Arrival

by William Dickey

  The woman sitting in his lap was quite the opposite. Her skin was so pale she looked like she hadn’t received more than a moment of sunshine her entire life. She was probably only in her early twenties, but thickly applied makeup made her look older. She had bleach blond hair tied back into an elaborate braid that ran halfway down a baby blue dress inscribed with geometric symbols similar to Abbey’s staff.

  “This is Warren, a hunter; he’s an expert at tracking and archery. And this lovely lady is Faye, she’s a mage specializing in ice magic,” said Klein.

  I greeted them both and then sat down as Rowley brought me a plate.

  I was still a bit troubled about how a team would work. In the forest and even before, I was a loner. It was how I liked it. Going solo you didn’t have to listen to other people’s problems or keep track of their needs. You didn’t need to worry about censoring yourself in fear of people’s judgments. It was just easier to do things alone. However, this world was different from the one I left. It was rougher, crueler, and I knew I could benefit from the security of a group.

  And, just maybe, my preference for solitude had been a delusion. A convenient lie I had told myself to protect me from the truth. I had never been given the choice but to be alone. It was a new world, a fresh start. Now I had the choice. Why not try something different.

  “I see you followed my advice and got some actual equipment,” said Klein noting the sturdy leather boots and chest plate I was now sporting.

  “Yeah, it went okay,” I said. “You could have warned me about the blacksmith though.”

  “You disturbed him?” asked Abbey.

  “Only a little, but his reaction was way over the top,” I said.

  “He does that,” Abbey agreed. “I was lucky I only needed a utility knife. The magic equipment is in the artificer shop.”

  “Awe, Kanis isn’t that bad,” said Klein. “He just has great pride in his work and wants to make sure his customers appreciate it. Next time you visit, you’ll see. He’s an old softie at heart. You just can’t go bothering him while he’s in the middle of something.”

  “We’ll see about that,” I acknowledged as I downed the last of my bacon. “Are we all set to go?”

  “I already told Warren and Faye about your class quest and they’ve agreed to help out. So whenever you’re ready,” said Klein.

  Klein has invited you to join his party.

  Accept/Reject?

  “Accept,” I said.

  After a loud ping, four new sets of health bars appeared beneath mine. Each was labelled with one of my new companion’s names and would allow me to track their status during combat.

  “Even though we’re a party, there isn’t a way to turn off friendly-fire so be careful your attacks don’t accidentally hit us,” said Warren.

  “Any idea how to find these bosses?” Klein asked.

  “Like yeah,” Faye agreed. “Like, a lot of people have already gone hunting in the forest and they, like, never reported any boss monsters. Like, hate to be a bitch but I’m not going to, like, randomly walk around the forest for, like, weeks.”

  “Don’t worry, I have an idea,” I said.

  “You know where we can find them?” Warren asked.

  “No, but they can find us. The boss bunny attacked me after I killed a ton of bunnies,” I said.

  “So…” said Klein.

  “So we target the animal whose boss we seek,” said Warren.

  “Yes,” I agreed. “We just need to decide which animal we should start with? There are rats, fish…” I started to list off all the remaining crests, but the moment I got to deer, it was decided.

  “Deer,” Klein insisted. Like I had held with the rabbits, Klein retained a grudge from the Bambi incident.

  “Ok, let’s go after deer,” I agreed.

  Our preparations complete, we set off into the forest. Warren’s tracking skills were impressive and within ten minutes, he found some fresh tracks, which led us straight to a small herd of deer. During battle, as the only ones with melee weapons, Klein and I drew most of the deer’s aggression, making room for Warren and Faye to fire off projectiles unimpeded.

  Warren’s archery skills were as impressive as his tracking skills. He effortlessly loosed precision arrows into deer legs, slowing them down long enough for Klein and me to finish them off.

