CWD: GA ~ Forty-One

A week later, Nacho collapsed onto a bench at one of the long tables. He sat hunched over, absolutely assaulting the soup he’d made from some Rock Tarragon Ptarmigan; which a hunting party had found in a field. They weren’t nearly as big as the chicken-bats, but each one was still a good-sized bird monster. Three parts comprised this particular monster—rock, tar, and tarragon, the spice.

They had rock-like feathers, they spit tar, and they both smelled and tasted faintly of tarragon. Brie had killed one of the big stony birds, gained the credits, and then received a message that she’d been given a Monster Drop. Item drops were rare. Most of the time a player killed something, all they got was the credits. But every so often, maybe one in a thousand kills, the Patrons would drop a little bonus to keep things fresh.

This was the first time Nacho had ever heard of someone getting a recipe as a drop, and it wasn’t even his kill. He would’ve remembered that. Could it be another gift from Kronos? He wasn’t sure, but he added it to his Aria without delay.

Suffice to say, the soup recipe included the stone feathers of the bird monster along with typical soup stuff—onions, carrots, and celery. It also called for rice, which Nacho had to buy, though rice was as cheap as everything else at Tier zero.

He’d purchased some industrial-sized storage containers to hold the basics, but he longed for a better kitchen daily. For now, he was using the fireplace on the left-hand side of their guildhall, and he’d bought a grill so he didn’t have to use flat rocks as a makeshift surface to heat things.

Brie had brought the Rock Tarragon Ptarmigans from a hunting trip, but mostly, she ran the Deep Buggy Darkness with Reuben, Taye, Iron Becky, and Colleen. Iron Becky was downright lethal with her elemental magic, while Colleen provided illusions to draw fire away from the actual adventurers. Whatever wasn’t tricked by Colleen’s illusions would hit Reuben, who could take an oversized load of punishment, thanks to his Ring of Cheese. He was still learning the parameters of the magic item, but that didn’t stop him from constantly praising its effectiveness.

The mayor simply wasn’t very good at combat, so he acted as support staff unless he was forced to use a battle axe. Mostly, he kept the dungeoneering team supplied with enough food and water to replenish them as they used their Skills. The biggest problem with the five of them constantly running the Deep Buggy Darkness was that it was all insects, all the time, and Nacho didn’t want to waste money on a recipe book for bugs—even if there were several to consider.

Hungry Bob’s Bugs N’ Things and Finger Lickin’ Florence’s Beetle BBQ Bonanza were two of the more appetizing-sounding selections. If those weren’t scrumptious enough, he had the option of Get a Leg Up: How to Properly Serve Millipedes, Centipedes, and Scorpions written by someone named Auntie Mology. Nacho just couldn’t make himself excited about eating giant bugs, especially compared to the increasingly popular stone soup, which had become even more of a hit after he had begun to super-charge batches of it with his cooking Magic.

While the dungeoneers were killing a variety of insects—Gumdrop Grubs, Candylicious Weta Beetles, and Acid Termites, of which the prolific numbers confirmed that this was their spawn point, as he’d suspected—the Chips Guild’s hunters were still finding and killing more powerful types of deer. Mostly, they brought in Wight-Tails and ghoul deer, but Old Bill had brought in an Elktopus earlier that week.

It was part elk and part octopus; basically a huge deer with tentacles, which Old and Young Bill’s hunting party had hacked, arrowed, and speared to death. The beast was a level seven ungulate that had not gone down easily. Nacho would’ve needed a seafood recipe to make the tentacles edible, so he simply tossed them and collected a bundle of credits for venison processing.

Fifty-one people had joined the Chips so far, but everyone else on Armor Mountain was seriously considering it at this point. Waiting for them to decide was extremely frustrating, since practically everyone had given the go-ahead when they were first getting started. There were two people—the Bills—who were the most outspoken of the people dragging their feet, continually pointing out the ‘feudal lord’ aspects of the charter to anyone who would listen. It had reached the point that Nacho was starting to be annoyed with himself for warning people to watch out for the contracts. No one had explained it to him when he had first joined in his vision, and while it hadn't been the best situation, it certainly had gotten him in the door extremely quickly.

Brie didn’t want to let anyone sleep in the guildhall if they weren’t members, but Reuben took a different tack—the guildhall was an open benefit. Regardless of fealty, the structure was safer, warmer, and more comfortable than sleeping outside. He believed that if people directly experienced one upside of guilding up, they’d be more likely to take part in order to gain the additional benefits. Nacho trusted Reuben and was confident they’d win the rest over soon enough with food, credits, and walls.

