Modern Age Online

“1000 Credits?!” Kaleb groaned. “That’s it?”

He currently had his Sun Gun disassembled on his workbench in front of him. Kaleb was replacing the wiring on his weapon the morning after the warehouse raid. After writing up their reports for the local Police Department, an overly tedious affair, they all called it a night. Kaleb woke up in his bare bones room and, after reminding himself to buy some heat lamps, he went to his workshop.

He wasn’t too happy with his Sun Gun’s performance. It had taken far too many shots to drop some Demons. After Daivor had woken up and the two bandied about ideas, they agreed that maybe rewiring the whole thing would help. They considered getting a more powerful power supply, but the Elentian crystal’s weak output was also what gave the weapon its stun setting. Anything more powerful would defeat the purpose of the weapon.

Daivor had left to work on his own project while Kaleb set about his work. He was halfway done when Farrah showed up and went to her command center. Shortly thereafter, she mentioned the atrocious amount of credits the city was going to pay them for the raid. He finally looked up from his work and saw the bunny-woman giving him a pointed look.

“Are you really surprised?”

Kaleb shrugged. “I don’t know. We took out a fairly big drug warehouse, run by one of the biggest gangs in the area. I would like to think we would get more than a thousand credits apiece.”

Farrah sucked in air through her teeth in a grimace. “Ooh no. It’s not a piece. You all got a thousand credits for the whole shebang.”

Kaleb’s mouth opened in shock. He couldn’t even fathom how anyone could stay working with payouts that small. His jaw flapped ineffectually, as he couldn’t think of anything to say. That wasn’t true. The emotional part of his brain wanted to rage at the city government. But the more rational part of his brain made him realize these payouts had been going on for a while and no complaint he would have would change things.

“It’s not that bad,” Farrah said, finally taking pity on him.

“That is less than someone on minimum wage makes in a month!”

“Which you made in a night. If you go out and do it again. You might get the same, or maybe more.” Farrah explained. “Also, this is only the contract payment, not the city payment we will get for having a permit to work in this area. That’s the bulk payment we will get at the start of the month.”

Kaleb nodded, finally accepting the ridiculous nature of their payments. Farrah continued.

“Y’all also incurred a penalty for not informing the local PD about your raid. Although that was only around two hundred credits.”

Kaleb grumbled to himself as he turned back to his work. “Fine. At least we have the Enchanted Forest today. Maybe we can make some money during this little test for the Hunters Association.”

“It’s a Magical forest.” Farrah corrected, turning back to her various computer monitors.

“It’s the same thing.” Kaleb said as he finished the wiring and put the weapon back together.

He slotted the yellow crystal back into its housing in the weapon’s grip and put the loose wires in the spare space. Once done, he closed the grip and straightened the wires near the firing ring, and closed up the barrel. Kaleb gazed down at the silver rectangular gun. Its silver shine was scuffed and nicked in places, and the energy blast from the barrel had slightly warped the metal, but it wasn’t much. He picked up the gun and gave its stats a look.

Sun Gun Mk. 2

Damage: 10 – 40

Stun chance: 55%

Upgrades: 1/1

Durability:35/35

Shots: 35/35

Grade: D+

Description: A low grade energy weapon powered by the sun. It has two settings kill or stun. It recharges in thirty minutes while in direct sunlight. Takes hours while not in the sun. Can not charge in total darkness. The efficient wiring has increased the output of energy, making it slightly more dangerous.

Not that great of an upgrade, but Kaleb figured any bit would help. He heard a loud yawn come from behind and turned to see a small black monster. It looked like a lumpy rabbit with two long, black ears sticking up from its head. Long, white, sharp teeth shone in the blackness just below its ears. Kaleb almost reached for his weapon when he heard Abby’s voice.

“What? You’ve never seen a woman in onesie pajamas? Where the hell’s breakfast?”

Kaleb blinked and took in the entire outfit. It was a large black onesie with a hood that went from a pair of large furry feet and up to the sharp teeth and ears making up the hood. Abby had elected to stay in-game last night. She said she had a few days off work so she could live in-game for a while.

