by Adam Horne
He visited the bank to drop off the money he was carrying. It was only one silver and a handful of copper coins, but he didn’t want to risk losing any more if a player killed him again. When he’d completed the transaction, he sent a tell to Througar.
“Finished your training yet?” asked Kelath.
“Yeah, sorry it took so long,” said Througar. “I had to learn how to teach commands to my pet, then I had to train Bandit in all the skills he’s capable of using. Junior couldn’t learn any of them, so I think it best if I leave him here in town whenever we go questing. Where are you?”
“Outside the bank.”
“Good, I need to drop some things off. Be there in a sec.”
Kelath wandered around, observing people nearby since he had nothing better to do. Most of them were in the level range of three to five. He saw a few that were as high as ten. Most of the higher levels were members of Noblesse Oblige, and he figured the head start they’d gotten from their guild had helped them achieve such a quick progression. He still didn’t consider it worth the amount of money they would have to pay back for the privilege. Througar ran past him and waved as he entered the bank. The people in the square all stopped what they were doing and stared at Bandit and Junior as they raced to catch up. Before long, they came out of the bank, and the wolf pressed his head against Kelath’s hand, begging to be scratched behind the ears.
“I’m all done in town now,” said Througar as Kelath pet the wolf. “What did you want to do?”
“I’d like to collect nightshade leaves to increase my herbalism skill. It’s supposed to grow in wooded areas, so I thought we could go out past where we found the wolf den and search there. Maybe we’ll run into some monsters to fight.”
“Sounds fun. Bandit, howl.”
The wolf sat on his haunches and raised his head, letting out a long howl that caused the nearby players to look around in alarm. Througar laughed as they walked towards the southern gate.
Chapter 19
They were halfway to the edge of the forest when Kelath felt someone watching them. Several other players were leaving the city and following the road they were on. He scanned each of them, unsure what made him so jumpy, until he noticed the handle of a great club sticking over the shoulder of a character who shielded himself from view behind another player. It became obvious the man was stalking Kelath’s party.
“We may have a problem,” said Kelath.
“What is it?” asked Througar.
“I was out collecting willow bark earlier, and a human fighter from Noblesse Oblige attacked me. I think he may be following us.”
Througar peered over his shoulder. “I see the one. He’s definitely acting shady.”
“Let’s cut across the meadow here and get into the trees. Maybe we can lose him.”
They left the road and crossed the grassy plain towards the forest. Kelath looked back periodically to see if they were still being pursued. The man stayed with the group of travelers until he reached the point where they’d diverged from the road, then he came straight for them at a run.
“No doubt about it,” said Kelath. “He’s after us.”
Kelath examined their pursuer now that he was out in the open and discovered he was a level five fighter. He didn’t know how the levels compared or if a pair of level two characters could take on someone so much higher. Without warning, their pursuer put on a burst of speed, quickly closing half the distance between them before returning to his normal pace.
“Oh crap,” said Througar. “He has sprint.”
“Let me guess, a fighter power that boosts his speed?”
“Yeah. There’s no way we can outrun him. He’ll probably catch one of us the next time he uses it.”
“How long do we have?”
“I think it refreshes after thirty seconds.”
Kelath surveyed the area around them, weighing their options. They would never reach the forest before he caught up, so they’d have to fight in the open field. The man was working hard to engage them in melee, so maybe he’d neglected to train in how to use bows.
“I’ve got an idea,” said Kelath. “His power should be almost ready to recharge. As soon as he uses it, I’m going to hit him with a bomb. If we’re lucky, it will freeze him. If not, it should at least slow him down.”
“Okay, but that only buys us a few seconds. We still won’t be able to run away from him.”
“We’re not going to run away.”
“We can’t take him in a stand-up fight. That’s crazy.”
“I never said the fight had to be stand-up. Once I throw the bomb, send your wolf to attack him and use your bow. If I can keep him slowed long enough, we should be able to wear his health down from range.”
Througar shrugged. “It’s a better plan than the one I had. I was going to let him catch you and hide in the woods until he went away.”
Kelath shot him a dirty look. “I guess it’s a good thing I come up with the plans then. Stick close to me so I know where he’ll go when he sprints again.”
Kelath readied one of the ice bombs from his bag. After ten more seconds, the fighter began to pump his legs faster, rapidly closing the distance between them. The bomb flew from Kelath’s hand, aimed to strike the dirt at their pursuer’s feet, and it exploded right on target. The ground turned to ice, and the fighter spun to the side, slipping and skidding until he came to a halt.
“Bandit, attack!” yelled Througar as he pulled his bow and began firing.
The fighter grunted as an arrow hit him, and he placed his feet carefully so he was facing Kelath. He stepped cautiously, moving much slower than he had before. Kelath drew a knife covered with the stronger poison he’d made earlier and threw it. The blade struck a glancing blow off a plate at the shoulder, but the scratch made on the man’s skin was all that was needed.
Poison applied.
