“I thought you were leaving this weekend.” Therion asked Winston as Winston sat near the shrine watching his golem work. The sun was shining and and a light breeze was playing through the apple tree. The sound of the leaves was making Winston sleepy and he was happily soaking in the drowsiness.

“I planned to but I don’t really have any-way to get anywhere.” Winston said around a yawn.

“Is that why you’re lazing around for once?” Therion asked.

“Pretty much, I mean, I could farm another two hundred bushel of grain this week but what would I even do with it? That much grain would completely crush the markets in Verith. I could have Troll drive it all the way Grenville again but I don’t think he would unless I paid him a massive amount of money. So there’s really no point. Besides taking a week off to just piddle around in game should be fine.” Winston said. He could admit to himself that he’d been working himself hard for months. Taking a week to just screw around in game sounded good.

“Well, I’ve got something I wanted to ask you about anyway.” Therion said. “Can you give me the name of that halfling you use to move you’re grain. We’ve got a lot more grain than we were planning to have and we don’t have the wagons to move it. I was going to call and see if he’d be willing to take the portal to Valor’s Crossing and dump off the grain in one of our warehouses. It would be a one-way trip but we’d pay him pretty well for it.” He explained.

“Troll? Yeah, his full name is Trollogistics, and I imagine he’d be happy to. It’s basically his job and he’d probably love a guild gig.Working for the swords, even indirectly should be a pretty big feather in his cap.” Winston said. That would also make things easier for Winston as well. He’d been wondering how he’d be able to hitch a ride with one of the wagons. With Troll going he’d just ride with him, he might need to pay but money shouldn’t be too much of a problem as soon as he went to see the orcs. He did have a 20,000 gold quest to complete.

Therion said his goodbyes and walked off while Winston decided he better get up and do something. He roused himself a half hour later and went to get Bog. It was time to see the orcs.

Winston and Bog moved through the forest without fear. They’d explored the forest off and on for a month and never had any major problems. The sun was shining and Winston whistled softly as the two traveled enjoying the weather. His gamer senses had apparently dulled because the first indication he got that something was amiss was a black-fletched arrow slamming into Bog. She squacked like an enraged goose and Winston whirled to see a half dozen goblins shoot more arrows in their direction, another hit Bog and Winston cried out as one hit him in the leg and nearly sent him falling to the ground.

What the hell were goblins doing out here? Winston thought the orcs had pretty much cowed everything else into submission but it was a video game. New monsters were spawning all the time. Hell, looking back he’d been lucky his field hadn’t been overrun with giant mutant prairie dogs or burnt down by a pissed off salamander. He’d been so removed from normal gameplay he’d forgotten that most of this world was overrun by monsters or idiot adventurers.

Bog let out another angry cry and started to charge but Winston cried out “Stop!”.

She’d be pelted with all the arrows if she tired to charge across an open field when they were ready for her. Winston definitely couldn’t keep up with her. The goblins knocked more arrows and Winston scrabbled at his pack to get his staff. Luckily, Bog listened to him and stood around looking angry and confused.Winston channeled faith into the staff and it glowed silver and he shoved it out in front of him.

“Shield of Faith!” He cried and summoned a glowing transparent shield that covered him and Bog.The arrows bounced off the spell and Winston started to walk towards the goblins channeling his faith into holding the shield in front of him.

The goblins started to fan out so they could fire around his shield but that also made them get closer. What’s what Winston was waiting for. Winston let bog off her leash. “Now Bog, Fowl Charge!” Green light flared around her and she took off like a rocket towards the nearest archers. One of the smarter ones abandoned his bow and dove to the side to avoid her, but the the one next to it was braver or dumber. Bog slammed into him and the goblin flipped up and over her, like a child hit by a sedan on a neighborhood street.

The goblins were short, maybe three or four feet tall with black leathery skin and large pointed ears that stuck out to the sides of their oddly oval heads. Their eyes were huge and yellow and when they opened their mouths Winston could make out long needle-sharp teeth. They were Otherworld’s universal fodder monster but to a level 12 Grove Tender they might as well have been a platoon of hobgoblin elites

Then Bog was among them, stomping and bashing anything she could chase down as she flapped her stubby wings. Winston dropped the shield and limped towards them. He couldn’t offer much in a fight but he owed it to Bog to try and do something. With five goblins still in the fight they could just spread out and pepper her with arrows. Winston wasn’t exactly sure he could stop them from doing it anyway but he had to try at least.

