Jewel crafting wouldn’t work on the go. Chopping down trees for wood gathering seemed annoyingly pointless. Walking while trying to sew or hobble leather together would likely get me killed by my own crafting accessories. Being a wandering minstrel wasn’t to my tastes.
“What would help, was if this cane was a staff all the time.” That would assist me in walking a lot more. I wasn’t hunched over like Carver had been. The fatigue de-buff that I had applied from my King’s Taste Tester situation was a minor impact now.
Personally, it felt like this game was giving me a lot of slack already. Running for ten minutes was out of the question in real life. Voices help me if a dinosaur appeared out of nowhere and tried to eat my face. They were probably factoring in all the dance practice I had like it was a representation of the real me. Real me danced but it was sad. Of course, digital me was also kind of depressing to watch no matter how skilled.
“How long before I lose this belly?” I poked at my stomach while we walked around another set of trees. Dusk shrugged from where he rode.
“How long before sunrise?” Dusk shrugged in reply to my question.
“How long before I cut off your cupcake supply in my Atrium?” I glanced at the tiny dragon from the corner of my eye. Dusk looked alarmed then yawned in my face from his shoulder perch.
“Just testing to see if you’re awake.” A yawn escaped me as well.
We marched onward. There were far too many miles to cover at this rate. Given the rough terrain of this woodland and my general lack of knowledge on how to traverse it, I was making a little over a mile an hour. Near dawn, I was practically stumbling around in complete exhaustion. Maybe fifteen of the fifty miles had been navigated successfully.
“Halt!”
I made it a few more steps before the words registered. Dusk had long since passed out with part of his tail curled around my neck for stability.
“Halt or be shot!” The voice came again. One foot fell forward before my body rocked to a stop. I looked around in half a daze.
“Okay.” A word escaped my mouth.
“What do we do?” The voice said. He sounded a bit younger than me from his tone. The way he spoke however belayed a much lower intelligence.
“I don’t know, he just stopped.” A second voice said. He sounded higher pitched but equally challenged upstairs.
“They never stop. They always run.”
“Maybe he’s stupid.” The high pitched one said. My eyes rolled in exhaustion and nearly didn’t open again.
“Halt!” The second one yelled nearly cracking his voice. A teenager?
“And then?” My head was falling to one side. Both hands were grasped on [Morrigu’s Gift]. Six hours of hiking I managed to get the shape changing weapon to elongate into a walking staff. The damage and weight were unchanged from its other form.
“Then we kill you and take your stuff.”
What? They would what me? Dying wasn’t a good option at this point. I had too many miles and not enough time.
“Dusk?” I questioned for the tiny little creature. A snore answered me. Somehow he twisted up around my shoulder and seemed to be almost a solid object instead of a flexible dragon, thing.
“How are you asleep?”
“Okay! We’ll be killing you now!”
“Don’t tell him, you idiot, just shoot!”
“Cow I buy a vowel?” I yelled, hoping the complete absurdity of my question might distract them. Plus being mugged in the middle of a forest all by myself was unattractive. Continue Online did have pain feedback.
“What’s that?”
Oh, thank god, they were both as stupid as they sounded.
I ran again. The guys were dumber than the [Terra Terri]s but their arrows were a lot faster. One zinged right into my backside and shaved off a significant chunk of health.
“AHHHHHHHHHH!”
“Really?” An arrow flew past my head as I ran. The dumb and dumber duo behind me kept yelling halt over and over. “I mean, I don’t know how to kill people!”
My protests of the machine’s response to my flight were ignored. An arrow grazed Dusk’s shoulder, causing the small creature to awake with a squawk and fall off my shoulder. I completely panicked and lost my footing in a stumble.
“Little,” I corrected myself “Dusk!”
The nearest large tree became cover as I scrambled to get behind it. Two more arrows went by but missed. My pursuers were clearly novices with their weapons. There was no way that my Rank three Blade Novice included a high enough dodge.