“What the fuck are you supposed to be?” Kaleb asked.

Abby raised the hood of her pajamas and glared at him with tired eyes. “It’s the humanoid Jackrabbit boss from Kingdoms of Ravivar. You never played?”

Kaleb just shook his head. Abby walked around for a bit before she seemed to remember the coffeemaker in the office and she shuffled off. Two Gun and Claire joined them shortly after, with Jar-lock and Vivienne logging in a few hours later. Their little group sat around discussing the upcoming trip into the magical forest before hunger got the best of them. Two Gun and Claire took everyone's order and took off with Vivienne to grab everything.

Jar-lock went to the section of the hangar they were planning to use as the new library and sat down with a book. Abby was working out and Farrah still had her head buried in her monitors. Kaleb helped Daivor make a few spears and clubs for the Brute Clan in Under-town when Daivor reminded him about Shaggy.

“What about him?” Kaleb asked.

Daivor puffed a large cloud of smoke from his pipe as he stared up at Kaleb. “You promised to get them some weapons for helping with the K-Tech job.”

Kaleb slapped his forehead. “Damn it. Okay then, I guess I need to jump on that right now. We still have those K-Tech rifles, right?”

“Yeah, but given how difficult it was to modify their armor without breaking it, I wouldn’t hold out too much hope for changes. Unless we use the new battery.”

“No. I like those guys, but let’s be a little more careful with where we show off that battery,” Kaleb said, shaking his head.

Daivor nodded as he finished sharping a metal spearhead. “Then we need to do something for them. They helped us out and may again in the future.”

“For sure. Especially with how we are going through the metal we got. I can rewire the K-Tech gun and maybe rework the barrel. Maybe a beam will have more penetrating power than those orbs it shoots.”

“Those orbs seemed to do fine against the Quinica.”

Kaleb nodded, remembering Shaggy cutting through the younger Quinica. “True, but I told Vlad I would do something with it. Then maybe a hammer for Ren?”

Daivor blew another cloud of smoke and sat at the end of the workbench. “That’s going to take a lot of metal, boss. Not to mention a lot of shaping on the anvil.”

“I know, I know. If you can take the gun, I’ll get to work on the hammer.”

Daivor nodded and swung himself up onto Kaleb’s shoulder. The pair of them walked over to the pile of materials and boxes that were laid out next to the Mechanics Room. Daivor and Roy had done a lot of work cleaning up and organizing the area, but it still had the feel of a junkyard. They both dove into the various piles, with Daivor finding the gun first before Kaleb could find a sizable enough bit of metal for a hammerhead.

“We really need a proper forge, boss. Melting down metal takes us way too much time.”

“I agree, but unless we can build a large-scale forge ourselves, I don’t see how we can get one.” Kaleb said, taking the metal over to his workbench and bringing up the workbench’s interface.

“We can probably order one.” Shouted Farrah from her chair.

“Yeah? And how much is that going to cost us?” Kaleb shouted back, not looking forward to the answer.

“I don’t know. But you lot have a good bit of money.” Farrah said.

“Run it by the duck.” Jar-lock added. He was seated in a large cushioned chair surrounded by books. “If he gives the okay, we’ll order whatever you two are talking about.”

“It’s still kinda annoying that we can’t understand the gnome.” Abby said as she did push-ups on their workout mat.

Kaleb shrugged and looked down at his Gnome friend working to take the K-Tech gun apart. “I’m sure he’ll get around to dusting everybody, eventually. Then you can all bask in the glory of his wit.”

Daivor shot Kaleb the finger and kept working. Kaleb chuckled and turned to his own work. Digging through the workbench interface until he found what he was looking for. He planned on using the interface to auto-build a few molds he could pour the metal in to give himself a larger piece of metal to work with on the anvil. He could also use the same method to make a large metal staff to hold the head of the hammer. Daivor was right: they were going to go through a lot of metal today.

