Homeland: Ingame 2

by Kieron Uchee

  “Alright, I’ll equip the gear,” I said. Putting on all the items I could feel my mana stat increase and looking at the rings I saw that they each now had plus ten to mana. More mana, it all worked for me.

  Level six stats

  Strength = 1610

  Agility = 1610

  Mana = 1645

  Health = 1660

  Speed = 1610

  “Well guys, let's keep going to the beginning of the next area and scope it out before we camp for the night, alright?” I asked. I led the way past the chest and followed a short path behind the rocky outcropping to the entrance of the tunnel.

  As we continued down the tunnel I listened to my friend's joke and kid each other about how good they were doing. I myself was thinking that we were doing pretty damn good so far. A little luck and a little skill. It seemed to be working and I hoped it would continue.

  The tunnel finally ended and we entered another cavern. Sand was all over the place with some small tidal pools scattered about and a small mound located at the far end of the cavern. There was the rough outline of a path that led over the sand and around the pools.

  “What do you think,” I asked?

  “It looks pretty empty and that makes me nervous,” Komhether said as he Looked over at the mound. Glancing over I could make out what looked like a three-foot tall crab.

  “That looks dangerous, those claws are big enough to cut off a limb.” Sebastian's voice had a serious tone to it.

  “All right, let's go back into the tunnel and set up camp, we will figure out how to deal with the boss and whatever else is here tomorrow.” As we began to walk back Komhether asked, “I wonder who is the boss in here?”

  “Probably another sea creature,” I suggested. It would follow the pattern.

  We spent a few minutes discussing the way the dungeon had been shaping up and what else we would find before getting ready to sleep.

  Chapter 11 Krusty the Crab

  We all woke up stiff and sore, sleeping on the sand and gravel of the tunnel was not the most comfortable thing. We quickly packed up and ate some of the remaining rations. They were best described as dry.

  “Guys, let’s get this done,” I said as we walked into the cavern. “The only plan I can think of is to make use of the environment. If you guys can grab some big rocks and fly up I will be an aggro magnet and when I am being chased, you fling the rocks at the enemy. What do you think?” I asked.

  Sebastian looked doubtful and said, “One or two rocks might not be enough, and you had best be ready to defend yourself.” I nodded, he was right this might be the toughest level yet. I just did not have any other plan, without a tank to be a meat shield we had no choice but to try to improvise.

  “A lot will depend on what attacks you,” Komhether spoke with a serious tone. I nodded, it might be crazy or it might be easy. I would guess more crazy than easy, but I was feeling grumpy and negative from sleeping on the ground. I really need to get a permanent place to call home, I thought as the men grabbed two fair sized rocks each and then took off, I then positioned myself on the path and slowly began to walk.

  The path zigzagged in a roundabout way, but it led inwards towards the mound at the far end. As I walked down it I suddenly saw the wet sand beginning to roil on my left side. Stopping I observed a crab, this one about two feet tall emerge, its eyes rotated rapidly until they focus on me.

  With a rush, it began to move towards me with its front two claws raised up and opening and closing with a snap. I turned and began to run back with the crab following. After a few yards, I spun around in time to see the guys throw the rocks at the crab. It abruptly stopped and wheeled around looking upwards at the two figures who had managed to pull aggro. I noticed that the rocks had not done any visible damage to the crab.

  Quickly casting lightning I hit the crab hard with bolts of electricity. It was temporally frozen, with its muscles locked tight. Seeing this I yelled at the guys, “Change of plan, land and flip him over then stab him with the tridents in the belly, it is the only area not heavily armored.”

  I began to run back towards the crab as the guys landed and watched as they each grabbed a claw and threw the crab on its back. Then grabbing the tridents, they thrust them into the softer underside of the crab causing it to spasm for a minute and then die.

  “Man, that thing moves faster than I thought,” I said. Sebastian nodded and said, “That was closer than I liked, it would have caught up to you soon. It is a good thing that you stunned it with your lightning attack or that crab would have been eating a tasty elf.”

