The Lionheart

by Stevie Collier

Health: 45%

  Stamina: 100%

  “Yes, I’m in definite need of food. I was climbing you to try and grab some of that delicious-looking fruit you have there.”

  A limb whipped itself into the air, plucked off a Box Fruit and brought it down to my face.

  “You mean, this fruit?”

  I looked at the tree and back at the fruit. The tree blinked softly as if to say go ahead. I grabbed it.

  It was slightly furry in my hands. The colors were a gradient of red and purple. I took a bite and juices overflowed my cheeks. The taste was incredible! A perfect mixture of tang, sour, and sweet and was by far the most delectable thing I’d ever had.

  I scarfed the rest of it in three more bites. Things seemed so much more real now. The sensation of taste, the breeze on my face, and the feel of the Grandfather Tree Sage’s rough bark underneath my hands were all undeniably more powerful.

  These were all positive senses, however. I forced myself to think back on the crab and how it had felt to get pinched between its giant claws. How it had felt to have my body compressed so tightly that my skin ripped open. These thoughts made me shudder. Were these new feelings even worth it? What else was going to change now?

  “Mighty Warrior, you have eaten the fruit of my limbs and I feel it is no longer rude to ask for your aid in a minor task.”

  I was on my third Box Fruit and looked at it with cheeks filled with juices.

  “Sure, what’s up?” I asked.

  “Do you see these vines spread across my body and to the bodies of others?” The tree used one of its limbs to gesture to the hundreds of green vines that spread from it to all of its other forestry comrades. “They are not my own. They were created by parasitic beasts that will not leave me alone, no matter how polite I ask them to!”

  “Have you tried offering them a Box Fruit?”

  The tree laughed at my suggestion. “These beasts only desire one thing. To feed off my nectar and to use me and my friends as hammocks!” His speech intensified with emotion making the last of his words more of a bellow. “Now, I ask of you Tharis the Preserver, dispense of these beasts so that I may go back to my peaceful life of swaying in the breeze.”

  You have been offered a quest! Parasitic Nectar Suckers

  Quest Details: Kill 8 Nectar Suckers

  Reward: Experience, 10 Box Fruits, 5 Bottles of Sweet Nectar

  Secret Reward: Depends on how you dispense of the Nectar Suckers

  This was the first time I’d seen a quest give a possible secret reward. What other way was there of killing these Nectar Suckers, anyway?

  I accepted the quest and, as soon as I did so, the Grandfather’s face sunk into itself, a flat piece of ordinary bark taking its place.

  A small hiss came from above. I looked up just in time to be tackled by a green, eight-limbed monster.

  Nectar Sucker Level 10

  You’ve been stung by Nectar Sucker.

  Health: 85%

  I kicked the thing as hard as I could right in its gut, sending it a few feet away from me. It caught one of the vines and spun itself until it was upright and crawling towards me. The spider was only a spider in shape. Its body was actually made of ferns and foliage rather than arachnid skin like one would expect. Its abdomen, where the needle-like piercer stuck out, was an invisible sack. It was possible to see the nectar it had been stealing from the trees.

  I stood and balanced myself on the green vine while equipping my hammer and shield. Once the Nectar Sucker came into range, I used my Bash ability for the first time. I bent my knees and slammed the face of my shield right into its leafy head. A cool wind special effect erupted from the edges of my crab shield and green ooze popped out of the sucker’s crushed face.

  The ability also had the added effect of pushing your enemy a ways away depending on how big it was and how much stamina the player chose to use. The Nectar Sucker, being half my size, flew away a good distance.

  “Woohoo!” I yelled in excitement, the rush of the shield bash raising my spirits. I loved the feeling of the pure barbaric power it gave me.

  The Nectar Sucker soared off to the left, its limbs sticking out trying to grab one of the green vines. It failed and fell to the forest floor.

  SPLAT

  You’ve defeated Nectar Sucker.

