by Edward Brody
He shrugged and sighed. “Well, I know you’re quite the honorable character, so I have nothing to worry about, but it is standard procedure that we at least search you before we let you go.”
I gulped and my heart started beating harder. It looked like the commander wasn’t going to diffuse things like I thought he would.
For a moment, I considered making a run for it. I might tarnish the reputation I had with the commander by doing so, but at least I wouldn’t face any sort of jail time for carrying kroka in my bag. But then again, what were the chances I was going to make it past all the guards and down the path to Outer Highcastle without getting caught? Unlikely, I thought.
“Is something wrong?” the Commander asked.
I bit my bottom lip and looked to the ground. “Yeah… ugh… I mean, no. I guess we’ve got to do what we’ve got to do, right?”
The commander smiled, patted me on the shoulder, and scanned the area. “Everyone take a few steps back please.”
It was only then that I realized that pretty much everyone in the marketplace had stopped what they were doing and were watching the scene unfold. It was embarrassingly silent, and I felt my stomach turn as I knew what was about to happen—being caught with drugs and arrested in front of everyone. But I still held out hope that the commander would let things slide given our history.
The surrounding crowd all stepped back to give us some room, and the commander began searching through the pockets on my gear. He opened my bag and started pulling out everything I had inside—the compass, treasure map, the scroll, the runestone and other items. But by the time he was finished, the kroka never made an appearance.
“Well, looks like everything is pretty normal,” he said as he started returning all my belongings. “So long as you’re okay, I guess we’ll be going on our way.”
“Umm… Yeah. I’m okay,” I replied. I was confused about the kroka. Had I somehow dropped it during my scuffling with Satorin, or perhaps Commander Eldrich felt it in my bag and thought better of pulling it out? Whatever the case, I was thankful that I hadn’t got caught.
The commander patted me on the back and slapped his hands together. He turned to the other soldier and said, “Let’s get going,” and then he turned back to me one last time as he started away. “Nice seeing you again, Gunnar.” He pointed a finger towards me. “Remember to stop by the barracks sometime so you can tell me the story of how you came across the Fellblade.”
Many of the people watching made audible ‘ooohs’. They obviously had heard about the Fellblade.
“I will,” I said. “Thanks for your help!”
The commander and his companion sauntered away somewhere, and I started back towards Outer Highcastle. Many of the people in the crowd continued to let their eyes linger a little longer as I walked away, still interested, perhaps, in the odd low-level who had come in contact with an ancient, powerful weapon.
But there was one set of eyes that stayed glued on me the entire time. His face was set in a serious frown, and he didn’t say a word as he glared.
The bearded man who had been preaching about Reborns earlier looked at me as if he knew me… or at least knew more about me than he was letting on.
Chapter Eleven
1/19/0001
I put my sword away and figured I’d try again for the tenth time.
I sat down and closed my eyes. Focus, focus, focus… I thought as I tried to will myself into a blank state. Eventually, all turned black around me. I could feel energy coursing through my body. I was calm, happy, energized, and while my hearing was still there, I was otherwise oblivious to what was going on around me.
After a short while, I sensed a feeling of fullness, almost like I had just eaten a large meal. I felt like I should open my eyes.
Advancement! You have learned the skill: Meditation. Finding peace within yourself is like finding an infinite source of power. Meditation is linked to the base stat Wisdom. Increase your Wisdom to increase your affinity with Meditation.
“Yes!” I quietly whispered to myself.
I wasn’t sure how long I was out… It felt like no more than thirty seconds or so, but the mana indicator in my status bar was showing me at 100%. Finally, I got it.
I smiled as I stood back to my feet, and Sora strolled up to me, rubbing her head against my hip.
Looks like you got the hang of it, she said in my head.
Yeah, I said, sending my thoughts back to her. Took me enough tries.
It’ll get easier as you level up and gain more Wisdom, but it’s still useful even at low levels.