Bog had killed at least two of them already when Winston finally got to the fight. Winston approached a goblin who was facing the other way. It was aiming another arrow towards Bog and Winston let out his claws. Tiredness washed over him and he used [Empower Hoe] and 100 stamina was pulled out of him. He leaned forward jammed his claws into the monsters back. The goblin screamed and blood spurted out over Winston’s thick digging claws. He felt like a badass for all of two seconds before a goblin he hadn’t seen approaching stabbed him with a stone dagger. The attack was a good one and the dagger had gone up under his ribs and into his lung.

Even with the low pain settings in the game it still F-ing hurt. It also didn’t help that Winston could feel his lung filling with blood. The game apparently didn’t classify that feeling as pain and it didn’t get reduced. The slowly increasing pressure and half-drowning sensation was way more disturbing than pain would have been.

He punched the goblin in reflex and his claws bit into the creatures face and neck. Although Winston had no combat skills at all he was a level 12 who’d been doing hard physical labor every single day he’d been in game. His physical stats were no joke, especially to something like a goblin.

The creature collapsed and Winston took a deep breath in relief only to realize what a bad idea that was. He coughed up a mouth full of blood and collapsed on top of the bleeding goblin. Things got a bit fuzzy after that for him. He could hear Bog still screeching and fighting but the world sort of went away.

[You Have Been Knocked Unconscious]

[Estimated time to awaken 2 Hours 57 Minutes]

[Would you like to log-out?]

When Winston logged back in after a few therapeutic hours of blowing up aliens on his PC he found himself on a bed in a wooden hut. There was a young she-orc inside with him reading a book in one corner. She was a few years younger than Winston, maybe 12 or 13 but then again Winston had no idea how fast orcs matured. She could be six for all he knew.

“Are you finally awake?” Asked the girl. Winston looked over to her to she she’d closed her book and was looking at him. She had light-blue hair and was completely adorable, even with the tusks.

“Ol’gar wants to see you but you should go check on your bird. It was injured and was not happy when the patrol found you and carried you here.” Winston’s eyes widened and he tried to jump up out of bed but he cried out when his side sent a flash of pain through his body.

“That wasn’t very smart.” The girl said sweetly. “You just woke up from nearly dying, you should take things a bit slower I think.” Winston turned to the smiling girl and shot her a scowl before he sat up more carefully and climbed out of bed. His side twinged a bit but he could move.

“Can you tell me where she’s at?” Winston asked. He was worried about her. She’d taken more than one arrow and likely some other wounds. She had a lot of heath and strength but he was worried.

“Head outside and follow the road west. She’d tied to a tree near the edge of town.” The girl said.

“I’m sure she loved that.” Winston said sarcastically.

“She broke both the arms of the orc who managed to lasso her.” The girl said as Winston headed for the door. “Wait a moment. Your pack is over there.” She said, pointing towards one corner of the small room. We also put the coins and trinkets the goblins dropped inside it as well. It was only a few coppers though.”

Winston grabbed his pack and headed outside. When he got there he brought up his combat log to see what had happened.

[You Are Hit by Arrow]

[You Take 15 damage]

[You Have Received Wound (Minor Cripple: Left Leg)]

[You Cast Shield of Faith]

[- 50 Faith Points]

[Channeling: - 50 Faith Points]

[You Have Cast Empower Hoe/Plow]

[-100 Stamina]

[You Have Dealt 52.5 Damage ((17x2) x 1.5 Backstab) to Goblin]

[Goblin Dies: User gains 0 xp]

[You Are Hit by Stone Knife]

[You Take 63 Damage (Critical)]

[You Have Received Wound (Punctured Lung: Torso)]

[You Have Received Wound (Major Bleeding: Torso)]

[You Have Dealt 40 Damage ((10x2) x 2 Critical) to Goblin]

[You Have Inflicted Wound (Critical Bleeding: Neck)]

[-25 Health (Major Bleeding)]

[-40 Stamina (Punctured Lung)]