  I jumped from leg to leg, feeling like a total bad ass but nearly fell off the vine in doing so. That was, for sure, the coolest thing I had done since being born!

  Sadly, my excitement didn’t last long. I heard the sticky crawling of leafy arachnids coming from above me in all directions. The killing of the Nectar Sucker had caught the attention of its family. The remaining seven foliage spiders hopped from the branches, all of them meeting in the middle where all of the green vines met. This was the first time that it occurred to me that I was actually standing on a giant web.

  The beasts targeted me and charged.

  12

  Their combined strength would easily kill me in just a few seconds. Even with my newly added shield, I would not survive this encounter.

  There had to be another way.

  The seven beasts were crawling towards me, their combined weight sending a wave across the web of vines. I looked down at my feet and nearly slapped myself for not thinking of it sooner.

  I stepped off the vine and onto one of my tree friend’s limbs. I then targeted the vine and struck it with my hammer. The durability of the vine instantly went to 0% and withered away. But the loss of it did nothing to drop the web.

  I ran down the limb I was standing on and destroyed each leg of vine I saw. The suckers would turn their attention to me and charge in my new direction. This kept them close to the middle of the web which is exactly where I wanted them.

  Once I destroyed half of the vines, the web fell over but the suckers remained attached. But now, they climbed vertically. There were three remaining legs I had to destroy.

  I was running up to the first leg when one of the suckers made its way to the top. I tucked myself behind my shield and…

  BOOM!

  I hit it as hard as I could with a bash using up half my stamina in the process. I hadn’t needed that much push but my adrenaline had gotten the better of me. The sucker spun in the air as it fell to its demise a ways off.

  Two of the Nectar Suckers had just about made it to the branch when I cut the final leg of vine.

  I swore I heard the suckers cry out as they fell to meet the fate of their companions. Their green blood oozed out of their smashed plant-like bodies.

  Congratulations! You’ve completed Parasitic Nectar Suckers!

  You’ve Earned: Experience, 10 Box Fruits, 5 Bottles of Sweet Nectar.

  Secret Bonus: Since you did not use fire to burn down the vines and the trees, you have earned the reputation of Friend amongst the trees. You may call upon them for aid if and when you need to do so.

  I hadn’t even known fire was an option! Maybe I should start getting a bit more creative when it came to completing quests. Although, even if I had access to fire, I still wouldn’t have used it. What kind of monster would burn down the entire forest just for a simple quest?

  Well, I did know of someone. Toxhin wouldn’t have thought twice about using fire.

  Thoughts of him torturing Ushmoe flooded my mind and I could only image what hell he was putting my friend through. These thoughts sent hot blood rushing through my veins. There was no time to rest. I had to reach a high enough level that I could confront the demon of Ashvell.

  My chat box flashed in my vision as it started to become flooded with the same message over and over again.

  “Anyone out there?” - Bataar

  “Help!” - Bataar

  “Help!” - Bataar

  The text showed up in a red font which I had never seen it do before. I went ahead and responded.

  “Where are you?” - Tharis

  “In the forest! Huge zerg of Nectar Suckers behind me! I’d take ‘em, but… damn! So many!” - Bataar

>   I targeted his name and tried to send him a party invite.

  You cannot party with members of the Dark Faction.

  So that was why his text showed up as red. He was the enemy.

  “Please help! I don’t want to start over!” - Bataar

  Everything inside me told me to ignore it, to simply start looking for another quest to complete. It was this player’s own fault for pulling too many monsters and I had issues of my own at the moment.

  But what if that were me? I was still new to this world, and there was a high chance of me making the same mistake this guy did. And what was he doing so close to a Light Faction village?

  Either way, I couldn’t party invite him to locate his whereabouts. I decided I would help him if he turned up in my sight. Until then, I would mind my own business and keep searching for quests and for things to kill.

  “Help!” cried a deep and raspy voice not too far off in the distant forest.

