by Domino Finn
"He also loses all his XP after his last level," added Stigg.
That was a bit of a loss. Kyle had probably been halfway to leveling. So I made it to 3 but he would still be 2.
"Did you salvage his drop? Dead players drop random equipment. It could be worthless junk or priceless artifacts."
"I got it," I said. "Thanks. Listen, the pagans were ambushing people along this road. You three might wanna watch out for that."
They nodded and I started up the hill.
"How does it feel?" asked Stigg. "Killing pagans?"
I shrugged, but as I climbed with my back to them, a smile played across my lips. There was something twisted about those creatures. After my horrifying encounter with the boggart, maybe I wanted to kill every last one of them.
When I crested the hill, the bongo rejoined me. She followed as I marched through the forest, ignoring stray swamp toads until the woods grew overcrowded with adventurers. At the edge of the tended land, I rejoined the main road to Stronghold. It was wide open from here. The deer paused and lowered her head.
"You don't want to expose yourself to the wide-open tended land," I said. I scratched the bottom of her chin. "I don't blame you."
I said goodbye to my new friend and headed to the city. She hurried back into the brush and peeked. Then I approached the gate. The city watch let me in without a hassle or a word.
It felt good strolling through town with some accomplishments under my belt. I took my time and enjoyed the pace, figuring Kyle was still on lockdown anyway. I stopped in the various shops and sold the junk out of my inventory. I also purchased a few more potions. All said and done, I was left with 110 silver. Not a bad haul for half a day.
None of the shops would buy the outer mandate, however. Even Trafford didn't know what to make of it. He noted that I'd be "better off trying to stuff it up a horse's ass than opening it" though. Classic Trafford.
After I had everything in order, I returned to Hillside and zoned home. Kyle was planted on the couch watching Top Gun. He paused when I came in.
"You gotta be more careful," I teased. "You can't just take on the whole world like Maverick."
"Holy shit," he said, jumping to his feet. "I was wondering why you didn't respawn here. I thought they'd taken you prisoner or something."
"They can do that? Anyway, no, I just didn't try to take them head on. Caution and strategy are rewarded."
"So you ran," he translated.
I grimaced. "Yes and no. I killed them, Kyle. I got them all. And some extra loot to boot."
I tossed the chain mail tunic on the floor. His eyes widened as he picked it up.
"A hauberk! And you made level 3," he said in awe. "But you haven't earned your class title yet. You need to spend your skill points."
"Oh." I checked the character menu.
Talon
Level
3
Class
Explorer
XP
3072
Kit
*
Next
4750
2
Strength
12
Strike
75
Agility
14
Dodge
81
Craft
6
Health
57 / 57
Essence
8
Spirit
55 / 55
Indeed, I had a few points to spend. Not only that but the kit box that usually read NA now had an asterisk.
I looked at my attribute points first. I had 2 to spend for levels 2 and 3. I considered upping essence since I'd been hitting the limits of my spirit, but my level gains had done me well. I decided to max out my agility with both points.
Then I looked over my skills for something new. I wasn't especially feeling anything and considered upgrading a current skill.
Kyle interrupted my study with a party request. I joined.
"That goblin captain give you anything cool?" he asked.
"Nah." I noted the lone mystery item in my inventory. "There is this. An outer mandate. Any idea what it is?"
Kyle shook his head.
"It looks important, but I can't open it without the pagans knowing. I couldn't sell it in the shops either."
Kyle killed his beer. "Looks like you have a decision to make."
It wasn't really a decision when I thought about it. I broke the seal and unrolled the cloth scroll. It was painted with garbled orders.
Quest Offer: Unveil the Pagans
Quest Type: Epic
Reward: Unknown
You've discovered pagans encroaching on Stronghold and found orders to secure the roads leading to the city. Uncover the source and reason for this activity.
Accept Quest?
Kyle's eyes widened, apparently seeing the quest notification as well. "Epic quest," he read.
"What's that mean?"
"Well, if you go to the town questkeepers you'll find lots of simple stuff like escort and fetch quests. Jobs, payment—pretty standard fare. Epic quests are much more wide open and extended. To be honest, they're supposed to be a pain in the ass."
"Yeah, but what does it hurt to accept? We don't need to follow through with it, right?"
"True. We're free to abandon it whenever we want."
I accepted. The quest was added to a new quest tab that appeared on my status screen after the map. Unfortunately, the quest screen was just a recap of the same info the offer had given me. Wide open, indeed. I didn't have time to ponder it because yet more notifications interrupted us.
You have broken the seal of the outer mandate.
Pagan Reputation -150
"What?" I complained.
You have surpassed 250 pagan notoriety.
There is now a mark on your head. Pagan assassins have been dispatched.
"WHAT?!?"
I chewed my lip.
"Um, maybe I shouldn't have opened the mandate."
Kyle blinked dumbly and headed to the fridge for another cold one.
My reaction was much more pragmatic. Knowing we were going to have pagan trouble sooner or later, I reopened my skill tree and studied my options.
