by Scott Seier
Oh yes. I have him though. Not to worry... I heard the rustle of cloth behind me. It took everything I had to ignore it and not flinch uselessly as the stealth user became visible behind me. "Game over scrub." He whispered. I felt bad for a second. He sounded young. I hoped this wouldn't be too traumatic for him.
Vigil rocketed himself across the distance that separated us, coming in mere inches above the grass. The kid never had a shot. I didn't looked back, attempting to affect a sense of ambivalence to the surviving members of the enemy group, but I think Vigil turned his whole body into a spear and went straight through the stealthy's heart. I could be wrong, but it sounded like that's what happened. The look of fear on the players faces in front of me sort of confirmed it. Vigil recovered from his mad burst of speed and dusted his way over to me, partially solidifying his body into the shape of a large purple-black crow, and settling on my shoulder.
The mage ran, but only made it a couple feet before a massive hand snatched him up and spiked him into the ground with extreme force. The move killed him instantly. I was glad to see Kara had finally come to her senses. She had summoned a huge ogre-like creature that was proportioned like a gorilla, just in extremes. Its arms and hands were huge, but its legs were tiny. Puny. Like T-Rex arms level useless. Thankfully the thing was floating a couple inches above the ground instead of trying to walk. The huge summon popped out of existence the second it had dispatched the mage. I had to learn that one some time...
I smiled at the remaining player and dropped my full payload of dots and debuffs onto the unconscious axe guy as I walked past him. "So, option one, run now and warn people to stay away from this place, at least for a day. Or, option two, I take you down and we make enemies of each other for no good reason. Up to you." The heavily armored man eyed Kara as she moved to stand next to me. Then his eyes snapped to me. I couldn't help but notice his gaze catch and hover over Vigil specifically. He had never seen anything like him. I felt morbidly proud of my iron sand friend.
Eventually he dropped his sword and shield, walking with his hands up towards me. He may try an underhanded attack if you allow him too close. Should I act?
Maylive
Level: 16
Warrior
Health: 75/75
I saw him flinch as he read my information over.
Lyst, The Demon of the Seal
Level: 15
Summoner
Health: 20/20
Mana: 10/10
That his group had been beaten by someone of a lower level was enough to piss anyone off, but that same player having a level 1's worth of health and mana? That was more than an insult. That, coupled with my...unique title. I was a mystery to this guy and we both knew it. It satisfied me to know that he would probably tell more than one person about the crazy summoner that he met out in the woods.
I didn't give him enough time to put together a plan of attack or escape, he had made his choice. I gave Vigil the signal and he left my shoulder in a flash. Maylive wasn't as easily killed as his teammates. He had obviously been the tank of the group, the one to take the damage and hold the attention of enemy mobs. For some reason, or maybe because of that, Vigil wasn't able to just take his head like he had the hunter. Instead, when he streaked by to deliver the death blow it only caused a deep cut to appear on the warrior's neck. The attack still left Maylive on his knees and dealing with a severe bleed debuff, but still above half health. Three more attacks from Vigil were what it took to send him to respawn. Then, a quick stab sent the weakened axe guy to join him.
EVENT
Kara stared at the grave stones for a long time before saying anything. I went around and took what coin they had on them. Made a tidy eleven silver off of them. "That's the first time I was actually able to survive. I haven't seen you fight before now, I severely underestimated what you were capable of..." She seemed very happy to have avoided death, but I was just plain annoyed.
"You mean players have killed you before? Just for no reason?" Kara's face darkened. "Adventurers discovered that I hold no affiliation with Four Flags directly. I also carry several interesting spell books on me at any given time. They apparently find it worth the effort to occasionally attack me and raid my sanctuary." She seemed so nonchalant about it. That was just...unfair. I was going to have to do something about the situation...somehow.
