I lived in the North Coast Sprawl that stretched from Portland, Maine to New York City. My module was in what had once been downtown Boston. Once low cost 3D home printing had exploded, along with the population, the real growth had started. Entire neighborhoods were printed almost overnight, affordable housing for the poorest of Americans. That’s where my mom and I had ended up.
She was the sole remaining human employee at a diner on our neighborhood, taking over when the automated service systems failed, cleaning tables and stocking food into the machines. We weren’t exactly living in the lap of luxury. Health insurance was a total joke, and I couldn’t stop worrying about what would happen to my body if Mom couldn’t get me into a hospital.
My body… I shuddered and pushed the thought from my mind as we reached the Bandit Tower. Immediately, I knew something was wrong.
“Shit,” I said, drawing my sword. I heard D nock an arrow beside me as we crept slowly towards the tower. Alfrin’s body lay motionless just outside the door.
7
Ambush
NPCs in Carrethen were open to attack just like anybody else and behaved predictably. There was no reason for Alfrin to be laid out on the ground like this unless someone had killed him. And that meant that D and I were no longer alone…
Thunk!
A crossbow bolt embedded itself in the wall of the tower behind me. Instantly, D and I were back to back, scanning the landscape for our attackers. But there were so many trees surrounding us, that they could have been anywhere.
I looked in the direction of the arrow and saw a flicker of movement beside a large boulder.
“There!” I shouted as a figure emerged from behind the stone, a crossbow in his hand. I instantly recognized him as one of the three men that had passed us a few days ago.
Twang!
A bolt streaked towards me. I barely had time to react, but I managed to duck out of the way as the bolt soared harmlessly over my head.
D fired back in reply, his arrow shaft cutting through the air like a bolt of lightning, striking the man in the chest.
“Ah!” he shouted, taking cover behind the rock.
“Come on!” D shouted, rushing forward, sending more arrows in our attacker’s direction. I raced after him. My quickness was much higher than his, and I passed him easily. My heart was pounding. This was our first conflict with another player, and I knew what the stakes were.
The electronic void… The Ripper’s voice echoed in my head as I advanced, slowing my pace as we reached the large rock.
“Come out!” I shouted, holding my sword high. Whatever level they were, it wasn’t going to be high enough to take me on. One of them had been level 5 a few days ago. For them to be close to my level was just completely impossible. “Surrender now, and we’ll let you go!”
No answer. There was no answer. D and I looked at each other. I tightened my grip on my sword, taking the right side of the rock as D took the left. My blade was held high, ready to strike as I tried to keep myself calm. Fighting off Horngrins was one thing. Battling a real player was something else entirely.
D’s bow creaked under the tension of his drawn string. The grass crunched softly beneath my feet as I slid forward. I readied myself for a strike and leapt around the corner of the rock.
I’d expected to find our attacker cowering in fear or taking aim with his crossbow, but instead, I found myself face to face with a group of five. Two of them were armed with bows, and another two with wands. The last held a massive battle-axe above his head.
“Yah!” he roared as he brought it down with all his might. I stepped aside and deflected the blow with my sword. I could tell by the force behind his blow that he wasn’t too high level.
The mages fired in succession. Two low-level fire balls struck my breastplate, dealing barely any damage.
“Shit, dude!” our original attacker shouted, firing another bolt. This time it hit, but the damage barely registered.
“He’s too high level!” one of the mages shouted, firing again.
I had to do something, but there was no time to inspect my attackers and determine their level. If they were low enough, there was a good chance that using one of my skills would kill them.
I swung out at the guy with the axe who was standing closest to me. As I expected, just a simple blow was enough to shave off way more than half his health. His eyes almost fell out of his head as he staggered back and pulled out a Health Potion. I swatted it out of his hands and kicked him to the ground as I turned to the rest of his friends.
“Run!” the first attacker with the crossbow shouted as he turned tail and fled in the opposite direction. Funny that the one who started everything was the first one to run.
I activated Warrior’s Charge to close the gap between me and the mages but avoided hitting them with the attack. I swung out with my sword, cleaving both of them across the chest. Their HP plummeted so fast I felt a surge of panic in my chest when it looked like they were going to hit zero. Thankfully, a sliver of health remained.
“You realize only one of you gets a ride home if you kill me, right?” I asked the two wounded players in front of me. By the expressions on their faces, I could tell this was a minor detail they’d overlooked. “Now, get the Hell out of here.”
For a second, neither of them moved. I could hear the last member of their party, the other archer, stir nervously behind me.
“And you,” I called out, without bothering to turn to him. “Don’t even think about shooting me in the back.”
The mages still didn’t move, so I raised my sword like I was about to strike. That did it. Scrambling over each other, the two players got to their feet and ran off, followed quickly by the other two archers.
I turned to D who had his bow aimed at the backs of the fleeing attackers.
“Don’t,” I told him.
D sighed and lowered his arrow. “You know… they can just go level up and come after you again.”
“Yeah, well I won’t have to worry about that for a while,” I scoffed. “Did you catch any of their levels?”
“One of them,” D replied. “Level 10.”
