End Online: Volume 3

by D Wolfin

  “B-but, I have to ask.” Shai’en’s voice still sounds like a gentle flute on the wind, despite the stammering. “How e-exactly did you find our community. There should have been a warding that prevents all humans and any pets of theirs from entering.”

  ‘Well, I suppose she technically isn’t human nor my pet.’ I think to myself as I look over at the girl in question.

  “Unfortunately, I probably shouldn’t say any more. What about you? It seems like the city of elves split up into multiple communities. So where is everyone else?”

  “Most of my people got enslaved by the bandits when they attacked. The rest have fled away and gone into hiding.” She seems to feel a deep pain while talking about the loss of her home.

  “Surely your village was protected by the same kind of illusion as you were in this forest. I don’t understand how it was you were attacked in the first place?”

  “It was. Unlike now, there was also no rule at the time forbidding contact with humans. But our main city, Entreal, was still protected from outsiders the same as we were in the forest. The only way for an outsider to get through is for them to possess a ‘Necklace of the Elves’, or be in the company of someone who does. Fortunately, it is an item which cannot be forged or stolen, even from a dead body.”

  As Shai’en talks, she pulls up a string necklace from around her neck. Along that necklace are four odd sized aquamarines shaped like upside down tear drops. Even in the night, they seem to radiate a faint azure light.

  “They also provide a strong resistance against negative mental statuses and illusions. The strength of which depends on the necklace, some stronger than others. The strength of the necklace you carry is usually related to how important you are in the elvish society.”

  “I see, I see.” Nodding my head, I suddenly have a thought. “Wait, while I get how desirable these necklaces are. If it can’t be stolen, then how did this person get one of those necklaces?”

  “What happened is told of a lone travelling elf, who met a human and fell in love with him. They were together for six months and had already promised a long and plentiful future together.”

  “One night, the man was taking a bath with the woman when he fooled her into taking the necklace off so he could have a proper look at it. The moment she took it off and handed it to him however, he stabbed her in the back and murdered her in cold blood. I hear that the blood soaked into his skin, permanently staining him of his sin.”

  “This man then used the necklace to lead an army of bandits into the heart of the northern forest, raiding the capital of the elves. I was only a child when it happened, but I will never forget that night…” Her voice trails off as she begins to recall her memories of the past, a few tears forming under her eyes.

  A foreboding silence once again takes over the group and lasts the entire journey through the moonlit forest. After hearing the story of what happened to the elf, no one knew exactly what to say next.

  At one point, Matrix raised the point that we should stop and rest for the night. But that planned ended up being pointless as we were two sleeping bags short.

  Shai’en naturally started up a few menial conversations, curious about us and where we are from. She almost seemed like a curious child at some points. Never running out of questions.

  With the moon directly in the middle of the sky, we finally emerge from the forest and into the open plains around Grenton. There are quite a few new players still battling wild boars and other beginner level creatures, even in the dead of night.

  ‘They must be trying to level up as fast as possible. To be hunting during the night as well.’

  Without giving it any more thought, I lead the way past them and towards Grenton. I can see the light of countless lanterns throughout the city, almost like hundreds of thousands of fireflies flying about as their flames flickered back and forth. The entire city gives off a gentle, golden radiance that truly matched its splendour.

  That soft light is projecting itself onto the ground just outside the eastern exit, almost like an open door beaconing me in.

  Most of the NPCs have vanished into their residences for the night, yet the streets inside the city are still bustling with players. It isn’t just young people playing as well. There are many middle aged men and woman dressed as warriors, magicians, and even some who have chosen their equipment based off of a fashion sense. The elderly community seems to be rather lacking in the game, but there is definitely a few old couples that seem to be enjoying vigorously strong bodies.

  All along the street I am currently on, players are running stalls with large varieties of food that they have made. Ever since the Christmas update that introduced the satiety system to the game, there has been a massive increase in not just the quantity but quality of food products being sold.

  “Impressive, isn’t it?” Mason says beside me. “I even heard there are some players who have taken up a farming profession. It is mostly the older people who no longer have bodies strong enough to do it in real life. Most of the bigger guilds purchased land or let them use theirs to produce food products in return for providing free materials for cooking for them.”

  Inside, I feel utter amazement at this. It has only been three months since Christmas, yet such a system has already not only been thought of, but even spread around the guilds on a large scale.

  “To think, you could just purchase land.” I think about how simple it should be.

  “Not quite,” Mason laughs at my surprise, “If you want to farm on it or start any form of production, you will naturally have to defend it from monsters. They won’t spawn in the farm or even around it all that much. But they will enter the farm and start eating the product unless you can keep them out. It is quite a lot of work for the supervising guilds.”

  We continue our conversation on food and also how guilds run their economics all the way until we reach the Gold Run Inn. Once inside, I go straight to the innkeeper, not bothering with anything else.

  Glancing behind me, I notice Shai’en looking at me nervously while Shai’lan is hiding behind her legs.

  “Can you please give me three rooms. Two beds each.” I say to Rix, not mentioning anything about the quest.

