by Edward Brody
“Adeelee!” I shouted.
A gorilla twice the size of Ozzy lifted itself up straight and turned towards us, pounding his fists against his chest as he let out a terrifying roar.
You have failed to inspect your target!
You have failed to inspect your target!
Name: frenzied gorilla
Race: animal
Level: 20
Health/Mana/Stamina: 220/0/200
Status: aggressive
“Gunnar…” Ozzy muttered low. He gulped, and I could hear the fear in his voice.
I jolted my hand out and cast a Fireblast at the gorilla, causing it to roar again loudly and catching a patch of its fur on fire. “Get your sword!” I yelled.
Ozzy scrambled over to the dead skinner where he had left his sword, and I shot another Fireblast at the gorilla, aiming for its face, but catching it right below the chin as it swatted at its burn wound. The second blast seemed to piss off the large beast, and he quickly swiped at the flames and started moving in my direction as he roared at us again.
I was left with only a little more than 50% of my mana, so I knew I’d have to use the rest of my spells conservatively. I could probably get off a few more Fireblasts, but I was pretty sure that wouldn’t be enough to kill it. Or I could use a Fire Curtain to try to scare the gorilla away. With Ozzy helping out, Boiling Blood seemed like the best option, but I was at full health, so that wasn’t on the table.
The gorilla swung one of its strong arms at me, and I held up my sword to block. I could feel my blade slice into the gorilla’s skin as he made contact, but he attacked with such force, that despite his wound, he knocked the blade back and shoved me a couple feet across the ground.
The attack was dizzying, and before I could even gather myself, I could see the gorilla hop towards me again, raising both of its arms high in the air in preparation for pounding me out.
Ozzy shouted loudly at the gorilla, and the beast turned its head towards him and suddenly lost interest in killing me.
His taunt was proving incredibly useful over and over again.
I pulled myself to my feet, just as the gorilla swung its fist at Ozzy, causing a loud clang when Ozzy raised his shield to block. With Ozzy’s extra strength, the blow wasn’t enough to knock him down, but I did see him take a small step back from the blow.
Again, the gorilla swung its fist at Ozzy, striking hard into his shield. Ozzy countered after the second attack, connecting a strong slash of his sword against the beast’s shoulder, strong enough that a bit of blood splashed from the wound. The gorilla shrugged it off and reached forward, grabbing the top edge of Ozzy’s shield and yanking hard, trying to pull it away and simultaneously tipping Ozzy off balance.
“Shit!” Ozzy yelled as his shield was stripped from him and fell forward to the ground.
The gorilla tossed the shield aside and grabbed the top edge of Ozzy’s chestpiece as if he were about to pick him up and drag him somewhere.
I shot a Fireblast at the gorilla’s back, which immediately caused him to let out a loud roar. Catching his back proved particularly effective as this fur caught fire quickly, and the gorilla tilted back and fell to the ground, scooting its back against the dirt in an effort to stifle the flames… smart gorilla.
Again, the gorilla seemed to dismiss his pains and turned to me while still on the ground. He picked itself up and leapt towards me in one athletic motion.
I held my sword up in another attempt to block as the gorilla came flying towards me, but when he was just a couple feet away, vines rose from the ground and grabbed his feet, tripping him to the ground with a thud.
Adeelee swayed a little, dazed as she slowly staggered forward. I glanced up to our health bars, and I could see that she was down to 50% of her health, and both Ozzy and I had two-thirds of our pools left.
The gorilla started quickly ripping through the vines that were holding it down at the ankles, and Adeelee grunted, “Fire!”
Fireblast? Fire Curtain? I wasn’t sure what kind of fire would be most effective, but I took a risk and cast a Fire Curtain across the length of the gorilla and immediately shot a Fireblast at its head.
The gorilla wailed and ripped the last of the vines from its legs as it scrambled as quickly as it could away from the flames. It tumbled and rolled, trying its best to rid itself of the flames that that ignited its fur.
