Pangea Online 3: Vials and Tribulations

by S. L. Rowland

  Hundreds of portals surround us as we zoom toward Triassic World. The Mortican Mountains, Steamworld, The Haunted Forest, and hundreds of others are now open to Dean and the other teenagers.

  Welcome to Triassic World. This is a non-magical and non-technological world. All levels and abilities have been reset while entering this world.

  The portal empties us into a dense jungle. The stone structure that houses the portal is the only thing that shows we aren’t actually millions of years in the past.

  Giant ferns as tall as trees with drooping leaves the size of my body cast shade on where we are standing. Brightly-colored birds chirp, and dozens of lizard creatures the size of cats scurry across the jungle floor. One turns and hisses at us before darting into the underbrush.

  Fenrir sniffs at the air. Next to him, Dean grimaces as he holds his hand over his stomach.

  “Upset stomach?” I ask. “It happens to everyone the first time they use a portal wearing a haptic suit.”

  Dean stands up straight, looking around. “This is amazing. It was cool in my old headset, but this is better than I imagined. I can smell the hot air.” He reaches out and touches a dangling branch. “I can feel the weight of this against my palm.”

  I pat him on the shoulder. “One of the perks of a top-of-the-line suit. Just don’t fall into a pile of dinosaur poop. So what is this world? Do you go on quests or what?”

  He grins at me. “Not quite. You explore and you survive. You can unlock trophies for certain achievements. It’s all based around the Triassic period, where dinosaurs first evolved. This is also when Pangea the supercontinent existed.”

  “So this is where Pangea Online got its inspiration?” We’ve come a long way since the age of dinosaurs.

  Dean nods. “One giant world. No barriers. Survival of the fittest.”

  “How do you know all this?” I always knew about Pangea, that it was the basis for Pangea Online, but I never dug too deep into it.

  Dean blushes. “I’m a bit of a history nerd. Dinosaurs always fascinated me.”

  As soon as he finishes the sentence, a giant red three flashes across my vision, then a two, then a one. I guess it’s game on.

  There’s a rustling of movement behind us, and Dean steps behind me. I equip my elvish spear just as a skinny dinosaur with a long neck and even longer tail emerges. The dinosaur is as big as Fenrir, but not nearly as muscular. Its tan scales are speckled with brown dots, and a hawk-like face with dozens of sharp teeth stares at us as its long, whip-like tail swishes back and forth. It leans back and roars in our direction. Next to me, Fenrir growls, showing his teeth. The dinosaur stays at bay for the moment as I keep my spear extended. I focus on its stats.

  Coelophysis. Length: 3 meters. Weight: 27kg. One of the first true dinosaurs of the Triassic Era, the coelophysis feeds on smaller reptiles and amphibians. Its sharp curved claws allow it to slash, making it capable of taking down larger opponents when necessary.

  The bushes rattle again and two more surround us. I jab my spear in their direction, keeping a safe distance between us. They look at us with interest but don’t attack.

  “What’s the plan, kid?” I ask.

  “I don’t know. This didn’t happen last time.”

  One of the dinosaurs snaps at us, and I jab my spear again. “Do you have a weapon?”

  “Nope.”

  Alright, it looks like this is up to me and Fenrir then. None of my abilities will work in this world, so I’ll have to fight using only my skill. I try to calculate which dinosaur to attack first when a deafening roar echoes over my shoulder.

  The trees shake violently and the earth trembles as the roar grows louder. The coelophyses turn and run, and I pull Dean behind a tree just as a massive dinosaur steps into range. Its dark green scales blend into the landscape, making it nearly invisible from a distance. Branches snap as it barrels through in pursuit of the smaller prey.

  I catch its stats as it passes by.

  Gojirasaurus. Length: 5.5 meters. Weight: 199kg. Gojirasaurus, also known as the Godzilla Lizard, is one of the largest meat-eating dinosaurs in the Triassic Era.

  My heart pounds as the monstrous dinosaur disappears into the jungle. Dean grins at me excitedly.

