by Felix Craft
“Hold on, I have something for that.” Leesha dropped her mace and fell to her knees beside me. In her hand appeared a wooden box, which she opened and started ruffling around through. “It’s in here somewhere … Ah! Here it is! Drink this.”
She held out a vial of red liquid that looked like cranberry juice. Hoping it tasted better, I took it from her and chugged it back, barely thinking about why she might be giving me this. She couldn’t hurt me anymore than I already was. Could she?
Too late for doubts now. And anyway, the stuff tasted better than cranberry juice, more like mulled wine. It warmed me as it went down in a soothing way, like soaking in a hot tub, but on the inside. I saw my status projection in the corner of my vision showing my HP steadily creep back up. Looking over at my shoulder, the wound knitted itself back together before my eyes.
Leesha was still kneeling next to me, now biting her lip. Able to actually sit up now, I looked her in the eye. “What the hell?”
“I’m sorry,” she said faintly. “That doesn’t happen. What you just did…” she paused and eyed me suspiciously. “How did you do that? Are you actually a mod, or something?”
“What? No. And do what?” I wasn’t in a very talkative mood, especially not to her, but with every passing second my left crept closer to full. I was as curious as she was.
“Come back to life. Or, really, not die.” Her head cocked to the side. “And the pain. You really felt all of that, didn’t you?”
“Every drip.” But something about the way she said that was strange. “What, don't you?”
Leesha shook her head. “The maximum pain you’re supposed to experience in MythRune is less than 10% of the maximum pain levels in real life. But the way you reacted seemed like you felt it all.”
“I’ve never had my shoulder knocked off before, but I’d guess you’re right.”
Just another oddity in this game. Except now I knew this one was particular to me. What if the others — Danny’s dice, not being able to log out — were also glitches only I had? Suspicion came creeping up on me. Could Danny have messed up that bad? Maybe whatever was killing him had gotten to his brain.
If that had happened, I didn’t like to think what I’d gotten myself into.
Leesha, shaking my shoulder — my good shoulder — called me out of my thoughts. “Are you okay? You don’t look so good.”
I gave her a deadly stare. “Oh, really?”
She sighed. “Listen. I know I said I couldn’t take you on before, but there’s clearly something going on with you, and I can help. Not to mention I feel a bit bad about the whole killing you thing.”
“Oh, now you have a conscience.” But I was relieved to hear it. Everything was getting overwhelming now, and even if I’d never admit it to her, I was glad to have someone who had a better grasp on my side.
Even if she was an asshole.
“Okay, fine,” I relented.
“Good.” Leesha grinned and, standing, held out her hand. “Now, come on. It’s a few hours to the next closest village. Better get going if you need to get out of here soon.”
I took her hand and stood. The last of the pain had dissipated, and I was feeling back to 100%. I picked up my battle-axe from where I’d dropped it. “Fine. Let’s get going.”
Leesha held up a hand. “First things first. Let’s see here … Command: Forge Companionship.”
A second after she spoke, a projection popped up for me.
Leesha_22 is offering to make you her companion! Companions can now see full stat listings for everyone in their party. If the Leadership ability tree is invested in, other benefits to companions arise.
Do you wish to become the companion of Leesha_22? Say Yes or No.
I hesitated a moment, thinking of how I’d been tricked the last time with a verbal command. Finally, though, I relented. “Yes.”
The projection slid away, but nothing else much happened. Leesha grinned at me. “Great! Now you’re my sidekick!”
Sidekick? I wasn't anybody’s sidekick. “I don’t think so—”
But my new companion was already walking away. “Come on, Zane. No time to waste!”
Just my luck. Impatient and an asshole.
I had no idea yet how much that was true.
6
The Tournament
Leesha never mentioned the horse.
The next three hours were almost as miserable as my two near-death experiences in this damned game. Soon after we’d joined into a party, Leesha had said we needed to stop by the local inn’s stables. I didn't think anything of it until she came out leading Charlotte, a chestnut mare, by the reins. Then she mounted and, with a taunting yell, told me to keep up.