So far their attacks had done little damage, only about ten percent of the fighter’s HP. When he reached the edge of the ice and regained his footing, Kelath turned and ran. The wolf charged in and bit at the fighter’s heels, slowly adding his own damage to what Througar’s arrows and Kelath’s poison were doing.
“Come back here!” yelled the fighter.
Kelath noticed a debuff appear on his status bar. “That hardly a taunt. Can’t you come up with something better?”
The fighter cursed at him and continued the pursuit. Kelath threw another poisoned knife when the first dose wore off and kept running. He prepared another ice bomb for when the fighter used the sprint power to close the gap. The man was at half health now, and to Kelath’s surprise, he pulled out a potion and drank it. His HP rose again. He sprinted forward and Kelath threw his second bomb. His aim wasn’t as good this time, although he did at least hit the man.
The fighter was forced to slow down; however, he knew what to expect and never completely stopped. He cleared the ice quickly, the distance between him and Kelath now cut in half. One more use of sprint, and he would catch up, at which point Kelath expected to be stunned and beaten to death before he could retaliate. Througar and Bandit continued to attack, ticking off slivers from the health bar, although nowhere near enough. Kelath threw another knife to refresh his poison.
The fighter was at a third of his total health when he activated sprint again. Kelath grabbed an ice bomb but knew he wouldn’t have time to throw it, so he let it roll out of his fingers. The fighter readied his great club and used the bottom of it to smash Kelath at the base of the neck.
Strength check to resist. You have been stunned for 5 seconds.
The fighter laughed as he raised his club to bring it down on Kelath’s head. The giant knot of wood at its far end raced down at his exposed back.
Critical hit!
Kelath cringed, assuming the great club would smash him into pieces, until he realized he couldn’t see a critical message for the other player’s weapon. His bomb had exploded and covered both of them in ice.
Luck check to res
ist. You have been frozen for 1 second.
Kelath let out a muffled cheer and waited for the stun to wear off. He ran to the edge of the ice and threw a fire bomb on top of the area already affected. Unfortunately, it didn’t ignite, but the fire damage did seem to hurt the fighter more than the other attacks he’d used. He threw a poisoned knife and ran once more.
It took eight seconds before the fighter came unfrozen, at which point his health was below ten percent. The man gave up his pursuit and attacked the wolf in a last-ditch attempt to do some damage, but he wasn’t able to kill it before slumping to the ground.
“Yeah, take that!” yelled Kelath.
Througar cheered as he trotted over to them. “What a fight!”
“He killed me in about four seconds when he jumped me before.” Kelath sat down heavy in the grass, his heart pounding.
“You all right?”
“Yeah, I just need a second. Did he have anything on him?”
Througar moved to the body and checked it for loot. “Some willow bark and around fifty silver coins.” He measured half the money out then handed it to Kelath along with all the pieces of bark.
“Thanks.” Kelath stood again and looked around. “I don’t see anyone else following us. It should be safe to continue now.”
They walked into the woods and meandered as Kelath spotted nightshade plants and harvested their leaves. They fought an occasional wolf when they found one, but with three of them, the fights were never challenging. After twenty minutes, a system message alerted him that his skill had improved.
Congratulations! Your Herbalism skill has increased to 10.
“I think that’s probably enough nightshade,” said Kelath. “What should we do now?”
“Let’s find a place with more monsters. I want to get back to leveling.”
Kelath was about to agree when a woman in leather armor lunged from behind a tree and sank a dagger in his back. His health dropped by a third, and a poison that had been applied by the strike continued damaging him even more.
“Help!” he yelled.
The rogue continued attacking, adding a bleed effect before stabbing again. Througar commanded his pet to attack and shot with his bow. Kelath reached for the bombs in his pouch and threw one on the ground at his own feet.
Critical hit!
Rather than freezing his attacker, he’d set the grass all around him on fire. He’d drawn the wrong item, and now he was standing in the middle of an inferno. He took off for the edge of the flames, but with the damage the rogue had already done, his health was borderline. He collapsed from the combined effects of the poison, bleed, and fire.
You have been slain. Resurrecting at the nearest graveyard in 5 seconds.
As the screen faded out, he saw the woman rush at Througar. She was wearing the tabard of Noblesse Oblige.
* * *
Kelath resurrected outside the northern gate to Stockton. A few seconds later, Througar appeared next to him, cursing up a storm. When he’d finished ranting, he held two fingers to his lips and let out a loud whistle. Bandit came running around the city wall to the south and joined them.
“I don’t think that was a coincidence,” said Througar as they walked across the drawbridge.
“Me neither,” said Kelath. “That rogue must have been quite a few levels higher, considering how fast she killed us. The fighter who attacked us earlier must have reported our location after we killed him. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were more people in the forest looking for us, too.”
“This sucks! There’s no way we can fight back against people who are so much higher level than us.”
Kelath nodded although he didn’t feel the same despair. “It will be rough for a while, but we’ll catch up to them. We just need to work together, always go out with a full party.”
