by Dakota Krout
“I thought we were going to…! We were…!” Jess couldn’t properly form a sentence; she was frothing mad and blushing the darkest red Jaxon had ever seen.
“What? Oh! Ohh…” Jaxon shook his head and did a double backward handspring, keeping his feet flat on the ground until his palms were touching the ground and vice versa until he was in a normal position again. “Oh, sweetheart, I didn’t realize. I really didn’t. I haven’t been propositioned in… what, going on thirty-five years now?”
“I propositioned you?” Jess stopped attacking, his words penetrating her thoughts and blowing away all her expectations of humiliation or ridicule. “Who are you?”
“My name is Jaxon. I am a Chiropractor.” Jaxon bowed in half without moving his feet or bending his lower half at all, making Jess feel ill. Human bodies weren’t supposed to move like that. “I am ninety-two years old and have been stuck in a room doing research ever since I sold my practice twenty years ago. When this game came out, it gave me a chance at finally forwarding my research legally, as well as allowing me to reclaim the body I had in my youth. I wasted it then, and I decided that I wouldn’t make the same mistake again. I feel terrible for this misunderstanding. Truly, I do.”
At that point, as Jess was gathering her wits to form a decent reply, Jaxon saw a system message he had never seen before.
Due to a special action and extreme effort, you have trained a characteristic point! Charisma +1!
“Why did that message have all that extra floof?” Jaxon was more startled by that fact than the actual gain. “Normally, it just says the stat and ‘plus whatever’. Ah, I see you are confused. I just gained twenty-five percent more charisma than I had before this moment.”
“You got a boost of a quarter?” Jess calmed down, trying to understand the issues at hand with logic instead of stabbing. “Wait. Jaxon, what is your raw score for charisma?”
“Five,” he responded instantly, obviously pleased by this upgrade. “I hadn’t gained more than a single point in the entirety of traveling with my usual companions, but I gained that in the first day of knowing you! There must be something special about you.”
Jess slunk back, his words touching on her nerves after this whole incident. “I see. No wonder people have such trouble around you. Now I’m not surprised that the Wolfmen liked you! I guess they have the same type of manners, so it makes sense.”
Jaxon opened his mouth to respond, snapping his jaw shut as a message appeared in his vision.
Night has arrived in the forest of trials. Doubling the number of predatory monsters in the zone. Good luck on your survival!
“I do not like the sound of that.” Jaxon continued looking around for a location they could defend. Nothing appeared, just like all the other times. It was almost as if this area were intentionally cleared of any beneficial structures, caves, or other such easy survival options. “Why don't we hunker down in the underbrush and see if we can’t get some sleep? Even if the number of monsters in the area is doubled, we still haven’t actually seen any.”
“Are you kidding right now, old man? We’re being stalked by at least four monsters! They are right on the edge of my visual range, and every time I stop paying attention to them, they dart toward us.”
“What? Where?” Jaxon flailed around in the deepening darkness, his uncontrolled hands cracking like whips as he made sharp turns and sudden changes to his speed. Not seeing anything, even though the creatures were watching him hungrily, Jaxon snorted and blew a raspberry. “Whippersnappers, making up stories to scare people! You’re the girl who cried Wolfman!”
Right then, Jess realized that she could escape him right now if she wanted to. There would be no witnesses, and the darkness impeding his already low perception would ensure that the Monk was claimed by the wildlife. This thought was instantly countered by another. She had also realized that this was the first time since she had started playing that she was having fun. Jaxon was strange, infuriating, and incredibly vexing… but he was also genuine, straightforward, and frankly hilarious now that she understood where he was coming from with his outdated humor. Old men were adorable.
“If I’m going to stay with him, I need to do it properly.” She winced as she opened the social tab in her status window and left the party that she was in. Without the option to track her, they should never be able to find them in the wilderness. “There goes getting into that guild. Maybe it’s for the best. I’d feel too bad about robbing someone’s Grandpa.”