“Level 10,” I remarked, shaking my head. “Coming after a level 20.”
“They must really want to go home.”
I looked back at the Bandit Tower, Alfrin’s corpse lying motionless in the doorway.
“What do we do now?” I asked him.
“You know the answer to that question,” he replied grimly.
“You don’t know of any other NPCs in the area?”
“Nope.”
I sighed and twisted my sword in my hand. My first real battle with another player—players, but I couldn’t help but think it was the first of many to come. We had to return to town, and town meant people, and people meant those looking for a way out—me.
“Come on,” D replied, turning and heading off in the direction of Stoneburg. “We have no choice.”
8
Capture
Crouched behind a fallen tree, D and I peered out through the leaves at Stoneburg. The town was set on a flat shelf on the slope of a tall hill, which continued down to a lake at the bottom. We were high on the slope above town, but could make out the Bindstone, the Healer’s shop, and the top of the Blacksmiths.
“Doesn’t look too busy,” I said, eyeing the sparse group of players mingling around in small groups. “Actually looks peaceful. Maybe people had the same idea as us.”
“Yeah,” D grumbled skeptically beside me. “Or they’re waiting to ambush anyone who comes into town.”
“You think everyone on the server’s suddenly evil?” I whispered. “I mean—evil enough to just kill people?”
“Did we not just get jumped by five guys back there?” D snapped.
“Yeah, but…” my voice trailed off. “I guess you’re right.”
“Come on,” D said. “Keep your sword ready.”
I moved to get to my feet but froze as I felt cold steel against the b
ack of my neck.
“Get up slowly,” the voice instructed me. “No sudden movements.”
I did as I was told and got to my feet with both of my hands raised. After fighting off that group of five, I was feeling pretty confident, but if following orders meant avoiding another fight, I was okay with that.
“Turn around,” the voice said. I did and found myself face to face with a tall man, with a stony face, grey hair, and a grey beard. He was wearing a full set of plate mail armor which, unlike mine, actually matched. “Who are you? Bleed spies? New Sinful recruits?”
“What?” I asked, looking at D.
“Who are you with!?” he roared. He was holding a steel halberd with an enormous curved blade.
Thank God! I thought. He doesn’t recognize me.
Quickly, I inspected him.
Xavier—level 15.
Higher than D, but probably not high enough to be a major threat to me. Probably.
“We’re not with anyone,” I replied. “We’re just—us!”
“Lies!” he roared, pressing the tip of the halberd against my throat.
“Seriously!” D shouted. “We’re not with anybody! We don’t even know who those guys are!”
“You don’t know who Bleed is!?” Xavier laughed, like we’d just told him we’d never heard of Lord of the Rings. “Everyone knows who Bleed is.”
“We’re not lying,” I replied, trying to keep the situation from escalating. “We’ve been leveling out on our own since… since it happened. The merchant we were selling to was killed and we were attacked. We were just coming back to town to sell and buy arrows.”
I could see him contemplating what we were saying, but he was skeptical. Things in town must have been worse than we’d expected to draw this level of scrutiny. His level also impressed me. I’d been helping D and he was still only level 12. This guy was skilled—and dedicated.
He shifted uncomfortably, and I realized he had just inspected me. That meant not only had he seen my name, but he’d also seen my level. So why wasn’t he freaking out? Did he really still not recognize me? I guess it was possible that during all the commotion not everyone had gotten a good view of my face.
“My guild and I are the protectors of this town,” he finally said. “I’ll take you to my leader, but if he doesn’t like what you have to say, you won’t be staying long.”
“That’s fine,” I replied. “All we want to do is sell and resupply, then we’ll be out of your hair.”
Xavier nodded and motioned in front of him with his halberd. I glanced at D and we started down the hill towards town.
“Lot of people here,” D said as we came down the slope, approaching the hut of the general merchant, a large square building with an open roof in the center. There were a lot of people around. It wasn’t the bustling activity center it had been before The Ripper’s appearance, but it wasn’t a ghost town either.
“My guild keeps Stoneburg safe from the Player Killer guilds,” Xavier replied. “At least—we try.”
“PK guilds?” I was shocked. “There are actually people in this game who still PvP?”
“There are,” Xavier said grimly as we passed the Bindstone. “I guess real evil exists everywhere.”
Just thinking about it made my stomach turn. Just fighting those five back at the Bandit Tower and having to face the reality of what would happen if I’d accidentally killed one of them, was enough for me. After everything The Ripper had told us, how could anyone be actively player killing still?
At the center of town there was a mage standing with his back to us. He wore an orange Werren Robe with the hood pulled back and a green plate mail helm. He was leaning on a tall, twisted staff made from some kind of white wood. I quickly inspected him.
Cavey—level 16. Another player with real dedication.
“Found these guys hiding in the woods,” Xavier called out as we approached. Cavey turned around to face us.
“Are you with Bleed?” he asked, removing his helm to reveal a strong chiseled face with a short brown beard. His voice was strong, unwavering. This man was clearly used to being a leader. He and his guild had probably played many other games together.
