by Evan Klein
“Kill it while it can’t move,” Bondi, holding a thin wand in her hand, yelled at me. I struck down and my mace caved in its chest.
“Fuck!” I screamed as razor thin claws cut across my legs. I looked down at my leg and that was when another of the buggers leapt onto my head. I must have looked like an out of control marionette as I was shaking my head from side to side trying to remove the fizzl that sat there while I kept running in little circles trying to keep the two away which were attacking my legs.
Angelica warned, “If you are scratched once more by their claws you will become petrified, and you will find yourself respawning back at Freehold. All will be lost.” I felt her gloom and doom, realizing I might be screwed.
I heard the thrum of an arrow and one of the creatures at my feet fell down to the ground, the fletching sticking from its side. Bondi aimed that wand again and the other one at my feet fled from me and attacked one of its own kind a few feet away. That still left the one latched onto my head. The fucker bent over and bit my ear, tearing cartilage. I thought I would pass out – red lettering flashed past my eyes. I’d had enough. Retracting my shield, I reached up with my free hand and pulled the creature from my head. Its claws held firmly but my strength won out after a few yanks. Once it was extricated, I held onto its scruff and slammed it against the trunk three or four times. It felt good! Really good! I tossed the dead and shattered carcass to the side.
With no enemies currently around me, I had a chance to survey the battle. The fizzls tossed themselves on Hearn’s shield. Now I understood what he was doing. Hearn was protecting the two pack horses who would have been easy prey. The fizzls furiously tossed themselves upon that shield. And each one that did died in a puff of smoke. I didn’t know how long his twenty five levels could hold that shield. However, sweat dripped from the man’s face and I didn’t think he would last more than another minute or so. The two archers stood back to back picking off any stray fizzls or shooting them before they could reach Gemil, Febus or Young Lucious. Young Lucious moved like a dervish, whirling and spinning with his two blades. His chainmail was mottled with blood but he seemed no worse for wear. Febus adeptly wielded his short sword. His strikes quick and concise. He did not move around like Lucious but spun around in a slow arc, as though anticipating where the next creature would be and striking at it like a cobra. A small pile of the fizzls lay dead at his feet.
“I can’t hold this much longer,” Hearn called out through the shield. I glanced towards him and saw that most of the remaining fizzls were now attacking that shield. One would drop but another would take its place. There must have been twenty or thirty trying to break through.
“Just hold it for thirty more seconds brew master,” Bondi shouted through the din. And she began a chant. About fifteen seconds into her chant she lifted her arms and pointed her palms towards Hearn’s shield. The fizzls began to die: one imploded, another one exploded, one burst into a ball of flame and then floated away as ash, another turned to water and spattered to the ground, one bit itself and bit itself until blood gushed from the wound, one aged a hundred years in a moment, its husk turning to dust, and the rest died in similarly gruesome ways. A moment after the final one just simply vanished, Hearn dropped his shield.
“And that, my friends, is how you cast a mass hex spell,” Bondi said pleased, a wide, Cheshire grin on her face. “Never had the chance to try it before. Quite fun.”
Notifications ran passed my eyes. “You gained two levels Mace, plus forty more damage points, plus another ten attribute points” Angelica said excitedly. “You also gained experience in your mace, shield and unarmed combat skills. Would you like to expend the attribute points now? “Yes,” I thought. “Please place five points each into Physical Strength and Physical Fortitude.” I would be fighting the skelters hand to hand so I dropped the points into the attributes that would best assist.
“But I did so little,” I said back to her in my mind.
“That is the beauty of a warband. The experience is shared by all. Nearly sixty of the beasts died between Hearn’s shield, Bondi’s curse, the archer’s arrows, the three warriors and the two you killed.”
“Three,” I said indignantly. Let’s not forget the one that Bondi cursed.
“Fine. Three,” she said, coughing and clearing her virtual voice. “And most of the warband gained one or two levels. Quite a useful battle.” I took a quick glance at my character sheet. Maybe I wouldn’t be total dead weight during the upcoming fight with the skelters.
Mace
Class: Constable – Level 5 (15% towards Level 6)
Sub Class: Firefighter – Level 1(1%)
Pools and Bars
Adjustments
Current Percentage
Physical Pool
100%
Magic Pool
100%
Stamina Bar
100%
Damage Bar
100%
Damage Points
Damage Point Allocation
Bonus
Total
Subtotal
Level 1
20
20
20
Starting fighter class bonus
25
25
45
Physical Strength 10
2
2
47
Physical Fortitude 7
1
1
48
Level 2
20
20
68
Level 3
20
20
88
Level 4
20
20
108
Level 5
20
20
128
Attributes
Attribute
Natural
Adjusted
Total
Physical Strength:
15
15
Physical Fortitude:
12
12
Hand-Eye Coordination:
6
6
Nimbleness:
5
5
Mental Acuity:
3
3
Mental Fortitude:
3
3
Providence
4
4
Allure.
