《Phoenix Online》 Chapter 1: Into a Brave New World! The rain gently tapped against the window to Emily''s room, making a soothing and steady drumming noise. She couldn''t understand why people thought that rain was gloomy. Rain had always been relaxing and cleansing to her, and the smell of rain always put her at peace. Staring out her window, she watched the trees in her front yard sway in the wind from the second story bedroom that was her sanctuary from the noise below. It was a Friday, and unlike most teenagers, she absolutely abhorred Fridays. The reason for this was that Friday marked the beginning of the weekend, which for her meant that there was a high probability of some sort of unpleasant drama happening in her house. Emily''s mom and step dad tended to go on benders pretty much every weekend from Friday until Sunday. Things usually started out in good fun, but they would eventually reach blackout stage and arguing would ensue. In fact, arguing was typically the best case scenario as over the past several years she had seen many holes put into walls and doors, broken lamps and even on one occasion a smashed TV. Sighing to herself, she sat down on the edge of the bed and put her head into her hands to block out the loud music coming from downstairs and the yelling that had started. Every time this happened, she couldn¡¯t stop certain thoughts from entering her head.Will I be taken away again?Emily shook her head, trying to force away those thoughts.Stop thinking about it. The past is the past.Her family really did love each other despite their problems. This was just the hand she was dealt and there was nothing to be done about it. She tried imagining herself somewhere else, anywhere else. After a few moments, she heard a loud smashing noise from downstairs. Tensing up instinctively she looked over at her bedroom door. She had learned in the past that going down to interfere in their arguments led to nothing good. She got up and sat against the door to her room.I just need to stay up here, she thought. Please, just stop fighting and go to sleep already.Only two more years and she''d be off to college and she could leave this place behind, just like her sister. Emily glanced over at her computer screen while continuing to sit against the door. One good thing would come from this weekend. It was the launch day of a game she''d been waiting ages for. Her escape from this awful and unfair world was imminent. For as long as she could remember, she has loved escaping into exotic worlds portrayed in fantasy novels, TV shows, movies and especially video games. She constantly daydreamed about living interesting and exciting lives like the characters of those stories. She could spend countless hours tucked away in her room while her mind was out slaying a dragon or sailing a pirate ship. Emily could hear her mom''s shrill voice downstairs saying, "What the fuck is the matter with you?" She closed her eyes again. In just a few short minutes, the game she had been waiting ages for would finally be downloaded, patched and installed. Standing up, she walked over to her desk and sat at the computer. Phoenix Online was the most hyped VRMMORPG to have ever been made and had been in development for over a decade. VR games had been immensely popular for longer than Emily had been alive and had gotten more and more sophisticated every year. Phoenix Online was completely cutting edge and required special hardware that didn''t come cheap. Not to mention, the game itself was extremely expensive for some reason. It cost her almost all of the money she had saved over two years of babysitting and working part-time. Other than the demo video released online a year or so ago, not much was known. It had been announced that the game world was vast and that players would be randomly assigned spawning points to begin their adventure on their first time logging in. The hardware was supposed to make the game fully immersive, and it was said that moving around in the game was just like real life. The demo generated so much hype that even before release, the game had sold millions upon millions in pre-orders. The game had an interesting slogan, "You will rise from the ashes of this world and be reborn. There will be no turning back," which made her want the game even more. Emily paced around the room in anticipation. The installation bar inched its way along across her screen as slow as a snail. She had started the install as soon as she got home from school and it now stood at 96%. Emily was chomping at the bit to get into this new world and escape from this crappy one for a while.Come on already! The game finally finished installing. She could hardly contain her excitement as she reached over to the side of her desk, grabbed her VR headset and moved over onto the bed. The technology was completely cutting-edge, and the headset resembled a motorcycle helmet more than a typical VR headset. There were no controls for the hardware. Apparently, it operated using her brainwaves and would somehow make her unable to move her real body while the game was running. Emily took one last deep breath and put the helmet on over her head, then hit the power button on the left side. Her field of vision immediately changed and she was standing in a plane of darkness with nothing except a window in front of her. It had Phoenix Online stylistically written on it with an image of a giant phoenix fighting a dragon. In the middle of the window was a login prompt.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.
Username: Astoria Password: ***********
Login Successful! Are you certain that you wish to rise from the ashes of your existence and be reborn in the world of Phoenix Online? Yes / No WARNING: There will be no turning back.
What a weird thing for it to ask me... I guess they just want to drive their slogan home. She shrugged and selected yes. The window disappeared and a moment later she felt the grainy texture of dirt between her fingers as she found herself sitting on the ground. After taking a moment to get her bearings, it was clear that she was inside some sort of cave. The area around her was poorly lit by a torch set into the wall that flickered giving uneven light. Some games started players in dungeons or jails and so this type of situation wasn''t completely unheard of. It was odd that there had been no further menus asking her to create a character, choose a race or anything. The game hadn''t even offered her a tutorial mode. Astoria was completely awestruck with how real everything was. All the other VR games she had played in the past only had visual stimuli. The new hardware that this game ran off of was on a completely different level. For one, when using the old hardware to play VR games, she always had control of her real body and had to use controllers. Phoenix Online felt just as real to her as if she was actually inside a cave in real life. The air was musky and cold like a real cave would be. Astoria picked up a handful of dirt and let it slide between her fingers and back to the floor of the cave. It was so realistic. The spot she was in was a dead end and the tunnel led off into darkness. Astoria finished looking around and went over to grab the torch. After examining it for a moment, a translucent information bubble popped into her vision next to the torch.
Crude Torch
This item will light a 10 foot area and will continue to burn for four hours.
Sweet. So I can get information about things I pick up by just examining them, she thought in amusement. She smiled and wondered what this world had in store for her. It was then that she noticed a small status icon in the corner of her field of vision. It looked like a character status icon. Astoria focused on the icon and it brought up a window with her character stats.
Name Astoria
Level 001 (0/90 EXP to next Level)
Class None
HP 150/150 MP 150/150
Attributes
Vitality 10 Magic 10
Endurance 10 Magic Resistance 10
Strength 10 Luck 5
Agility 10
Dexterity 10
Abilities
? Kleptomancy
Skills
? None
She grimaced. It doesn''t really give me much to go on... and what the heck is Kleptomancy?Astoria decided to see if she could get the system to give her more information on the ability. Concentrating on it seemed to work and she got another pop-up.
Kleptomancy
The ability to steal skills from others. In order to steal a skill you must come into direct physical contact with a person for 5 seconds. Until you become more proficient at Kleptomancy, the skill stolen will be chosen at random. The level of the skill gained will begin at 1 regardless of the skill level of the person you steal it from, unless you already have this skill, in which case it will increase your skill level by 1. The victim will have their skill level reduced by 1. If their skill level was only 1, then they will lose the skill. You may use this ability only once every 48 hours. Note: Your victim will not be notified directly that you have stolen a skill level; however, the next time they open their status they will surely notice. Use with caution.
She wondered just how proficient she would need to be in order to be able to choose the stolen skill. She smiled to herself. With this, I can literally learn how to do anything! It was a pretty big drawback that she started with nothing in this game, but at least she had potential. Astoria wondered if everyone started with the same stuff as she did. There was really no way of knowing though, and it didn''t really matter, she supposed. Shrugging off the thought, she began walking down the corridor and after a few minutes she came to a large open room that had tunnels branching off in several directions. Not knowing which way to go, she decided to just take the tunnel to the right. It appeared to be the biggest one and she didn''t really want to scrape herself crawling through tight spaces if she didn''t have to. One way was as good as another since she had no information to go by. Hopefully this would lead outside where she could get a true look at what this world had to offer. It was still early evening and she intended to spend every second of tonight inside the game. With a skip in her step, she headed off down the tunnel, all the while not noticing the scuttling noises that could be faintly heard in the distance. Chapter 2: A Terrifying Encounter Astoria continued to be awed by the detail in the game. It seemed so real that it was unbelievable. The cave was a little cold and the various rocks beneath her feet crunched against one another as she continued on her chosen path. After walking down this passageway for a while, she started to feel a little hungry. She had been in the game for what she estimated to have been about a half hour. She should have eaten something before starting the game. Without any real idea how deep she was inside this cave, it might be a while before she would want to take a break to grab something to eat. In the end, she decided to keep going despite the occasional grumble that came from her stomach. The ceiling of the cave above her was covered in stalactites of various sizes and the place seemed ancient. Astoria realized that she had been placed in a random starting location, as that was one of the few things that the creators of the game had announced to the public. Even so, considering how much hype was around the release of Phoenix Online, she was finding it hard to believe that there were enough spawn points to where she would not have encountered any other players yet. In fact, there weren''t any signs that anyone had been around here for some time as far as she could tell, not that she was some sort of tracker or anything. My feet are actually starting to hurt... what gives... this cave seems to be going on forever, she thought as she continued walking. Almost as if to answer her complaints, she spotted movement ahead of her on the ground. She jumped back, startled by the sudden sight of something different. She held out the torch in front of her, ready to use it like a flaming club. There was a scuttling noise and a creature the size of a small dog came into the light and was running toward her. The thing most closely resembled some sort of beetle with about twenty legs. Its segmented, armored body glistened in the torchlight. It reared back and let out a high pitched screech. The underside of its body was more mouth than anything else, filled with jagged teeth and a tongue that stuck out tasting the air. Astoria screamed despite the fact that she knew it was just a game. This thing was fucking terrifying. She set herself and held the torch like a club as she knew the thing would be coming for her. It didn''t disappoint and somehow lunged at her. She swung the torch and managed to connect, sending the beast smashing into the wall. It fell onto its back, legs kicking as it tried to flip itself over. Astoria didn''t know much about this world yet, but what she did know was that she did not want that thing getting back up. She dashed over to it and jabbed the flaming end of the torch into its gaping maw as it thrashed, screeching and biting at the object that was causing it major damage. Seconds later it fell still, dead and curled up. Astoria''s breathing was ragged and she was shaking in fear. Everything felt so real that it was hard to believe this was a game. There was no time to stop and reflect on everything, however, as she heard the screeching calls of more of the beasts. She frantically turned around, looking in the direction from which the monster appeared, and saw three more of the things racing towards her. "Screw that," she said aloud and ran back the way she came. Her draining stamina bar immediately caught her attention once she had started sprinting at full speed. As it drained, she felt exhaustion washing over her more and more. It was clear that she couldn''t keep this pace up for long. Thinking of a strategy to keep herself alive was difficult considering the pounding of her heartbeat in her head as she kept up a desperate pace to stay ahead of the things. Before she knew it, she was back in the large room with the different tunnel offshoots. Running had gained her a few precious seconds, and used that time to bend over gasping trying to catch her breath. This was the spot she''d have to make her stand. Moving to the center of the room, she turned around and readied herself for what was coming. It only took seconds for the three creatures to burst out of the tunnel and into the torchlight. Again they reared up and screeched that awful noise at her before charging in to attack. Astoria managed to land a blow on one of the creatures as it leapt through the air at her, sending it flying off into darkness. She was able to dodge the next attack by jumping to the side, but the third monster managed to run up and climb onto her leg. It wrapped its many legs around her and bit into her. She screamed as searing sharp pain ran up her leg. Desperately, she smashed the torch against the monster on her leg again and again. The fire seared the monster''s outer carapace and it quickly fell off of her. She then killed it by shoving the flaming end of the torch into it. In the meantime, the one she had dodged was already mid-air heading straight for her shoulder. It landed and caused her to stagger for a moment. The pain inflicted upon her as it bit deeply into her shoulder was excruciating. Letting out another scream, she lost her footing and fell backward. Luckily, the beast was smashed against a particularly pointy rock when they came crashing down, and it was killed instantly. The remaining creature had made its way back to her and she grimaced, holding onto the torch for dear life. Unfortunately, with her injured shoulder, she knew it would be impossible to swing the thing with as much strength as she had previously. Holding the torch out in front of herself, she planned on dodging when it leapt for her and then striking it as it landed. Her strategy worked; she was able to land a couple of solid hits on the beast before it scuttled sideways and leaped at her again. She managed to get the torch up sideways in time, and the jagged mouth of the thing crunched against the wood as she stumbled backward. It didn''t release its grip immediately and she was able to regain her footing while smashing the club downward onto another sharp rock. The creature''s carapace crunched and gooey ichor sprayed out onto the ground as it squirmed and died. Astoria dropped the torch to the ground and sat down, panting and wheezing. Her stamina bar had been near empty throughout the fight. The searing pain in her leg and shoulder wounds was enough that she could think of little else. What the fuck! This is a game... I shouldn''t feel any pain. It''s just a game! Screw this! I''m gonna get out of here right now. She concentrated on trying to bring up a logout menu, but nothing happened. She tried to will herself to somehow take the helmet off her head, which of course did nothing as she had no control over her real body while in this game. She panicked and began to hyperventilate. How do I log out? What''s wrong with this thing? She thought back to the warning the game had given her upon logging in. There''s no way... I mean... That had to be a joke. You can''t not come back from a game... It''s just a game! she reasoned with herself in the flickering torchlight.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. There was nothing she could do about it for now. She was stuck. The red HP bar in the corner of her vision was visibly getting low and a bleeding icon had appeared next to it. Acting quickly, she tore strips of fabric from the sleeve of her shirt and tied one tightly around her leg wound. She folded the second strip of fabric and applied it to her shoulder with as much pressure as she could manage. Tears of pain managed to squeeze their way out of her eyes, and her long red hair was sweaty and matted against her face. There was also a blinking notification icon on the side of her vision that she noted as she continued to try and get a handle on herself. Concentrating on the blinking icon brought up a translucent window that filled her vision.