“What are you mumbling about to yourself over there? Whatever, I’m going to take a nap. Stand watch, will you?” Jaxon started settling down onto the ground, and Jess’s eyes went wide as the darkness-cloaked beasts darted in.
“Jaxon, look out!” Jaxon hopped up from the ground, spinning in place like a blender and smacking away clawed hands to the sound of loud screeching. As the creatures got close to the Monk, they were easily identified as some form of monkey, possibly a variant of a howler monkey from the sound they began releasing as soon as their sneak attack failed.
Ah-whooo! The throaty howls shattered the still night air; the sound repeated in the distance and echoed through the forest. The cries were full of rage and excitement as the monkeys called their brethren, their message clear: a challenger had arrived… and it was dinner time.
Chapter Twelve
Unable to protect himself by having a tree situated behind him, Jaxon was taken to the ground as a monkey jumped silently at his back. Since he had been focused on the ones attacking from his front and Jess hadn’t been able to call out a warning, Jaxon was now on the ground being savagely torn into by various-sized animals. Jess was having her own troubles, being unarmed and under attack by the most agile of the monkeys. They were the only ones who could keep up with her movements, and none of them would have been able to land a blow on Jaxon if he were able to see where they were coming from before they landed on him.
Jaxon was losing health rapidly since his constitution was fairly low for a front-line fighter of his level, but he had finally been able to secure solid positioning for himself. He pushed himself to the side, knocking over several monkeys and escaping the claws of the others. Jaxon had torn skin that was flopping about as he moved, each motion releasing a spurt of blood. As he whirled around to dodge another leaping monkey, he struck out and buried his stiffened fingers into its yielding flesh.
“Yes! The bone is right there, as it should be!” Jaxon slammed his palms into the animal as it landed on the ground, as much to damage it as to feel out its joint structure. “The bones are elongated but otherwise similar enough to a human. I can begin the procedure.”
The needles in his gloves penetrated the joint deeply on his third attack, slicing open cartilage and severely reducing the monkey’s usage of that limb. Then he needed to move again as the others came to the rescue of the screaming simian. Jaxon bent his head backward as claws lashed out in an attempt to tear out his eyes. Using the momentum of dodging to his advantage, he grabbed and tossed the offender over him and into a tree. There was a crashing of wood, and the animal was reduced to a paste as a massive wooden limb smashed down repeatedly.
“I like that quite a lot!” Jaxon laughed as he shifted away from his typical strategy. Instead of working on each patient individually and giving them the proper care and assistance they needed, he worked to disable one and fend off the others until he could throw one at a tree. When the fourth monkey was destroyed by the environment, the other six retreated, screaming and howling. Once again, the sound was repeated by their fellow predators, much closer this time. “Jess, we need to leave! Jess?”
Jaxon looked around with deep disappointment. Ah well, if she hadn’t been able to survive until this point, perhaps it was for the best that she… Jess stepped out of the underbrush, breathing heavily. She had several shallow cuts on her, though nothing like Jaxon’s somewhat grievous wounds.
Experience gained: 100 (25 * Trial Primate x4)
Health: 312/400 Status
ailment: Bleeding (Heavy) -10 hp per minute until wound has been closed.
“You doing alright there, Jess?” Jaxon held a couple of the deepest gashes together, using one of his acupuncture needles to artificially staple the flaps of skin together. After he had done this to the worst offenders, he saw that his ailment had been reduced to ‘bleeding moderately heavy’ and he was now only losing seven health per minute. He pressed on his arms, and the bleeding slowed further as his acupressure shifted his blood flow.
“I’m fine, Jaxon.” Jess brushed a few leaves off her shirt and took a deep breath. “If we can’t sleep here, let’s log off and meet up again in the morning, alright? I don’t think it’d be smart to continue on in the dark.”
“Fair enough.” Jaxon opened his screen, tapping the logout button.
Warning! Logging off while in this area will return you to the most recent position outside of the trial area. This will count as a death. Are you sure you’d like to continue? Yes / No.
