by J. J. Lorden
“Ding, ding. You got it. Now, I’d like a proper thank you.”
He wasn’t sure what she was talking about, but he was already enjoying their banter, so he went with it. “Okay. Thanks Val.”
“Pahhh. No. Not good enough. Try this: Thank you, Valerie, for dragging my scaly, two-ton, tree-trunk ass off that hill, and all the way back here so I didn’t get eaten by another cat in the middle of the night.”
Erramir could just feel the love. “Thank you, Valerie, for dragging my scaly, two-ton… wait, what was it, tree-trunk ass?” He paused but didn’t wait for her response. “How is that even possible? Shouldn’t it be two-ton rhinoceros ass? Or maybe, two-ton, nicely-toned ass? I mean... is my ass wide and rough?” Erramir stood up and squatted a bit while trying to look over his shoulder at his own ass.
“You know, I think you’re missing the point. This is about your undying gratitude for my heroic effort,” she said in mock annoyance. “I had to make a path through fifty feet of briars to get you back here.” That wasn’t mocking, Val sounded genuinely annoyed.
“Ohh. Shit, really? That doesn’t sound like much fun.” Erramir moved around the tree toward her voice. He was not fully prepared for what he found. Standing several paces behind the tree was a breathtaking, dark-haired, Amazonian beauty.
She had long, tanned limbs and raven-black, shoulder-length hair pulled into a ponytail and secured with a twisted tree clipping. Her elfish ears had tips pointed back instead of up, and her body was corded with muscle. Her pants were like his, rough linen that she’d somehow configured into a loose knee-length skirt.
Her midriff was exposed, and beads of sweat ran over the ridges of a muscled abdomen. Her chest was covered by a linen halter-top that was pulled tight about her cleavage. One hand grasped a smooth white staff resting on her shoulder, and the other braced off her hip.
The face was Racheal’s but with fuller lips, higher cheeks, and green-gold eyes that reminded him a bit of his own. In short, she was a picture-perfect sci-fi geek’s pin-up poster.
Apparently, his approving appraisal was written on his face, because her expression slowly shifted from playfully angry to devilishly happy.
“Yeah?” she asked.
“Uhhh... Yeah. Holy shit, Val. I want a poster of you in my bedroom.”
Her eyes twinkled. “Nice.”
“Yeah, I’d say so. Looking like that, you’re gonna have all the Elven men wrapped around your finger; hell, probably the humans, dwarves, and gnomes too.”
She shrugged a shoulder, “We’ll see. I’m just glad to get your perspective. I did like you said in character creation and went for it. As it turns out, I’m pretty sexy.” She grinned.
“That’s great. Congrats, Val.” Erramir couldn’t deny her transformation, but through the Amazonian warrior appearance, he could still see the same roguish, fun-loving, ten-year-old girl he’d first met on the playground decades ago. And that bond didn’t care what she looked like.
Val looked him up and down. “You don’t look so bad yourself–all tall, broad, and primal.” She pursed her lips and held a finger against them while furrowing her brow in thought. “The green-haired bohemian look is completely wild, but... yeah, you’re pulling it off. The eyes don’t hurt either.”
Upon pointing them out, her own eyes widened in realization. “Are you part Dramogan too?”
“Yeah. You too, huh.” He cocked his head slightly. “Did you get the quest?”
Her surprise flattened to curiosity. “You mean the one about the Pergothian Empire, and the Dragon King’s Elven advisor?”
“Ahh, maybe?” His lips thinned, pulling to one side. “Mine sounds a little different than that, it doesn’t mention an Elven advisor. What’s the name of your quest?”
“Broken Bloodline.”
“Huh. Mine’s called, Heal your Bloodline. I’m supposed to find the lost capital of the Pergothian Empire and heal the lost love of the king and queen. She’s dead, sooo, yeah not sure about that.”
He shrugged, mouth turning to a crooked smirk. “But where there’s a quest, there’s a way to complete it. And it’s definitely legendary.”
“Yeah.” Val mirrored his look. “Exactly, my thoughts.”