Notifications
You have gained 30 EXP for defeating level 2 Ravenous Creeper
You have gained 90 EXP for defeating 3 level 2 Ravenous Creepers
Congratulations! You have reached level 2! You have gained 6 attribute points to distribute. (EXP to next level: 120/294)
Well... leveling up is good but it still doesn''t help me get out of this fucking game, does it! She knew that she could wait until her parents woke up in the morning and come looking for her, or she could try to get out of the cave and find another player or a helpful NPC who might know something she didn''t about logging out. Ultimately, she decided the best course of action would be to continue pressing forward. One thing was certain though: she didn''t want to wait here and have a swarm of those monsters show up. It was better to keep moving and hope for the best. It seemed like a good idea to invest her stat points right away, as they could mean the difference between life and death in her situation. Even though she''d probably just re-spawn back where she started, the game''s way of making her feel actual pain was nothing she wanted to experience more of. Well, considering I have no skills or even a proper weapon... I could use more vitality, endurance, and maybe some more agility for dodging. She allocated two points to Vit, two to End, one to Agi, and one to Luck. She hoped that by adding luck she might have better chances of finding her way out of this situation and might be more likely to have good things happen to her in the future. She felt an odd sensation as her body seemed to adjust itself to fit the new stats. After allocating her points, she looked at her updated status page. Spoiler: Astoria''s Stats
Name Astoria
Level 002 (120/294 EXP to next Level)
Class None
HP 69/180 MP 150/150
Attributes
Vitality 12 Magic 10
Endurance 12 Magic Resistance 10
Strength 10 Luck 6
Agility 11
Dexterity 10
Abilities
? Kleptomancy
Skills
? None
She also saw that she was no longer bleeding and the icon was gone. The changes were minor so far, and unfortunately her health hadn''t fully restored from leveling up, which sucked, but on the other hand it was realistic. Astoria hoped that she would find some health potions or something useful soon. She felt as though this game''s creators must be a bit sadistic in that they threw her into the deep end of the pool without a tutorial, starting items or anything¡ªnot to mention the messed up pain system they somehow managed to put in. At least she had the torch and wasn''t in complete darkness. Her stomach grumbled again and she looked at the bug monsters'' corpses momentarily. No. There is no way I''m hungry enough to cook and eat those things... I just need to get out of here. She picked up her torch and had a very important decision to make: Would she continue down the corridor she had found these things in, or go down a different one. She had no idea what dying in this game might do to her. The truth was that she didn''t really want to risk experiencing the pain that would surely come with dying. In the end, she decided that the best way to proceed would be to try another tunnel. She took the path farthest from the one where the bug monsters had been and made her way through the much narrower corridor. There were some tight spots and she had to climb up over some debris here and there. She even had to army crawl through one particularly tight crevice. But at least there had been no more bug monsters. While she walked, Astoria thought about how rough she must look right now. Her clothes were in tatters and covered with not only her blood but the blood of her foes. Even though the bleeding had stopped, her shoulder still felt sore. On the upside, her leg turned out to not be in as bad a shape as she had thought it would be. She was a little slower than before, but she was able to keep up a steady pace. She wasn¡¯t sure that she would be able to run, however. Moving her arm in a few wide circular motions, she tested it out. It still hurt but she could probably swing her weapon if she had to. After about an hour of making her way slowly and carefully through the cave, she heard the sound of crickets and could see the faint yet glorious glow of moonlight at the mouth of the cave. She nearly jumped for joy and wanted to run for the exit, but her sore leg wouldn''t let her. Astoria hobbled her way to the exit and got her first glimpse of Phoenix Online''s expansive world. High in the sky hung three moons of different sizes. One looked similar to Earth''s moon and the other two were much larger. One had a red tint, while the larger one had a slight purple hue. The cave was approximately halfway up the slope of a densely forested mountain. She had a great view of the landscape below, where a small town stood surrounded by farmlands stretching as far as she could see. All of this was miles and miles away from where she now stood. On foot, injured, it would likely take an entire day just to get to the closest farm, but surely her parents would find her by then. She had lost track of time while in the cave and couldn''t be sure how much time had passed since she started playing. Any time now, her parents would pull the VR headset off her head and this nightmare would be over. Her family had its problems but she still loved them. Even though it had been a horrific night, she couldn''t help but appreciate the beauty of this world. The sounds, smells, and sights were just so realistic. She sat down, leaning against a rock at the edge of the cave, and rested. It didn''t take long until, despite the possibility of danger, her exhaustion set in and she fell asleep. Chapter 3: Goblins Sunlight peaked over the horizon and Astoria awoke to the sound of a notification. Unlike past notifications, which had just blinked as an icon in the corner of her vision, this one forced itself open and covered most of her field of vision. She read it and was immediately in a state of disbelief.
Global Notification
Players, as you may have noticed, this game is unlike any you could have imagined! As the warning indicated, there is no turning back! This world is yours to live in, yours to die in! There are 24 million users and that is all that there ever will be. Your consciousness has been transferred into the game and your real bodies have died. You have all been reborn! This is a world of wonder as well as one of consequences. If you die within this world, you will not re-spawn. We do realize that this may seem cruel. However, this world is a gift given to you select players who managed to log in within the first 6 hours of launch. This is your world now. Everything is real. Tread carefully, explore and truly live the adventures that you have surely always dreamed of! There will be no further global notifications.
