Orc Glitch- The Mad King

by KJ Harlow

  “Noooo!” Kai roared. It was the roar that Cal heard before. Not anger, or frustration, but torment. A messed up thought entered his mind before he had a chance to banish it: how fitting that Kai felt this in a village that chose to establish itself in a place called the Valley of Anguish. Cal placed his hand on his shoulder.

  “Everyone’s gone…” Kai whispered. His spear lay flat on the short, green grass in front of him. There were fist-shaped indentations in the dirt in front of him. “Who did this?” Venom more concentrated and deadly than that in Zkar’s blood filtered into his words.

  “I don’t know…” Cal said. This community had been smaller than Rawdriad, maybe a third of the size. You would think that living in a place called the Valley of Anguish that their defences would be extra fortified. Apparently this wasn’t the case. Cal stepped across to the watch tower. No one had been inside when it fell, thankfully. He closed his eyes. This was a tragedy, but they couldn’t forget why they had come here.

  “Verdant Whisper,” Cal incanted.

  Everything quietened down. It was just Cal and nature now. He turned slowly, listening and probing the air. The grass chattered and round shrubs that grew sporadically all over the village bristled and murmured. Where was the lucentleaf?

  “It looks like you missed one, Laish.” A male voice said. “Oh and what’s this? An orc? Must be here to loot.”

  Cal’s eyes flew open, his focus shattered.

  “You!” Kai snarled. Cal’s spun in Kai’s direction. He was in a battle stance, both hands gripping his spear tightly. A man with broad shoulders over six-feet tall stood there. Chain mail covered him from shoulders down, finishing off at his knees. On his chest was an emblem: a black, gauntleted fist against a blood-red backdrop. A hilt of a longsword sat in its scabbard on his left hip. A foot off the ground, her wings flapping languidly was an eryn – But not just any eryn.

  “I pay my respects to the chief, felinko,” the eryn named Laish said. Her voice was soft, like mist. Her words sent Kai into a frenzy.

  “Earth Wall!” Cal cried, raising a slab of dirt in front of the livid werejaguar. Cal lumbered over to him.

  “What are you doing?” Cal asked.

  “What are you doing? Kai seethed. “I’m going to slaughter that Eryn.” In the short space that Cal had known Kai, he felt that his personality could be summed up in one word: temperamental. Even then, he wasn’t prepared for the magnitude of anger he saw on the Werejaguar’s face. “That treek killed Zkar. I’m not going to let her get away.”

  Kai made to move around the Earth Wall. Cal slapped his hand down on his shoulder then doubled over; Kai had driven a fist into his gut. “You already let her get away once. I’m not going to let you do it again.” Cal’s Earth Wall collapsed and Kai stepped over the rubble.

  “Ready to come out and play, kitty?” The knight made kissy noises and curled his finger towards him.

  “I don’t know what business you have here, human.” Kai’s voice was surprisingly even. “But if you have played any part in destroying Gresshia, the last thing you’ll see is your headless corpse from the top of my spear.”

  “Look Laish, the NPC thinks that it can kill me!” The knight giggled and snorted.

  NPC? This guy is a gamer too! Was he also trapped in ValorVale? “Examine,” Cal muttered. Two status screens with limited information on the foes in front of him appeared:

  NAME: Hector Cameron

  CLASS: Dresham Knight

  LVL: 11

  HP: 171/171

  MP: 149/149

  NAME: Laish

  CLASS: Eryn Defender

  LVL: 29

  HP: 280/280

  MP: 305/305

  “Hector, my name’s Cal,” Cal yelled across the gap.

  Hector froze for several seconds. “Why can the orc talk?”

  “Orc Captains can speak Common Tongue,” Laish folded her wings back in, her feet touching the ground.

  “Did I say that you could stop flying?” Hector snapped.

  “I’m sorry, I’m just trying to conserve–”

  “Keep flying!” Laish’s shoulders dropped slightly before she rose up into the air again.

  “Hector,” Cal said waving. “I’m a ValorVale player, just like you.”

  Hector eyed him suspiciously. “Why are you an orc, then?”

  “I… don’t know,” Cal said. “I just wanted to ask you–”

  “Master, watch out!”

