Shadow Gambit Read Free Page B

item, I would transfer ownership to him directly. A few moments after I signed the agreement and returned it Ogden sent the deposit.
     
    For long moments I sat and stared at my new bank account balance. Several hundred thousand gold pieces now threatened my sanity, and I had the overwhelming urge to pull up the auction house view screen and go on a spending spree. But I resisted. I had a quest to complete. I can shop after. Maybe with a triple market cap to sweeten the deal.
     
    “I will send you a mage,” Ogden had insisted. “One who will come in useful. He's worked for me before and can be counted on in a tough spot.”
     
    Sure, I thought. Ogden wanted his own person in the group as a spy and proxy. Fine with me. I didn't know any high level mages anyway, and from what Ogden said this mage was extremely powerful.
     
    Which left me to recruit other players for the remaining two spots in the four-person group. Preferably muscle. We would no doubt need it.
     
    I sent Mudhoof a chat request as I followed the path to a stone bridge which crossed over a chuckling stream. A flock of birds flew over head and the sun shone brightly. Yeah, I stayed too long in volcano-land. No more dark and gloomy for a while.
     
    My request was accepted. A large view screen appeared before me with the massive head of a bull on it. The bull wheezed and grunted as he appeared to by doing something physically strenuous. “Hey, Vee!” Said Mudhoof.
     
    “Hey Muddie,” I said.
     
    Mudhoof glanced into the camera for a moment but his focus shifted elsewhere. “Been too busy to talk with your old friend, huh?”
     
    “Kind of,” I said. “Sorry about that. Got sidetracked on a quest and was sucked in until I finished.”
     
    “Yeah, I know what you mean,” the minotaur said. The view screen was zoomed in too close to his head for me to make out his location or who he fought. “I'm a completion geek as well.” He grunted again, and this time the severed head of what looked to be a kobold passed over his shoulder to vanish out of view.
     
    “You're completing a quest now, I see,” I said with a knowing smile. Sometimes it's tough to shake the need to reach the end of a quest, a feeling I was all too familiar with.
     
    “Yup,” he said. It looked like he was hacking away with his mighty ax at an off-screen horde of kobolds. “Thorm is here with me. We're farming for... Well, I forget, but it's fun doing it, anyway.” Another severed head spun over his shoulder to ricochet off a tree.
     
    “If you guys are busy, I'll look for someone else to group with,” I said as a tease. Mudhoof was a minotaur warrior armed with a double bladed uber ax. Thorm, a holy knight, had top notch healing and shielding abilities. A perfect pair to complement myself and the mage.
     
    “Why, whatcha got?”
     
    “A Legendary Quest.”
     
    The minotaur stopped hacking and turned to look at me through his view screen. “A what?!”
     
    “Look out!” Came a shout from off to his side. It sounded like Thorm. Mudhoof blinked in surprise as if remembering he was in the middle of a battle and resumed slashing again.
     
    I waited in anticipation as he and Thorm cleared their immediate area which didn't take long.
     
    Finished with his grizzly job, Mudhoof looked to me. “Okay, we're in,” he said.
     
    Surprised, I said, “Don't you want the details? We'll split everything equally. But it will be dangerous. Maybe even have to re-roll your character.”
     
    Mudhoof shrugged. “That doesn't bother me at all. I'll just power-level using auction house loot. Done it before. Besides, I don't do this for the gold, I do it for the glory!” It was no secret Mudhoof had wealth in real life. So much so that dying and losing a high level character only meant an investment of cash. He used real money to buy large amounts of in-game gold then 'twinked' his new character with the best gear, upgrading as his level rapidly increased.
     
    “Count me in,