“How’d you know that?”
“I followed you. I was one of the hares on the hill.” The wizard reached into his robe. I stepped back, expecting him to pull a weapon, but instead he brought out a roll of parchment. He handed it to me.
“This should be what you’re looking for.”
I put the map in my pocket. Jack looked at me. “What do we do with him?” he said.
Despite the wizard’s tricks, I didn’t have the stomach to kill him. Forest creatures were one thing, but the Pana coders had made the NPC people too lifelike. It didn’t feel right to kill the old man in cold blood.
“If we ever see you again,” I told him, “We won’t be so forgiving.”
With that I turned and walked toward the shack door. Then I stopped. Something didn’t feel right. I couldn’t tell what it was, exactly, but it was as if some instinct inside me was trying to warn me. I knew that it was my Awareness skill trying to tell me something.
I took the map out of my pocket and turned around. The wizard had a pleasant smile on his face. I held the parchment up.
“This isn’t the map, is it?” I said.
He arched his eyebrows. “I assure you it is.”
I was certain now. The wizard was trying to trick me again. Just as I had the thought, the parchment started to burn in my hand. I threw it to the floor. Steam rose from it and formed the shape of a skull in the air, then quickly dispersed.
“What the hell was that?”
Vinetwest sighed. This time he spoke, but his accent was different. His face took on a disinterested expression. “Bloody hell,” he said. “You just won’t bugger off, will you? It was a curse, if you must know.”
Awareness level up to level 3!
-Enhanced sight gained!
Clive hissed and raised his tail. Rex held his sword in his hand. Vinetwest looked at us, and he must have known that even with his high level, the odds were against him. Illusionists didn’t have much attack power.
“Fine. Take this then,” said Vinetwest. “I’ve had enough of you anyway. But I’ll be seeing you later. Don’t you worry about that.”
With that he clapped his hands. Like a pantomime magic trick, smoke rose in the air and filled the shack. I coughed as I breathed it in. When the fog finally cleared, I saw that Vinetwest was creeping away.
He turned to me, and shrugged. “Did you think I’d just vanish? I might be magic, but I can’t do everything.”
The wizard started to sprint away with a speed that I hadn’t thought him capable of. I thought about giving chase, but I knew that I didn’t have the time. As he fled away on his stumpy legs, I thought that my trap would get him. Seeing it, he leapt over it and then fled into the distance.
Quest Complete – Get a Map!
Rewards:
- A map, of course!
- 20 EXP (45 until level 5)
Chapter Thirty-Five
From studying our new map, I found that there was a different route through to the dungeon where the curse gem was. It was a river that started near our shelter. It cut through the forest and seemed to run under a chunk of rock, where it emerged two miles north of the Grey Plains.
“It means going back,” said Jack. “We’ll lose time.”
“But if it bypasses the plains, it means we don’t have to deal with whatever creatures are waiting. I’d rather take a diversion than risk a respawn.”
Rex looked at the map. He stood with his hand on his chin and tried to look dignified, but his canopy clothes made him look ridiculous. “I can craft a raft,” he said.
“Really?” asked Jack.
Rex nodded. “It won’t be great, but it’ll get us across the river.”
Rex put his hands down at his side. Clive trundled over to him and licked his fingers.
“That thing’s becoming more like a dog every day,” I said.
Rex stroked his Burr on the head. “Man’s best friend,” he said. The Burr looked at him affectionately, then turned its head and glared at me.
Three hours later we’d made it back to shelter, and Rex had gathered enough wood from the forest to craft a raft. We floated it out onto the river and then carefully climbed aboard. The wood dipped into the water under our weight, but it held firm.
We followed the river from our shelter. I had a long piece of wood in my hand, and I used it to row us along. A rain cloud gathered ahead and then spat down on us, and the drops made rivulets in the river. I saw fish glide by us and disappear.
As we made our way along, the river widened, and eventually I saw the rock formation in front of it. True to the map, there was an opening cut through the rock, and the river flowed in that direction. It looked pitch black inside. I didn’t relish having to trust the raft to take us through the cave, but we had little choice.
Just before we reached the opening, I heard something behind me. It sounded like the gentle splashing of water. I turned around, and I was sure I saw a dark figure swimming under the surface, twenty feet in our trail. No sooner had I seen it, then it disappeared.
Tracking increased by 25% - 50% until level 3
“Did you see that?” I said.
Jack looked around and then shrugged his shoulders. I thought it might have been my imagination, but I hadn’t received a tracking boost for nothing. Something was following us.
“Be on your guard,” I said.
Whatever it was, it was gone now.
***
After sailing through the rocks, we finally emerged on the other side. We steered the raft over to the river banks and climbed off. I stepped onto land, glad to be away from the water.
