by Jason Cheek
Taking a deep breath, I forced myself to calm down and look over at Fylreh who was oblivious to my questioning glance as she went about her morning routine. From where I sat on my furs, I had the unappealing view of her hindside. It wasn’t that she was ugly, because whenever we were getting hot and heavy with one another that was the furthest things from my mind. Nor was it the whole interspecies thing, I couldn’t have cared less about that. The problem was even if her plumbing was different she looked a little too much like a terrestrial horse.
Feeling a little queasy, I looked away as my mind did mental gymnastics to try to cope with my feelings on the topic. Logically, I knew it was like equating a chimpanzee with a human. They were two completely different species, even if they had physical similarities. Still, it was my own prejudice on the subject that made me pause. At least, it did whenever I wasn’t being distracted by the filly’s digital display.
Letting out the breath I’d been holding, I glanced over at Neysa and Helgath who were looking at me innocently. I swore the Silver Dire Wolf’s eyes twinkled in understanding as I glared at her accusingly. Instead of consoling me or answering my unasked question, she gave me a fang-filled laugh as I mentally flipped her off. Rubbing at my eyes to calm my nerves, I mentally replayed the morning I woke up with Fylreh in my arms. Unfortunately, all that did was give me a hard-on instead of clearing up any of my mental reservations.
Pushing the confusing thoughts away, I just ignored the new information for now. If I wasn’t actually there as an active participant, I didn’t do anything. No matter what my avatar might have done on his own when I wasn’t actually in the game. It was kind of like one of those Las Vegas commercials. You know, the ones that show a group of girls or guys departing from their airplane laughing and drinking, before it ends with the tag line. “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.”
Not that any of that mattered right now, I thought sadly. We were barely even talking to each other civilly at this point. It wasn’t like it was suddenly going to be an issue. I should have been more interested in the whole limited AI that was controlling my character whenever I didn’t chose the Cold-Logout option, but I couldn’t seem to focus on any of that right now. Instead of troubling myself over what might or might not have happened, I pushed those thoughts from my mind and looked at it from a straight gaming perspective.
It was a lot more complex than the other options. Did that mean your avatar would be left sitting on the dock once a ship came into port? What happened if the ship sank or if you had to pay dues to get into the city? Did that mean you could craft items with your character on automatic when you logged out of the game? It opened up a lot of questions. I mean, what happened if your land came under attack? Would the people of The World be trying to ask the dumbed down AI for advice? This was really something that I needed to look into later with my friends to see exactly what this meant. For now, I just moved onto the next item on the list. The Hot Fix for NPC and Monster levels.
Now this was seriously interesting. V-MMORG was obviously doing their best to make it difficult for players to mess with the people of The World. Combined with the City Spawned NPCs Hot Fix, this let players know that the various levels of guards and monsters had been noticeably upgraded in strength. Hopefully, this would stop the worst shenanigans going on in town from players acting out.
Although, I now was afraid of what this might mean for the Boss mobs. It looked like any monster Chieftains and Champions would take a solid raid to take down on their own. Hopefully, these changes wouldn’t include Dungeon Bosses. I honestly thought they were hard enough to take down as it was. For now, I just tucked that thought away for the future.
All of these changes made me suddenly wonder if my Kayden Troopers had been upgraded. That could be one positive on this list of shit, I thought sourly. I made a mental note to run an Identify on Assault Leader Dell and the royal Prince and Princess to see if any of their stats had changed. Maybe I’d just gotten all of my vassals upgraded for free.
Chapter One.Three
(Wednesday, May 7th / Day 17 of The World.)
I was just going to the next item on the list when Helgath made her presence known. ‘What about my new attributes?’ Startled at the interruption, I looked at the Half-Orc in surprise. Did Helgath still count as an NPC or a monster? It was a good question. A cast of Identify quickly answered that question as I saw that Helgath’s attributes had jumped up by forty points.
