Borderlands Online: Chapter 2 (Patreon)

"GIVE ME YOUR MONEY YOU PIECE OF SHIT!" A thin and ratty looking man snarls as he sways on the walkway of the sewer. Argo stands just behind me as I let out a long sigh. 

Junky {Level 1} 

Right now we are exploring the sewers, looking for... well... anything of note. 

Mainly experience. 

Mostly experience. 

There were these weird armadillo big-eared mole things that were a pain to kill called 'Ratchlings.' 

I don't think anyone really checked out the sewer in the beta. We went to the jungle outskirts almost immediately. 

So. 

Eden five is more or less a 'safe zone'. 

The starter cities prohibit PVP, but NPCs can still attack you... and do occasionally. 

Mainly the police being corrupt pieces of shit and muggers in alleyways. 

Anyways. 

I sidestep a punch from the man, he doesn't even have a weapon as he attempts to mug us. I press my pistol to his chin, I then pull the trigger. 

"GAAAAAHHHHH!" 

With a critical hit, he flops back, giving a little experience to Argo and I... and most importantly dropping some sweet sweet money. 

+18 Dollars. 

He didn't even have a shield. 

"You close to leveling?" I ask, crouching down briefly and carefully removing the four small bullets from my gun and send them into my echo device with a flash of blue pixelizing light.  

"Should be about the same as you." The girl shoots back,  adjusting her grip on the submachinegun.  

"Thirty Percent?" 

"Thirty Percent." She answers. "Also. This gun is... really rough."  

"Well, yeah." I note. "I made it without my skill. I'll make you a common variant soon. I'd just like to get rifling first so you can actually hit things." 

"Also." I continue. "We need a method to reliably get bullets. My weaker ones will... work... but I'm not going to fight a damn 'vault monster' with a thirty three percent damage debuff." 

"Couldn't you make a gun that uses another ammo like Jakobs? those always packed a wallop." 

"Yeah. No. I did my research in the gun store on ammo types. Most manufacturers have their own bullet type it seems. Jakob's are the most powerful but also by far the most expensive. I read a little blurb on the ammo box and they DRY AGE their fucking gunpowder in wine barrels to give it that 'Jakobs Family Smell'... as a result? Indescribably expensive. Like, they sell their bullets in boxes of five to twenty five. I saw the price-tag for a box of twenty-five pistol bullets and it was twenty dollars per bullet." 

"TWENTY- did Kayaba adjust the prices?" 

"Yep. You could buy a common tediore pistol- should you have a liscence- for the price of a Jakobs pistol bullet. Or five hundred Tediore Pistol bullets for the same cost as one Jakobs bullet. So we're stuck with Tediore brand low caliber nonsense for the foreseeable future." 

Right now, we're actually doing a quest... there was a shady little food cart in the bad parts of town that had a quest. 

Right now we're looking for meat... 

Ratch... 

The weird armadillo mole-rat things. 

That... Has promptly made Argo add a 'DO NOT EAT' label on the stand for her Guide Blog. 

We've collected about eight pounds of 'suspicious meat' so far. The guy needed ten. 

We've already completed the bonus objective 'Ratch-ratchen' in which sleazy definitely not up to code food stand owner stated that 'the little buggers taste so damn good even the ratch themselves think so! They're cannibalistic little fuckers but that somehow makes the meat taste even better! Kill one, let another eat its fill, then kill that one and bring it to me. It's material for PREMIUM hotdogs'." 

I... 

Will probably never eat another hotdog again. 

Here or in real life. 

"There's the last one." Argo points forwards causing me to turn. 

A pink big-eared creature with a shelled back, large bendy legs like a grasshopper, and teeth like a naked mole rat, scuttles out from a blob of filth that is its nest. 

Ratchling {Level 1} 

She raises the submachine gun as the Ratch scurries forwards, seemingly planning on leaping the channel of filth between us. 

As it does so and lands on our side, turning to rush right for us, Argo squeezes off a short burst of bullets. Red lines stream towards the creature, most missing entirely before the bullets eventually arrive and wizz past it. 

Some of her shots hit though, chipping off around fifty percent of the creature's health. 

I step around her as I can hear her weapon click with a quiet 'Thunk'. One of the bullet casings got jammed in the ejection port again. 

