by Paul Bellow
After leaving him, I checked my new numbers on the way to the Golden Eagle Inn. We had gotten three rooms until we figured out what to do for our new quest. None of us had any idea how to find Snargao or the Cursed Pendant of Visions.
> Stats
Name: Drexmao ("Drex")
Race: Human (Special)
Class: Rogue
Level: 3
Experience Points: 7565 (1435 for next level)
Alignment: +85 (Quite Good)
Health: 42(42)
Strength: 75 (+10%)
Dexterity: 75 (+10%)
Constitution: 70 (+5%)
Intelligence: 75 (+10%)
Wisdom: 55 (+0%)
Charisma: 44 (+0%)
That poison took a toll on my constitution. I need to find some buffs soon. Only gaining ten hit points a level isn't gonna work, and I'm so close to leveling again.
Gord the master rogue had helped me increase some of my skills too.
> Stats skills
Your Current Skills
Black Market Connections – Basic Level 2 of 10
Monster Lore – Basic Level 3 of 10
Weapon Craft – Blades - Basic Level 4 of 10
Stealth - Basic Level 2 of 10
Create Item - Basic Level 1 of 10
Identify Item – Basic Level 6 of 10
Language: Human, Common
Sense Motive – Basic Level 5 of 10
Bargaining – Basic Level 1 of 10
After staring at the numbers for my character, I heard a knock on the door to my room.
"Come in," I said, standing up with a hand on my sword.
The door opened.
"Settle down," Sarah said. "It's just me."
I took my hand off the hilt and sat down on my bed.
"Where's Benji?"
"Buying clothes or something. He's almost spent all of his copper pieces."
"Are you ready to finish this quest of ours?"
She nodded.
"And more."
"Don't say it."
"I didn't."
"Good. Don't."
"I'm not."
The door opened. Benji walked in, carrying a live chicken by its feet.
"Carry on," he said. "Don't mind me. I bought a chicken."
Sarah laughed.
"What are you going to do with a live chicken?"
"Eat it, hopefully. Are we leaving again to find clues for the pendant right now?"
"No, Benji. Go feast for tomorrow we ride into battle for victory or death," I said dramatically.
His eyes opened as the chicken struggled to free itself.
"I'm voting for the former if I get a vote. Talk to you guys later."
"Close the door on your way out," I said.
"Ah, gotcha, boss."
He over-winked.
Sarah rolled her eyes. I turned to her after he left and stared into those magical green eyes.
"Well..."
"I should go study my spells before bed."
"Have you gotten new ones?"
She nodded.
"A few surprises."
I loved her smile, the way her face lit up, radiated joy.
"Good. We don't even know where to find this stupid pendant. I've used my knowledge of monsters and villains, but I've got nothing on this Snargao character."
"We'll find him," she said.
"I know."
"Eric..."
"You're building up quite a big penalty for yourself. This better be good."
"Back in Fishguard. I ran into someone."
I leaned forward.
"Yeah? Was it Josh?"
"No, but I got a notification screen that it was another player character."
"It must've been Josh then."
"No, Eric. He tried to kill me. I barely got away."
"That's why you were in such a hurry."
"Yeah. I wanted to tell you, but I thought you would want to fight him."
"We should've fought him if he was trying to kill you."
"That's the thing. Josh wouldn't do that, not to me."
"Are you sure?" I asked.
She sighed.
"Come on, Eric. I know you don't like my boyfriend, but you've got to respect what I want."
"And you want him? That's fine. I get it. He has legs and can walk around."
"That's not it at all," she said, standing up.
I gazed at her elven features, but her mind mattered most.
"You always think it's about you and being paralyzed. It's bad and all, but the entire world doesn't revolve around you."
I held up my hands.
"You win. I give up."
"Can we talk about this before our five minutes is up? I'm already at minus thirty percent next encounter."
"What?"
"Yeah, I went OOC to talk to the other PC."
"What did he say?"
"Not much. Some lame line from an old 2D movie. "
"Oh? Which one?"
"It doesn't matter. The point is there's other players in the game, and they're PVP not PVE like us. Are the other players able to quit the game because they're higher level or something? Why do they want to kill us?"
"We can play PVP too," I said.
"I know you can play PVP, but that's not the game I want right now, okay? We need to finish this level and get back to the tower. Hopefully, we can quit from there and get back to the real world. Something isn't right about this game, Eric. It scares me."
I nodded. She was right.
"Like you said, we'll clear this level by finishing this quest then get back to the tower. There should be a way to get out of the game. If not, we stay there in the tower until my father gets home. We're probably missing something stupid, and that's why we can't quit."
"He’ll be angry with us, won’t he?"
"Yeah," I said. "Very. We can worry about that later. I want to make sure we're both safe."
I watched her walk – so graceful - toward the door of my room.
She stopped and turned around.
"Oh, Eric?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm glad I'm here with you. Don't ever forget our secret vow."
"The one to never lose a game together? How could I ever forget?" I smiled. "Goodnight, Sarah."
