The other carried a crossbow and was dressed in similar armor to Bishop, but the quality was not as fine. “Is that wolf your pet?”
“Companion, earned him from a quest,” Bishop explained, and he pulled up the map. “Here, I ventured off the main road and found an orc camp. Gave me three quests, good ones too.”
“Where?” the priest brought up their map and compared the explored areas. “We were there. I didn’t see any camp.”
Bishop studied his map again and bit his lip. “That’s not right, it was right here.”
“Maybe we have to be a certain level to see it,” the other hunter suggested. “Come on man, we need to level up more before we leave this zone anyway. Next one is for ten to fifteen.”
“Are you guys doing all the side quests? Taking time to explore? You know it all gives you XP and rep,” Bishop said as he closed out his map. The two players’ eyes narrowed as they sneered. “Fine, never mind. Just trying to help.”
“We don’t need your help, man,” the Priest snapped. “We’ll figure it out on our own.”
Bishop held up his hand and let them pass as Willy growled and nipped at their heels. “Easy boy,” he whispered, even as he grinned. “You can bite them next time.” He approached Tavin and she lifted her mug to him in salute. “I’ve met up with you as asked.”
“Yes, and now the next stage of our journey begins,” she recited.
“Where do we go from here?”
“We must travel out of the Horsen Forest and into the outskirts of the realm of King Godfrey. The main road is safe, however there are other paths that will lead you to discover much more about this world, and yourself Bishop,” Tavin said, as she turned her piercing gaze to him. “My father was right to trust you. I see you have already earned the respect of one people. Let us see if you can also gain favor of a King who despises our kind.”
Bishop accepted the next leg of the quest to explore the surrounding areas on his way out of Horsen and report back to her any demonic activity. “Are there more chasms here?” he asked.
“We cannot know until we find them. If you find a door writhed in flame, use this horn to summon your companions and me.”
Bishop picked up the beautiful black carved horn. “Wait, companions?”
“Yes, you will need many by your side if you are to defeat Azriel and his minions.”
“Dungeon,” Bishop murmured, and he glanced at the quest in his log again. There wasn’t a dungeon sign by it, but he hadn’t actually discovered the door yet. “I will report everything I see back to you.”
“Very well. May the gods be with you, Bishop, for they may be all that stands between us and the end of Samar as we know it.” Tavin glanced away and drank from her mug of ale.
Figuring this was her way of dismissing him, Bishop stood and slung his bow over his shoulder.
“You walk a dangerous road, Bishop,” Tavin said darkly. “Be careful where your feet tread or you may find yourself lost forever.”
By the time he turned around, she was looking towards another player. His brow furrowed as he listened to her talk to the next player. He kept to the side, sorting through his bags so it didn’t look so obvious that he was eavesdropping, but when the next person finished turning in the quest, Tavin remained silent. If Dennis took the time to program each NPC to respond in certain ways to certain characters, Bishop’s level of respect rose another few notches.
He bought a few spring waters to aid in faster heals and some meat for Willy from the barkeep. “Let’s go Willy, on to the next town.” He brought up the map and saw the main road leading out of town and several different paths branching off it. “Staying off the main road worked once, let’s do it again.”
He saw the border of the zones and zoomed in on the next area. It stated the zone was for levels ten to fifteen and, when he moved up, he realized the next zone was indeed the main zone for the human race.
“Guess I won’t see Jimmy today.” He had no idea where the elf zone was, but hoped Jimmy’s quests would bring him to the capital of Weston and he could find his friend there. The word sounded weird in his mind. Friend. He had a friend. The last time he had someone he considered a friend was back in his gaming days before he lost everything.
The second you turn over information to Paris, you can kiss your friendship with anyone here goodbye, he reminded himself. They’ll hate you for it and you’re not stupid. You know you’ll get caught. Something will go wrong, it always does for us.
