by Shawn Kass
As Sam stepped back outside, the lizard on his shoulder lifted his neck curiously and waited to see if they were headed anywhere more interesting. Anna was already leading the way through the crowd towards the town gates. As she walked, she called back over her shoulder, “The old mine shaft isn’t too far, but the longer we take, the more time there is for Peter to get hurt out there.”
“Agreed,” said Sam as he was forced to come to a halt or else risk bumping into an old woman. Stepping around her, he began to jog until he was back at Anna’s side and asked, “But I noticed that we’re not carrying much in the way of weapons or armor. What are we going to do if something tries to attack us?”
“Paranoid much?” asked Anna with a playful smile. “Anozira is a peaceful place. Who do you think is going to attack us?”
“I don’t know,” replied Sam. Then thinking of the thousands of hours of JRPGs he had played in the past, he suggested, “What about wolves or bandits?”
“All of the wolves are in the mountains towards the west. We are headed east, and as for bandits, I told you Anozira is a peaceful place. There aren’t any people like that around these parts.”
Still wishing he had a blade or some other weapon in his hand, Sam made sure to pick up the two sticks he had left at the gate as they passed through and headed out across the field. As he did, he was greeted yet again by the familiar voice of the town’s self-nominated greeter yelling out, “Welcome to Marvinville,” even though they were leaving rather than entering.
When Sam turned to catch up with Anna, he realized that she was not sticking to the path he had followed in and instead had begun wading into a field of tall grass clearly intent on crossing directly to the old mine in the east. This made him hesitate for a second because it was in exactly these types of fields where his video game characters always found random encounters, but he set his concerns aside and trusted her assessment that the surrounding area was safe. He didn’t, however, leave either of his two sticks behind.
As they crossed the field, Sam found that the grass varied in both height and color, and the lizard, which had been feigning sleep and boredom while in the town, now roamed back and forth anxiously from shoulder, to shoulder checking out the new surroundings. Along the way, they walked through thick tall dark green grass which reached just over Sam’s waist line and took them longer to push through. Then there was shorter, knee high light green grass which they primarily stuck to in order to travel faster. A couple of times on their journey, the little lizard noticed a rustling in the areas either to his right or left and it pawed at Sam’s shoulder in warning of what it saw but luckily nothing attempted to charge at them as they continued walking.
Along the way, Anna used the walk to describe the details of the mine saying, “When Anozira was first established, it was primarily a farming and mining town. That was before the Tower, of course, when we didn’t have so many visitors. Lorenzo Anozira, the founder of the town, detected some rare black minerals, called Laoc, in the soil out here. When laoc is exposed to sufficient heat, it ignites and stays burning for many long hours. It was a great find as it is in high demand with some of the towns in the north, and many people flocked here to help work the mine. Unfortunately, after years of digging, the mine suffered a collapse, and it was deemed too dangerous to continue.”
“Is that what happened to Peter’s father? He was in the mine when it collapsed?”
“Yes, and the next day the Tower pushed its way up through the center of town. I remember we were all scared and had no idea what was going on. Many of us were still grieving over the town’s loss, and then all of a sudden that thing showed up. Some thought the miners had dug too far, and that because of their greed for more and more of the laoc, they reached too far into the ground and set something loose upon us.”
“What do you think?” asked Sam.
“At first, I didn’t know. I mean, it made sense in a weird sort of way, like perhaps they had angered the planet or had set off some sort of trap, but then word spread that other towns had similar towers suddenly spring up as well, and I knew that there was no way our little mine could have caused that.”
“So then what?”
“Well, the Tower took a full week to push its way out of the ground to the height you see it now, and once it stopped, we saw that there was a door. Naturally, a few of our people went in to investigate, but only one of them made it back. From what he described seeing in there, no one else from town wanted to go inside.”
“Obviously that didn’t last,” commented Sam.