  “No problem. That will be four gold and fifty silver.” He says with a smile that fails to reach his eyes, giving me an unnerving foreboding. As soon as I hand the payment over, he whispers towards me in a cold voice.

  “Say, you haven’t tracked down that young boy just yet, have you?” He glances over at Shai’lan, almost as if he already knows that that is the boy he is waiting for.

  “Please, Rix. It is late and we all need sleep. How about we discuss it in the morning?”

  The innkeeper calmly nods his head as he agrees to put it off until the morning.

  “W-why didn’t you say anything?” Shai’en asks nervously as I return to the group with our room keys.

  “There isn’t any rush, is there?” I respond calmly, smiling sincerely underneath my hood. “Let us sleep for the rest of the night and come back here in the morning.”

  I hand over one of the keys to Shai’en and Shai’lan, while the second one goes to Mason and Matrix. I explain where the rooms are at the same time as handing over the keys, more so for the benefit of the elves rather than the brothers. The elves possibly have never stayed in a human settlement before so I assumed they may not be exactly sure where to go.

  With our discussion at its end, we all head up to our separate rooms for the night.

  Before I climb into my bed, I look over at Fen, who is currently standing on the balcony. She has propped her head on her hands while leaning forward and resting her elbows on the balcony railing. A few gentle breezes of cool night air pass by her, causing the hem of her red halter dress and her hair to gently drift back at forth.

  ‘I wonder if I should have had Shai’lan here and have Fen stay with Shai’en. That way, I know those two elves won’t try to disappear in the middle of the night, and I won’t have to de
al with this wolf.’

  I think to myself about the various things I could have done differently as the system assist slowly causes me to fall into a slumber.

  ***************************************************

  As I open my eyes to the morning sun shining through the balcony doors, my body registers an incredibly familiar feeling.

  I look down and see a slightly ruffled head of white hair positioned next to my shoulder. Below that is a slender and exposed nape, almost opaline in appearance. She is even worse this morning in comparison to yesterday, with half of her body practically on top of me.

  My heart starts racing as she stirs lightly, her body quivering for a moment before once more returning to stillness. Looking down at the girl, I do somewhat feel affection towards her, just not the type to be considered ‘romantic’. The very thought itself causes me to throw up a wall of morals in my mind.

  Fen is just an NPC. Indeed a highly advanced program, but none the less, still a product of program code. Besides, isn’t she technically a wolf?

  Trying to slip my way out of bed, Fen makes a light “ahhn” sounding yawn before suddenly chomping down onto my shoulder. Sinking her teeth deep into the skin sends an unnaturally acute pain to my body, causing me to cry out in agony.

  “Cut it out!” I don’t yell, yet speak in a reasonably loud and overbearing voice to the wolf girl while sending a hard chop down into her head with the side of my hand. The blow causes her to loosen her teeth from around my shoulder at the same time as I slip away from her grip and her teeth.

  The girl in front of me stares at me with wide open eyes, a mischievous grin permeating her face.

  ‘You were awake this entire time?!’ I cry in my mind.

  “Please Fen, you need to stop doing that.” I say to her in resignation.

  “Stop…what?” She arches her eyebrows while responding in a voice as clear as a clean cut crystal.

  “Stop sneaking into my bed. Honestly, you never give up.”

  Her eyes dull slightly while looking at me. In my mind, I cannot help but imagine wolf ears on her head drooping down and a menacing aura emanating from her.

  “I m-mean, it isn’t that I don’t like it.” I say with a little fear in my voice, “I just think it is not a good thing to do.”

  She doesn’t seem to get any happier, but at least she doesn’t seem to be too grumpy.

  Five minutes later, I lead the pouting wolf girl downstairs where I plan to meet up with everyone else. The others are currently standing around one of the barrels, happily chatting away to each other without the slightest nervousness about them.

  I arrive at the spot with Fen in tail and give my morning greetings to everyone. Shai’en looks at me with a conflict showing in her eyes. Eventually, she speaks up.

  “Shai’lan, go with this man for a moment.”

  I nod my head and look down at the young child. He hesitates for a moment, but shortly resigns himself to following me through the few players scattered around and over to the innkeeper.

  “Good morning, Rix. I am here to bring you the boy who your daughter was secretly meeting.” I say while pointing down to the little child

  “Hoohhh?” He makes breathing in air seem incredibly intimidating as he leans over the counter to bring his face closer to the child. “So, you are the one who has been dragging my very own daughter away from me? Do you think you deserve her affection and love? Huh?”

  “T-t-that’s not what i-i-it was.” Shai’lan takes a step backwards, stammering his words before the innkeepers menacing glare.

  “I think you and me are going to be having a very long talk about this shortly. If you think I will let you have my daughter, you had better think again!”

  Rix, raising his voice, attracted the gazes of more than a few players throughout the inn. He even went to continue pressing the terrified boy when suddenly a loud metallic clang sounds throughout the inn,

  His eyes rolling back up in his head, Rix silently passes out and slumps lifelessly over the counter. Standing over Rix’s now unconscious body, is his wife, with a rather large wok in one hand.