After Emergency Hot Fix
Helgath Ironwolf
Half-Orc: House of Kayden
Class: Water Shaman
Profession Dark Shaman
Titles:
Soulmate
Ex-slave
Prodigy of the Mind
Defiant One
Statistics:
Hit Points: 800
Mana: 1,180
Endurance: 800
Attributes:
Strength: 65
Intelligence: 118
Spirit: 105
Agility: 110
Stamina: 80
Charisma: 50
While I’d never viewed her stats before now, it was easy to see where the Emergency Hot Fix had increased her attributes. I’d always known that Helgath didn’t have the normal demi-human build that a Goblin or Orc would typically have. I always assumed that it had to do with her “slave” status. That, or possibly because Half-Orcs could be played by newfar. Not that I’d ever asked in the short time that I’d known her, since her time as an Orc slave still haunted her waking thoughts.
Nonetheless, the extra forty points to each of her attributes was an impressive bump to say the least. While I’d mentally understood the changes in a numerical sense, I was shocked to see what they actually meant in regards to the Half-Orc’s physical appearance. Her stringy, sickly hair was now smooth and full like what you’d see on a woman of Asian descent. Her too-thin face, frail arms, and rickety legs were now filled-out with solid muscle and covered in healthy, dark-green skin. Even her shoulders, chest, and hips had noticeably filled out with healthy muscle and fat as she lost the last vestiges of her Auschwitz-Survivor, Death Camp look.
Seeing the look of wonder in my eyes, Helgath threw herself at me. Burying her face in my neck, her strong arms held me tight as her hot tears trickled down my chest in the chilled morning air. Holding her tight, I stroked her head and back as her body trembled in my arms. Even though she looked and felt very different now, my focus was solely on easing her anxiety as I sent soothing thoughts across our mental connection. Neysa was right there with me as she joined my efforts in calming my soulmate down.
For a long moment, I couldn’t make sense of the confused emotions running through Helgath’s mind. It was a mixture of hate, self-loathing, and fear. Her new body shape scared her in ways I couldn’t truly comprehend. While she was glad to see that I appreciated her improved form, it brought back all of the brutal and terrifying things she’d been forced to endure as a slave.
To be honest, her memories were almost too much to take-in. The hopeless hate and soul crushing abuse would have broken a lesser spirit. Helgath though, had somehow used that endless horror to form the basis of her backbone of defiance and willpower that made up the core of her soul.
I saw in those memories how she’d refused to improve her body for the purpose of giving her tormentors more pleasure from her physical shape. How she’d focused instead on improving her mind in the hopes that she could free herself from the agony of her cruel existence. How Mugorlorth had been the only one that had been there for her. At least, he had been in his own way and that connection had helped to give her the strength to endure the never-ending abuse. As far as the northern tribes were concerned, she wanted to watch them burn.
Slowly the three of us came out of our mental powwow as Helgath gained control of her emotions once again. By then, Neysa had shoved her head between us to join in on the physical hug we were sharing. I guess the massive mountain of fur pressing against our sides wasn�
��t enough physical contact for my girl. Reaching down to stroke the Silver Dire Wolf’s head, I suddenly realized it was much bigger than normal as I wiped away the tears of our shared intimacy running down my cheeks.
‘Thank you,’ Helgath softly said, pushing away to arm’s length so she could study my face intently. Slowly the haunted look in her yellow cat-eyes changed to one of incredulousness as her black-clawed fingers gently began wiping away the tears from my cheeks while she mentally continued. ‘For not judging my worth by my looks … and for taking a chance on me.”
‘Best decision I’ve ever made!’ I mentally shot back with a cocky grin as her cheeks flushed in embarrassment.
“Accepting Helgath as your soulmate was the best decision you ever made?’ Neysa’s warning growl sounded in my head, as Helgath clapped a hand over her mouth to hide the toothy smile that came to her lips. The twinkle in the Silver Dire Wolf’s eyes let me know that her disgruntled act was more for the Half-Orc’s sake than for hers, but I followed Neysa’s lead as I wrapped an arm around her neck and pulled her close.
