My consciousness swam back into existence, slowly, the light of day painfully bright despite the fact that I was quite indoors. My head was pounding, and my vision swirled with various shades of regret. An intense feeling of discomfort settled in, and I groaned.

     “Ugh, what happened last night?” I mumbled, sitting up. My Game Interface flickered into sight, a small icon of a broken bottle flashing in the corner. The text below it read:

 

     Debuff: Hangover. -15% to all abilities

 

     “Fantastic,” I muttered, rubbing my temples.

     Jon was sprawled next to me, face down in the dirt, snoring like a tranquilized bear. I gave him a little nudge, but Jon’s equine flanks continued to rise and fall, not at all acknowledging my attempts. From somewhere else, seeming out of space and time, came the open and shut slam of a door used in haste, followed by the rapid patter of tiny, booted feet.

     “Hey everybody. Up and at ‘em! Time to roll out!” Ike bellowed, marching over to Jon and pulling open one eyelid. The centaur gasped and yelped, his hooves scraping against the wooden floor as he struggled to rise.

     Finding my feet, my eyes met Jon's in mutual bloodshot suffering. “Morning, boss,” he said to Ike, wincing.

     “Welcome to the land of the living,” Ike jested, smiling. “I’m glad to see you all had your fun, because we’ve got work to do.”

     From around the communal sleeping area, the rest of the team members rose from their piles of yellow straw, all looking worse for the wear. All excepting Schustak, I saw, who had apparently not slept here with the rest of us.

     A few other fellows were snoring in their own straw piles as well, not a one of them roused by our leader’s actions.

     “Up means up!” Ike bellowed. Around the room, bodies flung themselves upright, an automatic response to the suddenly stern military bark of this voice. Brandosyeus managed to stand upright too quickly, and slumped back against the tavern wall in an obvious bout of dizziness.

     “Alright, folks,” Ike said, the crinkles around his eyes tight and his reptilian face serious as he pulled a worn, enchanted map from his pocket. “We need to talk, but not here. Too many prying eyes and far too many loose lips.”

     Looking around the sleeping area, I saw other drunken mounds groaning and shifting in their night’s hay, and wondered if any of them were even capable of such feats. But I let it slide—no doubt at least one of them was faking it. Ike walked off and the rest of us followed, lurching forward like a bunch of Frankensteinian monsters.

     It was strange watching him. The kobold practically bounded, sprightly steps belying the sort of excitement my kids held for Christmas morning. Whatever this mission was, I realized that it couldn’t be half bad.

     Ike darted through the tap room and walked us to the door I'd seen him take the other night, the one where he had gone to get this quest in the first place. Pulling out a key, he unlocked it and held it open so that all of us could make our way inside, revealing wholly different and unexpected interior style.

     This new room was comfortable, a place lit by a couple of torches, sparking with something that I instinctively understood to be ever burning fire. Old crates, stacked haphazardly, made a makeshift table and seating area. It was evident that this spot was a frequent meeting point for clandestine talks; there was an air of confidentiality that was almost palpable.

     That didn't surprise me, of course. But it was a little disconcerting that they hadn't taken the effort to make the place more comfortable. That air of confidentiality was streaked with fear and doubt. All those involved in this little cubby were also quite positive that they were not going to be unfound indefinitely.

     “We're safe here,” Ike declared, breaking me from my thoughts. He pulled a metal spherical case from one of his many belt loops and unscrewed its end. Pulling a few rolled maps from its inside, he glanced over their edges, then selected one, returning the rest to the safety of their case. The chosen one he unrolled across the surface of a wooden crate. I had to squint to get a good look; the magical light of the torches wasn't the greatest and the map seemed to shimmer in the dancing shadows that they created.

     But my eyes widened as I made them out. The map was an artistic masterpiece, filled with beautiful graphics, quest markers, geographic features, and even indications of weather patterns, all cataloged and graphed into smaller boxes that indicated seasons and even months. It was a thing of absolute wonder and I’m not ashamed to say that I gawked and gawped.

     “Normally we wouldn't be given an Adventure Quest,” he stated, his eyes scanning each of our faces for any signs of doubt or dissent. “We're too far into the Empire. Too close to the enemy. But the information I was given tonight, well, this isn't a quest one ignores.”

     The rest of us leaned in. Despite everything, my insides wavered and even Jeldorain shivered, his desirous curiosity rolling through my veins.

     “The Goblin Empire have learned of an artifact, within a week's distance of this very town, and they want it. Badly. Which means we want it more.”

     Kevinar cocked an eyebrow, barely perceptible in the dim flickering light. “An artifact?”

     Ike shrugged. “I'll let you all decide.” As I watched, I saw his gaze turn to a mile-long stare, his eyes looking well beyond where we were and, I suspected, into his soul. A moment later, a copy of the Quest details materialized on each of our own interfaces.

 

Quest: Retrieve the Eye of the Stormbringer

Difficulty: Elite

Objective: Infiltrate the Temple of Storms and retrieve the Eye.

Rewards: Substantial XP, Unique Items, and Faction Reputation.

Penalties: Possible Death, Loss of Items

 

     My eyes widened as I read the details. An Elite Quest? I wasn't completely positive, but in Lords of Chaos, those were 6-star difficulty. Definitely not for noobs. And I, despite my body, was definitely a noob. I shifted my gaze over to look at Jon, then Kevinar. Neither seemed fazed, so I decided to adopt the same look despite the anxious gnaw at my heart.

