The Curse of Hurlig Ridge_World Tree Online_1st Dive
Page 55
I stretched a little, not because I needed to, but because it felt good. I didn’t stop to appreciate it very often, but this body, this avatar, was kind of amazing. I was strong, agile and capable. Efforts that would have left me gasping for breath in the RL, or real life, were now so effortless. I hoped, when I finally logged out, it would be just as effortless. I also knew I had to temper my expectations. It would take at least one more session to truly repair my body. I say repair, even though it’s not actually broken, but the years of bad food habits and lack of exercise certainly had a negative effect on my health. Still, that was a worry for next week. Today, I had things to accomplish.
I dressed and made my way downstairs where I found Micaela, Olaf, and Heath all waiting.
“Morning, Cool Stuff Finder,” greeted Heath. “Ollie and Mic have just been giving me their pitch for forming an order. I’ve got to say, it sounds bloody brilliant. If you can find the sort of things these two say you can, then I just might be inclined to join up.”
I looked to Olaf and Micaela, who nodded to me. “I see, and it had better not be ‘Cool Stuff Finder’,” I warned then, sending a glare specifically toward Micaela.
“Awe, but I like that rank idea,” Micaela pouted. “It fits you so well too.”
“Never happening,” I replied flatly, taking a seat and waving to Dogson for my breakfast.
A few minutes later, a tired looking Baby floated down the stairs.
“Morning, Baby, not get much sleep?” I asked.
“No, Rosie was up late hissing back and forth with Panther, working on her enchanting. I could have dealt with the candlelight, but her hissing was just too creepy. It gave me nightmares about being eaten by snakes and snakemen,” Baby answered, finishing with a big yawn, looking super cute.
“Aw, poor little girl, I’ll have a word with your mommy. Little girls need their sleep,” said Heath.
“Oh, stuff that,” said Baby. “Look, Rose is my baby sister. I’m just playing a character that has the body of a child.”
“So, you’re saying, she doesn’t have any baggage?” asked Heath, a lecherous grin forming on his face. I felt a strong urge to wipe that look right back off.
“My sister has plenty of baggage, but having a small child, is not one of them,” Baby replied. “However, if you want to continue to work with us, then I need it to be clear up front, my sister is permanently off your radar. There are plenty of other women around here, I’m sure are more than willing to give you time and attention. Maybe you should stick with the one you left with last night, that Arial girl, the one that was hitting on Bye-bye, seems more appropriate. Am I clear?”
I was suddenly looking at Baby in a new light. She had always been so compliant and kind. Always playing peacemaker. Maybe, that was why I had always associated her with just being a super cute and kind person. Something about her right now, looked neither cute nor kind. She looked fierce and strong.
“Baby is right,” said Micaela. “We’re happy to have you along but we won’t tolerate any nonsense. If you’re going to pursue Rose, then you had better be serious about it, or I’ll make you hurt in ways you can only imagine.”
Heath sobered up or rather just became more serious before he spoke next. “You make a perfectly valid point. One should not dip their pen in company ink, as they say. I understand your reasoning, and to be honest, I’m not looking for anything serious, so I’ll abide and keep clear. Just keep in mind, she might not keep clear of me.”
“Oh please,” chortled Micaela. “The only reason, Rose would pay you any mind, is if she was trying to make someone else jealous.”
Who was Rose trying to make jealous? Did that mean there was someone Rose liked? I know she kissed me on the cheek before, but that was just a friendly thank you, wasn’t it? The idea, Rose was interested in someone made me feel a little sad for some reason.
“Morning, all,” greeted Rose, distracting me from my thoughts as her armor clanked with each step down the stairs. I hadn’t paid much attention, but her armoring looked so much different. A large portion of her orange copper armor had been replaced with dark red and black pieces.
It also made me realize, I hadn’t paid much attention to any changes in my friends’ armor and gear.
Micaela still wore the mining overalls but now she had stone plated boots and stone plated gauntlets, I assumed they were totems, but I hadn’t asked about them or even noticed.
Olaf wore several pieces of camouflaged armor covering his hands and legs, even his artillery pack was now camouflaged. He also had a bandoleer across his chest, some kind of bombs hung from it.
Baby’s appearance hadn’t changed much, but I did notice she now had a few rings on her fingers, a bracelet around her left upper arm. Also, the wand, usually hovering at her hip, was different. The previous wand was little more than a gnarled tree branch, this one was smooth, straight, and polished to a nice luster.
Heath hadn’t changed at all, but I’d only known him a few days.
Looking at my friends, it made me realize just how much we had all changed. I doubt I’d even recognize myself from my first day.
“So, what’s the plan today? Seeing the sergeant first or right out to capture the wolf?” asked Rose, sitting down next to me.
“I think we need to get the wolf first, just in case there is another step in the quest chain. The questioning of the dead guard is scheduled to start at 8:00 tonight, according to my quest timer,” I answered.
“Works for me,” said Rose, signaling Dogson for her breakfast.
Breakfast was eaten quickly now that we were all here and ready for adventure.
We found our first
“That could be a problem,” commented Olaf.
