“Crafting is a vital part of New Era of Man Online. It’s deceptively easy at the start. True mastery of crafting requires an impressive amount of time and materials. Players must sacrifice to push their abilities higher. Accomplished craftsmen are valued by all.”

  Year 1, Month 1, Day 20, 07:00

  Torgon moved through the portal and immediately took cover behind a cottage. He spied several forms in the distance, attacking the automatons defending the village. He loosed arrows at the shapes as more of his guild mates materialized. He checked his notifications and saw that his arrows were doing nearly full damage. The players attacking the base had minimal armor and low levels.

  He motioned the forces forward and they pushed into the attackers. Screams and shouts filled the air as their rapid response pushed the enemy back, sending dozens to respawn. Reports trickled in from scouts on the edges of the town. There were close to five hundred players attacking the village. They had taken down a handful of the automatons but now they were being slaughtered by Risk of Injury players defending their territory.

  Hyperia joined Torgon on the front of the lines, firing her force bolts into the enemy. “It’s a guild called Wolves Among Sheep. They’re part of the Young Masters Coalition.”

  Torgon fired a double shot of arrows into a figure running for cover, sending them to respawn before responding, “That tracks with everything. They aren’t well geared, and it looks like they’re only level 2 or 3 for the most part. Do you think they’re fodder, or do they genuinely not realize what the situation is?”

  Hyperia laughed, “The answer is yes. They have no clue what they’re getting themselves into, but they also aren’t one of the strongest guilds in the coalition. My analysis tells me that we’ll be seeing a lot of these less entrenched groups trying to take territory near Miller’s Crossing.”

  A voice yelled out across the field of combat, “Stop! I am Smirking Revenge, the leader of the Wolves Among Sheep and a duly appointed representative of the Young Masters Coalition. By defying our will you’re courting death!”

  Torgon eyed Hyperia, “Did he just say we’re courting death?”

  Hyperia giggle snorted while nodding. “And screw you for making me snort Torg.”

  Smirking Revenge continued his rant, “You will all be marked for death and hunted until you can never level again. You will cower in your houses, too afraid of the punishment of your righteous betters. Surrender now or face my wrath!”

  Hyperia strode forth boldly, “No, I don’t think we will. Get the hell out of our territory and never return. Tell your masters that they don’t belong here.”

  Smirking Revenge’s face contorted in fury. For a minute, Torgon worried that Smirking was having a stroke, but then he composed himself and continued speaking in perhaps the dumbest way possible. “How dare you, a common woman, try to tell your betters what to do. I challenge you to a Duel!”

  A system notification appeared in Hyperia’s vision.

  “You have been challenged to a Duel to the Death! The winner of the duel will be awarded 6,000 free experience points and the gear worn by the loser. The loser will suffer a penalty of 6,000 experience debt and will be confined to their house or guild base for a period of 24 in game hours. The pain threshold of the duel will be set at 110%, 10% from Smirking Revenge’s pain setting and 100% from Hyperia’s pain setting. You may only participate in one Duel to the Death per sixday. Do you accept?”

  Hyperia mentally accepted the duel and the two of them were surrounded by a ring of glowing light. A visible countdown from 10 began. She eyed Smirking Revenge as he sneered at her, his sword held high, ready to cleave her in twain. The numbers ticked down inexorably until the duel began.

  Smirking dashed forward with his sword. Hyperia dual cast force bolts immediately. Four bolts of cerulean fury smashed into Smirking Revenge’s crotch, dropping him in his tracks. He curled into the fetal position and released a high-pitched scream of terrible pain while Hyperia kept casting, more magical fury venting itself on Smirking until he was sent to respawn.

  The air was filled with a stunned silence as Hyperia casually strolled back into the Risk of Injury lines. The remaining members of Wolves Among Sheep were dealt with and the threat to the guild’s village was ended decisively. They looted the field and returned to the guild base.

  Allestor looked at Hyperia before speaking, “So, that happened.”

  Hyperia leaned her head to the side and lifted and eyebrow, “It earned me an achievement.”

  Dusty perked up, “What kind of achievement? Is it related to winning a duel?”

  Hyperia pursed her lips and thought a few seconds before answering, “Sort of. The achievement is called Robocop I, and it’s related to how I won the fight.”

  Torgon doubled over in laughter while the others just looked confused. He regained his composure, wiped a tear away from his eyes and said, “I guess I’m the only one that remembers that time.”

  Hyperia looked at him askance before sharing more information. “The title gives me a 5% bonus to the pain caused whenever I hit a target in a sensitive area in a duel. I need to do that 9 more times to unlock the second tier of the title and increase it to 10%.”

  Allestor and Ovarrix looked mildly horrified and Allestor spoke for the both of them, “I’m not sure I’m comfortable with a title that rewards such behavior. It’s just not cool.”

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  Torgon, still struggling to control his laughter interrupted, “The biggest takeaway is the additive pain level for duels to the death. We’re all locked at 100% and that’s going to be a nasty surprise for most fighters. Adjusting our styles to include painful attacks could be a massive advantage when we are put in these situations.”

  The team dispersed to pursue their crafts while they waited. Players returned to their normal routines. Crafting and training occupied everyone while the wait for the announcement of the Broken Hills opening dragged on. The faeries were occupied with growing ivy and flowers near all the buildings in the guild base. Small figures flitted about, dragging green vines and plant cuttings through the air. Everyone took notice when the announcement finally arrived.

  “The Broken Hills zone is now open to players. Explore carefully and discover great riches! Secrets and adventures await those with the skill and tenacity to find them.”

