by Dawn Chapman
Nothing.
Splotch to 22.
There was a dull throb, almost like someone was trying to stop me. Or something was trying to stop me from inside my own damned mind. I tried to shake it, but it was strong.
No, I would do this!
“Systems Menu!” I said with such determination I thought I felt Shin flinch beside me.
The spinning wheel finally stopped turning, solidified and opened. I let out a squee of excitement.
There was a whole new set of things for me to see.
Character name – Lila
Age – 17
OMG. I wish. I was no way near seventeen. But wasn’t I small for that age, even in-game? I pondered it for a moment, then tried to move on. I was here for a reason.
Push notifications in training – ON
Push notifications in combat – ON
I moved over the ON with my mind and focussed on turning the in combat ON to OFF. It flickered in and out a little, then poof. It worked. Maybe this would make things easier. I toyed with clicking the training one off, but then I’d not learn some of what I could do. So that one would stay.
I stopped focusing and flicked it all away.
My splotch was showing a steady 25.
Yikes. Shin handed me another flower. This time it went straight in without a second thought and I chewed and swallowed quickly. The dreaded splotch went back to a 7, the headache easing off. I actually felt more like myself, and thoughts of my sisters flooded my mind once more.
I really hated that ticking time bomb in the corner of my vision.
Shin stood and walked back to the table of weapons. This time he eyed them all while my splotch settled all the more, and then picking a sword up, turned to me.
“Ready for more?”
I had no idea how long we practiced for, or how many learning pings I got, but I was stopped by the door opening and a cool breeze drifting our way.
I heard Gestal and turned to face him, as sweaty and drained as I was.
“Looks like you’re having fun,” he said, motioning me towards him. My body obeyed without me thinking it.
I stood before him. “Not sure about fun, but I’m learning.”
It was the way he looked down at me. I was small, I knew that, but it seemed like he wasn’t happy.
“Everything okay?” I asked.
“I have another mission for you, but it will be much more dangerous.”
My ears heard you’re gonna die. I swallowed.
“I’ll do anything if it keeps the rewards coming and gets me closer to anything you can tell me about this glitch.” I tapped the side of my head. “Or my sisters.”
“Come with me.” He motioned to the door. “Shin, you’re needed out back for a job.”
The way he looked at Shin worried me; it was so dismissive. I saw the flicker of something in Shin’s face—regret, anger. Was that towards Gestal or the job? I made a mental note to ask him. If I came back, that was. Something about this next quest, before I even knew what it was, screamed at me to run.
I paused in taking a step with Gestal towards the door. When he turned and I saw the glint in his eyes, I hurried forwards.
Gestal wasn’t being coy when he flung his coat over his shoulder and almost vanished from sight. I wanted to hurry, but after the last few days I had found my self-worth lagging. And although I wanted to do what was right by him, I felt like I was being torn apart. My need to find my sisters and more, the need to please.
I kept telling myself that I was inside a game, but the more I tried that, the more it wasn’t working. Everything in here had started to feel so real, from the way pain hit you, to the fact that death was the worst thing you could experience, even with the settings dialled down.
Gestal stopped before the end of the corridor and turned to look at me, his black eyes never gave away his emotions, and I wondered what he was thinking. Or more so, what he had planned for me. But he said the words I needed for encouragement. “I have some information about your sisters. Do you want it?”
Torn once more, I stepped forward, my hand resting on the dagger at my side. “You’re not just saying that?”
“No. Come, I have ordered us food and drink. Let us talk and work out our next move.”
The fact he was playing so nice had me on edge. But the internal spells he had worked around me were good. Happiness flooded my system, and I knew he was pulling out all the stops on me. As euphoria spread through my veins, my resolve to do anything against him stopped, and my hand slipped from the dagger to rest at my side. Involuntarily, I stepped forwards.
His office was cold, and I pulled my cloak around me as I sat down. Gestal pulled something out of a drawer and slid it over to me.
It was a tag. I had never seen this given out before and hesitated to pick it up.
“It’s the information on your sisters.”
I reached forward. He was giving this to me without telling me the quest?
Once the tag was in my hand there was a ping, it was a quest in itself.
QUEST – YOUR SISTERS ARE AT HELLS PASS. TO LEARN HOW TO GET THERE YOU MUST KILL MADDIE VIES. WILL YOU ACCEPT?
Y/N
I was confused, but the quest flashed all kinds of shiny in my hands. I looked to Gestal. “Who is this Maddie? And why do you want her dead?”
“She’s been causing me bother. That’s all you need to know. I want her eliminated. Simple.”
Simple. Yeah. To kill someone, I had no clue about. Who could be a hundred or a thousand times stronger than me.
“How much time do I have?” I already knew my ticking clock was going faster than I’d like.
“You can take what you need to do the job right. Tomorrow would be outstanding.”
I had already killed, though I was injured, but I’d done it. I wanted more information. So, I focused on the task, and clicked, Yes.
“Tell me where this Maddie is. The sooner I kill her the better.”
