by Logan Jacobs
The suffocating echoes and closeness of the walls disappeared as I stepped across the threshold of the catacombs. The air was crisp and clear, and the birds singing around me was like music to my ears after only hearing my own breathing for the past few hours. There were evergreens all around me, but in a spot where they were sparse, I could see a plains far below where I stood stretching to the horizon.
I took a few steps away from the entrance to the catacombs and turned around. A sheer cliff towered over me, and just beyond its top edge, I could see rocky terrain and a few sparse patches of more fir trees.
The Great Catacombs rested within the side of a mountain. That made sense.
The sun was just about at its peak in the sky. There were trees and rocks everywhere, and the entrance to the catacombs was a gaping hole in the side of the cliff. The valley below had a faint line cutting through the grass, and I figured it was a dirt road that led to the settlement I was banking on. Since none of the minions had any supplies on them, it couldn’t be more than a day’s walk down the mountain.
Time to get moving.
A town was the answer to all of my current problems. I could get food, supplies, and a proper bed to sleep in, and I almost moaned at the idea. It felt like I had been awake for months and anything was better than waking up on that cold stone slab again. Someone in the town might even know of a way for me to get back home.
Back home to the call center.
Did I really want to go back? There, I was just some guy sitting behind a desk five days a week making someone else money while I tried to squeeze as much fun as I could out of my life on the weekends. Here, I was a god, the God of Time, or so said the wall. I had the ability to save my place and reload as many times as I wanted to, and I could relive all the best moments over and over again. I would be so much happier in this world than in my own.
But that wasn’t a decision I had to make at the moment since I didn’t know if I could even get back to my own world. There was no use worrying about something that wasn’t currently possible, and when I came across that bridge I would either cross it or burn it.
Simple as that.
The immediate terrain around the catacombs was relatively flat with only a few large rocks giving it some texture. There was a faint path in the grass leading to the entrance and, after following it for a few feet, I found that it ran right alongside the cliff away from the catacombs. It was only wide enough for one person to cross at a time, and the sheer drop made me keep a hand on the cliff as I walked. As much as I knew that dying wasn’t permanent for me, I really didn’t want to Wile E Coyote my way down the mountain and arrive at the town covered in bruises.
The path forked just beyond the cliff with the left heading further up the mountain. I followed the right path, and it quickly became narrow as the trees closed in around me. Ferns and overgrown plants laid across the path in many places, and some had even been cut or bent recently, so I guessed that the sorcerer and his lackeys were probably the first people to have walked this path in a long time. The cuts made my traveling a little bit easier, but I still had to watch my step.
When the path veered suddenly to the left, I was too busy looking down at the valley between the trees to notice. The ground slipped away beneath me, and I started sliding down a steep hill. There were no roots or trees to grab on to and stop my rapid descent. All I could do was shift my weight to try to steer myself out of the way of obstacles. I hit a rock that sent me spinning sideways, and my descent was stopped by a large boulder. I smashed into it face-first, and everything went dark.
Chime.
So much for being invincible.
My respawn had taken me all the way back to when I had forced the save on the dais. My ability didn’t have an automatic feature that would save my spot for me when I reached certain goals.
It was a good lesson to learn. I just paid too high a price for it.
My heart still pounded wildly in my chest even though I wasn’t in any sort of permanent danger. I was gonna have to get used to that. Several minutes passed before I had calmed enough to rise to my feet, and then I grabbed my sword and headed back through the tunnel toward the exit.
Between respawning after my deaths and from my exploration, I would be happy if I never saw that place again. I was really looking forward to a long sleep in a soft bed, and I still had to slog my way down the mountain. And that was assuming there was even a town waiting for me at the bottom.
A new sense of haste filled me at the thought. If there was no town, I would have to figure out a way to camp out for the night. All of my survival skills came from video games, and they wouldn’t translate very well in the real world. I couldn’t just touch a pile of sticks and light a fire, I would have to actually rub the sticks together for a while to get it going, if that was even possible. I had to find that sweet spot of getting as far down the mountain as quickly as possible without falling to my death and having to do it all over again.
How many reboots was it gonna take me?
This time, I created a new savepoint at the entrance to the catacombs as soon as I stepped out into the nice clear air. There wasn’t anything around me more intimidating than a big fat squirrel, so I didn’t feel any danger in using it as my fall-back point. I searched around the front of the catacombs for a different path than the one by the cliff, but there was only a sheer drop into the trees, so I went back to the original path I took and started to hike back down.
I was ready for the path to make its veering turn, but I couldn’t help looking over the edge where I had fallen to my earlier death. It really was a crazy descent, and I was lucky to have only smashed my head in the end. A quick death seemed better than being maimed or impaired to the point where I couldn’t focus on the respawn point.
After about five minutes of hiking from my previous death, I came across a little brook trickling out of the crack in the cliff, and I couldn’t help but lick my lips.
“There is nothing like the sound of running water to remind a guy of how thirsty he is,” I muttered as I looked at the stream.
