by EA Hooper
“Don’t apologize,” Quinn huffed. “Nothing’s even happened yet. Besides, if you die and are too afraid to try again, I’d understand. Just decide when the time comes and stick with it. You don’t owe us anything.”
Xan nodded. “Okay.”
Vincent looked up at the branch. He could see it reach a larger branch that connected to the World-Tree’s trunk. His eyes returned to their current path and the nearest branch that led upward to Rann.
This’ll be a long few weeks, that’s for sure.
Chapter 13
Player: Lucas the Just
Location: Sarfin (World) | Snowcrag (City) | Glass Locale (District)
Class: Sheriff (Moderator)
Vitality*: Lv 88
Spirit*: Lv 98
Resolve*: Lv 95
Perception*: Lv 91
Agility*: Lv 90
Strength*: Lv 90
Lucas’s World Teleport brought him and Harper back to Sarfin. He’d been gone a few days, but Erik had been messaging him relentlessly. They’d worked out all kinds of deals between Lucas and the Council of Snowcrag, but he still needed to meet with them to add them to his friend list. He’d even started a guild listing that already had five hundred people from various City-Worlds that had worked with him over the years.
Guild Name: The Justiciars
Owner: Lucas the Just
1st Lieutenant: Knight Harper
2nd Lieutenant: Silver Erik
Player Count: 516
Primary Purpose: To protect the cities of the World-Tree.
Secondary Purpose: To strengthen trade between cities.
Lucas looked over the applicant list. Harper and Erik had done the hard work of checking their backgrounds and friends, and Lucas accepted six more members into the guild. He glanced at the tower to the north where the council lived and worked.
“Let’s get going,” Lucas told Harper. He walked through the streets, nodding at people that recognized him.
“Yo, mod!” a player in heavy armor called. “Can I get in that guild you started? Everyone’s talking about it in Sarfin. It must be a big deal if the whole council is in it.”
“You can apply like everyone else,” Lucas replied with a smirk.
By the time they reached the tower, several other people had stopped Lucas to ask about his guild. He smiled to himself, enjoying the attention. Everyone wants to be in my guild. They all want a little taste of my greatness.
Lucas and Harper entered the tower and stepped into the great hall. They sat in seats near the entrance, listening as the council spoke with different groups. Most of the visitors had come to ask the council for requests. Some asked for changes of laws they thought too harsh. Some wanted to argue against the council’s recent taxes and permits. Others were there to get a friend or family member out of prison for a petty crime. A few asked for help beyond the walls of the city for one reason or another. A small number came on behalf of businesses and people of influence. The council seemed most interested in listening to their potential deals.
Silver Erik entered from a door in the back. He spotted Lucas, and then turned to the man at the middle of the council’s table. “Brother, he’s here. Forget all these petty demands. We have a real guest.”
The farmer that had been asking for help glared at Erik.
“I’m in no hurry,” Lucas said. “Please, hear this poor man’s plea. It sounds like he could use the assistance.”
I bet Harper liked that. Look at me, standing up for the losers.
He glanced at Harper, but her face seemed apathetic. Lucas sighed and stood from his chair. “Actually, I just remembered I have something important to do. Maybe we should hurry this along.”
Lucas walked down the aisle and nudged the farmer out of his way. He quickly added each council member to his friend list once he was within range. “There, now we can discuss our deals through private chats. That’s really all I came here for.”
He turned away, but then Erik’s brother coughed.
“Excuse me,” the council member said. “We were hoping to get an agreement in person. We’ve offered the full backing of Snowcrag’s resources to you, Lucas. We’ll even give you as much say to our rulings as any two of us combined. However, we need something in return. We’re hoping as you establish your guild in other cities, you can use your power and influence to give Snowcrag an edge. Maybe establish protection fees for those cities. You can use World Teleport to take our best soldiers to act as the head of security in every city.”