“Come on,” I said out loud with the wave of my hand. “Let’s see what else we can find ahead… I’ve almost reached my goal.”
After leaving Highcastle, I rode Sora back to Edgewood and entered from a part of the forest that I hadn’t visited before. I still had time before I needed to return to our settlement, so I used it as an opportunity to level up my arcane magic skills. I shot at literally anything I could find, from birds, to pigs, to insects, and even a couple of random, odd kobolds that were wandering around from who-knows-where. During that time, I managed to level my arcane magic from level 7 to level 9.
I still used my sword and other skills intermittently, as training magic was causing my mana to run down fast, and up until then, my attempts at meditating had all failed.
I pushed past a thick bush and entered sneak mode to avoid making too much noise. There was less cover in Edgewood as opposed to a denser forest like Addenfall or the Vale, and noises seemed to carry further.
Another kobold, Sora projected.
I looked to the direction where Sora indicated, and by a small pond, a kobold seemed to be inspecting and collecting the water.
Name: Kobold Explorer
Race: kobold
Level: 13
Health/Mana/Stamina: 150/0/150
Status: aggressive
Where are these guys coming from? I wondered.
I scanned the vicinity to make sure there were no other MOBs [mobile NPC monsters] that might attack me once I made my move. When I was sure the coast was clear, I held out my hand and aimed as best I could for the Kobold’s head. I had learned from firing the spell several times that my Arcane Missile spell had a certain distance in which the energy from the spell fizzled into thin air, but the kobold seemed like it was just in range and would strike without issue.
As always, I’m here if you need me, Sora said.
I nodded and let the spell fly.
The energy from the spell missed the kobold’s head, and struck it in the shoulder, causing it to let out a weedy cry. It fell back and grabbed at its shoulder whilst simultaneously trying to scramble back to its feet with its other hand.
I stepped forward, not yet drawing my sword, and shot another Arcane Missile at the kobold, and then a third, connecting with it on its other shoulder and then its hip, each strike causing it to let out another wail.
The kobold reached for a dagger that was strapped to its hip as it watched me march forward, firing another Arcane Missile every couple steps of the way. It was practically helpless and pinned down by my strikes whilst in that position, and after a few more steps, it made one final, quiet groan, and its limbs went limp, never fully able to draw its weapon.
Advancement! You have reached level 16 and gained 3 ability points. To assign your ability points, open your status page. You can also increase any of your known skills by 1 level. Choose wisely, as your choices cannot be undone.
You have gained 10 MP!
I smiled at how powerful I had become. At level 15, I had been able to easily destroy a level 13 foe without much risk to my safety at all. In all fairness, the kobold was alone, and I had drained 80% of my mana by doing so—so it wouldn’t have been nearly as easy had there been even one more kobold at the site. But still… It was great to have magic and being able to wreck with it so easily.
Again, I was reminded at how far I had come since I spawned that day in Nambunga’s ca
ve.
Better yet, now that I had leveled to 16, I could use the LP point to artificially push myself to my target level of 10 in Arcane Magic.
I reached down and started searching for loot.
The kobold wasn’t carrying much: 20 gold coins, a sack of useless, squashed fruit, and a crude copper dagger.
I bagged the 20 gold coins and the copper dagger, adding it to the other gold and petty weapons that I collected off fallen MOBs in the forest. The gold wasn’t a bad haul, and I figured that I would add the weapons to the store’s inventory. I couldn’t use any of them, but maybe someone out there could.
I looked to the stars shining in the sky and knew that the rest of the guild was probably worried about me. I hadn’t planned on staying out so long, but I had been determined to get my arcane skill up so that I could teleport to The Vale and easily visit Adeelee. I’d still have to ride Sora back to Edgewood, since I didn’t have a rune for my home forest—yet—but it would still cut down on half the travel time.
“Let’s head out,” I said low.
Sora nodded and lowered herself for me to hop on.
