Encounters
Page 19
The only conclusion he could arrive at was the mine was more valuable than he originally expected. Frowning, he did not know if he could renegotiate the deal for reopening the mine with the mayor, but he thought it was worth a shot. Especially since there seemed to be other adventurers who’d tried and failed. Grinning to himself, Kano felt an optimism the little mine adventure would work out better than expected.
The massive lizard laid its head down, seeming to submit to Kano's recommendation. "You ready?"
The lizard looked back at him, gave a final, stomach curdling growl and then lay still, closing its eyes. Kano walked closer, not sure the thing had understood him. The closer he got, the louder the sound of its breathing became, the rumble echoing. He was sweating again and thought about setting the torch down, but he knew if he turned his back, the beast might decide to have one last meal, Kano flavor.
Growing closer still Kano stepped almost within striking distance for his sword when the creature swung its head slowly toward him and snapped.
The jaws closed faster than he expected for something so large.
He'd seen it move and jumped backwards, using his improved Dodge skill, ensuring the drake could not get a piece of him.
He walked back to the narrow passage near the bend in the tunnel and used the sword to dig a spot to plant the torch. Once it was secured, he held the sword in a two-handed grip, rolling his shoulders to loosen the tension.
Ready, he nodded to himself.
Kano started to walk closer, leery the drake might move or snap. Stepping carefully, he bent his knees, shuffling closer and closer until he was again in reach. The beast's head did not move and he wasted no time. One more step, he cocked back the sword and stabbed with both hands between the broken and bloody foreleg. Kano had no idea how animal anatomy worked so he assumed if he stabbed close enough to the heart the drake would perish. If not right away, the extra bleeding would finish off the creature soon enough.
Kano drove the sword deep into the drake, sinking the blade halfway to the crossguard. The drake gave a final throat rattle and went still. Watching the beast’s head drop and breathing stop he felt a wave of grief. Kano wondered if this feeling was related to his choosing the character class of druid. Holding back his urge to break into tears, he pulled his sword free and then wiped it down before placing it back into the sheath. He looked around the room breathing deeply and tried to put the drake’s death out of his mind.
To occupy his mind, he wandered over to the skeletons, curious if they had anything valuable on them when they passed.
Nineteen - Egg Benedict
"Grave robbing," he muttered as he searched the floor and found some brittle leather packs. "I mean, technically, these guys weren't even buried and what am I doing? Searching for loot."
He shook his head as he searched. There was a book somebody told him about, he forgot the name, which spoke about people in the middle ages who only had the shirts on their backs. After they died, if the shirt was still usable, the landowner or local lord literally wanted the cloth from the peasant’s back, as resources were so scarce. Considering this as he searched made him feel better. "Besides, if I do find anything, it's not like these guys can use it anymore."
Material for starting a fire, he found, along with some slightly better canvas bags, one in each pack. "They were probably expecting to carry out some loot themselves," he chuckled. "Might as well use them."
Item
Description:
Iron flint and quartz rock
Quality:
Average
Attributes:
Bang together to make sparks
Item
Description:
Canvas bags, 2
Quality:
Average
Attributes:
Carries up to twenty pounds of items
Item
Description:
Cloth scraps
Quality:
Average
Attributes:
Useful for bandaging a wound or cleaning a spill
Item
Description:
Large Copper Ducats, 6
Quality:
Average
Attributes:
Money makes the world go round
Inside one of the two sacks, he put the flint, quartz and the coins he found, as well the cloth. Then he folded it up and stuffed the extra sack inside the new one he picked up and placed the bag into his magic one, ensuring that he wasn’t too encumbered. A little disappointed, he looked around the room one last time and then noticed an egg.
Item
Description:
Large Egg
Quality:
Unknown
Attributes:
Unknown
Almost two feet across, the thing looked like it might weigh a hundred pounds.
However, Kano immediately knew he needed to carry it away. Thinking about the dead lizard, he wondered if he could somehow train the thing, maybe bond with it. Grinning, he pictured himself riding on the back of a huge, dragon like lizard, terrifying any and all who dared to oppose him. Kano, the innkeeper, mine liberator and dragon rider.
He moved closer and inspected the egg to see if it was still whole and intact. "Might also explain what the drake was doing in here," Kano said to himself. "She was pregnant." Satisfied the egg was in good condition, Kano tried to lift it experimentally. Carefully, he picked it off the ground and was surprised it felt as heavy as it looked.
Kano’s strength made lifting the egg easy enough, but with both hands full he could not carry a torch. He left the torches behind buried near the entrance to the large chamber. Kano carried the egg until it got too dark and then set it down gently, returning quickly back to pick up the torches. He buried one torch next to the egg, so he could easily find it again, and walked back out the tunnel until he could barely see the first torch and planted the second. Then he walked back, grabbed the egg, and walked it to the torch closer to the exit. He repeated the process a few times, planting the torch, carefully setting the egg down and then replanting the torch closer to the entrance once more. He tried to briefly rig a way to hold a torch in his belt but gave up on the idea when he almost caught his shirt on fire.
