by Seth Ring
“If you talk to him, you can tell him I don’t hold it against him. Oh, and I’m sorry for killing him. If he is willing to call it even I can let it go.”
For a moment the table lapsed into silence.
“What happened with Ouroboros? Where is he?”
“I don’t know.” Mina looked upset thinking about the former party leader. “Ever since he got his new class he has been totally different. I don’t like him anymore. We are not speaking!”
“Our group broke up.” Velin looked down at the table, her voice low. “Something about his class, Exalted Devil Blood Berserker, has brought out the coldness in him. I’m not sure what it is, but he has become much more ruthless than he was in the past. Even with us. He has returned to Ragnarok to fight for a position in the leadership. I’m afraid I had a part to play in goading him into it.” Velin looked down.
“Maybe, but you are not responsible for his actions. We all have to make our own decisions, and it sounds like he is making poor ones.”
“Yes,” Velin sighed, “but I understand why he is making those choices. He is under a lot of pressure from his family to succeed and the person who controls Ragnarok will have incredible power, authority, and wealth. The temptation to run over everyone or everything that gets in your way is strong when so much is on the line. Still, we did not come here to talk about Ouroboros. We are here to find out how we can make up for our own poor decisions.”
“I told you, I forgive you. There isn’t anything you need to do.” Thorn waved dismissively. “I do have a quest that I would love help with, but I won’t have any hard feelings if you don’t join me.”
“No, we’ll do it!” Mina slapped the table and declared before Velin could say anything.
“Of course we will.” Velin nodded. “What do you need?”
“Okay. In that case, let me call our other team member. Once he gets here we’ll set up our plan of attack.”
Oberlin must have been hanging out right outside the bar, because almost as soon as Thorn sent him a message he popped up next to the table.
“Velin, Mina, this is Oberlin. I met him before I got to know you and we got re-acquainted over the last couple weeks. Oberlin, Velin and Mina.” Thorn made the introductions.
After a round of hellos, the group got down to business. Thorn explained that he had to find Greymane Keep for his quest but that it did not appear on any map that he had seen. The information that he obtained from the Pathfinder in Narthil had not contained any hints either.
“Hmmm. It is rare that a quest would not give any supplementary details. Can you describe the process through which you obtained the quest?” Velin asked.
“I actually got it after I woke up in Hati’s Ascent. I have to free the castle from werewolves.”
“Ah, that helps quite a bit.” Seeing the other’s confused looks, Velin pulled out her notebook and flipped open to a blank page. Writing as she spoke she began to explain. “One of the basic rules of Nova Terra is that everything is connected. In fact, it is speculated that if an individual makes a connection that is false, the game might create the connection so as to give players a heightened sense of achievement. Eve is smart enough to make this impossible to abuse, but it means that there are connections everywhere.
“What that means for us is that everything surrounding a quest is a clue. Take, for example, the place where the quest was activated. Hati’s Ascent was a temple to the god of the night, Hati, the Moon Wolf. Hati was worshiped by those corrupted wolfkin that we fought in the dungeon. We also ran into regular wolfkin before we got to the dungeon. They were trying to gain access, just like us.
“Based on the composition of their group and the fact that we had never encountered that sort of creature, we can tell that they came from a good distance away. They did not have any pack animals though and none of them were players, so they could not have come from too far away. This puts them between two and five days away.”
“Wait, why do pack animals matter?” Mina cut in, confused.
“No inventories.” Oberlin and Thorn said at the same time.
“Exactly. Since they were natives they did not have inventories which means that they had to carry everything in packs. They had no tents which means that all their pack space was probably food and other vital supplies. That means that they probably traveled for less than a week. Which would also make sense considering the shape their clothing was in. They would have been much rattier looking if they had been traveling for a long time.
“So, that gives us two pieces of information. First, the wolfkin at the temple that fell became werewolves, and the castle is in the hands of werewolves. Second, wolfkin that had not fallen were trying to get to the temple. This means that it is unlikely that the wolfkin came from the area around Greymane Keep. They may know where it is, however, so let’s keep that in the back of our minds. Next, we know that the temple was situated in a wolfkin city. So it is likely that there is information in the city regarding the location of Greymane Keep.”
“Oh no.” Mina put her head in her hands.
“What is wrong?”
“That whole area is under Ragnarok’s control right now. One of the leaders has taken over that area to loot. Getting in and finding the right information will be difficult, if not impossible,” Velin spoke calmly.
“Aren’t you part of Ragnarok?” Oberlin asked.
“We were. Suffice it to say, we are no longer part of the guild. So we may have some trouble. Angdrin, the officer in charge of this area is not known for being helpful.”
“Angdrin? Is he..?” Thorn looked at Oberlin who was nodding his head.
“Yeah. That is the guy from the mine. Haha, small world. Thorn fought him and his red-armored goons two days ago. And we swiped a bunch of stuff from them. So, I’m pretty sure that they will be even less helpful if they see us.”