“Oh no, it was more than enough. None of our original townsfolk have been inside that thing, not after his words made it around. No, it’s only been the fame seekers and the glory hounds traveling in from other cities who have dared to go inside. That’s why we call them the Tower Tempters, because they are tempting fate each and every time they set foot in there.”
“How many have there been?” asked Sam.
Shrugging, Anna said, “I don’t know. Hundreds, I guess. Many of the newer homes you see in town are those belonging to the Tempters. They go in, make it as far as they dare, and then haul back whatever loot they have found and sell it. Some go in only once and retire to a quieter life as a shop keeper or merchant, and others manage to go in half a dozen times or more trying to see if they can make it little further each time. Lately, the Tempters have been forming parties of ten or more, and they say they’ve made it further than anyone else, but they still haven’t found a way up to the second floor.”
“Wow, ten people working together, and they can’t make it through. That place must be really tough.”
“From what I’ve heard, the traps inside are pretty easy to avoid once you know what you’re looking for, but the monsters, those are an entirely different story. Apparently, the further you make it in, the tougher they get, and worst of all, even after they are slain, they come back, and you are forced to fight them all over again as you try to make it back out.”
Recognizing this as the same pattern most JRPG games followed, Sam unthinkingly commented, “Yeah, that always happens.”
Stopping suddenly, Anna spun around and asked, “What does that mean? I thought you said you weren’t from here.”
“I’m not,” he answered quickly. “I just meant, in other…um…places I’ve been. When there are…um…monsters like you described, they always respawn. It’s one of the tricks to grinding.”
“What do you mean, grinding?”
Unsure of how to explain, he held his hands out palms up and explained, “Well, it’s what we call it where I come from, when a character or person goes in a place like that and just keeps fighting over and over until they’re strong enough to take on the next area. Usually they have a goal in mind when they’re doing it, like they want to increase their speed or strength, but sometimes they do it just to learn the monster’s patterns of attack.”
“Patterns of attack? You speak like you are one of them.”
“Well, I guess you could say that I used to be,” admitted Sam. “I mean, where I come from, a lot of people are. It’s something we do for fun.”
“Fun? Almost getting yourself killed is fun where you come from? That doesn’t sound like a place where I would want to go.”
Shrugging, Sam admitted, “Well, it’s not as dangerous as some of the other things people do.”
“What could be more dangerous than fighting monsters?” asked Anna seriously.
Unable to tell her that where he came from this was all just a game, he said honestly, “Well, there are people who climb mountains that are like thirty thousand feet tall, and others who jump out of perfectly good airplanes for sport.” “What is an airplane?”
“Um… it’s a vehicle that flies thousands of feet above ground?”
“Like a balloon,” Anna offered.
“Not really. They are machines, but they fly.”
Taking a moment to assess him, as if she would be able to tell if he were being honest wi
th her or just telling a fictional story, Anna finally said, “It sounds like you come from a very strange place, Sam.” Then turning back towards the mine, she resumed walking and added, “I am not sure I would want to go back there if I were you.”
“It is a strange place,” admitted Sam, “but it’s home.”
Following Anna for a few more minutes, they passed through an area with only a few sparse tufts of grass on an otherwise rocky ground. As they did so, Tezukayoshi grew even more fidgety and began to try to climb his way down while Sam was still walking, which prompted Sam to ask, “Hey, where are you going?”
Turning around, Anna began to reply and then realized Sam wasn’t asking her and that he was trying to hold the lizard between his cupped hand and his pant leg. Anna laughed at the sight of the lizard’s tail whipping back and forth as it hung out from beneath Sam’s hand before she asked, “What are you doing? Just let him go. He probably just needs to use the restroom.”
Letting the lizard go, he answered, “I was worried he might get lost out here or something.”
Watching the lizard scurry across the rocks, she smiled when she saw where he was headed and said, “Look, there are more of those Devil Cap mushrooms. He must have spotted them or smelled them and wanted more.”