  “Well, I guess that settles it,” I said to myself.

  I ran in the direction of the cry, keeping an eye out for any beasts that were near enough to target me.

  “Help!” came the cry again, but a lot closer this time.

  I was heading in the right direction. I cleared a wall of shrubs as tall as me and came face to face with a large and steep grassy hill. On top of it, I could see a wooden railing which meant there was probably a road up there. I tried to make a mental note of this position but my thoughts were interrupted by a red dragon-like humanoid vaulting over the railing.

  “Whoa!” the dragon man yelped, falling straight down towards me.

  Both of his clawed feet landed on my chest and I hit the ground hard on my back, air whooshing out of my gut.

  “Oh, by the God of Drathos! Get up, hurry!”

  The dragon player scooped up my hand, hoisted me to my feet, and pulled me back into a run alongside him.

  Health: 90%

  “Run, you fool!” he yelled at me.

  I could hear the sticky crawling and the low hiss of enemies behind us. I turned to see at least ten Nectar Suckers descending the hill.

  You’ve been targeted by Nectar Sucker.

  You’ve been targeted by Nectar Sucker.

  The message kept repeating as more and more Nectar Suckers came over the hill to join the chase.

  “What happened?” I asked between breaths.

  “I stupidly decided to take a nap in this godforsaken forest,” he panted, taking in a gulp of air. His mouth drooped and his forked tongue lulled from exhaustion. “And woke up to meet a pair of those horrible looking creatures! I tried to take them, but accidentally aggroed two more. You know the rest!”

  I could see the beach in the distance. If we could make it to the water, I was pretty sure the Nectar Suckers would stop their chase at the forest line.

  But we didn’t get that far.

  Bataar’s eyes widened in fear as his body became paralyzed from lack of stamina. He fell face flat in the dirt, his tail flicking in the air before also going flat.

  It was only a matter of seconds before we were completely surrounded by the suckers. I tried to drag the half-ton dragon man but it was no use. He was far too heavy.

  A sharp pain hit my back, making me arch in agony.

  You’ve been stung by Nectar Sucker.

  And then again.

  You’ve been stung by Nectar Sucker.

  I checked my health.

  Health 60%

  I looked down to see Bataar completed covered in the green beasts, black needles from the butts of the suckers going in and out of his spine.

  13

  I tried not to panic but the pain from the stings was clouding my mind from reason. There was no use in attacking the beasts, there were way too many of them.

  One of the suckers crawled on my face and stuck its stinger straight through my cheek.

  You’ve been critically hit by Nectar Sucker!

  Health: 18%

  I was being crawled on by at least four of the suckers, each piercing through my leather armor with ease.

  My head spun and my eyes focused on one of the trees looking down at me with sorrow written on its face. I could only think of one option that may save our lives.

  I targeted the tree and sent it a message.

  “Help us, please.” - Tharis

  The tree closed its eyes and bowed itself. It lowered a branch and started to swat at the damned things.

  Smack!

  Smack!

  Green blood filled the air as the tree used its massive branches to crush the suckers that had surrounded us. The tree gritted its teeth as it got its revenge on the disgusting bugs that had tormented it for so long.

  Exploding abdomens sent drops of nectar into the air, some of which were making their way into my mouth. It forced me to gag even though it tasted sweet.

  The tree then used the brush on the end of its limb to swipe off the remaining suckers from our bodies.

  “Hurry and climb on!” it demanded of us. “More are on the way!”

  And sure enough, I could see around ten more making their way towards us.

  With a cracking of branches, the tree put a fat limb flat on the ground for us to climb onto.

  Using the last of my stamina, I pulled the heavy Bataar over onto the branch and then collapsed on top of it myself. We were hoisted into the air just as the ten new suckers pounced, their prickly claws barely missing our feet.

  Air rushed through my hair as we were lifted high above the ground. My heart pounded in my chest and my vision had taken on a red tint.