Three hours ago she did that. Somehow, though I lagged behind, I kept her mostly in sight, with my SP bottoming out every 30 min and jolting me back awake. It was pure torture, but there was something I loved about it. It had been a long time since I’d been able to run for any distance without pain. I soaked in every minute of my leg working properly, even if it was in a fake world.
Finally, as my stamina threatened to revolt again and overthrow my companion’s dictatorial pace, I saw ahead that Leesha had come to a stop within a grove of trees. Stumbling to a walk, I moved zombie-like over to her and collapsed at the foot of a tree. Leesha had already dismounted from her mare and was patting the sweating horse and speaking soothingly in her ear.
It was more than she did for me. “Took you long enough,” she said with a smirk. “How was the pain this time?”
“Excruciating,” I said between labored gasps.
“I don’t envy you.” She peered around us, like she watching for something. “Well, you’d better recover soon. There’s a band of highwaymen nearby I have a contract for, so I need you in fighting shape in ten minutes.”
Highwaymen? What the hell did that have to do with logging me off? “I thought you were escorting me to the next mod, not to another painful experience. I don’t want anything to do with highwaymen.”
“Tough luck, my noob-tastic companion.” Leesha walked to me and stood over me with her hands on her hips. “If you’re to survive out here, you need to level up. And other than sewer rats and kobolds, bandits are about the only thing you can kill. With my help,” she added quickly. “You wouldn’t stand a chance by yourself.”
“I don’t care if I would or not.” I bristled at it actually, but I wasn’t about to let her know that.
Leesha propped her foot up on a rock and popped something in her mouth, chewing on it. She looked like she was trying to imitate a cowgirl and was doing a poor job of it, especially in her ridiculous mismatch of armor. Though, if she looked ridiculous, I tried not to think how I looked.
“Now, if we’re going to be in a party together, you’d better know a few things,” she said, chewing whatever it was slowly around like a cow on cud. “First, there’s no point to MythRune.”
“I could tell you that much,” I muttered.
“What I mean is,” she talked over me, “it’s sandbox. You make your own game. Which brings me to my second point — there’s no top. If you reach the current highest level, GS releases another expansion. And on, and on. So being the top level won’t mean everything forever.”
She spat a bit of the stuff onto the rock. It was brown and leafy.
“I’m guessing there’s a third?”
“Third,” she obliged with a raised eyebrow, “since reaching the top level is meaningless and you make your own game, many choose to make a game that makes money.”
“You like tongue-twisters, don’t you?”
“Like me, for example.” She put a hand to her dented breastplate. “Because I like money, I lease my talents out as a caravan guard despite there being many more interesting things to do with my time. And here, guarding NPC or player merchants can be lucrative.”
“Good for you.” I stood up, stretching out my limbs. Whatever glitch in the game that made me feel all the pain also made me feel every bit of
soreness setting into my muscles.
Leesha drew in a deep breath, then exhaled.
I hid a smile. Looked like I was getting under her skin, after all.
“Anyway,” she continued, spitting more of the tobacco-like stuff onto the stone and grinding it in with her boot, “there are other ways to earn money. Other ways that, if another mod can’t help, might get you out of here.”
I perked up at that, but I kept up my act of nonchalance. There was something all too casual about the way she put that. “Yeah?” I asked through a faked yawn. “Let’s hear it then.”
“Lord MythRune’s tournament in Mythgard. Usually, they’re for level 20 and above. But, lucky you, he just announced one for levels 10 through 15. You get through three rounds, you get a butt-load of cash — and get to meet Lord MythRune himself.”
“Oh, whoopee. I get to meet a computer character.”
