The girls took the time to load down plates for the men and were just starting to dig into their own food when the guys showed up.
“Hey, thanks,” Dean said, attacking the food with relish. Obviously, Ash had chosen well. Of course, Dean wasn’t all that particular about what he ate, either.
Nika laid out her plan to the others and everyone was instantly on board. In fact, Louella took it one step further.
“The orcs are mostly barbarian types, right?” she asked.
“Yup,” Ash answered. “All slash and bash and orcs don’t do well with magic. Unless this is different from the online game, an orc can’t do magic.”
Louella chewed the inside of her cheek. “What about bows?”
Nika shook her head. “Their bodies aren’t made for them. They fight with clubs, swords, and axes mostly.”
The pixie grinned. “So they can only make ground attacks then?”
Ah, so that was where she was going, Nika thought.
“I know the camp is between Riser’s Creek and Griffondale, but where exactly is it? Do we know?” Louella asked. “It could be important.”
Nika could tell the others were pulling up their area maps. Unfortunately, they hadn’t yet gotten close enough to the next town for it to show in their area. Going from memory of the programming, the camp was just over half way to Griffondale.
“The maps should show us more accurate status once we get closer, but I’m thinking it’s about ten miles away from Riser’s Creek and about ten more to Griffondale.”
“So what are you thinking, Louella?” Ash asked.
“Well, if you all could engage them in battle...”
“Wait a minute,” Dean interrupted. “We can’t fight them until we’re level ten, can we? I mean we don’t want to lose, do we?”
Louella shook her head. “I don’t think it’s losing if you run away,” she said. “Once the battle starts, and I’m hoping for a surprise attack where we can at least take down an orc or two to help our experience points, I’ll locate the chest and then get between you and them and do a bright spell to blind them. Then you all can run like mad to Griffondale while I collect the locket and fly out to catch up with you.”
Evan looked thoughtful. “Well, it worked with the blood elves,” he said. Then he shrugged. “I guess the worst that could happen is that we would have to use our return stones and start out again tomorrow.”
That wasn’t acceptable to Nika. She didn’t have another day to waste. They’d wasted too many already.
“Orcs may be big, but they are also pretty fast,” Nika said. “I’m not so sure that we can outrun them until you can catch up.” She paused, deciding for total honesty. “And I really don’t want to waste another day.”
Ash nodded. “What if we could distract the orcs without engaging them? I mean the game doesn’t start a battle until the enemy sees us or we do damage to one of them, right?”
Nika nodded.
“So what if we don’t attack them, but their supplies? I could set fire to their food rations.”
“That just might do the trick,” Nika said, laughing. “Orcs have even bigger stomachs than Dean here.”
“Hey!” Dean said. “I resemble that remark.”
Louella was still chewing her cheek. “It would be better if I knew right where the treasure was before the distraction. That would give me better odds of getting in and out before they saw me and a battle started.”
“Please don’t take this the wrong way, Louella,” Evan started, “but maybe you should leave the party before going into the camp.”
The pixie’s eyes darted to his, but there was no malice in his words. Only strategy.
If the orcs caught glimpse of her and she was a member of the party, the entire party would automatically be engaged in the battle. If she was working on her own, then their focus would be strictly on the pixie. And as the game hadn’t been designed with either a flying player or a thief, technically, she should be able to weather their undivided attention.
Nika could tell the same thoughts were crossing Louella’s mind, too, from the emotions chasing across her face. Finally, the pixie looked back to her.
“If I leave the party, you’ll let me back in?” The poor girl sounded worried.
“Of course,” Nika said. Then she grinned. “As assurance, remember that the party needs to turn in the quest for me to get my ax. And I really, really want that ax.”
Louella blew out a puff and nodded. “Okay, then. We officially have a plan.”
Ash reached out to stop the pixie’s hand movements. “Don’t leave the party just yet. You’ll want to share the experience points we get between here and there. The map will show us the camp when we get close enough. You can leave the group then.”
She gave a short laugh, sounding a bit relieved. “That sounds good to me.”
After they ate, they loaded up on food for lunch and possibly dinner, just in case, and headed out. The plan was to try to reach level ten by the time they reached Griffondale, so they took every opportunity between town and the camp to take on any monsters and add to their experience pools.
Just before they reached the camp, they had each leveled up halfway to that next precious level, and Ash was almost there. And it was still only late morning. In the real world, their bodies wouldn’t be able to withstand such abuse, but luckily in the game, that wasn’t an issue. As long as they kept their health bars full, at least.
“Wish me luck,” Louella said as she left the party, both figuratively and literally. Her body lifted off, and she started weaving her way through the tree tops the short distance to the orc camp.
Chapter Twenty-Seven: Grand Theft Treasure
Louella had told them that when she needed a diversion, she would set off a Sun Ray. The trees between them and the camp should give them ample cover to keep from being blinded. As it turned out, she didn’t need one.
Within ten minutes she was back grinning ear to ear and dangling a beautiful red gold locket from her hand.
