by E. M. Hardy
Elia pointed up to the ceiling, “You still have MP for one more spell?”
“Yeah, I guess so.” I opened my menu and showed her my current list of spells and passive abilities.
A smile broke on her face and she said, “Good. Fire all three flaming arrows at the ceiling and let’s hope the explosion is strong enough to cause a cave-in and knock the ogre out.”
I wasn’t so sure her idea would work, but there was no time to argue. The ogre rushed in, swinging madly with both fists. Elia pushed me to the side to pull the enemy’s attention on her. Obviously, she wasn’t trying to battle the ogre head-on. Instead, she focused on evading and blocking with her shield. Only occasionally would she strike, but then the ogre didn’t seem to feel her hits.
Free to play my part, I activated my “Fire Shot” spell, consuming the last of my MP, and then aimed directly for the portion of the ceiling above the ogre. There were some spots that looked damp and I figured those were the weakest portions and the likeliest to collapse with a strong enough blast.
“Hurry up, Fhauste!” she yelled as she parried another assault from the ogre. Her shield flashed bright white, and I figured it was only a matter of time before it shattered. Then, we’d be in serious trouble.
Cursing under my breath, I fired arrow after arrow, unleashing a barrage towards the ceiling. As each arrow flew from my fingers, they flared with bright flames, leaving a red and orange trail of fire as they soared towards the target.
The first arrow struck the rocky ceiling and exploded upon impact. I watched as the ceiling began to shake but still withstood the blast. The second arrow landed and now rocks were beginning to crumble down. With the third hit, thank goodness, the whole ceiling came down.
With her armor and shield, Elia didn’t have the agility I had to jump out to safety. Instead, she stood her ground and raised her shield up above her head to protect her from the falling debris.
The ogre took the brunt of the cave-in and even received a heavy boulder to the forehead when he looked up to check what was going on. By the time the blast had ended and the debris had all crashed down, the damn beast was down on its knees but surprisingly still breathing.
With a big hole up above us, I could see daylight, and a stream of water began roaring down through the opening. I must have blasted right underneath the small stream close to the glade.
“It’s still alive, Elia!” I yelled, hoping she wasn’t too stunned from stopping the rockfall.
Fortunately, she still had her wits about her, and she lowered her shield in time to block an incoming attack. The impact sent her flying off a few feet back and I did the only thing I could do at that point: I fired my penultimate arrow at the ogre’s head. The arrow struck home and I heard a distinctive squish as the tip dug into the enemy’s flesh. Despite the direct hit, the ogre still managed to lunge forward towards Elia.
The elf twisted her torso and leaned back, barely getting out of range. The attack slammed against the wall and I felt the whole cave shake from the intensity of the blow. Elia then rushed to the ogre’s side and slammed her mace into its trunk, cracking several of its rib bones in the process. Yet, the giant creature still stood firm and ready to battle.
I needed to lend a hand. I only had one arrow left and no MP to cast any of my Hunter spells but, if Elia could probably survive for a short time blocking and counter-attacking, the sheer strength of the ogre would overpower her sooner or later. I had to do something before we reached that point.
For a few seconds, I stared at the two, analyzing their little dance and noticing Elia’s momentary advantage wearing off. Her shield was about to crack from the ogre’s impacts and, once that was gone, Elia would be stunned and killed in a single hit.
That was when I picked up something special about the ogre. Every time he would lean in to punch, he had to shift all of his weight on his ankles in order to support his massive size. That gave me an idea.
“Elia, make him turn around!” I said to her. I needed him to put even more pressure on his ankles, so I could bring him down with a well-aimed hit.
“I don’t know how but I’ll try,” she yelled back, as she ducked under another punch and struck the forearm with her mace. The ogre’s arm bent a little from the impact, but it recoiled and prepared for another onslaught.
“Come on, Elia,” I whispered, as I grabbed my final arrow and prepared to fire. I aimed at the ogre’s ankles as he continued to flail about. Soon enough, the large brute swung a tad too hard, driving his entire weight on his left foot, and I unleashed my ultimate shot.