Astoria read the notification over and over again. She was completely dumbstruck by this revelation. She simply stood in place for several minutes panicking over what she had just read. This has got to be a joke. There is no way that a company could get away with doing something like this, she tried to reassure herself. If it was not a lie, then she was, for all intents and purposes, dead. Her body, like many others, would be found lifeless, hooked up to a VR system. There would be outrage. It would be a horrible, worldwide tragedy. No one would ever know that they were still here. Nobody would be coming to save her, and there was nothing she could do except learn to survive here. Phoenix Online is a world of magic, adventure and limitless possibilities. She would not succumb to panic and would not let this game beat her. I can do this. I just have to move forward. This world is what I''ve always dreamed of, and the real world has always been shit to me anyway, she tried to pull herself together. Even so, it was heartbreaking to realize that she would never get to see her family again. Most of all she felt bad that her mom and sister would have to lose yet another family member. It made her think of when her dad died and how it utterly destroyed her mom. Wiping away tears, Astoria did the only thing she could do, and began to make her way down the mountain. She figured that her best course of action would be to get to that village and go from there. At the very least, she could try to get herself a real weapon, and there was also no telling what types of skills she could acquire by using her Kleptomancy ability. She slowly made her way downward, following a treacherous and steep trail that wound its way around gigantic pine trees and was partially obscured by overgrown brush. At times, she had to make her way carefully along perilous cliff faces, but there was little chance of her falling to her death as long as she was careful with her footing. Once she got to the lower area of the mountain, she was relieved to see that the trail meandered downward at a much gentler slope. It was still obscured here and there due to overgrowth, but not as bad as before. She had a feeling that she could be heard from a mile away as branches and leaves constantly crunched beneath her boots, and she couldn¡¯t help but wonder what kind of monsters might be lurking in this forest. I really don¡¯t want to get into another fight right now. I just want to get to town and hopefully get healed up. After what felt like hours of walking through the thick underbrush, she came to a small stream that flowed in the direction that she was heading. Astoria had seen this from above and planned to follow it to civilization. The water looked cool and her throat had long since been dry to the point that it was painful to swallow. She looked at the water longingly. She knew that the risk of getting sick from drinking bad water was a real possibility, but she couldn''t resist and took a drink anyway. The water was cold and refreshing and she splashed her face with some water before moving on. As she continued, following the stream, time seemed to drag on and on until suddenly she smelled something that could only be food. Crouching down, she looked around. The last thing she needed was to be caught off guard. Circling around the long way, she tried to be extra quiet as she looked for the source of the smell. It took several minutes, but she came upon a small clearing where there was a fire and a small cook-pot sitting over it. Her stomach felt like it was going to eat itself, especially when she was so close to food. Suddenly she saw motion from her hiding spot and could make out two figures as they made their way toward the fire. Unfortunately, the hope that there would be friendly people that could help her near this campfire quickly slipped away as she realized the two figures were goblins. Their green skin, pointy ears, and bulbous noses were enough for her to easily identify them. If her experience in gaming had told her anything, it was that these two would not likely be friendly. Her heart began to pound. She continued watching and couldn''t tell what type of weapons they might have or if there were more than two of them. The creatures spoke in guttural tones in a language that was completely foreign to her. Damn... so much for eavesdropping on what they''re saying... Astoria thought to herself in frustration. She tried her best to creep away slowly. The plan was to continue to go wide around the goblins and get back to the river so that she could continue toward her destination. However, nothing ever seemed to work out so smoothly for her. She had managed to get about fifty feet away from the campfire when she heard harsh voices coming from behind. She turned and stole a glance at her enemies. One goblin had a wicked spiked club and the other had a bow with an arrow nocked and pointed at her. Letting out a squeak, she dove behind a tree just as the arrow had loosed and flew through the spot where she had been standing. Her heart began pounding anew and she was acutely aware that, even after recovering some overnight, her health still stood low at 89/180. She reminded herself again that this was no longer a game. It was real and she could really die here. The crunching sounds of leaves and twigs could be heard as one of the goblins charged toward her. It lunged out past her tree, doing a spinning attack with the club toward her middle. She managed to get her own weapon up in time to block the blow. The goblin looked at her with pure hatred and pulled back, readying his weapon again. Astoria couldn''t see the archer anymore and suspected that he would be circling around to get a clear shot. She would only have moments before being exposed again. She had to act now. Doing her best imitation of wielding a lightsaber, she swung her club in sweeping movements that were parried by the goblin. Luckily, she was stronger than the small creature and each blow knocked his weapon from side to side, staggering him little by little. After a flurry of attacks, he was knocked sideways and she gained the opening she needed. Before the goblin could get back up, she gripped the torch with both hands and brought it down in an overhead strike. A loud cracking noise could be heard as it smashed down onto her opponent''s head. She had cracked open its skull. Astoria took a quick second to grab the spiked club and put her back to the huge tree, trying to spot the other goblin. An arrow zipped through the trees in front of her and managed to nick her ear as it slammed into the tree. The goblin had a clear line of sight on her now and it was readying another arrow. She ran toward the goblin while using trees for cover. Astoria continued to close the distance between her and her enemy and managed to barely dodge the arrows as they flew toward her. Once she was close enough, the goblin dropped the bow and unsheathed a simple looking dagger that had a curved edge and was about a foot long. It managed to get inside her guard, avoiding her reach with the spiked weapon, and landed a glancing blow that opened a long gash along her side. She had to clench her teeth against the pain and felt the side of her clothes getting wetter by the second. That hit was all that the goblin would score, however. When he came in for another attack, she managed to counter him, smashing a large spike straight into his chest. It spat thick black blood and cursed at her in its strange tongue.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. "I''ve got one more thing I need to do before you die, asshole!" She reached out and touched the dying goblin, gripping his arm hard, and activated her Kleptomancy ability. Unsure of how it worked, she waited the five seconds as the creature bled out. Once the time had elapsed she checked her new notification.
Notifications
You have used the ability Kleptomancy and have stolen the Archery skill from the Goblin Scout.
Awesome! Archery should be really useful! It still sucks that I don¡¯t get to choose the skill that is stolen, but beggars can¡¯t be choosers, she thought gleefully. With the new knowledge she gained upon learning the skill, she felt a lot safer, confident that she could probably make decent use of a bow now. She continued reading her prompts.
Notifications
Congratulations! You have learned the skill Archery! With a bow and some arrows, you can now more effectively slay your enemies from afar.
You have gained 60 EXP for defeating level 3 Goblin Scout
You have gained 50 EXP for defeating level 2 Goblin Raider
The next thing on Astoria''s agenda was to search the bodies of her foes. She examined the small pile of useful looking things she had found on the two goblins.
Crude Goblin Short Bow
? Quality: Poor ? Durability: 20/36
Crude Goblin Dagger
? Quality: Poor ? Durability: 17/36
Basic Goblin Arrows (18)
? Quality: Poor ? Durability: 10/10
Crude Spiked Club
? Quality: Poor ? Durability: 6/15
Weak Health Potion (x3)
? Rarity: Common ? Durability: 36/36
The items weren''t anything to write home about, but they were definitely an improvement over the torch she had been using up until this fight. She knew that she didn''t want to take the spiked club since it was heavy and awkward to carry. Astoria had always favored play styles that focused on agility and stealth, so archery would suit her perfectly for now. All in all, she couldn''t complain when her previous weapon had been little more than a stick. The small potion bottles clinked in her hand as she considered her options. She wasn''t sure if she''d be able to get more potions easily in the near future, but all of her injuries were really beginning to stack up. Ultimately, she decided it was more important to feel better now than to worry about conserving potions. Astoria popped the corks off two of the potion bottles and downed them in quick succession. One thing that no one ever seemed to mention in fantasy stories was that these things tasted awful. She gagged a little as she forced herself to keep it down. Astoria was amazed at how well they worked. In just a minute''s time, she was feeling a lot better. The wounds she had received from the insect-like monsters the night before were completely healed and other than a bit of soreness left over in her shoulder, her injuries were all but forgotten. It was hard to believe that just moments earlier she had been beaten and battered at all. She examined her status page again and was satisfied to see that she now had Archery listed as a skill there. Astoria gathered up all of her loot and equipped it. The quiver full of arrows was attached to a belt that hung at her side, while the dagger was secured via another small belt that fit snugly around her upper thigh. She slung the bow over her head and across her body, and then decided that it couldn''t hurt to see what the goblins had been cooking. Her stomach was growling so loud and so often that she started to have a hard time concentrating on anything else besides her hunger. It didn''t matter what was in the pot, so long as it was edible. There was a log that had been rolled over near the fire, and she spotted two crude wooden bowls with spoons sitting atop it. The cook-pot bubbled and a good aroma wafted toward her as the breeze picked up a little. She found a ladle sitting near the fire and stuck it into the pot stirring it around for a second before scooping a portion into a bowl. Despite the smell, the food didn¡¯t look very appetizing and she was worried about what kind of things a goblin might eat. There were chunks of some sort of meat inside and what looked like little potatoes floating around. Taking a deep breath and gathering up some more courage, she tentatively took a bite of the stew. To Astoria''s surprise it didn''t taste all that bad. It was fairly bland and chewy and she had no idea what kind of meat was inside it, but she couldn''t complain. She was also pleasantly surprised to find a couple water skins and a necklace, which had a small steel bar and piece of flint attached to it, behind the log where she sat. Other than the fact that she found out this morning that she had died, things were starting to look up. After resting for a short while she tied the water skins to her belt and put on the necklace. Alright, time to get the hell out of these woods! On that note, she continued following the stream down the mountain toward the fields where she would hopefully find safety. Astoria was acutely aware that she had not found any currency on either goblin. She would have no way to buy any items or even stay at an inn if she could manage to get to the village in one piece, anyway. Even so, it would be best to get to civilization as quickly as possible. Anything was better than hanging out in these dangerous mountains any longer. Much of the journey the rest of the way down the mountainside was uneventful. She did get a chance to test out her bow. She was elated when she managed to successfully hit and kill a rabbit. She only gained 5 EXP for killing it, but her Archery skill gained some progress toward the next level, which was nice. Every little bit helps, she thought cheerfully. After hours and hours of following the stream, she found herself on flat ground. The forest thinned out and gave way to farmland. It was getting late, and the sun hung low in the horizon. Ahead of her was a field of what looked to be wheat. The gold colored grain swayed gently in the wind and motion rippled through it like waves across a pond on a gentle summer day. Spoiler: Astoria''s Stats
Name Astoria
Level 002 (230/294 EXP to next Level)
Class None
HP 127/180 MP 150/150
Attributes
Vitality 12 Magic 10
Endurance 12 Magic Resistance 10
Strength 10 Luck 6
Agility 11
Dexterity 10
Abilities
? Kleptomancy
Skills
? Archery - Level 1 (29% toward next level)
