Chapter 37: Enter Clayguy7
The goblin roared at me, baring his disgusting, yellowing teeth. His red eyes glowed like embers as he waved a rusty, squalid dagger at me. Grimacing, I smashed Silverlight on his head. The glinting sword was spattered with scarlet blood as it came in contact with the skull of the goblin. With a final grunt, the goblin fell to the ground, and transformed into bones, a pile of coins, and a bronze shield.
I scooped the bones up, and buried them in the soft soil below me. Fireworks burst from the atmosphere around me, and my book had informed me I had risen to prayer level 12. It had risen so quickly from burying the bones of dark wizards, skeletons, and rats in the month before the War of Varrock.
My combat level at the current moment was 18. It had risen quickly after fighting so much, but now, hopefully, the violence would end soon. I was going to leave Varrock tomorrow, to continue with my journey.
My next stop was the great shining city of Falador. I would have to go through Barbarian Village, and then go through the pass next to the Dwarf mines, and I would soon arrive at Falador. Mark had been kind enough to point me in the right direction. He was going to join us until we arrived at Falador. According o him, he had an old friend he wanted to meet there.
About a week ago, I had given the Rune crafting package to Aubury, the one that Sedridor had given me. That quest was given to me over two months ago. Through all the worry about the war and everything, I had forgotten completely about it! Aubury had given me some of his research notes to return to Sedridor. I decided when I am at Falador; I would explore to Port Sarim and Rimmington, and return to Draynor and Lumbridge. Then I would give the notes back. Aubury told me if I succeeded I would be rewarded beyond my wildest dreams.
Grimacing, wiping blood off Silverlight, I stood up. That goblin had been reported to the Glory Troopers by the clerks of the Grand Exchange. I was behind it at the very moment.
In front of me, there was the wilderness ditch, and beyond that, there was the menacing wilderness. The soil looked rotten and putrid, while blood-soaked skeletons littered the floor like rubbish in an alleyway. A possessed rat stared at me with its ruby-red eyes in the distance, and beyond that was hidden from view by black murky shadows. I gulped, and walked towards the Grand Exchange.
That was a more cheerful sight. People crowded around several tills with clerks behind them, shouting, chatting, and, in general, talking. Items and bags of coins were traded, and huge stone pillars towered around me. A giant stone hand holding a handful of coins was the trademark statue of The Grand Exchange.
The Grand Exchange was a very successful business, which made a LOT of money by buying items and trading them. In a corner in the far right, a bunch of goblins were bickering over a huge sack of gold. Thankfully, they were not possessed.
I went towards the counter, and the clerk, looking extremely bored, put on a very fake, cheesy smile.
"Hello, and welcome to the Grand Exchange. Can I help you?" she asked politely as she shuffled through a pile of paperwork. I gave her a small, shy grin.
"Hello there. Can you check if my bronze plate body has sold yet?" I asked. She nodded, sighed, and gave me a stone plate. I typed my PIN on it, and a large box with six compartments opened in front of me.
One of the compartments had a picture of my bronze plate body, SOLD stamped in large red letters under it. There was a bag half-full of coins next to it. I picked up the bag, and the picture disappeared, leaving the box empty. I closed it, and put my money away in my bag.
My Smithing level had risen so high, I could now make bronze plate bodies. I mined copper and tin from the mine in Varrock, and made it into tools. I sold some to younger players, I sold some in the Grand Exchange, I donated some to the Glory Troopers and I stored some in my bank for future use.
Sighing gloomily, I went to the mines. I was going to be leaving on my adventure, along with the rest of the gang, the next day, so I was going to spend the rest of this day mining, smithing, stockpiling, and selling bronze supplies.
The famous Varrock mine was small, cramped, and filthy, but absolutely packed with important ores, such as iron, copper, tin, coal, and more. It was a huge blot in the beautiful countryside. As I walked in it, I was greeted with tumultuous applause from the miners. I waved my hand in the air, and I took out my iron pickaxe.
I stepped up to a coal rock, deciding to see if I was finally ready to try and mine it. I whacked the rock with my axe, sending small chunks of rocks everywhere. No coal came out, and I felt a vibration in my bag. I took my vibrating, olive-green book out, and it opened to a particular page. On it, it said 'You need to be level 30 mining to mine these rocks!' Undaunted, I smashed my pickaxe into the rock again. My book vibrated angrily again. Sighing, I decided to mine copper and tin.