“It seems that is not a valid plan.” Jaxon looked over at Jess as the howling began to increase in pitch and volume. “I think that we should instead attempt to run for it. Can you lead the way without getting us in trouble?”
“No promises on the trouble, but I have a map and compass permanently set in my vision, so I can at least guide us.” Jess turned and started walking. Jaxon was glad to hear her words; he had planned to go a different direction entirely! It seemed that she was indeed a positive investment toward his future success. “There are monkeys following us, but they are staying back for now. I think they will only attack when enough of them arrive to cause us serious issues. When enough are killed, they back off. Now, I can’t ensure that is the truth, but it is what I have seen in combat to this point.”
“Ah, do you have plans to be a battlemaster or tactician?” Jaxon asked approvingly. “That was an excellent assessment of our current predicament and highlighted points I had not thought of. If you would like a recommendation to my guild when we leave here, I would be happy to do that for you.”
Jess looked back at him briefly, giving him the faintest of smiles. “Thanks, Jaxon, that might be nice. I doubt I would want into your guild, but what one is it?”
“The Wanderer’s Guild.” Jaxon’s words made Jess miss her footing and trip over an exposed root. Luckily, the tree did not seem to take offense to this, and no branches came whipping at them. “I too did not think there would be great benefit from joining but was pleasantly surprised at the swift increases in level and access to decent gear. I’d recommend thinking on it if you are interested at all.”
“You are in one of the Noble Guilds?” Jess went quiet for a moment, focusing on pushing through the underbrush and staying ahead of the other roving bands of monkeys that she was certain were out there. So far, the ones trailing them hadn’t made any threatening moves, but they would let out a deep bellow every once in a while to alert the others to their location. “I can honestly say that I’m glad I met you now. I’d love to get into that guild… if it is at all possible.”
“All I can do is make the request.” Jaxon shrugged expansively, an interesting sight on a man who was hopping over blackberry bushes. “We need to finish this first, though. My bleeding debuff has vanished, but I have lost a significant amount of health. What do you suggest we do from here?”
“We should keep moving until daylight and hope that we can lose our pursuers,” Jess stated frankly.
“Are you sure?” Jaxon looked at her, barely able to make out her outline in the darkness. “Alright, I guess! Stand and fight it is!”
“Wait, no, what?” She had already taken another dozen strides, but Jaxon’s sudden stop and whirl had also caught their followers off guard. He was already amongst their troop and had dislocated all four limbs of one of them and started in on the second. The first was wailing on the ground unable to do more than flop around in agony as his tormentor beat down the others.
Only four creatures had been following them; the others were too damaged or already dead. Jaxon reduced that number down to one with an extra twist, and it ran off into the forest howling. He would have given chase but decided that it was more important to finish off the others first.
Experience gained: 75 (25 * Trial Primate x3)
Looking at the elongated claws of the primates cooling on the ground, Jaxon had a sudden idea. He poked the wrist over and over, finally activating adjust and watching the monkey paw pop off the hairy arm. He picked it up, inspected it, then took another paw before handing them both to Jess.
Item gained: Trial Primate Paw (Trash). While not useful in a traditional sense, this paw can be used in lieu of small blades or slashing weapons. Adds +10 slashing damage on hit with a 20% chance to cause bleeding on a critical hit.
“What are these for?” Jess inspected the blood-dripping paws with disgust.
“Those are your new weapons!” Jaxon patted her on the arm, leaving behind a bloody handprint. She flinched away as the wet warmth registered. “You don’t have anything better, so we gotta make due. We should also get going before others find us.”
Jess gingerly held the makeshift weapons, trying to find a good way to use them without getting covered in gore. “I hate this so much.”
“Come on, Jess. We need to get moving.” Jaxon smiled at her disconcertingly. “Stop monkeying around.”
“I’ll cut you.”
Chapter Thirteen
“I don’t know how mush longer I can go on, ‘axon.” Jess’s words were slurring, and she was swaying on her feet. “I’m… I’m so tired. And thirsty. An’ I could really go for a nap.”