Chapter 4: It’s Like Shooting Fish in a Barrel, Right? Astoria sighed in relief that she hadn''t stumbled on another goblin camp or anything on the way down and looked around to see if there were any people out in the fields. There appeared to be no people out working the fields, and so she turned her attention toward the nearest house. There has to be a road somewhere near the house... I guess I''ll head that way. She climbed through the small wooden fence that marked the boundary of the field and made her way toward the house in the distance. The wheat, or whatever it was, looked like it was about ready for harvesting. It was waist high and the tops of the plants felt scratchy against her fingertips as she walked. It wasn''t long before she got to the edge of the field and onto a small dirt road near the farmhouse. So... do I be the creepy stranger who knocks on some poor farmer''s door... or do I continue on to the village? she mused to herself. It was getting late and maybe these people would let her take shelter in their barn or something. Her feet and back ached a little from all the walking, and she wasn''t particularly looking forward to going any further right now. She was a stranger here though. After long moments of deliberation, she decided that it might be better to continue on toward the village anyway. Just as she turned away from the house and began walking away, a door creaked behind her and a burly man walked out, holding a bow with an arrow nocked. He called out to her. "What''s a stranger doing skulking around my farm so late in the day? What business have you around here? We haven''t anything worth stealing, and I won''t let you harm my family without a fight." He stared her down. Astoria reacted the same way she would have on Earth if some big scary guy had pointed a gun at her. With a squeak she hopped back a little and raised her hands up to show that she was harmless. "S-Sorry... I''ve just gotten here from over the mountains. I mean no harm. I''m just trying to get to town or find somewhere safe to sleep for the night." The man looked her over and seemed to be contemplating something for a while. It would be clear from her ragged clothes and dirty appearance that she had been through a lot. "The town of Oliend is a few hours'' walk from here down the main road. Lately, we''ve been plagued by wolves attacking livestock and people unfortunate enough to be outside after dark. You won''t see anyone outside this late in the day." He paused for a second. "I¡¯m not heartless. I have two girls of my own inside and I wouldn¡¯t feel right just letting you go off into the night alone in the shape you¡¯re in. I guess what it is I''m getting at, girl, is that if you want shelter for the night, you can stay here." He looked to be appraising her again before adding, "My only condition is that you hand over your weapons for the night and let me lock them up. I have to consider the safety of my family, you see." Astoria quickly thought about what this guy was saying. She didn''t know if she could trust him either, but the thought of being chased down in the open by a pack of hungry wolves wasn''t exactly her idea of a good time. In the doorway behind him, she spotted a little girl running around playing. Despite his gruff words, Astoria thought she could see a gentleness in this man¡¯s eyes. Taking a deep breath, she decided to take her chances. "Okay. Thank you. I''ll gladly take you up on the offer." It took her only a few moments to drop her weapons on the ground and then she took several steps back away from them. The man turned around and said, "Rodia, will you go grab those for me?" A few seconds later, a woman came outside. She quickly scurried over and, while keeping a watchful eye on Astoria, grabbed the weapons. She then turned around and, just as quickly, went back over to him. The man reached into his shirt and pulled out a necklace that held a heavy bronze key. "Lock those in the chest, alright?" He smiled warmly at the woman as she nodded and went inside. He turned back toward Astoria and lowered his bow, beckoning her over. "Come on over. Sorry about the fuss, but one can''t be too careful around these parts when it comes to strangers. There have been bandits, goblin raids and an increasing amount of animal attacks around here. I''m Jayse and that was my wife, Rodia." Astoria hoped she was making the right decision and walked over to him. ¡°My name¡¯s Astoria. Thanks again for letting me stay here tonight.¡± She had almost called herself Emily but decided that, since this was her new life, she should embrace her new identity as well. The house was small and built out of wood. It had a thatched roof that looked as though it would likely leak a bit if it rained. The interior of the house was warm and inviting. A little girl who was probably around five years old was playing with some dolls. Another girl, who looked like she was around twelve, sat in a wooden rocking chair, reading a book. It was titled The Adventures of Ydris the Just, and the girl appeared to be totally enthralled in the story. "This little one is Aerie," Jayse ruffled her hair as they walked by, "and this little bookworm here is Judy." He sat down and, with a smile, motioned Astoria to have a seat. The furniture appeared to all be handmade. Incredibly beautiful, colorful, knitted blankets hung from the backs of each piece of wooden furniture. Although the material appeared to be spun wool, which would probably be scratchy, she was sure that they were warm. Rodia had been tending a bubbling pot of food that smelled delicious. Astoria was sure that it would be infinitely better than the food the goblins had made. The aromas that filled the house made her mouth water. "You got here just in time for dinner," Rodia said, turning to her and offering a kind smile. "So where are you from and why are you way out here all alone?" Astoria decided to see what information she could get out of these NPCs and told the truth, "I''m actually not from this world... I''m from a place called Earth, and I only arrived here about a day ago. I appeared in a weird cave up in the mountains that had these monster bugs that attacked me." Jayse chuckled and raised an eyebrow as he listened to her story. Once she had finished, he exchanged a look with his wife before saying, "Not from this world? So you''ve come from another plane of existence? It''s not unheard of... but it doesn''t make sense. It''s okay if you don''t want to tell us where you''re from. You must have your reasons. But if you''re going to lie, then you should at least come up with a better story." Astoria really thought they would believe her, but she dropped it and made up a story that she had run away from her home on the other side of the mountains. They seemed to accept the new story, and she was able to move on to other topics. "Do you have any maps that I could see? Maybe even a map of the whole world?" She knew that it was unlikely for them to have such things, but she kept hope alive anyway. "We don''t have much need for maps. My family has lived here for generations and we don''t go too far. If you''re looking for a map, you should try going to the general store in town. Eld, the shopkeeper, will probably try to rob you blind, but he would have some maps and other basic items that could help you if you''re set on continuing your travels," Jayse told her as he sipped something that looked to be tea. "Would you like some tea, dear?" Rodia asked her after noticing that she had been staring at the cup in Jayse''s hands. "Yes, please. Tea sounds great!" She got up from the chair she was sitting in and went over to Rodia, who grabbed a warm kettle from the large wood fired stove and poured piping hot water into a cup that had tea leaves at the bottom. "Here you go, dear. Be careful, it''s very hot." She turned back to stirring her stew and checked on some bread that was baking in the oven which she pulled out and placed on a wooden cutting board to cool. Astoria went back over to her chair. "So, you went into a cave up in the Serpentine Mountains, you said? And you encountered some monsters?" Jayse asked her over his tea cup. "Yeah, I thought it would be safer inside shelter than to be out in the open... I was wrong and these giant bug things attacked me. I barely got away." She felt bad about lying about why she was inside the cave. "You probably stumbled into the old excavation site. Supposedly, deep inside the Serpentine Mountains was an ancient seat of power that was held by mountain dwarves who mysteriously disappeared hundreds of years ago. Garland, the local lord, hoped to find great riches there, but the project was abandoned." "So they just disappeared into thin air and no one knows why?" "Well... when the excavation team finally broke into the part of the cave system that held the ancient city, they were overrun by all kinds of vicious monsters. Almost the entire crew was devoured. No one could be convinced to go back inside." Astoria shuddered, realizing that she had literally been spawned inside of some extremely dangerous dungeon. She was really glad that she didn''t venture further down the tunnel where she had initially encountered the things. "Anyway... the next morning after I left the cave, I ran into a couple goblins on my way down the mountain. They tried to kill me, but I managed to beat them, and I found myself here after walking all day." Jayse ran his fingers through his well-kept beard. "You''re lucky to be alive, little lady. I don''t really see why you traveled over the mountains through wilderness rather than following the road through the pass, but you''re probably past the worst of it." Astoria nodded and asked more about the area. She found that Oliend is an outlying town at the edge of the kingdom of Regulus and that the closest large city is Elivaster, a few days'' journey north along the road. Jayse warned her that this road, although patrolled by guards, is not what he would consider safe for a person traveling alone, but Astoria assured him that she could take care of herself. She decided to get acquainted with the two girls when Jayse said he had to go outside and finish locking up the animal pens for the night. Judy told her a bit about the book she was reading. It was an anthology of tales about the hero Ydris and her adventures all around the world. Apparently, it was a very popular book and everyone in the family had read it so many times that the book''s binding was beginning to break. Judy gave her the grand tour of the small house and showed her the girls'' bedroom where she would be sleeping that night. There was even a washroom in the house that had a bathtub. Apparently, filling it was a bit of a task, but they did it every few days by boiling buckets of water from the well and slowly filling it up. They would then take turns using the water while it was still warm before draining it out. There was a plug at the bottom that had a small tube running to beneath the house. Astoria was very impressed that they had a drain system like that. There was a basin, some cold water in a pitcher and a washcloth in the washroom as well. And she was told that there was an outhouse to the side of the house that she could use. She was happy to be back in civilization where people had bathrooms. It was a reassuring thought that today she would be able to do her business without having to look for leaves and a bush to hide behind. After some time, the meal was ready. Astoria felt so at home with these people. They were kind and it was just nice to feel safe for the first time since coming to this world. She decided that she wanted to help these people with something before heading to the village. Anything she could do to repay their kindness would make her feel a lot better about taking advantage of their hospitality. "Thank you again for letting me stay. I literally have nothing to offer you in return, but if there''s something you can think of that I can do for you, I''d gladly help." Astoria said to Jayse, while Rodia ladled stew into bowls. Judy took the bowls as they were filled up and placed them around the dining table. "Well, now that you mention it... how good are you with that bow?" Jayse asked. Astoria looked down at the steaming bowl of stew in front of her hungrily and answered honestly, "Truthfully? I''m not very good with it yet. Why do you ask?" "As I mentioned earlier, we have had some trouble with wolves recently. A pack of the beasts have been harassing all of the nearby farms, killing livestock and attacking anything they come across. I''ve been spending my evenings watching for them from the roof and trying to pick them off here and there, but having a second pair of eyes and another archer would be a great help." His face grew hard and he looked at her seriously, "I won''t promise that this will be safe, but if you think you can help it would mean a lot. Also, I think I can give you back your equipment. You seem to be trustworthy."This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. It meant a lot that Jayse would trust her with her weapons again after such a short time. They really were good people. "I''m probably not going to be much help, but I''ll do my best." She gulped, thinking about ravenous giant wolf monsters. Astoria wouldn''t let herself chicken out, though. "When do we start?" "After we finish eating. The best strategy that I''ve come up with is to go up onto the roof of the house and pick them off from above. They won''t be able to get us, and hopefully we will be able to take a few of them out. The footing up there isn''t very steady so you will need to be extra careful." Astoria nodded at his explanation. It made a lot of sense to fight them in this way. "Okay. Sounds like a plan to me." "We don''t have much to offer as payment, but I could pay you a small amount of coin if we can get rid of this threat." Jayse cut the loaf of freshly baked bread and handed thick slices to each of them. Astoria was excited to hear that she could actually get some money out of this. It would mean that she could even buy some simple items in town perhaps. Before she could open her mouth to thank him for the possible reward, however, a translucent prompt window appeared in her vision.
You have been offered a quest: Predator or Prey?
