43 Chapter 43 (1/2)
Chapter 43
”Annnd, that'll be 50 resources Rue.” James was smiling smugly to himself as he watched a group of adventurers walk boldly through his portal. His pixie shot him a glare, before waving her hand, and James watched his resources climb by 50. He now had 168 resources out of 2500. It wasn't much, but he enjoyed the increase, nevertheless. Beating the pixie in a bet had its own satisfaction.
”I'll get those back.” Rue replied gloomily, as she turned her attention back to the screens. The moment the group had stepped through the portal, and new instance window had appeared. James quickly enlarged it, and they watched, with bated breath, as the group took a look around.
The group they were observing consisted, as was normal for his dungeon, of five players. They had an orc knight named Skar as their tank and a human priestess, Olivia, for their healer. Their dps consisted of a troll archer, a dwarf warrior, and a gnome thief. As he pulled up the rest of their information, he shook his head. While they were definitely not inexperienced players, they should have known better than to take the portal. They ranged between level 10 and 11, meaning they had spent a lot of time in the dungeon the day before, considering the top adventurers, the Knights Who Go Ni, had just hit level 13.
”You really think we should be here?” The gnome, named Gno-more, was twirling a dagger nervously in his hand, as he glanced around at the others. His short stature meant he stood roughly at waist height for the priestess, with the dwarf only standing a little taller. A stark contrast next to the hulking orc knight, covered iron plate mail, and the troll archer.
”The Knight's just hit level 13 and are locked out for another twenty minutes.” Skar had his shield and sword drawn, and was talking down, literally, towards his gnomish companion. ”If we want to get ahead, we need a higher level to train. The first floor is starting to fill with more casual players, and they're interrupting our farming.”
”Yeah, but-” Gno-more looked at his companions, and then out down the dirt road, lined with the husks of countless cars. Funnily enough, the savannah grass that spread out across James's second floor was taller than the gnome and dwarf, meaning their visibility was greatly impaired.
”No buts.” Skar turned towards the road, and James knew he was looking at the desolate city that existed in the center. Off in the distance, James could see a few of his dinosaur mobs roaming about, though he was sure it would be difficult for the adventurers to make the creatures out just yet. ”We'll just proceed carefully and take on solo mobs. There have got to be a few roaming about.” He glanced at his shorter companions and pointed his sword towards the city. ”We can check out the city, since it may suit you better than fighting in this tall grass.”
”Ya'll just had to choose short races.” The troll, named Troll'd, let out a sigh as he unslung his bow. James noted he had a full quiver of dicken feathered arrows at his side, speaking again to the amount of time the group had spent in his dungeon. James also had to chuckle at the troll's name. All the competitive gamers either made legitimate, role playing esq names, or joke names. There was never an in-between.
”Oy, you got an issue with dwarfs?” The dwarf fighter drew his axe as he eyed Troll'd, who merely shook his head, grinning through his tusked mouth.
”Nah, I got no problems with dwarfs. In fact, I think dwarf women are just the right height.” He shot the dwarf a wink, before the troll was promptly slapped in the back of his head by Olivia's staff. The rest of the group broke into laughter.
”You better not be looking at other girls.” Her eyes narrowed, though her mouth was smirking as the archer rubbed the back of his head.
”Of course not hun. You're the only girl for me.” He offered her a small smile and the priestess nodded, turning back to the group.
”That's what I thought.” As she spoke, James couldn't help but notice everyone else roll their eyes. If he had to guess, the troll and priestess were a couple, if not in real life, at least in the game. It was a common enough thing, though it sometimes had dangers for party dynamics. Hopefully these players were veteran enough not to make such rookie mistakes though.
”So, we going to go check out that city?” Troll'd had turned his attention back to Skar, and the orc nodded in affirmation. He turned and began walking down the road. The two short races stayed in the middle of the pack, with the priestess, while the troll hung back, bow at the ready. They were definitely veteran players. Heck, they even stopped at each car, investigating them, and likely scavenging what they could from them. James knew the cars offered up basic crafting materials and metals, that hadn't been available on his first floor, including steel, rubber, and mechanical parts. James was really excited to see what players eventually began crafting out of his second-floor materials. Especially his steampunk mobs' materials.
”Wanna bet who will die first?” Rue was sitting casually in a chair, watching the screen intently. He could tell his pixie was eager to win some more resources. Lucky for her, James was in a gambling mood.
”Alright. I'm going to bet the dwarf dies first.”
”Manly the Dwarf?” Rue looked from the party, to James, feigning surprise. James nodded his orb. He was assuming the dwarven player had decided to mimic the old fairy tale Snow White, where the dwarfs had names that described their traits. Manly the Dwarf was what he named himself. James mentally shook his head, freaking gamers.
”Yeah. Definitely going to be him.”
”Ugh, that was going to be my bet.” Rue scanned the group, before an evil grin crossed her face. ”Fine, I'm going to say Olivia dies first.”