As we rode, I slid the LP point that I gained on level-up into my Arcane, bringing me to 10. I assigned 1 AP point on strength and two of them on willpower to keep my character well-rounded.
Within ten minutes, we came riding into the view of our home, and there was smoke rising from a small campfire that someone had lit in the center of all the buildings. Lanterns that had been collected from Kobolds in the Edgewood Mine were sitting on each side of the store shop, providing night light and indicating that it was still open, but no one was outside. Dim light shined from windows of each building.
Feeling exhausted, I hopped off Sora, said my goodbyes to her, and headed straight for our newest building to call it a night. I pushed the door open, and it was unlocked.
“Hey, you’re back,” Ozzy said immediately. “We were beginning to get think something might have happened to you.”
I look up to see that Ozzy was sitting at the top of a two-level bunkbed. At the lowest level was Jax. On the opposite wall was another bunkbed where Keysia was propped up on the lowest level. One more bunkbed was occupying the spot where I had previously been sitting. Pillows and blankets were on each bed, and two chests rested at the foot of each bunkbed. Fire crackled from a small fireplace on the far wall.
“Whoa, nice beds,” I said, ignoring Ozzy’s comment.
“Aaron was working hard all day,” Ozzy said. “The guy is a crafting machine.”
“Well, damn. I’m impressed.”
I walked to the chest near what I assumed was my bed and stuck the storage key that Aaron gave me earlier into its lock. When I opened it, I saw that everything that had previously been in a crate had been transferred there. Nice.
I flopped on my bed and immediately felt sleepy.
“Well?” Keysia queried. “You said you wouldn’t be gone too long. You gonna tell us about your day?”
“Did you sell the kroka?” Jax asked.
I shook my head and sighed. “I lost the kroka somehow. After I left Highcastle, I searched everywhere in my bag and pockets. I must have dropped it or something. Good thing too, because I was stopped and searched by guards.”
“Stopped?” Jax asked. “What the hell for?”
I shook my head and sighed. “I’ve got a lot to tell you, so I’m glad you’re awake. But this first…” I reached into my bag, grabbed the Shrieking Gust scroll that I bought in Highcastle, and threw it to Keysia.
“What’s this?” she asked as she caught it expertly with both hands.
“For you… I thought it might be useful.”
Keysia unraveled the scroll, and she looked surprised as she read the details. “You got this for me? Really?”
“Yeah, of course. I picked it up in a magic shop in Inner Highcastle. You’re a member of the guild now, so your growth is just as important as mine.”
“Wow!” Keysia cooed. Her breathing got heavy and she suddenly jumped out of her bed and bolted over to me. She leaned over and gave me a tight hug in an awkward position. “No one has ever bought me a gift… certainly nothing like this.”
“You’re Unity,” I said. “Remember that we’re all in this together.”
“Unity!” Ozzy shouted and banged his fist a couple times against the wall.
Jax chuckled.
“Thank you, Gunnar,” Keysia said before returning to her bed. As soon she sat down, she absorbed the scroll and it disappeared into thin air.
“So…” Jax pressured. “What exactly do you need to tell me? I don’t like hanging in suspense.”
“So, remember that promise I made you?” I asked. “To kill the Dark Hand?”
“Yeah, of course.”
“Well, it turns out someone else may want the Dark Hand killed as well...”
I spent the next hour going over the details that Satorin had shared with me—that Dryden Bloodletter was Jax’s and the Dark Hand’s older brother, that Dryden had intentions of crossing the Serpent Sea, claiming the throne, and that the Dark Hand had stolen the Fellblade so he could kill Dryden. I didn’t go too much into the details about Satorin’s wife other than saying that he wanted me to help retrieve her, and I said no.
“That’s some serious plot twists,” Ozzy mused.
Jax frowned. “I’m not sure if I believe all that. How can you be certain that what he was saying is true?”
“I can’t,” I said, “but he seemed believable at the time.” I shook my head. “Who knows?”