According to the map, we had bypassed the Grey Plains. I looked around. We found ourselves in a valley surrounded by mountains to the north, west and east. The hulking masses in the distance gave the landscape a bleak feel. Birds swooped in the sky, though they were so far away that they just looked like dark blots. I didn’t see any other signs of life around us.
We found the dungeon an hour north, beyond a vast lake with murky green waters. I was reminded of the figure I’d seen in the river. I still couldn’t shake the feeling that something had been trailing us, but I hadn’t seen any sign of it for hours.
The dungeon was cut into the side of a hill. The grass around it was yellow. The opening seemed to be cut into the shape of a giant mouth, with jagged rocks jutting out to look like teeth.
Jack was the first to approach it. He reached the entrance and stared into it, resting his hand on one of the rock teeth.
“Something stinks,” he said.
Sure enough, when I joined him at the entrance, I got the faint whiff of a rancid odour. Jack opened his mouth to speak, but I put my hand up.
“Wait,” I said. “Listen.”
A sound met us at the dungeon entrance. It sounded like something growling, though its faint volume made me think that it must have been far away. Clive took a step back and raised his tail.
“Keep him quiet,” I said.
Rex stroked the Burr. “I’m not a dungeon expert or anything,” he said. “But I don’t think we’ll get a welcome party when we go in there.”
I stood back. “It doesn’t make sense for us all to go bounding in. I’ll go in first. I have the Sneak skill, so if I’m careful, I can have a little look around before you guys join me.”
“Really?” said Jack. “Remember when you snuck out to a party, and Dad caught you trying to get back in the house because you knocked over a trash can?”
He was right. I was grounded for a month for that stunt. I was pretty sure Dad started trying to smell my breath for alcohol for years afterwards.
“Well, that was real life. This is Pana. I’ve got lighter feet than the two of you.”
With my friends in agreement, I walked into the dungeon alone. As soon as I stepped into it a chill hit me, and I felt the darkness gather around me. Some light would have been good, but for now, I wouldn’t risk it. The daylight outside gave me a dim guide, and I knew that carrying
a torch was a sure way to draw attention to myself. Besides, I was only going to scout it out.
I followed a tunnel that ran north. The dungeon smelled of dirt, and I heard water drip from the roof above. I couldn’t help feeling that the entrance of the dungeon really was a monster’s mouth that I had willingly walked into.
I went forward some more. The growling sound was louder now, and I sensed that something was nearby. I crouched down.
Sneak skill levelled up to level 2!
Just a little further, I told myself. So far, I hadn’t come across anything of note, though it was obvious that creatures were nearby. I took a few more steps forward, and soon I saw that the tunnel forked into 3 directions.
I tried to move forward, when I banged my head on something in front of me. I stood back. I couldn’t understand it. There was nothing in front of me that should stop my progress. What was going on?
I tried to move forward again, and I felt something hit my nose. It was as though there was some kind of invisible barrier. I reached out and tapped the air in front of me. My finger tip pressed against something solid, and the space in front of me shimmered and gave off a blue light.
Joining my friends back outside the dungeon, I found them playing fetch with the Burr.
“That was quick,” said Jack.
“There’s some kind of magic barrier in there. I couldn’t get through it.”
“Did you see anything else?” asked Rex.
“The tunnel goes in three directions after a while. Other than that, nothing.”
“Any hostiles?” said Jack, tossing a rock over Clive’s head.
“Just the growling that you heard. I didn’t see anything, though.”
I leant against the stone wall of the dungeon opening. If it was a mouth, I didn’t care anymore. Let it slam shut.
“We’ll need to bring someone else on board,” said Rex. “Someone who can use magic.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
I thought about it, and I didn’t like it. “I’m reluctant to add another person to split the prize money with.”
Both Jack and Rex looked at me now.
“You mean I get my own share?” said Jack.
“Of course. Did you think I was just going to leave you with nothing?”
He folded his arms and looked at the ground. “It’s just, well, with Ledfield Tours, I don’t usually get a share. So, I just figured…”
He was right. I couldn’t believe it hadn’t occurred to me until now. Ever since he was fourteen, Cal had helped us out with the business. He’d come on every tour, no matter if it was hot enough to fry eggs or cold enough for us to shiver our….
No. I knew the word that my brain wanted to say, but I wouldn't repeat it.
“Testicles,” I blurted out. The word seemed to echo around us.
Rex looked at me, then at Jack. “Something I should know about?”
“I just hate how we always say ‘nuts’ when we mean our testicles. Anyway, you’re right. You’ve always been there for the company, and I haven’t given you much back in return.”