He denied himself the luxurious kitchen of his dreams and stuck to the basics in order to start leveling up other people as fast as they could—focusing most of his efforts on Brie and Reuben. Not because they were his friends, but because Brie was their best chance to dish out epic amounts of damage in the coming fight with the Bove. Reuben would be right behind her, healing her all the way.

Some people intermittently grumbled about the changes, only wanting to increase their levels, until they started to see the results of increasing their Skills. Spells were more potent, swords slew more efficiently, and people were hungrier, bringing them to Nacho, who cooked endlessly to meet the increasing demand. It was an interesting dilemma, as he was always hungry as well, but it also made him a better cook. He was constantly eating his own food, trying out different spices, and learning where he overcooked or undercooked something. Practice made better, so he was well on his way to being a world-class chef.

The cook continued buying ingredients with increased rarity, since at Tier zero, even Epic flour was only two points instead of one. Once all of his base ingredients were Epic, he confirmed that better ingredients made all the difference. No wonder those chef people spent so much time at organic markets back on Earth!

While his supplies were Epic, his cooking setup was common, very common. He constantly needed to remind himself not to splurge on a fancy kitchen until they got their walls built. Those would defend them—at least from Crave, who had been silent for the most part. There had been reports of Red Suzy Blacke running some recon on their location. That wasn’t good news, but so far, Crave was likely occupied with building a guild of his own and leveling up his people.

Even so, it was only a matter of time until he’d go out on the conquering trail. Suzy and the people with her were probably just keeping tabs on them in the meantime. Nacho knew they had to get walls up before Crave’s people were ready to attack, especially on the northern part of Armor Mountain. At least neither Arriodd nor any other CrossHumans had shown up.

The Bove was a more pressing concern for the time being. It had rampaged its way back east on a killing spree, taking out minor settlements by the dozens. Nacho had talked to Taye, and given Nacho’s knowledge of the AKC, he was pretty sure the monster cow had made its lair near the big Muddy River to the east. Yes, Muddy River wasn’t the most imaginative name, but it was accurate enough.

Nacho mainly used his kitchen area as a bedroom and as a place to process bug corpses. People brought him bug body after bug body, and he’d peel off the carapace, pull off the wings, and then process out the Putrid Mana. It was a relatively easy way of earning bonus credits, so he’d offered a bounty on all monster corpses… no matter what type.

Putrid Mana processing always made him hungry, so here he was, sucking down stone soup with a pancake kicker. He missed the simplicity of cast-iron skillet biscuits. No one else wanted them for every meal, even if game logic told them it would be perfectly fine to eat them constantly. Earlier in the week, he’d upgraded his Ingredient Processing ability to level seven, which meant he could process meat up to level nine. For the time being, he wasn’t going to put any more points in the Skill. There was no point—they weren’t facing any Tier one monsters yet.

Nacho was planning on doing some shopping with Brie and Reuben that afternoon to look over their Skills and spend some of their credits. Right on time, the duo came back and slumped down on either side of him.

Both were covered in bug splatter and looked dog-tired. Brie helped herself to a Colonel White Beard’s fried chicken leg, speaking around her mouthful as she munched. “We cleared out another chamber down there, but I’m worried we’re going to hit a Tier one monster. We already have one crazy beast-thing to kill, and I don’t really want another anytime soon.”

Nacho stood up after a short internal struggle. “Let’s go check with the mayor on the wall situation.”

Reuben laughed wearily. “It’s funny that we still call him the mayor.”

“I’m starving over here.” The Berserker finished off the drumstick and reached for a plate in the center of the table. “I’ve been Combat Dashing bugs and Defensive Whirling my way all around this joint. The drumstick is a start, but I’m severely down on Hunger points.”

Nacho served them some stone soup and pancakes, though these flapjacks were meant to be more savory than sweet—he’d made them thick and doughy. He also quickly warmed up some of the Elktopus meat, and they ate a big meal together, talking and laughing while reviewing their credit situation.

Reuben had been putting credits aside because he was positive that every level one player on Armor Mountain had joined their guild because of his Marketing Skill. He’d increased his Marketing mojo to level two, since it had only cost them sixty credits in total. With Positive Vibes, he was maxed out at level nine—no going up without upgrading his class to Tier one, level zero. Over the week, they increased his Healing Hugs to level six, so he was healing everyone back to full health—thirty Health Points for most—with every awkward embrace. Some people had leveled their class and increased their Fitness, subsequently needing to suffer through multiple hugs if they got hurt too badly.