“No,” D replied. “We don’t know who Bleed is—”
“Sinful then,” he said, as though there was no other option.
“We don’t know who any of those people are!” I protested. “This is our first time back in town since what happened with The Ripper.”
Cavey was less skeptical than Xavier, but I could see he still wasn’t sure about us. Bleed and Sinful must have been serious threats to Stoneburg to warrant this kind of interrogation and suspicion. I watched as he inspected me and began to glance around in case we needed to make a break for it.
The rest of his guild wasn’t paying a lot of attention to us, but I could tell by their gear that at least a handful of them were in their low teens. They’d easily be able to swarm D and I might not be able to fight them all off.
“I don’t know, boss,” Xavier interjected. “I say we strip ‘em of their armor and march ‘em out of town. Sinful spies probably.”
“Did you see his level?” D scoffed. “You think you’re getting any of our stuff, you must be dreaming.”
“Do you see how many of us there are?” Xavier replied threateningly, gripping his halberd as if to strike.
“Relax, Xavier,” Cavey said calmly. “They’re not spies.”
Cavey’s eyes met mine, and I felt my heart sank at what I saw behind them—recognition.
“This is Jack. The one The Ripper is after.”
9
Cavey
My legs were tense as I glanced around me, looking for an escape route. Most of Cavey’s guild members were still far enough away that if we made a break for it back up the hill from where we’d come, we could probably make it to the woods and none of them would be able to catch us.
Well, none of them would be able to catch me. I was significantly faster than D, having eight levels on him, which would mean I’d have to stay back with him. And if they caught up to us, that would mean another fight.
“Jack?” Xavier replied, sounding shocked. “You’re—you’re the one?”
“I’m not Neo—”
“He is Neo,” D interrupted. “And if you guys don’t drop the tough guy act right now, he’s gonna do his Superman thing and tear this town to pieces.”
“Is that right?” Xavier snarled back, taking an attack stance. Instantly, my sword was in my hand.
“Easy, Xavier,” Cavey said, stepping in between us. “Everyone just calm down, there’s no need to fight. None of us mean Jack any harm.”
Cavey’s men muttered around us, obviously on edge. A few of them had begun to form a circle around us.
“We have to get out of here!” D hissed. “They’re surrounding us!”
“No one here will hurt you,” Cavey said, addressing the statement to his guild mates. “We are a peaceful guild. Our only goal is to protect this town and make it safe for those who live here. If you don’t want to hurt us—we don’t want to hurt you.”
“Yeah, right,” D replied. “You know that killing Jack will get you a one-way ticket out of here, and you just want us to let our guard down so you can do it!”
“I promise you that is not the case,” Cavey replied.
D had his eyes fixed on Cavey. He was much less inclined to put up with people than I was, and it was one of the reasons he always went Red in every other game we played. D wasn’t just not bothered by confrontation. In fact, he relished it.
After our recent ambush, I was finding it hard to believe that a group this big was actually friendly and weren’t looking to jump me, but I couldn’t help but feel a certain amount of trust for Cavey.
“Everyone put your weapons away,” Cavey said loudly, returning his staff to his inventory. Slowly, his men followed suit. Xavier took longer than the rest of them, but finally put his halberd away. Cavey approached and extended a hand.
I didn’t take his hand right away. I turned to D to get his reaction. I could see he wasn’t thrilled about putting our safety in the hands of others, but finally, he shrugged. I turned back to Cavey and shook his hand.
“Thank you,” I told him. “I’m Jack, as you know, and this is my friend D.”
“I have to ask you. How is it you don’t know who Bleed or Sinful are?”
“Why would we?” D asked. “What are they, celebrity guilds or something?”
“Sinful is a PK guild that raids Stoneburg from time to time,” Cavey replied, a sadness in his voice.
“And they actually kill players?” I asked.
Cavey nodded. “They do.”
“Wow,” I replied, genuinely stunned by the fact that anyone would pick up the PK lifestyle, knowing full well the finality of their actions.
“That’s why Xavier was so… on edge,” Cavey said with a smile in Xavier’s direction. “We’ve had more than our share of conflict here.”
“And Bleed?” I asked. “You mentioned Bleed.”
“Zerg guild,” Xavier spat. “Biggest on the server.”
“Started with the idea that if we all united into one huge guild, we could share resources and level up quickly and go against The Ripper together.”
“And then?” D asked.”
“There was a change in leadership,” Cavey replied. “Now they’re just a huge group of thugs that go around taking anything from anyone not in their guild.”
“Why would anyone join them?” I asked.
“Their recruitment policy,” Xavier replied.
“Which is?”
“Simple,” he shrugged. “Join or die.”
A silence hung in the air between us while D and I processed everything. I’d never questioned our decision to stay away from town. I was famous and basically had a big target on my back. I could understand why some players might be able to rationalize killing me when it meant getting back to the real world and their loved ones, but I never thought there would be people going around killing other people just to gain a slight advantage.
I guess the virtual world isn’t too much different than the real one.
“So, you guys needed to sell and resupply?” Cavey asked.
Call of Carrethen: A LitRPG and GameLit novel (Wellspring Book 1) Page 4