10 minutes later, Patrick left his room to find the rest of his party standing near another inn door. Grey was preparing to enter the room Delarius was staying in, starting to get bored of Patrick’s lie-in. Amelia and James were busy digging through the options menu to get rid of some of the excessive text pop ups. When the sage joined the rest of the group, he looked distraught.
“What happened?” Grey asked.
“M-My dream was an ad,” Patrick muttered, unable to look at them. “They were trying to make me buy the expansion. Capitalism has found a way into our subconscious.”
“Did it give you a buff at least?”
“Only if I played Armournaut. Which I can only get in the expansion. I never thought it would get this bad...”
“And your expectations are usually very low,” Grey added. Patrick glared at them and Grey soon realised that was the wrong thing to say.
James sat back and closed his options menu, defeated.
“You’d think a game from 2048 would have better accessibility options,” He said.
“There’s gotta be a function for that somewhere,” Amelia sighed. “Let’s just go play the game. I was just about to kick the door down.”
Instead, Grey politely knocked.
“Enter,” Delarius responded. The party filed in to find the former pilot sitting on his bed. He pulled out a map of the local area and put it on his bedside table. “We are currently in the Village of Heartily, here.” He pointed at the lower-left corner of the map. “My plan is that we travel to the city of Haelshire, due north from here.” He traced his finger up the map to about halfway, where the city was marked. “We then report into the garrison, which will hopefully provide us easy transport to the capital.”
Patrick raised an eyebrow. “I’m sure it will be simple, easy and has no chance of going wrong.”
“Do you guys wanna grind before we go there?” James asked. “It might be a higher level than we bargained for.”
“What, are you scared of the zombie dragon?” Amelia mocked.
“Yes…” James replied meekly.
“I don’t think we’ll need to grind this early in the game,” Grey pointed out, “but I think we should buy some equipment while we’re here. I’ll stock up on healing items and supplies, you guys get the strongest gear you can afford. I can deal with Level 1 gear if you guys do your jobs right. I’ll meet you guys back here in 15 minutes.”
The others nodded and Grey left the room.
“Does he even know where the item shop is?” James asked.
“Yup, and you would too if you were conscious,” Amelia replied. “C’mon, I’ll show you to the armoury.”
“So...are you still coming with me?” Delarius asked.
The others nodded, and they heard a pinging noise.
Quest Completed
Welcome to Sable
----
New Quest
Long Road Ahead
Objective: Reach Haelshire
“I didn’t even pick up on a quest being active,” Patrick muttered. “I miss having a UI.”
“You’ll get used to it,” James said. “Lead the way.”
They climbed down the stairs and walked out of the inn to see Heartily Village. It was a quaint town, barely more than a dozen houses dotted around, all circling around the inn. Despite how small it looked, it was bustling with players, either fresh off their exploration of Solitaire Crevice or just craving some nostalgia for the early game.
Amelia led them towards a large house with a blacksmith’s anvil crudely painted on the top.
“The designers of this game are nothing if not subtle,” Patrick commented as they walked in. The heat of the forge and the smell of molten metal hit them immediately. Inside was a burly man with a thick beard, smiling as he hammered an iron on the forge.
“Adventurers, eh?” He smiled. “We don’t get many of you around these parts.”
“Sure you don’t,” Patrick muttered, glancing at the crowd huddled outside the inn.
“What do you need?”
Blacksmith
----
Shortsword:
Slasher: +5 STR, 500 Gold
Parry Blade: +5 DEF, 500 Gold
Hatred: +5 SPL, 500 Gold
----
Shield:
Buckler: +5 DEX, -5 DEF, 300 Gold
Excel Defender: +10 DEF, 800 Gold
Rash Assault: +10 STR, -5 DEF, 800 Gold
----
Armour:
Leather Armour: +10 DEX, -5 DEF, 500 Gold
Plate Armour: +10 DEF, 800 Gold
The classes of Sable Online were so different that each class had three completely different parts to their gear. James brought up his stats to check his money.
Cieth
400 Gold
“What the heck?” James blurted out. “Why do I have so little?”
“Because you died,” Patrick reminded him. “You lose half your gold when you die. Thought they got rid of this kind of stuff in games years ago.”