I had 3 points to spend here, 2 from the new level and 1 leftover from the last. Weapon skills were the only ones that were upgradeable, but in order to sink another point into deadshot I had to increase my general spear handling as well. So I spent the trio of points upgrading to spear handling 2, deadshot 2, and crossblock 2. I received bonuses across the board to my chances to hit, damage, dodge, and chances of criticals. I also received another momentous notification. Finally, this time, it was a good one.
You have been promoted to: Level 3 Scout.
Congratulations, explorer!
My eyes narrowed slowly and the edges of my lips upturned. Scout. I liked the sound of that. Swift. Tactical. Dangerous. I admired my new stats.
Talon
Level
3
Class
Explorer
XP
3072
Kit
Scout
Next
4750
Strength
12
Strike
78
Agility
16
Dodge
90
Craft
6
Health
60 / 60
Essence
8
Spirit
57 / 57
Between the class kit and the blacksteel spear and the new armor and loadout, I was feeling like a game breaker.
"Looks like we're in for a world of hurt," said Kyle, walking over and offering me a bottle. "Let's sit down and have a couple beers. We'll hit the wild first thing tomorrow."
"Screw tomorrow," I told him, snatching both bottles from his hand and returning them to the fridge. "You said you were gonna take my mind off things by adventuring today. It's still today, yo
ur four-hour lockdown is up, and if we want to level while the going's easy, it's past time we got back out there."
Kyle sighed and turned off Top Gun.
0200 Twilight Princess
We marched through the streets wearing used but snazzy armor. My new class title drew the eye of several residents. I reminded myself that simply being level 3 was a pretty good accomplishment at this point. It was now a little under twenty-four hours since the full wipe. Most players hadn't yet achieved what I had, and they'd had an extra half day.
"I still think this is crazy," pressed Kyle. "Pagan assassins can't get us in town."
"What if they sneak over the walls all ninja-like and kill us in our sleep?"
"You don't get it, dude. Pagans are absolutely unable to cross into city limits. It's impossible. Standard pagan lore. It's one of the reasons they hate us so much. I'm telling you, we should hole up and play air hockey until this blows over."
"You are the least ambitious person I've ever known," I told him. "You were so close to level 3. Equal with Lash. Breathing on a class kit. You've never hit that before. Don't you wanna see what it feels like?"
"Sure I do. It's not as easy as some of you make it look."
I gave him that point. Haven combat was a complex organism. Old-school MMOs were more about numbers piled upon numbers. Gold. Gear. Level. If you had enough in the hit points department then you could withstand enough from the damage department.
Haven was different. This world incorporated tons of hidden bonuses that wildly swung the favor of combat. Crit, stun, combo, surprise—special damage conditions were a norm rather than a rarity. In my limited experience so far they were responsible for the weighing of most battles.
That meant fighting tactically and with measure was the way to succeed. Fighting smarter, not harder. Maybe it was because I was an agility class, but I couldn't imagine how tanks survived in Haven. Without a set of full plate, I simply couldn't see absorbing endless damage.
"Crap," said Kyle. "Take my lead." He moved to the edge of the road.
As we approached the city gates, a solitary player entered the city, returning from questing, walking toward us on the otherwise empty main thoroughfare.
"She..." I squinted. "She's purple."
"That's Izzy," he said. "Keep your head down. Just walk by staring at your new boots and hopefully she won't bother us."
"Bother us?"
I was simultaneously preoccupied by two things. One, I wondered how Kyle had become such a doormat in only a month. But two, this woman returning to Stronghold was fucking purple.
It didn't end with the lavender skin, either. She had four dragonfly wings sprouting from her back. At first I assumed it was special armor but, the closer we got, it looked organic.
I couldn't help but stare. Izzy marched our way with badass confidence. She was Japanese, five-foot even, and almost my age. Everything about her conveyed attitude. Jet-black hair, short and spiked. Tiny earrings dotting her cartilage. I think I mentioned the purple part.
She was striking, unlike anyone I'd seen in Haven yet, and you know what the funny thing was? What stood out most was the icy glare she gave everything and everyone. Hard eyes, sharp eyebrows—this was a girl who did not want to be fucked with.
"She's a pixie," explained Kyle.
"I thought everybody was human."
"Other races are being beta tested with more tenured players. People say she was one of the first players to live in Haven."
"And she doesn't have a party?"
"That's no accident, bro. I have to warn you before you get any cute thoughts: That girl is stuck up. She's a killer mage. And she's a master dueler. I've never seen her lose in the Arena, and she fights a lot. You chat with her, you're bound to wind up on the receiving end of a beat down."
I examined her. [Level 5 Frost Mage]. Color me impressed. Now I understood the midnight-blue tunic and pants she wore. Her class likely prohibited armor.
"Wow," I said. "She's good at power leveling."
Kyle snorted. "More like her dad is some hotshot with Kablammy."
I turned to him. "You think she's cheating?"
"Isn't it obvious?"
