Rise of the Undead Legion

Dave had a big frown on his face. This was literally the first time someone had talked to him like this in-game. And what the hell was up with calling him a ’Skelly wanna-be’? Were there actually players out there using his name to get favors?

It didn’t matter to Dave. Anyone was free to do what they wanted in the game. Still, to get shut down like that for being mistaken for an imposter irked him a lot.

Dave’s initial reaction was to call Lone Arrow so she could talk some sense into Hammering-It-Gud. Yet to send in his girlfriend to complain didn’t seem like the best first impression, so he decided against it. It was best if he dealt with things his way.

He checked Hammering-It-Gud on the forums and fortunately he had set up shop in a town near Devastator’s capital Icathia. Dave had to be pretty careful around the capital if he wanted to sneak in unseen. Were it not for the quest description specifically instructing him that his actions in Icathia needed to be discrete, he would have just waltzed into the capital against all the players, letting them all gawk at how he took over the temple. If worse came to worst, Ramsha still had more Conquest Right Scrolls. He might not have another Demon Token, but seeing as Ramsha should also have an interest in the Ash King’s plans being foiled, perhaps they could come to some sort of agreement.

Sadly, the town Hammering-It-Gud was in didn’t have a direct Teleportation Gate. Ironically the closest one was Icathia’s which he couldn’t use. So, he teleported to the second closest city to the town.

Glipnier, a city of statues, mythology, and architectural beauty. The whole city was made in the Victorian style. It had many replicas of the world’s finest artistic creations where couples and people would come and enjoy the place and scenery. While in Conquest, one didn’t need to move a muscle to travel the world.

Dave took a look around and made a mental note to take Zoe here one of these days, but otherwise, he ignored the mass of people gathering around him. They all knew that the Undead was the one who had bested their Guild Master and had taken away the East for his own, also he was the one who had ripped a new one for both Heaven’s Dawn and the Blood Ragers.

The gazes he was met with showed a plethora of emotions. At first, everyone had hated Skelly for defeating Warlord and ruining the Devastators’ plans, but once he did the same to the other two guilds, for whatever reason, the players began to have respect for Skelly as a player, it was not fear, but an acknowledgment of his power and ability to contend with Super Guilds even if he was just one man.

Dave just walked straight out of the city. He had better things to do than stay there and inevitably start a fight with some Devi-Fanatic. Once he was out, he summoned Onixya. She was the fastest ride he could use to cover the distance between Glipnier and the town where Hammering-It-Gud usually stayed.

The cute dragon was no more, and in its stead was a majestic, fully grown black scaled dragon. A bit smaller than her parent, but all the same a true and unique Black Dragon. Onixya nudged her muzzle against Dave and he rewarded her with some neck scratches.

"You’ve grown so much. You won’t fit in my side bag anymore now," Dave jested.

The dragon, however, blew steam out of her nostrils and changed shape back to her smaller form, giving Dave a small fright and an unexpected surprise.

"Well I guess you still can. This is great," he laughed as he held her between his arms. "But I’m gonna need you to take me to a town nearby first, okay?"

Onixya nodded and reverted to her actual larger form. She waited until Dave climbed onto her back before she flew off to the West.

Soon after, Dave finally arrived in the right town. He came down off the dragon, surprising everyone in the vicinity. The mighty Dragon of Terror was a great deterrent to anyone who had the silly idea that they could get the drop on Dave. They all kept their distance waiting for an opportunity which wouldn’t come. However, that didn’t mean that they didn’t contact the higher ups from the Devastator Guild in order to notify them of Skelly’s presence.

Dave continued ignoring the players. As long as they didn’t interfere with his business they could do whatever they wanted, be it take a picture or gawk at him as if he were a zoo animal. He was only interested in one person right now.

Onixya changed back to her smaller form and rested comfortably on top of Dave’s helmet. The dragon was excited at being out in the open as it checked upon anything that moved around it. She behaved like a curious toddler, but when counting the days since her hatching, she was nothing more than that. And before Dave even noticed, she had flown off to a nearby stall and began tearing bits and pieces of some ready-made sandwiches and food. The stall owner was an NPC and he was petrified the moment he saw the dragon begin feasting. He wouldn’t dare shoo away a dragon. The creature, though small, gave off a great pressure that made the NPC fear for his life.

However, Dave wasn’t gonna have any of that, he bumped Onixya lightly on her head with his fist, "Bad Onixya! That’s not yours!" he chided her, then handed five gold coins to the NPC to compensate him for the ruined stall. It was way more than he would have made that day anyway and frankly he was just happy to have kept his life.

Onixya felt wronged and if dragons could pout, this one just did. Yet Dave wasn’t going to raise her to nurse bad habits. He hadn’t done so for Tiny, and he sure as hell wouldn’t do so for the little dragon.

The players around were gobsmacked at the fact that the strongest Undead was treating a majestic Black Dragon like a pet dog.

Turning around, Dave went to the place the forum had mentioned as being the workshop of the player who dared to block him.