"How are you still alive then? Do summoners eventually get some kind of life preserving spell? I thought..." I was going to say 'I thought npcs died permanently' but stopped myself. She got the gist of it though. "Some of us have the spark of rebirth." She said shrugging. "I happen to be one them. It's been more of a curse in my life than a gift to be honest. Unlike you, or any other adventurer, my resurrection isn't completely guaranteed. The manner of my death matters, and a little luck is necessary, but so far I've been lucky."
Huh.. It made more sense now why her wooden chest of belongings seemed to never be around unless she needed it. She just didn't want to get robbed all the time.
It also shed some light on why she had been so desperate to get me as a student. She wanted to get stronger in order to defend herself, as well as progress on her chosen path. "Hey, Lyst?" Kara walked up behind me and flicked me lightly on the back of the head. "I can see the gears in your head working overtime trying to solve my problem for me. You really don't have to. This is just the way things are around here. I'm grateful that you stepped in though."
I didn't say anything. I was never good at this kind of stuff. I wondered, not for the first time, why in the world she was living in a tree clearing outside of the walls of the town in the first place. Was Kara being shunned or exiled? I got that Ed, the guard who had dragged me here in the first place, was friendly with her, so I guess she was allowed in Four Flags, but why didn't she have a house within the safety of its limits?
Then I remembered that she was just a program and she was right. I shouldn't be worrying about it so much. It's how the game was made after all. Had the AI planned out her entire life before she was even born? Were npcs even born? How did that work?
I was distracted from my thoughts when Kara started bustling about, beginning to fix the damage from the short conflict. She was picking up ceramic shards from her cup, but after a few seconds she straightened up and glanced over at me. "Lyst, is there any chance I could kindly ask you to leave for now? I'll need to work some semi-difficult spells in order to heal the damage to the grove, not to mention I'm fatigued from summoning that grabber. I would prefer if I could drop the Dark ward that I have in place and reset my normal defenses. They, at least, will warn me if another group of adventurers are approaching."
Dismissed... The knowledge that the only reason those players had gotten in here in the first place was because she had set up something to keep me safe instead of keeping her normal protections up was more bothersome to me than it should have been. She's just an npc. She's just an npc...
"Understood. I'll see you soon I guess. Give me a couple days and I'll be level 20, easy." I tried to sound hopeful, but she was already eying up the burn marks on the nearest trees.
As I was about to step through the first layer of the densely packed wall of vegetation, Kara called out to me. "Also, every chance you can get, keep bending those spells in the direction that you want. Eventually it will come together. I hope to see a demonstration of this crazy specialization that you're planning the next time that I see you." I looked back, she was smiling again. Her normal, easy going expression. I just nodded and smiled back.
As I wove through the trees I struggled to tamper down the anger I was feeling that there were players around here that would just come in here and kill her for fun. She's just an npc...
I decided
to walk instead of jog back to the gates. Just enjoying the day, while thinking of ways to get Kara put on the off limits list of killable npcs in these parts. Maybe if I found the mayor? Did Four Flags have a mayor? Maybe I could put up defenses of my own? A huge fade seal to trap any player that got too close..
An idea that Kara had mentioned about my Binding Art skill resurfaced then. looking around, I sat down leaning my back against the wall that surrounded the town. She had wondered why I hadn't fully weaponized a few variations of the Fade Seal spell yet, and as part of my impromptu training she hadn't let me stop until I had two working seals that operated separately from the original spell.
I needed to set up ritual versions of each seal for them to work properly, but it didn't take long to memorize the simple shapes that I designed. The only issue being setting them up for easy use. I didn't have the mana supply to set anything huge up, like what I would need if I wanted to protect Kara's whole mini-forest, but a single target seal should be very doable. It was a good first step, and now was as good a time as any to work on it. I glanced at the cuff that I still wore on my left wrist. It was of little use to me at this point, the soul focus with the jailer having been depleted to dangerous levels a long time ago, and Vigil freed from his small seal. It should work just fine.
