Encounters

by A O Storm

  Mixed feelings set in as he walked back to the common room and took a seat at the bar, admiring the rows upon rows of bottled spirits. After teaching snowboarding, his priorities had been to buy a house and start a business. By obtaining the inn from Bob, he had fulfilled two of his life's goals in a single shot.

  Feeling thirsty, he walked behind the bar and found a bottle that was clearly water. He surmised Bob sometimes might want to water down the drinks, just like a bartender on Earth, and maximize the profit per bottle. Increasing margins was a concept Kano was familiar with, as sometimes the ski and snowboard instructors would be purposefully overbooked because there were always cancelations. Due to their no refund clause, it was a clever way for the resort to sell lessons without delivering them. Idle business thoughts continued to swirl inside Kano’s head as he grabbed the bottle and poured himself a glass. He gave a silent salute to Bob.

  Injuries still bothering him, Kano remembered he had ignored the notification earlier that appeared after slaying the druid and his evil followers. "Those guys must have been worth some serious points," he thought, bringing up the screen to examine his stats. Maybe there was a quest associated with ridding the town of the evil druid, too, Kano thought, smiling to himself as he read the display. He had leveled up, and, he could start allocated his next batch of ten attribute points.

  Character name:

  Kano

  Profession:

  (Blank)

  Class:

  (Blank)

  Level:

  4

  Experience Points:

  5,2500

  Next Level:

  7,000

  Energy Points (Max):

  40 (50)

  Health Points (Max):

  65 (90)

  Before he could start deciding what attributes to increase, a banging sound came from the front door. "Open up," a woman’s voice sounded, while Kano was drinking his water and absorbed in his character sheet. He was considering trying one of the many interesting brews behind the bar after spending his points when the sound of a fist continuing to bang on the door interrupted his musings. Taking a slow sip from his glass, he decided to ignore the incessant knocking and figure out how he wanted to allocate his attribute points.

  However, Kano had not yet been able to decide on how he wanted to upgrade when a moment later, the woman kept banging on the door. She was clearly not going away. The front door started shaking from the woman’s fists as she started pounding the White Rabbit’s entrance harder still.

  "Bob, you son of a bitch, you've gone too far this time!"

  Kano nodded, agreeing with her sentiment. Bob had gone way too far. He was unsure if the onboarding with the evil druid was due to his victory in the arena or if every player got such a difficult situation to start. What Kano did know was that he had a place to sleep, plenty to drink, and once he figured out the pantry, kitchen and other details, food to eat. It was a great start in his mind. As he took another sip of water, the banging continued, and he realized that there was only one way to deal with the intruder.

  He got up slowly from his seat and crossed the empty common room to answer the door. Behaving like it's mine, Kano chuckled, realizing that, while it sounded nice, he still had no idea how to make it legally official in this world. "What's that saying, possession is nine-tenths of the law?" He grinned, fingering the keys in his pocket before opening the door. He did have possession, and of more than just the keys. That special bag and the money he'd acquired from Bob's acolytes he was going to keep, even if he could not keep the inn. He figured the woman might be able to help him figure out the inn situation if she was a resident of the village.

  "I've heard about what you were going to do, you and those idiot friends of yours. Why exactly you think sacrifice is required to bring you more business, I don't know." Her voice paused as she banged on the door even louder. "Especially when the person you sacrificed was a resident of the village!" She was shouting and banging on the door louder, clearly unhappy with Bob's preferred method of religious observance. "Why would anybody come here if they knew the owner was likely to take them out back and stab them to death, you idiot?"

  "I like this woman already," Kano said, finally reaching the front door and pulling it open. "Welcome, madam, to the White Rabbit," he said, sweeping a small bow. The name he liked and decided to keep, once he truly owned the inn.

  "Where is Bob?" she asked, sweeping by Kano without a glance in his direction. He looked out into the street and saw nobody else, so quickly shut the door then proceeded to lock it tight.

