by Tom Gallier
Spell of Temporary Blindness.
Possessions: (Click to View/Hide)
Weapons:
Knight's Sword.
Long knife.
Armor:
Steel cuirass (front and back).
Steel helmet, with red horsehair plume.
Magical:
Wolfsheart Spear. A Bound Object. Always strikes the heart!
Ring of Lightning. Can be used 30 times in 24 hours.
Staff of Calling. Call up the dead to serve your every whim. Must be -1 Dark and level 10 or higher to use.
Bracer of Subjugation. Collar and enslave friends and enemies alike. Build an army, or a harem. No usage restrictions.
Healing Potion (8). Will heal 20. Cooldown: 15 minutes. Can be used once an hour, up to 5 times in 24 hours.
Mana Restoring Potion (13). Will restore 25 mana points. Cooldown: 10 minutes. Can be used once an hour.
Money/shekels: 0 gold, 7.25 silver, 54.5 copper shekels
Wardrobe:
Spawn tunic (Cotton)
Warrior's Leathers (Black). Soft leather shirt (long sleeved), trousers, lace up boots.
Player Kills: 3
Deaths: 1 (89/90 days)
He was happy about leveling up, but that -1 Dark and three PKs gave him pause. Asha didn't like Dark players. Selling the Dark objects would clear that away, and push him a little into Light. Then he noticed the something added to the Deaths line. What did "89/90 days" mean?
"I hope Knaresburg proves a friendlier place than Oxenbluff," Killum said, heading back up the Forest Road. "And I pray Asha is able to catch up to us quickly and safely."
Chapter 19
Asha huffed and puffed atop the stone slab. She'd rolled to all fours immediately upon respawning. Her sobs had ended, but her body still trembled as the agony of her passage slowly faded away.
Closing her eyes, she struggled to forget what she'd just endured. Demons (there was no other way to describe them) had bitten off two fingers and her nose, as well as ravaged her body with cruel, bloody talons. It felt like they flayed her skin off.
"That was worse than the first time," the sorceress whispered.
She looked around the all too familiar Spawn Site. Her face heated up. Two deaths in as many days. That by itself was bad enough, and terribly embarrassing. In all of her previous experience, it had been the others getting killed in the Game. Her sterling reputation was taking a beating.
Checking herself for injuries, she found her skin flawless. Not even a scratch. "At least I'm restored to pristine condition when I die."
The sorceress found that she was back in her Spawn tunic, with the Dagger of Wrath laying beside her. That was her one Bound possession. No money. No sword. She lifted her right hand, fingers curling into claws and fire engulfed it.
"At least I still have my spells, though I lost all of my potions."
Her friends would surely keep her weapons and other possessions safe until she caught up with them. Though, if money got tight, they might rob her purse and sell her stuff. Asha resolved to catch up quickly. Hopefully, Knaresburg wasn't too expensive.
"Let's see the damage," she muttered, willing up her stats.
Current status:
Name: Asha
Race: High Elf (Desert Tribes)
Class: Sorceress (Novice)
Level: 14 (2% to next level)
Alignment: +3 Light
Health: 100/100
Strength: 20/20
Endurance: 30/30
Agility: 15
Mana: 175
Skills: (Click to View/Hide)
Possessions: (Click to View/Hide)
Player Kills: 3
Deaths: 2 (89/90 days)
"At least I leveled up," she muttered. A smile played across her lips. "Strength, Endurance, Agility, and Mana are all up and everything is at a hundred percent. Very nice."
She started to concentrate on Skills and Possessions to see what she had there, when her eyes fell upon the last entry. Deaths. It was obviously keeping track of how many times she died, but what was that "89/90 days" about?
Asha checked for, and still couldn't find the Help button. Why was she cut off from Admin and any other help? She had questions about the Game and how it was played. There wasn't even a manual available.
"This is actually too much like real life, and I'm not sure how much fun I'm going to have here," she said. "But I refuse to accept that I'm stuck in the Game. That's unacceptable. I will find the way back."
Until then, she was trapped in that world. With a thought, she changed back into her elven sorceress dress. Just before she cleared away the Stats Table, her health ticked down one to 99/100. That was followed by her stomach gurgling quite loudly.
Looking around, "I think I noticed some berries last time."
After checking her map, she headed northward. There were berry bushes at the edge of the forest, and she eagerly consumed her fill. Indeed, she was surprised by how much she ate. Her Health ticked back up to a hundred percent.
Congratulations! You've learned the survival skill of Foraging! Go forth and find food.
She took off running. It really was a visceral thrill. At the same time, she kept an eye out for herbs and wild vegetables. Nuts would be nice, too. Berries alone were a poor diet, and foraging was her only option until she reached Knaresburg and was reunited with her purse.
Soon, it was almost a game as she raced down one hill and let momentum help push her up the next. At one point a pair of squirrels "chased" her in the treetops, chattering away angrily. Asha spooked a hare, and then a trio of deer. Through it all she maintained an easy pace for an elf.