“But you guys di-oh, fine.”
Amelia had already chosen her option. The massive sword attached to her back through nothing but force of will vanished, and a new, equally massive sword appeared in its place.
GlassAngel
Valiant
+5 STR
-500 Gold
“I have a bit of extra gold,” she told James. “How much do you want?”
“You’ve got 100 spare?” He asked. “I can pay you back regardless.”
“Don’t worry, I’m sure I’ll make this stuff back from murder.”
Amelia threw a bag of gold his way, and James caught it.
GlassAngel
-100 Gold
----
Cieth
+100 Gold
James turned back to the menu and selected Hatred. His shortsword vanished from its hilt and was replaced by a jagged red and black blade.
Cieth
Hatred
+5 SPL
-500 Gold
As they were talking, an ornate wooden staff appeared in the ground next to Patrick.
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Trident743
Carved Stave
+5 SPL, +5 STR
-800 Gold
“Thought I’d splash out a bit,” He said, picking up the stave and hanging it over his shoulder. Amelia’s armoured arm was then replaced by heavy, ripped cloth.
GlassAngel
Cloth Defender
+5 DEX, -5 DEF
-300 Gold
“It was cheap,” Amelia said. “Good thing I hadn’t splashed out on one thing.”
“I wish there was anything that cheap for Sages,” Patrick lamented. “We all done here?”
The others nodded and turned to leave.
“My brother’s apparently traveling in these parts,” The blacksmith shouted. “If you run into him, tell him I said hi!”
“It’s not on the quest list, so I probably won’t remember,” Patrick replied as they left.
They soon arrive back in the inn, where Grey was already waiting with Delarius, playing a game of cards. They weren’t designed like any playing cards seen on Earth, and none of the other party members knew what was happening, but Grey seemed to be a fast learner.
“Managed to pick up 10 Potions, 3 antidotes and 3 Revives,” Grey explained. “It looks like you guys got the gear.”
James nodded. “Not as much as we would like, but between what we have and the items, I think we’ll get by.”
Delarius flipped a card horizontally and then slid it back to his hand.
“You folding?” Grey asked.
“Naturally, we have a world to save. Shall we get going?” Delarius asked. “We do not have much time. We must cross the Heartily Fields as fast as possible. I will explain the details of our journey on the way. Onwards, adventurers, to Haelshire!”
>>>
Leaving the idyllic village and the dark woods behind them, the party advanced into the rolling fields surrounding it, following the dirt track road towards Haelshire. Delarius was leading the way, with Grey walking with him to talk to him and the rest of the party behind them keeping an eye out for monsters. The capital still loomed over them despite being countless miles away.
“How did they make something that big?” Grey asked. “I don’t think we even have skyscrapers that big in the re-I mean, our world.”
“The magic of the King keeps it standing,” Delarius explained. “The will of the Royal Family seeps into its very foundations. As long as his bloodline keeps the throne, the capital will stand forever.”
“Huh, really?”
“Actually, the stone ignores gravity for some reason, but I like the story about the King better.”
“You’ve never had an uprising? No political coups? No one’s ever turned against the monarch?”
“No one has ever managed it. We could not overthrow the King even if we tried. His power and army are far beyond ours, and in the coming time of great turmoil he might be the only person who can hold this world together. They say he has the Grand Magic, like the old Heroes of Sable used to have.”
Patrick turned back to the other party members, “Bets on him dying at the end of the second act.”
“I’m all in,” Amelia replied.
“I’ll bet against you,” James said.
“You think he’ll live?”
“No, I think he’ll die before we get there.”
“$10 each once we get back to reality.” Patrick said.
“You’re on.” Amelia and James replied in unison, before smirking at each other.
Grey glared at the other party before turning back to Delarius.
“How far are we from Haelshire?” They asked.
“It’s only a few hours. There’s a trading camp halfway there, we can stop for a while if you so wish.”
“Please don’t tell me this game is one to one with real life movement” Patrick said.
“I don’t think this one is,” Grey replied. “Although I did play a game that did tha-everyone, get down!”