     Inside of me, I heard the muffled chortle of Jeldorain's mirth.

     “We're all freedom fighters, so if any of you aren't up for it, just let me know and head back on towards base camp,” Ike said, his eyes moving to each of us in turn. “But if you are all on board, let's get to talking about the quest.”

     We all looked at each other and back at him.

     “Right. Yeah. Alright. Before we go running off into the dungeon,” Ike said, rubbing his palms together in that way that only small beings brimming with mischief can, “we've got some prep work to do. This mission is Elite level, so we’re going to head out to the market and equip ourselves accordingly. Elira’s taken our extra loot for coin, so we have options.”

     I nodded, a tear ripping through my brain and sending a whiskey-flavor belch through my mouth. My eyes touched on the broken bottle hangover debuff still mocking me from my interface, and I sighed. “I'm not sure I'm up for a trip to the marketplace,” I said, the pounding in my head momentarily escalating as if to underline my point.

     “You can thank me later,” Ike quipped, throwing a potion bottle my way. I caught it, albeit clumsily, and found myself staring at a vial labeled ‘Elixir of Sobering.' Downing it in one fluid motion, my mind perked up immediately, the pounding in my head receding as if a storm cloud had just been cleared. I watched in relief as the hangover debuff icon flickered and vanished from my interface.

 

[Achievement Unlocked: Hair of the Dog]

+50 XP

Objective: Recover from a hangover in less than traditional ways.

 

     The achievement message surprised me, and I coughed, loudly, staring at the kobold before my suddenly very alert mind notified me of an extremely important fact.

     We were missing a member of the party.

     “Ike, where's Schustak?” I asked, my eyes scanning the group again to make sure I hadn't just missed him in my previously hungover state.

     Ike shrugged, not taking his eyes off the map he had just unrolled. “Schustak has a habit of wandering off. He always finds his way back, especially if there's a reward involved. Don't sweat it.”

     His nonchalance was almost infuriating, but also calming in a strange way. It was as if he had said, 'The sun rises in the east.' A simple fact, not worthy of concern.

     Which was, itself, strange for a group of apparent guerillas.

     “Isn't that a bit irresponsible?” I pressed. “We're in the middle of some dangerous territories, aren't we?”

     This time Ike looked up, his eyes meeting mine. “Ah, Ryan. You need to get over this obsession. You’ll find that Schustak is a loyal and dedicated member to our cause.”

     I glanced over the others, disbelief mounting. None of them seemed to care one iota about the fact that the goblin of the group had gone off on his own in Goblin Empire territory. For a moment I thought of opening the barrier between myself and Jeldorain, but decided against it. That was something I wouldn’t do unless absolutely necessary.

     I raised one thick pointer finger, about to protest the logic of it all, when a notification popped up in my interface:

 

[Achievement Unlocked: Learning to Trust...or Not?]

+50 XP

Objective: Witness a team member's puzzling behavior and live to ponder it.

 

     I sighed. That was not helpful at all. I saw the rest had started rifling through their inventories, apparating various items and inspecting them with critical eyes, deciding on what was needed and what was not. Each had their own method, I noted, with Ike depositing everything on the floor before him then picking at it like a dragon admiring its hoard. His opposite, Kevinar, took each item out individually, inspecting it before replacing it with something else. Jon was somewhere in the middle with it, taking out small piles at a time, apparently organized by type, while Brandosyeus seemed to simply be checking it all through the game interface, staring blankly ahead and standing as straight-backed as a board.

     That last method seemed the right fit for me, I decided, and I examined all three of my items through the small transparent windows of the inventory interface.

     There was my Titan-Ax-Kusarigama, my chain mail, my hooded cloak, and nothing else. A clean start to this dirty business. It was actually a bit freeing not having to decide what to toss or replace, especially since I hadn’t had any quests yet and hadn’t a clue what to grab.

     The thought made me grin. That wasn’t absolutely true. The longer I was here and the more I did, the more parallels with Lords of Chaos that I observed. So I’d prepare for this just as I did for quests in the game back home.

     Healing potions would take high priority. Those vials of basic red were a mainstay for sure. And I was rather curious about how they would taste. Would they be a sweet cherry? A tart wine? It would be interesting to find out.

     Usually the next buy would be pure blue mana potions, but despite having mana in my character sheer, I didn’t seem to have any way to use it. Instead I’d see if they had any exertion potions, since all of my whip abilities were dependent on them. What would they even look like, I wondered, an image of Gatorade coming unbidden to my mind.

     I stifled a chortle and moved on. Whatever they looked like, I’d take as many as I could get. It seemed likely that this weapon of mine was going to unlock a number of other exertion-consuming abilities, and I did not want to lose out on using them in the middle of intense combat.

     I’d also be on the lookout for anything that dealt with Jeldorain. Suppression, soul removal, whatever it took.

     The barrier between our souls shook feebly and I smirked.

     Hells, maybe I could find a reason for having mana. There was a lot to learn in this world, and I felt sure that the marketplace was going to be a full-on education.

     Backing out of my inventory view, I saw that the rest were putting their things away. Ike clapped his hands together, grinning reptilian canines from ear to ear. “All set? Great! Our next stop is the marketplace. I’ll keep a tally of everything you buy and take that out of your share of the treasure, so don’t go crazy.”

     Donning my cloak and raising my hood to obscure my face, we made our way out of the hideaway. I couldn’t wait to get to the market and see what was there.