The arrow flew through the air and I watched as the tip dug deep into the monster’s ankle. It wobbled in place as it lost its balance but, even then, even as it was falling face first, it prepared to launch one more punch.
“Watch out!” was all I could utter as I looked in horror as the ogre prepared to finish her off.
Yet, to my surprise, Elia pirouetted and managed to barely escape the concrete block-sized knuckle sandwich. This caused the ogre to stagger forward, giving her a chance to dash in and slam her shield into his face. The ogre screamed in pain but didn’t go down, and Elia pressed on by swinging her mace right at his eye socket. Upon impact, the ogre’s skull cracked wide open and a fountain of blood sputtered forth.
The ogre collapsed to the ground and Elia fell to one knee, exhausted and completely bathed in blood.
I slowly walked over to her and sat right down. She looked at me with a weary smile.
“Well, looks like we made it,” she told me. “I’m down to 2 HP left. Do you mind if I use my last healing spell on myself?”
“Sure,” I answered. I was still at 13 HP anyway.
Elia raised her hand up to her chest and, once again, her holy symbols glowed as she activated her healing spell. A green number flashed above her head, indicating she had recovered 10 HP. Once she was feeling better, she rose up to her feet, grabbed my hand and helped me up, and then surveyed the rest of the room.
“At least, there’s a shortcut out of here.” I signaled towards the hole in the ceiling. “There’s enough rope and other stuff in this cave to climb our way out. Just don’t mind the water, though.”
“Hold on.” Elia stopped me. “Let’s examine this place first. Don’t you find it odd that there’s so much adventuring gear here but none of Mikel’s ores? There’s also the fact that the ogre called out to the merchant as if they knew each other.”
Now my investigative senses were tingling. Elia was right – something was dreadfully wrong. I had her check some of the crates near one corner while I looked into those close to the ogre’s sleeping carpet. It was there that I found a note.
“Take a look at this,” I called Elia. “It turns out this whole thing was a damn set-up. Mikel’s in league with these bastards.”
Elia took the note, read it quickly and then slammed a fist against the wall. “What a swine! He’s been luring adventurers here, knowing they’d get killed by the trap and ambushes at the entrance or by the ogre. The adventurers would re-spawn in Strovport, sure, but all their equipment and money would remain down here.”
“It’s kind of a genius evil scheme, if you ask me,” I said. “Let’s take what we can and then head back to town and teach Mikel a lesson. That note should be enough proof to convince some guards to drag his butt out of the Dragon Bridge.”
She nodded in agreement and we looted the goblin den. In the end, we found three Healing Potions, a dagger which I kept since she already owned one, at least fifteen arrows hidden in a crate, and I managed to get all nine of my previous arrows back too. We also took a bundle of fine clothes and a pouch containing three pieces of gold.
Once we were ready, I grabbed some rope and swung it through the hole in the ceiling. It looped around a tree, and we climbed out and made our way back to Strovport.
Chapter Ten
“And lock that scoundrel up for a very long time,” Elia told the five guards as they h
auled Mikel off his corner in the Dragon Bridge commercial area. In the process, she had managed to snap up the parchment from Mikel’s pocket too, the one that would grant us information about a legendary sword in the Krakenmaw Mountains.
We watched as the old man struggled to get away from the guards’ clutches, but it wasn’t long before they knocked him out cold and just carried his limp body to the city prison cells.
“Geez, I’m exhausted,” I told Elia. “What do you say we rest for a while, like in the real world? We could get back later and do another quest or start hunting for that sword.”
Elia nodded. “Agreed. But let’s go visit a temple first. I want to know how much EXP we earned and how far along to go before we level up.”
“Okay, why not,” I said. “We were rather lucky the guards still made Mikel honor the deal and sign that paper. I’m kind of curious what kind of sword it really is.”
Just as we were about to leave, a woman reached out to us and said, “W-wait, you guys actually completed Mikel’s quest?”