“Yeah, I guess so,” replied Sam.
Shaking her head, Anna commented, “You know, it’s still weird for me to see something eating those. I didn’t think anything could survive their poison.”
“Well, I’m sure where he comes from, things are a lot worse. Places with miasma pits are usually teaming with dangerous creatures and poisonous plants.”
Pointing to the mushrooms, Anna said, “Other than those Devil Caps, we don’t have any other poisonous plants around here. Do you think he’s going to be able to survive off of just those?”
Shrugging, Sam said, “He seems to like them well enough for now, and we can always try some other stuff over time. Maybe he’ll eat stuff if it’s mixed with the mushrooms. I mean, he does have teeth and claws. He would probably eat meat if we found something he liked.”
Thinking about it for a second, Anna suggested, “You know, there are some things growing in the Tower, too. No one has ever tried any of it, as far as I know, but with the monsters and all, maybe there is some poisonous stuff in there. I’ll bet if you talk to one of the Tempters, you could get one of them to bring you back some samples of plants from the inside.”
“That’s a great idea,” said Sam. “I can ask around tonight at the pub.”
Looking down at the lizard again, Anna said, “Oh, check it out. There’s a curious little spider approaching your lizard.”
Seeing the small spider, Tezukayoshi stopped working on the Devil Cap mushroom he was eating and turned towards the spider. After a second, he tilted his head sideways, reminding Sam of a dog, and watched as the spider inched its way a little closer. Flicking his tongue out, the lizard tasted the air. Then without warning, he zipped forward, faster than Sam had ever seen him run before and attacked. The spider didn’t even have time to turn and run before the lizard pounced on three of its long legs and started consuming its main body.
“Eww, he just tore that spider apart,” commented Anna.
Nodding proudly, Sam said, “Well, I guess that answers the question of whether he’s strictly a vegetarian.”
“I guess so, now can we get going?”
“Yeah, sure,” started Sam. “I just want to get him back up on my shoulder before we head out.” Glancing down, he noticed that while his lizard worked at the remains, crunching down on the spider legs like an eager kid on Christmas morning with a handful of tiny candy canes, there was another spider slowly creeping up to him. This new spider looked to be at least twice the size of the original, if not larger, and Sam estimated that it was probably close to the size of his own closed fist. After eating the mushrooms and the previous arachnid, Sam had no idea if his new little friend could eat any more, never mind fight something so close to his own size.
Rather than wait and risk Tezukayoshi getting hurt, Sam decided to take care of this one himself. At the very least, like the snakes he had killed before, he figured he might get an extra point or two of experience for killing it and that might make the difference at some crucial moment down the road. Then again, as he focused on the spider’s back, he noticed the information: Lv: 2 Spider, venom, displayed in between the hairs of its exoskeleton, and he thought it might be worth even more. Hoping to level up soon, he stepped over quickly, lifted his foot, and stomped down on the spider just before it made its move on his lizard.
To his surprise, his foot sank ankle deep into the ground, and he exclaimed, “What the hell?” before the surrounding area began to crumble.
“Sam!” yelled Anna, as she dove forward. “Grab my hand.”
Dropping his sticks to the side, he reached for it, even as his other foot started to drop out from beneath him. In the last second, Sam caught hold of Anna’s hand, but it did little good to save him, because as she impacted the ground, her weight simply added to Sam’s, and the two of them ultimately plummeted into a sinkhole together before they could brace themselves with anything.
The drop seemed like it took forever, certainly longer than the fall from the tree, but Sam reasoned as he lay on a cave floor staring up at the hole high above him that it probably only lasted a few seconds. Anything more and he would have most likely lost all of his health points and died. As it was, he was surprised nothing was broken, but then again, that didn’t mean that it shouldn’t be. It might just mean that the game wasn’t designed to include things like broken bones.