  “Close call. What do you say we get out of here before they come back?” I pet Fenrir on the shoulder. His muscles are tense, and his eyes are still locked in the direction the dinosaurs went.

  “Yeah, let’s go. I know a pretty cool spot where we should be safe.” He leads us in the opposite direction of our attackers.

  “Hold up.” I pull my battle-axe from my inventory and hand it to him. “We can make you a spear when we stop, but you should have this just in case.”

  I check the stats as I hand him the weapon.

  Item: Meteoric Iron Axe. +10 strength. 10% armor penetration. This double-edged axe was forged from the heart of a meteorite.

  He looks at the axe with wonder. “Wow. This is beautiful. You used this during the tournament, didn’t you?”

  “I did.” That was the first weapon I ever bought in Pangea. “Keep it. It’s yours now.”

  Dean gives the axe a few practice swings, grinning as it cuts through the air. He pauses for a moment and his eyes glaze over. “Here, I shared our destination on the map.”

  I focus on the map in the corner of my vision and the image expands. There’s one giant landmass, with the word “Pangea” written in the center. A tiny purple dot marks where we are headed.

  It’s crazy to think that the world used to be like this. That the ground we walk on in the real world has shifted over time into seven different continents.

  I zoom in on the dot and notice it’s at a location called Triassic Falls. It must be some sort of waterfall. Most of the map is covered in jungle, except for a small area of plains. A red square on the map catches my eye. Next to it, it says “Shop.”

  “I see there’s a shop here. What do they sell?” I ask.

  Dean shrugs. “Mostly just survival gear. I don’t have any gold so I never checked it out.”

  “Time to change that.” I wink, adding my own destination marker to the shop. “We’ll hit up the falls after.”

  I keep an eye out for stampeding carnivores as we make our way toward the shop, but all I see are small reptiles scurrying through the forest floor. The slate-colored creatures dart around like chickens from one area to the next.

  We pass by a calm river, where a giant dinosaur plucks leaves from a tall tree while cooling its body in the water. It would be terrifying except for the fact that all its teeth are square. They grate against one another as it chews the leaf like a cow at pasture. The dinosaur has a thick tail and frame, and dull gray skin with black stripes that run along the crest of its spine. Its neck is long and skinny, with a tiny head.

  Plateosaurus. Length: 10 meters. Weight: 4000kg. A bipedal herbivore, the Plateosaurus usually travels in herds like modern elephants.

  Wow! This dinosaur weighs over four tons and only eats plants. It must eat all day long to get enough food.

  Trees shake behind the massive creature, and I notice several more of the herd feasting further back. Fenrir watches them intently, but he doesn’t seem threatened by their presence.

  “Pretty cool, right? Can you believe these things actually existed?” Dean shakes his head in astonishment. “They’re so huge.”

  “Yeah, they’re pretty cool. I’m more partial to minotaurs, griffins, trolls, and things like that, but I can see why you like this place. So, where’s the T-rex?” It’s about the only dinosaur I actually know.

  Dean laughs. “Wrong era. The T-rex came around in the Jurassic Period. That’s when dinosaurs really took over the world. T-rex, triceratops, the giant brontosaurus. When most people think of dinosaurs, that’s what they think of. Everything you’re seeing here will go extinct long before they ever come around. And then there will be another extinction in many millions of years.”

  “And then in the far future, we’ll near
ly kill off ourselves and be forced to hide from radiation inside metal boxes.” It turns out humans can be just as devastating as Mother Nature.

  The shop is pretty underwhelming when we arrive. I don’t know what I was expecting in a prehistoric world, but it’s basically a wooden hut with items sitting on shelves. I glance over the contents, but there’s not a whole lot I need.

  Item. Rope. For tying things.

  Item. Dino Treats (Carnivore). Treats for luring meat-eating dinosaurs to your location.

  Item. Dino Treats (Herbivore). Treats for luring plant-eating dinosaurs to your location.

  Item. Wooden Spear. A basic weapon for protecting yourself across Pangea.

  There are more items, but nothing I’m interested in. Dean is the brains of this operation, so I defer to him.