  “You have received a Quest! Advanced Guild Quest: All Roads Lead to the Capital 1. Requirements: Help construct a road leading from Miller’s Crossing to the Broken Hills zone. Rewards: Every guild member will receive 1000 Free Experience and 100 Guild Contribution Points. The second part of the quest will become available.”

  The majority of the guild began portaling out to Miller’s Crossing as soon as they received the quest. Torgon and the others traveled to the east gate of the town and ran into Sir Kelvin and Sir Malik with their knights. Sir Kelvin spoke, “Greetings all. Here for the road construction?”

  Eager laughter rippled through the ranks of players. Torgon stepped forward, “What do you need us to do sirs?”

  “Quite a lot, but it will be well compensated I assure you,” Sir Kelvin spoke with a twinkle in his eye. “We need to widen the road here and expand it directly into the Broken Hills. Once we reach there, we are to build an outpost before continuing. The King has decreed that more ways of passage are needed from the starting towns to the Capital.

  The mass of players and NPCs left the city and traveled down the road. Soon players began cutting down trees and placing stone blocks to expand the well-worn path. Slow trickles of experience began filling the bars of those participating. Teams ranged to the sides to prevent monsters from interrupting the flow of work. The groups could construct about 400 yards of road an hour and the broken hills zone lay 10 miles away. With no night work, the entire project would take almost an entire sixday.

  Newer players chose to stick with the project. The chance to earn standing with the Kingdom of Thorn and with Miller’s Crossing in safe conditions made sense for the less experienced. Other players, such as Digger, were fascinated by the construction itself and played an outsized role in pushing forward. Curious Kate and her scouting teams practiced their craft in the forests along the path.

  Torgon and the rest of the leadership team returned to the guild base. They continued to craft for fun and profit. Keeping the auctions filled and expanding the available supplies for guild members occupied their attention. Adding hundreds of new members just before the push into the Broken Hills would be both a headache and an opportunity.

  Torgon threw himself into the crafting with wild abandon. Crafting was his happy place. The problems and needs of the guild would continue to pile higher and every piece of gear that he forged chipped away. The satisfaction of dealing with needs personally filled him. The first day, he focused purely on the swords again. His blueprint level finally hit 20, making the swords crafted from that point onward have a +2 strength modifier instead of +1.

  Torgon spent the night crafting more swords. The double speed buff from the Faerie Tree allowed him to make nearly 80 blades. He passed them out to the terminally online members, replacing their current blades and posting those on the auction house. The entire day of the 21st, barring a two-hour break for sleep, he spent crafting enchanted bows for the guild. A full complement of 120 bows were now claimable for guild contribution points in the guild bank. His enchanted bow blueprint rose to level 12 and his craft enchanted weapons skill rose to 3. Torgon dinged level 9 during the long crafting session, adding his free ability point to Strength.

  After another brief rest, Torgon turned his attention to the blueprint for the level 10 uncommon long sword in his possession. The base crafting time for the weapon was 4,800 seconds. The base crafting time for any weapon was 600 seconds. Each set of 5 levels added another 600 seconds. The enchanted property added 600 seconds per attribute. Each tier of rarity added another 600 seconds to the crafting time. The sword would have a bonus to Strength that would increase as his skill in the blueprint rose at 10 level increments. An agility bonus would be added in when his blueprint level hit 20.

  The success rate of the sword craft was a sobering base of -10%, modified by his skills. The initial success rate would be a mere 35%. On the plus side, each craft would earn him 160 experience points. His initial time per attempt would be just under 76 minutes per craft. It would take him nearly 4 hours just to forge a single successful blade. He labored the entire day and luckily forged 9 of the blades. The base damage on the weapon was 2-16 + 10 + (Str * 1.15 +Skills *1.15). It would be a significant upgrade once people could wield them.

  The final day before the regular auction at Deep Harbor found Torgon crafting the level 10 bows. He only managed 8 of them, but they could be put to excellent use soon. The experience earned for crafting was tiny compared to gathering or combat, but the benefits compounded over time. Few people put in the time and effort to raise their crafting due to the costs both monetary and in opportunities. Major guilds had dedicated crafters but even those were limited. Risk of Injury was carving out a profitable niche with focusing so hard on crafting. The extra time in game let them advance far faster than the players limited to logging in on the regular dive gear.

  The leadership group gathered shortly after dawn. Torgon spoke, “Crafting higher level gear is a giant pain in the butt. It takes a long time, and the difficulties are kind of nuts. I think we’re going to have to find ways to push our skills higher to make it viable for mass crafting. I can manage a handful of pieces here and there but there will be no way to outfit the guild as a whole.”

  Ovarrix shrugged, “We can farm any dungeons to give us a trickle of gear to the parties. We can also make do with the basic items. We have so many people that can craft a piece or two of gear over time that it shouldn’t be an issue. You can focus on making sure the top groups stay a step ahead.”

  “I can research more quests and dungeons for us to run,” Dusty added. “The free experience lets us raise skills to the level 10 threshold freeing up the slots to put in additional skills. The bonus attributes stack up quickly, making us stronger overall.”

  Allestor butted in, “That’s all beside the point. We’re taking the rest of the day off to go do something fun!”

  Torgon raised his eyebrow skeptically.

  “Fun Torgon, fun!” Allestor waggled his eyebrows. “We’re going to go out and slaughter all the random monsters and hostile players near the road building project. We need a break from the hard work.”

  Allestor put his arm around Torgon and started dragging him to the portal. He raised his other arm and swept it across the sky. “We’re going to kill everything.”