Setting aside his thoughts about this just being a game world, he refocused on the fact that he needed to survive this if he planned to ever make it home, and that meant he would need Anna’s help. The problem, of course, was that game or not, he still felt the pain from the fall and moving was about the last thing he wanted to do.
Rolling over on his side, he felt the bruises on his back scream in protest, and it forced him to clench his eyes tight as he tried to push through it, but the good news was when he opened his eyes, he found that Anna wasn’t more than a few feet away. Unfortunately, she was unconscious. Crawling over to her, Sam spoke her name to see if she would wake up, and then relying on what little he could remember from his ninth grade health class, he began to assess her condition. The best he could tell from a cursory examination in the dim light that was available to him was that despite her clothes being ripped in a few places, she seemed to be breathing on her own, and he wished that his girlfriend Quinn, who was a paramedic, could be here with him, not only to patch him up but also to take care of Anna.
With Anna breathing on her own, he knew that meant that he didn’t need to give her CPR or anything, but he still patted his hands over her body briefly to check and make sure that nothing was broken. Again, if it were Quinn here, he knew she would be able to palpate Anna and do a much better job, but he didn’t have the training she had, and the whole process made him a bit uncomfortable anyway. In the process of patting her down, however, he did manage to find two packages of dried food in her pocket along with the container of oil for the lantern. Thinking that it would be nice if he could see what he was doing, he quickly looked about for the lantern itself, but all he found was the wire frame and some broken glass nearby. Cursing, he looked back at Anna and decided his best bet was to test out the game’s mechanics and eat some of the food they had brought. If things worked as he suspected from his experience with the apple and other games he had played, he would regain his health by eating and then would be able to figure out a way to get them both out of here.
After a few bites, Sam noticed that the pain had begun to subside, and by the time he was just over halfway done with the package, he found that he felt pretty close to normal. Next, he tried to feed Anna some of the food hoping that her health, despite being an NPC, would restore like his own. He had no idea if the mechanics of the game would work like that f
or her as well, but he figured since they were together and she was therefore part of his party, it was worth a try. His only fear was that she might choke on the food, but he saw no other choice for waking her.
Dropping a slice of what looked like dried apple into her mouth, he attempted to help her chew it by manually moving her jaw, but he had no idea how to get her to swallow it. Unfortunately, it was as he was thinking about this dilemma that he noticed that he was no longer alone. From just beyond the radius of light which surrounded him and Anna, Sam began to see movement in the shadows, and after a moment, the first of them stepped into the light.
“Crap,” whispered Sam as he watched a spider the size of a German Shephard approach, and he wished he had asked Anna to buy the machete back at the general store. Then again, he realized, like his sticks, there was a pretty good chance that he would have left it on the surface as well when he fell in the hole.
Casting a nervous look around, he spotted dozens more of the giant hairy creatures, and they were all closing in on them. Some of the spiders varied in size with the smallest being roughly equal to the fist-sized one he had squished on the surface, which he assumed were also level two spiders, but then there were easily six or seven which he figured weighed around a hundred pounds or more. Curious and scared, he tried to see what level they were but couldn’t tell from the brief glimpse if the marking was a six or a nine. Each of them stared at him with a collection of black lidless eyes, and more than half were already flexing their mandibles with what could be either saliva or venom dripping onto the ground before them.
Not that he would be given such a chance, but Sam knew by the look of things that even in a straight one-on-one fight on the surface with a sword in hand, he stood little chance of walking away. Even if they all waited politely in a line to attack him, he would never make it through the first ten before he ran out of health points. There were just too many of them, they were too big, and he had practically no experience in this game. This was a case of a level one character wandering into a level twenty area, unequipped and destined to die. He had done it himself once or twice before, pushing his character in a game to grind harder and attempt to level up faster. Back then, he always made sure he had fully stocked up at the town stores, had the best weapons and armor, and had saved the game, just in case. This time he had none of the above and worst of all, he wasn’t just a character. Death here might very well mean he never saw Quinn or home again.