The next few hours were spent heating metal and pouring metal into the mold the workbench had built. Thankfully, Daivor had finished his own job relatively quickly, and the pair fell into a good work rhythm. Kaleb was hardly aware of the passage of time as he worked. Sometimes, he noticed the others moving around the hangar, but he stayed focused on melting metal. He had just finished pouring the metal into the mold for the hammer head when he heard Jar-lock speak up from behind him.

“Time to wrap it up, Professor. We got a test to take.”

Kaleb groaned as he turned away from his work. The others looked all ready to go, although Abby had disappeared. But Kaleb remembered she wasn’t coming with them today. He glanced around before he raised an eyebrow in question.

“She’s out working.” Jar-lock said, point a finger over his shoulder at Farrah who was typing away at her keyboard and giving instructions through her headset.

Kaleb shrugged and looked down at the sizeable chunk of metal he was going to make into a hammer. He was planning on a large head, about twelve inches across and six inches thick. So the chunk of metal he had was bigger and looked like a large grey metal brick. He glanced at Daivor, who gave him an incredulous look.

“I know you can’t work the metal.” Kaleb said, rolling his eyes. “Just keep making weapons. If Roy comes in, maybe the two of you can brainstorm weapons. Also ask him if he can take a trip to one of the legitimate junkyards out here. We could always use more metal.”

“Where is the brat? Usually, he is out here at first light.” Daivor asked.

“It’s his birthday, so I imagine he is celebrating with his family right now.” Kaleb grabbed his gear and joined his friends.

With a wave and a few goodbyes, their group all piled into Two Gun and Claire’s car. Kaleb breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Two Gun take the driver’s seat. Claire gave him the evil eye, but Kaleb just shrugged his shoulders. Jar-lock observed the exchange with curiosity, but remained silent as they left the airstrip and headed towards the meeting point with Inora and Carmine.

The pair of Hunters had said that there was a certain amount of ceremony having to do with inducting new members. Sure, there was the test of retrieving a fruit in the magical forest. But first you needed to meet the heads of the other Hunter groups. Which Kaleb knew meant meeting Julius again, which, if he was honest, he was kind of looking forward to. There was nothing like winding up an asshole, especially one who was an HLO lackey.

Their group rode in relative silence for the first few minutes. But eventually, Two Gun and Jar-lock started up a conversation about what they would find in the Magical Forest used by the Hunters. Two Gun said he was expecting more Goblins and other magical creatures. But Jar-lock was skeptical.

“They rarely leave the Fae realm. Even if they do it usually for one of their ‘hunts.’”

Two Gun shook his head, his wide-brimmed hat scrapping the car’s ceiling. “Come on, Jar. You don’t think a few of them buggers haven’t slipped into this fancy forest? Even if not the goblins, what about something else from this Fae realm?”

“I just don’t see it. These are monster hunters. I just don’t see them hunting anything other than magical beasts. Even given how beastly the goblins may act, they are still somewhat sentient.”

“Are they a playable race?” Kaleb asked, entering the conversation for the first time.

Jar-lock shook his head. “Naw, in-game lore says that after the discovery of more planes of existence, the world, and a few alien communities, tried to move across the realms. It did not go well. Even the goblins can’t exist long in this realm. Something in the air slowly attacks their immune system. But if they are sufficiently powerful…”

“Like a Demon or Ifrit?” Kaleb asked, nodding.

Jar-lock just smiled as he continued. “Then they can stay longer. Really, I just think it’s the devs revving up for expansions later on.”

Everyone else in the car nodded along, understandingly. MAO was already a big game, but none of them doubted the developers wouldn’t be adding to the game later. Games were practically living, breathing worlds in their own right. With AI’s carrying a large brunt of the weight for devs when it came to story writing and handing out quests, the game’s programmers could work on other things.

Kaleb was excited to see where they would take things and was about to ask the group’s thoughts when Two Gun slowed down the car. Looking out the window, Kaleb could see that they had arrived at the parking lot for Long Park. The park itself was obscured behind massive 40 foot high concrete walls that only barely blocked the forest’s massive trees. Kaleb could see a large group of people crowded around the park’s large gate.

