Mixing It Up (The World Book 2)

by Jason Cheek

  Urael blushed again as she bobbed her head in acknowledgment, while Miya’s lips pressed together in exasperation as she practically growled. “My eyes are up here.”

  “Err, sorry about that Captain.” I hurriedly said as several people snickered behind me. “Like Urael said, without your quick response this situation would have turned ugly.” As I spoke, I noticed something interesting as I tore my eyes away from her leather-chain clad orbs. Even though Miya’s face was twisted in an annoyed grimace, she’d still blushed all the way down to her chest, which made me wonder what she really thought about me. Before I could think of something smooth to say to feel out the situation, the sexy NPC quickly excused herself.

  “I’m glad my men and I were on hand to assist,” Miya said, giving me an odd look as she began heading in the direction of her soldiers. “But, if you’d excuse me, I need to catch up to my command.” With that, the Elf woman nearly fled across the field.

  “Just give me a moment to get these tables sat back up, and I’ll have another round of ale brought out in no time,” Urael said with a chipper smile as she began picking up the mess on the ground.

  “Thanks, Urael,” I said catching the slim elf by the elbow. “But, could I pay our tab now and, if you would, please include the next round on the bill, along with an extra fifteen mugs for our new friends?”

  “No problem. That will be three silver.” Urael said without a pause. I handed over the coins as another cheer about free ale rang out behind me. It only took a few moments to straighten up the overturned tables and stack the scattered plates and mugs from the ground for the waitresses to take away at their convenience. By the time we’d finished the new round of ale had arrived, and everyone was introducing themselves. Kenzie was especially friendly with me and immediately latched on to my arm as soon as she walked up. Before I knew it, she was dragging me around to meet her guildmates as I tried to keep my eyes off of her tight little ass.

  Overall the Devil Dogs were a gregarious group. Most just shook my hand with a friendly word or two, but a few enthusiastically clapped me on the back to thank me for standing up against The Syndicate players that had been given their people so much trouble in the mines. While I was being introduced to everyone, Kenzie kept up a running dialogue about the founding of their group. Their guild was primarily made up of ex-marines, but they accepted anyone who was ex-military and had served in a combat zone. Most of the members were a part of the ‘Wounded Warrior Program’ that helped disabled Vets from all the various services reintegrate back into society, and even though most of the guild were still lower levels, all-in-all they were an impressive group of players. After living through actual combat, it was no surprise that none of them had even flinched at The Syndicate’s threats.

  I did end up learning a little bit about my sexy escort during the round of introductions. At first I’d thought her physical flirtation was specifically for me, but I quickly learned she was just that touchy feely with everyone she liked. Still, it was hard not to take her physical affection personally. Having a fit, sexy, leather-clad woman hanging off my arm made my brain lockup more than once during our rounds as I felt my face flush in embarrassment from all of the attention. I found out from our introductions that I’d made an impression on her early on in the game. My stopping to save the players running for the entrance to the mines from the Goblins Raiders had impressed her, but my standing up to the group of Syndicate players that were juicing the lower level players for money was what had truly caught her attention.

  While the attention was nice, especially since Kenzie was sexy as hell, ever since my break-up with Julie Bowen, I’d found it difficult to let myself open up, at least in regards to relationships. Julie had made me gun-shy of gaming girls which really sucked, since most non-gamers wouldn’t accept the time in-game my professional gaming career required on a weekly basis or, even worse, the cultural disconnect that came with the territory. To be honest, with how important gaming was to my life in general, except for a horizontal aspect, I had little interest in non-gaming girls.

  Still, conflicting emotions aside, I was enjoying myself, at least until the next problem reared its ugly head. While most of the Devil Dogs were more than welcoming, I noticed that Thomas Anderson wasn’t one of them. It seemed to me that the more Kenzie snuggled up to me the more agitated the fighter became. Not that I didn’t understand where the man’s obvious feelings of dislike came from, even if I didn’t agree with its source.

