Nascent (The Stork Tower Book 1)

by Tony Corden

  A predator! Her hand had just begun to firm when the Wildercat pounced: it sensed it was losing the grip on her mind. Her hand whipped the staff across her body, and her hand started clenching to fire the rings, but it was too late to stop the Wildercat from coming down hard against her. The claws raked her chest, and she felt unbearable pain as the skin tore. The jaws closed but they clamped down hard on the staff which she had raised just in time. Frantically, she continued to clench her left-hand: firing spikes into the cat and wrapping it in binding webs. Together they fell to the ground with the cat on top of her. The web binding prevented the cat from finishing its slashing attack, but her health plummeted into the red. Leah looked into its eyes as it slowly died from spikes to the heart.

  Leah pushed on the staff with all her strength and finally slid out from underneath the massive cat. She didn’t have enough MP to do any healing. She watched as her health points continued to disappear. She dragged herself to the rock face and slowly moved to a sitting position. The claws had left four bloody gashes on either side of her chest. If the claws had completed the move, she would have died immediately. She grabbed her water and some hard bread and slowly ate and drank while watching the HP bar start to blink red. The pain was excruciating, but she held on and calmed herself. She decided to ignore the pain. She had what she came for. Because she was not Level 10, she wouldn’t lose anything. She’d still be able to save Farnel. She had barely 5 HP left. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, at peace. She felt her body quiver, and she suddenly thought, ‘if this is dying, then it isn’t that bad’. She opened her eyes to find herself still on the ledge and her HP in the orange. Her KP however, was completely gone. She blinked a few times then asked Gèng if there was a message about Ki. There was!

  You have Activated your Ki for use in healing

  Ki is your life force and can be used to aid in healing.

  It is vital when seeking to activate your Ki automatically that you be both calm and focused. This is measurable by an analysis of your brain activity and your simulated rate of respiration. Alternatively, you may activate your Ki manually by saying ‘Ki Heal’.

  Current Skill Level: Novice Level 1

  For more information, please read the Dunyanin Manual.

  Do you wish to receive further notifications concerning this skill?

  [Yes] [No]

  “No.”

  Leah thought about all the ramifications of this. She had to be careful not to expend all her KP just in case she needed to heal herself. She needed to spend some time thinking through her options.

  She stood and walked over to the cat.

  You have harvested:

  1 Grey Mountain Wildercat Pelt

  4 pieces of Grey Mountain Wildercat meat

  4 Grey Mountain Wildercat Canine Teeth*

  * Note: A skilled armorer may be able to use these items.

  Leah moved on. She had two more to collect. This time she kept a wary eye on the rock face as well as the area she was walking. She collected the fourth clover but after another hour of looking had not seen a fifth. She decided to head back. As she turned, she glanced at the rock face, and there it was, a flash of red in the corner of her eye. She turned to look but couldn’t find it. It was ten minutes before she was able to find it again. It was only when the wind blew strongly that a small shrub moved revealing the hidden clover. It was on a shallow ledge maybe twenty meters above the point where she stood. She knew she could get up there with the gloves or by using the mana web but wasn’t sure there was enough room to be safe while she harvested it. There was another outcrop several feet below. She measured the distance in her mind and thought there was just enough to be able to reach up and get the clover.

  She tapped her hands together and climbed up the rock face to perch on the lower tiny ledge. Reaching up, she raised her head above the edge of the rock to see, not one, but two plants of Iblis’ Clover. One was the standard three leaf, but to her surprise, the other was a four leaf.

  Iblis’ Tetraclover

  “Gèng, any messages on the Tetraclover?”

  Iblis’ Tetraclover

  This rare variant of Iblis’ Clover is highly prized by both alchemists and apothecaries for the increased purity of all its components. Additionally, the spiders that are often found with Iblis’ Tetraclover have been found to be exceptionally potent.

  Leah carefully harvested the regular clover and spider as requested by Falsi. She then took the empty chest from Orumeck’s Study and harvested the Tetraclover, spider included, and put both in the chest.