Jayse and his family have been increasingly having problems with a pack of wolves on their farm. The beasts have been killing livestock and destroying pens to get to the animals. The family asks your help to alleviate this threat to their way of life. Reward: ? 500 EXP ? Some coin Do you accept? Yes / No
Astoria blinked at what she was seeing. She simultaneously selected yes and nodded her agreement to Jayse. She hadn''t thought that something like this could pop up as a quest and really hadn''t expected it would offer so much experience. She was elated to see that by doing this she could for sure reach level 3. They continued eating and talking about various things. Everything was so unbelievably delicious. It wasn''t a complicated or fancy meal but a lot of care had been put into making this. The family had probably grown everything that went into the stew themselves, she supposed. At home, her family was often busy, and home cooked meals were few and far between. After they finished dinner, Aerie and Judy went to bed and Rodia began cleaning up. Jayse went to a wooden chest by the hallway entrance and unlocked it. Reaching inside, he took out Astoria''s belongings and held them out to her. After re-equipping herself, she mentally prepared herself for what was to come. It was now getting pretty late, but thankfully the moons provided a good amount of dim light to see by. They made their way to the side of the house and climbed up a ladder to get to the roof. There was a steep slant to the roof, and Astoria took care to follow Jayse to get to the proper position. She nocked an arrow to her bow, and the two of them sat on the roof waiting for something to happen. It wasn''t long before she heard a series of howls and saw about a dozen wolves burst out of the tall grass onto the road. They looked about the same as wolves on Earth, except for the fact that they appeared considerably larger. The beasts charged as a coordinated unit toward the chicken pen and began digging and tearing at the wire. The two of them stood up, and Astoria aimed while pulling the string back and tracking the movement of one of the wolves. She fired her first shot but missed. Taking a deep breath, she tried again and managed to hit it in its torso. The arrow was lodged deep into its flesh, and the wolf let out a yelp as it collapsed to the ground. Shortly after, Jayse scored a hit to the head of another wolf, killing it instantly. Most of the wolves continued tearing and digging at the chicken coop, trying to get to the livestock, but a few of them turned their attention toward the roof. They growled and saliva dripped from their fang filled mouths. Astoria was not at all concerned, however, as she was sure they were safe up on top of the roof of the farmhouse. She nocked and loosed over and over, and after a few minutes there were only five wolves left. Despite the deaths of their compatriots, they were not deterred from their crazed state. The wolves managed to break through to the chicken coop and three got inside through the hole in the enclosure. The chickens, which had been woken up by the noise, had been in a frenzy the whole time and now they clucked and jumped around in fear as the wolves tore into them. Outside the enclosure, there were only two wolves remaining and they had run to the porch of the house beneath them and were smashing into the door. They were so strong that it shook the house a little as they pounded against it. That was when it happened. Astoria lost her footing and rolled down the thatched roof slamming into the ground ten feet below. Before Astoria could even get her wits about her, the wolves were charging her. Her arrows had fallen from her quiver and were scattered around her on the ground. Panicked, she grabbed one by the shaft just before one of the wolves jumped on top of her and brought its jaw toward her neck. She blocked with her forearm and she felt as though it was about to snap right off. Her health bar began to drop at a prodigious rate. Using her free hand, she slammed the arrowhead deep into the beast''s throat over and over again until it died and the grip on her arm lessened. That wasn''t the end, though, as the other wolf had leapt onto her as well and had its mouth around her ankle. She screamed and kicked it in the head over and over again as she writhed around in pain. Astoria knew that she wouldn¡¯t be able to get help from Jayse. He wouldn¡¯t have a shot from his angle. She was on her own. The wolf began to drag her backward and she clawed the ground, kicking and screaming as it pulled her. Her arrows were out of reach, and her panic-riddled mind had almost forgotten that she had a dagger strapped to her thigh. She reached down and grabbed it. Her hand was slick with blood, but she managed to keep a firm grip on the hilt as she was dragged. The beast let go of her leg and leapt on top of her, going for her throat in much the same way the last one had. This time, however, she was ready. She plunged the foot long iron dagger up through the roof of its gaping maw and into its brain. Astoria panted, her breathing ragged and her HP down to 26/180. Reaching into her coat pocket she pulled out her last tiny vial of health potion and downed it quickly. It would take thirty seconds to finish doing its work, but she didn''t have time to sit around. Jayse had been yelling for her to climb back up. The three wolves inside the pen had torn through several of the chickens and hadn''t yet noticed her, but that couldn''t last. Astoria limped over to her bow and quickly scooped up a handful of arrows, shoving them into her quiver. Then she was on her way back to the ladder leading to the roof, but one of the wolves had spotted her and let out a blood curdling howl. The three predators left the chickens to focus on the bigger prey. "Get up the ladder!" Jayse screamed down at her as he fired off two shots in quick succession. Only one landed, but at least it took the wolf out of the fight. The other two were closing ground fast. She knew she would never make it to the ladder. Instead, she aimed and loosed an arrow, which caught one of the remaining wolves right in the eye. It face-planted into the ground, skidding a few feet as it died. The other wolf leapt at her, and she swung her bow like a baseball bat, smashing it into the beast''s head. The wolf shrugged off the attack after a moment and stood just a few feet away, growling and preparing to attack again. Astoria swung her bow again like a club, but this time the wolf caught it in its mouth and split the bow in half. Astoria yanked the sharp end of the broken bow back and then quickly stabbed it deep into the wolf''s throat. It gagged and choked, as the splinters got caught in its throat. Wasting no time at all, while it was choking, she dove onto its back, grappling it to the ground. The wolf thrashed, biting and kicking, but it didn''t matter as she had already taken out her dagger again and had it firmly in her grasp. Steel flashed in the moonlight as she plunged it down again and again into the side of the wolf until it lay still. She had nothing left, her stamina bar nothing more than a sliver and her HP bar showing 63/180. She flopped backward, and before passing out she saw Jayse rushing to her side. ¡°Hang in there, girl! Gods, I¡¯m such a coward! I¡¯m so sorry! Rodia! I need your help!¡± The next morning when Astoria awoke, she sat up and looked around wide-eyed, thinking there might be more wolves, but then realized she was in bed. She was surprised to find that she felt fine and her HP was completely restored. She was naked underneath the blanket, but her clothes had been cleaned and were sitting in a neat pile next to the bed. She got up and quickly got dressed. She also noticed a small pouch of coins that was tucked into the pile of her clothes. It contained two silver coins. Notifications blinked in the corner of her vision, but she ignored them for now and went out to the common room. Everyone was there and seemed to be fine. "Awake already, are you? You had a rough night, but we were able to get you back in good shape. I''m sorry I wasn''t more help last night..." Jayse looked down in shame. "I understand... you have your family to think of. You did everything you could," Astoria reassured him. She didn''t want these children to lose their father, and everything had worked out in the end anyway. "We have some breakfast ready for you," Rodia said, motioning toward the table, where a bowl of what looked like oatmeal was sitting. "We talked and we want you to know that you''re welcome to stay with us for as long as you want. But if you insist on continuing your journey, then I won''t let you leave without at least eating first." She smiled and gave her a look that said that she meant it. Astoria thanked her and sat down to eat. Even though oatmeal was not her favorite thing, she was glad to have any food at all and knew that she could not afford to be picky. They continued with small-talk while eating and she found that, despite nearly dying last night while fighting those wolves, it felt good that she had been able to help them with their problem. "We lost about a dozen chickens last night, but at least the problem has been dealt with," Jayse said while continuing to shovel oatmeal into his mouth. Apparently, he had a lot of work to do around the farm and had to start soon. While she finished up her breakfast, Astoria decided to go through her notifications.
Notifications
You have gained 640 EXP for defeating 8 wolves.
Congratulations! Your archery skill has increased to level 2!
You have completed the quest: Predator or Prey? Reward: ? 500 EXP ? 2 Silver Coins
Congratulations! You have reached levels 3, 4, and 5! You have gained 18 attribute points to distribute.
Wow! I can¡¯t believe I went up three whole levels for just a night¡¯s work! The bad news, of course, was that her clothes were torn in several places and her bow was broken. There was nothing to be done about it though. Considering the fact that she was leaning toward using bows and daggers, she decided that it would be wise to increase her endurance, agility and dexterity some more. She allocated three points into each. More health is also important, so she placed two points into vitality. Luck might help her in subtle but useful ways as well, so she placed one point into the attribute. She saved the remaining six points. Having some points available for a rainy day sounded like a good idea, and who could say when she would level again. She looked over her status screen. Her stats were really coming along nicely now. "I''m going to head into town now. I just want to thank you guys for everything you''ve done for me. If you need my help in the future and if I''m still in this area, just seek me out and I will do whatever I can to help." She smiled and stood up to go to the door. "One second, we have one more thing we want to give you." Jayse stood up from the table and went into his room. He came back out holding a bow in his hand, as well as a bundle of arrows in the other that was tied together with twine. "This is my old bow. It isn''t much, but it is better than the one you had been using. I thought you could use it since yours is broken." He held the items out to her and she accepted them gratefully. The arrows were of the same basic sort she already had taken from the goblin. She examined the bow.