“Protection fees?” Harper asked, joining Lucas in front of the council. “This isn’t about making gild, it’s about defending people from harm. Monster attacks on cities have been rough in recent years. Some cities are running low on resources.”
“And we’ll help protect them,” the council member said. “We just need to get something in return. It’s only fair that if we’re doing so much work, we should receive compensation.”
“That sounds fair to me,” Lucas said, smiling at Harper.
“Not really, especially if they’re putting their men in positions of power over everyone else,” Harper replied. “The other cities won’t like strangers bossing them around and enforcing rules. Especially if those rules are anything like the ones in Snowcrag. No offense, but we know that people with gild and the right friends never face the harsh consequences that other people do in this city.”
The council member snorted. “Lucas, this woman isn’t going to be making all the decisions for your guild, is she?”
“No, she’s not,” Lucas said, looking at Harper with stern eyes. “This is my guild. We need the money for such a large, multi-world operation. If those cities are safe, that’s all the matters. It’s not a big deal for them to sacrifice money and power for safety.”
Harper clenched her fists, and Lucas expected her to yell at him—to scold him like she’d done for years. However, she sighed and relaxed. “Whatever, Lucas. I guess I don’t have a say in it. I just hope you don’t let these guys abuse their power.”
Lucas smiled. “I won’t.”
“There is one more thing we wanted to ask you about,” the council member said. “We know that your low-tier World Teleport can’t reach Valahym, but we were wondering if you could teleport some of our people to a world close to it.”
“Why Valahym?” Lucas asked.
“Valahym is the lowest City-World in the middle-tier. We’ve heard half of all players that climb the World-Tree eventually pass through there. It’s something of a bottleneck. The easiest paths for European and North American players lead to Valahym. Asian and African players have an alternate path, but they have to cross two Nature-Worlds before reaching a mid-tier City-World. Meaning, they often go to Valahym as a safe spawn point to begin grinding for the mid-tier. The city that’s there, Midrun, is a small one. Most players don’t stay there for long because it’s a harsh world with few resources. However, it has a lot of influence because players from many different starting worlds have traveled through it. Almost every multi-world guild in the game has a representative at Midrun. Similarly, Midrun’s Council sends representatives to all the different City-Worlds. They’re the only city that has such far reach and influence.”
“So, what, you guys are jealous or something?” Lucas joked.
“No, but if you want your guild to be successful, it’s necessary for you to have influence in Midrun. What I’d like most would be for you to convince Midrun’s Council to make my brother Erik one of their members. That way, we’ll establish a foothold within Midrun. Between Midrun and Snowcrag, your Justiciars will have more power in this game than any other guild.”
“At least here on the low-tier worlds,” Lucas said.
However, if I controlled Midrun, I could spread my influence up to the middle-tier. I could build an army of loyal followers and dominate the entire World-Tree before the update is even halfway over.
The moderator glanced at Erik. “Choose your men and send one every day to te
leport. I hope this little venture won’t take too many weeks.”
“The nearest low-tier world to Midrun has a Jump Gate,” Erik said. “So, once we’ve gathered the few associates I’m thinking of bringing, we’ll jump together. It won’t take much of your time.”
Lucas nodded, but then he glanced at Harper again. She looked conflicted, though said nothing.
That’s right, Harper. I’m in charge. You’re finally starting to get it. This is my guild. My allies. My cities. My World-Tree. And one of these days, you’ll be mine too. You just haven’t accepted it yet.
Chapter 14
Player: Noble Vincent
Location: World-Tree | Low-Tier Branch
Class: Ranger
Subclass: Mage
Vitality: Lv 32
Spirit*: Lv 38
Resolve: Lv 35
Perception*: Lv 45
Agility: Lv 37
Strength: Lv 32
After weeks of nonstop jogging, they raced down the stem toward Rann. Vincent felt relieved to be off the branch, having avoided a handful of wyrm attacks during their travel. As he stepped onto the mountaintop where the stem connected, he could feel his body producing mana again. He’d run out after using Void Gun on a wyrm that had cornered them. It’d proven ineffective, but the trio had managed to retreat.