  Guys, for the most part, were intrinsically jealous, especially when the pool of available women was so small. I’m sure the whole ‘Guild Thing’ didn’t help either. Right or wrong, a lot of men unconsciously felt like they should be the next person in line to date a girl they liked once they became available within their social circle. Besides, no one liked losing out to an outsider. Add on top of that the whole gaming and wounded warrior thing and I’m sure that only made the whole situation that much worse.

  The uncomfortable feeling became so intense that truthfully, by the time I was shaking hands with the last of the Devil Dogs, I was more than ready to get moving. Besides not wanting to make any more enemies, it was already after nine o'clock at night, and it was going to take forever to get back to my little village of Requiem. Kenzie was a little put off when she found out I wasn’t going to hang out for the evening, but I figured she’d get over it soon enough.

  “What do you mean you have to go?” Kenzie asked frowning. “Aren’t you staying at the Inn?”

  “Nope,” I said with a nonchalant shrug. “I have a unique quest chain and all that. Needs to be completed before midnight.” I lied. While I was enjoying the attention of this dark-haired beauty, all that I wanted to do was to get moving back to my small village of Requiem and besides, the last thing I needed was trouble from one of her jealous admirers that happened to be the Leader of a friendly guild. To be honest, I also didn’t want to leave my NPCs alone until the last possible moment. The time frame for my nightmare start was pretty tight, and I’d already gotten everything and more than I needed from Delonshire.

  “And that’s not somewhere here in town?” Pursing her lips, Kenzie’s face scrunched up before the realization hit her. “Your quest is outside of the town’s limits?”

  “Yea, but don’t worry. It’s all cool.” I said holding my hands up as people started looking over in our direction.

  “What, are you looking to be spawn camped by those assholes for half the night?” Kenzie asked as her voice suddenly turning angry.

  “Naw, it’s in a different direction. Really, it shouldn’t be a problem if I head out now while the guards are keeping them busy.” I said with a confident grin as the tension in Thomas’ face noticeably lessened as he stood behind Kenzie listening.

  “If your people aren’t going with you, I’m sure Tom and I could get a few of our guildmates to give you an escort,” Kenzie said slowly looking back at Thomas for support.

  “I’m good.” I hurriedly spoke up. “Seriously, if you really want to get to know the crew, why not jump in on that NPC escort quest everyone is planning to join in on tomorrow morning?”

  “Will you back in time for the quest too?” Kenzie asked with an excited smile.

  “Unfortunately, I won’t be joining everyone on that quest.” I quickly answered. Seeing the hesitation in Kenzie’s face, I tried to explain further while not giving away too much away about my village or nightmare start. “Look, the quest chain I’m working on for the next few days is a solo quest that entails a lot of searching in the mountains. I’m sure it’ll be boring as hell. But, the rest of the guild is planning on hooking up with me over the weekend, which will be the part where I’ll need a good sized raid to complete the final part of the chain.”

  “Anyway, the boss kill quests for the Delonshire Mine are gone. It looks like the new quest chain starts with players escorting the NPCs back into the mine. If you join up with the crew tomorrow, it would be a good way to gain a few levels and have everyone g
et to know each other.” I said, finishing with a raised eyebrow. “What do you think?”

  At my words, Kenzie’s lips turned down into a pout. It was obvious she wanted more time with me specifically. As her buddy Thomas hurriedly agreed with my suggestion, the disappointment slowly disappeared from her face as her sassy mood came back in full once again. “I’ll hold you to that. How are we going to know where to go?”

  “I’ll add you to my friend's list, but I won’t be in town to receive messages. Just plan on coordinating with Sarka and Yun. I’ll let them know when and where I’ll need everyone to meet up offline.” I said, purposely ignoring the nasty looks the fighter was giving me behind Kenzie’s back as I held out my hand to say goodbye. “But, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get moving.”

  Kenzie just rolled her eyes at my proffered hand and instead gave me a full-bodied hug that I thought was going to make Thomas blow his stack. Ignoring the glaring fighter’s eyes, I made my goodbyes inviting everyone to enjoy the ale on me as I quickly extracted myself from the revelry and began gathering up my gear, after a quick word with Sarka about meeting up with me on Saturday. Before I could gather my sleigh and get clear, Thomas joined up with me telling everyone he was going to walk me to the edge of town.

