Hollow Henry

Henry sipped on his drink and contemplated the afternoon. Andy was going on about how rich they were going to be, but Henry had tuned out. They were sitting in the Tavern while they waited for Hamish to be finished with what he needed to do in Henhole. It was time for Saider to be on his way, since they were back at a Tavern. The level 2 had no real experience with the world yet, even though he'd arrived at the same time as Henry. Over a month of imprisonment and torture from a small variety of monsters, the man was left rather jaded. Hamish had built up a rapport with the Elven player thanks to their shared experience with the stoners, so he was the obvious choice to help the man prepare for his journey. The big man was also taking some time to walk The inexperienced player through some necessary information, much like he and Andy had for Henry on his first day.

He planned to stop off at the Goblin Shop to see what the Taverns unique items were, but it was apparently disrespectful to do anything in a Tavern you hadn't been to before without first having a drink. It was a busy Tavern too, the door was a constant stream of people pouring in and out. Those coming in from another town or city were making sure to stop by the black stone tablet by the door to check in with their medallion. Henry checked in for the first time when they entered, with Andy insisting it was necessary. The Tavern kept track of its patrons for many reasons. One of the key reasons people checked in was so people they knew could track where they were if they went missing on their travels. For players it allowed them to respawn in that Tavern.

Once his cup was empty, Henry turned it upside down and flashed his friend a wide smile. “Looks like it's time for me to go shopping,” he declared.

“Go ahead,” Andy said, waving his hand. “I'm gunna hold onto all the essence I can for now. That level up in the caves set me back a bit.”

“Hopefully what the king paid us can help get you back there,” Henry said, rolling the palm sized soul stone in his hand. With that and the 16 gold they each got, he was more than happy to buy a few toys from the creepy little Goblin. He had spare essence to spend, and a mystery dungeon to prepare for. They weren't going to hang around Therven for too long with something so tempting so close by. The city would still be there when they got back, so they could always check it out then. An unraided dungeon wasn't something any of the players were going to let sit long.

He got the innkeepers attention, and asked about the Goblin shop. It seemed that just about every innkeeper was all too aware of who the players were. Without any question or push back, the innkeeper sent a serving girl to lead Henry to his destination. Much like the first Tavern he was in, she took him down a hall that led to rooms. On one of the doors, she ran a metal card through the seam between the door and its frame. There was a deep purple flash from beneath it, then she gave him a polite nod and went about her business. It seemed like it didn't matter too much which door was chosen, since he'd entered the shop through 2 different doors at the last place. The card was what was responsible for the doorway connecting. Henry wondered if a player might be able to get their hands on one of those cards. It would make getting to the Goblin Shop a lot easier.

The shop looked the exact same as the last one, save for the unique items on the counter at the front. It was a simple room that looked like it belonged in an office building. It even had long white ceiling tiles and fluorescent lights. The walls were lined with cheap flat pack shelving, along with 3 isles down the middle. The standard shop items filled the shelves in the same places they were the last time too. At the out of place wooden bar counter, the Goblin waited with the same blank expression as always. It was dressed like a used car salesman, complete with the slicked back hair. Its navy blue jacket even had 4 sleeves for all of its arms. It never did much beyond grunt when a purchase was made, so it wasn't a threat at all. It still made Henry and a lot of other players on Player-Net really uncomfortable though. It's unnerving having a monster dressed as a predator stare at you while you shop.

He made a quick trip to his Temple so he could feed his pay into his essence. Hamish was somewhere in Henhole helping get Saider prepared, so he went to his house to have some privacy. There was nothing too special about absorbing the soul stone, he just wanted to be alone when he did. It was a satisfying experience to receive such a massive rush of essence at once. It was almost embarrassing to think about doing it with an audience. What if he made a weird face? Then everyone would be laughing at him.

Once he was finished, he felt nearly renewed. It was all psychological, since his body didn't actually heal just from accumulated essence. Still, it felt a lot like stepping out of a nice hot shower. Perhaps soon he could figure out a way to actually have a hot shower in his home. He smiled with pride when he looked at his total accumulated essence. He would be able to get everything he needed and then some.

Essence: 1,212,158[E]

It was more than enough for another level up too, but he was starting to see why people levelled slowly. Too many different things required essence, one of the main costs being the Goblin Shop. It was possible to get through the world without buying items from the shop, but it was a foolish way to go about it. The shop provided too many useful things specific to players for them to turn up. Henry gathered his usual supply of DiHexan potions and a few food items that would keep for a long time. He stopped to have a good look at some of the more expensive items. He already had his eye on the player home cornerstone. At tier 1 the home cornerstone cost an outstanding 500,000[E]. It seemed like a steep price, but higher tier players wouldn't find it too expensive. It offered spells to help govern a home, including defensive wards of all kinds. Some of the spells were for things as simple as cleaning and hot water, but every spell counted as an upgrade that would cost essence. It was incredibly tempting, and he could see it being useful, but his meeting with the king had him considering a different option. There were other types of cornerstones available, each of them considerably more expensive than the player home. The guild cornerstone cost 10 million essence, and would service the needs for several people using most of the same spells. The upgrades were more numerous and diverse though. At tier 3 he could even add a door to the Goblin Shop. The main downside to the guild cornerstone however, was that it could only manage a maximum of 10 buildings in close proximity to each other. It would also cost more essence than he was willing to invest to be able to get it to that point. There were places he could see the guild cornerstone being a good choice, like in a major city. If he wanted it to manage every building that would end up in his Temple though, he would need the next choice up.