All three players cheered as they jumped down ledges and slid across rock faces.
“Finally, a real landscape,” Xan said. “I got so tired of seeing wood in all directions.”
“I’m just happy to have my mana returning,” Vincent said. “I felt strangely empty without it. It’s weird how you can get used to something like that. I lived my entire natural life without mana, but now it’s the norm. It’ll feel weird when we finally log out of this game.”
“It’ll also feel weird to see people again after weeks,” Quinn said. “You two are decent company, but it’s odd how silent and empty the branch was. Especially after living in the city for fifteen years.”
“I like it,” Vincent told her. “It’s nice to get away from the city and enjoy the nature of the World-Tree—seeing this big, open universe stretched before us. Knightrest felt cramped at times.”
His eyes traced the mountains, mesas, and valleys of Rann. “This world might take us a couple of days to navigate. I don’t see the Jump Gate, and there aren’t any easy routes.”
Quinn squinted at the distance. “I’m sure the Jump Gate is in the south. Maybe we can follow that valley to the southeast, then cross the smallest point of the mountain range. If we’re lucky, the terrain on the other side will be flatter.”
“I’m not counting on luck,” Vincent replied. “Rann’s pretty tough to cross, I’ve heard. Before the update, many people preferred to follow the branch toward Cyla and use the Jump Gate there to reach Navrun. It took longer, but your odds of survival were better.”
“Why’d we take this path then?” Xan asked. “Time is the one thing we have plenty of in this game.”
“Where’s the challenge in that?” Vincent asked with a smirk.
They climbed to the bottom of the mountain and traveled through a valley for several hours. Vincent spotted three different goblin camps during that time. The players decided not to take their chances when they’d already traveled so far, and they snuck around the camps. They saw stacks of stone sometimes, which Quinn explained was set up by trolls when they were bored.
As they headed toward the mountain range, they heard low-toned bellows and earthshaking stomps.
>Vincent: Trolls. It sounds like it’s coming from the right. Stay quiet and let’s cross to the valley on our left.
>Jim: Yeah, you three don’t want to risk fighting trolls after you’ve made it that far. Those suckers are dangerous. Got clobbered by one once. This was before the update, but it still stung.
>Quinn: Are you really going to stay in our party until we reach the mid-tier worlds? Don’t you have better things to do than listen in on our conversations?
>Jim: Hey, I’m hunting for Gazal right now. Got three players with me that have tracked him down in the past. They know several of his hiding spots, and I found the lake Vincent killed him at.
>Quinn: Then start a party with them.
>Jim: No, I’d rather bug you three. Plus, you might need my help one day.
>Quinn: Not likely.
Xan chuckled, and then whispered, “I don’t mind Jim. It’s funny listening to him and Quinn argue.”
“Yeah, it’s actually amusing when it’s not me arguing with him,” Vincent replied.
Quinn rolled her eyes. “Clearly, I didn’t realize what I was getting into when I signed up for this party.”
The thumping footsteps grew louder, and the players jerked their heads to look around.
>Alexandria: Is it coming this way?
>Quinn: I don’t know, but let’s quicken our pace.
They hurried toward a rocky slope, climbed it, and hid behind rocks at the top. Vincent glanced back at the valley where they’d been. A three-meter-tall rock monster stomped through the passage, and Vincent Scanned it.
Rock Troll – Monster Class: C | Age: 32 | Sex: None | Number of Offspring: 8 | Personality: Violent
The troll stomped around the valley and peered around. It knocked over several stacks of stones on the side of the valley, but then it paused and looked at something on the ground.
>Quinn: What’s it looking at?
>Vincent: I’m not sure.
He squinted to try to see it more clearly, but his Scan failed to pick up anything from that distance. However, when the troll reached down and touched the ground, his ability caught the twinkle of a spell.
