by Brent Roth
Of course I didn't have a super soldier serum… but I was already reaching near super human levels in-game. The game was extremely realistic for lower level players but once a player reached an effective level of one-hundred in any one Attribute stat they were essentially super human, and seeing as there was no known level cap a player could continue to grow infinitely.
Well, that would only be true if there was an infinite amount of time. Leveling wasn't that fast for players to worry about everyone being a super hero.
Without a moment to lose I started shoveling dirt as fast as I could, with my exceptional Endurance stat I could dig at a rapid rate for hours before exhaustion would set in. Adding in my Strength and I was effectively worth three normal men.
While I continued to dig like a mad man I had Selene and Kate hunt excessively; they needed to collect a minimum of 200 copper worth of furs a day. As I continued to dig completely zoned out to my surroundings while going through the motions, Kate and Selene, unbeknownst to me at the time, had been engaged with a rather large Wolf den.
* * *
The soft and soothing sound of flowing water that came from the nearby shallow creek resonated deeply with Katherine as she found herself lost in the tranquility of the scenery surrounding her. She had always been confined to the coastal villages that the convent traveled between, and had never experienced what the outside world had to offer.
She was now wandering in the majestic beauty of the North, deep in the mixed coniferous forest of pine, spruce, and fir with the melting snow glistening all around. As she continued to walk in a daze of admiration, Selene turned to her and whispered, "I think we found our quarry."
Snapping out of the dream state she had been in, Katherine soon followed her friend's outstretched hand and saw what was ahead.
At the edge of her vision she could just barely make out what looked to be a pack of wolves. Selene had spotted the den from a distance and slowed her pace to that of a stalk as Katherine did the same.
The objective for the day was to gather at least two-hundred copper worth of fur hides from the surrounding hunting grounds, but that would be impractical if one focused on rabbits and foxes as their value was considerably low. Selene knew this and had specifically set out to find gatherings of wolves to reach the quota despite the inherent danger in hunting a group of predators.
Sigurd had asked that much from them, so they were forced to oblige.
It wasn't an impossible task after all, but it would still be a difficult one.
Selene and Kate both took pride in that he had trusted them with such work while he was busy laboring; both knew he was a capable hunter and that he took the harder of the two jobs for himself.
They appreciated the sentimentality of their new master.
As Selene was the more experienced hunter she led the way while Kate slowly followed behind. Making their way downwind of the Wolves, they were able to finally see exactly what they were up against.
Counting out the wolves on both hands meant for a difficult fight as the two young women nodded in unison. They both kept silent and used hand signals to indicate that they had each counted off seven adult wolves, with one Alpha male at the center.
Removing their bows, Selene indicated with her index finger a single target then expanded her hands to mean the largest one. Kate nodded as she understood and nocked an arrow in preparation for the fight ahead.
The seriousness of the hunt had all but erased the prior tranquility as tension filled the cool spring air.
The goal was to kill the Alpha immediately and use the confusion to slay the smaller wolves after, but there was no guarantee at such an extreme distance.
With practiced unison born from years of hunting together, both female hunters drew their bows back. Then Selene used her bow-hand to signal a 3-count, it was time for action.
One, two, three and both girls released their bowstrings with a thwack as the sinew-string snapped back into normal tension. Without consideration of the arrows that had already left they drew another arrow and took aim.
The [Northern Alpha Wolf] was considered the strongest of the Wolf-types within the starter zones at around level 40-50 and was accompanied by any variety of wolves from the level 15-35 range. The predominately white [Northern Alpha Wolf] had been leisurely enjoying a nap on the forest floor, surrounded by his Alpha female mate and their five offspring of various ages and size.
All of them were mostly white with small amounts of streaking gray or black and had rather beautiful coats of fur.
As the male [Northern Tundra Alpha Wolf] perked its ears up from a strange sound it soon found itself the target of two well-placed arrows into the lungs. The wolf leaped forward while letting out a vicious growl and howl that could send shivers down your spine; there was no yelp or shriek of pain from the Alpha wolf.
With the suddenly startled wolves frantically looking around for their attackers a second set of arrows hit the male Alpha, dropping it to the ground. With their leader felled, the female Alpha took over as she spotted Kate and Selene in the distance and barked out incomprehensible orders to her pack.
As Kate and Selene nocked their third arrows and drew back, they could see six wolves bearing down on them with the largest of them at the back.
The experienced and hardened Selene never broke concentration as she fired off arrow after arrow into the wolves that were now less than a hundred yards away. She made every effort to see their numbers dwindle in short order.
For Selene the distance was easily doable but for Katherine the story was quite the opposite, the initial shot at roughly one-hundred and fifty yards was exceptionally lucky.
The second arrow hitting at all was one of utter disbelief.
Now with the wolves closing in but moving rapidly through the trees the targets were too small and nimble for Katherine, and her third and fourth arrow harmlessly struck a tree. By the fifth arrow the wolves had closed the distance to less than fifty yards and would be upon them in a matter of seconds.