  “Do we need any of these items to help you get those trophies you’re after?”

  “Umm…” He frowns as he scans the items. “Definitely rope and treats. I can probably make my own spear with the axe you gave me.”

  “Pick out what you want and I’ll pay for it.” Most of this stuff is incredibly cheap compared to items in other game worlds.

  Dean doesn’t hesitate, picking up three strands of rope and several bags of Dino Treats. “Thanks! This will be fun, I promise.”

  While he gathers the goods, I can’t help but wonder where the other players are. “Are we the only ones here? I haven’t seen anybody else.”

  Dean tosses the rope over his shoulder and joins me and Fenrir outside the shop. “This isn’t an MMO world. Each player gets a separate instance each time they come here.”

  “Interesting. Kind of like in the first stage of the Developer’s Tournament. We all had our own version of the apocalyptic world where we had to rescue the girl.” I much prefer worlds with other people in them.

  Dean fits the rest of his items in his small satchel. “Exactly. There are no lasting effects in this world when players leave, but there are unlimited possibilities while you’re here.”

  “What do you say we ride Fenrir to our next location so that we get there faster?”

  Fenrir lays down so I can climb on his back. I extend a hand and help Dean climb on behind me. I sink my hands into Fenrir’s fur and hold tight, and Dean wraps his arms around my midsection as Fenrir stands.

  As we travel through the dense jungle. I catch glimpses of creatures soaring across the sky. They’re like feathered pterodactyls, with long beaks and enormous wingspans, bigger than the pod that brought me to the orphanage.

  Fenrir’s paws dig into the dark soil as we climb a hilltop. The marker Dean placed is just on the other side of the hill. There’s a roar coming from ahead of us, but it’s not the roar of an animal.

  We crest the hill, and a gust of wind hits me in the face. Fenrir’s fur whips in the breeze. A wide river plummets over a mighty waterfall that must be several hundred feet tall. The noise from this natural wonder is so loud that I can barely hear Dean when he speaks.

  “Pretty cool, huh?” he shouts.

  I nod and step closer to the river. The water is calm right up until it drops off the edge. Down below, mist sprays into the air for several dozen feet and choppy waters create a whirlpool in the clear blue water. Several dark splotches move in the river’s depths.

  Dean ties a rope to a nearby tree and tosses it over the cliff next to the waterfall.

  “Are you afraid of heights?” He grins mischievously.

  “No, why?” Though I already have an idea of what he has planned.

  “Follow me.” He doesn’t wait for my response before running toward the river and leaping over the edge of the waterfall.

  I rush behind him, reaching the edge just in time to see him plummet into the choppy waters. The kid is a bit of a daredevil. That will serve him well if he finds a mentor for the tournament.

  I look at Fenrir and take a deep breath. “Wish me luck.”

  Stepping back, I gather speed and launch myself over the edge. My haptic suit clenches around me and releases, mimicking the effect of weightlessness as I soar toward the water below. As I fall, a notification flashes in the top corner of my vision.

  Congratulations! You have unlocked the trophy “Swan Dive.” Difficulty: Easy.

  I plunge into the water, and a chill runs through my haptic suit. Underwater, several large fish swim away from me. Some reptile lays in wait on the bottom of the riverbed, undisturbed by our intrusion.

  I kick toward the surface, and as I break above the water, Dean punches the air in celebration. He says something, but I can’t hear him over the roaring water.

  He waits by the dangling rope at the base of the waterfall. “Want to go again?” He takes the rope in his hand and starts scaling the cliff. “This is much quicker than walking around.”

  “Wait, I’ve got a better idea.” I use my mental connection with Fenrir to urge him to grab the rope with his mouth.

  Dean looks at me confused when I pick up the leftover rope behind him. He nearly falls when Fenrir jerks on the rope and we start moving upward.

  “Work smarter, not harde,” I yell above the water.

  Slow and steady, Fenrir pulls us up the cliff. We toss the rope back down and go again. This is probably the most excitement Dean has had in a while. I watch him go several more times before he takes a seat next to me on the river’s edge.