7
7
55
Unallocated
0
Weapon / Defense Skills
Skill
Level
Percent towards new level
Blunt weapons (Mace)
1
32%
Dagger
1
1%
Crossbow
1
11%
Brawl
1
26%
Shield
1
44%
Special Weapon / Defense Skill
Power Blow (Mace)
1
1%
Non-Weapon Skills
Skill
Level
Percent towards new level
Examine details
1
1%
Investigator
0
-50%
Perks
Perks:
True Sight
Behind the Veil
Liar! Liar!
Glean Truth
Intimidation
Blunt Force Trauma
“Is every one alright?” I asked looking around. Everyone nodded they were okay. I seemed to have gotten the worst of it. I looked at my damage points and was shocked to see that half of them were gone. Haggerty had explained to me the prior day before that in most virtual reality and video games that characters would recoup all of their lost damage points when the leveled up. Immersion Online – Shannon really – did not adhere to that standard. I meant to ask him why she
was so opposed to the concept but never got around to it as we had moved on to other aspects of the game. I could imagine the benefits to the instant boon when gaining a level, especially in the middle of a battle.
“Damnit,” I muttered. Frustrated with how little I could still do in the game. Of course, I had only been online for less than a day so far.
“What happened here?” Mother chortled as the pony she sat upon trotted through a copse of trees. “An old lady goes to relieve herself and misses all the fun.”
I really didn’t know how to respond to that at all. Relieve herself? Did the Realmborn need to relieve themselves? Was the game that real? I didn’t know and I wasn’t about to ask.
“Nothing! Goddamnit!” Bondi cursed. “Nothing. I am getting sick of this game. Can’t never find any treasure from these random encounters. Waste all kinds of resources and get nothing back but a few percentage points added to your level.”
“Treasure yee seek, then treasure yee shall have young witchling,” Mother quipped. “Found a cave full of treasure when I went to pee, don’t ya know?”
“Treasure,” Bondi said excitedly. “Where? What kind?”
“I will show thee. Come all of you,” Mother responded.
“I will stay here,” Hearn said. “Don’t want to leave the horses in case the fizzls return.”
“And we must be quick Lord Mace,” Gemil said. “We still have a ways to go ere we meet the others.”
Mother turned her small pony about and we followed her about a hundred feet, and there, hiding behind an outcropping of rocks, stood a hole in the earth – a cave entrance. As we approached a notification ran across my line of sight: Abandoned Bandit Hidey-Hole. A band of bandits who used to waylay and murder merchants and wanderers used this cave as a hideout and a place to store their ill begotten booty. They have long since vanished. Killed by a group of bold adventurers such as yourselves.
“Such a strange notification,” Bondi said. “Let’s see what’s there. “ And the girl bounded into the cave like a child on Christmas morning.
I followed behind her trailed by the Realmborn with us.
A spell must have covered the cave entrance. Because the cave itself was dimly lit by what seemed to be magically illuminated torches hanging from sconces on the wall. The light could not be seen from outside the cave. The cave was no more than forty or so feet in diameter and the ceiling was just a few inches above my head. It was good that Hearn stayed behind as his head would have scraped along the stalactites that hung down. I had never actually been in a cave before, in real life or virtually. And claustrophobia crept in on me, a vice squeezing my chest.
“Let’s get this stuff and get out of here. We need to get to Shatana’s cave and really can’t linger here long.”
“The treasure is over here,” Mother said. I hadn’t seen her get off the back of the pony or enter the cave but here she was. She led us to the rear of the cave where a wooden chest sat with its top propped open. Behind it stood a weapons rack and a few barrels.
Bondi was going right for the chest when I said, “Hold on! I am the leader of this warband and I will check this out.”
“You don’t trust me,” she said.
“I don’t know you,” I responded. She nodded her head and looked down into the chest. I pulled out several items from it: an amulet with a green stone that hung from a thin silver necklace; a blanched, crooked foot long wand, a long dagger whose blade still shone after all this time, and a golden necklace. There were also an assortment of different coins: bronze, silver and a few gold. I carefully placed everything back in and said, “Gemil, do you mind carrying this chest outside? I think we can see everything better in the light.” I found it hard to breathe in that stuffy cave and wanted to get out ASAP if not sooner. Gemil lifted the chest and walked out of the cave.