Selene continued to draw her bow with focused determination as the six wolves had collapsed to four. Katherine, slower than Selene in her rate of fire, finally landed her fifth arrow into the shoulder of a wolf which caused the creature to tumble into the raised root of a tree, killing it immediately via a broken neck.
Thwack.
Selene let off another arrow with around twenty-five yards to go as sweat perspired down her face.
They were running out of distance between them.
Down to three wolves but without any room to fire, Selene leaped back as a wolf lunged forth with fangs bared plain for all to see. The wolf snapped its mouth shut just barely missing her arm as she rolled to a knee and let off another arrow.
Thwack.
The arrow flew straight through the reopened mouth of the young wolf; killing it instantly.
As the second wolf came barreling through and leaped into the air intending to land on top of the unaware Selene, three small orbs of yellowish-white light curved in the air and slammed into the side of the wolf. The orbs consecutively exploded in a bright white light that sent the wolf veering and crashing into the shrubbery a few feet away.
Struggling back to its feet it was then hit a second later by a larger white sphere of holy energy that exploded on contact and blew the wolf into a nearby tree.
The wolf was staggered and could not get up as its legs shook uncontrollably from the sudden impact, only to get hit again by another [Holy Blast] that blew it back into the same tree a second time.
Four more [Holy Blasts] followed with a second between them until the wolf had finally ceased breathing.
Selene used the time Katherine had bought her to get back to her feet as she stood face to face with the Alpha female in front of her, dagger drawn and ready. Her agility and dexterity were quite high but the wolf had much higher strength and a dagger was hardly the weapon of choice, but it was all she had.
It would have to suffice.
&nbs
p; Selene waited for the Alpha to make the first move as Katherine repositioned off to the side, only to be caught off-guard as the Alpha shifted focus and immediately closed the distance towards Kate with a massive lunge. Selene tried to react but was a second late as the wolf had reached Kate.
Fearing the worst as she saw Kate stick her hand out in desperation to block the wolf's bite, Selene panicked as she watched the scene unfold. Unable to do anything to help her friend, she frantically threw her dagger at the wolf's back only to be instantly blinded as the world before her flashed white.
Disoriented she stumbled to the ground and clutched her face as her sight slowly started to come back. The wolf was completely unaware of the possibility of the [Burst of Light] and Katherine easily sidestepped the wolf as it hit the ground and stumbled about, blinded by the sudden and extremely bright white-light.
As both Selene and the female [Northern Alpha Wolf] started to regain their eye-sight Katherine had been busy casting her next spell: [Holy Barrage]. After two seconds of casting the wolf had already regained its vision and had resumed its attack on Katherine, only to get hit by three consecutive orbs of light that were shot out with force and traced and homed onto the moving target.
Exploding on contact the three orbs repeatedly staggered and knocked the wolf off course once again.
The wolf was only temporarily knocked back though and quickly bit onto Katherine's arm while she was attempting to cast a [Holy Blast]. As the wolf gnawed at Kate's arm, the physical damage of the wolf's teeth tearing through her forearm was rapidly draining her health. But the attack had also interrupted the [Holy Blast] mid-cast and the backlash from the rebound stunned her in place.
The disabled girl couldn't do anything to protect herself as she was knocked down on her back. Attempting to fend off the wolf's mouth with her hands as it mounted on top of her and continually snapped at her face and neck was all she could muster.
Desperation was starting to set in.
During the brief respite between the [Burst of Light] and the [Holy Barrage] Selene managed to grab her bow and shot off an arrow into the wolf's side. Though it did little to stop the adrenalized wolf that was ferociously snapping and frothing at the mouth on top of Kate, it was all Selene could do.
Another arrow flew; hitting the wolf in the neck, but Kate was still getting mauled to death with nothing she could do to defend herself besides continuing to throw her hands and arms up in a feeble attempt to block her vitals. Blood was flying everywhere and Selene let off another arrow that landed in a non-fatal spot once again.
Seeing that her friend was quickly nearing death, Selene dropped the bow and grabbed the knife that was on the ground. Sprinting towards the wolf, Selene leaped onto the back of the wolf, hoping that she could at least stop the wolf's attacks.
Even if it was only for a moment, any amount of time would help Katherine.
As Selene wrestled with the wolf she was soon knocked back as the wolf broke loose but it had given Katherine enough time to open her hand in front of the wolf's face again.
White light instantly flooded the visual zone and Selene again was forced to grasp her face as her head and eyes were hit with sudden pain and blindness.
The wolf had been hit again as well and snapped wildly at the surrounding area while Katherine quickly started casting a [Holy Light] while on her knees.
The cast time for [Holy Light] was the same as the duration of the blind from [Burst of Light]. As both the female wolf and Selene regained their eyesight a soft beam of golden light enshrouded the kneeling Katherine for but a brief moment.
It was all she needed to stave off death.
With a large portion of her health restored and her condition stabilized, Katherine stood up ready to better defend herself from the [Northern Alpha Wolf] that was only three feet away covered in Kate's blood.