Gestal grinned, his white teeth showing in the weirdest manner. I tried to shrug off how creepy it made me feel. He pulled up a 3D view of the city. “You’ll need to get close to their Guild, get in if you can, work there for a couple of days, I don’t care how. Once you’re inside, you’ll get closer to their leaders. As soon as you get the opportunity to kill her without being detected, do so. We’ll extract you in the chaos.”
I looked at the design of the building. I thought we’d passed it on the way to my last job. I could do it. Pretend to be something I wasn’t and get work, maybe. I’d try anything to get closer to discovering where my sisters were.
Gestal pulled out a cloth purse. It’s rich purple silk and gold drawstring shone in the light. “Here’s your share of the bonus. You can go to the weapons room and pick out what you want, then make your own way to the Travoy’s Guild Hall.”
I reached for the pouch, hearing a ping as I placed it in my back pocket.
BONUS - 100 GOLD COINS
Well, it seemed like a lot of money compared to what I got to spend the last time, so this was a good thing. I remembered some of what I’d looked at, and had to walk away from because it was too expensive. Now I could go back and see if they’d been bought by someone else, or if there was something that would fit better for me. Adrenalin rushed through my veins. Despite the pain, the constant being on edge, there was something about this game that was thrilling.
I pushed myself up, feeling just a little stiff. Gestal went back to whatever else he had to do and I walked out, straight to the weapons room.
I entered it with no supervision, and that added to the thrill of being in there. I was that kid in the candy shop. But this candy was now much more in my price range.
I walked slowly up the first few tables, looking from item to item. They started at the lower end, and most were what I’d seen before. I recalled them with great clarity. This time, I moved to the middle tables; I had better funds and wasn’t needing to toy with what to choose. I knew what I wanted and would
pick them up if I could.
My fingers moved to the daggers at my side. I liked them, and there was no need for me to upgrade them just yet. What I really needed were better ways to buff up the low stats I had, and hopefully avoid detection. If this Guild were as wealthy and popular as their building said they were, then I would be in trouble for stepping inside the place without any buffs or other enhancements. I couldn’t let them know who I really worked for. Right now, they wouldn’t be expecting anything. Especially from a Visitor.
A glinting gem caught my eye. It almost matched the necklace I’d snagged on the last job. The closer I got, the more I realised it did match. I reached out and touched the stone.
MAIDENS LUCK - INCREASE TO SPEED -
DETECTED - MAIDENS HASTE, THE SISTER GEM - DOUBLE THE INCREASE WHEN BOTH ITEMS ARE WORN TOGETHER
PURCHASE FOR 46 GOLD
Y/N
This was great. I picked it up and pinned the brooch to the inside of my shirt collar so no one would see it. I clicked Yes. A ping alerted me to the coins being deducted from the purse. It was an expensive item. Forty-six gold. But it would more than work in my favour.
I scanned the rest of the room, noticing the clothing rack. Yeah, what I had on was okay. But not brilliant. I thought about going over there with better clothes, but that could wait. To appeal to any kitchen or other people for work, I needed to at least look grubby. If I scrubbed up too well, they might not pick me. I turned my head and noticed a pair of boots. That would be a good relief. If I had to work and work hard then my feet would need looking after. I moved to pick them up and get a better look.
GREGOR’S BOOTS - MAKE YOU AS LIGHT AS A FEATHER - TO SNEAK PAST ANY GUARD THESE BOOTS ARE A MUST. NO ONE WILL HEAR YOU. NO SQUEAKY BOARD WILL SOUND
PURCHASE FOR 59 GOLD
Y/N
Damn though, they were a little over budget. Why did everything I liked the look of cost way more than I thought?
I was just about to click No when someone else came into the room, and started mooching about. They wore a black cloak and kept their face hidden, and they also had a purple bag of gold. I could see the string hanging out their back pocket, the pocket itself with a slight bulge.
They noticed me, I was sure, and headed on over. “Are you buying those boots?” a young male voice asked.
I nodded, though I couldn’t see him. “Crap,” he said and looked down to my own footwear. “Would you sell yours?”
I glanced back to my feet, then to the boots I was holding. “If you have ten gold, I’ll take it.” I was just going to ask for what I needed, but that would leave me with an empty coffer and I didn’t like the thought of spending everything I had. Keeping something back would be good. My future needed a little.
His hood shrugged to my chagrin and he reached into his pocket and pulled out the coins. I took them and kicked off my own boots before clicking Yes and then slipped on the new ones. Wow, they were really different. I didn’t know they’d be my size.
But that was it—I’d no other funds now, so that meant perusing the room was over. I wondered what item I might be able to buy after being rewarded for killing this Maddie?
Chapter 7
The new boots made walking so much easier. I hadn’t felt this good stepping outside since I’d arrived here.
“This should tide you over for a few days.” Gestal held out a small backpack. I looked up into his face and saw no emotion. Sending out his new prodigy to do the deeds she’d been taken in for. Yeah, he must have felt something, but it wasn’t evident.
GIFT ACCEPTED - LIGHT BAG OF HOLDING
ITEMS GIFTED
REFILLING WATER BOTTLE – FROM THE HALLSK MOUNTAINS
FOUR SNACK BAKES
ONE CHANGE OF CLOTHES
“Thanks,” I said.