  Surprisingly enough, the sleigh moved quite easily, even though it was piled high with several hundred pounds of clothing, weapons, tools and farming supplies. It probably helped that I kept towards the back side of the town where the fields still had a layer of snow covering the ground, but even if I’d chosen the cobblestone roads, I wouldn’t have had an issue. The 121 points I had in strength made me almost superhumanly strong. I also wasn’t surprised that Thomas had managed to find a way to get me alone. I could tell he was upset at Kenzie’s obvious interests in me, but to give him credit, he kept a contemplative silence until we reached the edge of Delonshire’s borders.

  “Kenzie is mine.” Thomas spat in a gruff voice. Coming to a stop, I looked back into the other man’s anxious eyes with a sad smile.

  ”I expect Kenzie is only Kenzie’s and no one else’s,” I replied with a shake of my head as I watched the other man’s muscles tense. For a second, I didn’t know if the fighter was going to attack me or not, but slowly he reined in his temper. Studying my face, he spoke again more calmly.

  “That might be so, but … if you hurt her, I’ll kill you.”

  “Dude, really?” I said rolling my eyes. “Don’t get me wrong. Kenzie seems like a nice girl and all, but I’m not looking to be close to anyone.” Seeing Thomas taking a deep breath to cut me off, I overrode him before he could blow up.

  “Hold up there cowboy; it’s not like I’m looking for a piece of ass either.” Seeing that other man calm down somewhat at my words, I spoke in a friendlier tone. “What are you guys, anyway? Friends? Colleagues? Brother and sister?” As I spoke, Thomas’ mouth sardonically twisted as he answered after a moment of hesitation.

  “We were in the same platoon.” Thomas scowled uncomfortably at some inner thought as he explained further. “She lost her legs on patrol from an IED in Kabul. Now we share the same recovery group in the Veteran center.”

  “That sounds cool. From what it looks like to me, you guys are pretty close to one another. So then, what’s the problem?” I asked.

  “My face is nothing but burnt … raw … meat!” Thomas nearly shouted in anguish as he leaned back against a nearby tree. Speaking emotionally, he continued his story in a harsh whisper as he sat down hard at the base of the tree. “The IED that sent me home fried most of the skin off my face when the Humvee I was riding shotgun in caught fire. The doctors did everything they could to fix me up, but even on my best day I’d make Freddy Krueger look handsome.” Thomas squeezed his eyes shut as his voice dropped to a whisper.

  “Playing this game has made me feel whole for the first since I’ve returned home from my deployment, but … no matter how I look in the game, Kenzie will never look at me as anything other than that scarred nightmare from therapy.”

  Squatting down next to the Thomas, I put a comforting hand on his shoulder not saying a word. Although I’d never been through the pain this man had endured, I could empathize with what he was feeling. Still, no matter what, he was going about this all the wrong way. “Look, man; you can’t drive away everyone you think she might like behind her back or you’re just going to piss her off and drive her away once she discovers what you’ve been doing. Besides, it just makes you look like a stalker.”

  Seeing the conflicted look in Thomas’ eyes, I hurriedly continued trying to ease the harshness of my words. “Dude, keep doing what you’ve been doing … minus the stalking part and look at it this way. It’s almost like you have a second start with her with this game, so just focus on being her friend and see what happens. Besides, you know how most guys are. Even if she does mess around some, in the end, it’s not going to last, and she’ll end up coming back to her best friend, which will be you if you don’t screw it up by stalking her ahead of time.”

  “Y … yo … you really th … ink so?” Thomas asked, stuttering from the intensity of his emotions.

  “Sure man,” I said pulling the fighter back to his feet. “Trust me; you can’t go wrong being a friend to someone you care about. Just focus on being yourself, and it will all come together.”