  Kai brought his spear hurtling down on Hector. Laish manoeuvred herself in front of Hector, raising her buckler. The force of the strike created a ball of energy that pushed everyone back. Kai landed on all fours, digging into the dirt stop the momentum. Laish thrust her wings back, negating the push.

  “Watch where you’re going!” Hector yelled. He got up off the ground, dusting himself off.

  “Did you destroy this village?” Kai demanded, getting back into an offense stance. “Answer me!”

  “So what if I did?” Hector scoffed, tossing back the lock of his blonde hair that had escaped his mail cap. “I gotta get my kills somehow. If I have to ravage a village, then so be it.” Kai charged at Hector again, his face warped into an animalistic snarl. “I got this, Laish.” Hector’s hands flew to the hilt of his longsword, pulling it out just in time to block Kai’s lunge.

  The eryn watched the battle from about three yards away. He said that he ‘got this’, but Hector really didn’t; he was only just managing to block Kai’s frenzied attacks. The werejaguar seemed to be striking faster and faster each time too. It was only a matter of time before–

  “Argh!” Hector roared, his blade clattering dully into the ground. He was late on an evasive spin. Kai was stabbing and driving so hard that he pierced the chain mail and Hector’s ribcage. Laish hadn’t moved to defend him at all.

  “Where were you, you pathetic excuse of a bodyguard?” Hector screamed.

  “You told me that you–”

  “Kill that werejaguar now!”

  “As you wish.” The Eryn moved fast – almost too fast. Kai had wounded Hector, but that left his spear tangled amongst metal and muscle. He wouldn’t let go of it.

  “Earth Wall!” Grass-topped dirt surged out of the ground between Kai and the eryn. Kai wrenched his spear out, eliciting another scream from Hector.

  “Kai, fall back!” Cal commanded. With a single flap, Laish had already flown over the Cal’s Earth Wall.

  Kai roared and renewed his attacks on the eryn. It dodged each strike effortlessly, taking all the time in the world to bat a few away with her short sword or buckler.

  “She’s too strong! You’ll get yourself killed!” Cal yelled. His warning fell on deaf ears; the eryn and werejaguar stayed locked in battle. Growing bored of blocking and parrying, Laish struck out with her short sword. Kai jumped backwards, his cat-like reflexes saving him.

  Cal charged forward, axe raised. Still doubled over clutching at his gaping side wound, Hector turned in time to see Cal’s axe swing down. It didn’t matter whether this other guy was trapped in the game like Cal was or not. All that mattered now was that he didn’t let Keizen down.

  Hector gripped the hilt of his longsword, raising the blade, turning his head away. There was no ringing of metal on metal. Instead, a powerful gust lifted Cal off his feet. He tumbled through the air, landing on his stomach 20 yards away.

  -15 Damage!

  He coughed, looking back up at Hector just in time to see him down a health potion. Laish’s right wing, ivory white in colour had extended to full length, over five feet long. She folded it up neatly and turned her attention back to Kai.

  “Damn it!” Cal got to his feet, retching as he tried to catch his breath.

  Laish and Kai had broken off and were fighting about five yards away. Kai’s hair was matted with dark blood where wounds several inches long gaped all over his body.

  “You will see your chief soon, felinko.”

  Kai roared again, aiming another wayward strike at Laish.
Laish moved into the attack, parrying Kai’s spear with her buckler. It spiraled through the air, clattering into the ground. She raised her buckler and drove it on a overbalancing Kai’s back. He fell forward into the dust. Laish grounded herself, her other foot planted in between Kai’s shoulder blades. Her short sword gleamed in Hyten’s light as she held it aloft above Kai’s neck.

  “Stop!” Hector commanded. “I need more EXP.”

  Cal bolted forward; he only had one chance at this. Hector gripped his long sword with both hands. He dragged it across the dirt and got into position, placing his foot by Kai’s head.

  “Sayonara, furball.” Hector rolled his shoulders, his oversized blade lifting off the ground.

  “Earthquake!” Laish looked at the airborne orc just as his axe thundered into the ground. What remained of Gresshia shook. The few buildings that still stood heaved and swayed, cracking free of their foundations and collapsing like houses of cards. Cal looked up. To his left Hector lay on his back, arms and legs locked. To his right, the eryn still had her leg on Kai. One wing had stretched out halfway, beginning to flap. Anger with a hint of fear swirled in her grey eyes.