“Halt! We want to rob you!” One of them shouted in a bout of brilliance.
“Is there a no option?!” I yelled back. “I don’t have anything!”
“He doesn’t have anything?” One of them whispered to the other in a moment that felt very out of place for a forest. They argued back and forth but the arrows had at least stopped flying. I risked a glance around the corner and saw my [Messenger’s Pet] sitting dazed on the ground. He gave out a pitiful mew similar to a cat.
“Come here, Dusk.” My voice stayed low. “Come on, big guy. Cupcakes.” It worked, a little. The miniature dragon was only half aware, but his head swiveled in my direction and one ear perked up. “Come on. Cupcakes. Cookies. Ice cream.”
“Did he die?” Dumb said.
“I dunno. Go look.” Dumber responded.
“No, you go look.”
“No, you. I shot him, you go look.”
Oh my goodness. They were special alright. Both of them wore swords that looked dulled by misuse. They had maybe four more arrows left in the quivers on their backs. One had a face that was all mangled. His hair had been cut short over a leathery looking tan. Being downwind, I could also tell that they smelled nearly rancid. The rain last night was probably their only bath this month.
One hand pressed at mushing dirt and an idea triggered. What was my other top rank? Being an actor? I hastily picked up some of the mud and undid my gear a little. The mud mixed in with blood trickling from the wounds I had received. They didn’t sting anymore so it was easier to be indifferent about them.
“You dead, Mister?” Dumb, or Dumber, I’m not sure which, crept in closer. His footsteps clear in the silences of our situation. Dusk was still squawking but neither of the bandit archers seemed to pay attention.
The mixture of mud and blood was rubbed on my face and arms. I had enough health to take another arrow hit so I decided to go for it.
“Ahhh!” I ran again.
“Watch out, he’s charging!” The other bandit said and an arrow flew my way. I had enough time to peek over my shoulder and see the bolt log right into my shoulder.
I let it hit me and gave an exaggerated spin on the way down. It hurt, but not so much that this big of an act was necessary. The ARC provided only a portion of the feedback a real arrow would cause.
“Nooo!” Mud was smeared all over, my body hung over bushes and weighed them down. [Morrigu’s Gift] was clutched in one hand in its staff shape. My eyes crossed in concentration as the sound of one bandit got closer.
“I think he’s dead.”
“Check him! Then take his money!” The one furthest away said.
Just a little bit closer. Please let this work. I don’t want to be mugged by some random NPC during my first round of playing. That would be brutally pathetic. My breath stilled and fingers clutched the end of my would be weapon. Triggering the switch to its giant two-handed form was impossible, right?. At most, especially with Ray’s penalty to luck, it would stay a walking stick.
A footstep too close and an abrupt pull of someone’s hand at my shoulder sent me into a panic. I swung [Morrigu’s Gift] and growled as we flipped around. There was a flash of movement and the barest hint of resistance. By the time my brain registered what was happening Dumb or Dumber, wore a surprised expression. Red splattered across the bushes and trees in a thin line. I must have mirrored it as notifications came up in my view.
There were a lot of boxes tha
t were beyond me. Dumb or Dumber was falling apart at the middle. My vision wavered as I looked towards the weapon in my hand. No longer was it a cane, or a walking staff. [Morrigu’s Gift] had transformed into Carver’s two-handed blade. The exact action I never expected.
Then it sliced right through the bandit.
I had killed someone.
There were a few other minor messages about stat gains. They were lost in the suddenness of my situation and faded into the background. Behind the falling body was the second bandit. A shaky look was on his face as he drew his bow and glared down the arrow’s length at me.
“You shouldn’t have done that.” The bandit said. “You shouldn’t have killed him.”
The arrow flew and I panicked. [Morrigu’s Gift] twisted as I tried to use the giant flat end as a shield. The arrow collided with my hastily erected defense and slid off. My eyes were busy staring at the crumpled form of my first victim in this world. Monsters and ink creatures, spiders and straw dummies, were nothing like killing a person.