I shrugged. "I mean, maybe her racial bonuses are an unfair advantage, but you said yourself she was one of the first players. Maybe she just knows what she's doing."
He pressed ahead unconvinced.
"Have you ever followed her to pick up tips?" I asked.
"No." His voice was hushed because Izzy was only twenty feet ahead of us now.
"Have you ever asked?"
He shook his head.
I didn't get it. What was the big deal? First Lash and now Izzy. I broke away from the edge of the road and moved to meet the pixie in the center.
"Dude," whispered Kyle, "don't."
I smiled magnanimously and spread my arms to the side as I approached. Izzy's glare found me immediately. Her lips were a dark indigo against her lighter skin. It painted her smirk plainly.
"Hello, traveler," I said. "My name's Talon. Pleased to make your acquaintance."
I offered my hand in greeting. Izzy didn't slow her gait. She pranced right by my hand without a word. My eyes followed her and then landed on Kyle loitering a good distance away. His eyes said I told you so. And then his party chat said it too.
Kyle: I told you so.
So I got a double dose of it. But I wasn't deterred. I hurried to catch up with the pixie.
"Look," I said, falling into stride with her, "if you're busy, I get it. I'm new here and just trying to find some friends, you know? It looks like you know what you're doing... and I think I'm getting along decently for my first day ever... Are you maybe interested in grouping up?"
She marched along silently, not even giving me the time of day.
"Um. Well, do you mind telling us if there's a secret to getting a non-human race?"
Again, no answer. I became slightly angry.
"Fine, then." And as sarcastically as I could muster, "I'm so sorry I bothered you by trying to say hi."
Izzy stopped and spun around, hands on hips. "What about my face says I look like I wanna talk?"
Her eyes were sharper than razorblades.
"Nothing. I just figured it couldn't hurt."
One eyebrow arched in challenge. "It could."
Izzy was way shorter than me but seemed to stand taller. I didn't know how she did it. I was still upset, but I reined in my temper and sarcasm, speaking genuinely.
"Look, maybe it's a bad time. I'm sorry if I said something wrong. I just figured, we're all here, we're all dead—we could all use some support. That's all."
She didn't soften her posture in the slightest. "What about my face says I need support?"
I chewed my lip and shook my head lightly.
Izzy twirled away and continued down the main thoroughfare. I sighed in relief, glad that train wreck was over. When Kyle finally wandered back to me, I just scratched my head and said, "Seems like she doesn't want to be bothered."
"Told you," he said, chuckling. "Stuck up and a half. You're just lucky she didn't challenge you to a duel. Now let's get out of here. I never thought I'd want to leave Stronghold so much. Pagan assassins are better than Izzy."
0210 Assassin's Creed
Once again we marched out of Stronghold's western gate. My thoughts were on Izzy and Lash as I absentmindedly followed the road. There were a lot of angry people in Haven. A lot of unresolved issues. I suppose that was to be expected.
We were, all of us, dead. Our prior lives were over. Even the veterans like Izzy had had less than a year to get used to that fact. Real death was final, without the capacity for angst or could-have-beens. Or, if you subscribed to the popular competing theory, death came gift-wrapped with supreme enlightenment and eternal bliss. But Haven wasn't any of those things. Here it was either be smothered by regrets or grind your ass off.
I was no different. I mean, I wasn't taking out my frustrations on other players or drowning
my sorrows in endless beer or taking part in whatever pseudo-Freudian theories were out there, but I felt a driving desire to level. To progress. I'd been telling myself I had to play by the rules. Keep my head down and be a good beta tester until Everchat rolled out. Then I'd be reunited with my little brother. Derek wouldn't have me back, of course, but I'd be there to listen. To advise. I could make sure his life didn't spiral out of control.
But had I really focused on grinding for him? Was it all just a logical contract? Part of me knew there was a simpler answer. I was just keeping myself distracted. Inception and the Matrix did it for a few minutes. Jenna Jynx was stimulating, but in all the wrong ways.
But skills, levels, quests, pagans, outer mandates? There was something about it all.
The road ahead divided the forest that spanned before us. The end of the tended lands. Last time we'd split off the safety of the well-traveled path and ventured into the trees. Now I wasn't sure either option was great. After all, both led to the same place. The other side of the forest, where the pagans were policing the road.
As we halted there, a deer poked its head out of the trees. The mountain bongo was back. She cantered up to me and I hugged her around the neck.
"You're still here," I said.
Kyle lowered his sword, confused. "What's going on? You a deer whisperer now?"
I smiled. "No. After you died, I found her caught in a net, wounded. I freed her and healed her. She's followed me around ever since."
Kyle approached the bongo. They eyed each other warily. "She's fucking huge," he said. "Those horns are no joke."
"She's harmless," I assured him. I gave the girl a pat on the back. "You know, I think she's scared of venturing too deep this way now. With what we've seen, I don't blame her. We wanna stay far away from the road now. I'm not exactly a popular guy with the pagans."