A message showed in his chat window that said Elora had logged on, almost like she’d known what he was saying. He sent her a tell.
“Hey, it’s Kelath. Througar and I are in Stockton. Want to group up?”
“Sure!” said Elora. “Send me an invite.”
Kelath sent a request for her to join their party, and a second later, her portrait appeared in the party display. “We’re heading to the bank.”
“I’ll meet you there.”
Five minutes later, they’d dropped off the money and loot they were carrying and waited outside the bank. Elora’s familiar squeal cut through the sound of the crowd around them before she came running up to gawk at Bandit.
“Who is this?” she asked.
“That’s my pet wolf,” said Througar. “I discovered the beastmaster class.”
“That’s awesome!” Elora squatted down in front of Bandit. “What’s his name? Does he do any tricks? Is he friendly? Can I pet him?”
Before Througar could break in to answer her questions, she grabbed Bandit around the neck. The wolf looked at them quizzically but made no move to get away. Kelath was surprised he wasn’t growling in suspicion or snapping at the woman hanging off him. Within five seconds, she had the wolf laying on the ground, panting contentedly while she rubbed his belly.
“He’s so cute! I want one.”
Througar mouthed the word “cute” at Kelath then said, “I guess I could teach you the class, if you want.”
“That’s sweet, but I don’t normally play fighter types.” Elora gave Bandit a final pat on the head and stood up. “So what did you want to do?”
“We’ve been having trouble with Noblesse Oblige today,” said Kelath. “We think they are actively hunting for us, and I’m worried they may be targeting other members of the guild. I wanted to call a guild meeting to discuss it.”
“We should go see how much it costs to rent a room in the guild hall,” said Througar. “We’ll want privacy.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that,” said Elora. “I already rented a room for us.”
Kelath stared at her in surprise. “When did you do that?”
“Last night. It was only a gold to rent one of the small rooms for a week, four for a month.”
“You didn’t rent it for a whole month, did you?”
“It was the better deal.”
Kelath frowned. “You didn’t have to do that. I’ll find some way to pay you back.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Elora said with a shrug. “It’s not much money.”
It wasn’t the first time she’d alluded to having money, which made Kelath curious if she was rich in real life. It would be tacky to ask, so he changed the subject.
“Can you show us where it is?”
“Sure!”
Elora led them to the guild hall, making faces at Bandit as she went. Once inside, she passed through the room with the bulletin board and entered the main hallway. It split into three separate corridors, one that continued straight and two smaller ones that branched to the left and right. She followed the one on the left and went around a corner. They walked another hundred feet before she indicated a door on the right side which had a small wooden sign beside it with a gold coin on a silver background.
“Any member of the guild can enter.” Elora turned the knob and pushed the door open. “Througar can follow since he’s with us. Officers can also make keys to give to non-members, so they can visit whenever they want.”
They walked into the room and looked around. There were two long, rectangular tables that looked like they could hold around twenty people each. A wide cabinet stood in the corner that held an assortment of plates, dishes, mugs, and cutlery. The room was 25 feet by 40 feet, and a separate smaller office on one side had a sign that said, “Officers Only.” Elora ducked inside and came back with a steel key she handed to Througar.
“This is the most basic setup,” said Elora. “You can get other furniture if you want. The larger rooms have options for a pantry or even a kitchen if you rent a banquet hall. As it is, we’ll have to bring our own refreshments for now.”
“This is great!” Througar walked around one of
the tables, pulled out a chair, and sat with his legs stretched out. Bandit curled up on the floor next to him.
“Thank you, Elora. This will work fine for the meeting.” Kelath walked into the office and noticed several desks covered with pieces of blank paper, ink sets, and various other types of stationary. “Is this how I contact the other members?”
“Yeah,” Elora said from the main room where she was trying to entice Bandit to chase her around the tables. “Sit at one of the desks, and you’ll have options for managing the guild. You can send a message to all members if you want.”
Kelath pulled the chair back from the desk closest to the door and sat down. A window popped open with a number of options for things he could do with the guild. He could see a list of members and noted there were twenty of them online at the moment. At the bottom of the window was a button that said, “Send Message.” When he selected it a second window opened, again with a list of members, but it also had a text box where he could type out the message he wanted to send. He checked a box specifying the message should go to all members currently online and began composing his note.
Dear Members of Prosperity for All,
Hello and welcome to the guild! We have rented a room in the guild hall, and in thirty minutes we will be holding a meeting to discuss plans for the guild’s future. Many of you joined because you want to fight back against a certain other guild that is trying to take over the game, and rest assured that fight is already underway. It will be a great chance to meet your guild mates, and food and drink will be served afterwards. I look forward to seeing you all there!
Kelath, Guildmaster
He clicked the button to send the message, and a second later, a small icon of a letter appeared in the corner of his screen. He selected it and a window made to look like a piece of parchment appeared with the message he’d written. When he walked back into the main room, Elora had stopped playing with Bandit and was reading a similar letter of her own.