“If Dryden Bloodletter wants to kill the Dark Hand, then sure.... So long as the Dark Hand suffers for what he did to my mother, so be it.” Jax clenched his teeth together hard and then relaxed them. “But if Dryden Bloodletter is really the son of my father, that could change Highcastle and all the areas around there as we know it.”
“The Bloodletters are cannibals!” Keysia squealed.
“Cannibals?” I asked. “The Sparrow didn’t tell me anything like that…”
“I’m sure that’s just a rumor,” Jax said. “They’ve got the reputation for doing vile things, but I’m sure some of it’s been exaggerated as it’s been passed from ear to ear. Still… they’re known to do things that no one in a king position should be involved in.”
“Anyone gonna address the elephant in the room?” Ozzy asked.
The room was silent for several seconds.
“Why don’t you claim the throne, Jax?” Ozzy sucked air through his teeth, causing a snapping noise. “If the people vote on a king when there’s more than one son, surely they’ll choose you over the bad guys.”
Jax sighed and leaned back, placing his head on his pillow and spreading his legs out at length. “I’m a simple man,” he said. “Not kingsworthy. I thought that by killing the Dark Hand and keeping my existence secret, Highcastle would be better off. They could choose a new leader, a non-Rutherford, someone who could properly run a kingdom. But if Dryden—“
“Dryden as a mercenary leader is bad enough,” Keysia interrupted. “Having a savage as king in the area… I can’t imagine.”
“But don’t underestimate the Sparrows,” Jax said. “If The Dark Hand knows that Dryden is coming for him, he’ll put up a fight with or without a sword. The Sparrow’s hideout may have seemed small, but who knows how many men they have stationed in other parts of the land. Lots of lives will be lost if they’re called to arms.”
“So what should we do?” I asked.
“Go after Dryden?” Ozzy asked.
Jax shook his head. “Dryden hasn’t done anything against us.”
“We can’t just let him claim the throne,” Keysia insisted. “It’ll affect the elves, the guild. It’ll affect all of us, eventually.”
Jax gave a slight nod. “You said that the Bloodletters are building ships, right?”
“From what I understand,” I replied.
“I’m sure it will take some time to build enough ships for a large army, and we
still don’t know when my father will pass. He may still have months or years of sickness left before we have to worry about someone taking the throne. So long as there’s no plot to assassinate the King, we shouldn’t get involved.”
I nodded. “And there’s no guarantee that any of what I was told is true anyway.”
“Right,” Jax concurred. “We may be getting worked up about nothing.” He let out a light chuckle. “It would be outlandish if the leader of the Bloodletters really was another bastard son of my father.”
“Perhaps we should tell the Queen,” Keysia suggested. “Just in case… so they can be prepared.”
Jax agreed. “The Queen is one of the few who know about me, and we should tell her as something like this might affect the forests as well.”
“I’ll take care of it tomorrow,” I said. “I spent all evening leveling up my Arcane Magic to 10 so I can use my runestone to The Vale. I’m going to recall there in the morning to visit Adeelee, and I’ll stop to see Queen while I’m there. I’m sure I won’t be gone more than a couple days.”
“You sure about that?” Ozzy asked. “You seem to have the hots for that Princess… Can’t say I blame you though. She’s a knockout.”
Jax chuckled, and Keysia just turned to lie on the bed.
“I’m sure.”
My tummy did a little flip as I thought about the Adeelee. It had only been a matter of days, but it seemed like so long since I had seen the her, and I couldn’t wait to spend time with her again. I lay back and rested my head on my pillow, as I imagined us sharing an elven pie and taking a bath together in the waterfall at The Vale.
I closed my eyes and tried to will myself to have another spicy dream like the one I had in Thorpes—one with Adeelee getting naked in the waterfall. Only this time, I hoped I’d get some action rather than waking up in the middle of a sick and twisted franken-nightmare.
Tomorrow, I thought, as I drifted off to sleep, forgetting about my stress-ridden day. Tomorrow.