Bishop squared his shoulders and huffed stepping outside into the rain. Willy waited patiently by his side. Placing two fingers in his mouth, he made ready to whistle for his stallion when the ground shook violently beneath him, sending him crashing to the ground.
A loud horn blew and the NPCs all screamed and ran for cover. The players in the village drew their weapons and looked wildly around. The horn blew a second time, louder and harsher as a constant rumbling vibrated the ground.
“You will all burn!” a voice hissed, and Bishop covered his ears at the painful octave. “This world is mine! Kill them! Kill the fools who think themselves heroes!”
Bishop drew back on the bow as green flames fell from the sky. Each one hit the ground and, from it, sprouted a demon, horned and winged with swords and spears. They landed all over the village. Then, the sky split open on a crack of lightning as a massive fire ball hurled towards the village square. When the body unfurled itself, a smaller version of Azriel appeared, wings so large they encompassed the entire village. It threw its head back and roared as a name and two life bars appeared over its head along the name, Spawn of Azriel.
“What is this?” the angry Priest player from earlier yelled to Bishop.
“I’d say it’s an event of some kind,” Bishop replied, and he realized with a gut wrenching feeling all the players in the village turned to him for direction. “Guys, I haven’t led groups like this in a long time.”
“But you’re that Harrison guy, right?” the Priest, whose name was too complicated for Bishop to even try to pronounce argued, Benji something. “Jimmy’s friend?”
“Yeah but this…this is nothing like those days.”
“Come on, man,” the hunter named Giles yelled. “You know we can’t kill it on our own!”
Bishop stared at the two life bars over the spawn’s head and it was set at level 7—the highest of all the players gathered. If this was an event, they were meant for players to do in a group setting. That demon was strong enough to one shot everyone here, including Bishop if they tried go at it alone. He wasn’t even sure he was strong enough to take on any of the demons.
“Right!” he yelled, and he waved his hands for the other players to gather around. None of the demons moved to attack and he figured this was a good a time as any to get back into his raid leading days. “The Spawn is the boss! Do we have any tanks here?”
Two players held up their hands, Knights from their gear.
“You two are the key to this fight,” Bishop told them. “Tanked before?”
They both cringed. “Once a long time ago,” one said.
“That’s fine. This is what you have to do. DPS is going to focus on killing the minions first. Some of them look like they might heal the Spawn. Once the fight starts, we’ll pick them off first as soon as we figure out which ones they are. Tanks, you’ll have to focus either on the minions and the boss or just one or the other depending on how this fight works,” Bishop explained rapidly. “Trade off agro if you have to. Healers? You keep the DPS alive and only focus on tanks when they need it. Understand? DPS is going to be what protects you guys from the demons until we can attack the boss as a group.”
The thirteen players nodded their heads.
“I’m going to form a group and then we’ll attack. If you pull agro, let the tanks know so they can get it back.” Bishop pulled up the group menu and pointed to all the players standing before him. “Right, we’re all in a group now. Side quests might pop up once we get into this, but we�
��ll worry about those when they happen. Everyone ready?”
Giles thrust his hand up into the air and shouted, “For Horsen!”
The other players burst out laughing but soon joined him, Bishop’s yell the last to echo out over the storm. As a group, they turned to face the event.
Bishop bowed his head to Willy and the wolf snarled, throwing its ears back before unleashing a loud howl. The demons snarled and covered their ears as more howls sounded back at him and Willy charged in. The tanks yelled as they Heroic Leaped into the midst of the demons and pulled everything on them. Bishop, Giles, and the other hunter took up their places in front of the healers and focused on clearing out the minions. The Spawn roared and went for the tanks as they were surrounded by the demons.
“Shit! I can’t keep up!” one of the healers yelled.
“Stay focused!” Bishop told him, watching Willy charge into the fray and attack demons. From out of the corner of his eye, he spotted more flashes of white fur and watched in stunned silence as more wolves leapt into the fight.
“Did you know he could do that?” Giles yelled.