  “Oofff!” The sound was expelled from my lungs as Thomas gave me a rough bear-hug. Obviously, he was feeling better; I thought chuckling to myself. Somehow, I’d chosen the right path to stop us from fighting and still keep his guild on friendly terms. I felt a sudden pressure against the back of my thigh. Looking down, I saw that Neysa was leaning her body against my leg. Almost as if she were telling me to hurry it up. Clapping Thomas on the back a few times, I pushed him away to arm's length still gripping his shoulders. “I’m sorry Thomas, but I really need to head out. Are we good to go man?”

  “Yea, we’re good Star,” Thomas said, shaking away the tension. Giving me a relaxed grin, he gripped my hand. “Call me, Tom.”

  As always I internally cringed at the shortening of my name, but after all of these years, I wasn’t going to change it to something else now. Startum Ironwolf was the name I’d used in every AD&D, RPG and online computer game that I’d ever played. After going pro, it was the handle that everyone recognized me by so I never changed it. The only problem I had with the name was how people liked to shorten it. In MMORPGs, everyone’s name was regularly reduced down to the first three to four letters of their name, that is if it made any sense. Unfortunately, that meant I was called Star on a regular basis. I’d long ago stopped correcting people. Returning the smile, I gave him a shoulder bump. “Nice to meet you, Tom. Can’t wait to team up with you and your people this weekend.”

  “Looking forward to it. See you later, man.” Tom said stepping back. I gave him a two-fingered salute as I picked up the pull-rope to my sleigh and headed out into the woods breathing a sigh of relief.

  In the flittering shadows around me, I saw Neysa bound through the woods in a tight circle as if she were looking for threats. Twenty yards in and the town had completely disappeared behind me. The trees were so thickly packed together that none of the light from the moon or stars made it through the thick canopy. If not for my darkvision I’d have been completely blind.

  Luckily enough, finding my way home wasn’t going to be a problem. The maps that I’d purchased in Delonshire had highlighted the areas where I’d already traveled through. It even had Requiem marked as my farthest point explored to the far northeast. All around me the night came alive. The howls of the wolf packs hunting for prey were the loudest, but in-between their echoing calls came low growls and grunting squeals that kept me on edge throughout the hike. Not trusting Neysa’s low level not to draw aggro, I repeatedly called her back to me as we walked. Even though I felt comfortable that my level was the highest in the area, the inky blackness of the dark forest spooked me the hell out and kept my heart pounding in my chest.

  Surprisin
gly enough, within an hour I found myself crossing the last clearing back to Requiem. I could only guess that the quickness of my return trip was due to having a direct path to follow and not having to fight through the numerous wolf packs every step of the way. Not that I was complaining. While I’d enjoyed hitting the Delonshire Mine for the phat loot that dropped and having the chance to meet new players, I was glad to be on my own once again. After a while, hitting the same group of mobs day in and day out in the same area grew old, and I needed a break. Most hardcore players focused on dungeons to level up their character as fast as possible. It was a decent strategy. The steady experience from mobs all grouped in one area helped to quickly grind out levels and the drops made for a steady income. The only problem for me was the boredom. Also, I preferred going the slightly slower route of following quest lines and exploring the world. Besides, completing quests typically gave a huge boost in experience and usually came with some unique rewards as long as you kept moving, not to mention breaking up the monotony of power-leveling. Not that this game had come anywhere near close to boring as of yet.

  Breaking out of the treeline into the clearing before my village, I was surprised to see a bunch of fires scattered around the outside of the perimeter. At first, I had trouble making out any details because my vision kept flickering back and forth between darkvision and normal from the brightness, but as I came closer, my eyes finally switched to normal vision. It was then that I realized many of the scattered fires were burning bodies.

  Dropping my pull-rope, I sprinted towards the village with my heart in my throat as I mentally swore at myself for daring to risk my nightmare start by leaving my NPCs alone to fend for themselves. Sweat ran down my face and back as my pulse thrummed in my ears. As I neared the outer wall of logs, I noticed that several of the fires in the distance were flaming corpses shambling about the field as I hurriedly unlimbered my shield preparing for battle. As the icy, blue glow of my power shimmered in my free hand, I slowed down as I realized the burning creatures were the undead goblins from earlier. My eyes immediately went to the wooden gate that was still barricade closed in confusion as I called out.