By the time he finally reached the entrance to the cave it was later in the day than he'd expected. The sun was going down in the west and the shadows were stretching through the forest. He knew that it would be a slower walk back to the village with the egg he was carrying. Still, the warm feeling he got when carrying it told him he was doing the right thing. I might be too late for the time I told Thomas, Kano thought, but I’m sure he’ll be surprised when he sees what I brought with me!
Stretching, he prepared for the longer walk back toward the village. The shadows made seeing through the forest more difficult, causing Kano to feel a bit anxious. Carrying the egg, he had both hands occupied. After walking a few hundred yards, he paused, setting the egg down again, and relieved himself near a tree. The woods were quiet around him.
He was just tucking in his shirt when he heard a sound.
"Rawr," a tiny, reptilian sound came from the egg, along with a crack like something breaking.
Crossing the space from where he watered the plants to the egg, Kano knelt down and focused on it. He noticed that the pale green and cream-colored shell was mottled, a gradient that looked in sync with the colors of the forest. "No wonder it was feeling so warm," Kano said to himself, watching with a mixture of curiosity and anticipation. “You were just about to hatch.”
Thinking about how large the mother drake had been, his first thought was a steed, mounted with a custom saddle. Also he wondered what kind of diet the thing had, other than people, which he clearly couldn't feed it. The shell started to shiver and break, a crack spreading at the top, and then expanding as the baby drake within tried to push through.
A branch broke in the distance and Kano looked up, ignoring the egg and scanning the trees. Something with
in him lit up with a feeling of danger and he knew in his gut the sound was made by something living.
"Who's there?" Kano called out but no answer came.
He had an urge to draw his sword and a wave of panicked fear washed over Kano. The lack of food, the long walk and the late afternoon hour weighed down his thoughts and reflexes. He checked his character sheet and noticed a new section called Complications, which listed mild dehydration and fatigue that had a temporary modifier to his stats.
Character name:
Kano
Profession:
(Blank)
Class:
Druid
Level:
4
Experience Points:
6,100
Next Level:
7,000
Energy Points (Max)
40 (50)
Health Points (Max):
80 (90)
Complications:
Fatigue, dehydration
-10 energy
-10 health
"Great," he muttered, dismissing the screen. "Just like in real life, if you haven't eaten for a half day, you feel like crap, and after a half day of work, you're tired out. Maybe hunger causes paranoia in this game." Frowning, he reminded himself for the hundredth time to pack food. In old school RPG’s he’d played, not once did he feel empathy for starving one of his characters, as the impact sometimes was negligible.
“At least clearing the mine got me to the next level,” he said, quickly allocating the next ten attribute points to his mental skills, as those were still far behind his physical attributes. He took a quick look at the new stats before dismissing the screen. “Progressing nicely,” he said, smiling despite the hunger and Complications.
The cracking sound of shell breaking made him reconsider walking further and he felt a sudden paternal instinct. "You'll be my ride," he whispered. "Together, we'll be like Battle-Cat and He-Man," he finished, imagining how badass he’d be riding a massive drake into battle.
From the corner of his eye, Kano caught a small movement. When he turned to the trees where it came from, nothing shifted, but he could feel something out there. Kano could tell one shadow was out of place with the rest of the trees. Loosening his sword, he heard the shell cracking even more and ignored it, focusing instead on the out of place shadow.
"You stand out like a sore thumb. You know that, right?" Kano could not help the bravado that entered his voice, with the sharp, breaking sounds in the background. The lasher was clearly about to burst forth from its shell and Kano wanted to be there for it. Maybe it was his new senses as a druid or maybe something else but he believed he could feel the creature inside the shell wanting to communicate with him.
The sound of a dried leaf crunching nearby erupted into his ears. It seemed very close and he turned a complete circle, seeing nothing moving. Even so, he knew they were not alone in the woods.
Kano held his sword and assumed a fighting stance, waiting for whatever or whomever it was to reveal itself.
"Okay, okay," a deep voice called from behind the tree where Kano had heard the sound and earlier thought a shadow out of place. "Sorry, I didn't expect you to be so jumpy."
Keeping the surprise from his face was difficult, and Kano quickly grew suspicious. "What are you doing here? And who are you?"
Carl Deeter stepped out into the open. The former MMA fighter looked the same as he had years before, when he’d shot a defenseless kitten down from a tree. Bald, tall and athletic, his digital avatar was a clone of his real life form. Kano did not know the man, but seeing his cruel expression and bulging muscles, there was no chance the man was there to sell him pastries for the breakfast rush at the White Rabbit. Due to the events Kano had experienced so far in this world, he was extra paranoid.