Ozzy shouted, and the gorilla looked up, despite its injuries. It hobbled towards him as I ran for the gorilla, jumped, and dipped my sword right in the center of its back.
The gorilla was momentarily stunned by the attack but tried to swing a massive fist back towards me. I managed to dodge and duck to avoid the blow. He was fast, but the damage that he had taken was starting to wear on him, each of his movements getting slower and slower.
Adeelee suddenly appeared beside me, dipping her sword deep into the lower back of the gorilla as well. The gorilla tried to roar but it came out like more of a moan.
Ozzy stepped forward and slammed his shield into the face of the gorilla, then stabbed his sword hard into the center of the gorilla’s chest, causing one final, agonizing moan to echo out of the creature’s mouth. As we all three pulled back our swords, the gorilla slumped and fell heavy to the ground.
You have gained 1300 XP!
Ozzy and I kneeled down and tried to catch our breath as Adeelee cast Nature’s Regrowth on all of us. Our health bars started pulsing upwards as I scanned the scene.
“That came out of nowhere,” I huffed.
“We handled it though,” Ozzy said. “This fucking jungle...”
Adeelee sighed and shuffled over towards the fallen gorilla and kneeled down at its side. She swiped her hand over the gorilla’s eyes and whispered, “I’m sorry, great one.” She looked up towards us with a frown on her face. “Gorillas normally don’t attack unless provoked. Seeing your fire in the night of the forest must have frenzied this one. He was just trying to protect his home.”
I tried to bring clarity to who instigated the situation. “It was the skinner that—“
“I know,” Adeelee interrupted. “It couldn’t be helped. But it’s still painful to see the death of one of the Vale’s great creatures.”
I nodded in understanding. She was an elf after all.
Ozzy stood up and walked around the fallen skinners and gorilla. “Doesn’t look like any loot drops.”
“As expected,” Adeelee said and then turned to me. “We should continue on unless you wish to head back.”
“Let’s keep going,” I said as I stood up straight and dusted off the debris from my leggings. I knew that we weren’t far from the chest I had seen before.
Chapter Seventeen
01/12/0001
Branches crackled under our feet as we trekked through the thick foliage of the Vale. At night, the sounds of the wildlife were even more lively than during the day. Owls, monkeys, and insects were all making their calls, and in every direction the subtle rattles of movement could be heard from afar.
“The High Elf Queen is the Queen of the dark elves as well, right?” I asked.
Adeelee nodded. “On this side of Eden’s Gate, mother is the Queen of all elves.”
“So then you’re the princess of all the elves?”
“I guess that would be the case,” Adeelee affirmed.
“You should come out to Edgewood sometime… I’d like that.” I cleared my throat and smiled. “I mean, I’m sure the dark elves would like to see the princess as well.” I was trying to be subtle to Adeelee that I wanted to see her more. Flirting hadn’t been my strongest suit back on Earth, and I had absolutely no idea how an elf girl would react if I came on to her too strong. Besides, I imagined the dark elves really would want to see their leaders after all I had learned about them.
Adeelee glared at me out of the corner of her eye. “Edgewood…” she muttered. “I…” She didn’t finish her sentence for several seconds, and I got the feeling that she wasn’t keen on the idea.
I cleared my throat again and tried to change the subject. “What about the forest here? How are things going for the High Elves?” I could extend the invitation later after she was a little more warmed up.
“I mentioned to you earlier that I was training with the army. Tensions have been a little high the past few days.”
“Why is that?” I asked. I turned to Ozzy to make sure he wasn’t feeling left out of conversation, but he just smiled and trotted along with us, listening and absorbing our exchange.
“There are reports that more orcs are spilling out of the Wastelands. Some of King Ergoth’s higher level soldiers even. From what I understand, Highcastle has sent men to fend them off, but there is no telling if it will grow worse. Having the Fellblade stolen apparently set Ergoth off even more than expected.”
“Having this “Fellblade” stolen set him off more than having his son murdered?” I asked.