“Yes, yes it could be,” I replied, still not believing I just one shot the wolf. I did the math on my damage and I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised. The base damage on my spear while equipped one-handed, was only 7-8 damage. But then, I had 66-Strength with all my gear, each point adding 1-point of damage. ‘One-Handed Polearms’, at level 31, added another 15.50-damage and finally ‘Lesser Holy Imbuement’ added 7-8 base damage, plus my holy spell damage bonus of 94. I don’t know why I was so surprised when the
“Can anyone hit a wolf just hard enough to drop it down to 25% health?” I asked.
“I might be able to with just ‘Shield Slam’,” offered Rose.
“Can we try?” I requested.
It took a few minutes for me to spot another set of tracks and another minute to find the
“Ladies first,” I motioned for Rose to go ahead. She struck hard and fast, charging in and knocking the
“Just one more hit I think,” I said, watching the enemy health bar closely. I had my net ready to capture the beast the moment I was able to.
“Right,” said Rose, smacking it one more time with her shield. Seeing 45% of the beast’s health vanish almost made me panic. It was now down to just 2% health. “Oops,” she laughed. “Critical strike,” she explained.
Thankfully it was still alive, I used my ‘Net Toss’ skill. The net enveloped the wolf and I yanked back on the tether drawing the net closed around the wolf. It continued to thrash but reflected a ‘Captured’ debuff all the same.
“Nice, now we just have to drag it back to town,” said Heath. “Not bad work everyone, well done.”
“What exactly did you do, Heath?” asked Rose, a small glare aimed at him.
“I was instrumental in this capture. I gave you the courage you needed to face such a fierce animal,” Heath answered.
Rose tried to continue glaring but gave up and laughed. “Just keep telling yourself that.”
&nbs
p; “I do every day,” the thief retorted, a grin of his own in place.
“Alright, folks, let’s get this brute back to town,” I said, trying to move the group along.
I end up having to manage the brunt of the work. No one could approach the captured wolf without risking the beast snapping at them. As a result, I had to drag the netted and captured beast along the ground behind me, steadily draining my stamina.
“Oi, what’s the big idea?” asked the guard on duty, his sword drawn, while he glared at the wolf.
He looked familiar to me, but I haven’t met all of the different guards yet.
“Kill that rotten beast. How dare you bring it into our town?” the guard demanded.
Now I recognized him. He was one of the guards with the sergeant when I found Davies’ body. He had a strong dislike of the wolves. It seemed, nothing had changed.
“No can do,” I replied. “I’ve been ordered to bring a captured wolf to High Priestess Trinico.”
The guard huffed and glared, but eventually relented. “Fine, go on.”
“Not the nicest fellow, is he?” asked Heath.
“Seems to have a personal grudge against wolves,” I replied.
“As I understand it,” started Olaf. “The wolves have been tormenting this town for generations.”
“Nearly three centuries,” I added. I had read the town history, or at least the first 100 years of it, and I knew there still several volumes of it to go. I doubted, I would read any more of it, unless I was really bored.
We got plenty of looks from players and citizens alike as I continued to drag the netted wolf through the streets.
Inside, Trinico was once again standing at her pulpit, a line of players waiting to speak with her.
“Morning Trinico,” I greeted, struggling with the now very agitated wolf. “Sorry to interrupt but I brought the wolf and he is most unhappy to be here.”
“Apologies, everyone, I’m afraid this is urgent business I have to address,” Trinico said to the waiting line, getting several groans of disappointment. She then turned to me and my friends. “Follow me,” she ordered.
The priestess led us through the temple to one of the many alcoves. This one though was covered in Norse symbols and the depictions of the many gods, all of which, I recognized from my research.
“Place the beast in the center of the alcove,” Trinico instructed.
I dragged the beast in, carefully maneuvering so the beast wouldn’t bite me through the net.
“Very good, step back,” Trinico warned. Then she began to pray in Ancient Norse. After a moment, I felt something shift as a shadow fell over us. I turned to look for the source of the shadow, only to see, possibly the largest wolf ever towering over us and filling most of the temple.
“Show me,” the giant wolf ordered.
We parted to either side of the alcove to allow the god better access to see the cowering, trapped wolf. It was clearly terrified of the being standing over it.
“Lord Fenrir, we are grateful to you for your assistance,” said Trinico, bowing formally to the god, now standing in our presence. “Please, guide us in breaking the curse placed upon our village by one of the fallen.”
“My sons cause nothing but heartache to me. Always striving to win, competing against each other, and not caring such a thing could end all of us, nor care for the damage they cause. It disappoints me so,” stated the God, his voice sounding both angry and disappointed.
The God Fenrir sounded remorseful to me, sad even. I felt for him.
The God Fenrir leaned his massive head closer to the trapped wolf, then breathed in deeply before exhaling a powerful breath, filling the temple and extinguishing candles all around us, blowing offerings away as well. But what I was interested in, was the black shadowy mist blown free from the trapped wolf.
“Hati!” Fenrir howled angrily, shaking the foundation of the building and rattling the glass. “How dare that child corrupt my children, all to stop his twin from gaining power.”