"I'm Carl," the man said smoothly, raising his hands. "As I understand it, you just arrived in New Lands Online today, correct?" Wearing a plain pair of black trousers, brown leather boots and a plain shirt, the man did not seem to be armed. Kano relaxed, thinking he had the upper hand, armed as he was. He narrowed his eyes, wondering how the man knew, even approximately, when he’d arrived.
“Yesterday,” Kano said, even more suspicious. “I don’t know you, Carl.”
Carl walked a few steps closer and kept his hands raised, gradually folding them onto the back of his head, lacing his fingers. "I know this is weird, Kano."
"How do you know my name? Who are you?"
"Carl Deeter," he said, smiling. "Did you ever watch MMA?"
Kano shook his head and the man smiled a bit wider.
"Never mind then," he said, looking at the egg briefly, then stepping closer. The drake had paused in the struggle to break free and the egg was no longer cracking.
"Listen, I work for Platnam, Inc.," Carl said. "My boss is Harry Smith, you heard of him?"
"The billionaire?" Kano did recognize the name, even though he could not recall any particular details.
"Exactly." Carl seemed to relax after Kano started listening and moved to put his hands to his sides.
"Easy," Kano said, sword flicking upwards, toward the man's face.
"Look, I'm not here to hurt you. In fact, I want to help." Carl said. "The thing is, Harry's dead, but the most important project he was working on at Platnam is still ongoing," Carl said, his eyes squinting. "When you were injected with our drug trial, well, it caused a lot of problems."
"What do you mean?"
"The in-game onboarding should have said something, or maybe it’s listed in your character sheet. Didn't you look at that yet?"
"Sure, but, you know," Kano said, shrugging, still keeping his sword trained on the other man, "I wake up in a weird game world so I’m a little on edge. You might be too after the two days I’ve had."
The egg shifted, just as another cracking sound split the air, as if giving weight to Kano's words. The baby lasher was not completely free, yet, but Kano knew it was only a matter of time. He thought again of his new Battle-Cat and decided to be nicer to the strange man.
"What's this about a drug trial?"
"The reason you woke up from the coma." Carl said, "Your brain activity was nearly zero. You were catatonic." He spread his hands, more comfortable and confident with Kano listening, not rushing him with the sword. "There was a nurse who mixed up a few things and then you recovered. Now, here we are."
"Why did my house blow up?"
Carl shrugged. "I don't know," he lied smoothly, giving the younger man a shrug. "I do know the integration method with the game systems and real life was only recently perfected, not too long after you, well, your body was too far gone to save." He paused. "The system integrated you perfectly. However, we have not been able to replicate the specific properties of the medication you received when it was mistakenly injected into you. We needed you, well, the researchers needed you to integrate into New Lands Online before one of us could talk with you. I thought it was bullshit, but it’s not my job to question.”
"Doesn't sound like my problem," Kano said, keeping his sword pointed toward the other man, even though he wanted to relax and put it away. Carl wasn't threatening him, but his arrival was exceptionally strange. Not to mention creepy so Kano indulged his paranoia a while longer.
"I know it's not your problem, but," Carl paused, shrugging again, "it is my boss's problem. That makes it mine. We have a few ideas on how to fix things but we wanted to make sure the solution would work for you as well."
Kano was not exactly buying the whole "I don't know why your house blew up" line, but he did not see many good options. He could attack the man, but he wasn’t sure he would win and then, if he didn’t kill him, he would need to at least tie him up to interrogate until he got the egg safely to the village, but that seemed silly. The egg was hatching now, or had started to, and Kano could sense trying to lift the egg again would only accelerate the baby lasher’s entrance into the world.
"What do you mean, solution?" Carl’s phrasing troubled him and Kano’s
brow furrowed as he watched the man.
The egg made another cracking sound, causing Kano to briefly stop looking at Carl and focus on the egg. The shell had a new crack down the side, much larger and longer, and it wobbled slightly while he watched. "Come on out little guy. My little Battle Kitty," he said softly, growing impatient for his new drake to escape its shell.
"Well, this is a game," Carl said, smiling. "When you die in this world, you respawn. I got the same introduction as you, I think."
"Did you fight in the arena?"
"Yep," Carl said, nodding. "The team could not transport me directly into Three Rivers, so I came in via Boon Peak, the capital city. I've been traveling to find you since I arrived. Apparently, the arena onboarding isn’t skippable, so every player in New Lands Online has to go through the challenges."
"Seriously?"
"Your DNA was injected into the game directly, but you still went through a tutorial, as those are part of the process which synchs players into the game world.” Carl smiled, showing clean, white teeth. “That ogre bear was tough."