  Faye’s ice magic also came in handy, forming walls and other barriers to help corral enemies while Abbey’s holy magic kept everyone in good condition. Most of Abbey’s attention was focused on Klein and me since we were taking the brunt of the hits but she could do more than just heal, she also cast a number of stamina and mana recovery buffs on Warren and Faye, allowing them to maintain a high level of activity.

  In this manner, we quickly piled up the kills. With Warren’s tracking, there was never much down time between pursuits and when there was, I could always revel in the ongoing drama of group dynamics. Klein was a giant kid at heart and the girls had plenty of buttons that he couldn’t help but press.

  The system divided the experience equally, so each deer was worth a pitiful amount of experience, but the huge numbers we defeated more than made up for it and in the first two days I acquired three whole levels and a new spear technique.

  †Stand My Ground†

  A strong defensive stance that doubles your defense stat so long as you remain still.

  Cost: 3 Stamina/Sec

  It wasn’t until the end of that second day hunting that we confirmed actual progress. We had just added two more to our deer count making a total of 147 and I had nearly given up hope that the quest was still working. After all, I had killed far fewer rabbits, around fifty, before the bunny boss appeared.

  Then, like before, I heard it. Or rather, it was what I didn’t hear. The forest went silent. The rustle of leaves, the chirping of birds, the gentle whoosh of the wind, all normal background noises found throughout nature went missing. Most frightening of all, I couldn’t even be sure how long they had been gone.

  It’s strange isn’t it, that the arrival of a noise is immediately identified, but when a normal one fades away it can do so invisibly. Panic struck me and I quickly turned around to observe all of my surroundings.

  Then I saw it. Barely visible between the tightly packed trees and the glare of the setting sun stood the proud silhouette of a stag. From this distance, I couldn’t tell how large it was, but I knew it was the boss. Like the bunny boss, the deer’s form was abnormal. Its antlers were easily three or four times bigger than normal, with dozens of forks and branches reaching out like the limbs of a tree.

  I looked to my companions. From their faces, I knew they saw it as well. Klein signaled for us to all take our places. For him, that meant taking a few nervous steps toward the super stag. For me, it meant separating from the group and trying to circle around its back.

  I didn’t get more than a few steps before the stag charged. Its speed was horrendous, and within ten seconds, it cut the distance between us in half. Klein, stalwart as ever, countered with a charge of his own and with a mighty swing of his axe managed to score a deep red gash across its nose. The wound was heavy, but to a deer that large it was nothing and the beast shrugged it off and plowed straight through him, sending him back flying over my head.

  Faye summoned an ice wall large enough to shield both her and Warren but it couldn’t help Abbey or me twenty feet away. The super stag came at us, head lowered so that rows of points were level with our torsos. Somehow, in those precious seconds we both managed to dive low enough to go under the wide antlers while maintaining enough lateral movement to avoid being trampled.

  The stag turned around for a second pass. Faye and Warren pelted it with storms of ice and steel to try to buy enough time for Klein to recover, but it wasn’t going to happen and I had to step in. I wouldn’t have if there was another choice, but there wasn’t. Abbey, Faye, and Warren weren’t properly outfitted to take many hits and if they died, it wouldn’t be long before I followed. />
  “Hey, Rudolf,” I shouted, drawing the stag’s attention as I tried to put some distance between myself from my teammates. “I ate all your friends. Stag stew, doe ribs, hmmmm fawn burgers, they were all so delicious.” I pulled out a roasted deer leg from my inventory and took a hearty bite.

  The stag immediately gave up on my companions and began to focus only on me. Again, it charged.

  “Stand My Ground!” I activated my newest technique and prayed it would be enough to take the charge head on. The deer kept its head down, trying again to skewer me on its antlers. I defended by laying out my spear horizontally and hooking it on a pair of the antler’s forks.

  “Hurry,” I shouted back to my stunned compatriots. “I can’t hold him for long.”

