“I can read instructions,” Rose said indignantly.
And just like that I realized I just stepped on a relationship landmine. “I never said you couldn’t,” I replied. “I was hoping there was a diagram or something.”
“If there was, I would have told you,” Rose said.
“Okay, then I’m just going to pull the ripcord and run,” I said, retreating as best I could.
One hard pull toward the sky and the cord moved about an inch before stopping. A large semi-transparent red circle appeared about an inch above the tent and filling the area.
“That would be the circle,” Rose intoned flatly.
I figured that out for myself, but I wasn’t going to reply lest I make her even angrier. I quickly shuffled out of the circle and as soon as I crossed the threshold, the circle turned green and the bag opened like a flower in bloom, except instead of flower petals, we got a large white walled tent.
“That was a lot easier than I thought it would be,” Rose said, walking inside first.
Inside, the furniture was collapsed and strapped to the walls. We ended up with two chairs and a small round table taking up half of the room and a desk and desk chair taking up the other half. The bedroom had the queen cot and two small closets, one for clothes and the other a shower. And dangling from the center post was another ripcord that I assumed was to put the tent back into the pack for storage.
“Jack, put these pillows on the chairs,” Rose said, tossing four large pillows at me and a fourth smaller pillow. She then pulled out bedsheets and two more pillows. These were things I didn’t even think about when we were shopping. I don’t even remember purchasing them. Maybe Rose bought them?
I would ask her later. For now, a little work around the tent wouldn’t hurt. Besides, they were just pillows. How could I screw that up?
Just as I put the last pillow in place, Micaela’s voice filled the room. “Hey, this is pretty nice.”
“Thanks,” I said, looking around the tent appreciatively.
“You know you’re doing that wrong,” Micaela added, pointing at the pillows I had just finished putting on the chairs.
I looked from her to the pillows in confusion.
“I’ll take care of this. Olaf is looking for you,” Micaela offered. “He’s out by the perimeter still.”
“Okay, and thanks,” I said, not at all sure how I could have done pillows wrong.
I found Olaf in the middle of setting up a trap and waited patiently for him to finish. I didn’t want to startle him and have whatever trap he was setting up blow up in his face.
“Hey, Bye-bye,” said Olaf, standing up from his now completed trap. “How long were you standing there?”
“Just a minute,” I said. “I figured it was probably best to let you finish.”
“I appreciate it, but it was just a noise trap,” Olaf said. “I’ll be putting a few more noise traps around the outer perimeter and the deadlier traps around the inner perimeter. Don’t let me forget to show everyone the safe path out of camp.”
“Will do,” I promised. Dying while trying to leave camp would be embarrassing. “So, what’s up? Micaela said you wanted to see me?”
“Right, how did it go with the other camp?” Olaf asked, already moving along the perimeter and plotting out his next trap.
It only took a few minutes to share the details with him.
“A random stat point reward? Really?” Olaf asked, sounding surprised. “I suppose it was bound to happen sooner or later. I guess that means we’ve reached the point where stat points are going to be harder and harder to earn except in our primary categories.”
“Well, after level 20 at least,” I said. “We’ve still got that boost from the God Ivaldi.”
“True, makes me wish I had stopped at the library instead of just sitting in the forge all day,” Olaf said. “Oh well, no point worrying about it now. Hopefully I’ll be able to find something in town. Speaking of, that reminds me of the other reason I wanted to talk to you.”
Why did I get the feeling Olaf was about to give me bad news?
“I don’t think we’re going to be able to go to town today. I need to be a lot more thorough with the perimeter this time around, even with Perses here. If Titan decided to leave tomorrow, we’d be vulnerable,” Olaf said, confirming my fears. “I’m sorry, mate.”
It wasn’t Olaf’s fault. It was just the situation. Helping him setup the perimeter of traps would have helped speed things along. Unfortunately, my ‘Trap’ skill was nowhere close to his. I could see that just from the noise trap he was currently setting up.