“You are never going to believe where their treasure chest was,” she said, laughing. “In a bloody tree house! To top it off the front door was locked and there were two orc guards standing on either side of it, but the back of the house had a small window just big enough for me to fit through.”
“Piece of cake for a little thief like you, huh?” Ash said. “Great work, Louella!”
“And they didn’t even see you?” Evan asked.
“Nope,” she paused, fiddling with her inventory. “But I did pick up something I thought Nika might like.”
She pulled out a gleaming Viking ax and handed it to the Amazon. “I’m not sure how it stacks up against the one you’ll get when we hand in this quest, but at least it gives you a bit of range in your attacks.”
Nika reached out for the heavy blade. It was really heavy. That would slow her attack quite a bit, but the extra damage the blade could dish out should more than compensate for the loss in speed. She quickly placed it in her inventory so she could see its stats.
Damn. Not bad at all. Yes, her attack speed went down a bit as expected, but the blade was a quality find. Not quite an Epic level, but very close. Then she saw the gold star and almost hyperventilated with excitement.
The blade’s name was Viking’s Curse, and it came with an added ability. With this blade, she could go into a berserker mode that would last three precious minutes. Once that time was up there was a hefty cool down period of an hour, but oh, the damage she could deal out in those three minutes would be substantial. Even better, the ability would stack on top of her All Out attack to deal even more damage.
Her eyes were moist as she looked up at the hovering pixie. “Thank you, Louella. This ax pretty much changes everything.”
She looked around at the others. “Now we have a choice,” she paused. “Although our original plan is still probably best. If we go into the battle without hitting a save fountain, we stand to lose everything we’ve gained today.” And she really d
idn’t want to lose that ax.
“That’s the other piece of news I have,” Louella said. “You know that save fountain we found in the cavern? There is one just like it on the other side of the camp. We could travel around the camp and save before doubling back for our attack.”
“So if we got rebooted, we wouldn’t actually lose anything and we could go back to our original plan. Sounds like a no-brainer,” Evan said.
The only holdout was Ash.
“Until I reach level ten, I’m not going to be of any use to you. I really need that ice spell. Could we save and then continue leveling until I get there? I’m closer than all of you, so it shouldn’t take that long.”
They decided the fair thing would be to take a vote, and it turned out everyone wanted Ash to have that spell too. They headed around the camp, saved at the precious traveling fountain and then scooted off back into the woods before the orcs could see them.
“You know, I’ve been wondering,” Dean said. “Are the orcs more active during the day or the night? Do they sleep at night like we do?”
Nika grinned at him. “Are you suggesting a surprise attack at night?”
“If we might catch most of them sleeping, hell yeah,” he said. “We are almost to Griffondale. We could go in, grab a late lunch and take a bit of a nap and then head back out just after dark.”
“That would give us a chance to check out their item and weapon shops, too,” Evan said, eying the Viking’s Curse with obvious envy. The sword he’d picked up at the market was nice enough, but it didn’t offer him any special abilities. “Plus, the orcs are definitely daytime fighters. They have a twenty percent lethargic penalty from sunset to sunrise.”
Nika just stared at him. “They have a what?”
He turned to her and one look at her flushed face made him take a step back.
Nika crossed that step and bore down on him. “Are there any other secrets of the game you would like to share with us, Evan? You do know we are trying to win here, don’t you? Or are you invested in keeping us in the game longer than we need to be?”
Evan drew himself up to full height, which in his current personification was pretty dang impressive, but it didn’t deter Nika one bit. “I’m no traitor to you or the company,” he said. “Your father had planned for your first trip into the game world to be with me, and he made me promise not to spoil the game play for you with my inside knowledge.”
“Wait a minute,” Ash said, stepping in between them. “How is it that you have more knowledge than one of the game creators herself?”
Nika took a deep breath and a step back. “Because of my dad’s determination to compartmentalize everything. My area of expertise is the world itself. The fauna, the creatures, the smells, the tastes, you name it and I probably had a hand in creating it somewhere.”
Evan nodded. “But the game itself was her father and me. Well, mostly her father, but for the past decade, I’ve played a fairly large part too. If there is any one person living who knows this game inside and out, it’s me.”
Nika glared at him. “And it sure looks to me like you’ve been holding out on us. Do you realize that the entire future of my company is at stake here? Right now Blake and his evil minions are copying our code as fast as they can. The longer we spend in-game, the better chance they have of finishing their task before I can stop them.” She took that one small step that led her to face him eye to eye. “So, if you are as loyal to me as you say, I’d appreciate all the insider information you have to get us through the game and out the other end as quickly as possible.”
Evan didn’t answer for a full minute, and the two of them stood there nose to nose in a classic stare down. Finally, he spoke.
“Your father wanted you to have an unspoiled game experience for your first run-through. It’s a time you’ll never get again. Your virgin run as it stands. If we cheat by using all the short cuts and tips I have in my brain, you’ll never get the chance to play it fresh again.” He paused. “That’s why your father made me promise, and why I agreed to his terms. But if you tell me right now that your father’s wish is trivial and cheating our way to the end more critical, then I’ll abide by your wishes. But that is a decision you will have to make, not me.”