  Across the river, a massive creature that looks like a cross between hog, a cow, and a turtle stands belly deep in the water.

  Dean picks up a tree limb and starts whittling it into a spear with the axe I gave him.

  I grab a pebble and skip it across the river. “So, how did you end up in the orphanage?”

  He stops whittling for a moment and stares into the water. “My dad died a few years ago. I didn’t have anywhere else to go.”

  “What about your mom?”

  “She passed during childbirth.” He sits the spear across his lap. “I watched a lot of videos in my free time. About how things used to be before we screwed up the planet. Child mortality, cancer, disease, they were all on the decline. Nowadays, I doubt anyone knows someone who hasn’t suffered. At least in The Boxes.”

  I reach out and pat him on the shoulder. “I’m sorry. I know it’s rough.”

  “It’s not your fault. It’s funny how we lived in the same box for a couple of years, but never knew one another. I guess by the time I arrived at the orphanage, you were keeping mostly to yourself.”

  I shrug. “I guess I found more joy watching others play games than interacting with those around me. It was my escape.”

  He smiles at me. “Thanks to you, we all have that escape now.”

  I’m glad to know that I’ve been able to help them in some small way. “What now?”

  “Want to try for some more trophies?” His eyes radiate excitement.

  “Yeah, what do you do with the trophies once you have them?”

  “Well, most people just put them on display in their home portals. But there are certain ones you can get that allow you to buy special costumes or items. And then there are collections to complete that offer actual prizes.” He glances at Fenrir. “One is a special mount that you can use in the other worlds.”

  “Nice, what do you need to get them?” I still remember the teamwork that it took for me to get Fenrir.

  Buzz, Aleesia, Grayson, Ordin, Klink, Glordin, and Tinker all helped me that day. I haven’t seen any of the dwarves since the tournament ended. I don’t think Aleesia has either. Since she started her internship, she doesn’t stream much anymore, and most of her friendships have faded away.

  Dean rubs his fingers against his chin. “There are two I would really like. One is to find a hidden egg. It’s hidden in the burrows of one of the smaller dinosaurs. The trophy is awarded if you’re able to dig it out. The other is to mount a Liliensternus.”

  “What’s that?” Once again, my lack of knowledge is showing.

  “It’s only one of the biggest predators around.” Dean g
rimaces. “Bigger than the Gojirasaurus we saw earlier, which is why I got so much rope.”

  I laugh. “Go big or go home. Lead the way.”

  “I think we have a better shot at finding the egg, so we’ll start there first. The burrow isn’t that far from here.”

  We climb on Fenrir, and Dean marks our next location on the map. The rushing water fades as we travel through dense jungle. Eventually, the jungle clears to an area filled with large ferns. The ground around the ferns is full of holes the size of a basketball.

  A low hiss fills the air as soon as we enter the area. Small red eyes stare out at us from the depths of the tunnels.

  “They’re Daemonosauri.” Dean scans the area. “They’re a lot like wolves, following an alpha and working as a team to take down larger prey. We need to find a way to lure them out and distract them while we dig through the tunnels.”

  “What are you thinking?” I ask.

  He shrugs. “Uhm, I thought we might use the dino treats to get them out, then we could take the dinosaurs out one at a time.”

  “Not a bad idea. That’s a lot of fighting, though. And there’s no guarantee they all won’t rush in at once as soon as you pull out the treats. We don’t need to kill them; we just need to buy us some time.” I have an idea brewing, but it would benefit Dean more if he can figure it out himself.

  Dean nods. “Right. Work smarter, not harder.”

  The dinosaurs continue to watch us as we sit atop Fenrir. Dean’s brow furrows as he puts his mind to work.

  “What if we made a trail of treats for them to follow?” He looks at me expectantly.

  “If these are like any of the other dinosaurs, they’re pretty fast, right?”

  He nods. “Yeah, they’d snatch up the treats quicker than we could search. What we need is something that is constantly moving for them to chase.” His eyes light up with recognition. “What if we tied the treats to Fenrir so that they could chase him?”