Two Gun parked the car, and they all piled out. They all checked their weapons and armor before approaching the entrance. When they got close, Kaleb could see that the group outside the gate was composed mainly of hunters. He was sure he could see a few of the hunters that helped with the goblin horde. But some others appeared to be from two distinct Hunter groups. One group clearly favored forged steel and iron armor, while the other group wore mainly green-skinned animal hide of some kind.

Judging from the looks the green-clad hunters were giving them, Kaleb assumed they were with Julius' group. None of them looked happy that Kaleb’s small group was here. The other metal-clad group appeared more curious than outright hostile. Kaleb could hear raised voices as the large iron gate came into view.

“... and it breaks with all our traditions!” Kaleb heard a familiar voice shout.

“Oh! Now he cares about traditions?” A gruff male voice asked sarcastically.

Kaleb and his friends broke through the crowd and came upon a group of three people in a heated argument. Kaleb immediately identified Inora and Julius standing almost nose to nose. Both were red-faced with anger. They had obviously been screaming at each other for a while now. Standing next to the two was a gentleman in full plate armor, carrying his helmet in his left hand. The man appeared to be in his early sixties with long grey hair in a ponytail and a rather large mustache.

Kaleb guessed that the man was the one Inora had told them about, Silas. Judging my the man’s annoyed expression, he was seconds away from smacking both of his compatriots.

“ENOUGH!” the armored man shouted. “It matters not what we did in the old days. This is the here and now! Some of our groups are growing weaker, while more and more incursions are happening. Not just in our little town, but all across Austin.”

“Yes, Silas, which is why we should join with the HLO and share in the resources they can provide.” Julius stated, panting.

Inora’s face grew even redder. “SOME of us would rather die than be the dog of those slippery bureaucrats!”

Julius' voice got quiet as he stared daggers at the small woman. “That can be arranged.”

Silas’ eyes grew wide, and Kaleb guessed another round of shouting was about to happen. So he threw oil on the fire…

“Wow, Jules. I didn’t know you were such a lady killer.”

Julius’ head snapped around and he glared and Kaleb’s group. “You…” He stomped closer. “I should have known it was your little group of piss-ants that were begging a group of hunters to let them take the trials. Well, it’s not happening! Not only are you not Hunters, but the time is not right. All new Hunters must undergo the trials during a FULL MOON! That has always been our way!”

Two Gun tipped his hat up with a finger stared at Julius while asking Kaleb, “What’s up his ass?”

Kaleb grinned. “The HLO, if I understand it right,” next to Two Gun, Claire cracked her knuckles while Jar-lock folded his arms across his massive chest. Turning to his friend, Kaleb continued, “Gentleman, Lady... Two Gun, allow me to introduce the HLO’s local bitch-boy, Julius.”

Julius looked ready to attack as Kaleb finished his introduction and grinned back at the tall, lithe hunter. Silas, however, interrupted before he could.

“If you cared for tradition so much, you wouldn’t have invited outsiders into Hunter business in the first place, Julius. But you did and now here we are.”

Julius turned back around to face the other Hunter leaders. “We all know that was inevitable. I just bargained a better deal for us so that…”

“STOP!” Silas shouted, pointing a finger at Julius. “We have heard your arguments before and they rung hollow then and they ring hollow now. We shall allow this group to undertake the trial. At least two leaders of our fractured council agree to this deviation from tradition. Which was more than enough when our council was whole.”

“And it’s more than enough now.” Inora added.

Julius scrunched his face up in obvious disgust. But suddenly he got a contemplative look on his face. “Does that mean we are going to be treating this like a normal trial, then?”

Kaleb was pretty sure he didn’t like Julius’ tone. Meanwhile, Silas and Inora glanced between each other and grimaced.

“Yes.” Inora answered.

Silas tried to add something, but Julius whirled around and gestured to his troupe of hunters. “Well, isn’t it convenient, then, that I brought along some young hunters needing to undergo the trial? As we all know, it is customary for us to send in our groups together.”