“No,” Bishop replied. “Keep targeting the minions!”
The tanks took a few heavy hits. Thankfully, the healers were keeping close watch. A few demons broke loose and charged towards them, but two of the DPS Monks and a thief went after them, taking them out before they were able to do any damage.
A side quest bloomed to life in front of Bishop’s face.
“Alright! Giles and Sorgon!” he said, pointing to the Hunter and Monk. “Go and save the villagers!”
The two nodded and took off to complete the side quest. Six minions remained and Willy’s help faded away. Figured it would be an ability that only lasted so long, but it certainly put a dent in the minions. Bishop tested out one of his new kill shots, Holy Revenge, on a demon with three fourths health that attacked him earlier. He watched it obliterated with holy light.
“Nice, man!” the Priest cheered.
Bishop’s face stretched into a grin as he targeted the next minion. Before long, the Spawn was the only enemy left in the village. Giles and Sorgon gave him a thumbs up and he spotted the completion of the bonus objective.
“Everyone focus on the boss! Watch out, might have special attacks!” Bishop warned.
He was lost at what these bosses might do during an event, but imagined anything was possible. Especially when the Spawn vaulted its body into the air and circled around the village. Bishop kept his bow trained on the beast as it opened its mouth.
“Stay out of the fire!” he yelled, as a massive wave of green flames fell over the town. The NPCs screamed, running away, but the players were the only ones taking any real damage.
The tanks were hit first, although they managed to get out fast enough to stay alive. From the look of their gear, the flames had dealt some hefty damage. He and the other hunters jumped out of the way of the fire, catching minimal damage, but the Priest wasn’t quick enough and was too squishy to withstand the heat. He yelled a curse as the fire drained his life and his body hit the ground. A blue ball of light hovered over it.
The Spawn hit the ground again and roared as it drew a sword from thin air.
“Focus on him! He’s got half-life left! We can do this!” Bishop targeted the Spawn as Willy latched onto the demon’s leg. The Spawn bellowed in rage and flapped his wings, sending a windstorm through the village. Bishop grunted as his life drained from the wave and the players around him cursed and yelled trying to stay on their feet.
He was not going to die. Not today. He slung his bow over his shoulder, drew out his dagger and, with a mighty burst of speed, charged at the demon using Slash Attack. He rallied the other players and, together, they surrounded and attacked the demon. Even the healers stopped their healing and Bishop’s eyes spotted the casting of light magic exploding around the demon’s face, blinding him. He threw his massive arms up to swipe at them, but then the last bit of his health drained and his body crumpled in on itself, crashing to the ground.
The sky cleared and the NPCs cheered and clapped. Bishop fell to the ground as Willy plopped down beside him licking his face. The other players all clapped and hugged each other, and Bishop watched as a list of possible loot items scrolled across his vision.
A bow popped up for his level with incredible stats, blue level. He pressed the need button and passed on everything else. A few seconds later, the bow appeared in his bags and he chortled in disbelief.
You have reached level 8.
New Skills Gained: Increased Swift Bow, Poisoned Barbed Arrow, Set Trap.
You have received: Bow of Demonic Fire. Damage 30-40. Agility +10. Vitality +7. Strength +4. Bow contains ability to use demonic fire oils.
“Oils, guess I’ll have to pick some of those up,” Bishop murmured, as he held the obsidian colored bow in his hand, testing the pull of the string. “Very nice indeed.” He wondered how much difference the use of oils would make, but doubted he could purchase them here. This town was fairly small with no trainers in sight.
“Anyone have a res available?” Giles called out.
Bishop shook his head. Another player hurried over and cast a res over the glowing blue orb of the priest player which then fell back into the body on the ground.
It took a few moments for the Priest (Bishop decided he was going to call Benji for short) to regain his composure once he had made it back into the world of the living. He looked livid and disoriented.
“Anyone else just land some awesome gear?” Sorgon asked, holding up a new sword. “These events are my new favorite part of this game. Thanks Bishop!”