A moment of comfortable silence rested between them before Val continued, “So, for Broken Bloodline I need to find the descendants of the Elven advisor. He was suspected of being responsible for the queen’s death, although nothing was ever proven. Even so, the king still exiled him and broke ties with the Ascendant Elven Council.
“The council cast the advisor’s entire subrace of elves out of their alliance to try and repair relations with the king and the Empire. But it didn’t work and not long after the Empire fell apart. I’m supposed to find the truth, then reunite the exiled elves with the other Elven kingdoms.”
Erramir chuckled, then composed his face and flatly said, “No problem. We’ll just knock these out and go grab a beer.”
Val snorted a laugh. “Totally, easy as pie.”
“Seriously though, Val. They’re both white rabbits, no doubt, and legendary ones too. The rewards for these are going to be worth the work. There’s no way it’ll be something stupid like that self-cleaning underwear Carson got in Novamen.”
“Unghh.” She cringed. “I still can’t believe that quest, and he was proud of those stupid things. What was that quest called? Intestine something?”
“Intestinal Fortitude.” Erramir said as he looked down and shook his head. “That was one eff’d up quest–eat the 100 spiciest meals in the game. I only did the first seven before giving up.” He lifted his gaze with a smirk. “Remember that nomadic lizard-man stew? That’s when he needed that underwear.”
“Oh, god. Don’t remind me.” Val’s expression soured and she visibly had to fight back a gag. “We had to move the whole camp to get away from the stench he left in the bushes.”
“That’s right, I’d forgotten we did that. His shit smelled like death. The lizard guy laughed his ass off, but Car ate that whole bowl. He was green as the grass, but he kept eating.” Erramir looked away and shook his head. “You’ve got to respect his determination.”
“I think you mean his irrational stubbornness. But he’s definitely got more guts than I do.” She shuddered, shaking the memory away then looked at Erramir seriously. “You know he’s going to go completely insane if he didn’t get a quest like ours.”
“Oh yeah he will,” Erramir agreed while nodding. “He’ll be pissed, but I doubt it’ll be an issue. Car’s like a bloodhound for insane chain quests. If we managed to get one each, he’s probably got two.”
“You know what?” She smiled. “You’re right.”
“Hey, speaking of starting quests. Elle nailed it on character creation, don’t you think?”
“Oh absolutely. It was amazing. I spent a ton of time in there just playing with it and reading up on the different races.”
“Me too. Hours. I was completely sucked in with all the different races; how mixing them varied which talents and traits you got. When I unlocked Golden Equilibrium, it was like I won a medal. I wanted to high five the whole world.”
For almost half an hour, they talked about character creation and marveled at each other’s Equilibrium builds. Gold seemed just a hair better than Jade in terms of attribute gains, but the related affinity’s and traits were balanced.
Erramir was a bit jealous of Valerie having already discovered the in-game mapping feature, while Valerie was properly impressed when he activated DrakkenWood Skin, and slick black scales appeared in a cascade. “Wait, how’s that feel on your junk? Are you like…” Val grimaced. “All scaley down there?”
“Hah! Yeahhh. Let’s just say that DrakkenWood time is definitely not sexy-fun-between-the-sheets time.” The comment reminded Erramir of his dream and his mood darkened.
“What’s wrong?” Val asked.
“I had this wild dream; not a dream, it was a nightmare. That comment about sexy-time reminded me of it. I
haven’t been so terrified of a dream in twenty years.”
“Really? What happened? And, ahh, why did sexy-time remind you of it?”
“Yeah, good question. That’s part of why it sucked.” Erramir looked away as he recalled. “It started as I woke up in bed with a beautiful woman. We were about to get busy, but then, there was this whacking noise.”
Erramir went on to explain the rest of his nightmare. Val listened quietly and made properly disgusted faces when he described the goblin and its gruesome transformation.
“And then I woke up.” He finished and took a deep breath. “So weird to have that dream here and now. It’s got to be part of the game somehow, but I have no clue how.” He scowled. “I hope it’s not a normal thing. I can’t imagine why it would be.”