  "What about Bob?" Kano replied, arching a brow. He took a moment to assess the woman who had stridden so boldly, waiting for her to get the movie reference. She's from the game, then, he thought to himself, since she showed no reaction to his question. What a hilarious movie, definitely one of Murray’s classic roles, he thought, smiling fondly at the memory.

  Focusing on his guest, he walked with her to the bar counter. "Let's have a seat at the bar," he said. She was tall, standing nearly his height, with long blonde hair loose down past her shoulders and a pink dress. The color made Kano believe either they had wonderfully sophisticated dyes for this kind of society, or that the game developers had simply wanted to take advantage of modern graphics and make the outfits available in more colors. Clever, Kano thought, admiring the woman. Whoever made this, it's really something.

  "Excuse me, where is Bob?" She whirled, hearing Kano speaking under his breath. He hadn’t realized the last part he spoke out loud.

  "Bob's-... busy. Resting," Kano said, looking into her pale green eyes. He was captivated immediately, somehow certain that this was the woman who had been watching in the arena. "I'd be delighted to lend a hand, if I could." He stuck out his hand. "Kano."

  She looked down at his proffered hand and then looked up to his face, confusion written across her features. "Do you realize," she said, horrified, "that your clothing has blood stains all over it?"

  Kano smiled and tried to think of something to explain the partially dried crimson stains all over his clothes. "Ah, I was out back, preparing some chicken for dinner."

  "Really?" She arched a brow and then gave a small laugh. "Somehow, I don't think it was chicken."

  "You're right, it wasn't a chicken. But if you want answers," he said, pointing to the bar, "I'm going to pour myself a drink, if it's alright with you." Kano gave a self-deprecating smile. "You wouldn't believe how many rats I've had to deal with today."

  "Rats, too?" She sat, smiling as he randomly grabbed a bottle from the closest shelf. Kano then set two glasses down and filled both half ways. The dark, amber-colored liquid filled the frosted glasses, their shapes mismatched.

  "I'm Abnoba," she said, her smile widening. Abnoba paused, waiting for Kano to say something and he just nodded slowly.

  “Kano,” he said, gesturing to her to pick up a glass as he grabbed one. “Nice to meet you.”

  She cocked her head to the side. "You haven't heard of me?"

  "Let's have a drink, Abnoba, and you can share your story, if you like."

  "Sure," she said, giving a small laugh. "After that, you’ll tell me about Bob." Kano frowned, unsure how she would take Bob's disappearance once he shared the truth. She lifted her glass and clinked Kano's. "Then, we'll see." Her voice took on a menacing tone and Kano's eyes widened in surprise. "Tell me truly, though. If you lie, I'll know."

  Kano nodded; trying to shake off the feeling of dread her rhyming words gave him. "To the truth, then," he said, knocking back half the glass in one shot. His throat was on fire and he set the glass down, nearly choking. The harsh liquor burned his throat all the way to his stomach where it warmed his midsection. "That's some strong shit," he coughed, grabbing his water glass from earlier and taking a long drink to clear his throat.

  "Only if you're not used to it," Abnoba said, giving Kano a significant look as she set her glass down. Her cheeks were flushed, but she hadn't sputtered like Kano. "Then again, I
'm immortal." She smiled, picking up the glass and polishing the contents off in another shot. She set it down and said, "We could do this all day. Liquor has no effect on my kind," she laughed. "Though I don't think you'll be much use to yourself, or anyone else, if you end up passed out on the floor."

  "Right, well," Kano said, immediately lifting the glass and draining it, copying the woman's gesture. "I’m supposed to just accept that you’re what, a goddess?"

  "Pull up my character sheet, if you really want. It's probably the fastest way to get this over with, and I don’t like my time wasted."

  Kano had a hard time believing her, but he did as she suggested. What he saw left him shocked. She wasn't kidding, he thought. The menu came up as soon as he finished the thought, and right where character class would be was something else entirely.