  “I agree, it was too close but the end result was good, once stunned and flipped over it was an easy kill. Let's try another and if it works we will continue on killing these buggers,” I said.

  The next attack went as planned and we soon had a second kill. Komhether suggested that he would yell when I should turn around and cast lightning, and then they would land and flip the crabs. It gave me an added measure of safety, and I appreciated that, watching a huge crab rushing at you to rip you into bits is a somewhat surreal experience.

  The day wore on with the crab kills adding up and the timing becoming tighter. At noon, I called a rest as we had done most of the cavern with only a few areas of sand still hiding the crabs remaining.

  As we ate the dried bars we all tried to make the best of it but they tasted bland and were extremely dry. Sebastian spoke up and said, “With the smell of the sea, my mind is on seafood. I wish we had some instead of these things.” I nodded I was hungry and not enjoying the rations much but it was what it was.

  Komhether said, “I know of an Inn down at the docks where you can order fresh crab and fish caught that day. It is so good, it drives me crazy that all that food is so close and yet so far.”

  Lighting up three cigarettes I stared at my finger, as the Dragon fire I used to produce the flame seemed stronger and hotter. I pointed this out to the guys and asked them what they thought. They both agreed that it seemed stronger and asked if any of my other spells happened to be increasing in strength?

  Thinking about it I realized that I had noted that things were getting easier. After mentioning this Sebastian wondered out loud if it might have something to do with the buff that Gaiatoci had given me. The longer I spent in Topland the greater the potency of the buff he suggested.

  I could think of nothing better to explain what was happening and we all fell silent smoking and relaxing. I glanced over at the last crab we had killed and thought it was such a waste of meat, any Inn would pay a fortune to have crab claws that size to serve. As I began to wonder if I could do a crab run once I had finished the dungeon I suddenly swore.

  “Guys I have an idea, quick go grab those claws off that last crab we killed, I am going to grab some seaweed from some of the tidal pools we have passed. Bring the claws here, I think we are going to be eating better very soon, I said.” Making my way to the nearest pool I reached in and grabbed handfuls of the thick seaweed.

  Soon I had several large armfuls and began to carry them back to the lunch area. I dug a soft bowl shape in the sand and piled in the seaweed. The guys split the claws and then placed them on the seaweed. I stood a foot away from the seaweed and then holding up my hands I called forth Dragon fire.

  As I watched the flames flickering above my hands I began to will the fire to be hotter and stronger, the flames responded after several seconds with an intensity that surprised me. I pointed at the pile of seaweed and crab claws and cast the fire from my hands. It looked like two flame throwers spitting purple fire.

  Within less than a minute the seaweed was dry and had ignited and the shell of the claws began to steam, with the satisfying smell of salty crab meat emerging. I reached into my bag and pulled out two of the four bottles of apple cider. Opening them I poured the contents into the cracked shells and listened to it bubble and gurgle as it hit the hot meat.

  The smell was beginning to make my mouth water and by the look on the guy's faces, they w
ere smelling the lovely aroma of the apple cider and crab being cooked also. Turning to the guys I said, “With claws this size this might take a while. Let keep an eye on the food so we don’t burn it.”

  Seeing them nod I lit another three smokes for us as we stood there waiting for the meat to finish cooking. Sebastian eventually thought that the meat was done and we could eat. The shells were too hot to touch but Sebastian was not bothered by the heat and pulled off three plate-sized pieces of the carapace. Then reaching into the claw he began to fill the plates with the meat.

  As I sat and waited for the meat to cool I observed both Sebastian and Komhether stuffing themselves, the hot food did not bother them in the least. By the time, I began to eat my plate the guys had gone back to get more.

  Sebastian spoke with his mouth half full of crab and said, “Torn, this is the best meal yet, the meat is tasty and the apple cider mixed in with the little seawater gives it just the right amount of flavor. The only thing that would make it better would be a little butter.”

