The Curse of Hurlig Ridge_World Tree Online_1st Dive

by M. A. Carlson

  “This will need to be investigated,” said the sergeant. “I cannot, nor can my men. Bye-bye, Olaf, and Micaela, can I ask you three to look into this matter?”

  Quest Alert: The investigation of Lieutenant Graves 1 (Recommended Level 4-6)

  Sergeant Butters has asked you to look into the suspicious activities of Lieutenant Graves.

  Reward: Experience, Variable Piece of Gear

  Do you accept this Quest?

  Yes

  No

  “You bet we will,” answered Olaf for all of us.

  “Good, but remember, be subtle about it,” Butters urged us. “For now, back to training, all three of you.”

  “Sure thing,” said Olaf, seeming to calm at least a little. Micaela also seemed to perk up.

  “Bad guy?” Olaf asked quietly as I came near.

  “Bad guy,” I nodded in agreement to his question. I moved to follow Sergeant Butters to the training area and back to the mat. The man now carried a training dummy under one arm.

  “What’s the next exercise?” I asked reaching the edge of the mat.

  “Squares,” Sergeant Butters answered, placing the dummy in the center of the mat. It was different from the usual training dummies that were set up around the training ring. For starters, this one wasn’t driven into the ground, it simply sat stationary on a flat wooden base. Second, it had four almost bodies with four faces, one looking in each direction. It also had four arms that were angled such that they could belong to either of the bodies to its left or right. In each of the four hands was either a sword or shield.

  “Watch closely,” said Butters. He faced one of the body and face combinations. He then flipped or rather rolled through the air almost sideways, turning just enough so that when he landed, he was now facing the body and face to the left of where he started. Then he did it again, and twice more after that until he was facing the original face.

  “Start with that,” he said, then walked off the mat and back towards Micaela, who was swinging her axes wildly at her husband who was doing everything in his power to avoid getting chopped to pieces by the woman.

  I could do nothing but try the new step in my training. I had a good comfort level with flipping. The airborne barrel roll should be much easier. And it was, but only to an extent. The action was easy, getting the turn just right, so I ended up facing the next dummy, was not.

  I got the hang of it, only after circling the dummy four or five times. I finally saw my progress start ticking upwards, except that it froze at 35/100. I looked around for the sergeant, but he was busy with Micaela and Olaf, to the point of almost ignoring me, and he probably was, which meant I needed to figure out the next step myself.

  The most obvious thing to me was that the first time I went around the dummy to left. Shouldn’t I also go around to the right then? Turns out the right, was the right way to go, I got the next 5 points of progress.

  “Good,” said Sergeant Butters, startling me slightly, I should have expected him by now.

  “What’s next?” I asked.

  “Squares,” he replied grinning. “Watch closely.”

  He started the same way, an airborne barrel roll and upon landing, went straight into an actual roll, continuing around the dummy. The roll brought him back to his feet and into another barrel roll, finishing with another roll back to the starting position, all of it done quickly and accurately.

  “Get to it,” the sergeant stated simply. “Oh, and do not injure yourself rolling,” he called back as an afterthought.

  The warning made one thing clear to me, the barrel roll was not the dangerous part of this exercise as the air tended to be more forgiving than ground. I learned how true this was when I rolled the first time, my head getting rolled into the base of the wooden dummy, it was an excellent teacher.

  As with the aerial only excise, once I got the hang of it and got my first 5-points of progress, I switched directions for the last 5-points for this exercise.

  “Good work, off with you lot for the day then. I am sure Priestess Trinico is waiting on you,” Sergeant Butters ordered before motioning for his soldiers to line up.

  Class Quest Alert: Training with Sergeant Butters 4 - Completed

  Having put your trust in Trinico and David Butters, they have offered you training to develop your stats as quickly and efficiently as possible.

  Reward: +100 Experience, Acrobatics 50/100

  “So, this Graves jerk, what’s his deal?” asked Olaf, once we were clear of the barracks.