Common Short Bow
? Quality: Average ? Durability: 45/48
Just as she would''ve expected of the gruff old farmer; it had been taken care of well. It was definitely an improvement over the beat up goblin bow she had been using. Asoria said farewell to the kind farmer and his family. She would always love and miss her own family despite all of their problems, but she couldn''t help but look forward to her new life here. This is living. I''ve wanted adventure my whole life, and I finally get to live my fantasies instead of daydreaming about them. She shouldered her new bow and began the journey down the dirt road toward the unknown adventures that would surely be in her future. Spoiler:Astoria''s Stats
Name Astoria
Level 005 (1370/2251 EXP to next Level)
Class None
HP 210/210 MP 150/150
AP 6
Attributes
Vitality 14 Magic 10
Endurance 15 Magic Resistance 10
Strength 10 Luck 7
Agility 14
Dexterity 13
Abilities
? Kleptomancy
Skills
? Archery - Level 2 (13% toward next level)
Chapter 5: Exploring Oliend The morning was uneventful, and Astoria was content with the relaxing walk after the action of the night before. She spent the time lost in thought. Even though she had not had the easiest go at life in her 16 years on Earth, she couldn''t imagine how hard it would be growing up in such a hostile world as this one. The people here were brave to live so close to the edge of the forested mountain. The idea of having the threat of monsters attacking your family every day would probably be unimaginable for anyone from her era on Earth where it was rare to even hear of animal attacks. Dirt crunched beneath her boots in a steady rhythm as she kept a good pace. Astoria looked around at the fields that stretched far in every direction, filling her vision with a sea of gold swaying in the gentle breeze. It was surprisingly warm out even though it was early in the morning still. Astoria wondered if she had come to this land in the summer. Farmers working their fields and going about their daily chores took note of her as she passed. No one said anything to her but she could tell that, just like Jayse, they were wary of strangers. It was hard to believe that these were just NPCs. Everything and everyone she had met so far were so realistic. She couldn''t bring herself to think of them as pieces of code even though logically that is exactly what they were. Then again, she was probably the same at this point if the announcement yesterday morning had been truthful. Her physical body was dead and somehow her mind lived on inside this game. Her musings came to an end when a wagon came up from behind her, hauling stacks of hay. She moved to the side so that it could pass but then got an idea that maybe she could catch a ride to town. She imagined the kind farmer from The Eye of the World who had helped Rand al''Thor and Matt Cauthon after leaving the town of Whitebridge. Astoria waved for him to stop, and the farmer pulled on the reigns and the carriage came to a stop next to her. "Sorry to bother you, but if you''re headed into town, could I catch a ride on the back of your cart?" she asked hopefully. The man eyed her suspiciously and spat to the side before answering her, "We don''t trust outsiders around here. Too many bandits and cutthroats about lately. Sorry, but I just can''t take a chance on a stranger. Oliend is only a few miles away. You''ll make it on your own just fine, young lady." And with that the farmer left her standing in the road alone. Dust flew behind the wagon as it sped away, causing her to cough. So much for that... she thought and waited for the dust to clear before moving on. This was the second time someone had mentioned bandits to her. Maybe there''s a nice reward for ridding this area of their bandit problem, she mused to herself. It would be worth looking into. It took a little while, but she was finally able to catch her first glimpse of the town from up close. It wasn''t very big, but it looked busy just the same with people scurrying about doing this and that. She was pleased to be back in civilization of a sort. The buildings in the town were made of wood with red tile roofs, and there were houses clustered to either side of the main street behind various shops. She walked past a blacksmith''s forge that let out a cacophony of noises as the smiths pounded metal to make what looked like various farming tools. The heat radiating from the forge was too much for her and she didn''t linger long before moving on. She walked past two inns and decided to check them out later to see how much they charged. Before that, she wanted to buy some things. Jayse had given her two silver coins for helping him kill the wolves, and honestly she had no idea what that could buy her in this world. She thought that it was likely that this game used the common system of currency where 100 copper coins were worth one silver coin and 100 silver coins were worth one gold coin. She confirmed this by asking a random person who was out running errands. Astoria was also able to learn that what she had earned was roughly a week''s wages for a standard laborer. Not bad for a night''s work. Astoria continued to explore the town until she found the general store and went inside. The small store was well lit from the window in front, and the merchandise was displayed in an organized way. There were two rows of shelves that ran the length of the store, as well as built-in shelves that lined each of the walls. For the most part, it seemed like the place was stocked with household items that a local might need rather than the types of things that an adventurer like herself would want. She didn''t see anything like potions, maps, or spell books. She hoped that the shopkeeper had more useful items in the back room. He was a portly, balding man in his middle years who wore an apron that had a fair number of stains. He came out from behind the counter and introduced himself, "Welcome to my store. We have all the finest merchandise in the region. I''m Eld. How can I help you this fine day?" Astoria had learned from other games that she would be able to haggle, but considering she had no skill as a merchant, she probably wouldn''t be able to get him to budge much, if at all. "I''m Astoria, a traveler. I''m passing through this town and looking for a few things to help me on my journey. I''m hoping you can help me." "Of course, of course. I have a little bit of everything here. What is it that you''re looking for specifically?" His forehead seemed to glisten in the early afternoon light that shone through the window. "First of all, do you have a bag that can hold large quantities of items? One that folds space using magic, I mean," she asked hopefully. She had been wishing for an inventory ever since she had to leave behind the goblin''s spiked club. The club probably wasn''t worth much, but she could''ve tried to sell it. The merchant frowned at her before replying, "Sorry, miss, but I haven''t heard of such a thing. If it exists, it would have to be magically crafted and would be exceedingly expensive and difficult to procure way out here. Your best chance of finding such a thing would be in Elivaster or the capital. Both lie to the north of here. Is there anything else you need, though?" "How about a map? Maybe a magical map that could show my current location?" She wasn''t hopeful at this point as it seemed like magical items were not easy to obtain in this area. What I wouldn¡¯t give for a phone and Google maps about now. "I do have a map that fits that description. Currently the map only shows information for the local area as far as Elivaster, but it will learn new areas as you explore and it will allow you to see your current location. If you make it to the capital, the Traveler''s Guild can update the map with more areas for a fee. This is my personal map, but... I could be persuaded to part with it for a price." The balding man smiled at her with a wolfish grin. "How much are you asking for it?" It was unlikely she could afford it now, but maybe if she spent some time in this area earning money, then she could get it before moving on. "I couldn''t part with such a useful item for less than 4 gold." He wrung his hands together. Astoria was going to have to disappoint the man, as there was no way she could pay that much, and even if she had the money, she knew that price had to be high. Sighing to herself, she replied, "Maybe another time... at the moment I could not possibly afford something so expensive. Do you have any healing potions?" Eld frowned again. "We have three kinds of health potions that I keep in stock here. Weak Health Potions go for 25 coppers each, Minor Health Potions go for 72 coppers each, and Greater Health Potions go for 1 silver and 36 coppers each." Astoria couldn''t believe how expensive everything was. She needed to find a way to farm up some loot fast or she''d be living homeless and destitute forever. "Would you be willing to sell me two of the weak potions for 40 coppers?" "I can let two of them go for 45 coppers, but no less. You see, the ingredients to make such potions are hard to come by way out here, and the town does not have a local alchemist." It killed her to be spending this much of her tiny amount of money on this, but she didn''t want to be without health potions when she needed them. "Okay. I''ll take them. Also, do you have a regular bag and perhaps a non-magical map?" She braced herself, knowing that the cost would likely be high just like everything else. "I have a bag in stock that straps across your chest and I have a standard map of this area as well. I can let go of both items for only 20 coppers." That price seemed reasonable to her. "I''ll take them." Astoria followed the shopkeeper over to his counter and slid over a silver coin. When all was said and done, she had 1 silver and 35 coppers left. She placed the potions and her map into her new bag and left the shop. As in most towns, there was a tavern, and inside she found a board with various requests nailed to it. Many of the requests were for mundane things, like farm hands to help with the harvest or someone to carry casks of ale into one of the inns when they were delivered. She spotted two that might be useful to her, but they sounded dangerous. One was to clear out a bandit group that had set up camp in a cave somewhere in the Serpentine Mountains, which was the region she had just come from. She didn''t really want to go back up into the mountains until she was stronger. The other was to exterminate a goblin outpost that had popped up to the east. When she asked the barkeep about the goblins, he told her that the goblins had been encroaching into the valley more and more and that farms in that direction had been victim to raids. Homes had been burned and whole families had been murdered. Lord Garland had apparently sent word to the lord at Elivaster, but it would take time to get there and even longer for help to actually arrive. "No one knows for sure how many goblins are in that encampment, probably only around a dozen according to reports. Goblins don''t tend to work well in larger groups except under the command of greater goblins, and because this group is so small, it''s unlikely you''d run into any of the nastier varieties of goblinoids," the barkeep explained to her.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. Astoria didn''t like her odds going up against a dozen goblins when she had just barely survived against two of the things, but she reminded herself that she had leveled up and gotten some combat experience since then. Not to mention, she was now properly armed and would have the element of surprise on her side. She decided that this was the quest she''d take on. "Alright, I''ll do it. I''ll clear out that goblin camp for you," she announced, trying to sound confident. The barkeep looked doubtful and said, "Alone? I wouldn''t advise it... but it''s your life. I''d be sad to see a young girl like you come to a brutal end at the hands of those things." Astoria didn''t like being underestimated. She had always been very good at games and had been especially good at playing stealthy characters. She needed to do this to get stronger, and the barkeep wasn''t going to change her mind. She had no intention of spending the rest of her life in this game living as a farmer or something. Astoria resolved to take on this quest no matter what, and a quest prompt appeared.
You have been offered a quest: Repel the Invaders!
The farms to the east of Oliend have been set upon by goblins! The goblins have been burning and pillaging everything they lay their eyes upon! Help will not arrive in time and something must be down soon if lives and homes are to be saved. Eliminate the threat to the village using any means necessary. Reward: ? 1000 EXP ? 20 Silver, 57 Copper Do you accept? Yes / No
She selected yes and then pulled out her map. "Can you mark the approximate location of the goblins on here?" "Hmm... Let''s see..." The barkeep held the map in his hands and then pointed. "From the reports we''ve gotten from farms living in the direction of the attacks, the general location of the goblins would be here. I still don''t think it''s wise to go alone..." he repeated, trying to convince her that it was foolish to take on a dozen goblins alone. She thanked the barkeep and left the tavern. She decided that it was time for her to find someplace to sleep for the night and some food. After wandering the town a bit more, she came to The Whispering Willow, a small inn that had a gigantic willow tree next to it. The long drooping branches of the tree shifted in the breeze, and the inn looked like a welcoming enough place. Inside the inn, there was a common area that had tables, and a pleasant aroma wafted its way out of the kitchen. The innkeeper, who was a kindly, old woman, informed Astoria that the cost for room and board for a night would be 25 coppers. Gritting her teeth at the expense, she paid the fee. The innkeeper told showed her to her room and told her that dinner was going to be available soon. The room was small and plain, but the bed looked comfortable. She set her bow and new bag down on the ground by the door. She then went to the wash basin in the corner and poured some water out of the large pitcher next to it. There was a small mirror above it, and she took a moment to look at herself. The game hadn''t given her any choices as far as character design, and she hadn''t thought to look at herself until now, but it appeared that she still looked as she had on Earth, except that on Earth she had needed to wear glasses. She was slender and short in stature. Her pale skin and freckles, along with her long red hair, clearly marked the Irish blood in her family. She decided that her face looked better without her thick glasses, maybe even pretty. After washing herself with the cold water and a rag, she headed down to the common room. There were a few groups of people seated at tables throughout the large open room. She sat down at an empty table near the window facing the street and watched the people outside going about their evenings. The kindly, old innkeeper, whose name was Elena, stopped by her table and sat down. "Hello again, dearie," she placed her forearms on the table and looked at Astoria appraisingly before continuing, "aren''t you awfully young to be travelling