“Well, I slept for a few hours and I didn’t have any dreams at all.” Val said and offered him a weak smile. “So, it’s not normal for me. Maybe it’s part of a hidden quest?”
“Maybe… I don’t know, might just be my subconscious fears about Kuora being a disaster.” Erramir’s gaze grew distant for a moment then he shook his head. “Anyhow, we were talking about my DrakkenWood ability.”
“That’s right,” Val said. “DrakkenWood time isn’t sexy-between-the-sheets time.” She chuckled. “It’s probably what kept you alive in that fight though–you weren’t looking so good when I found you. Without your scales, I think that cat would have ripped your ribs straight out the front of your body.”
“That bad, huh?” Erramir had a vivid memory of the gore, but details of the holes in his chest were hazy.
“Definitely that bad, although you were already healing when I showed up. What level was that cat? It was one seriously dangerous animal for a level-one player. And how did you manage to kill it without any weapons? Its throat was completely ripped open.”
He held up a hand; even covered with dried blood his sharpened obsidian nails stood out. “I think they’re dragon’s claws. Sharp as hell. I’m not sure why you don’t have them honestly; you’re part Dramogan too.”
“Seriously? You killed that thing with your claws? They must be sharp as hell.”
He curled his fingers back regarding them. “Yeah, they’re pretty scary. Unfortunately, I need to be right in close to use them, and that’s not so good for my health.” He looked to Val. “Hey. How’d you get a staff?”
Instead of responding, Valerie swung the staff off her shoulder and walked over to the tree, which she tenderly rested a hand upon before leaning the staff against it. “I have an ability connected to my Jade Equilibrium called Wood Weaver. It allows me to communicate with trees to craft things directly from their living wood. At least trees that I’ve bonded with.”
Val looked up at the massive tree, her whole demeanor softening. After a moment, she came back to herself. “With the bond, I can work in partnership with the tree to visualize and create objects.” She looked away, seemingly embarrassed. “There’s more to it, but I don’t want to get into it right now.”
Erramir nodded when she looked back at him. “That’s fine, it’s your talent. That’s how you got the staff, though, huh?”
Valerie nodded. “Yeah, that’s how. It’s pretty incredible too. Not exactly sure how I pulled it off–luck and desperation, probably, but its soulbound and a named weapon. The notification said it’ll grow with me as I level.” Retrieving the weapon, Val held it horizontally with both hands, regarding it reverently.
Erramir wasn’t sure what to make of the display. To him, it looked like a fancy stick. He decided to move the conversation along. “It looks really cool. So, what’s its name?”
Val blinked and looked at the ground. “Yeahh. It’s got a kind of strange name.”
Erramir thought maybe she was blushing again; having no idea why she’d be embarrassed about crafting a soulbound weapon, he ignored it. “Alright, what is it?”
She hesitated a moment more before releasing one hand to hold the weapon like a walking staff, then met his gaze with confidence. “It’s named Virginwood.”
Erramir cocked a corner of his mouth and furrowed his brow. “Virginwood. Huh, that is kind of bizarre.”
“I know. Doesn’t sound very dangerous, does it. I think the game named it based upon it being the first thing I was able to make.” Valerie came up with the misdirection on the spot, and decided it was believable enough.
In the same moment, she decided not to tell Erramir about its classification as a sentient weapon. She just didn’t want to talk about it yet. The whole mom implication was uncomfortable.
She shrugged. “I kind of like the name, even if it’s odd. Anyhow it’s a bit too long, so I’m calling it Virg for short.” Val offered him a coy smile. “That way I don’t have to explain the name either.”
“Why would you have to explain anything? It’s your staff.”
“Right.” Val brightened. “It is isn’t it.” Erramir’s comment helped. She had nothing to feel bad about and didn’t owe anyone an explanation.
Her head cleared and Val remembered what she’d been up to before Erramir woke up. “I can hit fast, and I think it’s powerful too. Within the first thirty minutes of practice I unlocked a combat technique called Quick Strike. It’s not a skill, so there’s no cooldown, but it has a bonus effect.”