I smashed my way into a tin rock, ore tumbling out like an avalanche. After much mining of copper and tin, I gathered my spoils, put them in my bag, and walked off.
I walked right into a very tall, very strong man. He was level 42, and his face looked like it had been carved from rock. His bushy brown beard hung limply from his chin, and his eyes were a muddy brown. He wore a brown leather apron, and bottle-blue trousers. He glared at me, nostrils flaring.
"DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?" he bellowed, making people stare. I stuttered an apology, but he started shouting at me again. "I AM CLAYGUY7, AND I SUPPLY CLAY ITEMS FOR THE WHOLE OF VARROCK!" I was backing off, but his expression softened. "Who are you anyway, kid?" I mumbled my name to him, and he chortled at my fear. "No need to worry, son. My anger runs away with me sometimes. Hey, you seem to have strong arms and sturdy feet. How about you give me a hand with my clay-making? I'll make it worth your while." I nodded, terrified at this massive giant of a man.
"Very well, let's start off with the basics-the raw clay." He kicked a nearby rock with solid clay with it, and the stuff went tumbling out, solid as granite. He scooped it out, took a large bucket out from his bag, and filled it with the clay. He stopped for a moment, watching me carefully. I shuddered as his ice-cold gaze scanned me.
"Kid, Mainiac97, you can't come dressed like that," he said, smirking at my best, shiny-white shirt. "Go and change into something you can bear to get dirty, and meet me by the fountain in twenty minutes. Handling and making clay items is very dirty work," he added. Blushing redder then a radish with sunburn, I nodded, and ran off to Aubury's shop.
When I arrived, I went through the stained-glass doors, the shop sign creaking loudly above me. I bumped into Amy11 in the corridor towards the stairs. The corridor to the rooms, being very small, gave very little room for movement, so I found myself jammed in the corridor, with Amy11 glued to my chest. She seemed to be enjoying my discomfort.
"Isn't this place a bit too cosy to be cuddling and kissing?" an impatient voice came from the stairs. I looked up to see Creator looking at us, amused at the scene. I, spluttering, tried to explain my situation to Creator, who was roaring with laughter.
"Look, I know you two lovebirds want private time together, but you're clogging up the corridor," he sniggered. Furiously, I wrenched myself from Amy11, and stepped towards Creator, rolling my sleeve. Still doubled up with laughter, Creator grabbed my leg, and threw me the opposite side of him. Blushing beetroot red, I pounced to my room, three steps at a time.
I threw on my old filthy work clothes, and pounced down the stairs. On the way down, I bumped into Aubury.
"Whoa! Take your time, child!" he exclaimed, waving his arms around to balance himself. As he struggled to keep himself on the stairs, a newspaper cutting fell on the floor. Curiously, I picked it up, and began to read.
GLORY TROOPERS WIN WILDERNESS WAR!
The army of peace, the Glory Troopers, today won a war against the dark forces.
Army commander Slinky overheard dark wizards discussing a plan urgently within their stone circle. They said they were going to gather the Black Guard in the wilderness to attempt to ambush Varrock.
Slinky rushed back to base and raised alert. Glory Troopers were gathered, and marched hopefully into the Wilderness, to attempt to counter the plan.
There, they found a large amount of the Black Guard, preparing a mass slaughter in the Wilderness, approximately level 12 deep. A huge war developed, and most of both sides were killed.
I continued reading, getting angrier by the second.
"We lost many soldiers!" I bellowed in Aubury's face. He lost it this time, and fell down the stairs with several crashes. "Why didn't you let me become part of the war?" I shouted. Aubury sat up, and rubbed a lump on his head.
He led me to the kitchen, me still fuming. He tried to explain.
"You see, all of my soldiers are more experienced then you. As soon as darkness began to spread, our true leader trained them viciously. They learned not how to injure opponents, not how to kill them, but how to completely destroy them, and rip them apart. The training was vicious, but it paid off. They learned how to survive for months in the wilderness… they learned all the secret tricks of dark forces.
"The point I'm trying to make is you haven't. You are only a temporary spy, and you'll be leaving tonight for Falador anyway. I couldn't risk someone as innocent as you get killed."
I sighed sadly. Fair enough, I suppose I didn't stand a chance against an army of Black Guard, but I just felt so useless.
"On a more cheerful note," Aubury continued. "I managed to find a new warrior. I'm glad we've found someone so good."