“We’ve only been awake for two days straight and moving the entire time with very little food or drink. We’ve got this.” Jaxon tried to smile winningly, but at that moment, he received another debuff and his smile came out as a horrific sneer toward his partner.
Debuff: Sleep Deprivation (Rank three). Your constitution is not high enough to sustain the lack of sleep you have been accruing. Current impact: -15% all raw characteristics, rounded down to the nearest whole. -20% Skill experience gained. +20% Experience gained.
“Did you know that we gain extra experience right now? That’s exciting, isn’t it?” Jaxon prodded Jess to get her moving again, the short stop causing her head to droop—almost sending her into an unconscious state. “Since I’m already a Master of the things I really care about, I’m fine with the skill point loss. Too bad about the loss of stats, though. That puts my dexterity all the way down to eighty-five. I won’t be able to escape the primates when it gets dark again.” Jaxon was half-carrying the Scout as she stumbled forward. She was hardly moving of her own volition, the loss to her stats dropping her endurance—and therefore stamina—to untenable levels.
Jaxon was barely able to keep going on his own, and Jess was slipping further and further toward the ground. The monkeys were on their tail again; they must have come across a blood trail. Hooting and screeching were resounding through the woods, and Jaxon wasn’t sure if they were going to make it. He blinked away tears, not from sadness but from the sudden and intense sunshine that flooded over him. Looking around, he blinked away the pain and tried to understand what he was seeing.
A white structure stood on top of a hill almost large enough to be called a mountain. The building itself appeared to be a temple of some sort, and Jaxon realized that they had found their destination! All they needed to do now was survive long enough to reach it. “Jess! Jess, we are here! You need to wake up. There’s a steep incline here. I can’t carry you up!”
Jess mumbled something incoherently, continuing to slide down. When she was almost to her knees, Jaxon heard her speak clearly, “You should go on without me or find a way to force me to wake up. Otherwise, I’m going to stay here.”
“I hope you are sure about this.” Jaxon pulled out an extra-long acupuncture needle. “The process of waking someone up is not approved, and if I were to do this in a coma ward, I would be put in jail. It is
going to hurt.”
Jess was somehow breathing deeply and regularly even as she responded, “Go for it, Jaxon! It’s the only way.”
“I agree. Let’s begin.” Jaxon stood behind her, holding her head steady with his left hand as the long needle in his right came closer to her neck. “I am about to insert this needle into your brachial plexus, so make sure not to move until it is out. I have no plans to cause you permanent injury, and I’m not sure what all the world here will fix without outside intervention.”
The needle jabbed deeply into Jess’s muscle, stimulating her nerves and sending intense and shooting pain through her. Jaxon had already removed the needle by the time she was able to consciously react, so as she shot upright and whirled to face him, all she saw was the man staring at her with an excited expression and a too-wide, snarling smile. His next words confused her further, especially since his lips were twisting in ways that didn’t seem to make the words that he was saying. “Did that hurt? Good! Maybe now you will be able to move yourself, and I won’t need to do all the work!”
“Jaxon!” Jess teared up, the stress of no sleep and his cold words sending her mood spinning. “Why are you being so cruel?”
Jaxon looked at her with a vicious sneer. “Cruel? I’m not being cruel. You are just sleep deprived and not listening to me correctly! I’m trying to be realistic. I can’t get you up that!”
For the first time, Jess looked at their location and realized that something else was going on. They were at the temple! Well, almost. She nodded at him tiredly, the pain in her neck and shoulder beginning to fade rapidly as the muscles stopped spasming. “I understand that you had to make me wake up, but promise me you won’t do something like that again!”
“No can do.” Jaxon shook his head as he began carefully climbing the steep hill. He had to be on all fours in order to not fall, but he seemed to be in his element. Jaxon rapidly began moving up toward the temple, calling down behind him, “What if another situation arises like this? Where a little pain saves you from being torn apart? Can’t promise that I won’t save you! Also, there are animals coming. You should probably get moving!”