"This pace would kill Rand, and maybe Killum and Tiana."
Leaping over a creek, her foot came down on a slick rock and the elfmaid splashed into the cold water. At the same time an arrow zipped above her. Her battle-sense was immediately on high alert. If she hadn't slipped, she'd be a dead elf.
The arrow ended its flight embedded in a tree just few feet away. "Goblins."
Every race in the Game had their own style of arrowhead and fletching. Goblins also stained their arrow shafts green. Before she could contemplate her predicament, three goblins charged down the hill.
All were mobs, wearing black loincloths, feathers in their hair, and stripes painted on their faces and torsos. The sorceress threw a pair of fireballs at them, which they easily avoided. Just before they reached her, all aiming their crude stabbing spears at her chest, Asha used her levitating spell and propelled herself behind them before dropping back to the ground.
"Die," she growled, thrusting the Dagger of Wrath through the heart of one. Sheathing the enchanted blade, she snatched up his dropped spear. "I will kill you all!"
The other two were clearly freaked out by her flying over them. Her attack should've sent them running, but two more even larger goblins charged in. That forced her to give up ground, before spinning left to stab one of them in the kidney and kicking the other in the face. Before he recovered, Asha thrust her spear through his heart.
Congratulations! You've learned the Battle Skill of Spearman!
More goblins were coming. She could hear them approaching from two directions, so she set a path between them. The two remaining goblins began trailing her, shouting in their language.
Asha stopped and spun around, throwing a fireball into the chest of one. He screamed and ran away as the eldritch flames consumed him. His comrade froze, staring at his friend. She took the opportunity to impale him on her spear.
"Trade. Thanks," she said, abandoning her spear still in his belly, and took his right out of his dead hand. He also had a strung bow across his back with a quiver full of arrows. "You, sir, are too generous."
Five goblins appeared to her left. Asha cast Slow as Molasses. They came to a stop, shocked looks on their faces. She thrust the spear into the ground, and started shooting arrows at the bespelled goblins. One, two, three were killed before the spell began to fade. Th
e sorceress wounded a forth goblin, before she had to take up the spear to defend herself.
Congratulations! You've learned the Battle Skill of Archery!
The goblins weren't fazed by their terrible losses. Anyone sane would quit a fight so costly. No one ever accused goblins of being rational.
"You've made a serious mistake, dogs," she growled.
Two more goblins came up behind her. She shifted into a different defensive stance to keep all three in sight. One of the newcomers stopped and cocked his head.
"Is that the elfmaid we killed yesterday?"
"You're from that village? With Dukk?"
"It is her," he said. "She's the Immortal we captured and killed."
"That makes her more valuable as a slave," another said. "Don't kill her. Go for the legs."
"Aww, you're so not cute," Asha said. "I'm going to kill you last."
All three charged her as one. She threw her spear at one, then snatched up the bow and used her levitating spell to rise a few feet above. Peppering them with arrows put two more down, and sent the last goblin running.
Asha hit the ground running after him. All she could think about was how they captured and killed her, and planned to eat her. So disgusting! It was time to exact her pound of flesh now that she possessed the perfect spells to lay waste to a goblin village.
"Elf witch! Elf witch!" the goblin screamed as he ran.
The fleeing goblin proved elves weren't the only ones that excelled at running through the woods. It took all her strength and will to keep up with the little bugger.
"I changed my mind," she shouted. "I'm going to kill you next!"
Stopping to take aim, she released the arrow at his back. The ugly bastard topped the hill and vanished, making her miss by inches. Asha screamed in frustration and took off after him. She'd already used up more than half of her arrows. Worse, she no longer had a spear.
The village was spread out below when she topped the hill. Little round thatched huts encircled a central fire pit. There were also a good dozen warriors lined up between her and their homes. They looked grim and determined, holding their spears towards her.
"Wrong tactic, morons," Asha said, and pushed off as she used her levitating spell. That sent her flying over the warriors and the village. The sorceress began throwing fireballs at all of the highly flammable huts. Screams of fear and rage rose up. "This is what you get for killing me yesterday! My wrath is great!"
Asha decided she'd taken enough vengeance. Well, it was the dozen warriors racing after her below that decided it. As nice as revenge might be, it paled in comparison next to the horror of death in that realm. No revenge would ever be worth getting killed.
The shaman stepped out of a hut below her. Asha called up a fireball to burn his hut down, but he held up an elaborate staff with the skull of a buck, complete with a huge rack of antlers. Power fetishes and shrunken heads of men and animals hung off the antlers.
He shouted something, and it was like the Hand of God slapped her to the ground.
"Uggh!" she grunted upon impact.
"Grab her," the shaman commanded. "We will flay her alive."
"Actually, I have other plans," Asha said, still struggling for breath. She shot one, two, three arrows at the shaman, who held his staff out to create a magical barrier. By that time Dukk led his warriors up. Rage filled her. "You!"