By the time I walked into Four Flags I had two new, reusable, seals carved into the hard metal. both were filled with a decent amount of mana and ready to be used if needed. It had taken me another thirty minutes to charge them up to decent levels, but I figured that I would probably need them in a pinch. Better to be prepared.
I entered through the main gate and almost missed the fact that the guard hadn't seemed to notice me at all. It was only because there were actually seven guards standing in a huddle off to the side of the entrance that I decided that something might be a little bit off. Each of them were glancing worriedly towards the south and muttering to themselves. Looking south myself I didn't see anything out of the ordinary.
"Something wrong?" I asked as I approached the squad of npcs. If nothing else, they might give me a quest. It's always a good idea to ask an npc what was up if they were acting weird. One of them, Gred, from my very first day in Four Flags, stepped forward, raising a hand in greeting. "Nothing you can help with hero, I'm sorry to say. The first snow has fallen on one of the mountains, but it's still mid summer! A bad omen to be sure, and means that we most likely don't have nearly enough supplies to comfortably survive the coming cold."
I looked around curiously. Four Flags sat in the middle of a vast valley. They entire zone being surrounded by mountains that matched the alps in size. The only difference was, that as I turned to get the panoramic perspective, none of them had a hint of white at the tops. On earth, even in summer, it wouldn't be weird to see some snow caps when looking at mountains of this size, but here. None. Except for one. I had to turn all the way around and stare straight south, but it was true. The tip of one mountain was definitely white.
The distance made it hard to tell, but it looked like the snow capped one was actually the lowest peak in the whole valley. It was also the one in which the copper mine led into and the Arachkidar had their lair. The same one that I had skirted around and met Milenta on the far side of. Very interesting. Looking at the whole picture, that particular mountain seemed almost out of place. There was a break in the natural barriers that surrounded this valley. A pass that led to the lands south of here, but the mountain with the mine and the snow looked like it sat over the mouth of the gap in a non uniform way. When I had been right next to it, it hadn't looked like such an odd thing, and I must have not noticed how slender the pass that the road had led us through was when I made the trip with Milenta. It had been night, and pretty heavily forested, to be fair. Weird though.
I left the guards to their gossip after Gred mentioned that there would probably be a slew of requests for meat and other supplies in the coming days from the leaders of Four Flags. Gathering quests! Whew. I was happy to hear that a huge source of xp was on the horizon, but not psyched to hear about a potential winter. Didn't winter come from the north? Or was Acrion swapped in that regard?
Ignoring that for the moment I decided to do a quick search to see if I could find any of my former party members, hoping that I would get lucky. It'd been a whole day, so Hael might have taken them all out on a leveling trip already. Looping through the busy streets didn't turn up any wayward teammates, but it did reveal one, very lonely looking, Milenta.
I hesitated at first. I really didn't want to bother her if she wanted to be alone. She seemed to be in her own world, stirring a small cup of unknown liquid as she sat at an outdoor table in front of a quaint little cafe.
She was wearing different clothing today, a loose fitting shirt and pants combo that matched well and looked really comfortable. The scene was weirdly...normal. A girl sitting at a table with an umbrella over her, the beautiful day breezing on all around her. Straight off the cover of a travel magazine.
After staring for longer than was polite I figured I should at least say hello. If she didn't want me around she would let me know.
I walked over and gave a small wave as I approached. "Hey there stranger, long time no see." Instead of frowning, a small smile pulled a the corners of her mouth. "You know, I usually hate when people say stuff like that, but somehow it works coming from you."
I grinned and gestured at the chair opposite her. "Mind if I join you? I find myself groupless, and I don't feel like going out on my own at the moment." She smiled again and pushed the chair in question out with her foot under the table. "Be my guest, I'm feeling the same way. I was just thinking what my next move will be."
I sat and a waiter appeared within a few seconds. "What can I get for you sir?" He handed me a menu at the same time he was asking for my order. I didn't want to waste his time or seem clueless looking over the list of foreign sounding drink names, so I just glanced at Milenta's cup and waved at that. "I'll have what she's having, please." The waiter raised his eyebrows and gave me a half bow, then moved off, back into the building.