Trap
Level: 6
Experience: 2.77%
Skill Effect (Passive): Knowledge and understanding of traps.
Subskill: Create Snare
Skill Effect (22 Stamina + Materials): Allows for the construction of a basic trap to catch small game. Chance to capture 25%
Subskill: Create Spike Trap
Skill Effect (22 Stamina + Materials): Allows for the creation of a basic trap to wound and slow. Damage 8-13 Chance to Slow 20%
Subskill: Disarm Trap
Skill Effect (22+ Stamina + Tools): Enables you to disarm a trap, more complex traps will require more Stamina.
I couldn’t even identify what his trap was meant to do. I only saw a glowing cord that I knew would disarm the trap . . . at least I thought it would until another string started glowing. A redundancy?
“Then I guess I’ll take Rose, Baby, and Micaela and get started on the Hunter’s Union quest,” I said. “If we’re going to track it ourselves then I suppose we should start by just finding a lion.”
“Alright,” Olaf said with a frown of disappointment.
“We won’t stay out long or go far. I plan to just follow the lake front, see if I can figure out which animals use this watering hole,” I said.
“I’ll be here, building traps,” Olaf said.
“I’ll ask Gr . . . erm, Sooty, if he can help you,” I said.
“Nah, I need the experience,” Olaf said.
“Alright, see you in a bit,” I said.
Collecting Rose and Micaela was easy, they were sitting in the two chairs our tent came with, chatting happily about who knows what. Baby, not so much. She wasn’t there and neither was Titan. They didn’t even leave a note.
“I guess you’re on healing duty, Jack,” Rose said, trying not to sound annoyed. At least, I was sure the annoyance was meant for her sister and Titan, and not me.
“We’ll be fine, my healing should be able to keep up. Plus, we’re not looking for a fight. Just scouting the animals that use the lake for water,” I said.
For the first two or three hundred yards there wasn’t a single sign of animals using the lake for water. When we saw smaller prints starting beyond that, I assumed it was just proximity to the Hunter’s Union that kept the animals back that far.
“What are these tracks?” Micaela asked, crouching down and pointing at some clear prints in the soft dirt.
Vision sniffed a few times. “Rabbit . . . but not rabbit,” he answered, looking rather confused.
Interested, I took a look myself. Hoping the ‘Chance to Identify’ part of my ‘Perception’ skill would help me out.
They looked like prints from a rabbit, but rabbits didn’t usually have needlelike claws similar to a cat. I had read about this animal back in Hurlig Ridge. “Horned Rabbit. They use their claws to give them extra traction to they can launch themselves at their target. They are herbivores. Usually, they just try to drive off any threats to their colony. However, when they swarm, they have been known to kill.”
“Do they taste good?” Vision asked, his eyes focused on something in the distance.
“I don’t know,” I answered. Curious if Vision had found the colony’s nesting ground.
“We’re not hunting bunnies,” Micaela said, instantly putting an end to Vision’s plan to feast.
Vision pouted and made his disappointment known as h
e vanished from view.
“How about this one, Jack?” Rose said, calling me further along the lake front.
“Foul Hyenas, those are definitely not for eating,” I said, giving Vision a pointed look. “In fact, Vision, if you see a hyena, you run. They carry a lot of diseases that you are particularly vulnerable to.”
“But I can fight,” Vision said.
“I know you can, but even swallowing a little of their blood can make you really sick,” I warned the Spirit Wolf.
“Are they really called Foul Hyenas?” Rose asked.
“Yeah, it’s lucky the lake is so large, they could have fouled the water if it was smaller,” I said, remembering the Bestiary’s entry.
“Wait, how can you tell a Foul Hyena from a normal Hyena or even a dog?” Rose asked, leaning close to the paw prints to study them closer.
“See the black tarlike substance in the print?” I asked.
“Yeah, what about it?” Rose asked.