The wolf made an attempt to attack again but Selene was able to intervene while plunging her dagger deep into the nape of the wolf. The wolf jumped and was able to buck Selene off but it soon caught a rapidly flying large sphere of holy energy to the side of its face, exploding with a yellowish-white brilliance that only Holy Spells could offer.
As the staggered wolf attempted to shake off the sudden concussive blast it found itself standing above a patch of ground that was radiating with a soft white hue, unaware of what was to come.
The wolf had suffered numerous injuries and was standing in place with a low growl as it knew it was fighting a losing battle but didn't want to make a move. Selene had gotten back to her knees, but with one glance at Katherine, stayed where she was.
After three seconds had passed from when the [Holy Blast] had hit the wolf head-on, two seconds after that soft white hue had appeared on the ground underneath the wolf, the ground erupted.
With a sudden dim outward pulse and then a rapid collapse of light the small space immediately above the ground erupted in a plume of white fire, shooting straight up towards the sky and engulfing the wolf entirely in flame.
The wolf cried in pain as it found itself burning from the [Holy Fire] that had been cast underneath it. Unable to withstand the damage the Alpha wolf collapsed to the floor with smoke rising off the freshly burnt corpse.
The fight was over.
Katherine soon collapsed to her knees as she struggled to breathe while Selene fell back on her ass. Plodding down on the ground with hands clasped on her knees taking in the scene before her, Selene could only muster a sigh of relief.
The fight had progressed smoothly until the second [Northern Alpha Wolf] appeared in front of them. If Selene could have maintained enough of a threatening presence to hold the wolf's aggression the fight would have been much easier.
But threat maintenance and monster aggro was something many players struggled with in gaming and is why players who play the role of a tank typically specialize in threat and aggro management.
As an archer or hunter archetype, Selene could only produce as much threat as her damage done and when compared to the flashy holy spells that Katherine used, were inconsequential to most creatures.
She simply wasn't built to tank effectively.
Selene spoke up first, "Ah that was tough."
Katherine had used nearly all of her mana during the fight and had just regained enough to cast another [Holy Light] on herself, bringing her to a comfortable health level but not enough to heal her mangled left arm. Selene looked over at her childhood friend and felt remorse for having nearly failed her once again.
She may have been the level-headed and grounded one, the more experienced and mature one but in the difficult moments Katherine always came through where she had sometimes failed.
For Selene it didn't mean anything for the little events, but this was now the third time she had nearly failed in a critical moment that could have left either of them dead. Katherine would never say anything of it and Selene knew that too, but it wasn't of any consolation when she knew Katherine had saved the day with her quick thinking and strategic use of spells even in the most dire of situations.
That same Katherine, who was so insecure over her looks despite being an absolute beauty, who was often immature and silly when going about her daily life but incredibly poised and sharp when it mattered.
It hurt Selene's pride knowing that she wasn't nearly as dependable as Katherine despite all of the appearances. That it was basically her little sister that she was failing hurt Selene even more.
Katherine had regained her composure as she used [Holy Hand] to heal and restore her mangled arm back to its previous state, smiling once she had finally returned herself back to normalcy.
Katherine then turned her attention to Selene and spoke up, "I think I ruined some of those wolf pelts… do you think the Master will be upset?"
Selene nearly choked on her saliva and started coughing, eventually clearing her throat enough to get out a bewildered statement, "That's what you're worried about?! And who's our Master?! We're just temporarily repaying a debt
!"
Katherine immediately stood up and raised her voice as she replied, "Selene! I swore I would serve him if he rescued you, we owe him our lives! Why are you so obstinate?!"
After uttering the last line Katherine had puffed her cheeks while placing her hands on her hips like an angry child, causing Selene to burst into laughter moments after she was choking in bewilderment.
It was just that kind of relationship.
The two eventually gathered six wolf corpses and found four were in excellent condition minus the few arrow punctures, but two were severely burned and wouldn't be of much use except for their leather and meat.
Upon further inspection by Selene the corpses averaged a rough 100lbs which would generally prove difficult for the two women, except for the fact that Roth had provided them with a way to a means.
As Selene dragged the bodies together Katherine had returned with a makeshift sled that Roth had built for the two of them, allowing them to stack all of the bodies without issue.
After loading the six nearest bodies there was only the male [Northern Tundra Alpha Wolf] all the way at the back and both women decided to walk the roughly one-hundred and fifty yards from the sled.
Though once the two of them arrived at the location they were startled by what they saw, a white wolf pup barely a month old playing in the snow by its lonesome.
* * *
Chapter 28: Working Through the Days
(Thursday, March 11th Game Day / Sunday, January 24rd Real Day)
The sun had set a few hours before as I continued to dig through the night, with the intent to cease whenever Selene and Katherine had returned. Well into my second stint of digging and shoveling dirt, I had made considerable progress but was still incredibly far from being finished. Working well into the darkness of the night wasn't something I would normally want to do, especially on such a moonless evening, but Katherine and Selene had yet to return.