alone?" Astoria wished she looked older than she did so that she could avoid these kinds of conversations. It seemed to be a pattern that every time she met anyone, they saw her as a child who didn''t fit in to things out in the world alone. It was starting to grate on her, but this woman''s intentions were surely nothing but good. She gave off a kind grandmotherly vibe, so Astoria answered truthfully, "I don''t really have anyone in this world to rely on except for myself. I''ve come from far away, but don''t worry, I have taken care of myself just fine so far." "I''m sure you have... It sounds like you''ve been through a lot." She stood up and brushed off her apron. "What would you like for dinner? We have roast pork or baked chicken. Both come with a side of bread and cheese. I can also bring you a cup of tea if you''d like." The kindly woman glanced around the common room while waiting patiently for an answer. Astoria asked for the chicken and the tea, and Elena gave her a warm smile before heading back to the kitchen. While waiting, Astoria glanced around at the other tables. Most of the patrons were clearly local townsfolk who had just come in for a warm meal, but there was one table whose occupants stood out to her as different from the rest. Three large men sat at the table. They all had weapons and wore black boiled leather armor. She wondered what these guys were doing in a town like this. Maybe they were here to hunt the goblins or bandits. They saw her glancing their way, and one of them smiled and winked at her. Astoria immediately looked away and that was really the last thought she gave to them as Elena came back holding a plate filled with a large serving of food. The food smelled amazing, just like something you''d expect from a grandmother type of person. It was all cooked perfectly, the chicken was succulent and whatever was in the sauce on top of it tasted absolutely divine. The bread reminded her of french bread as the crust had a slight crunch and the inside was fluffy. It tasted wonderful dipped in the sauce of the chicken and also paired well with the marbled chunk of cheese that accompanied the meal. She ate the entire thing and was uncomfortably full afterward. The tea was also good, sweet with some slight bitterness. After the meal, she made sure to thank Elena and bid her good night. As she made her way up the stairs, she couldn''t believe how well things had gone so far that day. She managed to get some useful items and had even found a way to make a bunch of money. She removed her boots and climbed into bed. After a full night''s sleep, she would journey east to scout for the goblin camp. Once she found it, she would wait until nightfall and try to take them out quietly. She thought it was a smart plan, and even though there was a ball of fear in her stomach, she also felt that she could complete her task as long as she was careful. With these thoughts and many others circling around in her head, she drifted off to sleep. Astoria awoke thinking she had heard a noise, and when she opened her eyes, she saw one of the men from that table earlier looming over her beside the bed. She tried to jump up and scream, but he quickly clamped a hand over her mouth. She bit him but he didn''t budge, and she saw another one of the men at the foot of her bed, holding ropes. She kicked her legs and tried to scream but her voice was muffled. She wasn''t strong enough to pry the hand off her mouth. Frantically, she reached beneath her pillow and grabbed the hilt of the dagger that she had hidden there. She quickly brought the dagger up and sliced her attacker''s arm. He cursed and let go immediately, and she wrenched her body sideways quickly, utilizing her recently enhanced agility, and slid the dagger across his throat. He fell to the ground, gurgling blood as he gasped for the briefest of moments before bleeding out. The other man had grabbed her legs, and she intended to do a sit-up and stab at him to get free, but she hadn''t seen the third man, who had rushed over and was now right next to her. Astoria''s world spun when the man backhanded her with all his strength right across the side of her face. Then he grabbed her wrist, squeezing so hard that she felt like it would break. Whimpering, she lost her grip and the dagger clanged to the ground. "You big strong boys can''t even handle one little girl? I practically handed her to you on a silver platter and now look what happened. I''m going to have to clean all this up later," a woman''s familiar voice came from the darkness. A moment later she came into view. It was Elena, the kindly, old innkeeper. Astoria''s legs were tied at the ankles, and the man who had smacked her shoved a gag into her mouth, tying it around her head. Tears fell free as she wept helplessly while the men efficiently continued tying her up. Her hands were bound behind her back and that was it, she was at their mercy. Elena came close. The kind grandmother-like visage was completely gone and a wicked sneer now marred her face. "She''ll sell for a great price in the market in Geddon." The woman reached over with a bony hand and grabbed her face, examining her. "You were much too trusting. A pretty little thing like yourself should have never gone traveling alone. Never can tell for sure who you can trust." She laughed a little in her raspy old voice. "Take her. I''ll see you boys next time." The man who had winked at her earlier handed Elena a pouch of coins that clinked as he handed it over. The other man proceeded to pick Astoria up and flipped her over his shoulder. They carried her out of the quiet inn toward a covered wagon. He took her around the back and Astoria saw that the wagon had a steel cage hidden underneath the roof. The man opened the cage''s sturdy metal door, which creaked loudly. He then casually tossed her inside and locked the door. It appeared that she wasn''t the only unfortunate soul to have been taken by these men, as there were other shapes inside the cage. There wasn''t anything she could do to escape. Her hands and feet dripped blood and stung from the effort she had put into trying to escape the bonds, and she knew that her face had to be swollen as it still throbbed where she had been smacked. The wagon began to move, and just like that, she had been captured, sold and was on her way to god knows where. This can''t be happening! Her muffled cries died against her gag. This is a game! A fucking game... How can they let something like this happen? She had been so naive and foolish. It hadn''t even crossed her mind that something like this could happen to her here. She had forgotten, even for just a short time, that this was in fact no longer a game. It was just like the real world, where there were bad people who did bad things. She should have been more vigilant. Sobbing, she lay on the bed of the wagon, uncomfortable and cramping up a bit. After hours and hours of silence, save from some quiet moans and weeping from the other girls in the cage, she fell into a nightmare filled sleep. Spoiler: Astoria''s Stats
Name Astoria
Level 005 (1670/2251 EXP to next Level)
Class None
HP 210/210 MP 150/150
AP 6
Attributes
Vitality 14 Magic 10
Endurance 15 Magic Resistance 10
Strength 10 Luck 7
Agility 14
Dexterity 13
Abilities
? Kleptomancy
Skills
? Archery - Level 2 (13% toward next level)
Chapter 6: The Red Lotus Astoria awoke when the wagon hit a large bump in the rough dirt road, and she tumbled sideways into the bars of the cage. A groan escaped her gagged mouth, and it took her a moment to remember where she was. Panic once again rose within her, and she struggled with everything she had to break free of her bonds, but it was still a futile attempt and once more she had worked her wrists raw. She closed her eyes tightly, trying to ignore the stinging pain. Her mind drifted toward thoughts of her family. At least in the real world she had people who cared about her, and nothing like this would have happened to her. Her thoughts turned to her sister, Sarah, who had left for college a couple years ago. When they were young, they had been especially close and Sarah was the one who introduced her to most of her hobbies. They both used to spend countless hours watching anime and playing various video games together. As they grew older, Sarah lost interest in their shared hobbies and focused on other things, like boys. They drifted apart little by little, but she could always count on her big sister whenever things got tough. That was the reason she felt so hurt when she found out that Sarah was going to school so far away from home. Now she knew that she would never see her again, and that wound of losing her opened anew. Tears leaked out of her tightly closed eyes, and she pulled herself back to the present. Her story couldn''t end like this. She had to find some way to escape. Astoria did the best she could to pull herself together a little, and after a short while, she opened her eyes and took the time to examine her surroundings. The cage was customized to fit underneath the canvas of the wagon. It had curved steel bars at the top that ran from back to nearly the front of the vehicle like ribs in a monstrous beast that had swallowed her. A large image of a red lotus flower was set into the inside of the canvas. Scooting herself around quietly, she was able to see that both of her captors sat at the front of the wagon and that there were three other girls tied and gagged as she was. At first she wondered if they had all been taken from the same village, but judging from the look of them, they had probably been here longer. Two of them were awake but neither of them struggled against their bonds as she had. One of the two appeared to be about the same size and age as her and had long brown hair that fell in ringlets around her. The girl had a glazed look in her eyes as though she was dead to the world. Astoria visibly shuddered thinking of what might have been done to her in order to put that blank look into her eyes. Astoria looked over at the other girl who was awake and saw that pointy ears poked out of her straight blonde hair. Astoria was surprised to see her first elf since coming into this world. Elves were typically beings who lived long lives, sometimes stretching millennia depending on the lore of a given game or book. She realized that this woman could be anywhere from her age to thousands of years old. There was a fire behind the elf''s green eyes that must have mirrored her own. Neither of them would give up fighting until their last breath. The emptiness and self-pity Astoria had been feeling since she was captured the night before slowly bled away and was replaced by a strong feeling that burned deep within. It grew like a wildfire bursting to life and only got stronger. This feeling was rage. She hated that these people captured those weaker than themselves. She felt deep hatred for the woman who had sold her out. Finally, she also found that she had feelings of hatred toward the developers of the game. What kind of sick monsters would let stuff like this happen? It was a whole other level of depravity than to allow for her and millions of others to be trapped inside a game world. It was one thing to face the very real possibility of being killed by monsters or the like, and a completely different thing for the game to allow for people to be stolen away in the night and sold like cattle. Considering that all the captives were female, she thought that there was a good chance they were going to be sold into some sort of underground sex trade. She would die before giving up. They wouldn''t get away with this so long as there was a single breath left in her body. There had to be some way she could escape and bring justice to the scumbags that held them all captive. Astoria''s vengeance would be swift and brutal against the two men holding her, and then she would make her way back to the old innkeeper, bringing justice in her wake. Astoria wouldn''t stop there, however. She promised herself that she would work her way through the organization like the black plague had once ravaged Europe. A notification window popped up.
You have unlocked a hidden quest: Destroy the Red Lotus
An underground flesh trading organization that captures young girls and sells them off to the highest bidders as slaves has ravaged the kingdom of Regulus for years now. Unravel the secrets behind this organization and bring it down once and for all. Avenge the innocent and free the kingdom from this scourge! Reward: Unknown Do you accept? Yes / No
She accepted the quest with rage building within her heart. Apparently, the universe wanted to reward her on her quest for vengeance, and she would happily take it. Astoria felt foolish for forgetting, but she still had stat points to allocate from her last level. She hadn''t even checked how much experience she gained when she slit the throat of one of her captors. Hoping against hope that increasing her stats might somehow help her escape this situation, she opened up her notifications.
Notifications
You have gained 300 EXP for defeating level 8 Cutthroat.
Not enough experience to level again. She poured all 6 of her remaining stat points from the previous level into strength, bringing it up to a total of 16. Her muscles immediately got a little bigger and more well-defined. She felt her newfound strength blossom inside her, but would it be enough? Once more she strained against her bonds and they gave ever so slightly. It wouldn''t be enough. She still wasn''t strong enough to break free. She let out a frustrated groan through the gag, and even though she was surely heard by the drivers, they just ignored her and kept talking to each other quietly up front. After hours and hours of riding down the bumpy road, the wagon came to a stop and both men jumped down and came around back. One of the two sneered at her with derision as he opened the gate and then reached in, grabbing her by her bound ankles. Astoria wiggled and kicked with both feet and caught the man in the stomach, but he was like a rock and didn''t even budge. He just laughed and yanked her out of the wagon roughly. She saw stars again as her head smacked against the ground. "Hey! Be careful with the merchandise! We won''t get nearly as good a price for her if she''s broken, you know." The other man, who apparently was in charge, angrily shoved him out of the way and picked her up like she was a sack of potatoes, casually throwing her over his shoulder and walking over toward the nearby stream. "Grab the others and be quick about it. Remember, we don''t want to have to answer to the boss if we damage precious merchandise without a good reason." Despite being in a bit of a daze from hitting her head, she knew she had one other ace up her sleeve that could maybe help her. Astoria activated her Kleptomancy ability on the man carrying her. The sound of a notification played and the familiar blinking icon appeared in her peripheral vision. Success! She had stolen another skill.
Notifications
Congratulations! You have learned the skill Fishing! At level 1 you have a 5% increased chance to catch fish and have gained some basic knowledge about how to fish. With a trusty fishing rod in your hand and this invaluable skill, you will never have to worry about going hungry so long as there is a body of water nearby!