  “Gèng, remind me to be careful about opening that chest.”

  Leah scampered down the cliff and looked down on the valley below.

  “Now all I have to do is get back. But first I need a break.”

  She found a small hidden area behind a thick, scraggly bush, sat down and logged out.

  Leah took the backpack off and slumped onto the soda.

  “I am so emotionally tired. Is it always like that? One thing after another all day?”

  Gèng answered, “I don’t think so. I’ve been analysing forums, and it seems to depend on the player. You jumped straight in. Many new players spend several days running small quests here and there, killing rats and building fences. You can always slow down when you get back to First Bridge.”

  “No, I have three years, and I intend to make the most of them. Let me logout of here and have a break, then we’ll end this quest, and I can think about school.”

  Once back in the room Leah had a quick shower and made some more ramen. As she was making the food she realised that her upper legs and shoulders were tender, not painful but just a little shaky.

  “Gèng, how come my thighs, glutes and shoulders are a bit sore?”

  “Well, you did climb 2,869 steps without stopping. The program in the pod stimulates the motor neurones in line with virtual movements. Even with only one-third of the stimuli being applied you still climbed 956 steps almost without a break. The Pod removes any acid build up, but there is likely to be some residual pain as muscles stretch and grow. I can reduce the percentage of stimuli if you so desire.”

  “No! That’s ok! So if I run everywhere and swing that staff, then I get a workout without the pain.”

  “Affirmative! Over time, you can decide to modify the stimuli to focus only on your arms and minimise your leg development, for example. Minimally the Pod will maintain your muscle tone at the rate in which you enter the pod.”

  When she’d finished eating, Leah sat and listened to some music for a while. Gèng assured her that her parents had been informed she was not going to return home that evening. As Leah listened, she thought through her meeting with Jackson and the Wildercat. Was she paranoid or should she act as if he was a predator? The guy at the Hospital had unquestionably been a creep. She had never really liked a boy before and was unsure how it was going to feel, but predators she knew, and something had triggered the connection in her mind. Her mind continued to go around in circles as she tried to work through the issue before heading back to finish the quests.

  It was almost an hour later when she arrived back in her virtual world. She sat on the sofa and tried to focus on the next three hours, or nine hours if she thought in virtual terms. She decided to check her stats and distribute the points. In the end, she decided to increase Wisdom and Intelligence by two and Agility by one. Her Skill/Spell point she added to ‘Ki Heal’. Looking into the various things she had put off there was one about the Platinum coin from the Cavern.

  A Platinum Coin of Orumeck

  This coin was made by Mage Orumeck during the time of his exile from Sihirbazlari. Full of pride he minted several thousand coins with his image. He embossed them with some of his favourite creations.

  Value: Equivalent to 1 Platinum*

  * Note: Some collectors may pay more for such a rare coin.

  World Quest: Collect the Coins - Platinum (0/500)

  Many people throughout time have minted c
oins. They are scattered throughout Dunyanin. Collect these coins.

  Difficulty: Easy to Impossible

  Reward 1 if successful: (Number of Coins collected) x (Player Level) x 500 Experience Points for each coin.

  Reward 2 if successful: 2 x (Number of Coins collected) Platinum Coins.

  Consequences of failure: None

  Do you wish to accept this Quest?

  [Yes] [No]

  “Yes.”

  She then looked at the scrolls from the Cavern. One was a second copy of the spell of Hidden Quietness.

  “Gèng, this can stay here, I’ll try and sell this when we get to a town.”

  The other was a clue scroll.

  Where is Orumeck’s Keep - Clue (1 of 10)

  This is one of many clues that Orumeck made to taunt those who came after him. It begins a journey to his Keep.

  Do you wish to view this scroll?

  [Yes] [No]

  “Yes.”

  Where is Orumeck’s Keep - Clue (1 of 10)

  To access this clue at any time look in the clue book which has been added to your bag.

  “Next please Gèng, that can wait until later.”

  “You have a message from the developers regarding the glitch.”