Brie was at level seven for her Dashing and Whirling, while she’d upped her Athletic Endurance to level three. They were each considering buying an additional Skill from the Store eventually, but they wanted to improve the Skills they already had, rather than go shopping for more. Nacho knew that players had to be careful with buying more Skills. It was absolutely necessary to be sure it was worth it. It was likewise smart for a player to wait until they got a feel for their character class before committing to a new ability.

Removing a Skill cost one thousand credits, the same amount as buying a guild charter. Buying a fifth Skill? Five thousand credits, and another Skill Slot was a non-negotiable prerequisite. That seemed far off, but the more powerful the creatures they killed, the more credits they’d earn. Already, fifty people working together and giving up ten percent had given them enough money to buy some wall lengths at a credit per square foot. If they got all one hundred and eighty-six people to join? The credits would really roll in.

Among the three of them, Nacho and his friends were holding onto six hundred and eighty credits after all their fun in the past week. While sitting at the table, Nacho frowned. “It’s three hundred and forty credits to max out Brie’s Combat Dash. I think we should do it.”

“What about you?” Brie inquired, her soft side peeking through once more as she tried to make sure he was taking care of himself.

Smiling, Nacho collected their bowls and walked to the sink. He’d gotten really good at doing dishes; one of the curses of being a Common cook. “I’m basically maxed out. Let me show you.”

Eli 'Nacho' Naches

Skill Slots (3/4)

• Small Blades (Passive) Level 9: 18% bonus damage on all knife attacks.
• Ingredient Processing (Active) Level 7: Remove Putrid Mana from monsters up to Level 9.
• Cooking Magic (Active) Level 9: cook food that enhances a stat by 45% of maximum.
• Open Slot

Reuben’s and Brie’s eyes glowed as they went over his Skills. The Healer blinked the glow away. “I love the fact that Crave spent so many credits on you. We missed you, buddy, but you used the time well. Since we’re sharing stats, let me show you something.”

In seconds, Nacho was reviewing the big guy’s Skills.

Reuben Colby

Skill Slots (3/4)

• Healing Hugs (Active) Level 6: 30 Health Points Restored Upon Hugging
• Positive Vibes (Active) Level 9: Weapon blessing: (applies to whole party, lasts 5 minutes) Adds 18% physical damage
• Marketing (Active) Level 2: Able to lure creatures to a location. Impacts up to Level: 3
• Open slot

“See that right there? Level two Marketing magic is right there,” Reuben announced proudly. “Next time we get everyone together, I’m going to convince them that they all need to join our guild. It’s going to be awesome!”

“It will be,” Nacho agreed with a grimace. “I have no doubt your Marketing Skill is going to pay off, but we have to be utilitarian at this point.”

“Which means I’m the vessel we fill for destruction. Stop, not a word.” Brie finished with a smirk at her groom. “If we have six hundred and eighty credits to spend on me, we can take both my Combat Dash and Defensive Whirl to nine.”

“What about your Athletic Endurance?” Reuben wasn’t about to let her ignore the discrepancy.

Brie shook her head and answered, “I’m not sure my Athletic Endurance is going to be worth it. We got it wrong. Athletic Endurance doesn’t use my full Hunger points; it merely reduces hunger loss penalties. I’m at third level, so I’m reducing ten percent by six percent, which is point six. Rounding up, my Combat Dash costs nine percent of my Hunger. It won’t be worth upgrading until I get to level eight, which would reduce it by sixteen percent, which would round up to two full percentage points.”

“That math sucks.” Reuben shuddered as he tried to work out exactly what she had said.

Nacho waved his hand to retake their attention. “Let’s max out your combat Skills. You’ll have pocket pancakes if you get hungry, so upgrade away!”

Brie stood, closed her eyes, and started spending credits. When she was done, she showed them just the Skills portion of her Stat Sheet.

Brie McCurdy

Skill Slots (3/4)

• Athletic Endurance (Passive) Level 3: 6% reduction to hunger loss penalties when using physical skills.
• Combat Dash (Active) Level 9: 18% Damage on Dash Attacks, 10 meter dash.
• Defensive Whirl (Active) Level 9: Spin toward your enemy, auto-blocking up to 5 strikes.
• Open Slot

Brie grinned and held out a double thumbs-up. “Maxed out at Tier zero. I’m curious about Tier one.”

“You’ll be even more deadly.” Reuben wrapped her in an affectionate hug from behind and kissed her ear.

Nacho made a face and left the pair to their canoodling. “I’ll go wash those dishes and pretend I didn’t see that. Then we’ll go talk to the mayor about the walls. I think it can wait, but we’ll see what the consensus is.”

It turned out that they should have moved sooner.