Julius shot Kaleb a smug grin before Silas spoke up. “Yes, which is why I brought along some as well.”

He gestured toward his own group of iron-clad hunters. Julius’ grin fell away, and he glared at the stoic Silas. Meanwhile, Jar-lock and Claire walked over to question Inora.

“Are we doing this as a group?” Claire asked.

“No one mentioned that. Will they be allowed to interfere with our trial?” Asked Jar-lock.

Inora held up a hand and gestured for Kaleb and his group to follower her. She lead their group over to her batch of hunters and explained in hushed tones.

“No. They are not technically allowed to interfere. The only obstacle during the trial is supposed to be the forest itself.”

Two Gun shook his head. “Awful lot of qualifiers in those sentences there, Chief.”

Inora grimaced. “Yes, well, there have been reports of some of Julius’ group bothering ours during the last few trials. Silas seems to have expected this, though. His guys will probably help y'all out.”

“And there we have another qualifier. Probably?” Two Gun raised an eyebrow as Inora just shrugged.

Kaleb glanced around at Inora’s hunters, seeing none of the kids that they had seen fighting the Manthian boar. “What about your hunters? None of you are coming to help?”

Inora grimaced again and sucked in air through clenched teeth. “We can’t risk it. Our kids just aren’t ready and with Julius this riled up, his is liable to do something stupid.”

“Which you have no problem with if it happens to us,” Kaleb snapped.

Inora glared back at him defiantly. “No offense, but I don’t know you. You claim you’re out here to help, and sure, your friends have knocked out some local problems. But I’m not putting our hunters into a trial they are not ready for just to protect you.”

Kaleb grimaced, but he understood. They had just met a few days ago and really; the hunters were doing them a favor. They didn’t have to put up with a local group of heroes trying to muscle in on their turf. Sure, this deal was contingent on giving Inora’s hunter’s access to magic, but it was a mutually beneficial relationship.

Kaleb also wondered if this was the game’s way of showing his reputation with certain groups. He had seen several notifications on getting increased rep with different factions within the city.

As he pondered his various reputation levels with the groups he had met in the city. He noticed that Silas and Julius had walked over to their respective groups and were handing something out to them. Upon closer inspection, they appeared to be handing badges to their hunter groups.

“What’s up with that?” Kaleb asked as he pointed his chin at the badges.

Inora glanced over and grimaced again. “Safety badges. They make sure we don’t lose anyone in the forest. If any hunter gets too injured, they are teleported out of the park.”

“And ours would be…?” Two Gun asked.

“Unfortunately, my group has never had access to them.” She said, looking forlornly at Silas and his group. “I don’t want to think about what Silas had to agree to so that Julius would part with some.”

Jar-lock sighed loudly. “So we are heading to enemy territory, with possibly hostile forces, along with friendly forces. Both of who have emergency teleport badges, so they probably won’t be holding back. Did I miss anything?”

Before Inora could say anything, Two Gun grumped. “Don’t forget the forest is full of goblins, fairies, and other some such nonsense.”

Inora shot them a quizzical look as the enormous gates to the Magic Forest opened and the sight of a large and lush forest stood before them. “There aren’t any goblins or creatures of fae in the woods.”

“So, what will we be facing?” Claire asked as she watched Silas’ and Julius’ hunters run ahead through the large open gate and disappearing into the forest.

“The forest is full of magic, so it attracted large and enhanced creatures. Not unlike the animals you would see in the world today. Y’know, just bigger. Although there have been reports recently of various portals dumping strange creatures into the woods.”

Kaleb pulled his Cybar pistol. “You mean like the boar?”

“Exactly.” Inora said, giving him a forced smile.

“Well, that’s brilliant.” Claire said, stepping forward and cracking her knuckles. Turning to the Kaleb and the others, she added. “Gentlemen, shall we?”

Two Gun and Jar-lock grinned, obviously relishing the challenge. Kaleb himself felt the thrill of challenging something new in the game. After they had checked their weapons and armor, their group hurried into the Magical Forest. Excited at what they might find.