on the 3rd floor to level 1. They would be basic, but it would give them what all the players needed to progress, including themselves.

"If you need any help, we can load ya some money." Arthir said with a smile.

"I may take you up on that, but something tells me that once we get everything up and running, the third floor will provide for itself. Plus there was a few funds available from the village for the repair work to begin." Shadow replied as they went back to the teleportation system to travel between the floors.

"Well, I hope it doesn't take too long, most of us are anxious to get to leveling what we need for the Boss. If we don't get it up and running quickly it could cause a panic."

"Level 1 will be easy, it will be upgrading beyond that may take a few days." Shadow replied as they stepped in.

"Teleport: Haggersville." he said as it was the name of the town on the third floor.

Shadow went straight to town hall where the system was for the entire village, and pulled up the interface to begin repairing the buildings he could, and salvaging the ones that couldn't. The Mayor was absolutely correct about the supplies, and as he suspected it was enough to finish the buildings to level 1. Even the lumberjack and wood mill buildings were operational, as well as the quarry before he ran out of supplies, but knew that with everything working as it should be now it would just be a matter of time. Fortunately the workers took only gold, and he filled all of them to capacity to speed up the collection process, as level 2 was going to take atleast 5 days before they would collect enough.

As soon as he had it all built he hired the trainers from the Capitol, which said it would take an hour to dispatch before they arrived in the village. He posted the notice, as everyone watched as the buildings began repairing themselves. It was the best he could do for the moment, before he teleported back to his hidden base where he produced his own goods on his equipment. He smiled as he realized he could make this into a Hideout as well, and decided he wasn't going to join a Guild. He was going to create one and this would be thier initial hideout.

He spent several hours crafting potions, equipment and everything else his shop needed, before he returned to the first floor where his shop was and stocked everything. Several regular customers spotted him, and asked if he had time for a conversation.

"We heard that there aren't any trainers on the 3rd floor. is that true?" Sherwood asked him.

"Partially true, they should be arriving in the morning." he told them honestly as the sun was just barely going down.

"How do you know?" his partner Robbin da Hood asked. They were both Rogues who he had been teaching a lot too.

"Well, ya know how it is said thatbl the floors can be bought and used by a Guild who get a percentage of everything, but they also have to pay for the floor upgrades and everything else?" he asked as both nodded. "Floor 3 was assigned differently, and the person in charge is currently upgrading it to level 1 which is when the trainers will be dispatched. The upgrade has another 3 hours until it is finished," he said looking at the clock. "8 hours later the profession trainers arrive from the Capitol. So roughly 8 am, they will be there." he told them.

"Who is in charge?" Sherwood asked him.

"Floor 3 is a Rogue Stronghold, hideout is under the Inn." he said with a smile.

"Wicked, you decided on a Guild yet?" they both asked at the same time as neither of them had one.

Shadow smiled as he looked at them. "I am going to go create one, just in time for the tournament that starts tomorrow." he told them.

"Man, I wish I had the entry fee for that." he said as they had decided it would be 1,000 gold to be used by the Strike Force Alliance to handle initial Floor Boss encounters.

"I will sponsor you both to enter." he said with a smile as they did as well.

"s**t, we gotta go. A bunch of us are going to do the Floor Boss so we can get to level 3. Guess we will catch ya later." Robbin said as they both took off running.

He shook his head as he headed for the Guild Masters Hall, and did exactly as he said he would. He created a Guild, and named it the Shadow Stalkers to indicate it would be mostly geared for Rogues. However he would of course welcome any class, and he assigned his home building as the current Guild Headquarters. He knew it was a risk as it was open information, but he also knew he had armed it well for defensive purposes.

It didn't take long, and he upgraded it even more as he bought 3 properties alongside it and expanded it dramatically so that up to 100 people could be assigned rooms. He even expanded underground to make a proper Rogue Hideout, and added the other profession stalls so anyone could work there in private. It had become well known that Rogues stalked the public crafting areas, stealing whatever they could get thier hands on.

He went to the great area, and sure enough as he looked around he saw 8 of them lurking about in the shadows, waiting for thier chance. He walked right up to one of them, as hisnoerception was high enough to see them easily, and tapped him on the shoulder making him jump and slip out of the shadows. "Need to talk to you and your buddies around here."

"How the hell did you see me?" he asked.

"I can see the other 7 as well, and we need to speak."

"Get lost, this is our spot." he said as Shadow flipped around and hit the one trying to pickpocket him in the head before his Wolf materialized growling sharply at another one of them.

"If this is all you ever hope to accomplish, you will be I'll prepared for the real challenges when the 10th floor Capitol is unlocked and you cannot even get there." Shadow said to them. "So you can stay here and become irrelevant in a few more months, or you can come with me and learn how to be real thieves and assassins. Your choice, I am going to get a drink." he said as his Wolf slipped back into the shadows completely disappearing as he did as well.

He was pleasantly surprised when 6 of them followed him to the nearest bar, and he ordered them all a drink as he saw they were not officially a guild.

"Why do you think you can teach us? We have been doing well for ourselves pickpocketing these unsuspecting fools." one of them demanded as he took a sip from his drink.

"Except that word has spread you are all here, targeting this very area taking whatever you can get your hands on. The 3rd floor will have public crafting stations as well as guards to protect the people using them. The dynamic is about to quickly shift. And if you are doing so well, that means you will all be entering the tournament for the strike team tomorrow?" he asked before taking another drink as all of them held thier heads down. "Exactly, you are not ready for even that, as you have not focused on what is important. The first floor will eventually become a ghost town for the players, as we all advance and move on to higher and higher floors."

"What are you suggesting?" one of the 2 girls asked.

"Join my new guild, and I will teach you how to be a true Rogue. You will quickly learn these players are nothing except for whatever skills you can steal from them. Items and Gold mean nothing when you have power and knowledge." he told them as 5 of them agreed to join and did right then and there.

"The base is on the second floor, the Guild Hall Teleport should take you right to it. Be warned though, the monsters outside of it can be challenging if you are not prepared for it. I will be there shortly, so you have time to invite any friends you might have made. Class doesn't matter, but it is primarily for the Rogues as I know most guilds do not like to recruit them." Shadow said before downing his drink and leaving them there.