I looked at the woman and shrugged. She seemed to belong to the Assassin class, wearing an all-black outfit and carrying a blade sheathed behind her back. When I lingered on her face, I realized she was a human with green eyes and long black hair tied in a ponytail. To be honest, she was kind of cute.
Elia replied for the both of us, “Yes, we did. Why, is there something wrong about that?”
The woman shook her head and explained, “No, it’s just that I rarely ever see anyone who can take on a band of goblins and an ogre without dying. Most beginners avoid that quest because they read too much online and know it’s a trap, but you two went in blindly and still succeeded.”
Hearing those words made me feel a little better about my character. Despite the low stats, it wasn’t so useless in the end. I turned to the woman. “We got lucky, I guess. There were a lot of moments where a single hit could have killed either of us and we’d be on Mikel’s list of victims like the rest of them.”
“Well, I’m really impressed,” she said. She then shook both of our hands and continued on, “I’m Mikaela, by the way. I’m a member of a guild called the Silver Blades and I’m scouting for new recruits. Would you two be interested?”
Elia looked at me and then back at Mikaela. “Hold on, would it be okay if I discuss this with my partner in private real quick? This is a really nice offer but I do want us to go over it first.”
Mikaela nodded with a smile. “That’s understandable. I’ll wait right here and I hope you guys do agree.”
I walked over with Elia to a shaded corner, right beside a peddler selling street food and another one offering brass accessories like necklaces and bracelets. As soon as we were away from Mikaela and out of hearing distance, Elia laid down some facts.
“The Silver Blades are a damn good guild,” she told me, “but I don’t think that joining them would help our cause. Who knows what their goals are? They might take us halfway across Vatenkeist which, in turn, could get us far away from the Ascendants.”
“You’ve got a point. But hear me out on this. What if we teamed up with them momentarily? Just to get stronger and rise up the ranks faster. Then, we could leave them and pursue the Ascendants once we’re powerful enough to deal with the bastards.”
Elia thought about it for a second. “I honestly have no clue how to find the Ascendants and how to fight them. Maybe you’re right – maybe by joining the Silver Blades we can level up more quickly and learn more information. Then again, maybe we might end up wasting our time.”
“I think that’s our best shot right now. We could go the long route and just keep on playing by ourselves, taking on small quests that we can handle. Or we could join the guild, gain some allies and better equipment, and earn EXP faster by tackling difficult quests that require a large group of players to beat. We don’t know how much time we have, so we need to figure out who those Ascendants guys are ASAP. Time is of the essence here.”
“What if that assassin’s just luring us into another trap, like Mikel or Parnax?” Elia pointed out.
She was right – there was always the chance Mikaela was tugging at us and pushing towards another scheme that would leave us in the dust.
“Yeah, we can’t know for sure. Still, I’d like to give it a try,” I told Elia. “Let’s just talk to her and see what the requirements are to join the guild and everything. If it all works out, then it’s cool. If it’s a ruse or a waste of our time, then we can go back here, to Strovport, and continue on with our original plan.”
My arguments seemed to have eased her worry. Elia’s shoulders dropped down and she no longer gripped her mace as if it was fused with her fingers. Elia put her mace back on her belt and we walked back over to Mikaela.
“Have you come to a decision?” she asked us.
“We have”, I said. “We would like to accept the offer, but we also want to know what’s in store for us. What are the requirements, what kinds of tasks will you have us do and what do you think we can bring to the table?”
Mikaela smiled and explained, “That’s simple; we want you because you’re good, even for low-level players. You managed to take on Mikel’s quest, one that most gamers avoid like the plague, and you came on top. The Silver Blades are powerful, but we’re not the best, and we want to change that. There’s a war coming, and we need the best of the best if we’re to survive.”
“A war?” Elia asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Yes,” Mikaela reiterated. “Vatenkeist Online is getting a new expansion soon, one that will let the top-ranking guilds own a fortress. Of course, this means other guilds will be fighting each other for those castles and the benefits of owning one. All of the other guilds aren’t really a problem – the real issue, as far as we’re concerned, is a group called the Horde.”