My pistol comes down, leveled at the little monster as it opens its mouth, legs tensing to leap and latch its jaws around me. 

BANG 

The handgun kicks back as the four bullets slam into its back, head and body, sending it lurching backwards with a dying cry. 

A hunk of meat appears on the floor. 

The... 

Sewer floor. 

The first time that happened I looked over, saw her go through all five stages of grief, then promptly code an underline into her draft under the words 'DO NOT EAT'. 

Argo picks it up and adds it to the rest in her echo device, struggling with her weapon for a moment as she rips the bolt back and slaps the side, the magazine tumbles out and clatters to the floor as the bent and folded bullet casing is launched out of the gun. 

"This gun is seriously bad. Like... could potentially kill me if it jams at an inopportune moment levels of bad." 

"My action skill still has about sixteen hours left. You'll get your gun. Hopefully one with rifling and is of at least 'common' rarity." I sigh. "Just act like you've got no weapon at all. Don't take any risks. But if push comes to shove, you've got something to make people go 'OH FUCK WHERE DID SHE GET THAT!' Before they realize just how shoddy your weapon is. At which point, you use that opportunity to flee for your life." 

"Hn. Alright. You think you can make me like... not quite a sniper rifle but something not automatic... like a sort of marksman rifle? I want to conserve ammunition." 

"Not without leveling up I can't... unless of course you want to never hit anything." 

"Fair. Fair." She shrugs. "Let's get this job done." 

[Split] 

"Thanks for the grub strangers! Here's your payment and a little bonus for the Ratch-Ratchen hehehehe!" The man in a bloody apron darkly chuckles. "And remember. Your first dog's half off!" 

We both slip away from him, checking our echoes. 

It's started getting relatively dark and it will remain that way for about seventy hours.  

Almost Total darkness on the entire planet as the moon slips behind the gas giant and is hidden from the light of the sun. Just a massive faint glowing ring.  

It's honestly kind of pretty. 

+78 Dollars 

That quest shot us up to around seventy percent of the way to level two. 

The money is fine, I guess. 

"So." I begin. "This where we part ways?" 

"Yep." She nods once. 

"So like, what's your plan to sleep? You going to rent a room somewhere?" 

"Probably." She mutters. 

"I'm planning on going back to that one room. Maybe fortify it some. I've got some metal bars and a welder, I could totally make a few bolt latches." 

She opens her mouth to say something only to pause. 

"Huh... actually... you mind if I stay with you? It'll be cheaper than a room." The girl notes. "And I really need to start saving for that license to carry." 

"Alright." I shrug. "I don't mind. Probably going to do a little more work before I go to bed, see if I can make you anything that's mildly passible. I might need an extra pair of hands to help with the doors." 

[Split] 

"Huh... Novice Architect?" I question, glancing to the new common class I unlocked. 

Technically speaking, I haven't exactly applied any skill points... 

Fuck it, why not? There's something I want to test anyways. 

You see, when you 'change' your class in this godforsaken game, if you have any skill points in an old class, you don't get said skill points back. 

You don't lose your level, but you can't access the skills anymore. 

You are stuck with a bunch of spent skillpoints... at least until you hit up an 'Insta-change' and spend some money to 'respec your skill trees' like in the borderlands games. At lower levels it's relatively cheap, but it'll start to RAPIDLY get to a point where it becomes ridiculous. 

I think the formula for the 'respec price' is level squared times one thousand? 

The highest level someone got in the beta was ten, so there might be further multipliers at higher levels. 

Anyways, the price to re-spec even a single skill point is at minimum four thousand- as level ones don't have any skill points to begin with. 

Action Skill: Novice Construction:  
With a hammer and some nails you know how to build numerous things. Shitty things, but things nonetheless. Enter 'Build Mode' in which you may design simple constructs and fortifications depending on tools, the quality of materials, and how much time you take and how careful you are. Cooldown 86400 Seconds. 

"Same cooldown as Gunsmithing." I announce. "As for the skills?" 

Durable Construction: 0/5 
You know how to make something last. It just might not look that good. (Furniture, Buildings, Walls, and other constructs you create are treated as having 5% more HP per rank in this skill)  

Steady Hands: 0/1 
A steady hand is needed for a lot of fine work. (Your creations have better visual appearances and you may create slightly more complex constructs) 

Quick Hands: 0/3 
What's better than slow? Fast! You now are able to build faster without any loss in overall quality. (You build 5% faster per rank in this skill) 

I activate novice construction and enter the 'blueprint world' once more. 