  A Gift of Thanks

  Atherleah,

  Regarding our recent conversation, we thank you for being so understanding. Please accept these gifts as an expression of our appreciation. In accepting these gifts, we trust you will abide by the decisions reached in our meeting.

  Gift 1: 2 Platinum Coins

  Gift 2: 2000 Experience Points

  Gift 3: Potion of Restored Health

  Gift 4: Potion of Restored Mana

  Do you wish to accept these gifts?

  [Y] [N]

  “Yes.”

  These points from the administration brought her to Level nine, and she allocated two points to Agility, one to Strength, one to Constitution and the final point to luck. With nothing else to consider Leah headed for the portal.

  It was just after midday, Dunyanin time. Leah wanted to be down the mountain by evening, so she hurried along. She kept a wary eye out for whatever beasts might be in her path. She had travelled for several hours before coming to a stop just above the meadow she had headed for the previous day. She had been attacked by another Wildercat (Level 9) and two Scorpions (both Level 5). All three times she was prepared, and though the Wildercat managed to maul her leg, she easily survived the three attacks.

  She stopped because she’d seen movement in the meadow. Peering around a bush, she watched three people cross the meadow and head in her direction, players. One, an elven woman, was wearing a flowing robe that looked silly when climbing a mountain. The other two were male, one elf and one human. The elf was carrying a longbow with an arrow already nocked. The human wore chain mail that covered his head and torso. Looked around for a better hiding place, Leah saw nothing except a small outcrop of rock some fifteen meters above her. Quickly checking the formula, she intoned the spell Hidden Quietness, then tapping her gloves together she scurried up the rock face to lie silently on top of the outcrop. Leah made herself as small as she could. She thought about logging off, but Gèng informed her that her actions were considered potential combat, and she was unable to log out.

  It was almost twenty minutes before she heard voices.

  A man’s voice, “I'm sure I saw something. I tell you, there was someone up here.”

  “Well if you did, it looks like they are long gone by now.” The other man said. “Let’s head higher and look for that Cavern. Jason will catch whoever it is before they get to town.”

  “Poor sod,” the woman said. “Jason’ll fleece them for everything they have.”

  “Poor nothing,” the first voice said, “if you can’t keep it, you don't deserve it.”

  After several minutes the voices slowly faded and then disappeared. Leah waited another ten minutes before peeking over the edge of the small ledge: there was no one. She used the gloves to get down and continued on her way. This time she moved slowly, from cover to cover. On one occasion she used Hidden Quietness to cross a large open area. When Leah finally made it to the meadow, she decided to make her way around the boundary using the scrub and trees as cover, rather than cross it.

  She was just about to move from behind a low growing bush when she heard a faint metallic noise. She turned just in time to see a sword arcing down toward her neck. Her training with Jimmy’s boys and all the fighting over the last few days kicked in. She rolled forward under the blade while reaching across using her left hand to draw the knife from her right boot. She sliced the back of the person’s left knee, then, reversing her direction rose to her full height, and as she came around, she planted the knife in the right side of the man's neck right up to the hilt. She expected her assailant to be dead and was surprised when he turned toward her raising his sword for another attack. She moved forward, placed her left hand on the sword arm and pushed it away while slamming the heel of her right hand into his nose. She slid her hand up and grabbed the chain mail and a handful of hair and brought the head down into her rising knee. As the body fell backwards, she followed it down, driving her right forearm into his exposed throat. She pulled the knife from his neck and buried it in his eye. He stayed down this time, and she noticed the small bar just above his head flicker red before going opaque.

  It was just like she'd practised at Jimmy Loos. Everything had just come together. Her heart was still racing though as she stood up. The body faded into a ghostly outline, and Leah noticed a skull appearing, superimposed above the head. It was the soldier from earlier. Her heart rate slowed as she realised that although someone had tried to kill her, it wasn't real. It was just a part of the game. By finding the Cavern, she had become prey for those players who wanted to steal from her.

  “What a bastard!” she thought.