“Now we got to kill you.” My remaining bandit assailant was doing something else. He had a long object in his hands and pulled a cord along the bottom.
I had started shaking. The world seemed such a small place now. Almost like being back in that morgue, identifying her remains. Only now I was the killer. There was no time to ponder my mistakes. The other bandit pulled on his device and a bang was joined with a flare going into the sky. Bright red stood out against a cloud-speckled backdrop.
“We’re gonna kill you now.” My second attacker was laughing. This was just a bandit, it was just an NPC! A person designed to be brought down by those seeking justice! This was too real. I fumbled and slammed the logout button only to get a rejection message.
“What?” I mumbled. “Oh no. Oh no.” They were going to find me, whatever reinforcements he called for must be homing in on that flare.
“Dusk!” We had to go right now. “Dusk! Come on!” I had no idea if the little guy would be able to track me down in a forest or not. My skills were only a fraction of William Carver’s so there might be something important missing.
“Gonna kill you.” A final arrow slid through the flesh on my arm leaving a trail of pain. I dove out from behind the cover and swung the giant sword at my second attacker.
Messages flashed about how the bandit successfully parried. They were annoying because I could already see that he held a smaller sword and had deflected the bulk of my swing. His face showed strain across the scarred features.
The blade swung a second time and the bandit attacked me back. Parrying wasn’t a skill I was familiar with so his attack shaved off another chunk of my life. My sword spun as if dancing to catch the bandit on his open side. Dark metal lodged deeply into his side and he froze with a gasp of air.
His eyes lost focus. Words passed across his lips but they were inaudible over the ringing in my ears.
“Dusk?!” I had to get him. We had to get out of here. A hunting horn let loose with one long blast in the distance.
My [Messenger’s Pet] was making hurt noises from the ground. I grabbed him and took off running towards my quest marker. There was no time to take a slow stroll. A minute later and the horn sounded again, I kept up my panicked dash. The stamina bar I set up as Carver was fading quickly and citing penalties from my taste tester event.
Feet didn’t stop blazing a path through the trees until my bar was near zero. I ground to a slow walk trying to catch my breath.
“Are we safe?” Dusk had been trying to clean a wound he received from one of the arrows. His wing had a slight tear. I had nothing to help out. No bandages. No magical cure spells or compounds. The other four players I worked with during the [Maze of Midnight] made me look like a complete amateur. Who had killed two people.
“Voices, Dusk, I killed someone.” It was just a game. This whole thing wasn’t real. All of it was code and science being beamed into my brain.
Then why did I fight to keep Dusk safe? Why not let him die? Voices, I had no clue what would happen if he did die. There were bundles of questions and not enough answers. James. James had information.
I listened carefully for sounds of pursuit. There was nothing obvious enough for a layman like myself to pick up. Not that anything shy of shouting and crashing would stand out in these woods. Just to be sure I put another mile between myself and where those bandits had been.
Dusk at least looked a bit better. The wound on his arm had clotted. My own health was very slowly recovering despite a few bleed debuffs. I sat down and shoved one of the new player bundles of food into my mouth and was pleased to see it helped a little. The game mechanics weren’t completely against me despite the realism of these surroundings. Mentally I ran through the list of things I needed to know now.
“Dusk, do you know what happens if you run out of health?” I risked asking the small dragon first. He might save me a prodding question from James. Not that hiding things from James was my goal, but my mood was extra shaky.
My [Messenger’s Pet] shook his head back and forth in a negative.
“Shit.” I squeezed my eyes shut. Logging out now was probably possible but this had to be sorted out.
I called up my inventory. Aside from my beginners gear, [Morrigu’s Gift], the scroll case, there was also a quill and paper for writing. Hastily I scribbled out my questions about Dusk. The same heating sensation as earlier came down. James had written out a reply.