  Name:

  Abnoba

  Level:

  ???

  Class:

  Divine Avatar

  Energy Points (Max)

  ???

  Health Points (Max):

  ???

  Mana points (Max):

  ???

  Skills:

  ???

  "Shit," he muttered. Unless the developers are messing around, she’s not kidding about being a deity!

  "I could kill you if I wished," Abnoba said, smiling at him. "Just take a deep breath and tell me what happened. If I really wanted to, I'd have already done it. You realize that, right?"

  "Right."

  Drawing a deep breath, Kano then took another sip of water and told her the story. He didn't leave anything out, even mentioning that he'd stripped the men of their valuables and that their murders should be reported to whatever local government authority. He believed it was self-defense in the end and expressed since Bob was unlikely to have family alive, the property should now rightfully be his. Also, with the dead man's belief in human sacrifice and penis eating, Kano had a hard time believing anybody would miss him now that he was gone.

  In his head, Kano regretted including some of the details and hoped to himself the druidic goddess didn’t feel offended and didn’t decide to end his life on a whim. Even if he wouldn’t remember it, Kano didn’t want to die. Again.

  "After that, I came back here and started trying to learn more about the place," Kano said, patting the bar. "I've always liked the idea of being in business for myself."

  Abnoba appeared lost in thought until Kano stopped talking and the silence between them grew. Kano, unsure how the goddess might react, simply waited. Eventually, she nodded to herself, slowly.

  "Kano, you sound skeptical whenever you mention the druid or his faith, yet, I'm right here."

  "Sorry, Abnoba, I don't mean to be disrespectful, but if your sacred text includes human sacrifice, you can count me out."

  "What if it didn't, Kano? What if I told you Bob had lost his way with me years ago?"

  "Well," he said, shrugging, "I hadn't really thought about a character class, and when I reviewed the options, druid wasn't among them. So what would be the point of me telling you how I think religion should work?"

  "Humor me," she said, smiling. "You did kill my head druid, after all."

  Twelve - Life Choices

  "Well," Kano said, having never really thought about it, "I guess if the religion's core idea was to empower people, maybe, to be the best version of themselves, that could be interesting. Perhaps dedicated to helping others. Strive for balance between humans and nature," he said, thinking about the worsening pollution issues in the real world. "Ensure that all life forms have a chance at survival, I think, so long as humans maintain their place at the top."

  "Do you really think you're at the top, Kano?"

  "On Earth, we've beaten nature so badly it's suffering. Only now some people are realizing that humans don't exist outside of nature, we're a part of it. Without air, without animals, without resources, we can't survive."

  "Okay."

  "What do you mean, okay?"

  Abnoba smiled at him. "Do you remember me in the arena?"

  "I thought that was you!" Kano snapped his fingers, glad that his suspicion was correct.

  "The ones you saw, that you perhaps thought were nobles, were in fact the gods of this realm. When you started to pay attention to me, and think about me, you were given to an area where I possess more influence."

  "As you might have realized, Kano, I didn't really think much of Bob either."

  "Excuse me?"

  She snorted out a laugh, an odd sound from the beautiful woman. Goddess, Kano mentally corrected himself.

  "What kind of goddess do you think would encourage men to kill and eat each other?"

  "A truly sick puppy?" Kano said, blurting out the first thing he thought.

  "No, a truly sick god, that's what," she corrected him. "And was that a dog reference? Were you trying to call me a bitch?" Her voice thundered in the room and there was sudden, immediate darkness.

  "It's just an expression, honest!" Shit, he thought to himself, Americanisms weren't well coded into this thing, perhaps to appeal to a more international audience? Kano shook his head, focusing on trying to speak clearer English.

  She looked at him a moment longer and the room returned to normal brightness. "I believe you," she said, tilting her head to the side. "I see you aren't a normal character." Her eyes narrowed. "You're definitely human, but altered somehow."