Grey screamed as he grabbed Delarius and dropped to the floor. An arrow went straight over his head. Patrick shot a bolt of magic into a nearby wall, blasting it apart to reveal a goblin snarling back at them. Four more climbed over the fence, surrounding them. The party drew their weapons, standing in a circle around Delarius as the cackling goblins pulled out their swords. Amelia almost immediately leapt towards one of them, slashing it across the chest.
Goblin 1
50/75 HP
“These won’t be too bad,” She said. James slammed his sword down on the ground, sending out a shockwave across the ground, staggering the goblins.
Cieth
Crash Blade
----
All enemies targeting Cieth.
The goblins all leapt towards James. Grey pulled Delarius away from the leaping goblins.
“Patrick, daggers!” Grey shouted. Patrick spun his new staff and a cloud of blades surrounded James. Although the daggers sliced across James’ armour, they did far less damage than they did to the lightly armoured goblins.
Trident743
Dancing Daggers
----
Trident743
140/150 Mana
The goblins reeled back in pain and James leapt forward to attack, slicing one of them across the chest.
“This dagger-aggro strategy has proven to be very effective,” Grey commented.
“It also hurts,” James reminded them.
“Don’t you have something for that?”
“Maybe.” James slammed his shield into the ground and his shield and armour glowed blue for a second.
Guardian Skill
Use your limited magic knowledge to its advantage.
Casts Guard on yourself for 2 minutes.
4 minute cooldown
----
Status Effect
Guard
1.5*DEF
The Defence stat made it easier to parry incoming attacks, and even with the small increase, James could feel the difference. He started parrying the flying daggers with his sword and shield with ease.
“Why didn’t you do any of this earlier?” Patrick asked, sending a streak of fire right over James’ head and disintegrating another goblin.
Trident743
Firebolt
----
Goblin 2
0/75 HP
----
Trident743
120/150 Mana
“Honestly, I just forgot,” James admitted. “Also, when the hell did your stuff do that much damage?”
“I’m guessing goblins are just made of paper. That or this thing is brutally unbalanced.”
“Hoping it’s the latter.”
Amelia ran up to another goblin and leapt into the air, slashing upwards. As the goblin reeled back, James leapt out of the cloud of daggers and ran the Goblin through, followed up by a blast of blinding white energy from Grey.
Goblin 3
0/75 HP
Amelia spun around in mid air and fell down on a different Goblin.
CHAIN
GlassAngel
Piercing Blow
----
Goblin 4
0/75 HP
“These guys are pathetic!” She smirked “Do we even need a tank and a healer?”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” James muttered as a fire bolt went over his head.
Trident743
Firebolt
----
Goblin 5
0/75 HP
----
Trident743
100/150 Mana
The last goblin tried to back away, but it was blinded by another shot of magic from Grey, and Amelia swiftly decapitated it.
Goblin 1
0/75 HP
----
Encounter complete!
All Party Members gained 250 XP
All Party Members gained 800 Gold
“T-Thank you for protecting me,” Delarius muttered. “Is everyone from your world this...brutal?”
The goblin corpses faded away, one of them leaving a map behind. Grey crouched down and picked it up.
“It’s a map of the surrounding area,” Grey explained. “There seems to be a cave marked on here. Might be their base.”
“We should check it out,” James suggested. “Might have some good gear.”
“Maybe for you it will,” Amelia said, “but the stuff we got back at the town skyrocketed us two. We probably don’t want to visit just to keep the game challenging.”
Grey turned to Delarius. “You ok going on your own?”
“I will meet you at the caravan,” Dealrius said, walking past them without a moment’s hesitation. “I won’t be involved in any of this goblin business.”
“We wouldn’t want you getting in our way,” Amelia said, holstering her massive sword over her shoulder. “Let’s go kill some goblins.”
James Stats: Level: 2 HP: 290/300 STR: 5 DEF: 15 DEX: 5 SPL: 15 INT: 1
Grey stats: Level: 2 HP: 100/100 STR: 5 DEF: 10 DEX: 5 SPL: 10 INT: 0 Healing Pool: 200/200
Amelia Stats: Level: 2 HP: 150/150 STR: 25 DEF: 0 DEX: 10 SPL: 5 INT: 0
Patrick stats: Level: 2 HP: 100/100 STR: 20 DEF: 5 DEX: 10 SPL: 15 INT: 0 Mana: 100/150