Asha didn't have time to shoot another arrow. He was too close and running too fast. Instead, she dropped the bow, threw a handful of dirt at his face, and lunged toward him. Dukk had to close his eyes to protect them, giving her opportunity to get inside his guard. The sorceress called up simple fire, setting his loincloth alight.
The goblin warrior shrieked like a ten year old girl.
Grabbing his spear, Asha jerked it from his grasp. He was more concerned with his flaming manparts. The elfmaid turned toward the warriors following their war chief, impaled the first one on the spear and let his momentum help her fling him over onto the shaman. Then she spun left and right, kicking, backhanding, and stabbing with the spear. The warriors parted around her, giving her the space she needed.
"Hold her down," Dukk shouted. "I'm going to cut her head off."
"Goslin! Great God of FIRE!" Asha cried to the heavens. "Let it rain fire!"
The goblin warriors all ducked and glanced up, expecting her god to consume them all in flames. Instead, Asha barked a laugh and raced through their ranks to attack Dukk. He thrust a spear at her heart, but she smashed it aside and slid her spearhead down his shaft and right into Dukk's heart.
"Take that, you big bully," she said, kicking him in the face for good measure. And then she turned and threw the spear into the shaman's belly. "I curse your village for a thousand years!"
With that, Asha turned and raced into the surrounding woods. No one pursued her.
"I bet it was the thousand year curse that scared them and made them stop."
Chapter 20
Forest Road wasn't the most traveled dirt path in the kingdom. It was barely discernible at some points. Killum started singing the Daniel Boone theme song after a while.
"How old are you in real life?" Rand asked. "I think my grandparents watched that old show."
Killum laughed. "Mine, too. I love old TV shows like Andy Griffith, Gilligan's Island, I Dream of Jeannie, and, of course, Daniel Boone."
"Who was a man," Tiana replied.
"A big man," Rand said.
"With an eye like an eagle," Fergus said. "Yeah, we get it. Now sing the Beverly Hillbillies show theme song."
And Killum did, with the others joining in. They sang theme songs from the 60s and 70s until he stopped them in the low ground in the middle of four hills.
"I think this is the perfect place to designate our respawn sites. This way we'll be together if more than one of us is killed in the same fight," Killum said. "Now pick a hill and find a spot on your hill to respawn."
No more going all the way back to their original Spawn Sites upon death. He'd already made that mistake. Killum let the others pick their hills, and then took the one left over.
There were no clear spots on Killum's hill. So he found a relatively flat spot under an ancient oak. He pulled up his HUD and concentrated on the Designate Respawn Site button.
You are designating a new Respawn Site. This is the location you will respawn after death. It is your responsibility to ensure it is a safe location away from prying eyes. Do you wish to continue? Yes or No?
"Yes."
Congratulations! You have successfully designated a new Respawn Site.
Fergus was waiting when Killum returned to the road. The ranger was sitting cross-legged on the ground and eating some of the largest, juiciest looking blackberries he'd ever seen. The elf pointed at his questioning look, and soon Killum was picking blackberries from a little thicket of bushes. He collected a double-handful, but the backs of his hand were left scratched and bloody.
"Nothing is free," Fergus said. "And they are delicious."
Killum sat next to him. "I didn't realize I was so hungry until I started eating them."
The thief returned after he'd eaten most of the berries, and was full. Tiana happily accepted the remainder from him and Fergus. She finished those off and Rand still hadn't returned.
"Should we go look for him?" Tiana asked.
"No," Fergus said. He grinned. "The runt probably fell into someone's footprint and is struggling to climb out."
"Oh my god, you're ribbing him and he's not even here to defend himself?" she cried.
Fergus snorted. "There's no defense for him."
"I heard that," Rand shouted. "You stupid elven idjit."
"Wow, the dwarf turned into Yosemite Sam," Fergus said. "All he needs is a big cowboy hat to kind of look like Yosemite Sam, too."
Tiana and Rand went over to pick more blackberries, and then they hit the trail again. Rand lost as many berries as he ate, and many of them were lost in his beard. That reminded Killum of his own stu
bble. Apparently, he'd have to shave or grow a beard in this realm. Being an elf, Fergus didn't have that issue.
The battle-mage spotted the healing herb that the potions were made out of. It was more potent as a potion, but eating them would still help in healing. They stopped to pick them. Killum leveled up on Foraging.
Topping a hill, they stopped in their tracks and stared down at the fight below. A motley gang of cutthroats was finishing off a group of travelers. Men, women, and children lay dead at their feet. Some were already in the process of looting the dead.
"They killed children!" Rand cried.
Twenty vicious, scowling faces turned toward them.
"Well played, runt," Fergus whispered. "Good thing we just designated new respawn sites."
Killum's mind was running through options as the bad guys started towards them. Blood dripped from knives, daggers, and swords. Their clothes and faces were splattered with more blood and gore. He concentrated on them, noticing most were mobs. But there were five Immortals.