  “Get the Karst-damned treek off me!” Kai yelled.

  Cal ignored the complaining eerejaguar. He walked over to Hector. His eyes followed the orc all the way until he squatted right next to him.

  “I’ve got two questions for you, buddy, then you’re going to die. Look left to answer ‘yes’ and right to answer ‘no’, got it?”

  Hector stared at him, eyes blazing defiantly. Cal’s iron axe flashed through the air. It wasn’t a clean cut; blood spurted out of his wrist, his hand hanging on by muscle and sinew. Hector’s frozen body stiffened even more, his eyes rolling into the back of his head.

  Shivers suddenly ran down Cal’s spine; he was about to kill someone. Sure the guy would respawn, but it felt as real as anything. Could he do this? Cal pointed his axe at Hector’s face, his own blood dripping onto his cheek off the axe.

  “Are you trapped in ValorVale?” Hector’s eyes grew wide as he stared at Cal. Come on… come on… the idiot looked neither left nor right. Cal thudded his axe into the remaining tissue, severing the hand completely. Again, his eyes rolled into the back of his head.

  “Did you destroy Gresshia?” Hector focused at Cal’s face. His face was still paralysed for a few more seconds yet, but he could see in his eyes that he was mocking him. His eyes rolled to his left. Cal bowed his head. He shuffled on his knees towards Hector’s head. Raising his axe slowly, he held Hector’s gaze for a second more. Then, he brought the axe down.

  “For King Fetter!” Hector roared his final words before metal crunched through bone and cartilage. Cal gripped his iron axe tightly, not letting go. Laish stared at the body of her master, her sword suspended above Kai.

  “Don’t worry,” Cal said, letting go of the axe. He put his hands onto his knees and rose. A fatigue that he hadn’t ever felt before sat heavy on his shoulders. “He’s not really dead. He’ll respawn somewhere.”

  Laish dragged her eyes away from Hector and fixed them on the orc. “You should have just let me die in the forest.” Kai sprung up and Laish pushed herself back a few feet with her wings. “We’re just following orders,” she whispered, her voice breaking.

  A ring of light traced itself on the ground directly beneath the winged warrior. Cal glanced over at Hector where his lifeless form was slowly becoming translucent, beads of light breaking off and dripping up towards the heavens.

  “I cannot disobey orders otherwise…” Laish became cloaked in light and was fast disappearing too. “Our last checkpoint isn’t far from here. I can delay him, but whatever business you have here, finish it and–”

  There was a puff of light and the figures of their foes imploded, clusters of resplendent light pearls hanging momentarily in the air before zooming into the sky. Cal let go of his axe; it fell on its side, thudding silently into the dirt. Four, new notifications beckoned him to open them.

  Gong!

  Level Up!

  Level Up!

  You have been allocated 20 points. Use these to improve your base statistics.

  Skill Up!

  You have gained one (1) level for your Skill Earth Wall! Mana Usage -2%/sec.

  Skill Up!

  Skill Up!

  You have gained two (1) levels for your Skill Earthquake! Mana Usage -2%, Skill Effect +0.3 sec.

  Weapon Level Up!

  Your Axe Level is now D. You can use weapons that give stat bonuses!

  Cal plonked himself down on the ground listlessly. 20 points, 5 in each.:

  NAME: Callahan Rogers

  AGE: 29 (Earth)

  CLASS: Orc Fighter

  LVL: 12

  HP: 151/151

  MP: 160/160

  AFF: Earth (x1)

  STR: 24+2%

  DEF: 25+1%

  AGL: 24+3%

  INT: 28+1%

  ABILITY: Examine, Verdant Whisper

  SKILL:

  Earth Wall – Level 4 – Next Level in 79%

  Earthquake – Level 2 – Next Level in 98%

  WEAPON: Axe – Level D – Next Level in 96%

  The fatigue was still there, but having replenished health and mana bars, as well as boosted stats, stronger skills and finally a weapon level upgrade did make him feel better. He glanced across at his comrade, checking his stats:

  NAME: Kai

  AGE: 47 (Terrafaytum)