“Really?” Erramir took a couple steps closer. “How’s it work?”
“It’s a three-strike combo where the last attack has a chance to hobble.” She motioned over her shoulder at a person-sized bundle of sticks bound together with woven wood. “I got the tree to help me craft a practice dummy. That’s what I was doing when you finally woke up.”
“So, you were practicing this three-strike combo attack just before I woke up, huh?”
Erramir saw her make the connection. “Oh, shit.” Her concern quickly turned to mirth. “My practice session ended up in your dream, didn’t it! I’m sorry Err, but that’s pretty funny.”
“Yeah, I guess it is,” He said, then nodded toward the dummy. “Show me the combo attack.”
“It’s badass, check it out.”
She faced off against the dummy with staff held diagonally. Stepping in, she whipped the raised end into the dummy’s neck, then cracked the bottom into its hip on the other side, before finally dropping the end that had delivered the first blow into a powerful snap at the dummy’s knee. Whack, whack, whack!
It was a vicious combo. And Erramir could clearly see how the final strike to the knee could hobble someone if it wasn’t blocked or countered. More importantly in that moment though, it at least explained the strange whacking noise from his dream. Strange dream, my brain probably just filled in the goblin. Erramir thought, though he wasn’t entirely convinced.
Valerie stepped away from the practice dummy. “You seem like you’re healed up, should we go try and find Carson?”
“Yeah, definitely. God, I hope he’s doing okay all by himself.” Even as he said it, Erramir worried for his friend. “We need to find him. Matt… I mean, Carson, always plays high-damage, low-defense magic users.” He cringed and Val mimicked him in agreement.
“Argh, you’re totally right,” she said. “We’ve got to find him.”
They discussed where to start looking and Valerie used her map to approximate where both Erramir and she had spawned. Given the triangular pattern of their starting points, there were only two possible locations to look for Carson. One was deeper into the woods, and one was out in the open plains.
Reasoning it would be faster to check the open plains, they decided to look there first. Erramir had also realized that he didn’t have his bag and he remembered seeing it in the dirt right before he passed out. They headed toward the scene of his fight with the cat.
“Damn, I had notifications before I passed out.” Erramir said.
Valerie, who was leading the way, looked over her shoulder. “Yeah, I’d still like to know what level that cat was. It definitely wasn’t a low-level creature, at least not relative to us.”
For a moment, Erramir didn’t know what to do. Then he remembered the notification light, and he pictured it reappearing so he could open the messages again. To his surprise, it worked. “Hey, I found them.”
Congratulations, you have killed Forest Stalker (Elite), level 5.
Experience gained: 3,762
Well done Erramir Darkfyre, you’ve gained 2 levels. You’re now level 3. Your 12 racial attribute points have been assigned. Your experience-based attribute point gains are as follows: +2 Strength, +3 Constitution, +2 Agility, +1 Twitch, +2 Willpower. You have gained 8 free attribute points.
(Equilibrium bonus restriction: Free attribute points held in abeyance until level 10 or until additional requirements met.)
Title Granted—Honor Bound: By defeating Tallimur, a vision warrior of the Blood River Tribe, you earned the right to assume the honor of his vision quest. By accepting, you have bound your life to the Blood River Tribe and to Tallimur’s familial blood.
Effect: Tallimur’s spirit has granted you the skill Predator’s Steps so that you may better uphold his honor and fulfill the quest he leaves undone.
Obligation: You must travel to Tallimur’s tribe and present yourself to the Blood River Shaman to gain the details of your vision quest.
Skill Gained (Atypical): Predator’s Steps—Allows you to move and strike with the silent grace of a deadly predator.
Effect 1: Activate to advance your Stealth level +2 tiers for 10 minutes.
Effect 2: Attacks to foes unaware of your presence have a chance to afflict your target with Terror for 3 seconds. When terrified, all but the most stalwart beings cower at the raw power of your presence and find themselves unable to defend. (Odds of afflicting with Terror based upon attacker appearance and relative power gap between attacker and target.)