  Kneeling down she picked up her knife; it had fallen out of the outline. There was no blood, and she didn't need to clean it. She saw that the player had left behind some items. She picked them up and put them in her bag while keeping an eye out for the other two; she didn’t even register what she picked up. That could wait till she was in a place she felt safe: the whole incident had rattled her.

  Gèng interrupted her thoughts, “You have a few messages, are you free to check them?”

  “In a minute, let me get past the meadow in case the other two are around. Are the messages urgent?”

  “No, they aren’t urgent. You have an achievement and a voice message from Kasim.Bloodhand.23.”

  “What does he have to say? Just play it for me.”

  “Bitch, you had best leave my stuff there. I don’t know how you managed to get everything I had, but you had best leave it there. You won’t get past us; we have the whole town covered. If you’ve taken my stuff, you’ll be sorry.”

  It was the voice of the first man, the one who thought he had seen her.

  “Gèng, please record the following and send it to Kasim and then block all replies. ‘Kasim, if you can’t keep it, you don't deserve it.’”

  Leah kept moving, though she was even slower and more careful. She was close to the area where she had been attacked by the scorpion when she heard loud voices arguing behind her; the two elves who had been with Kasim. She moved forward speedily, trying to be as quiet as she could. When she came to the small overhang the scorpion lived in, she carefully checked it and found it was empty. She hustled into it, moving as far back into the space as she could. She prepared the Trapdoor spider ring just in case they decided to look under the rock.

  The pair were still arguing as they passed her position. Apparently, Kasim, the woman’s boyfriend, wanted them to head to town to be there when he resurrected. The Archer wanted to stay and search for the Cavern, but the Mage was keen to get back to town. They climbed over the rocks without checking beneath. After a few minutes, Leah crept out of her hiding place and followed them. She reasoned that if there were o
thers around, then she would let these two make first contact. She travelled fifty meters behind the pair, and they never looked back. Even if they had, it is unlikely they would have seen her, for she kept to the very edges of the trail, moving quickly from one shadow to the next. She paused when the two in front stopped and scampered to either side of the path. She watched as they found positions overlooking the trail below. The archer took several arrows from his quiver and stuck them in the ground beside him. The woman, several meters further back, had a good view of both the trail and the bowman. It looked like they were planning to ambush someone.

  Although this wasn’t her fight, she detested bullies and had ever since she was six. She crept to within twenty meters of the Mage. Using Hidden Quietness, she climbed a rock, behind, and slightly above, the woman. If her calculations were correct, this would put her within the distance to use both her Worker and Webspinner rings. From her perch, Leah couldn’t see down the trail, nor could she see the archer. The time passed slowly until suddenly the archer called out, “It was one of the noobs. I hit her, but she fell out of sight. Cover me, and I’ll go finish her off.”

  “All right, but be careful. Even noobs can be dangerous.”

  The Elven Mage slowly stood and peered down the trail. Just before she stepped out, Leah shot her in the back with several Mana spikes and bound her with the web. Jumping from her perch, Leah brought the Morningstar down on top of the woman's head. Just to be sure, she planted her knife in the back of the woman's neck. The body turned opaque and left behind some objects. Leah grabbed them without looking and peered down the path. The Archer had stopped and was looked back up the trail; he darted into the foliage on the side. Leah was sure he knew his partner was dead.

  Leah checked the cool-down period and then used Hidden Quietness to cross over the trail and creep into the bushes on the other side. She found a small game trail and stopped yo wait. The trail was an obvious place to sneak, and she assumed the archer would come back this way if he were going to check on his partner. There had been many times when working for Jimmy where she had to be still for long periods; he had trained her in patience. It was over five minutes before she heard bushes, gently rustling. The elf was only a few metres away. She slowly depressed the Trapdoor ring to gave her almost half a minute of invisibility; she hoped it would be enough. The Archer looked in her direction as he carefully made his way past, but he saw nothing. As soon as he passed, she carefully stepped out behind him, she bound him with the web and buried a Scythe taken from the Warrior Drone in his back. As he fell, she reached for her belt knife and plunged the knife into his ear followed by a Mana Spike into the back of his head. He turned opaque.