  Health: 8%

  The branch came to a sudden halt.

  Congratulations! You’ve completed the Rare Hidden Quest: Blind Gallantry.

  Objective: Risk your life to save a player of a different faction.

  Reward: Experience, Player Title: Dauntless

  Congratulations! You are now known throughout the World of Drathos as Tharis the Dauntless! This title will appear above your head when other players or NPCs concentrate on you.

  You now have more than one title and can switch between them at will.

  Congratulations! You’ve acquired Level 12!

  Congratulations! You’ve acquired Level 13!

  The double level up sent a shock of energy through my body, allowing me to pick myself up and sit down.

  Dauntless was a real bad ass title and I couldn’t help but feel bemused that I had already received two titles before Level 15. I opened up my character sheet which showed an image of me in a passive stance. My body was surrounded by around 20 different slots which could all be filled with either armor, jewelry, or trinkets.

  I located the titles tab and found that Preserver had already been preselected. I switched it over to Dauntless for a few seconds before changing it back. I wasn’t sure or not that Dauntless was a respected title especially if, in order to receive it, you had to save a player of the opposite faction. I was already in enough trouble as it was and didn’t need any more on my plate. Tharis the Preserver sounded pretty cool and so I switched it to that.

  I pulled out a Box Fruit and scarfed it down. I took out another and put in in front of Bataar’s diamond-shaped nostril. It flared a bit and his eyes peeked open from the scent. I flinched as he took a big bite out of the fruit, showing off his pearly white fangs.

  Bataar Level 10 Warrior

  “Are you two all right?” asked the Grandfather Tree Sage. It wasn’t the same tree as before but looked and sounded exactly the same.

  “We are,” I said, “thanks to you!” I patted the branch with my palm.

  “Anytime, young Warrior. Anytime. It is thanks to you that we were able to rid ourselves of those pesky pests!”

  The face of the tree disappeared and was replaced by plain bark. I handed the rest of the Box Fruit to Bataar as he sat himself upright.

  He was a red-tinted Archean with thick, rough scales that encompassed his entire body. His dull orange eyes and white puff of beard on the
end of his snout gave away his old age. For some reason, his creator had used some of the older appearance settings on this one. His tail swung from his backside and was long and rigged with many small, black spikes.

  I pulled out some of the sweet nectar I had been awarded and took a swig before handing the bottle over to Bataar. His face looked ashamed at taking charity but he knew he wasn’t in the position to not accept it.

  We had just finished eating, drinking, and catching our breaths. I opened my mouth to ask him what he was doing out here when the branch below our asses started to rumble. The swishing sound of chain mail and the roar of orders being made sounded throughout the forest from all directions.

  “What’s going on?” I asked, turning my head every which way, searching for the source of the sounds.

  “Oh, damn. Bloody hell, they followed me. Must have trackers with ‘em.”

  “Wait, what? What are you talking about? Who followed you?”

  Bataar looked around, looking for some sort of escape route. Finding none, he slouched over and took a drink from the nectar.

  “As you may have guessed, I shouldn’t be here,” he said. “The Golden Alliance is the safeguard guild around these lands. They patrol the entire area making sure no gankers of the Dark Faction make it to the starter villages.”

  He took another drink.

  “What’s a ganker?” I asked.

  Bataar looked at me and tilted his head. “You’re a Level 13 and don’t know what a ganker is? What have you been living under? A rock?”

  I shrugged, “Something like that.”

  “A ganker is a high level player that gets his rocks off by killing low level players.”

  “Oh,” I said, my mind instantly bringing up the image of Toxhin.

  “Bataar!” came a deep and heroic voice from beneath us.

  From all the excitement, I had become oblivious to the day’s ending and the night’s beginning. What made me realize this were the torches that now made a thick circle around the tree we now sat on.

  “Bataar! There is no use running now! We have you trapped like the animal you are!”

  I looked at Bataar, his face full of anxiety.