“No need to thank me,” he growled. “Just do the job.”
Keld opened the door open behind me and I left them both standing there watching. I slipped through without looking back. I didn’t need to see how he looked at me. I already knew. I wasn’t a friend to him; I was a means to an end. This job was one I’d complete or die doing so and forever be punished. Being free around his home, I’d seen his pits, his jails, and his torture cells. Fascinated and terrified, at my tender age of thirteen I’d seen it all now. My mind scarred, I would never forget.
I didn’t head straight for their Guild Hall. One of the maids at breakfast had been chatting about the local market and after my experience with it on arriving, I needed to check it out again. The locals would have more information than I could ever get elsewhere.
The smells drifting across the city blocks were interesting. Though I’d already eaten, my mouth watered at the many varieties of sweet and meaty sensations assaulting my nostrils. I thought I smelled fresh bread, meats, and then got a whiff of something I never thought I’d smell in the game. Cookies?
Were there really cakes and sweets out here? The weeks inside had been spent training, eating for protein to build muscle and high-calorie intake for energy. But there’d been no sweet products. What would I do now for some chocolate cookies? My feet drifted towards the smell without me even considering it might be a trap. Spells and the likes around the market were forbidden, but I had turned away from their stalls now, distracted for sure.
When I blinked, I was looking directly at the cookie stand of my dreams. Displayed before me were several large trays stacked with delicious looking and smelling varieties, chocolate chip, white and nut, rainbow, and lots of others that I’d no idea of what flavours they were. It was all so amazing.
“How much?” I finally tore my eyes away from the treats to look at the person—no, persons—behind the counter.
The two scrawny creatures looked at me and the one on the right just hissed. “She sees usss.”
Snake-like, lizards? I’d no clue what they were. But when I looked back down at the cookies I saw not freshly baked goods, but rotten and mouldy horrors. I took a step back, my hand on my dagger. Then I saw the oozing aura of the spell they were weaving.
A hand on my shoulder almost made me spin and stab the person it belonged to, but a female voice whispered into my ear. “Don’t move.”
I froze. Did she have a weapon at my back? Was I going to be robbed, or worse? Sold into some other kind of slavery?
I swallowed and waited for something to happen. It did, three people stepped out from nowhere and surrounded the cookie stand. They wore cloaks of the same blue and gold material and were heavily warded.
I tried to see who they were, but all that flashed on my screen was Error, Error.
It annoyed the hell out of me, and I wanted to not only slam my head into a wall to try and fix it, but to run away. These guys were powerful—that much was obvious.
Magical energy sparked, and I witnessed the full explosive demise of the two creatures before me. It took mere seconds. Nothing longer. They tried to fight it, they didn’t win.
The cookie stand flickered back to its stunning and attractive-smelling self, then to the mouldy shack. I noticed lots of meaty bones behind the sellers, and they didn’t look like they came from an animal. I looked away. Yep, they were human. The sellers’ ruse was to lure people in and then hack them up to sell them? My stomach churned. Would I have been dinner?
The two creatures panicked as the magic pulled their illusions apart. Other people had been attracted to the smell, and all around me people were coming out of trances. There were others in blue robes without the gold stitching that came and moved them away from the scene. I stayed glued to what was going on around me. The woman behind me moved fast. I saw her long dark, yet, split with white hair flash past me. Unusual? Caused by magic?
Fast and strong, she yanked open the cart’s door and pulled the creatures outside, one in each hand.
I heard her say something to the creatures before flinging them past me. When I turned to see where they were headed, I noticed guards surrounding the area.
“They shouldn’t cause
you any more bother,” the woman said to them.
Then as quick as it had all happened the others started to move away. The cart was wheeled away with the help of two large ebolos, and I was the only one left standing in the street.
I quickly checked myself over. I was fine. Nothing was taken, nothing out of place. But I was shell-shocked. I needed better ways to protect myself against magical entrapments.
Slowly, I made my way back to the market. I still had a job to do after all.
There were no other enticing smells, but the market was busy, and I made my way around it, keeping my bag close to me and a hand on my dagger. I noticed one or two of the guards still milling about, and the blue-cloaked people. They were shopping at the market just like everyone else. Or maybe that was their disguise. They were amongst those they were trying to protect by making themselves look innocent, but were they actually some kind of enforcement? I stood near a stall and was looking over the items on display.
“May I help you, Miss?” the dwarf behind the table asked.
I looked at him and noted his smile. Genuine. “I’m new. I just wondered why there were so many guards and mages around here?”
The dwarf glanced to where I was staring at a blue cloak with her hood down. Fiery red hair glistened in the sun.
“The market attracts many wrongdoers this time of year, they bring many terrible ways to lure people away.”
“Yeah, I just saw that.”
“Were you interested in any of my wares?” he asked again.
I glanced down at the table. Lots of different metal items, handmade, crafted with great care. “They’re beautiful pieces, but I think I need something for magical protection, do you have anything that can help me?”
He looked over the table. “Not on display, but I do have something that might fit what you’re looking for. I don’t usually sell to outsiders though. What’s your budget?”