‘Okay … okay, let’s just agree it was the best decision I’ve ever made, AFTER saving Neysa from the Goblin Slave Master.’ I mentally shot back, as I jumped on the Silver Dire Wolf’s neck and playfully wrestled her to the ground. Rolling onto her back, Neysa acting like she was trying to fight me off as I ruffled her fur and kissed her snout while she playfully kicked her legs in the air trying to shove me away.
With a squeal of happiness, Helgath joined in on the fun as the three of us rolled around together on top of the sleeping furs buck ass naked. Somehow, I ended up on my back being tickled by Helgath with Neysa planted on my chest and licking my face, while I shrieked in mock disgust. It was one of those innocent spur of the moment times that had us laughing and playing together like children. The perfect distraction needed to shake Helgath out of her emotional funk.
By the time everyone settled down, we were getting some weird looks from the troopers around us who were just waking up. Waving apologetically to our neighbors, I turned back to my soulmates when Helgath plopped down in my lap. Ignoring my grunt of surprise, her yellow cat-eyes caught mine as I pointedly asked her something that had been weighing on my mind.
‘Did I strip before logging out last night?’ I swear, in that moment, she had that look of a child caught with their hand in the cookie jar. A second later, she shrugged nonchalantly like it wasn’t anything important.
‘Your armor stank, so I cleaned it up some while you were sleeping,’ Helgath said, giving me an innocent look. ‘Besides, that’s not what’s important right now,’ she continued, changing the subject. ‘You really need to check out Neysa’s attribute changes.’ Her serious mental tone distracted me from commenting on her own physical changes as my eyes snapped to the Silver Dire Wolf. ‘There is something very different about her.’
Frowning at Helgath’s words, my eyes automatically ran over Neysa’s furry side as she laid next to me panting happily. While I’d noticed that she was slightly bigger than before when we were wrestling, I hadn’t realized by just how much. Now that I had a second, I could see that she was much bigger. At least, a quarter larger than she’d been when I’d logged out last night. Meaning, she was as large as Fylreh. Hearing my internal thoughts, Neysa squirmed around until her golden eyes could watch me intently as I called up her character sheet.
Combat Mount: Neysa (Silver Dire Wolf)
Level: 35
Strength: 105
Intelligence: 105
Spirit: 105
Agility: 105
Stamina: 105
Charisma: 105
Attack:
180-185 (Bite)
Speed: 0.5
Weight-Carrying Capacity: 396
Special Abilities: Increased carrying capacity 79.2 lbs x5.
(Teen Growth Spurt adds +5 to each ‘Increase Carrying Capacity’)
Shared Experience: 10% (up to a max of 50%)
*Additional Information: Your mount is bound to your soul. Unlike regular mounts, this mount can participate in combat alongside its owner like a summoned creature or tamed pet. At each fifth level (after level 10), combat mounts can choose additional feats. To access the feats available for your combat mount, open the properties of your pet to choose from the available selection. Should your mount be slain in your service, your mount will lose all of its current level experience and will remain unsummonable for the next hour.
‘What the fuck?’ I thought in shock, as my eyes went over her stats and carrying capacity. ‘How the hell did she get the Nightmare level upgrade?’
My eyes immediately scanned the lists of Emergency Hot Fixes, until I found the “Hot Fix for “NPC and Monster levels” that I was looking for. Pressing my lips together thoughtfully, I read over the relevant bullet point once again: Nightmare: Increase of a plus 80 to all attributes. These bonuses will be applied to NPC officers and elite monster types.
‘Why had the game decided to give Neysa a Nightmare boost?’ That was the question that kept running through my mind as I studied her stats. While the Advance boost of forty points made sense for Helgath, being that she was a Half-Orc and was classified as a person of The World, it didn’t make any sense for Neysa. There was no information in the Emergency Hot Fix about Combat Mounts being upgraded. I heard Neysa’s snort of derision in my head as soon as the thought passed through my mind.