An assortment of weapons crammed the weapons rack. Most were rusted or broken. However, several stood out and still gleamed: a short sword, a kite shield and a black broad sword.
“Lucious,” I said, “Can you carry these out?” I asked, gasping for breath.
The walls were really closing in now.
I was pretty sure Haggerty had arranged for a little something for everyone and a few feet from the rack there sat a wooden drum that held about a dozen arrows.
“Tenil,” I said. I think this is the last of anything good we will find here. “Can you take these out?” The young archer grabbed the dozen arrows and carried them outside.
“I followed her outside, and the fresh air (what a strange thought) was wonderful after the staggering confines of the cave.
“Let’s get back to Hearn,” I said as we walked the short distance back to the brew master.
“Angelica,” I asked my virtual companion. “How will we know if any of these items are special?”
“If by special you mean magical or well-crafted, there are ways to knows. Starborn and Realmborn can identify most basic magic weapons by just looking them, similar to how you peer at the stats of your compatriots to see their basic stats. For more powerful items, you will need someone with that perk, skill, or magical spell to identify the item for you.”
“I am going to give it a try. Give me a hand if needed, okay.”
“I would be pleased Mace.”
I looked at the dozen arrows first. I just had to think about identifying them and their properties were known to me: Basic Arrows of Flame. The archer just needs to think “flame” and the arrow will flare with a small fire that will burn for ten seconds or until it makes contact with a being or an object. These are real flames and flammable items can catch fire.
I explained the properties to Fenil and Tenil who seemed very pleased to receive them.
Gemil ended up with the short sword which had a basic enchantment upon it. The edge would never dull and would increase the amount of damage done. “Thank you Lord Mace,” the fighter said. I got the feeling that magical weapons in the hands of Realmborn this far from the big cities was an oddity. There might be one or two magical weapons in a whole village. And now they would all be receiving one.
The kite shield was also enchanted and was given to Febus. It had three times the durability of a well-crafted shield. It also had some resistances to fire.
Young Lucious ended up with an enchanted dagger that also had a blade that would never dull and would inflict additional damage.
The villagers spent the next few minutes admiring and then equipping their new weapons.
Hearn had been checking the straps on the horses and had not even been paying attention. I don’t think the man cared about any of the items. Calling out to him I said, “Here Hearn, this is for you.” The identification for this item had been a bit different. It said, “Blackthorn. The enchanted blade of Thomas the Razor.” He looked up from the mount and stared at the proffered black broad sword.
“It can’t be,” the big man said taking the sword from me. “But this was lost during the Siege of Brakenmoor Keep. The Razor cut down many an orc and goblin that day with this blade. But there were just too many. The more orcs and goblins we hewed down the more that flooded the walls of the keep – like a great tidal wave consuming all in its path. This sword was lost.” The man stopped speaking and said, “Thank you.” He mumbled something about how when he gets back to Freehold he needs to hire some adventurers to track down how the sword ended up here in the middle of nowhere. Sounded like a quest for the Starborn – just not me.
“I cannot identify these last three items,” I said to Angelica.
“You can only see basic items,” she responded. “These are to put it in game terms – higher level. You will need to find a mage or someone who can identify magical items.”
“Bondi,” I said. “You wouldn’t be able to tell us what these do, would you?”
“Bondi,” I said again, realizing the woman wasn’t nearby. I was about to call a third time when I saw her walking back towards here, three torches in her hand.
“What are th
ose?” I asked.
“These were the light source in that cave. They have an Everlight enchantment upon them and will not grow dim and will never go out. Gonna get some good gold for these back in civilization.” The woman placed the three torches in her back pack. I just shook my head at the woman’s avarice.
“Bondi,” I said again. “You wouldn’t be able to tell us what these do, would you?”
I handed her the wand, the amulet and the necklace.
She glanced down at the items and then looked at me.
“I can,” she said. “But it will cost you the coins that are in that chest.”
I was about to protest when she said, “I am not asking for anything extra. Though I know that is what you are thinking. I have to use ingredients to identify anything other than basic items… and those cost hard coin.”
“She is telling the truth Mace,” Angelica said in my mind. “But I will let you know how much coin to give her once she identifies the items.”
“Okay,” I said. “But we need to do this fast. We still have a few miles to go and our time is getting short.
Bondi pulled a small red pebble from one pouch and some dust from another. She tossed the dust onto the amulet, then crushed the rock in her hand. “This is actually quite good,” she said handing it to me. “It adds plus five to your strength attribute and provides an extra fifty damage points – which for someone of your level is quite a lot.” Thank you Haggerty I thought. Once Bondi had told me the properties of the amulet, I was able to see them for myself. I slipped the amulet over my neck and could see the changes in my stats.