  “I am terribly sorry for that.” She says without a hint of remorse for her husband, “I usually don’t show myself out front, just this man is making too much noise. Will all of you accompany me out back to the kitchen for a moment?”

  Not just Shai’lan and I, but the rest of the party all silently follow behind her like docile hostages, fearing her brutality. We arrive in the kitchen where she stops and turns around.

  “Now that we are out of prying eyes and that noisy husband of mine has quietened down. You must be the young boy that my daughter showed some interest in.”

  She looks Shai’lan up and down, occasionally nodding to herself as if in agreement.

  “I’m sorry,” Shai’en says as she walks over and joins the conversation after seeing how this was going to end, “My son cannot have this kind of relationship with an ordinary person.”

  “Why?” the innkeepers wife lowers her voice calmy, “Is it because you are elves?”

  Not just the mother and son, but even I am greatly shocked by her words, not sure what to in return.

  “What, you think I wouldn’t notice another one of my kin? Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Zusa’jan, a former elf.” She laughs in a dry voice while lifting her hair away from her ears.

  Surely enough, the innkeepers wife has elvish ears. Except, they are short and have nasty scars from where they were chopped off.

  “Y-your ears! And your h-hair!” Shai’en stutters is shock, simply pointing at the Zusa’jan.

  “Well. elvish ears stick out too much to be able to fit in with the humans. As for my hair, it’s dyed.”

  It is incredibly strange, she doesn’t have any of the grace of the elves, nor does she have a smooth, pleasant voice. Everything about her spoke of a middle aged, overweight woman.

  “Hang on,” I raise my hand as a strange thought comes to my mind, “Then your daughter. Wouldn’t that mean?”

  “Yes, she is technically half elf and half human. It is half the reason why my husband here is so overprotective of her. Fortunately, being a half blood she was born with a human appearance.”

  “I don’t know quite what to say.” I shake my head, feeling like a massive bomb shell had just been dropped on me.

  “Please, think nothing of it. I just hope you will not go telling others of my heritage.” I feel death approaching as she raises the large frying pan in her hand. She only moves it a fraction, yet the intent is clear as day.

  “O-of course not,”

  “Good. Now, you have caused a few problems, but I know that you do mean well.” Zusa’jan sighs audibly, “I apologize for any inconveniences my husband has put you through. Allow me to give you a proper reward for your efforts.”

  Your quest has been successfully completed

  - Infamy from Quest:Follow my daughter has been negated

  - Fame + 35

  - Intimacy with the elvish race has grown, you will naturally be accepted in elvish communities and receive better prices when trading with elves.

  A feeling of exaltation spreads throughout my body. I have finally gained some fame, even if it is with the persona of ‘Man in the hood’, it is still a step forward. With the repair of infamy gained by completing the ‘Follow my daughter’ quest, it means I have actually gained a total of forty fame, bringing my infamy down to one hundred and fifty.

  I am concerned about the gained intimacy with the elves. It is definitely related to fame and infamy, meaning that once I remove the hood, I will no longer have the benefit. I pause for a while as I contemplate my options.

  With an internal sigh, I decide to reveal my true identity. The title I have offers nothing more than hiding some of my stats from analysis skills anyway.

  “Mrs. Zusa’jan,” I say while pulling my hood off of my head, “It is a pleasure to meet you, I am Lost.”

  “I see, I see.” She nods her he
ad with a curt laugh.

  Your identity as 'Lost' has been revealed to be behind the 'Man in the Hood'. Now that your identity is widely known, the title 'Man in the Hood' has become invalid and will be removed.

  All infamy and fame between the two identities will now be merged.

  ‘I guess it is true when they say that nothing travels faster than the word of mouth. It has only been a few seconds and the entire continent knows it.’

  I laugh in my mind, I am already aware that this is just a game mechanic. It doesn’t rely on the speed of pigeons and rumours for every NPC to become aware of my identity.

  “Zusa’jan,” Shai’en deeply bows her head towards the innkeeper’s wife, “We are going on a dangerous mission soon. Please… I, Shai’en, plead you. Can you take care of my Shai’lan while I am gone?!”

  Shai’en keeps her head bowed, dreading what the response will be. I am personally surprised that she has simply decided to come with us.

  “Raise your head, Shai’en.” The Zusa’jan says pleasantly. “Of course I will look after him. However, if you do go, you must come back. This is your responsibility as a mother.”

  Shai’en nods in acceptance while thanking the innkeeper’s wife with her most sincere feelings. At the same time, a notification appears in front of me. It informs me that the quest has been updated and that if Shai’en is to die, the quest will have been failed. At the same time, she automatically appears in the party window as a ‘companion’.

  Lost

  lvl: 97

  Health: 1252/1252

  Stamina: 441/441

  Mana: 913/913

  Mason

  lvl: 99

  Health: 1296/1296

  Stamina: 311/311

  Matrix

  lvl: 106

  Health: 1461/1461

  Stamina: 341/341

  Mana: 446/446

  -Companions-

  Fen

  lvl: 82

  Health: 1612/1612

  Magic: 589/589

  Stamina: 518/518