‘Obviously, I’m more than just a Combat Mount.’ The Silver Dire Wolf’s comment burned through my consciousness as she expressed her annoyance at being referred to as a Combat Mount.
‘Really?’ I thought sourly back at her. ‘When did the term “Combat Mount” become a slur?’
While Neysa and Helgath both understood where my reasoning was coming from, Neysa had decided to purposely take the term as an insult. ‘Whatever!’ I thought, rolling my eyes. As far as I’d understood things up until now, The World considered her a monster or a combat mount, which was very different from a demi-human or an intelligent race. I paused for a moment as the implication of what that must mean came to me.
‘You must have a bloodline of some kind of elite monster type!’ I thought excitedly. ‘That, or somewhere in The World, Silver Dire Wolves might actually be an intelligent monster race.’ At least, that’s what I thought the Nightmare boost meant.
‘Is that all I am to you?’ Neysa chuffed unhappily. Rolling onto her stomach, she rose to her haunches and looked down at me as if I’d offended her. ‘Just some dumb, elite-monster, Combat Mount?’
‘Why am I dealing with shit like this when I’m single?’ I jokingly bitched as Helgath fell over laughing on the sleeping furs. Thankfully, Neysa’s physical snort didn’t burn a mental trail through my brain like the first time she took offense at my internal dialog. I considered the implications of what all this could mean. Was Neysa a unique monster type, or was there a whole race of highly-intelligent Silver Dire Wolves living out there somewhere in The World? If that were the case, what would a civilization like that even look like? Shaking the questioning thoughts away, I wrapped my arms around Neysa’s neck and hauled her down to me as she lightly struggled to get away.
‘Do you want us to search for your people?’ I honestly asked, stroking her neck as she wordlessly whined from where I held her tight against my chest. ‘I promise, we’ll keep our eyes out for them during our travels and then decide what to do.’
As if my words were a trigger, a new quest popped open before my eyes. Not that it was exactly a surprise. I had a feeling there was a secret quest waiting to be picked up if I pushed the topic. I couldn’t help the smile that came to my lips as I read.
New Quest! Discover the source of the bloodline that is the Silver Dire Wolf’s legacy!
The increase in your soulbound companion’s attributes from the Emergency Hot Fix has shown you that she is more than she seems. A simple Combat Pet would not have had their abilities increased from the Emergency Hot Fix. Is Neysa an Elite Monster? Is sh
e part of an intelligent monster race? Find the answers to help your soulbound companion evolve.
Objective 1: Discover the source of the bloodline that is the Silver Dire Wolf’s power.
Difficulty: Nightmare.
Reward: Unknown.
Accept: Yes / No
I had a feeling this was going to be a unique quest line. Without hesitation, I hit ‘Yes’ as a wave of intense emotions swept through my mind. It communicated everything that needed to be said between us as I did my best to send Neysa warm, supportive thoughts. ‘Just remember, no matter what happens, you will always be my girl.’
That seemed to settle the Silver Dire Wolf down as she tried to tuck her snout under my arm. It was a thing she did when she was feeling especially vulnerable as I patted her muscular neck. I can only imagine what it must have looked like since she was now as big as Fylreh. At the same time, I could understand where her strong emotions were coming from. Neysa’s mother, along with her newborn brothers and sisters, had been slaughtered under horrible circumstances. Hell, I had to cut Neysa out of her dying mother’s tortured body at birth. While Neysa had been too young to understand it all, she’d gotten enough from my memories to get the gist of what had occurred. That alone had been enough to scar her deeply.
It didn’t take long for Neysa to shake off her melancholy. Within a few moments, she was sitting back on her haunches and discussing everything with Helgath as I thought over the situation with her new stats. The changes were huge. A few of her base abilities were now even higher than my own, which meant she could do more in future fights. Not only that, those changes also meant she was strong enough to carry Helgath and me on her back like an actual mount. That in itself was a game changer at this level.