“How can we serve you, great God Fenrir?” Rose asked, stepping forward and bowing.
“Hmm, a servant of Lilith seeks to help me, how odd. And what’s this, a servant of Issara as well,” he said looking from Rose to me. I was slightly worried we were both about to become a snack for this god.
Rose’s Charisma was still not high enough if I had to guess. I stepped up next to her, bowing as well. “I serve the Goddess Issara, as an agent of her justice. Your children have placed a curse on this village, the people deserve justice. Please, tell us how we might break this curse and bring justice to these people. How can we serve to help your other children, those who have been tainted?”
“Hmm, these two fleshlings are interesting. I shall have to keep an eye on them,” said the God Fenrir, sounding amused. “Very well, if you wish to serve, then you shall. Find me the leader of this pack and bring him before me. The taint of Hati must be cleansed at its source.”
Quest Alert: Breaking the curse of the Wolves 3 (Recommended Level 4-5) - Completed
In speaking to Trinico, you have determined there may yet be more to this curse. You have been tasked to capture one alive and bring it before the Norse gods.
Reward: +500-Experience
A moment later we got the next quest in the chain.
Quest Alert: Breaking the curse of the Wolves 4 (Recommended Level 5-7)
The God Fenrir has charged you to put a stop to his children’s squabble. Capture the leader of the wolf pack and bring it before Fenrir.
Reward: Experience, Divine Favor
Do you accept this Quest?
Yes
No
“We are honored,” said Rose, accepting for all of us.
“Return before sundown, I shall wait no longer,” said the God Fenrir, disappearing as if he’d never been there, along with the wolf, leaving behind an empty net.
“I never expected Lord Fenrir would show up himself,” said Trinico, trying to straighten her robes. Then she looked around the temple and scoffed. “Look at this mess. You,” she paused pointing to the shell-shocked, level one players who just witnessed the event. “All of you, clean this place up, relight the candles, set straight the offerings and altars. When it is complete, come to see me and I will reward your efforts,” ordered Trinico, issuing a quest to everyone present except us. “What are you six still doing here? You’d better hurry,” scolded the priestess, addressing my group.
“Just one question, where can we find the pack leader?” I asked.
“To the south is a quarry. This is the wolves den. You will find the pack leader at the deepest point,” Trinico answered.
“So much for it being a mine,” groused Olaf.
“There is a great deal of tin and silver there, but the wolves tend to make it difficult to mine,” advise Trinico, looking slightly impatient we were still standing there.
“We’re going,” I said, ushering our group out.
Thankfully, I knew exactly where the valley she spoke of was. It was the sole unmapped area in the south portion of the province.
“So, is no one going to point out how awesome that was?” asked Micaela once we were outside the village.
“I have no idea how to respond to what we just witnessed,” said Heath, sans accent. “That might have been . . . no, that definitely, was the most amazing thing I’ve seen since I first dived.”
“Yeah, Jack has a talent for getting us into interesting situations. That said, this might be the coolest yet,” said Rose, not a hint of snark or sarcasm in her voice or on her face.
“Bye-bye is the gift that keeps on giving,” added Baby with a giggle.
“I don’t know if that’s the most amazing thing I’ve seen him do, but I’ll admit it was pretty impressive,” said Micaela happily.
I turned quickly to glare at Micaela, hopefully, communicating my request to keep silent about certain events. I still wasn’t sure what to think of Heath or if I could trust him with certain knowledge.
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“If that isn’t the most impressive thing you’ve seen, then I can’t wait to see what he pulls off next,” said Heath, grinning excitedly.
And in that instant, I went straight from irritated, to embarrassed.
“Alright, that’s enough. Leave Jack alone, I think we’ve inflated his ego enough already,” said Rose, coming to my rescue and teasing me, all in one breath. It surprised me she would do that, but I was grateful. I caught her looking at me, so I gave her a small smile and nod of thanks.
“So, this valley, how far away are we talking?” asked Rose.
“Not too far from where we fought the
We encountered a few wolves along the way easily dispatching them, eventually turning it into a game to see who could get the strongest one hit kill shot. Olaf won by a mile, stupid guaranteed critical hit skill.
“Anyone have any idea what we’ll see down there?” asked Rose.
“If you all can wait a minute, I can go scout it out,” offered Heath.
Time to trust him or not. “Do it, but be careful,” I warned.
Heath smiled confidently and vanished from view. The man didn’t even leave any footprints.
“I’ll say this, Heath has some ridiculous stealth skills,” commented Olaf. “If only his British accent was as good.”
“He’s trying to improve at least,” added Micaela.
It took about twenty minutes before Heath reappeared.
“And here I was hoping to catch you all talking about me,” Heath said in his usual overconfident manner.
“No such luck,” said Olaf.
“What’s the verdict?” asked Rose, motioning toward the Valley of Wolves, as I now called it on my map.
“Right, there were several side caves carved into the rock. The caves aren’t deep, ten feet at most. Each cave houses three to four wolves, going all the way down to the cul-de-sac at the bottom. There were five caves there, and sitting out in the open, right in the middle, appears to be our target. I don’t think this will be an easy fight down. Everything down there is at least