“Are you okay?” James’ voice came through as I read the words. There was a follow-up as well. “Will you continue with your mission, Hermes?”
I responded with a no, most certainly not. My mind was running a million miles a minute replaying what had happened. One part spent time justifying the murder with all kinds of defenses. The other kept showing the look on either bandit’s face. Surprise, confusion, hurt, all caused by me. To the other question, I replied yes, once my own inquiries were answered.
The poorly scrawled message went back into the tube. I had to screw down the top as if sending items through an old fashioned banking drive through. There was no rush of air suctioning the item up, just a freeze that crawled across the tube and vanished moments later. So, incoming messages were hot. Outgoing, were cold.
I waited.
Nothing happened with the tube. No messages, no hot or cold. No pop-up boxes displaying a ‘Please wait while we service your call’. I pulled the cap off my message container and looked inside. No response had been issued forth. They were probably arguing among themselves again for whatever reason.
Dusk lifted his head up and looked into the distance. One ear twitched. I turned to follow his gaze.
“What do you hear?”
Both eyes swiveled around and Dusk opened his mouth in a tiny hiss.
“Did they find us?” My ears weren’t picking up anything. Maybe there was a skill that would help me later on, but this was only day two of playing a character. I was dirty, run down, and mentally stressing out. I had been lucky that my acting ability worked.
I stood up, the small [Messenger’s Pet] bounded up my side and sat on my shoulder. His head still locked on the distance. He hissed again and traveled behind my head.
“Let’s go.” My stamina bar was mostly recovered. I started off and was almost instantly greeted by a horn sound, this time from much closer.
“Oh no. Oh no.” They surrounded us. There were more of them. Or something else that was setting off my tiny friend. My feet started covering ground as fast as possible, still aiming for that quest marker in the distance.
“Over here!” A deep voice yelled. I ducked behind the nearest tree and kept moving. This time a bolt of electricity zipped by and splashed into a tall plant, leaving charred remains behind.
“Dusk, find me a path!” The little dragon leapt off my shoulder. His sharp claws made me wince as I concentrated on running away.
Another bolt of lightning winged me, sending a jarring shock through my body. My leg jerked and foot fai
led to find purchase correctly. I righted myself using my past experience of slipping up while dancing. There was an art to getting back up quickly. I just never applied it to being nicked by low voltage lightning before.
[Morrigu’s Gift] was back in its cane form which was mostly useless right now. I shoved it into my belt and kept right on covering ground.
Dusk chirped for my attention from the side. He found a cave of some sort. I wasted no time asking questions and ducked in after him. If that was my way out, so be it. Despite the little creature’s constant desire to tear stuff up, he was helpful. The first step was a doozy. I tumbled end over end down a long steep passageway.
My surroundings were dark aside from system messages.
“This is your idea of an escape, Dusk?” My eyebrow went towards where I believed the little guy to be. He was busy chirping to himself in the darkness with only the occasional glint of light off the rare golden scales on his chest. This would be a bit of a journey. First thing’s first, I needed to get more coffee. One finger pressed the logoff button.
Session Twenty Two – Deep Cover
Coffee made me feel great until I logged back in. Then it occurred to me that Dusk had gotten us trapped in complete darkness with no way to go back out the entrance. Dusk could apparently see fine. He kept doing his weird half bird half cat chirp at me. I followed him for at least an hour trying to do, well, anything, aside from bash parts of my body into rocks and other outcroppings. Or think about what had happened to those men in the woods.
“Are you sure this is the right way?”
Trills and chirps issued forth from Dusk. He seemed to be in far better condition than he had been. Even I felt marginally better now that lightning bolts weren’t flying by my head.
“Isn’t there a torch or something, somewhere.” The walls around me felt smooth enough. If I were to guess, they were constructions of some sort. This didn’t feel round enough to be a natural cave.
Dusk made more noise further up.
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