The few survival games I had played always required me to collect rainwater to have enough to drink, but ARK: Survival Evolved didn’t have any parasites or bacteria in the water. Rocks acted like a kind of filter, if I remembered right, so it couldn’t be too dangerous to take a few sips, could it?
I scooped the cold liquid into my hands and had brought it up to my lips before I paused. Just because I couldn’t actually die didn’t mean I should sit around making really stupid mistakes. I let the water slip between my fingers with a sigh, and I focused on the little brook for a new savepoint. I really had nothing to lose by saving here. It wasn’t that far from the catacombs, and it would be a good spot to make a temporary camp if there wasn’t actually a town at the foot of the mountain. It wasn’t much past midday yet, but the more time I had to create a shelter or a fire, the more time I had to perfect the skill and do it faster the second time around.
After the savepoint was made, I drank until my stomach sloshed around when I moved. There was no way for me to carry any water with me, so I just splashed some of the water onto my face and down the back of my neck to cool off. The trees had kept me in the shade most of the time, but the weather was warmer than back home. It was probably early or late summer, and it was at the time of day when the heat was unbearable.
I decided to stop and take a bit of a rest beside the brook. I was not an overly athletic guy, and hiking was not a hobby of mine, although I didn’t mind taking a walk around the neighborhood or through the park after dinner sometimes. And I had never held a sword in my hand until today. My arms were sore from swinging the daggers and blocking and parrying and body-checking all those guys. I would have curled up and taken a nap if I wasn’t worried about some wild creature sneaking up on me while I slept.
When my breathing had finally returned to normal after my trek, I continued down the path. Every now and again I caught glimpses of wildlife besides squi
rrels and birds. Rabbits munched on greens a stone’s throw away from the path, and they scampered off when I got too close. I could hear the snuffling of some kind of wild boar, but I never actually saw the animal. If it was a male with big tusks, it was no loss there, and even a female with piglets could be pretty aggressive. There was a constant battering of a woodpecker, and I finally spotted him about ten minutes past the brook. A pair of does were in a small clearing just off the path to my right. They stared at me as they chewed their grass and walked away as casual as could be. I must not have been very intimidating in my bloodstained white button-up shirt and business slacks.
The journey down the mountain had been full of sudden drops, the twisting path, and more annoying insects that I ever wanted to deal with. It wasn’t like I had a can of bug spray in my pocket. The path was wider here, and I could see much further ahead. It curved gently to the right, and from the intensity of sunlight there, I assumed it opened up into the valley. When the ground started to even out, I could have jumped with joy.
I was about to put on a burst of speed when movement in the trees caught my eye. I immediately stepped off the path and ducked behind a thick tree.
The birds had stopped singing to one another, and some kind of grouse came tearing ass up the path past me. Whatever was in the trees up ahead was not even trying to stay quiet. It crashed through the foliage and kept making a strange yipping sort of sound. I would have thought it was a small dog if it didn’t sound so massive.
I poked my head out from behind my tree and caught a glimpse of the new threat. I blinked a few times and even rubbed my eyes because there was no way what I was seeing was actually real. Sure, I was in a world with a guy who claimed to be a sorcerer, but so far everything had been very normal.
What was coming through the trees was a creature that looked like the cross between a dog and a lizard, and thanks to hours of my life spent playing fantasy games, I immediately recognized it as a creature called a kobold. It stood on two legs and was probably about six inches shorter than I was. More of them started stomping through the undergrowth until an entire horde was making its way through the forest. Their scales caught the sunlight that filtered through the leaves. Most of them were earthy colors like shades of brown, green, and gray. There were a few dark blue scales mixed in, and one of the larger kobolds was dull orange.
I guessed that the five-feet tall little lizard men had a better sense of smell than me, but they were focused on something down the slope of the mountain in the direction they were marching. I counted at least twenty as they crashed onto the path and continued out of the forest, but I may have counted a few more than once.
I waited until the horde had disappeared down the path before I followed them. I walked on the balls of my feet and avoided anything that might have made noise if I stepped on it. I had no idea what they might have been so interested in, but as long as I kept out of sight, I could probably follow them and find out.
Kobolds were one of the easiest creatures to defeat in video games, since they were usually the lowest tier monster. These dudes didn’t look too impressive, but they carried shortswords and daggers and crossbows that could have some nasty-looking bolts. If the group was just four or five, I wouldn’t have a problem taking them on here and now, but twenty kobolds was going to be a challenge, especially since I still hadn’t figured out how magic actually worked in this world. An area-of-effect spell would have made short work of any group of enemies.
The horde was far enough away that they wouldn’t have heard me unless I shouted, but I was close enough to still hear their yipping. The cries became louder, and I thought they might have turned around and spotted me. But when I finally stepped out into the open of the valley, I saw that they were getting further away and they were yipping with excitement.
The town I was hoping for was a little over a mile in the distance. And the kobolds were headed straight for it.
Chapter 3
I stood frozen to the spot and considered my options. I wanted to avoid danger, but the chances of there being another town in the opposite direction that I could reach by nightfall were pretty much zero.