"Goodnight, Eric. See you in the morning."
She left the room, closing the door behind her.
I laid back on the semi-comfortable bed stuffed with feathers.
Would I be able to get us out of the game? My father had warned me not to play. Why hadn't I listened to him? I need to get my act together and grow up in the game and reality.
Sleep overcame me quickly after such a long day. I didn't know what we would face the next day, but having Sarah around would make it somehow more tolerable.
One day I might tell her my feelings.
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The next morning, I met Sarah and Benji downstairs in the main dining hall. A huge fireplace made of stone covered a good third of the back wall. They didn't notice as I walked up.
"You two having a good breakfast?" I asked.
"Hey, boss."
"You always sleep so late," Sarah said. "Have a seat. We ordered extra meat to prepare ourselves for the journey ahead."
"We still don't even know where we're going."
I sat down on the wooden bench in front of the long table across from the other two.
"You'll figure it out, boss."
"Quit calling me boss," I snapped.
Sarah frowned with her thin elven lips.
"What? He's getting on my nerves. We've been here a couple days now, and we still don't know where to find this thing."
"If he has a name like Snargao, he shouldn't be too hard to find."
"Did someone say Snargao?" someone asked from behind us.
I turned in my chair and saw a female gnome with copper hair, dark brown eyes, and small ears. She wore hide armor and had
a hefty battle-axe on her side and a heavy wooden shield strapped to her back. Benji stood.
"Can we help you?" he asked.
"What do you know of Snargao the Impatient?"
She stared at each of us for a few seconds before moving to the next. A notification popped up.
[NPC] Thrukad
After Magi Inyontoo killed her parents, Thrukad swore to avenge them.
You think she will help on your main quest to destroy the Cursed Pendant of Visions.
"We're looking for him," I said, standing up. "Care to join us?"
"I'm not looking anymore," the gnome said. "Yesterday, I heard he's in the Cave of Fish Smells. While I don't want to go up there and face it myself, I need to avenge my family."
"Did Snargao kill them?" I asked. "Please, join us."
I sat back down. The gnome took a seat next to me.
"My name is Thrukad, and I'm on a mission to kill Magi Inyontoo. Snargao will lead me to him."
"What was that name?" Sarah asked. "I've heard it before, back in Fishguard."
The other player character she ran into? I listened closely.
"Magi Inyontoo. He goes around accusing people of killing his father then executes them."
"Sounds dreadful," Benji said as he pushed away his half-empty plate.
"He's more than dreadful. No other mage or hero on the Grabisco Isles can compete with him."
"We'll help you take him out," I said.
"Hold on a minute." Sarah shook her head. "We need to talk about this first. IF he's the most powerful, how are we going to defeat him?"
"I'll defeat him on my own with all the anger that rages through my veins."
"You've got fire to you, don't you?" Benji asked then smiled at the warrior.
At least he's not hitting on Sarah anymore, I thought. Should we trust this NPC?
When I studied her face to know her motive, nothing came to mind.
"I think we could use a warrior like you," Sarah said. "How much to hire your services?"
"You don't need to pay me for this if we kill Snargao and Magi Inyontoo."
"I still get paid, though, right?" Benji asked.
"Yes," I said, waving his concerns away with my hand. "We can leave today if you're ready."
"Just the four of us? Are you kidding? We might be ready if we had one more warrior."
"Do you know anyone?" I asked.
Thrukad smiled.
"In fact, I know just the man to help us."
"Great, it's settled." I glanced over at Sarah. "Sound good to you?"
"Well, considering we've not discussed it at all, sure, yeah."
I noted the sarcasm in her voice but ignored it as usual. Her humor and wit were two of the many reasons I loved spending time with her in games or the real world.
"Perfect. We should go see this man and ask him to join our quest to the cave of fish smells."
"His name is Athard. Don't judge him on first impressions. He can be rough around the edges."
"Sounds like just the man we want for this mission."
I stood up and looked from Benji to Sarah.
"You two ready or do you need to prepare spells or something?"
"I'm ready, boss."
"Sure, let's go."
I watched as they stood up and walked around the table. Along with Thrukad, we walked out of the dining hall and into the street. Unlike Fishguard, the city of Mednia looked brand new.
The architecture looked ancient Grecian, tons of pillars and lots of white everywhere. Anything was better than the rundown buildings and fish smells in the other city we'd been in.
"Are you three new to Mednia?" Thrukad asked as we walked down the side of a brick paved street.
"Yes, we're new here," I said. "After learning of the cursed pendant of visions, we traveled here to learn more about it and how to destroy it."
"Oh, you know how to destroy it? That's great."
"My boss is a great man. He's wise and also a warrior."
"You're a warrior, huh? We'll see about that."
Thrukad chuckled. I let it roll off my back like water.
A few minutes later, we reached the outside of the Drunken Cyclops tavern.
"Should they stay out here?" I asked, worried about Sarah's safety in such a dive.
"We'll be fine," she said. "Let's go."