A few hundred meters away was a working forge with smoke coming out in a regular interval from the chimney and a dozen players in front of it waiting in line for their items to be ready.

Dave would have never bothered to come here if Andre had not been so busy making his armor. He didn’t much care for another player handling his gear. But he didn’t have any other choice given that time was of the essence.

Dave had to make use of this player that Lone had recommended, but so far the impression of the guy was certainly not one where he would be happy to work with.

However, he was not a cruel, or overbearing person. After all his treatment appeared to stem from a case of mistaken identity, so Dave waited in line with all the players. It was not his fault that his turn came up very fast, when the players noticed him standing behind them and hurriedly left the line and made way for him. It also wasn’t his fault if Hammering-It-Gud lost some money because his clients had left. Just like it wouldn’t be his fault if Hammering-It-Gud would get angry. As stated, Dave was a nice guy. Ahem...

Once he was in front of the shop, he saw that the player with the name tag Hammering-It-Gud was clad in a leather protective gear and had a hammer in one hand and tongs in the other. When he saw Dave he stuttered, unable to speak up.

"What? Undead got your tongue?" Dave commented.

"Euh, Skelly, what are you doing here? My business is really small, please don’t ruin it." Hammering pleaded, his face was whiter than a sheet of paper.

"Huh? Do I look like some evil overlord to you?"

Hammering didn’t reply but another player from the line replied for him, "Yes you do! Check yourself in a mirror, Skelly!" This led to a burst of laughter from the spectating players.

Dave looked down upon his Undead appearance. Additionally given his newly earned reputation with the guilds, his achievements hardly painted him as anything else but an Evil Overlord. The black dragon as his companion whose parent had been rightfully feared in the Wilds, certainly did not help the image.

"You might be right. Anyway, I’m here because I need something crafted. And perhaps you could help me inquire about something else," Dave said to the smith.

"Oh, I’ll definitely craft something for Skelly. That should be fun." Hammering replied returning to his normally stoic posture.

"That was quick. I was kinda expecting some sort of resistance. I mean with your guild and stuff."

"Nah, heck I wouldn’t even care if Warlord himself came here and told me not to. If they want to kick me out, I can just enjoy watching the other two Super Guilds fighting over me." Hammering boasted.

"Huh? If I didn’t know any better I’d say you don’t like the guild. In that case why stay with them?"

"Nah, you got it wrong. I love this guild. Heck I was one of the early guys who sorta even helped build it up. Besides, if I get to craft an item for Skelly, my reputation will increase by several folds. That’s a lot of money, even Warlord can’t talk me out of this." Hammering answered.

"Right then, but before we get down to business... how about you unblock me first?" Dave asked with an evil smirk.

"Unblock you? Why would I ever block...SHIT!!! Don’t tell me, that was really you?!" Hammering spoke nearly dropping his tools. His face turned even whiter than before.

Dave didn’t even need to reply.

***

Player Hammering-It-Gud has unblocked you.

Player Hammering-It-Gud has sent you a friend’s request.

***

Dave refused the friends request and said, "You won’t be the one to contact me. It’ll be the other way around, and we’ll keep it that way."

"After my earlier treatment, I’d say that’s fair enough," replied the player in a defeated tone. "Now tell me, what can I do for the vanquisher of all three Super Guilds? I doubt I could make anything better than the gear you’re wearing. Heck, some of those materials haven’t even been discovered yet."

"Huh, now that you mention it, I haven’t raided that Oprenieum cave yet... Hmm, I’m probably still not strong enough to take down that thing. Oh, nevermind my idle thoughts, back to business. What I need you to craft is a leather armor set. The Shadow-Tiger set, which is a level 450 Assassin’s gear."

"Never heard of that before and I’m pretty sure I know all the armor gears of Conquest by heart."

"I’m sure you do, but not the ones from the Underworld. So here’s the diagram."

Dave threw a piece of paper to the player who grabbed it with shaky hands, "This is a diagram from the Underworld?! You’re just giving me this?"

"How else do you want to craft it, if you have never heard of it before? Enjoy, and please craft one up for me. The sooner the better, please," Dave threw in some resources for the Shadow Tiger set.

"Hold on, you just gave me material for two sets here," Hammering pointed out.

"Yeah, one for me, and the other you can keep or sell it. It’ll probably get you some good money."

"Thanks, man, I’ll start working right now. Give me three, no two hours," The player exclaimed.

Dave nodded and went to a nearby tavern to wait for his gear to get crafted. He wasn’t worried that Hammering would share the recipe for the set. First of all, what self-respecting craftsman would share the secrets of the trade instead of keeping it to himself? And also it would be useless for him to share it anyway. Right now only Dave and a few chosen players had access to the Underworld, so only they could get the materials for the recipe.

Dave ordered a jug of ale and waited patiently for the craft to finish. He still had to use the gear to get into the temple unseen. He knew little about being stealthy. It just wasn’t his style.

Fortunately, he knew just the right person to teach him...

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