I design a simple bench, one that looks like an arched C made of sheets of steel. 

I chose this design because if we need to, we could flip it and use it as some basic cover. 

The holographic bench forms over the ground as I just nod once.  

Argo begins questioning me about the skills as I slowly bring out my tools to start building the bench. 

[Split] 

"Action Skills reset when you change class." I observe mutely. 

"Huh." The girl sitting on the bench hums. "That's useful." 

"In the early game, sure." I admit. "But this system's been bashing me over the head repeatedly saying 'some classes aren't recoverable'. But I sincerely doubt we'll have any issues with common classes. They're, well, common." 

I rise to my feet. "Let's sweep the sewers another time. See if we can't get enough experience to level up so I can make you a real gun." 

[Split] 

Semi-Automatic Looty SMG {Weapon} {Unaffiliated} {Common} 
A more refined weapon made to conserve ammunition, crafted by an amateur weaponsmith. 
Damage 25 
Accuracy: Below Average 
Fire Rate: 2 Rounds/Second 
Magazine Size 8 
Ammunition: Tediore Brand! SMG Rounds on a Budget! 
Durability: 45/45 
Level Requirement: 1 

"Now we're talking." The girl whispers. "Below Average accuracy is a LOT more usable than abysmal... and no more mag-dropping and jamming!" 

She brushes her hand along the side. "It's actually not that bad. About on par with a Tediore without the explosive effect. Not bad, Mr. Gunsmith~" 

"No problem." I answer as I open my status menu. 

Vergil Sparda: Level 2: 3.2% 
Health: 95/95 
Shield: 100/100 

"Really need to hit level three so I can start making some bullets... should also see about selling guns to gain some more capital." I Murmur. "You know anyone from the beta that you sort of trust?" 

"I've got a few in mind... we'd need to build up a raiding party for the vault anyways. Tomorrow I'll start looking around and trying to make contact with some people from the beta. You fine with this becoming a meeting room of some sort?" 

"Yeah, that's fine. I'm already turning it into a safe-zone that nothing can get in easily. But be careful, I'm almost positive that there will be a 'police informant' class and it's likely to be at least an uncommon skill." 

She frowns for a moment before slowly nodding. "I'll make sure to check people over." 

"Anyways, how much do I owe ya for this beauty?"  

I think for a moment. "Let's just say two-fifty? I haven't exactly gotten my rates down yet." 

"That's pretty fair." She agrees. "How much per bullet?" 

"Well, I paid double for them... sooooo... Dollar per bullet?" 

"..." 

"Ugh." She sighs. "Fine. Give me Fifty six. But I want a spare empty mag to put them in." 

"Done." 

[Split] 

I sit aside another basic gun as I cross my arms and let out a low sigh. 

I've been living in this sewer for about... five days. I've basically run out of materials to make guns, but I've been doing that one ratch quest over and over. 

It's seemingly a once-per-day sort of thing. 

It's actually a very valuable source of money since I'm not splitting it with Argo now. 

I've gathered seven hundred dollars and a bunch of experience. 

Enough, in fact, to level up again. 

Numerous guns sit around the room, the battery powered angle grinder rests on the bench, my remaining pipes and sheet metal rest along the wall. 

I'm at a bit of an impasse. 

I've got too many guns. 

Too many to carry around by myself, at least. 

I have a few 'personal' guns sitting in my echo device, but I've only got five slots. 

You see, in this game, your 'inventory' is your echo device, but it's quite limited. 

You can buy expansions, sure, but they're expensive and at a certain point you should just buy an Echo-Three instead of upgrades to our Echo-Ones. 

Echo 1 Storage: 

Currency: 1020 Dollars 

5/5 Slots Weight Limit 27/50 Lbs 
Slot 1: Tediore Brand! SMG Rounds on a Budget! X408 {2.3 LBS} 
A low caliber bullet designed to fit snugly within Tediore SMGs 

Slot 2: Tediore Brand! Pistol Bullets on a Budget! X1398 (5.9 Lbs) 
Arguably the weakest bullet on the market. Small, compact, lightweight, and most importantly cheap! 