  "What are you, Kano?"

  "According to the introduction I received, I'm-, well, I’m a player but, maybe a special one?" He didn’t know if the weird apparition, Morrigan, was also one of the gods of the game world, or if she was something else. Just thinking about her gave him a small headache. From what she said, he could not be a regular character, since he’d been uploaded digitally to the game and had no physical body. However, he thought, that whole drug thing supposedly made me different, I just don’t know in what way. Yet.

  "Maybe you are special," she said, nodding thoughtfully. "I saw you fight, I saw you do what was right despite your personal distaste, and I've heard sincerity in your words." She paused. "What are you going to do if you keep this inn?"

  Kano kept the surprised look from his face. "Well, the first thing I'd need to do is figure out how to run one, maybe hire help?"

  She nodded, and then gestured for him to continue.

  "After that, well, I think I'd like to explore. So far I've only seen a few hundred yards of ground, less than a dozen buildings and still know nothing about this place."

  "Is that all, Kano?"

  "What do you mean?"

  "You seem to have set your sights on a very boring, easy-to-see horizon," she said. "Is that truly the extent of your ambition, in a whole new world, to just...sell watered-down drinks to the adventurers who are living life to the fullest, and sate yourself on second-hand stories of victory?"

  "Listen," Kano paused, licking his lips and pouring them both a second round, "from my perspective, I woke up early this morning and in that time, I've been beaten, stabbed, hamstrung, lied to, and nearly sacrificed." He grabbed the glass and took the shot, the burn less this time as he waited for his stomach to settle before continuing.

  "I've liked games before, sure, but this is my life now," he growled. "Forgive me if I don't have a five-year plan, goddess. I just got here and I still don’t know shit. And besides, running an inn would have made my dad proud."

  "How do you feel about help?"

  "I said I was thinking about hiring somebody, right?"

  "Not that kind of help, Kano. I seem to be in the market for a new high druid."

  "No."

  "Wait a moment, just think about it." She paused, lifting her drink and draining it, just to keep Kano feeling comfortable. "The rules that Bob followed were never the ones I decreed, they were just the sick manifestations of his desires when he grew powerful. Human sacrifice is not something I condone nor would ever want." Abnoba gave Kano a thoughtful look. "I don't know you, either, and know you less than I k
new Bob when he became my druid. Look how well that turned out," she muttered, showing annoyance in her voice.

  "So, how about it?"

  Kano was curious, but his ignorance made him hesitant. When playing RPGs in the past, he had never chosen a cleric or druid, as he had always lacked the point of reference for faith. However, with a goddess sitting down with him and casually knocking back drinks, he could see the appeal.

  "Kano," she said, "I can see you're trying to go through this logically, even after the drinks. Just consider my offer.” She paused. "And, even if you decline, I'll ensure my new druid recognizes your right to own this property and helps smooth over your relationship with the village leader."

  "Really?"

  "Yes," she said, nodding firmly. "As I said, I thought I knew Bob. Turns out, I didn't know him from Tom, Dick or Harry."

  "What?"

  "The other men you slayed? I thought for sure Bob said those were some of their names."

  Kano chuckled, "No, I think Bob was having a go at you. Or trying to be funny."

  "Figures. I never did feel like I got credit from having those extra worshippers. Somehow, my power was capped, despite Bob's efforts and the conversion of the village elders to my faith."

  Interesting, Kano thought, then spoke aloud. "So if I became your druid, I'd need to convert people to your faith or something?"

  "No," Abnoba said. "That's a job for clerics, not druids. I think Bob was lying to me and I was just not paying enough attention. Druids are those that maintain the balance, help nature, or people, as the situation arises. Clerics only focus on people, tending to the flock and growing it." She gave a savage grin. "If culling is needed, that's more a job for a druid than a cleric, as druids have offensive powers that clerics lack."