"I'm more worried about your priest more than anything," Thrukad said then followed Sarah.
"Me? What about me?" Benji asked.
I stepped toward the entrance of the tavern.
"Are they going to hate me in there? I can stay out here if you want. Go back and get the wagon, maybe?"
I laughed.
"Yeah, go get the wagon, Benji. Thanks."
"Sure thing, boss. I'm on it right now."
After walking inside to find Sarah and our new gnome friend, it took my eyes a few seconds to adjust to the darkness. Two men with long, grey beards played stringed instruments on the far side of the great room. A wooden bar ran the length of one of the longest walls.
I followed Sarah who was following Thrukad to the opposite side of the room from where the bards were playing their tunes. As soon as we approached a round table in the back and the man sitting down saw me, he leaped up with a scream.
"Bloody goblin armor, eh? I'll show you not to come in 'ere."
He charged forward and crashed into me. I fell to the floor, knocking my head on the edge of a wooden table on the way down. Everything went dark.
()xxxx[:::: Chapter 14 ::::>
She Was in a Class by Herself
SARAH
Eric is the unluckiest player in this game, I thought as I saw him go down.
Before the man who charged him could do any damage, I cast my new second level spell, Snares of Dust. After dancing the moves and singing the words, I used my palms to kick up a dust storm.
The silver-haired warrior launched into a coughing fit. Benji rushed over and put himself between the man and Eric while our new gnome friend pulled her acquaintance back out of the dust.
"What the..."
"You need to settle down, Athard," Thrukad said.
He continued coughing, trying to catch his breath.
I kneeled beside Eric as he opened his eyes.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah. What happened?"
"Don't you remember?"
"That guy came rushing at me, and then..."
"You hit your head. Are you sure you're okay?"
"I'll be fine."
Eric got to his feet. Athard held out his hand.
"Sorry, stranger. My emotions got the better of me."
"It's fine," Eric said, shaking the man's rough hand. "My name is Drex. This is trophy armor from my father. He got it during the Great War."
"Athard," the man said.
His shifty, gray eyes concerned me, but I kept my thoughts to myself. Studded leather armor, and a long sword strapped to his side screamed stupid fighter.
"Thrukad here should've told me you three were coming."
"I didn't think you would be a brute at first sight."
"That's all in the past," Eric said, sitting down at a nearby table. "We'd like to talk with you about taking out a hobgoblin named Snargao. You ever hear of him?"
"Snargao the Impatient?"
Anger flashed over the man's face.
"Yeah, that's him," I said.
"He's responsible for hurting plenty of people around these parts. If you're going after him, I'd love to be part of it. Your armor reminded me of his goons."
"We'll give you a share of any treasure we find," Eric said. "Time is of the essence, though. We need to leave soon."
"I'll be sober enough to ride out of the city in an hour or two," Athard said, slurring a few words.
"Great." Eric clapped his hands. "That gives us time to shop for supplies before we leave."
"There's only one problem. Snargao is holed up in the Cave of Fish Smells, and there's no easy way to get up there."
"Oh," I said. "Don't worry. I've got that figured out.”
"She's a powerful mage," Benji said. "Perhaps you've heard of us before?"
"No," Athard said. "Who are you?
"We're nobodies," Eric said. "On a quest to rid the realm of evil."
"Speaking of which. You guys should go buy rope, water, food, torches and other supplies. I need to go study in my room."
"Lucky mage," Benji said.
"Come on, it'll let us get to know Athard and Thrukad," Eric said.
I loved when he backed me up in situations without me having to ask.
As the other talked amongst each other, I went back to the inn. Before we left on the dangerous mission to destroy the Cursed Pendant of Visions, I wanted to find my familiar.
I'd been waiting patiently since first level to cast the scroll given to me at the beginning of the game. Would I get an owl? Maybe a cool black panther? Anything but a mouse.
Back in my room, I closed the door and got the scroll from my backpack. Even after studying the body movements and sounds on the parchment, I'd not been able to cast it.
I went through the motions, briefly wondering if I should go outside. Would a cool familiar be able to find me in the inn? The thoughts faded as magic energy took over my body.
"Did it work?" I asked.
Whenever I found myself in a stressful situation, I talked to myself.
"Be careful," a voice, distinctly feminine, said in my mind.
"Who is that?" I asked, jumping back and looking around the room.
Had the Magi character cast some weird spell on me?
"Careful" the voice said. "I'm down here."
I glanced to the floor, still not seeing anything.
"Make yourself known."
"You need not speak out loud, Kali. I can't do that yet. We can talk, though, through your mind."
"Oh," I said, finally getting it. "You're my familiar. Where are you?"
"Down here. The spider. I might not be what you expected, but I'll do my best to help you. Do you have a name for me?"
I grinned.
"Your name is Charlotte."
When game-life gives you spiders, you name them Charlotte.
Congratulations! You Have a Familiar!
You have found your familiar, Charlotte, a Scarlet Sac Spider with a body roughly two inches. As you raise in levels, her intelligence and power will also increase.