Slot 3: Rifled Pocket Shotty {Weapon} {Unaffiliated} {Common} {2.7 Lbs) 
A basic four-shot pistol crafted by an amateur weaponsmith. It's more a shotgun than a pistol but at least the barrels are rifled. Uses 'Tediore Brand Pistol Bullets' as ammunition. 

Slot 4: Breach Loaded Rifle {Weapon} {Unaffiliated} {Common} (8.4 Lbs) 
A one shot rifle that is fairly accurate, crafted by an amateur weaponsmith. Uses 'Tediore Brand SMG Rounds' as ammunition. 

Slot 5: Semi-Automatic Looty SMG {Weapon} {Unaffiliated} {Common} (7.7 Lbs) 
A more refined weapon made to conserve ammunition, crafted by an amateur weaponsmith. Uses 'Tediore Brand SMG Rounds' as ammunition. 

My highest damage weapon would be the breach loaded rifle. The barrel's longer and I even gave it some basic sights. 

And, as it turns out, breach loading weapons are actually pretty easy to make. I've even managed to make a few 'common' rarity ones even without my action skill active. They just don't have any rifling on them. And that's relatively fine for the pistols, I guess. 

I couldn't manage another four-shot without the system's help, but I did manage to make a bunch of two-shot pistols. Sort of like oversized derringers. 

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock* 

"Oi." A voice calls through the door. "Vergil. It's me... and a guest." 

I stand up, making my way over to the door. I slide open the thick metal sliding bolt with a small grunt of exertion then pull the door open. 

Standing there is Argo and someone I hadn't seen before. 

My eyes stray upwards. 

Diavel: {Level 1} 

"Ooooh! Diavel! Been a while." I smirk. 

"Vergil?" He mutters. "You're... young..." 

I roll my eyes. "And you have blue hair in real life apparently. Did you dye it or something?" 

He scratches the back of his head. "It... was a dare." 

His eyes stray past me, widening at the assorted guns scattered around the room. "What is this?" 

I step aside and let them both through. The door slowly creaks closed behind them as I re-lock it. 

"This is our 'safe room'." Argo begins, brushing aside a few of the guns on the metal bench and sitting down. "Basically this is our base of operations. Vergil and I are working to clear the game. Right now we're on step three but sort of kind of starting on step four." 

Step one. Meet up. Step two. Get guns. Step three find the npc known as Gaige. Step Four is gathering players to take down the vault. 

"Anyways, V, the testers I knew and reached out to are all in other cities. Even Diavel here was a bit of a pain to track down and he was only on the other side of town." 

I make my way to the wall opposite of Argo and slowly slide down it to a seated position. "Any progress on our main goal?" 

"Nope. Haven't seen her." Argo shakes her head. 

"Main goal?" Diavel echoes. 

"We can get to that in a second, we should probably do some basic introductions, mainly classes so we know what we're all working with, right?" 

"I'm Vegril, level three, and I'm currently a 'Trashy Gunsmith' who is... probably the only person in the game who has guns since none of us could afford a gun license day-one. I can make up to common rarity guns currently, but if you want anything better than a two-shot breach pistol you'll need to wait for my action skill to get off cooldown, which is twenty four hours. I can also make bullets- although they are a third weaker than storebought ones." 

"Argo. Second Level. Stalker." 

"S-" I turn. "Stalker? I thought you were a scout?" 

"I was. Turns out following people without being seen for a collective several hours makes you a 'stalker'. I figured stealth might be more useful than the sprint skill, so I took it. It hasn't disappointed me yet. The action skill 'quiet step' is pretty useful as it reduces sound from my movements by twenty-five percent for fifteen seconds with a two-minute cooldown." 

"Well... I am Diavel, first level, and a 'Bouncer'. My action skill is called 'Strong Right' which allows me to throw a powerful punch dealing fifty percent more damage. It has a cooldown of sixty seconds." 

"Bouncer, huh?" I echo. "That your original class?" 

"No. I originally had the 'Office Worker' job." He sighs. 

"Wait... what sort of skill does that even have?!" I huff in amusement. 