  “I’m not sure. The guy just seemed off to me the first time I met him.” I then told Micaela and Olaf the story of our first meeting the quest that led up to it.

  “Odd, why would he care so much about a little sauce?” asked Micaela.

  “I don’t know, but I intend to find out,” I replied, grinning just a little, which was apparently contagious as Micaela and Olaf were quick to join me.

  “Man, the stuff you find and get in to. I’m more convinced than ever that we need to form an Order,” preached Olaf, again.

  “And I’m fine with that so long as my only responsibility is to find these mysteries,” I replied. “That said, how long before you two plan on leaving this province?” I had no idea how long Olaf and Micaela had been playing or when they would have to log out for their mandatory week of rest from the game.

  Olaf sighed. “We’ll probably still be a while. While we’ve made enough money to pay our debts in RL, we need to build up a surplus before we can move on. And as we’ve been spending so much time training with you lately, we haven’t been able to do that. I’m not complaining or angry about it, just letting you know where we stand. Believe me, we’re actually happy to have befriended you mate. That said, I figure we’re a few weeks from leaving this province. What about you?”

  “Between the outstanding quests I’ve got to resolve, the available training here that will only be more difficult to find later, I can’t be too sure. I’ve got about two and a half weeks before my first month comes to an end. If I’m satisfied with what I’ve picked up by the time that rolls around, I figure it will be just about right to head to Root City and log out,” I answered.

  “We finished our week offline, right before we met you. In fact, that was only our third day back,” Micaela interjected. “That means we're almost on the same schedule. We’ll have to log out a day or two before you do.”

  “It may be too much to ask,” started Olaf, somewhat hesitantly. “But what if you were to log out when we do. To get onto the same calendar as us. I understand you might want to stay a few extra days here to keep training, but you can do that just as easily when you log back in and we’ll stay with you for it. What do you think?”

  “I’m not opposed, not at all,” I answered. I wasn’t against it. It would be nice to have dependable friends to game with on a fairly constant basis. Granted, we would probably get sick of each other eventually, but as far as making progress goes, it was always best to have a steady and constant group to work with.

  “Really?” asked Micaela and Olaf together, sounding surprised by my answer.

  “Yeah, really, logging off a day early is not the end of the world. Besides, we’ll know by then if we need more time in this province or not, so why not?” I replied.

  “You’re a good friend, Bye-bye,” said Olaf, a gentle smile on his face.

  “Nah, I’m just greedy. I am more interested in working with an Ogre Artillery and Shaman. I suppose it could have been anyone, honestly,” I replied, smirking a little.

  “Way to ruin a moment,” complained Micaela, trying not to grin too.

  “What a git,” Olaf added, grinning too.

  “You two should just be grateful you get to run around with a uniquely classed player,” I piled on. “I mean, who wouldn’t want to hang out with the fantastic me?”

  “I don’t know, you’re awfully scrawny,” commented Micaela.

  “And he’s a prude,” complained Olaf. “Did you see the way he turn
ed down that waitress?”

  “She wasn’t my type,” I replied. I didn’t want to get into all that. “She is just fun to flirt with.”

  “Awe, is our wittle Bye-bye shy?” cooed Micaela in a mocking tone.

  “Is he blushing?” asked Olaf.

  I could definitely feel my cheeks heating now. How did this get turned around on me?

  “Anyway, we should hurry on, I’m sure Trini is anxious to get our training done and over for the day.”

  “Way to change the subject,” laughed Olaf before suddenly turning serious. “About Graves, what . . . why . . .”

  “I don’t know. If you look at his level, he’s only level 9, while most of the guard is level 12 to 15 while Sergeant Butters is level 38, and Trini is level 36. Even the mayor is a higher level. Beyond that, he seems built to antagonize the players and the citizens. Every interaction I’ve had with him has been negative,” I answered.

  “Makes sense. But there is something more? Don’t hold back on us now,” Olaf insisted.

  “I only have suspicions. For now, we should just ask around town, starting with the mayor and his wife,” I replied.