  I nodded it was good, damn good. I remembered something about food always tasting better when you are hungry. That sure seemed to be true, I thought as the guys went back for a third helping. They were beginning to waddle like a baby duck as they walked back to sit down.

  Looking at them I asked, “Are you guys going to be able to fly after eating all that, I mean you had better loosen your pants or a button is going to pop off.”

  Komhether snickered and said, “We will fly, it is the takeoff that is going to be tough.” Sebastian and I began to chuckle at this, it was great seeing Komhether opening up and joking.

  Once we had finally eaten our fill I looked at the leftover meat sadly, I hated to waste it but it would be impossible to take with us. After a brief rest, it was back to killing the crabs, we quickly made short work of the remaining decapod crustaceans and I was happy to see that I leveled once again. My new stats were,

  Level seven stats

  Strength = 2410

  Agility = 2410

  Mana = 2445

  Health = 2460

  Speed = 2410

  The stats had not doubled this time; they had merely increased by half of what they normally did. I had thought that might happen, it was not that unexpected, the nanobots could only do so much. A sort of law of diminishing returns. I was still above normal and I expected that it would stay that way, but I would need gear to help keep my stats above the curve. Closing the window, I saw we were now at the boss.

  We were standing in front of the mound looking at a huge crab whom I immediately named Krusty. He was looking down at us with his claws clicking as he skittering back and forth.

  As I took my first step up the path Krusty abruptly darted behind some rocks and hid. Calling out to the guys I asked, “Hey, what is he doing? I can’t see him anywhere.”

  There was silence for a minute and then Sebastian replied, “It looks like he is trying to hide, by digging under some rocks at the opposite end of the mound. It looks like he is afraid.”

  I wonder why I thought as I stood there. Komhether suddenly said, “He was looking at us the whole time we were killing the crabs but when we started cooking that last crab I noticed he was acting a little strange. I wonder if we scared him and he thinks we are going to eat him.”

  That he might be afraid seemed a little farfetched, but what if he was intelligent and could see what was coming. I was constantly amazed at the emotions and intelligence of all the NPC within the game. It was possible that the crab was intelligence and could feel emotions.

  “Change of plans,” I called out. Beckoning for the guys to land I started to think about what I had to do.

  I did not want to kill an intelligent being that was trying to avoid me. The problem was I needed to finish the dungeon and the only way to do that was to defeat each level boss. I turned to the guys and asked what they thought.

  Komhether said, “We should kill Krusty, and finish the level. He is the level boss and the only way past is to defeat him.”

  Sebastian stood for a minute overlooking the cavern and then turned and said, “Torn do you recall how you managed to get past me, get past all of us in the Castle of Six Trials? You did not use force; you used empathy and your brains, thinking your way past all of us. I think you should try to do the same here. If Krusty does not want to fight, then let's defeat him some other way.”

  I nodded, I was not interested in fighting and killing, really it would have suited me more to have been sent to a summer camp that had a space MMO game a year ago. Now, of course, I would change nothing, this world was home for me in a way that the real world had never managed to be.

  “All right,” I said. “Let's try to do something other than wanton violence and killing. I somehow need to establish communication with Krusty to let him know that we are not going to kill him. How can I safely do that,” I asked? As I looked at Sebastian he smiled then shrugged, Komhether just looked disappointed.

  “If I walk up to the top and just wait around maybe I can get his attention if he attacks I will run like Hell back this way. Nothing else really comes to mind,” I said.

  Shrugging my shoulders I slowly began to walk up to the top of the mound. Once at the top, I could see the crab huddled behind some rocks, peering up at me. I found a stone large enough to sit on and began to wait.

  After an hour, the crab was sitting in front of his pile of rocks staring at me, it was hard to say but I think he was curious about what I was doing. I was busy looking at my stats and trying to determine if my spells were really that much higher than my level. My Lightning attack seemed very powerful but that was based on the nanobots, whereas my physical attributes just were higher than the norm.