“The computer character. Lord MythRune is ruler over MythRune, as even a dummy like you should guess from the name. Win the tournament, talk to him, and I bet you could find someone to help you get out of here.” She leaned toward me and said in an exaggerated stage whisper, “Besides, Lord MythRune is said to be Danny Germaine’s avatar, not a computer character. He’s the creator of MythRune, by the—”
“I know who Danny is,” I interrupted. I mulled over what I’d just learned. As much as I hated to say it, it made sense that it was so hard to talk to Danny in-game. But why was this game even still running? Was it possible I hadn’t activated the virus right, or was it something Danny did wrong?
I shook my head. I couldn’t let myself get drawn into doubt. Too much of my life had been wasted with that since my knee gave out. “Okay. We do it. We win this stupid tournament, talk to Lord MythRune, then I get the hell out of Dodge.”
Leesha shrugged. “Suit yourself. But I keep the Rc.”
Only then did I realize she wasn’t doing this to help me. She wanted to win for the money, that much was clear. Surely she’d have an easier time doing that with another level 10 at least, rather than training up a level 2 like me. The only explanation could be that she thought my glitch — power, whatever you want to call it — would come in handy.
Whatever. I guessed I was using her, too, but it did sting a little.
I let it go. I just wanted out of this stupid game. “Fine. Now let’s go kick some highway-ass.”
Leesha rolled her eyes and she spat out the last of what she was chewing, then slung on her mace and shield again. Taking hold of the reins of Charlotte, she said, “Follow me.”
Gripping my battle-axe tightly in both hands, I followed after her, hoping I was ready.
7
Bandit Fight!
When we found the highwaymen, we waddled silently toward them like ducks.
At least, that’s what it felt like. According to Leesha, this was the proper method of sneaking, another affinity that, like my battle-axe affinity, had to be done the right way to gain experience points (XP) in it and advance it in levels. I didn’t give a rat’s ass about that, but I definitely didn’t want the highwaymen below us to see us until it was too late. They were sheltered at the foot of the small cliff we now peered down from, drinking and smoking and laughing while enjoying what looked like a boar roasting on a spit over an open fire.
Leesha, moving carefully so as not to rattle her metal armor, put a finger to her lips and pointed down. I rolled my eyes. As if I’d been planning on making a sound and alerting them. Still, I gripped my axe tighter and shifted my feet, looking for an angle to approach. Something scuffed under my boot, and as I watched, a slab of stone broke out from under my toe and tumbled down the cliff.
“What's that?” One of the bandit’s heads snapped up immediately.
“Shit,” I whispered, pulling back from the edge. But from the shouting and rattling of metal and wood, it was already too late.
Leesha sighed and unstrapped her shield and mace. “Come on, then. If they’re fools enough to attack us at the high ground, we’d better not disappoint them.”
Wearing a chagrined smile, I positioned myself next to her, but far enough away for me to get in a proper swing. As the men charged up the slope next to the cliff, I went over the combat basics the quartermaster had run me through. Don’t just hit with the blade head — hit with the butt and shaft as well. Use the whole weapon. Watch your opponents, but also lead them.
But as the first one came over the rise, everything went out of my head. I roared like a madman and swung.
The first highwayman backpedaled when he saw me, eyes wide, but the men behind him pushed him forward. I sprang forward as well, swinging and dismembering him at the leg. A small projection popped up next to him with the words, Status: Dismembered. It was enough to distract me for a moment so that one of the men behind could jump around his fellow and score a glancing blow on my shoulder. Pain burned at the slice wound, a hundred times worse than any cut with a kitchen knife. I didn’t flinch away, but dealt the man a cut of his own — right down the middle of his fucking skull.
Your affinity Battle-axe has reached level 2!
The message got in the way of the gruesome sight, but it made it difficult to see around. Shouting a variety of possible commands, I finally dismissed it as a third highwayman bearing a buckler and short sword charged me and cut me in the thigh. The leg suddenly had trouble supporting me, and I stumbled to one knee. The man’s buckler caught me in the nose, and a projection in the corner of my vision showed my HP had dropped to 67.