  “Alright, we’ll trust you,” said Olaf.

  I could see he wanted to press it, but I was appreciative when he didn’t.

  Training with Trinico went smoothly. The puzzles were getting much more personal and significantly more difficult, just as Trinico had promised. I was only able to knock out 20 new puzzles gaining +7-Intellect, +4-Wisdom, and +4-Charisma. This, plus the +4-Strength, +8-Dexterity, +7-Endurance and +9-Stamina from training to learn the ‘Acrobatics’ skill made for a successful day

  I was also looking forward to getting to the 50-Strength mark. I needed that much to be able to equip light leather. I was looking forward to equipping that ‘Guard’s Light Leather Belt’ I had been awarded a few days ago. It gave me +5-Endurance and +2-Stamina plus some additional armor, it made for a solid upgrade from my current ‘Rope Belt’.

  What most excited me about that day’s training, was the new spell Trinico taught me.

  Lesser Holy Barrier

  Level: 1

  Experience: 0.00%

  Spell Duration: 10 minutes

  Spell Cast Speed: Instant

  Spell Mana Cost: 50

  Spell Effect (Active): Create a thin barrier of Holy energy around a target that absorbs 10-points of incoming damage.

  It was phenomenal. A 10-minute buff, reducing all damage received by 10. That wasn’t significant right now, but in time with enough development, it could become powerful. Unfortunately, it wasn’t considered Healing or Damage, so my holy Bonus did nothing for it.

  Trinico tried to teach me a bunch of other Priest spells that were in my level range too, but I was unable to learn. We both figured was due to my class, maybe something along the lines of being able to learn some Priest spells and some Warriors spells, not that warrior had many spells. Skills were generally unrestricted regardless of class.

  But regarding my spells, that was something else Trinico had gotten on me about. While preparing the training scrolls for the spells she wanted to teach me, she finally asked about my spells and how far I had developed any of them. She was rather cross to hear most of them were still level one. She made me promise to have all of them up to at least level 2 by tomorrow with ‘Holy Smite’ being up to level 5.

  “I should probably go hunting before it gets dark. Trini was on me today about leveling my spells up before tomorrow. Are you two good to go asking about Graves without me?” I asked.

  “Yeah, I won’t be much good outside of town until I get my hand-cannons. Just 2 more days and they should be ready. I should also have enough Charisma and Intellect, to start my engineering training by then too.”

  “I’d go, but I think a little questing with the hubby sounds fun,” said Micaela, she grinned and wrapped her arm around one of her husband’s, pulling it close.

  “Okay then, see you both tonight for dinner,” I said.

  “Later Bye-bye,” said Olaf with a small wave, he and his wife started walking toward the townhall hand in hand.

  My journey outside of town was nice. I took a moment as I exited to check my map to see what I hadn’t explored yet to the northeast. Everything north of the river was still blank but there was plenty directly east I hadn’t explored yet and the western side of the map was completely blank.

  As a completionist though, I knew I wouldn’t be satisfied until I finished uncovering every last inch this area had to offer. I trekked eastward, filling in whatever gaps in my map I came across as I went, killing the wolves as they attacked me. Sadly, they were now only worth +1-Experience each, since I’d hit level 5, but that wasn’t important to me. It was the effort I put into using magic to kill them. Each wolf took two casts of ‘Holy Smite’, one cast took out about 60% of their health alone.

  It also gave me practice with my ‘Perception’ skill, which I used to track them and pick out anything worth seeing. My vision also highlighted a number of plants now, but as I had no idea what they did or how to properly gather them, I left them alone. Still, experience was experience. The other thing I started practicing was my ‘Stealth’ skill. With the range on ‘Justice Bringer’ being reduced so significantly, I would need to be able to get close to my target to use it.

  So, I was grinding, and as much as I loathed it, I did it. At least I had a few goals in mind while I did, so it didn’t feel as grindy. I cast all three of my buff spells every time they wore off to keep working on those spells. I would have to get into the habit of buffing every time I could throughout my day, buffing Micaela and Olaf too. I had plenty of mana to do so now, the water in my canteens was enough to get by for about half a day before needing to be refilled, which as long as I was in town would not be an issue. But that did bring up another thing I needed to look into, getting better canteens, a better-quality water, or both.