[You Are Unconscious]

[Goblin Dies: User gains 0 xp]

[-25 Health (Major Bleeding)]

[-25 Health (Major Bleeding)]

[Battle Ends]

[Orc Tracker Users Light Healing Potion: Wound (Major Bleeding: Torso) reduced to (Minor Bleeding: Torso)]

[+20 Health (Healing Potion)]

[You Have Learned A New Skill]

[Stealth]

[This skill is unlocked by successfully hiding one’s presence to follow a foe, attack a player or monster, or steal something. Stealth represents one’s ability to hide and move unnoticed. The skill encompases any attempts to conceal ones presence whether magical or mundane. This skill will increase by hiding oneself from observers.]

[You Have Unlocked a new Sub-Skill!]

[Assassination]

[This skill is unlocked by attacking and incapacitating or killing an unaware opponent. This skill increases the amount of damage, as well as the success rates of surprise attacks. This skill increases with use.]

[You Have Learned A New Skill]

[Hand-To-Hand]

[This skill is the art of using punches, kicks, locks, and holds to defeat an opponent. Unlocked by fighting with no weapon. Increases with use.]

[You Have Learned A New Sub-Skill]

[Natural Weapons]

[Some races are better suited to combat than others. Whether it’s fighting with claws, teeth, or poisoned spines, this skill focuses on improving your ability to battle with your races natural weapons.]

[You Taming Skill Has Reached The Skill Cap]

[Do you Wish to Spend A Skill Point to Raise It Further?]

Winston hadn’t ever gotten that many messages at once. He’d have deal with it all later. He didn’t exactly have a ton of use for combat skills and although unlocking them was nice he wouldn’t get much mileage out of them. The orcs must have been really close when he’d gone down. After that last bleed damage he would have had less than 20 hp left.

“Oh, you’re just a mess aren't ya girl.” Winston said as he found bog. He started rubbing his fingers into her feathers in the way she liked. “You saved my bacon during that fight. I’ll give you a big bribe when we get back.” His words seemed to perk her up a bit but she was hurt pretty badly and didn’t have much fire left. He hugged her gently before standing up.

“I’ve gotta go talk to the orcs. Stay here for a bit and we’ll head back to the keep.” He said as he stood up and headed for Ol’gar’s hut. He found the old she-orc in her normal seat and he sat down on one of the furs that covered her floor. The motion pained him but he gritted his teeth through it.

“You’re alive…” The old orc said. “That’s good, thought we were going to have to find another farmer.”

“Thanks for hauling me out of there. I’m not much of a fighter. Got two of the little bastards but they stuck a dagger in me.” Winston said.

“Defeated by two goblins…. Gonna be tough on you, even just moving through the world. You’re going to need to increase you’re fighting power if you don’t want to be hiring people to escort you around everywhere. What did ya come to the village for anyway?” She asked.

Winston thought over her words. She was right in a way but he wasn’t too worried. Money solved all problems and he should have plenty once he got set-up in his new location.

“Your corn and vegetables are ready. I just need you guys to move it. Right now I’ve got the Keep’s basement stocked to the rafters.” Winston told her.

“Already… Excellent.” She said with a feral grin. “We’ve made some hand carts. I’ll have a few workers and a half-dozen guards go with you. You and you’re wounded bird can ride in the wagons. In fact I think I’ll come too. I’ve got to give out your reward after all.”

Winston nodded and the two headed outside. It was already late in the afternoon and Winston wondered if they’d even get to the keep before dark. He untied Bog and two hopped into one of the wagons the orcs had built. They weren’t well made but they got the job done and the two rode in semi-comfort as they headed towards the keep.

Luckily for Winston it was Saturday night and everyone at the keep was offline. When they arrived everything was dark and the orcs drove the wagons around to the front and right into the courtyard. Then the great loading started. With all the hands it didn’t take more than an hour. The orcs had brought three wagons and they piled two of the full of corn before leading the third closer to the storage shed to grab the vegetables. Those went onto the third wagon until it too was packed full.

When it was done Ol’gar came over to see him.

“I suppose it’s time for my part.” She said as she handed over a sack of coins. It was a big sack and Winston could barely lift it even with both arms.

[You Have Completed a Quest Chain!]