“That is the diseased stuff their bodies are coated in,” I said. “As for the difference between a dog and a hyena, the hyena has an angled posterior edge and the claws are blunt, leaving large imprints. A dog generally has a triangular pad with a straight posterior edge.”
“And how do you know that?” Micaela asked.
“It was in the book,” I answered.
“Yeah, but do you know what it means?” Rose asked, smirking.
“No idea, but my UI is telling me what it is because I read the book,” I replied, giving her my own smirk. The User Interface (UI) was being ultra-helpful, giving me a description of the paw in a small pop-up window if I studied for a little time, actually pulling up the description from the ‘World Tree Bestiary’ I read way back in Hurlig Ridge. It was hard to believe that was only two months ago. So much had changed since then.
“Good to see some things never change,” Micaela smirking at the both of us.
“Do you know anything about the Mfalme lion?” Rose asked.
“No,” I said. The Bestiary had a lot of information about lions and wolves and their relatives, but I didn’t recall anything about a Mfalme lion. “But, B.T. did promise to share information, maybe I can squeeze some information from him or maybe he’ll have a Bestiary specific to the ‘Endless Savanna’ I can borrow.”
I couldn’t help but notice my ‘Perception’ and ‘Lore’ both gained a level from that and my Intellect and Wisdom both gained a +1.
“What about this one?” Micaela asked, hovering over another print.
It was bigger, not Elephant big but about as big as my own foot. Three toed with large claws . . . maybe talons. “Could be a bird,” I said, though there wasn’t a rear talon. This was more reptilian . . . and it stood on two feet.
“Smells like lizard,” Vision said.
“Can you see it?” Micaela asked.
Vision stared off into the distance for a minute before shaking his head no.
“We can track it,” I offered, feeling curious about the reptile myself. It could have been a Lizardman. Or a large reptile beast. Or a dinosaur. That last thought had me grinning.
“Another day,” Micaela said. “We are trying to find lions, remember?”
I sighed disappointedly. She was right, it could wait for another day. We spent a couple hours combing the beach for prints. I gain four levels to ‘Perception’ and six levels of ‘Lore’ in addition to +7-Intellect and +3-Wisdom. I still had a long way to go before capping those stats, but every point helped.
“Any luck?” Olaf’s voice carried from down the lakeshore as he walked toward us.
“All done babe?” Micaela asked as soon as Olaf was close enough that yelling wasn’t needed.
“Yeah, three layers of traps,” Olaf said proudly. “Lots of levels to ‘Trap’ and ‘Engineering’, and a handful of Intellect and Dexterity points made for a very worthwhile effort.”
“Very nice,” I commented.
“So, I ask again, any luck?” Olaf repeated.
“Not yet, we’ve seen maybe two dozen different tracks all belonging to different species. All of which come here for water but no luck on the lion,” I said.
“What about that one?” Olaf said, pointing into the tall grass about a dozen yards up the sloped lakeshore.
“What one?” I asked, following his pointer.
“The lion that’s crouching right there,” Olaf said.
I didn’t see a lion. I didn’t see anything in the grass he was pointing at. Not that I didn’t believe him, I just didn’t see it. Maybe it was a height thing, Olaf was a head taller than me and the bank rose up as if the lake’s water level was low, something I could believe in this heat. Instead of frowning and arguing with him, I jumped straight up, clearing 20-feet almost effortlessly thanks to my ‘Body Control’ skill.
At the peak of my jump, I saw the red furred lion Olaf saw and six more spread out along the rise of the riverbank, all of them prowling closer to where my friends and I were standing on the beach. All of them looking ready to pounce at any moment. And further back and not moving were two red furred lions with large bushy manes that were a much darker shade of red, not blood red . . . auburn . . . crimson maybe . . . whatever, they had red fur with darker red manes. It was too far to see the nameplate, but I was willing to bet they were both Mfalme lions. I took all this information in quickly, including the fact that the lion Olaf saw was looking right at me as I rose and fell through the air. My descent came fast and I wanted to make sure I landed as uninjured as possible, another ‘Body Control’ skill keeping me safe.