The town cornerstone would manage a base maximum of 30 buildings across a large area at its first tier. The player home spells could be applied to every building the town cornerstone managed, and it came with a much longer list of possible upgrades. Much like the other cornerstones, he couldn't see what most of the upgrades were because they weren't unlocked. He could however see how many possible upgrades there were, and Player-Net was a good place to learn what most of them were. The town cornerstone would be perfect for what he needed, but it would cost the same amount of essence as it did for him to get to the next tier. 500 million essence was still outside of his reach for the time being. It made for a difficult choice between a tier up or the convenience of the cornerstone. For the time being, he decided not to get a cornerstone at all. Until he knew what would come of his new village it wasn't worth considering anyway.

He also made sure to grab some bar stock of various mundane metals. They would be worthwhile if he could set up a smithy. The bar stock also made for a nice cheat way to gain extra essence, since he would always get a few points more than he spent on it when he fed it to his essence. The only downside to that trick was how time consuming it would be. He could only carry so much of the metal at a time with his small wooden shop cart. If he tried to put it into his Temple, it would just reappear on the shelf. The shelf only had a finite amount of items each day too, so he would have to wait up to 48 hours for the shop to restock. If he timed it right, he could buy double the stock by being there at midnight, but that still wasn't enough for him to get ahead any faster.

The main items of interest were the unique ones scattered about the front counter. Once he was done filling his cart, he eagerly approached the Goblin to see what that Tavern had on offer. It was a mix of different things, much like the last place. Slowly, he picked each of them up and examined their properties.

Windsinger Bow:

- Durability: 350%

- Enchantment and Effect: Each shot is imbued with Windforce, increasing arrow speed and allowing them to pierce through enemies.

- Spell: Tornado Shot – Fires an arrow that creates a small tornado, damaging and displacing enemies in its path.

- DiHexan Cost: 40 DiH per cast

- Tier: 8

- Damage (Base Attack): 35

- Damage (Tornado Shot): 50

Frostfang Spear:

- Durability: 300%

- Enchantment and Effect: Each attack applies Frostbite, slowing enemies by 15% for 3 seconds.

- Spell: Glacial Impale – Impales the target with a giant spike of ice, dealing cold damage.

- DiHexan Cost: 35 DiH per cast

- Tier: 7

- Damage (Base Attack): 35

- Damage (Glacial Impale): 65

Cape of the Gale:

- Durability: 300%

- Enchantment and Effect: Increases movement speed by 20% and jump height by 10 feet. Grants Windwalker, enabling a short burst of flight.

- Spell: Hurricane Dash – Propels the wearer forward with incredible speed, knocking back enemies.

- DiHexan Cost: 40 DiH per cast

- Tier: 7

- Damage (Hurricane Dash): 30

Ethereal Mantle:

- Durability: 250%

- Enchantment and Effect: Grants Ethereal Shift, allowing the wearer to become immune to non-magical attacks for 5 seconds.

- Spell: Phase Shift – Become intangible for 10 seconds, unable to interact with the physical world.

- DiHexan Cost: 30 DiH per cast

- Tier: 7

- Damage: N/A

Elixir of True Sight:

- Effect: Grants the ability to see through illusions, invisibility, and magical concealments for 10 minutes.

- Tier: 9

Elixir of Quickened Casting:

- Effect: Reduces spell casting times by 20% for 5 minutes.

- Tier: 5

As always, just about everything tempted him to some degree. One item in particular stood out to him though. The Cape of the Gale would go a long way towards fulfilling some of the fantasies he had about the game in the first place. It was one thing to be able to fly in his Temple, it would be a whole other level if he could fly throughout the greater world though. The cape might not have been free flight exactly, but it was definitely a step closer. When he ran his fingers over the emerald green fabric, it felt as if it was resisting him. The cloth felt like wind itself, and he had to have it. It cost a staggering 450,000[E], which was definitely going to eat into what he'd managed to save. With the cape, along with everything else he'd loaded his cart with, he would be left with 687,023[E]. The Elixir of True Sight had his interest too, but the cost of 500,000[E] didn't really seem worth it. The last item he considered was a bag of 100 Dungeon Coins. It was what he would be earning along with essence when he fought in a dungeon. The coins were used at the Dungeon Shop, which according to the Scotsmen was a shop door that only appeared in dungeon core rooms. The bag of 100 coins cost 10,000[E] at the Goblin Shop. He decided against the final purchase in the end, since he wanted to see how many coins he could earn himself before spending so much essence.

He addressed the Goblin behind the counter to inform it of what he was buying, gleefully including his fancy new cape. The Goblin grunted, and Henry felt a large amount of essence leave his body. With a thought, he sent everything in the cart to Henhole. With a dramatic flurry, he swished the Cape over his shoulder, fixing its clasps to his collar. It hugged his shoulder tightly, resting into a comfortable fit all on its own. He got the impression that it would take quite a bit of force to remove it. He felt the cape's enchantment join with him, making him feel lighter on his feet and more agile. The spell it came with also let itself be known. He was eager to try it all out, but knew better than to cast unfamiliar magic in an enclosed space.

In 2 week's time, he would be off to explore his first dungeon. The only thing standing in his way until then was politics. He found himself walking down an interesting path. He was growing in strength faster than he could have hoped to. His deal with the king only stood to increase the speed of that growth. In another life he had been a leader as well, but there was a big difference between running a farm and company, and running a town of strangers. Nepotism was his happy place. Every person that worked for him on earth was someone he knew, or close enough to it. Henhole was about to be housed by people he had absolutely no idea about. It was daunting to invite strangers to be inside of him, and he wasn't even getting paid for it. He took a trip to his still mostly empty Temple at that thought, and got to work painting a large sign to stand near the centre of the training island. It read ‘no kissing on the mouth’, and he chuckled to himself at the joke. If he had to have strangers inside of him, he was at least going to try and have fun with it.