  CLASS: Werejaguar Warrior

  LVL: 17

  HP: 180/180

  MP: 159/159

  AFF: Fire (x1)

  STR: 44+2%

  DEF: 44+1%

  AGL: 41+3%

  INT: 30+1%

  ABILITY: Examine

  SKILL:

  Flaming Spear – Level 8 – Next Level in 12%

  Fireball – Level 1 – Next Level in 99%

  WEAPON: Lance/Spear – Level D – Next Level in 61%

  Kai spun around and faced Cal. “I’ve finally learned ‘Fireball’!” He couldn’t keep the delight from shining out of his eyes, the rage from seeing the eryn temporarily forgotten.

  Cal smiled vaguely at him. When Kai had skewered him, Gram said that he had respawned within half a moonshift. He couldn’t be sure, but that could have meant anywhere from one to two hours. He had given up trying to equate Earth to Terrafaytum time ages ago.

  Cal picked up his blood-stained iron axe. I need a better weapon, stat. Just then, a ring of golden light formed where Hector had been slain. A chest materialized. It was triple in size to the one on the plateau and had veins of gold twisted into an ornate pattern across it. He started towards the chest then shook his head. No, he was on a mission. He sheathed the iron axe and walked back towards the fallen watch tower in the middle of Gresshia Village.

  Once more, he closed his eyes. He stretched both his arms, palms open but relaxed, holding them parallel with his body. This seemed to extend the range of Verdant Whisper. He quietened his own breathing, focusing on the voices of the plants. Cal strained his ears but no flora wanted to make themselves heard.

  “Kai,” Cal said. “Is there a drug store in Gresshia?”

  “Speak normally.”

  Cal opened his eyes, raising an eyebrow at Kai. “Is there an… apothecary or medicine man in Gresshia?”

  Kai nodded. “Every village should have one.” He bounded away. Moments later, Cal spied him standing on the roof of a house about 20 yards away. He stood up straight, relaxed his muscles and breathed in. He was still for a moment, his ears twitching. “Head that way. Edge of the village. Look for a building with a vent.”

  Cal started walking through the houses, making a beeline in the direction Kai pointed to. He kept Verdant Whisper on, continuously probing the air for the sound of lucentleaf. Kai followed him, jumping off the house and catching up. They both ignored the corpses of werejaguars strewn all over the ground.

  “What does lucentleaf look like?” Cal asked.

  “I d
on’t know, you’re the one who can talk to plants.”

  Cal had no response to this. He kept trudging forward. “Did you really think that you could have defeated that eryn?” Cal asked.

  He waited for the vehement outrage, but it never came. “Werejaguars don’t back down from a battle, no matter how one sided it may be,” Kai growled.

  “That’s a stupid strategy.”

  Kai clenched his jaw, not looking at the orc. “It’s the way we have always done things. I’m not about to change that.”

  Cal thought about pushing the issue, highlighting the fact that that’s what contributed to the death of Zkar but Kai’s response told him that something had changed in him. He was trying to hide it, but Cal could see his eyes darting to the corpses of the werejaguars littering the village.

  “What are we going to do with the dead?” Cal asked.

  “I… we’ll think about that later.” Kai started walking a bit faster. “Right now we need to find that lucentleaf.”

  Cal nodded. If he had walked into town and found all the people around him dead, he wouldn’t know what to do either. He had an anxious grandmother who was relying on him to save the chief of the village.

  “There it is.”

  The house was built of logs, like all the others. It looked like it had deliberately been built away from the other houses in town. This should have made it a clearer target for attack. However, the structure looked untouched. No smoke curled out through the chimney on top.

  “You go in,” Kai said. “I’m going to inspect the rest of the village and see if there are any survivors.”

  Cal nodded. “Meet me back here.”

  Cal prised open the door, ducking his head slightly to step inside. It was pitch black. He stood there blinking, giving his eyes time to take in the little light on offer. He cast Verdant Whisper again. All manner of herb, leaf, weed and plant began chattering and whispering, each trying to get his attention.

  “Is there something I can help you with?”

  Cal leapt back, knocking a jar off the shelf. He moved faster than he thought he could, reaching down to scoop the jar up before it smashed onto the ground.