Ash spoke up before Nika could. “Look, maybe we can compromise here?” They both looked at her and waited. “Instead of telling her the secrets that could help us, why don’t you tell one of us? Then she may know that we are progressing faster than normal, but she won’t exactly know the reason behind it. And if we are going to do it anyway, you can just keep the secrets to yourself.” She looked up at him. “Take now for instance. We probably would have gone with Dean’s idea of the night attack anyway, right? Only now it kinda feels like cheating.”
“She has a point,” Nika said grudgingly. “And so do you.” She looked around at the beautiful scenery all around her. “Anyone’s first time is special, but even if we run through the entire game at a fast pace, there will always be more areas to explore and more quests to take the next time. The game will keep growing, and every time I play it will be just a bit different.”
“So it’s okay to keep my mouth shut?” Evan asked.
Nika shook her head. “I didn’t say that. But you can limit your tips and cheats to the times when it would really help us get ahead. We don’t need to know everything you know, just the parts that will keep us moving. Sound fair?”
He nodded slowly. “Fair enough, and with heaven knows what going on back home, I think your father would agree to the change in plans.”
“So, it’s on to Griffondale?” Dean asked. “Because I’m kinda hungry and the stuff we packed for lunch really doesn’t cut it against the thought of a fully home cooked meal.”
“All this going on, and you’re still thinking with your stomach.” Ash punched him lightly on the shoulder. “Never change, Dean, never change.”
Nika laughed. “Yeah, I’m kind of fond of him as he is, too. So let’s head to town and feed this boy. And if we come across any enemies along the way, maybe we can get our mage leveled up too.”
Of course, she and the others were quite a way behind Ash in experience points, so most likely they’d still be level nine when the orc battle started. That would probably be okay though.
The orc battle should push them to that level, and they should be all be even leveled when Gaia entered the picture. Unless the code had changed drastically that should be enough to beat her. Especially with their OP pixie.
Nika guessed she should be thankful for what little game knowledge she did have. The recommended levels for boss fights and such was commonly put in promotional brochures for the game. Common knowledge was all she really had when all was said and done.
She really hoped that having Evan along would change that. Now at least they had an edge. If the game itself didn’t suddenly transform.
Chapter Twenty-Eight: Orc Battle
The rest of the trip to Griffondale went without much of a hitch. No over powered blood elves showed up to block their path, but there were a few wolves and a couple of man-eating plants that the group took care of without much hassle. It all helped, and Ash was so close to that magical ten that she could almost taste it.
They turned in the quest item and received the promised Amazon Ax. It was nice, but not quite as nice as Viking’s Curse. Still, she was a little surprised when Nika sold it along with a lot of other equipment from her bag when they visited the item store.
Then she remembered that if their good luck held, they would be crossing over into the desert tonight. And for that, they would need horses. Evan could pretty much run as fast as a horse, and Louella could fly pretty fast, just not super long distances. But Ash, Nika, and Dean would need mounts for sure to reach the other side of the sandy expanse in any kind of hurry.
At three hundred gold a piece that was almost a thousand gold needed just for three horses. Even if they sold everything in their packs, Ash didn’t see them coming up with that kind of
gold. Of course, once they defeated the orcs and Gaia, there was the rest of the orc’s stolen treasure. Hopefully that would bring in a pretty penny.
She tried not to think of all that lovely hermit dwarf treasure now lying under several tons of fallen rock and rubble. What a waste.
On the bright side, surely Nika or Evan would think of a way to gain the gold they needed for the mounts. The trip would be possible with even just one horse. It simply wouldn’t be the quick journey that their leader wanted. For her part, Ash was in no big rush to get back to her normal life at all. Walking would be fine with her.
The item store hadn’t really held many new items. The only thing really worth noting and investing in was the new wardrobe item for Nika. Saving money for a horse certainly didn’t stop her from buying it.
It was pretty, and functional for the desert, which Ash guessed made sense. It was a full length, very lightweight, white cloak with gold trim and embroidery. The cloak was beautiful and would work to keep the virtual sun’s heat from reaching her virtual body.
In this world, a lot of the programming relied on the player’s brain to fill in the gaps. In the desert, the bright, burning sun beating down on them relentlessly would supply their brains with all kinds of data and things to do. Things like making them thirsty and extremely hot and uncomfortable came to mind as good likelihoods.
There were also cloaks for the rest of them, and each of them bought one to protect them from the wicked sun’s beams. If their minds thought they would help, they would. That was just the nature of the game.
With their new wardrobe items folded nicely into their inventories, they found the accommodations for players. Griffondale had been a bit of a shock to Ash when they’d first arrived.
This was not a well-established town that had withstood Gaia’s ruin. No, this town had been built from the ground up within the last month. Or so, at least, that was how it seemed.
The buildings were simple log cabins, tents, and tepees. The biggest difference was that this town was the opposite of modern. There was no running water or electricity anywhere. So no communication station for one thing.
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