I shook my head like a dog after a bath, blood spattering the ground around me, then jabbed the axe forward. It only caught his shield, but it pushed the bandit back far enough for me to get some room. A brief glance to my right, showed Leesha smiling and having a time of it as she bashed screaming men off the slide of the cliff, one after another. Easy for her to have fun when cuts really did feel like a slice from a kitchen knife.
The highwayman, the last of the ones attacking me, circled me warily. I couldn’t rise, but he’d seen what my axe could do. I grinned savagely at him, despite the pain wracking my body. I could have fun too. “Come on! Don’t be a pansy!”
The man’s eyebrows drew down, and he inched forward.
“Bock bock!” I flapped my elbows like a chicken.
The man scowled, and scooted forward a bit. I just needed him one step closer…
The man pitched forward as Leesha came up behind him and bashed out his brains with one swing of her mace.
“Hey!” I protested.
She shrugged. “We’ve got places to be. Or do you not want to get out of here?”
But I wasn’t listening to her. I was staring at the carnage laid out before me. Disappointment changed to disgust, then horror as the heat of the battle wore off. It really had felt like a fever dream, like it had been someone other than me making chop suey of those bandits. But I couldn’t deny it now, with their blood covering me and a film of gore on my axe. I stared at the cavern in the man’s head I split open.
Two fingers snapped in front of my face, and I blinked.
“Hey!” Leesha said, leaning over in front of me. “Don’t go all spacey on me.”
“I — I’ve never killed anyone before,” I said lamely. “Just those wyrmlings from before. Not … people.”
“And you still haven’t.” She nudged one of the bodies with the toe of her boot. “These are just strings of code and circuits when you come down to it, nothing more. And even if we were killing players, it’s not actually killing them. Just because it looks real doesn’t mean it is.”
She ruffled my hair as she passed by, and coming out of my comatose state, I swatted at her. “Quit that!”
She ignored me and started investigating the corpses. “That got you a bit of experience, but it won’t be quite enough to get you to level 3. As a party, we split XP by the way, so you got credit for all those poor bastards I knocked off the cliff. Now, we loot these bandits for all they’re worth.” As she spoke, she ruffled aroun
d in their pockets and tinkered with straps of their armor.
“I can’t.” I pointed to my cut up leg. “A little help would be appreciated.”
She eyed my wound. “Now that you’re out of battle, you’ll heal up. No point in wasting good potions on a little thing like that.”
“Little thing like this? Have you ever been slashed in the thigh before?”
“Dozens of times. Now quit whining and start putting this on.” She tossed a few pieces of the highwaymen’s leather armor my way. I picked them up and eyed them skeptically, but in the end, I shrugged and started putting them on. She was right. These weren’t real people, and this was just a game. I’d do whatever I had to do to get out.
Leesha rifled through the rest of the stuff, putting coins and other stuff in a satchel at her hip as she went.
“You’re going to split that with me, right?” My HP was rising, but the gash in my leg was still open, so I didn’t want to risk walking over and taking anything myself.
She shrugged. “I gave you some armor, and you didn’t help loot besides. Even if this is all a game doesn’t make this pleasant.” She straightened from the last of the bodies. “But sometimes it pays off. Can you say bingo?”
“What’d you find?”
She held it up, and I squinted at it. “A piece of old, used toilet paper?”
“A map, idiot.” She rolled her eyes, then settled her gaze back to the piece of yellowed paper. “One that leads to a cave nearby, it looks like. If this is what I think this is, we’re in luck.” She grinned at me. “We found ourselves a stash.”
“Oh, boy.” I was becoming more and more resigned that this was for the long-term, so the prospect of a stash that might get me real world value did sound intriguing.
As I was thinking it, a projection started to emerge with an image of a treasure chest overflowing with gold and some writing beneath.
You’ve acquired a new quest: The Bandit’s Loot! Your party found a map on the bodies of some highwaymen, and you think it leads to their stash of valuables. Are you brave enough to fare the lair?