Jack held his hands out. “Don’t worry, I’m glad to help.”
“The minute we leave Pana, you get a raise. And then I’m going to look into making you partner. When we win this competition, you get a cut of the cash. We need to buy the Gossard Forest license first, of course, but we’ll split what’s left between the three of us.”
“The three of us?” said Rex.
“Did you think we’d leave you out?” I asked.
He shrugged. “I just assumed since my father is loaded, and that you didn’t want me here in the first place, I wouldn’t get anything.”
With this, he looked down at the ground, and for the first time, I got a sense of how lonely he was. His father’s wealth had isolated him from most people. Rex was a guy sorely in need of friends. As if reading my thoughts, Clive stuck his rough tongue out and gave Rex’s hand a lick.
“That’s enough sentimentality to last me a year,” I said, moving away from the wall. “Now, we need someone with magic to help us through the dungeon barrier. We can pay them a set fee, rather than cut them a share. If we use an NPC, we should be okay.”
I unravelled the map. Much of the landscape around us was just desolate grass. The pattern was broken every so often by a hill or rock formation. Then I saw it. A few miles north, a wand symbol was on the map.
“It’s either got something to do with magic,” said Jack, “Or it’s a shop that sells the world's tiniest pool cues.”
***
We set out North toward the wand symbol. We’d lost more daylight than I liked, and I knew that Star Horizon would be around here somewhere. For all I knew, they were in the dungeon, and they were the ones who’d made the barrier.
Sure enough, we soon came across evidence that they’d camped out in the area. Two grey rocks were on the grass. In the middle, there was a circular pile of ash from where they’d lit a fire. I saw that the grass was littered with cigarette butts that the party had just flicked onto the ground.
In my research, I had come across plenty of articles about the presence of cigarettes in Pana Reborn. Some said that they were bad enough in real life, why have them in the game? The problem the makers faced was that since players generally stayed in Pana for hours at a time, they were losing a lot of the smoking crowd as subscribers. Most smokers found it tough to go half a day without their favorite weed. Consequently, the programmers had coded cigarettes into the game, complete with an authentic taste and smell. The concession they had made was that in-game cigarettes would not be visible or available to minors. Their legal ground was rocky.
“You better see this,” said Jack.
He handed me a note. Part of it was scorched by fire, but none of the text had been touched. I held it in front of me. The wind flapped at it, but I pinched the edges tighter and read.
‘Ellis,
Believe it or not, I have better things to do than watching your feed every hour of the day. For the money I gave you, I expect a return. And I demand updates. Don’t make me cancel your subscription.
If my son and his friends find Helder’s Bane before you, consider our business relationship terminated.
Terence’
I felt a lump form in my throat. Anger built in me so that I tuned everything else out around me. Rex looked at Jack, then and me.
“What’s going on?” he said.
“You look like your head’s going to explode,” said Jack.
The old bastard had double-crossed us. Not only that, but he also had some kind of connection with Star Horizon out of the game. This meant he’d betrayed me in real life, too. So, in that respect, he’d double-double crossed us. Or quadruple crossed us, whatever the best way of saying it was.
“Is someone going to clue me in?” said Rex.
I screwed up the paper and tossed it at him. He caught it. “Your dad’s a standup guy,” I told him.
I fought to keep control of my face. I had no idea which of my subscribers were watching right now. For all I knew, Terence himself was tuning in. I wouldn’t let him, or anyone else, see that something like a note could get to me.
I didn’t have to wait long for a distraction. As Rex read the note and I adjusted my inventory bag on my bag, I heard hooves. They came from the direction of the wand symbol.
“Get ready,” I told my friends.
I held Death Bringer in my hands. If Star Horizon were galloping toward us, my weapon would be useless. These were non-PVP lands, and I knew that some kind of magic barrier would stop me hurting another player.
Instead, I saw that just one person came our way. As their figure loomed into view, I saw that it was a woman. She wore a grey robe with blue stitching. Her hair was brown, but it seemed to turn purple when the light hit it a certain way. She’d cut one sleeve of her robe off to show her shoulder and neck. Starting from under her chin and stretching down beyond her shoulder, her skin was burnt.
When she was fiv
e meters away, she pulled her horse to a stop. The animal snorted. The woman reached into her robe and pulled out a wand the size of her forearm. Grooves had been cut along its length, little notches that presumably signified something.
“You better tell me who you are and what you’re doing here,” she said.
Suddenly, we heard someone shout from way beyond the woman. Matching it was the sound of hooves, but more of them this time.
“Forget the explanations for now, then,” said the woman. “You can probably see that I’m in a hurry.”
The Scout of Artemis (LitRPG Series): Press X to Loot Book 1 Page 13