“Granted, that makes the situation easier, right? We can bust in and not worry about it. Since we’re already enemies I mean.” Thorn smiled.
“I don’t think that is a good idea.” Mina frowned. “The Crimson Snakes are really tough.”
“Haha, they did not look that tough. Thorn killed six or seven of them in their last fight. He probably would have killed all of them if he hadn’t tried to break a magic bubble with his bare hands.”
“You what?” Flabbergasted Mina stared at Thorn. Angdrin’s personal guard, while not being the absolute best of Ragnarok’s fighters were elite players. It was inconceivable that someone could wipe out so many of them, especially fighting all of them at once.
“Did I say that he tried to break a magic bubble? That’s wrong. He did break a magic bubble with his bare hands. Cracked it open like an egg. You should have seen Angdrin’s face, Haha! Anyway, he also crushed five of them with a large carriage full of ore.” Oberlin bragged.
“Alright, I get the picture.” Mina shook her head. “To hear you brag, I almost thought that you were the one to fight them.”
“Nah, I don’t do that direct confrontation stuff. But I did pick up six boxes that looked pretty important while everyone was distracted.” Oberlin smiled smugly.
“Alright, let’s focus. Avoiding conflict is a smarter bet since there are more of them than there are of us. What other avenues do we have for getting information, Velin?” Thorn waved for Mina and Oberlin to be quiet.
“We have the library here in town. We may be able to find a reference somewhere if we look through ancient legends. Because the quest is tied to the era of the gods our chances are best if we find a story about the wolfkin specifically. We could also look for old maps and compare them to our current world map. That is how we found the entrance to Davyos’ Fall, the city where Hati’s Ascent was. That is time-consuming though. We could also go talk to Avalon. Are you familiar with how they work?”
“Yes, Oberlin introduced me.”
“Really, if we can’t access the library from the city where we found the temple, our best option is to go find the wolfki
n and see if they have any information. Unfortunately, they were hostile the last time we encountered them.”
“Okay, then it looks like we’re going to have to contend with Angdrin and the Crimson Snakes.” Thorn picked up the balled up the cup.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
As the early morning light broke over the horizon, the forest awoke. A curious wren landed on a branch, its head cocking as it looked down at Thorn’s prone figure. Stretched out along a hill, Thorn peeked over the top, looking down at the entrance to the canyon leading to Davyos’ Fall. Even in the early morning hours, two red-armored players stood guard, watching for anyone who might disrupt their guild’s operations.
“Do they really just stand there? What a strange way to play a game.” Thorn spoke quietly to avoid alerting the guards.
“To them, it isn’t a game. It is a job. They play Nova Terra for a living, so it is the same as any other work. They get benefits, get paid by the hour, it is like working in the real world. So, if their employer tells them to spend some time standing guard, they stand guard.” Velin lay next to Thorn, looking down toward the canyon. “They might be elite players, but they are on the low end of the totem pole.”
“I guess that makes sense.”
“When you two are finished can we get started?” Oberlin’s voice drifted over from somewhere nearby. Thorn could not, for the life of him, tell where Oberlin was, but he knew he was in the vicinity.
“Yeah, let’s get going.” Thorn scooted back down the hill far enough that his head would not be visible over the top when he stood up. “Everyone remember the plan? We don’t have much room for failure here. Once they are alerted it will be much harder for us to get through, so no messing around, okay?”
“What? Why are you looking at me?” Mina complained, adjusting her pointy hat. “I’m an elite player, I know what to do.”
“Great.” Thorn ignored Mina’s pouting. “Velin, when you are ready.”
Nodding, the elven War Priestess pulled her staff out and walked over the hill toward the Crimson Snake guards, Mina by her side. As they came down the hill the two guards perked up, lifting their swords and shields. After a moment of staring at the approaching girls, the guard on the left, a middle-aged man with a mustache, motioned for the other guard to put down his weapons when the two girls got closer.
“Miss Velin.” Mustache bowed respectfully as they got closer.
“Morning. Do you know me?” Velin greeted him, her face impassive.
“Yes, Miss. I worked a shift at headquarters last year and saw you with Lord Ouroboros. Congratulations, on his advancement.”
“Mmhmm. Why are you on duty here?”
“Lord Angdrin ordered that we guard this location to prevent anyone from other guilds from exploring beyond this point. There is an abandoned city and a dungeon in the canyon!” The younger guard chimed in, excited to be talking to someone as famous as Velin. He lapsed into silence as he caught a glare from mustache.
“My apologies, miss, but you can’t go beyond this point,” Mustache said, tightening his grip on his sword and shield. “Our orders are that the location is to be completely locked down. So no one can get in.”
“Even if I’m doing research in the tunnel? There is a magic door that I wanted to examine in more detail.” Velin’s cold face did not change expression at the guard’s refusal.