Seismic Sensing – Mana Usage: Miniscule+ | This ability allows the user to feel nearby players or monsters through the ground.
>Vincent: It saw our footprints—now it’s sensing for movement. We need to leave, now!
Before Vincent moved away from the rocks, the troll released a massive bellow that echoed over the landscape. The teammates ran toward the mountain range, but they heard thunderous stomping behind them.
They ran at full speed, hoping to lose the troll. It seemed a little slower than Xan, and after several minutes of sprinting, the troll’s footsteps sounded more distant. They continued toward the mountains, but then the troll’s bellow called again.
A roar from their right answered it, and a second troll stomped over the ridge of the valley. It pursued them as well, and within a minute, a third troll joined.
Vincent and the two women raced up the path of the mountain. They’d been shooting for the lowest peak in the range, but because of the chasing monsters, they’d found themselves pushed toward a sharper incline. They leapt from rock to rock, climbing above the trolls’ reach.
The first troll to reach them slammed itself at the rock face at full speed. The rocks below their feet shuddered, and Quinn had to grab Vincent’s arm to keep him from falling. The other two trolls did the same, but by that time, the players had climbed higher. The trolls roared and grabbed large rocks off the ground.
One rock burst into shards as it slammed into the nearby stone. The pieces knocked out Vincent and Xan’s Mana Shields. Quinn’s Impact Shield reduced the speed of the flying shards as they struck her, but she still received a few small cuts.
They climbed even higher until they were above the trolls’ throwing distance, but the monsters continued to bellow. After a few minutes, the three players neared a short plateau. Vincent reached the top and peered over the distance. His eyes caught dozens of large shapes shambling toward the mountain range.
“So,” Vincent said, Scanning different ones. “Those are all trolls down there.”
“We’re surrounded?” Xan gasped. “What do we do?”
“Fight our way out, of course,” Quinn replied.
“No, we need to run for it,” Vincent said. He looked south, hoping to spot the Jump Gate on the horizon. When he couldn’t find a plateau, his heart sank in his chest. “Our o
nly problem is that I’m not sure where the Jump Gate is. It must be facing Navrun, but that’s a lot of land to cover. The troll population has clearly boomed in the last fifteen years, between ARKUS increasing their rate of reproduction and the lack of players farming Rann.”
“So, even if we make it past these, we’ll only find more?” Xan asked.
“Well, this was a waste of time,” Quinn said. “I guess we should’ve gone to Cyla after all. Worst thing there are the piranha fairies. Let’s just bite our capsules and wipe.”
“I don’t want to lose our two Crystal Hearts,” Vincent told her. “Or my sword, the Lich’s Cloak, and the runes I have on me.”
“The cloak!” Quinn shouted. “We can wait for most of the nearby trolls to reach the mountain, and then you can glide past them. Make a run for the Jump Gate and don’t look back. We’ll try to run past the trolls, but worst-case scenario, we’ll make good distractions. Right, Xan?”
Xan whimpered and lowered her head. “I guess.”
Vincent looked at the young woman and frowned. “No, I won’t leave Xan to die. What if we give her the cloak and the Crystal Hearts? We’ll let her glide away while we distract the trolls. We have a better chance to survive if we work together, Quinn.”
“You’d trust me with the Crystal Hearts?” Xan asked.
“Look, you only have to make it to the Jump Gate,” Vincent said. He handed her the cloak, his sword, and a few other items he wanted to keep after dying. “If we die, you keep running. Don’t stop, no matter what. The trolls will keep sensing your location anyways. Otherwise, I’d just sneak past them with my cloak.”
“But Quinn is faster,” Xan said with a sniffle.
“Here are the Agility Potions I got from Sharky’s treasure,” Quinn said, handing the young woman item crystals. She also gave Xan all the items she wanted to keep, including her protective bandages. “I might be faster, but I’m the best person to distract the trolls. Also, your sniffling is making me feel bad.”