I pursed my lips. “Never heard of ‘em.”
“Of course, as you’re new to the game,” Mikaela pointed out. “The Horde has been the top-ranking guild ever since the guild system went online. They’re really brutal, and they’ve never lost a single PvP match.”
“PvP?” I still didn’t understand all the gaming jargon.
“Player-versus-Player,” Elia explained. “The Horde is a guild feared by many, that much is certain.”
I looked at Elia and then back at Mikaela. “All right, we’ll join your guild and help you in this war to come. But we want something in return.”
“What is it?” Mikaela asked.
“Both my companion and I have a bone to pick with a guild called the Ascendants,” I told her. “We’ll help you beat the Horde if you help us locate and fight the Ascendants.”
Mikaela chuckled and reached out to shake my hand. “You’ve got yourself a deal. The Ascendants are well-known for being assholes in the game as well as in real life. So, many of the Silver Blade members might actually help you out with that.”
I turned to Elia. “Sounds good to you?”
Elia was still hesitant, but she shook Mikaela’s hand nonetheless. “Let’s see how this turns out, eh? Let’s focus first on joining the guild. What do we have to do to become a member of the Silver Blades?”
Mikaela got a little more serious. “You’ll need to depart from Strovport and take a skyship over to the City of Cael’vron in the east. It’s beyond Barkenville and the mountain ranges, so a skyship is really your best option. Once you get there, you’ll need to present a letter to our Guild Master, Lord Commander Vahn Alben. He’ll then assign you an initiation quest. Complete that quest and you’ll become one of us.”
“So we take a ship, show a letter, and then go kill something?” Elia summarized. “Fair enough. Do you have the letter we need to show to this Lord Commander Alben?”
The assassin produced a small, rolled parchment from her belt pouch. I took it and slid it into one of my tunic pockets.
“Thanks,” I said to Mikaela. “We’ll be leaving then. Elia and I would like to prepare and may
be take some rest before departing. I’m quite sure we will meet again.”
Mikaela nodded and waved goodbye as I grabbed Elia by the arm and walked away. Elia gave Mikaela one last look before trotting off with me, and we continued on until we were back in familiar territory, just outside the Muddy Princess.
“Hold on a second,” I told Elia. “Before we go in, you want to find out if we’re going to level up soon?”
“Sure.” She pointed to a temple just down the street. “There’s the Temple of the Dawn Lord there. We can pay the priest there for a divination.”
I led her in that direction and we entered the large building. Inside, a few dozen adventurers were already speaking to priests dressed in white and yellow robes. I looked around until I found one who wasn’t busy with someone else.
“Excuse me, how much for a divination?” I asked.
The priest smiled and answered, “Divination costs one gold piece per person, good sir, and may the Lord of the Dawn look down upon you with favor.”
One gold? Dang! I grouched, but curiosity got the better of me and both Elia and I paid up for his services.
The priest accepted our payment and turned to me first. “You have already earned a total of 920 EXP. From Level 2 to Level 3, a person requires 900 EXP, which means you will Level Up upon taking a night of rest.”
He then turned to Elia and also confirmed that she was set to hit Level 3. We both looked at each other with big smiles, knowing we’d get even stronger the next time we’d meet in the game.
“I’m going to go inside, take a long rest and log out of the game for a bit,” I told her. “I suggest you do the same. Let’s take a bit to relax and think these things through. I’m going to go on some forums and research about this Silver Blades guild.”
“Good,” she told me. “And I’ll do some reading about Cael’vron and see the kind of quest the Guild Master would make us complete.”
With a solid plan in mind, we entered the Muddy Princess, rented out a private room this time around, and headed inside to sleep our exhaustion away. I fell asleep almost as soon as I felt the reassuring touch of the pillow on my cheek. Before long, I was back in the darkness, floating with uncertainty and a lack of direction, until the game pulled me out.