  My stats at my current level with all the gear I had acquired were more than respectable for a level seven. I was pleased with what I saw, as each little increase helped. Despite my stats no longer being doubled, I was happy although I still wondered at the power of some of my spells. Closing the stat window, I saw that Krusty had crept up and was looking at me.

  For a crab, he had sad eyes and radiated a feeling of loneliness. As we stared at each other I felt a gentle tickle of something in my mind. Trying not to look startled I continued to look at the crab.

  Suddenly I received a strong impression of loneliness and curiosity and fear. It was overwhelming for a minute but then the strength of the emotions faded. The crab was using some sort of mental ability to communicate. It made sense, these were creatures that lived in sand and underwater, with no way to verbally communicate they seemed to have developed some sort of mental power, a psychic ability to share emotions and thoughts.

  It amazed me as so much within the game did; it just seemed more than any game developer would do. Focusing on the crab I thought happy thoughts at him. Peaceful thoughts about belonging and feeling secure. Thoughts I normally do not feel. As I began to relax the crab crept closer and finally rested against my leg, his powerful claws resting on the ground and his black eyes focused on me.

  I gently reached down and gave him a scratch between the eyepods. The damn crab began to gurgle and then moved his eyestalks so I could scratch him more. I suddenly had the feeling that Krusty wanted to stay with me, to leave this place with me. I mentally asked him if he wanted to leave and I had a brief flash of a white beach and swimming in the ocean.

  “Alright Krusty, if you want to come you can but you must listen to me,” I spoke out loud, not sure if he would hear or understand. Seeing him nod I asked, “Can you understand me Krusty?” He nodded once again; the crab seemed able to understand me.

  Thinking for a minute I addressed the crab, “Krusty, will you follow me and listen to me, do what I ask when I ask you to? Seeing him nod I then asked, “Will you become my companion, I will not be your master but I will be your friend, what do you say?”

  The crab tilted his eyes to the side for a minute looking at me and then nodded. A window opened suddenly and I read,

  Torn, you
have gained a new companion pet; do you wish to bond with this

  creature

  Yes, or No?

  Accepting, I became aware that I now had two more selections on my interface action bar. Summon companion and send companion to sleep. I looked at Krusty and said, “I am sending you off to sleep my friend, I will call you when I need you.” Seeing him nod I hit the sleep button and watched as he simply faded away.

  He was gone in a second but both the buttons were still active and I knew I could call him back. Thinking of calling people back I called out, “Hey guys, you can come here it is all good. We are done this level.”

  Sebastian came first and looking around he asked, “Where is Krusty, he is too big to hide?” I laughed and said, “I took your advice, and now I have a new pet companion. He is resting now, the poor guy, stuck in here dreaming of his beach and ocean. He was happy to join me.”

  Komhether meanwhile was looking on in amazement, and asked, “So how did you capture him, how did you manage to trap him?”

  I smiled and said, “I did not capture or trap him, I communicated with him, and he agreed to join me. I am not sure how many other people have a companion pet, but it is a pretty cool thing. I think he is going to be useful at some point.”

  I looked around and saw the chest sitting beside the rocks Krusty had tried to hide behind. I walked over and opened the chest, not sure what to expect. Inside was a set of bind on equipping (boe) maces shaped like crab claws, they were blue items that had plus five for a random stat on each one. The level of the weapons was the problem, they were capped at level three. Not what I needed but they would sell at the Ah.

  I observed that the entrance to the next tunnel was at the bottom of the mound, turning to the guys I asked, “What do you think, should we stay here tonight or continue on and camp at the next cavern?”

  Sebastian looked around and said, “Let's stay here tonight, we can probably salvage some crab meat for supper, and with a little work, this sandy mound will be a comfortable place to sleep.” I nodded in agreement, one place was as good as the next, but the idea of good food and more comfortable sleeping was enough to keep me here for the night.