[Food For The Village]

[You Have Received: 40,000xp, 20,000 gold, +5,000 fame with the fire-tooth orcs]

[As A Bonus Reward You’ve Gained +1 Secondary Skill Point]

[You Have Gained A New Title!]

[Friend Of Monsters]

[You Have Proven to be an ally of those peoples less civilized. Those of the wilds will be more likely to see you as an ally. While the civilized races will see you as a traitor.

Effect: +500 base fame with any races classified as Monsters, -500 fame with normal NPC’s while title is active.]

[You Have Reached Level 13]

“Is this all gold?” Winston asked incredulously as he opened the sack and looked down at all the small golden coins.

“That’s a third.” Ol’gar said as she handed him another similar sized sack. Winston just blinked at her.

“That is like 500 POUNDS of gold. Where the hell am I supposed to put it.” Winston asked incredulously.

“That’s your problem wanderer.” Ol’gar said heartlessly. “And it’s more than that. All golden coins are always made the same size and it’s 16 to a pound. It’s a hold over from the first great elven empire. Even your people’s kingdom was young back then. It’s said the, orcs and dwemer raised an army a million strong to drag the Golden Tyrant off his white throne.” She looked wistful while Winston goggled. 16 to a pound? Well, that was obviously an ounce a coin but that meant 20,000 coins was over 1200 pounds of gold. Couldn’t she have brought in bar form or something?

Winston sent off the orcs as they pulled their loaded wagons out of the courtyard before he followed his mole instincts and buried all the gold, like a golden retriever with a bone.

********************************************************************************************

The next day Winston finally went to check on his beer. The cask sat where he’d left it in a forgotten corner of the storage shed. He pulled out the metal air pipe and hammered a cork in its place. Then he stared at the cask waiting for a pop-up.

[You Have Created A New Brew!]

[Would you Like to Name It?]

Winston thought about it for a moment then said. “Brethren Plain’s Harvest Medley”

[Brethren Plain’s Harvest Medley]

[Uncommon, Poor-Quality]

[A brew created by a Novice brewer with poor-tools and no practical experience. Instead of attempting something simple as his first creation he added in a number of high-quality and magical ingredients, some of which aren't meant to be consumed. The terrible brewing was somewhat off-set by the quality of the ingredients.]

[Grants: +1 mana regeneration per 5 seconds and slightly increased air affinity for 30 minutes after consumption.]

[Created by: Win Mills]

[Brewing skill has reached Novice II]

Winston picked up the cask and went to find Therion.

“One cask of beer as promised.” Winston said with a smile as he handed over the cask. Therion grinned in delight before his face froze as he read the description.

“What the hell did you put in this?” He asked.

“Lots of stuff, that’s why it’s a medley.” Winston said with a shit-eating grin.

Therion let out a sigh but he dug into his pack and pulled out a wooden mug, pulled out the cork and poured some inside. It at least looked like beer, with a rich brown color. Winston knew that meant he’d over-cooked it a bit but he was more concerned with the odd silver sheen the foam on top had.

Therion looked at the foam askance as well but he gamely took a small sip. His face scrunched up, then looked thoughtful then he nodded and shrugged as he drank more. “It’s not great but beats the cheap crap I used to drink back in college. Improving affinities is pretty rare too. This might be worth a decent amount of money to a sorcerer or aeromancer.”

Winston shrugged. “It was a gift, and a pretty poor one at that.” He said, a little embarrassed. He’d just done the brewing equivalent of handing Therion a paper-plate with macaroni glued on it.

Therion slapped him on the back. “Beer is always the best present.” He said as he turned and headed back towards the keep. Winston wasn’t so sure about that be he had other things to work on.

Winston pulled up his messages and used one of his secondary skill points for taming as he headed for the stables.

[You’re Taming skill has ranked up!

[Current Rank: Beginner I]

[Effect: User can view monsters Status Screen

Beast can level up

Beast level capped at 3/5 user level

User can allocate stat points

User cannot choose specializations

Beast will fight for user]

The fact that Bog would now accept his orders to attack was good, but she’d honestly been doing that for a while. He wasn’t sure if the game was referring to the fact that he hadn’t actually ever ordered her to attack or if it was something else. That was the problem with a game as alive and real as Otherworld. It was hard to enforce absolutes.