“Oh, I’m sure that the murder of Prince Azhug upset the King, but orcs expect to die, in battle or otherwise, and Ergoth may have 30 sons before his reign is over. But the Fellblade…”
“What’s the deal with this Fellblade?”
“An ancient weapon with immense power. It’s a military asset Ergoth’s army can’t afford to play. The question now is how far will Ergoth go to get it back? The thief who stole the blade obviously had no idea how much trouble he would create… And to think that the Fellblade is out there in some random thief’s hands. That’s more dangerous than knowing that it’s with the Scourge.”
“Talk about drama,” Ozzy spoke up, a warm smile on his face. He obviously wasn’t taking the whole situation very seriously. “How far are we ’til wherever we’re going?”
I scanned the area in front of me, trying to retrace my steps from my last journey through the Vale. “I think it’s not much further.”
“Mother has also been quite upset since Jax left Addenfall.”
“What?” I asked. “Jax left Addenfall? For what? To go hunting or something?”
“No,” Adeelee said. “It would appear he’s abandoned his home and left the forest for good. He gave his house key to one of the elven guards and sent a message to the palace that he has no intentions to return.”
“Why would he do that?” I asked.
“Your guess is as good as mine. Jax is a human, and it’s impossible to understand humans sometimes.”
I clenched my teeth and tried to rack my brain as to why Jax would leave Addenfall. He seemed to love his home and was comfortable there. To just up and suddenly leave was bizarre.
But then I remembered the necklace.
“I think…” I trailed.
“You think?” Adeelee asked.
I sighed. “I think Jax is a Sparrow. Maybe he has something to do with the Fellblade going missing.”
Adeelee smirked and lightly snorted as she huffed. “Jax a Sparrow? There’s no way he would become a Sparrow.”
“I was murdered in Addenfall near Jax’s home by someone who looked eerily like Jax. He had a bandana around his face, so I can’t be sure, but he had a Sparrow’s necklace, and that same kind of necklace fell out of Jax’s pocket.”
“A necklace…?” Adeelee queried.
“With a Sparrow medallion.”
Adeelee started walking a little slower and shook her head from side to side, concern etched across her face. “But that doesn’t make any sense. Jax would never want to be a part of the Sparrows. He has every reason to hate them.”
“Then why would he have a Sparrow’s medallion in his pocket? And if he were a Sparrow, that would explain why he would leave the forest so suddenly.”
Adeelee shook her head again. “No…”
“Up ahead,” Ozzy said tilting his chin up towards what was in front of us.
I snapped my attention from Adeelee and the thoughts of Jax being a Sparrow to see that we had reached the clearing with the muddy pool of water and a treasure chest jutting out of the edge of it. Several of the giant jungle mosquitoes had returned and were buzzing about in the air, but otherwise the area was pretty clear.
“That’s it…” I said.
Ozzy reached for his sword and took a step forward. “Those flying things are only level 4. Should be easy enough.”
He ran ahead and started swatting his sword at one of the mosquitoes, but it simply zoomed away each time he tried to hit it, then flew in fast, landing a bit to the side of his face and nicking off a few of his HP. “Damnit!” he barked, as he stumbled around missing every strike.
I chuckled and shot one of the mosquitoes with a Fireblast, and Adeelee unsheathed her bow and started lobbing arrows. Eventually, the area was all clear, and I had gained few hundred easy experience points.
“You should pick up some ranged abilities,” I said to Ozzy.
Ozzy shrugged. “I will eventually. Maybe some magic. I’d feel a little cluttered carrying around both a bow and a shield, though.”
Adeelee kneeled down in front of the treasure chest and tried to lift it open. “It’s locked,” she announced.
“Yeah.” I smiled and walked up beside her. “I’ve got a plan for that.”
I wanted to try to save the skeleton key that I had purchased in Thorpes, if at all possible, and try my hand at lockpicking for the first time. I reached into my bag and pulled out the bundle of five lockpicks and held them up for Adeelee and Ozzy to see. They were long, flat pieces of steel with a slight pointy hook at the end, reminding me of something that a dentist might use to clean my teeth with if I had to worry about any of that.