Milenta looked like she was about to burst out laughing. "Well, that reminds me at least." She smiled wickedly and her eyes glazed over for a moment.
Milenta, The Tactician wishes to transfer 100 gold to your character, do you accept this transaction?
Y/N
It took me a second to remember, but confirmed that she hadn't actually payed me the gold she had promised last night. With a grin I accepted the trade.
Milenta was still all smiles, but I didn't have time to ask why before the waiter returned and slid a cup and saucer onto the table in front of me. The man bowed slightly again, then left.
I watched him go, curious at his formality, and absentmindedly sipped from the cup that he had left behind. Instantly my vision burst into a sea of colors and my sight was crowded with a bunch of notifications.
Well Fed
Duration: 5 minutes
Well Rested
Duration: 5 minutes
Energized
Duration: 5 minutes
Satiated
Duration: 5 minutes
Buzzed
Duration: 5 minutes
Tipsy
Duration: 5 minutes
Are buzzed and tipsy really different status effects? Wow... that stuff really packed a punch! I stared at Milenta. Her smile still firmly in place. I felt...really good... and I knew I was probably grinning like a fool with my eyes half open. I just felt great.
"This is some good stuff..." I mumbled. Milenta laughed, a bright and genuine sound that somehow matched the happy feelings floating around in my head. "You have a nice laugh." I said, grinning at the girl across from me.
"Really?" She said, leaning towards me over the small table. "Is that all? Don't I have a nice smile? Do you like what I did with my hair today? Is there anything else you want to tell me Lyst? Any deep dark secrets you suddenly feel like sharing?"
I blinked at her, ha
lf confused, half absorbed by the happy buzz that gripped me. "You have nice teeth, and your hair smells like dust." I replied brightly. Milenta actually looked surprised for a second. I took the time to look up at the sky with my rose tinted vision. "This world is so beautiful, and such a nice day we're having. Too many people don't appreciate the small things." My words were slurring slightly, but that didn't bother me much.
Before I could say anything else Milenta snapped her fingers in front of my face. I slowly refocused on her. She looked so lonely. Even before, in the woods. It seemed like she felt she didn't belong. It's a shame. It feels good to belong. It had been a long time since I had felt that myself, but weirdly enough, I felt it a lot now that I was in Acrion. Strange how things work like that.
Milenta snapped again and stared into my eyes. She suddenly looked really sad, but kept a small smile in place. "Lyst, I'm going to cast a silencing spell on you, okay? Just for a little while. The drink that you got is a really powerful potion. You're saying things that you normally wouldn't and for some reason I don't find it as funny as I usually would."
I just nodded. "If you think that's best. I trust ya." I smiled as Milenta muttered something and pointed at me. Then I basked in the glow of the potion's effects for another few minutes, now though, I couldn't talk. That didn't bother me either. The effects didn't last long, and faded with no hangover, thankfully. I slid the cup away from me when I finally got my mind to work correctly. It really was good stuff, but I wasn't about to take another sip.
Milenta waved her hand casually and I could feel her silencing spell fade from me. "Feeling better?" she asked kindly. "No, not better, but certainly clearer." She chuckled. "Sorry I didn't warn you." I shook my head. "Nah, my own fault for drinking something that I knew nothing about. I hope I didn't embarrass myself too much. It's weird...my memories from the last couple minutes are...blurry." It was Milentas turn to shake her head. "No need for embarrassment. And the memory fogginess is normal. This potion is an advanced interrogation draught." She said this casually as she stirred her own cup and then lifted it to her lips and took another sip. She saw my questioning look and set the cup down with a wink. She looked around to make sure no one was in earshot and leaned towards me slightly. "I have an ability that lets me build up resistances to certain effects. Poisons, drugs, stuff like that. I drink this stuff to help me level it up." She glanced around again and then turned her eyes back on me. "Another secret to keep between us, if you don't mind."