"'Caffeinate', which basically- *Sigh* you could probably guess. It just made whoever used it temporarily less tired for about ten minutes. But it had a cooldown of twelve hours. You can see why I ditched that in exchange for the class that has an attacking action skill and minor health buff and melee damage skills." 

He turns to Argo. "Your plan, Argo?" 

"V here, in the beta, heard some girl- one who doesn't follow the appearance of a standard background character' say that they're going to be a 'Vault Hunter'. So. It's our best guess that if we can find this girl... we start a quest to find this planet's vault." 

"Which is why we need to start building a crew." I announce. "A raid party. It's flat out suicide to go out and fight whatever the hell Kayaba put in that Vault with just three people and an NPC." 

"I've told the people I trust to look out for her. They'll send a message if they see her then we can all convene on their position. That makes this our temporary base of operations." 

"I see." Diavel frowns, cupping his chin before nodding along. "Yeah. I can help out I suppose. Can I have a gun?" 

"These things cost quite a lot to make." I point out. "And for the record, I had to bribe the man at the gunstore to even let me buy ammunition for these things, so if you want to buy 'store ammo' from me, I'll need to upcharge you slightly just to counteract that. But keep in mind. These weapons are HIGHLY illegal. If you get arrested because you were holding it in front of a cop, we're not busting you out of prison. Keep it in your echo device until you need it." 

"I'm looking for a good pistol. One I can use in one hand so I can still freely use my action skill." 

"Done. I've got two-shot pistols with no rifling and a four-shot pistol with no rifling. The accuracy's abysmal, but they function sort of like a sawed-off shotgun. The two shot's obviously a lot cheaper than the four shot. Or... if you want to pay a little more, I can give you the one I made for myself. The one with rifled barrels which has better accuracy and does more damage." 

"That last one sounds useful. How much?" He asks. 

"Hn... well, my price on the two-shots are forty. The non-rifled four-shot is one hundred and my rifled four-shot is two hundred. That sound fair to you?" 

"How much for the bullets?" 

"Four to the dollar if you want storebought. Ten to the dollar if you want my shitty self-made ammo that does a third less damage." 

He seems to think it over for a moment before letting out a low 'tsk'. "Alright. I get paid for doing work as a bouncer. I was saving up for a license, but I can afford to take a little hit. Here's two hundred for the rifled barrel and two hundred storebought bullets.  

I digistruct the pocket-shotty from my echo device and hand it over as he produces a roll of cash.. 

He lets out a low whistle at the stats. "Alright. This was worth it." 

He points it at the nearby wall as I begin counting out the bullets, his finger hovers just off the trigger. Four red lines shoot from the barrels and glow on the wall, there's only a small spread between them at this short distance, you could barely fit a penny between them.  

"What's the damage?" Argo asks.  

"Eighteen per bullet." I answer causing her to let out an appreciating hum. 

"Not bad. Seventy two if all four hit, almost one-fifty if you get a headshot. That'll flat out kill any level one shield-less enemy around here. Even the body-shot almost kills them." 

With Diavel's purchase it's safe to say I've completely recovered my losses from day-one. 

Now I have about ten more pistols, an excess of a few thousand bullets- and counting as I make more- and two extra levels. 

I just need a little more time and I'll get a license.  

"Hey, Argo... those beta players you're in contact with, you want to advertise my services?" 

"Is that your big favor?" She asks slowly. 

"I'll give you two free mags of SMG?" 

"Sixteen dollars. Really?" She gives me a half-lidded stare. "make it five." 

"Alright. Five mags to see if you can bribe any of your contacts to take a trip to Tarreltown." 

"This'll probably slow our search for this 'Gaige' girl, I hope you know." Argo pulls out her echo device and begins tapping away. 

"Why... would it? Just look for schools." I mutter. 

Argo looks up. "Hah?" 

"She was like... school age. Said she was getting bullied. Bullying happens at schools." The blonde blinks twice only to suddenly facepalm and let out a muffled scream. 

Her shoulders slump slightly as Diavel slowly looks between us cautiously. 

"I'm a fucking moron." Argo sighs. "Thank you, V. for the completely random and very helpful observation- thatishouldhavefuckingthoughtof- I'll try not to go drown myself in the nearest river." 

"Technically there's a river of shit outside." I point out. 

"V. I will hit you. Don't test me right now." The blonde groans causing my smile to grow.