  Abbey focused all her magic on me, casting a dozen healing spells and defensive buffs, but despite her best efforts, my health was still slowly draining away and the stag’s massive pressure forced me to my knees. I had little choice but to stand my ground now. Any intentional movement on my part would cancel the defensive boost I received from the skill and kill me. As my health dipped below the halfway mark, Klein finally returned to the fray.

  “Executioner’s Strike,” he shouted, activating his own axe skill as he launched a deeply penetrating axe swing straight into the stag’s neck. The axe strike was severe, dark red globules of blood gushed from all along the axe head, spraying Klein head to toe, but regardless of how serious the injury and how large of a threat Klein posed, the super stag refused to let up on me.

  Bang. Bang. I winced with each of the stag’s blows as the pain of multiple fatal wounds ravaged my psyche. Without Abbey’s healing skills, I would have died long ago and although they’d kept me alive, they did little for the pain.

  Klein saw my strained situation and hurried to help. With great effort, he dislodged his deeply imbedded axe and struck the same spot on the deer’s neck, driving it a bit deeper than before. He repeated these actions, over and over.

  You gained 1265 EXP

  You gained a level

  It took a dozen blows but eventually the deer boss’ strength gave out. It collapsed in a lake of its own blood. I too collapsed, but in relief rather than death. My health stood at only 10% and my stamina was so low my defensive buffs would have given out if the battle had continued a few seconds longer.

  The rest of the team looked equally relieved. Abbey pulled out a potion bottle to help restore her depleted mana. Faye used a water bottle to scrub away at a small red spot where a far-flung droplet of deer blood had stained her clothes.

  “D’you see that. Mmmmrroooaaarr!” Klein whooped while doing a little dance.

  “Get away from me, that’s like totally disgusting,” Faye huffed. Klein, still covered in blood, slowly shuffled towards her.

  “Enjoy the win,” said Klein as his rapidly tapping feet splashed blood from atop the insufficiently aerated soil, spreading it all over.

  Fortunately, before Faye could take things up a notch, the stag and its blood began to dissolve. Klein was wiped clean and the stain on Faye’s dress disappeared. Like before, the body turned into a pile of dust that eventually coalesced into another sphere.

  I went for the crest but Warren grabbed it before I got there.

  “So this is one of those crests you were talking about,” he said, looking over the deer shaped symbol engraved on it.

  “Yeah,” I said reaching for it. “Could I have it?”

  “Umm,” Warren muttered distractedly staring into the empty air just the left of my head for a moment before returning his attention to me. “Yeah, sure here.”

  I took the sphere and placed it in my inventory, thinking it would be safest there. ‘Two down, six to go.’

  Chapter 5: Hubris

  The next week went by in a hurry. I made far more progress in a team than I’d ever done alone. In that brief period, we defeated three more bosses and only the wolf, boar, and fish crests remained. Each day we went hunting for a specific creature and each day I saw a bit more progress on the quest. Whatever reservations I’d held about working in a group were gone.

  Naturally, I also gained a half dozen levels but I didn’t apply most of the stat points I earned right away. Once applied, stat points couldn’t be changed and I still didn’t have any details on a Bane of Creation. Was it a type of mage, or warrior, or something else entirely? The few points I did apply I placed in intelligence. According to the others, intelligence increased the rate at which all skills leveled, so regardless of my class, some added intelligence would be beneficial.

  Most of the time, we spent the evening in the Epochal Inn, the dulcet tones of a traveling bard in the dining room being the primary source of entertainment available. However, this particular night was different. It was the town’s annual fall festival and contrary to most nights, the town remained lively well into the evening. Colorful lanterns in all sorts of shapes and sizes lined the streets as half the town moved from one booth to the next, indulging in games and goodies. For the townspeople, the festival was a last chance to enjoy a diversity of products from far off cities before the winter snows isolated them for half a year. For merchants it was a last chance to peddle their wares. In the morning they’d pack up what was left and along with a shipment of iron and copper ore, Mill Valley’s primary exports, begin the long trek over the mountains back to one of the main trading hubs. The capital, Castlemere, was a bit far so most likely they’d head towards Crystalpeak or Eastden.