I wasn’t afraid to camp out in the wilderness, especially with my new powers, but it still would have been nice to have a tent and some pots and pans to cook with. I’d have to get into town to get those, but since that meant going through the kobolds anyway to get into this town, I might as well stay at the inn that I guessed was there.
No matter what, it seemed like I was going to have to murder this small army of little reptile-dudes.
And probably die a whole bunch of times trying.
“Fuck me,” I groaned as I headed after the horde.
I had already taken several steps along the curving track after the kobolds when I remembered my last save point. It wasn’t too far up the mountain, but I would run the risk of getting caught by the main horde if I had to start over again. Where I was now I had the element of surprise, and I needed to use every advantage I could get my hands on.
The tingling in my fingers felt like courage creeping into every nerve, and I took a long breath as I counted their numbers again.
I could do this.
The kobolds were screaming like a bunch of sleep deprived toddlers, so I didn’t have much of a problem stepping right behind them as they broke clear of the forest and began to sprint across the mile or so of open farmlands toward the walls of the village.
The farmland between the forest and the village was made of a short golden wheat that came up to my waist. It would have been great camouflage for these kobolds if they had the intelligence to bend over and try to sneak, but these dumbasses were still screaming and raising their shitty swords, spears, and crossbows into the air as they sprinted forward, so I had no doubt that the guards at the distant city wall would totally know they were coming.
I trotted behind the horde as I tried to figure out my best method of attack. The majority at the back looked like crossbow-wielders, and if I could take them down before they could fire at me, I would at least be able to avoid becoming a human pincushion.
The tolling of a bell filled the air and drowned out the kobold’s yipping. The town must have finally realized they were in danger.
Two of the kobolds, a gray-scaled kobold and a brown-scaled one, had shorter legs than the rest and were lagging way behind the rest of the running horde. The brown one was closer, so I closed in and drove my dagger through its spine.
Its excited yipping quickly turned to a pained yelp, and as the gray one turned my way, I drew my sword.
I silenced any snarls with a slash to its throat. I noticed that its blood was a sickly greenish color, though it still had the same metallic scent as my own blood.
It gurgled for a moment before falling dead at my feet.
The pained sound of the first had drawn the attention of the rest of the horde. By the time I had taken care of the second kobold, I was staring into the eyes of a bunch of angry lizard-dog monsters.
And the ones closest to me already had their crossbows on me.
“Human pincushion,” I sighed a second before the triggers were pilled.
I crossed my arms in front of my face to protect myself from the bolts.
Chime.
I was back within the trees at my newest savepoint. Without even thinking, I must have summoned my power to prevent a particularly brutal death. Why hadn’t I done that before when I plummeted down the mountain? Maybe it was turning into a gut reaction, and the more I preemptively respawned, the easier it would become.
I realized I’d been standing around thinking for a few minutes, so I shook my head to clear my brain. I had to take out the horde before it could reach the town and fucked their shit up, so I stepped out of the trees once more and paused to listen. The only sound in the air was the excited yipping of the kobolds.
They hadn’t reached the town yet.
I tore ass out of the trees and aimed straight for the rear formation of kobo
lds. This time, I needed to take out all of their archers, and not just the two. If I could get my hands on one of the crossbows and a quiver, that would be a bonus. Anything to keep the bastards from turning me into a pincushion or just mauling me with their claws.
I drew my blades as I closed in on the horde, and I didn’t even check my speed when I reached the back line. As I shot past the brown and gray kobolds, I swung my blades out and sliced each across the arm. The two shrieked in pain, and I slammed into a blue-scaled crossbow kobold. We tumbled to the ground in a whirl of limbs, and its scales scraped against my cheek and left it raw, like some kind of super tough sandpaper. That explained the lack of shields and armor. Why would they need to lug that kind of stuff around when their scales were as tough as leather and as sharp as nails?
The archer I had tackled landed on top of me in the tumble, and he kicked the sword from my hand as it dug its claws into me.
I winced but retaliated by shoving my curved dagger into the kobold’s soft belly, and my blade sprayed greenish blood all over the place. As the blue kobold squealed in pain, I grabbed the crossbow slung around its back and shot a bolt at the gray kobold I had already slashed. My aim wasn’t perfect, but I got the beast in the injured arm, and it yelped as it staggered back.
Okay. I was doing pretty damn good for my second attempt.
I saw three kobolds running at me, so I hooked my forearm around the neck of the blue-dude on top of me. Then I curled my legs inward, pressed the bottoms of my feet against his chest, and then threw my arm away as I kicked out with all my strength. The kobold flew up away from me as if he’d been smacked by a mule’s hoof, and he collided with the other three lizard-men like a thrown bowling ball. They all screamed as they went down, and I jumped up to my feet with a wide smile on my face.
I lunged for the gray one I had shot earlier and silenced its pained whimpers with my dagger across its throat. Then I grabbed its dropped crossbow and shot at the next archer in the group, a green-scaled motherfucker that had turned around from the front of the crossbow line.