“Don’t thank me, I didn’t create the game.”
“Nah man, you just helped us survive our first epic fight. First dungeon, I’m naming Bishop as leader!”
The rest of the players nodded in agreement. Bishop rubbed at the back of his neck and his face burned. He wasn’t sure what to tell them since none of them knew how the dungeons would work yet, but a message appeared over the village.
All Players please log out for the day. Thank you.
“Dinner bell’s ringing folks,” Giles announced. “And I’m starving! Can’t wait to tell the guys about this.”
Bishop hated to log out two levels away from ten and picking his spec, but he knew they wouldn’t let him hang around long enough to do that many quests. Hitting ten was going to take a while he felt. That’s how most games were designed; make it increasingly harder to reach the next level.
Reluctantly, he logged out with the rest. As the timer counted down his time to log out, he rested his hand on Willy’s furry head. “Don’t worry, boy. I’ll be back before you know it.”
Willy rubbed his head against Bishop’s hand until he faded from view and Harrison Harper was back in the gaming facility staring at the smiling face of Tyler.
“Welcome back again, Mr. Harper. You must’ve been doing some crazy stuff in there.”
“You have no idea,” he said. “Jimmy! Man, do I have some news for you buddy.”
Chapter 5
Harrison and Jimmy stayed up with most of the other players late into the night telling stories of their first day inside the game. A few of the players from the demon storyline joined in and Harrison found himself jealous not to have been picked as a villain. Their beginning area was in the demon world and they had to break through into Samar as part of their beginning quests.
It was after midnight by the time they all took off for their rooms, though Harrison doubted he would sleep much at all. The first day in the game did much to guide him back to the man he used to be a long time ago. A man who cared about his friends and his family more than money or booze.
As he lay in bed that night, sweating his addictions away, he dreamt of his wife and William his son. How much he wanted to hold them again! When he opened his eyes at seven the following morning, he was more determined than ever to get through this game and start his life over, hopefully with his family back in
it.
Over breakfast, he and Jimmy made a plan to reach the human capital that day so they could meet up in the game. No other players, unless they were from the human race, made it to Weston yet or seen this King Godfrey character and, as far as Harrison knew, no one had been involved in a PVP fight yet either. He was curious to know how they would work and how good some of these other players were.
Leaving the hall with Jimmy, chatting excitedly beside him, Harrison spotted a familiar head in front of them and his heart nearly leapt out of his mouth. The head moved deeper into the crowd and, by the time Jimmy and Harrison reached the hall with the glass walls and their computer stations, Harrison lost him.
“Maybe you did need more sleep,” Jimmy mused. “You look off this morning.”
Rodney. Harrison swore he saw Rodney. But the other players ushered him into the room. “Nah, just distracted. I think I’m close to Weston, but could be wrong. Still guessing at its general location.”
“From what the other human players are saying, it’s in the middle of the ten to fifteen level zone,” Jimmy told him.
“That’d be more helpful if I knew where the middle was,” Harrison said with a wink.
“Yeah, well we’re going to get there today. What level are you at anyway?”
“Mr. Harper is currently level 8 I believe, thanks to that final event yesterday,” Dennis said, as he approached. “One of the highest levels amongst the players after only one day in the game.”
“Guess I never lost my touch.” Helped that he found those extra quests, too. He was still curious about why the other players hadn’t been able to find them. They were really what gave him that final boost towards ten. He stepped over to his spot and rested his back against the cushioned board as Tyler hooked up his fingers. “I wanted to ask you, is there a specific reason why a quest would pop up for one player, but not another?”
Dennis smiled and clasped his hands behind his back. “To which quest are you referring?”
“I managed to earn a companion, a white wolf in the Horsen Forest,” he explained. “But a few other players said they passed the same way and never saw the camp or quests that came from it.”
The Wraith of Valenastrious: A LitRPG Epic (World of Samar Book 1) Page 6