“Did you see it?” Olaf asked.
“Ambush,” I said as soon as my feet were back on solid ground. “Seven female lions and two males.”
“The Mfalme?” Rose asked.
“Couldn’t see the nameplate, it was too far away, but I’m pretty sure it was.” I replied, spreading buffs around. “I’ll be dedicated to healing. There are too many of them to fight without a healer.”
We didn’t have more time to prepare as all seven
With my limited part of the offense, I switched mental gears to supporting my friends. Already needing to heal Olaf, I could see one lioness limping toward him from about ten yards away while another was striking ferociously at him with her claws, tearing chunks out of his health.
Behind me, I could hear Micaela and Vision easily handling a single lioness as her ax, Butch, howled loudly before I heard a mewl of pain from the lioness. That meant Rose had two of her own, plus the one I stunned, trusting she would pick it up before it attacked me mid-heal.
“Micaela, as soon as you finish that one, help Olaf,” I yelled, Olaf was really starting to take a beating from the two lionesses. Whatever he’d done to slow down one of them had worn off and now he was struggling to ward them off.
I added a stack of ‘Beginner Holy Fire’ to my pinned target, resetting the timer, then checked on Rose. She was already down by half. Unfortunately, I was barely able to keep up with Olaf.
“Rose, back up to me,” I called out as one cast of ‘Beginner Heal’ ended only to start on another cast of the spell.
“What? Why?” Rose asked, grunting as one of the lionesses collided with her shields.
“So I can heal you,” I answered.
“You can’t do it from there?” Rose asked.
“Healing Olaf, if I heal you, he dies but if I don’t heal you, you die,” I explained. “I have one instant heal I can use on you but only if you are close.”
“Fine,” Rose growled, then grunted.
I put my next stack on the pinned lioness just before R
ose got to me. I put a hand on her shoulder and cast my ‘Embrace of the Goddess’, suffering the loss of mana and focusing back in on Olaf, whose health dipped precariously low in the couple seconds it took to heal Rose and renew my crowd control.
When Micaela and Vision finally arrived to help Olaf, I breathed a small sigh of relief as the damage Olaf was suffering dropped almost instantly. I could now see how Micaela was fighting. Vision had snuck up on one of the lionesses and tackled it to the ground, biting into the neck and shaking it vigorously, preventing the lioness from doing anything or retaliating. With it pinned, Micaela was able to start chopping into the body of the other lioness, whittling down the beast’s hit points.
I dropped a heal on Olaf then started healing Rose again. It was much more manageable. And then I died.
Mfalme Lion Lvl 23 does 1,939-damage to you with ‘Ambush’ skill and Mfalme Lion Lvl 23 does 2,054-damage to you with ‘Ambush’ skill.
Mfalme Lion Lvl 23 and Mfalme Lion Lvl 23 have killed you.
I wasn’t immediately sent to the graveyard to respawn, not that it mattered. Even if Micaela could resurrect me, it was doubtful my friends would survive without a healer.
Rose fell next, with the three lionesses and the two lions she dropped fast. Then they turned on Olaf who died even faster. And last was Micaela who appeared to have told Vision to hide before she died.
Combat has ended with the death of your party leaving no one capable of reviving you. You will be automatically transported and revived at the nearest graveyard.
“Well that was disappointing,” I said, feeling miserable over our first party wipe.
“That is definitely some kind of event,” Olaf said. “Any thoughts?”
“I didn’t consider the two lions a problem when I saw them. They appeared to be staying out of combat, but that clearly wasn’t the case,” I said.
“I could have picked up four lionesses if Jack could have used his crowd control on one of the lions. But that last lion still would have been a problem,” Rose said. “Honestly, we needed Baby for that fight, and I cringe to even say this, but Heath would have been a big help.”
World Tree Online- the Endless Savanna- 3rd Dive Page 18