Winston shrugged it off as he found Bog still bandaged but moving a lot better. He took her bandages off and hoped another night in the stables would put her back to rights. Then he pulled out his surprise. He poured five full handfuls of Superior Cloudberries into her trough with the other grains she usually ate. It was probably worth at least 800 gold but she’d earned it. He still had nearly three bushel of the things to send to Ruger. Winston figured those three bushel were likely worth around 5000 gold. He was definitely going to stick it to Ruger when it was time to pay up.

That left Winston with just two more things to accomplish before next weekend's big move. One was moving his shine. That would wait until the last day but the second was to dig up whatever source of earth magic was messing with his apple tree. It was powerful and likely valuable.

*****************************************************

Winston sighed with happiness as he parked at the lunch table. He felt relaxed for the first time in a while. All the pressure of his in-game job was finally off his shoulders and he was feeling it in the real world as well. As his friends piled into the table around him he smiled and dug into the cheeseburger he’d gotten for lunch.

“You’re looking jovial.” Jason said around a bite of his own burger.

“Just feeling relaxed, been taking the week off from farming. It’s nice to just BE once in a while ya know?” Winston explained, philosophically.

“Not really.” Jason said. “I’m having a blast, maybe you’re just doing it wrong. I’ve gotten my lumberjack skill and my thrown weapons skill to Novice IV already. Made some gold selling the wood to Trish’s guild and I think I’m gonna try and hit up a goblin lair I found out in the woods this weekend.” Jason said happily.

Winston frowned but looked to Brad. “I got my Defensive Warding Sub-Skill to Journeyman III and I think the Black Reaper guild is gonna pay me 5000 gold to ward one of their outposts.” The normally quiet Brad added on.

Winston looked to Ruger, who just shrugged.

“You guys are not helping.” Winston said sourly.

“Who said we were supposed to.” Trish said, as she slapped down her own plate and slid into the seat next to Winston. “Pretty sure our job is to make fun of you as much as possible.” She said as she leaned over and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

“I can just feel the tender affection in the air.” Winston said, wiping away a fake tear.“So, I need some input. What should I spend my skill points on? I’m level 13 now and Still have no clue what I should be doing.”Winston said, changing the subject somewhat.

“Well, You only get 2. It’s not that complicated.” Ruger said. That wasn’t quite true but Winston had spent one point and gotten one point so it evened out.

“I guess, but there are so many skills. And with the expansion coming out they’ll be even more.” Winston whined.

“Well, brewing or cooking would be the most logical choices for you.” Brad said.

“Yeah, I think brewing will get one point.” That still leaves me with at least one. “Or I can break my primary point into 2 secondary points.”

“Never spend your last skill point.” Trish said firmly. “There are tons of awesome skills in the game people stumble on accidently and not being able to level a skill for months until you get more points can really cripple a character.”

“Fine….” Winston grumbled. He wasn’t convinced though, he thought his next skill was going to go into construction. He needed to build up his new farm and the thought of doing it himself appealed to him. Winston had all the money from the orcs he should be able to buy supplies easily enough. He imagined he’d need to do a great deal of googling to figure out how to build things but it would be an adventure like everything else. That might also earn him some points with Runa.

“You still want me handing the berries off the the same merchant.” Winston asked Ruger as lunch was ending.

“Yeah, it’ll be the same guy.” Ruger said.

“Good, well you better get your wallet ready. I’ve got three bushel of Superior quality cloudberries. “That should be worth…. Well they honestly don’t have a real price. There’s no supply. The normal grade ones go for 600 gold a bushel though. I’d guess the effect they have on bird-type monsters is even stronger now. They’d likely go for 5000 gold or more.”

“I’m not paying that much.”

“You don’t have to. One you’re my friend and two the AH would take a 15% cut and I think they charge another 5% to turn gold into real money.” Winston said as he did some math in his head.

“I’ll give you 300.” Ruger said as he stood up pulled out his money clip. He slapped three hundred dollars onto the table.

“I love capitalism.” Winston said as he put the portraits of Ben Franklin into his wallet.

“That mean you’re taking me out this weekend?” Trish asked sweetly. Winston’s smile faded.