I rubbed my tongue across my teeth at the thought—no plaque buildup, an amazing perk of living in Eden’s Gate.
“I’ve never used lockpicks before, but here’s hoping,” I said.
“You should feel small pins inside of the lock,” Adeelee explained. “Press each pin up until you feel a small click and move to the next. The lock will unlock once you have taken care of them all, but depending on the difficulty of the lock, the pins will drop after a period of time, and if they drop, the pick will break. The pick will also break if you push a pin too far.”
“They should really hand out instruction manuals for all this shit,” Ozzy spat. “The tutorial didn’t explain anything about most of the skills.”
“Tutorial?” Adeelee asked.
Ozzy moaned. “Ehh… nevermind.”
“I’d rather know,” Adeelee insisted.
“Remember how I told you we’re from Earth?” I said.
Adeelee nodded. “Of course.”
“Well, when we enter Eden’s Gate we’re given a brief run-down of some of the basics, just to ensure we don’t get ourselves stranded or stuck with no idea of what to do.”
Adeelee’s eyes narrowed and then she nodded slightly. “Interesting.”
I took a deep breath. “Anyway, I’m dying to see what’s in here.”
I crouched down and pulled one of the lockpicks from the bundle. I slowly slid it inside, and while the lock looked old and corroded, the metal against metal felt smooth and natural inside. I could immediately feel the slight pressure from the pins bearing down on the weight of the pick.
I moved the pick around a bit, trying to get a feel for the innards, but other than the weight of the pins bearing down on the pick, nothing else gave way with any push, pull or turn. I pushed the pick all the way in, until I could feel the pointy, curved end of the pick applying upwards pressure on to a pin, and I began to tilt the back of the pick downwards to make it rise. The more pressure that I applied to the pin, the more pressure I could feel weighing down on the lockpick, and eventually I felt a slight ‘click’ that released the pressure from the pin and caused me to quickly push the pin higher than I anticipated.
The lockpick snapped in two, leaving me with a useless piece of metal and half the pick jutting out of the lock.
You have failed to pick the lock. Your lockpick has been destroyed!
Advancement! You have learned the skill: Lockpicking. If it’s
locked, make sure no one is looking. Lockpicking is linked to the base stat Dexterity. Increase your Dexterity to increase your chances to Lockpick.
You have gained 1 point of Dexterity!
“Oops,” Ozzy said.
“It’s a little difficult, but I think I understand what’s going on now,” I proclaimed.
“I would’ve been surprised if you had picked a lock on your first try,” Adeelee said.
I reached for another lockpick and started the same process of inserting the pick inside and lifting the furthest spring. I applied a bit of downward force to my end of the pick, causing the pin inside to rise, but this time I focused slowly on getting the pick to click without pressing it up too far. After several seconds of slow, gradual pressure, the pin clicked and I stopped immediately, making sure I didn’t press it any further.
“Got it,” I said.
“Hell, yeah,” Ozzy blurted. “Open it up.”
“Just one of the pins,” I explained. “I’ve still got some ways to go.”
I pulled the pick out slightly until the edge of the pick was pressing against the second pin and then started the same process over again. I followed the exact same procedure that allowed me to get the first pin latched into place, focusing hard on hitting the sweet spot without going too far. Eventually the pin clicked, and I raised a fist to indicate to the others that I got it.
I could only feel one other pin in the inside the lock, and I moved the lockpick down so that the top was aligned perfectly to finish the job, but as soon as I started applying pressure, the other two pins dropped.
You have failed to pick the lock. Your lockpick has been destroyed!
“Shit!” I spat.
“Gotta move faster,” Adeelee said.
I reached for a third lockpick and attempted the same thing with the lock, but as I tried to move with more haste, I again pressed too hard on the first pin and cause the lock to break. On my fourth attempt, I managed the first and second pin, but again was two slow to get the third pin into place.