“I’m sorry, orders are orders.” Mustache shook his head, suppressing a shiver. He had always heard that Velin was cold, but he could swear that the actual temperature had dropped.
“Hmm. Shame.” Velin shook her head and stepped to the side, revealing Mina with a silly smile on her face and a fully charged wand in her hands.
“[Avalanche]!” Mina shouted, causing a massive flurry of snow to appear, burying the two guards before they could move. Stunned for a moment, they could not respond as a giant crossbow bolt flew down the hill, instantly sending the younger guard out of the game. Before the stunned state had worn off, Velin channeled a beam of pure energy into her staff, shooting it through Mustache’s chest. He did not even have time to change his expression before he turned into motes of light.
With both guards gone, Thorn hurried down the hill to the canyon entrance, meeting Oberlin, Velin, and Mina outside the tunnel that led to Davyos’ Fall.
“Okay, that could have gone better, but we did account for having to kill the guards. This means we are on a clock. We have less than an hour before we start seeing reinforcements. So, we cannot waste time if we meet other guards inside.” The War Priestess was all business, hurrying them into the tunnel.
Not worrying about stealth, the group burst into the room with the magical door in time to see it click shut. Someone from the other side must have been alerted by the players that died and closed the door. At the sight of the closed door and active runes, Mina paled.
“It took us an hour and forty-five minutes to open it last time.” Mina shook her head. “There is no way we’ll be able to get through.”
“Hah, are you serious? It took you that long to open this thing?” Oberlin faded into view in front of the large bronze doors.
“What? You think you can do better?”
Oberlin smirked as his hands began flying, tapping here and there on the runic lock. Seeing his actions, Velin’s eyebrows rose. She looked at Thorn for confirmation and seeing him readying his arbalest, she gave a small smile.
“Mina get ready for another Avalanche. We need to make sure anyone on the other side of the door doesn’t have a chance to run.”
“Got it.” Still doubtful, Mina charged her wand.
For a moment the only sound in the tunnel was Oberlin’s tapping hands. Everyone else stood silently as they got ready for whatever was on the other side of the door. In three minutes the runic lock began to warp, dispersing with Oberlin’s last tap.
“There you go,” said the thief with a flourish.
“Thank you.” Thorn stepped past him and pushed the door open violently, his arbalest leveled.
On the other side of the door stood three more guards in the red armor of the Crimson Snakes. Two held swords and shields while one had a bow on his back. With a start, they scrambled to get into position, but it was too little too late. Almost by reflex, Thorn sent his bolt at the archer, who exploded into motes of light while Mina dropped her icy stun on the two shield warriors.
Whether by luck or simply chance, the flurry of snow only caught one of them, the other managing to dive to the side. Yelling a war cry, the warrior who escaped the snow rolled forward, his shield in front of him as he attacked. Sadly, it did not go well for him. As he rose from the ground to approach Thorn, a massive foot lashed out, kicking the center of his shield.
[CRACK]
With a tremendous sound, the shield snapped in half and the dumbfounded warrior was launched backward, tumbling head over heels until he came to a stop almost twenty feet away. For a moment, his body lay still and then peacefully faded. The stunned warrior fared no better and soon joined his companions in Fantasia.
“It will take us ten minutes to get to the city if we run, so let’s get going.” Velin did not dwell on the fight, instead moving the party along.
To her surprise, Thorn put his arbalest away and scooped her and Mina up, one in each hand. Telling Oberlin to climb onto his back and hold on, Thorn began running, his strides growing longer as he sped up. Perched upon Thorn’s broad shoulder, Mina giggled with glee at the landscape flying past.
“Who said this game doesn’t have fast travel?” She joked. Velin ignored her, holding on tightly.
Each pounding footstep sent Thorn almost a dozen feet forward. Within less than a minute the city came into clear view and within three they were at its edge. With a smile, Thorn let the ladies down as Oberlin jumped down from where he had been holding on to Thorn’s armor.
“That works too.” Velin took a moment to fix her hair that had blown out of place during the mad dash. “Let’s look for the library. We are aiming for
speed over stealth. Oberlin, you keep an eye out. Thorn, you’ll be in charge of blocking anyone we come across with Mina. I’ll find the library and look for our information.”
Sure enough, they had only traveled three blocks when Oberlin sent a message saying that there was a group of five red-armored players heading for them. Nodding to Velin, Thorn and Mina split off from the War Priestess and went to meet them head-on. At first, Mina wanted to try and ambush them, but after remembering the way Thorn manhandled the previous group she shrugged and followed behind him.
The two groups met at a crossroads and immediately closed for combat. One of the Crimson Snakes had bows and one was wielding a staff. The other three held the familiar scimitar and round shield that Thorn had seen the others with. Charging forward, Thorn lifted his gauntlets to protect his head and neck.