  On the other hand, for me the festival meant that my time to complete the quest was running out. The snow could be coming any day and none of us could afford being stuck on this side. I spoke with the others ahead of time and we decided to spend two more days here, hopefully taking out one more boss, before we set off for the capital. Once across we could resume the quest at our leisure and complete it either in route to the capital or after we were settled. It wasn’t as if wolves or boars were unique to this area.

  In the meantime, we enjoyed the ongoing festivities and walked around to see the various booths that had been set up. We tasted all the special foods offered by the different stalls. Klein seemed to favor the meat paste filled donuts, of which he had at least six. While I have to admit it was significantly better than it sounds, I found the texture of the meat paste to be too gelatinous.

  We tried competing with each other in a few carnival games, but it wasn’t a fair matchup. Warren’s hunter skills allowed him to track moving targets in the dart game and his high dexterity, a prerequisite for wielding a bow, made the ring toss a breeze.

  As the night deepened and the festival wound down, we headed up to the inn for a nightcap.

  “Hey, Rowlay,” Klein yelled. “Brin me nother roun of that si-si-sinth ale.”

  “Here’s the absinth,” said Rowley as he returned with Klein’s drink and set it on the counter.

  “You should take it easy on the booze,” Abbey warned. “I can’t cure hangovers.”

  “Come on wer celebatin. When da nes time we get to try some of deeze,” Klein argued, leaning heavily on the bar counter to steady himself after nearly tumbling off his stool.

  “That’s it. I’m not going to let you do this to yourself,” said Abbey as she snatched up the glass and started playing keep away. She tried to pass the glass to me but I didn’t want any part of it. Faye and Warren also stayed clear of the matter but that was because they were in the back corner, tongue wrestling.

  In response to losing one drink to Abbey’s mitts, Klein simply ordered another and when that one went the same way as the first he ordered a third. It wasn’t long before Abbey had half a dozen mugs full of beer balancing precariously in her arms.

  Klein had Rowley deliver one more glass and this time he wouldn’t be denied. There was no way Abbey could hold anymore.

  “No don’t,” said Abbey, taking one last stab at reasoning with him before Klein gulped it down. “If you drink too much you won’t be able to fight. Don’t you want to fight?”
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br />   Klein mulled over Abbey’s words for a few seconds then, surprisingly, he set the beer back down.

  “That great idea,” he said, snapping up. “Les do it. Les do it righ now.”

  “Do what?” Abbey asked.

  “What you mean? You’re one who say it, I jus agree,” said Klein.

  “No I didn’t. What do you mean?” said Abbey.

  “Les go figh some besties,” Klein explained.

  “No,” said Abbey, horrified by what Klein was thinking. “I meant that you should stop drinking otherwise it will impair your ability to fight in the morning. I didn’t mean that we should fight now. It’s too dark outside.”

  “So,” said Klein. “Is okay, I bring da fire.”

  “No that’s not-.” Abbey tried.

  “I go tell others.” Klein got up and gamboled towards Warren and Faye. On the way, he accidently bumped Abbey, causing her to spill the numerous glasses of beer she’d been juggling.

  “Isaac, you have to stop this ridiculousness,” she told me. “We can’t go out at this hour.”

  “Why not?” I asked. “Our whole time together we haven’t seen a single wolf since they only seem to come out at night. We are going to have to go out at night eventually. In fact tonight is better than most since we’ll have the light of the full moon to guide us.”

  I don’t know whether it was because, after the success of the past week, my confidence was at an all-time high, but much to my later regret, Klein had my support on this endeavor and after he convinced Faye and Warren, we all headed out.

  ‘Damn it’s cold.’ I regretted our nighttime excursion by the time we left sight of town. After a week of warmth, I’d forgotten how cold it got in the evenings. Unfortunately, the cold caused more than discomfort. It wasn’t long before I received another message.