  About two hours into my exploration, I found the portal to the World Tree. It was kind of awesome to behold. It sat on a large stone platform with a giant stone ring. The portal itself was a swirling green maelstrom of energy with sparks of electricity bouncing around inside of it.

  I checked my map once I felt satisfied with my exploration, I had everything East of town and North of the road all the way to the river drawn in as high a detail as I was capable of.

  I looked briefly at my game clock and it was barely after 3:00 in the afternoon. I had a good three hours left to explore with before I needed to head back to get some dinner, for now, I ate some of the Adventurer Jerky to satisfy my hunger.

  Next, seeing as I was already at the Eastern edge of the province, it made the most sense to me to go south.

  As I journeyed south, the trees began to thin and the wolves became fewer and farther between. I took this as a good sign right up until a attacked me.

  I never saw the blasted buzzard coming, not even a shadow on the ground. He must have dived from fairly high in the air, his first attack took nearly a third of my HP in one hit and knocked me to the ground. I got up quickly, immediately taking my stance, with spear and shield at the ready. The bird was literally flying circles around me. Thankfully, I was fairly comfortable with my ability to shift and pivot, always keeping it in front of me.

  The Condor attacked again, flying slightly up, then diving toward me with its talons aimed right at me. It was disappointed to meet my shield, then angry when the ‘Lesser Holy Imbuement’ and my spear tip lit it up with -44-HP. Almost as if on autopilot, I then smacked the bird hard with ‘Shield Slam’ doing another -52-HP from both the buff and the skill combined. It was barely down a quarter of its health after those two solid bits of damage. Knowing I needed to work on my casting, I chanted ‘Holy Smite’ on the temporarily grounded bird. It returned to the air after two casts, but I didn’t stop there, I kept casting it. It only attacked one more time. This time, I failed to block, taking damage from the bird’s talons. Two more ‘Holy Smite’ casts after
that, finished it off.

  When it was done, I was surprisingly elated. That was probably the best fight I’d had in the game so far. Well, so far as in most successful. Yes, I took the initial surprise attack damage and yes, the bird got me once when I failed to block. But I did block its attack, I used my ‘Shield Slam’ ability perfectly, and I had cast ‘Holy Smite’ several times to kill it. I guess, after reviewing the fight, maybe it wasn’t that successful, but it still felt improved in some way from my first fight in the game.

  I also couldn’t help but be excited about finding something new to hunt. Even though I still need to kill more wolves for my Charm, the next time I was in town, I would have to check the job board. I would look for anything related to the giant birds.

  I continued south but didn’t find anything, until the forest suddenly ended and sprawling out in front of me were rolling hills with tall grass up to my waistline, which was accompanied by a system message.

  You have entered ‘Rolling Hills of Evermore’ province.

  Rolling Hills of Evermore – Level 15-20

  The Rolling Hills of Evermore was once a prosperous land filled with farms and small mines owned by the Dwarven Hill tribes. This land has recently been invaded by the Gurtok Goblins and Dalrogar Kobold Alliance when the Dwarven Miners accidentally collapsed a mine on top of their deep-dwelling city of Daltok.

  That sounded awesome! I could not wait to explore this new province, but it was several levels above me, for the moment at least. It meant I had reached the edge of the Hurlig Ridge province, it made me realize that I could probably go further East in Hurlig Ridge, but I would have to traverse the mountains that blocked my path. It also made me aware that I didn’t have to take the portal to the World Tree to get to a new area to explore and adventure.

  Anyway, I went back into the forest intending to follow its edge and mapping the borders as far as I could. It was nearly 5:00 when I stopped walking west. I had mapped another six miles of the border which put me almost directly south of the village, which I felt was kind of a perfect place to stop. I wanted to explore everything North and East of this point to complete my map.