Fishing?! she screamed in her head and began kicking and squirming anew in a fit of futile rage as she was carried effortlessly over to the riverbank and dropped to the ground. What the hell is up with this ability? Is the game just messing with me or what? Now I can¡¯t even use the ability again for two whole days! Who knows where I might be by then and if I¡¯ll even get anything any more useful than this when I do use it. Ugh! Astoria glared up at the man with pure hatred in her eyes. He smirked and winked at her again before moving off to gather firewood from a nearby downed tree whose broken stump jutted up from the water. Meanwhile, the second man had dropped two of the three other girls off by her and was on his way back to get the last. She visibly shuddered in rage and hopelessness as she wondered what they were going to do to them. "Bren, go grab the bucket. These ones are starting to smell ripe," the man in charge hollered, turning his nose up at them and chuckling, as he dropped off a few pieces of firewood and began to make a fire. "Yeah, yeah," Bren grumbled as he went about his tasks. He came back with the last girl tossed over his shoulder and a small wooden bucket in his other hand. After depositing his cargo onto the ground, he proceeded to strip them down to their small clothes and then ran their clothes under the water of the stream before hanging them to dry. She had been momentarily released from her bonds while she was being stripped down, but Bren had been careful to restrain her again right after, and so she hadn''t been able to even think of escaping. Afterward, he filled the bucket and emptied the frigid water over each of them in succession. It was the most humiliating thing she had ever experienced. The four of them were positioned so that they could sit on the ground, mostly naked and shivering, as they drip dried. Luckily, the fire was not far away, so it was a little less freezing after a few minutes. The leader went to the wagon and brought back a large sack. He pulled out some bread, cheese, and dried salted meat. After taking a big bite out of the meat, he turned toward the four of them. "If you can be good, then I''ll remove your gags and let you eat. If you''re naughty..." he glanced directly at Astoria, "well... then you''ll just have to go hungry. Understand?" He waited for responses. Astoria wanted to spit and tell him to go to hell, but she knew that if she was to have any hope of escaping, she would need to not be starving, and so she nodded her assent. "See, Bren, I told you that even the strongest willed ones could be reasoned with." Bending down, he undid each of their gags. The fourth girl, who had been asleep most of the journey, began begging immediately. "Please! Please let me go! Just please let me go... I promise I won''t tell anyone about you... I just wanna go home!" She let out a sob. The leader shook his head in disappointment almost like a parent who was disappointed in the actions of their child. He casually slapped the girl so hard that she fell to her side again, her cheek flaring red and blood dripping from the side of her lip. "See what you made me do?" he shook his head, "Do not speak unless I tell you to speak and everything will be just fine." Astoria struggled to contain herself and was visibly shaking. The man took note of her and misunderstood her anger for fear. "Don''t be scared, darlin''. You''re too valuable as merchandise for us to do any permanent damage to you. So long as you''re quiet and do as you''re told, you''ll get to keep breathing." He chuckled again to himself. "Who knows, maybe you''ll get bought by a nice noble who might just take pity on you and treat you well." He proceeded to feed each of them a chunk of bread, a few bites of cheese and a small piece of dried meat. The man grabbed her face before shoving food at her. Astoria felt bile rise up from her stomach when he touched her, but she forced it back down and ate the food. None of it tasted good. It was all stale, and even the salted dried meat had little flavor and was as tough as a piece of leather. But food is food. Bren and the other man, whose name turned out to be Lyon, talked freely while the four girls sat bound nearby, and Astoria was able to glean that the journey to Geddon would take another week. From there they would be transferred into the custody of a higher-up in their organization and readied for sale at some sort of underground auction. It was unbelievable that something like this was happening to her, but she would not give in to despair. She would have more opportunities to steal skills and maybe she''d gain a useful skill that would help her escape. She didn''t allow herself to hope for much in that regard considering that her recent acquisition of the Fishing skill was soul-crushingly disappointing. But she was sure there would be other opportunities to escape. She just had to be careful and bide her time. Her hands and feet were tied with a thick, rough piece of rope. She felt around with her fingers as inconspicuously as possible while Lyon and Bren were distracted in conversation. It took a bit of work but she found what she had been hoping for: a small rock with a sharp edge. She was so excited by this that she had to struggle to avoid smiling wickedly, thinking of the sweet revenge she would have against these two if she got the opportunity. Carefully, she slid the rock down into her underwear. Although it was a bit uncomfortable, the rock was successfully concealed. With time and care, she might be able to cut the ropes.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. She didn''t go completely unnoticed, however. The elf woman had seen what she was doing and gave the slightest of nods to her, seemingly to acknowledge that when the time comes, she wouldn''t be alone in an escape attempt. Astoria was pretty sure the other two girls would be no help, though. The one who had been slapped around earlier was a complete mess and continued softly whimpering on the ground. The other one just sat in place with the same dead look in her eyes, not moving. Something bad had definitely happened to that one. As the evening dragged on, Astoria became increasingly lost in her thoughts. She felt bad for her family who would find her lifeless body in her room, hooked up to the VR helmet. She still didn''t understand how she hadn''t run into a single other player yet. It was true that she had no idea how vast this world was, but with 24 million players, it stood to reason that there should have been at least a few others who spawned near her. She supposed that even if they had, maybe they had died before they even knew what was going on. Another possibility was that she had run into other players without knowing it. Maybe even one of these girls was a player like herself. Astoria imagined the outrage and outcry over all the dead players that had to be happening right now. Surely the game''s creators would be brought to justice. It was during this line of thought that it hit her: there was no way that the people who made this world would not have entered it themselves. They must have known what would happen when it was discovered that they had been responsible for the deaths of millions of people. That meant that they were here somewhere. It was more than likely that they had even set themselves up in places of power. After all, why would they want to have any chance of starting out in danger as she had? She had a feeling that if she sought out the most powerful people in the game world, the game''s creators would be among them. Hurting them or bringing them to some sort of justice was so far beyond her current reach that it was laughable, however, and it just made her more irritated. There was nothing to be done about that for now and she had to focus on what she could do. That meant biding her time and watching for escape opportunities. Lyon had said they wouldn''t kill her or permanently damage her, but how far would that take her? Could she get away with killing Bren without bringing about her own death? She had killed their other companion without reprimand, but something told her that Lyon would not be so merciful if it happened again. "Bren, go get their new clothes. It''s time to put them back in for the night." Lyon turned to look over at them. "Since most of you were good, you three get to keep your gags off for the night. See? Am I a nice guy, or what?" Bren went to the wagon and came back with four plain-looking dresses. One by one, they were put into their new clothes and then re-bound and casually tossed back into the cage. "Take the first shift," Lyon said to his companion as they climbed up onto the front seat of the wagon. He then leaned back, grabbed a hat from the seat beside him, put it over his face and went to sleep. The wagon pulled away and crossed a bridge before continuing to follow the road downstream. Astoria decided this was her chance. She slid her dress up until it was high enough that she could wiggle her fingers into the back of her underwear. She felt the smooth edge of the small rock and pulled it out quietly, all the while keeping a careful eye on the objects of her hatred up front. Scooting herself over behind the elf for cover, she turned and the two exchanged meaningful looks before Astoria began the task of sawing the sharp edge of the rock against the rope binding her hands. It was long and arduous work and she had no idea if she was making progress at all. She couldn''t risk asking her ally about her progress. She had dropped the rock several times, but after a few hours, the rope snapped free and her hands were loose. Rather than trying to free her feet right away, she decided to help her ally. After making sure that she was blocked from view, she quietly worked to free the elf''s hands. Once both of their hands were free, they worked on getting their feet unbound. It felt so good to have the coarse ropes off her wrists and ankles. There was only a bit of moonlight that shone through now and again from the front, but she cringed when she saw how raw her wrists and ankles were from being bound so long. Astoria now had to quietly make her way to the others and untie them without being seen. She thought they likely wouldn''t help in her escape attempt, but she couldn¡¯t just leave them like this and escape without them. She undid the ropes of the girl who had been begging for freedom earlier, and hoped that the girl could be quiet, as their chance at freedom hung by a tenuous thread. The girl remained quiet, thankfully. If they were discovered now, none of this effort would matter and she would probably never get the same opportunity to grab anything like a sharp rock again. She unbound the dead-eyed girl last and vowed to herself that she would see justice done for this poor soul. After that it was a waiting game. They stuck the rope over their ankles and held their hands behind their backs against the bars of their cage. Hours went by and morning light peaked through at them through the canvas, offering some light. It was still a long while, around mid-morning, before the wagon came to a stop. The two men hopped down from their seats and Astoria signaled to her allies and got ready. Bren had a short sword on his belt as well as a dagger in his boot. If they could get weapons, then they could fight. It was their only chance. They would have the element of surprise on their side, but would it be enough? Lyon told Bren to take them out of the wagon so that they could relieve themselves while he prepares a fire for breakfast. The large man climbed into the back of the wagon and took out a rusty looking key. The cage door creaked loudly as he opened it and stepped inside. The four of them had moved as far to the back of the cage as possible so that he''d have to come all the way in to get them. He sneered at them thinking they had merely been cowering in fear. "Now, now, lassies, I won''t bite... too hard." A wicked grin came across his face as he strode over toward the girl who had been slapped the night before. Everything happened in an instant. Astoria''s heart pounded with fear and anticipation, and adrenaline filled her veins. The elf dove right for the man''s feet, wrapping her arms around him and causing him to fall sideways. The bars let out a clanging noise as his head smashed into the side of the cage. Astoria was on her feet and could really feel the difference in her body with her upgraded agility. She could now move much more nimbly than before, and she used this to her advantage, closing the distance instantly and yanking the dagger from Bren''s boot. It took all of half a second for her to bring the dagger down into the man''s chest. He had tried to yell but never really got it all the way out. Blood came freely from the wound and out of his mouth as he choked and coughed his dying breaths. The elf had also managed to take Bren''s short sword. The three girls leapt out of the back of the wagon, while the dead-eyed girl continued to just sit in place. I''m free! Astoria thought happily as her bare feet hit the ground. Lyon had a shocked look on his face and an armload of firewood. This look was quickly replaced with rage, and he dropped the wood to the ground and unsheathed his long sword. Steel rang in the air as it cleared its scabbard. Astoria gulped. She remembered that the one she had killed in the inn had been level 8, and so logic dictated that Lyon''s level would be about the same or higher, and she was merely level 5. Luckily, she was not alone. "Looks like you girls have been very naughty..." Lyon grimaced, rage showing clearly on his face. "You have two options in front of you now. You can drop those weapons and get back inside the easy way, or I can slice and dice you until you drop them and I''ll throw you back inside myself." They stood motionless for a moment. Surely this guy couldn''t overwhelm all of them if they worked together. They had to defeat him to get their freedom. She wouldn¡¯t be deterred from the task at hand. Just as Astoria was going to answer, the elf spoke. "Never again will I be put into a cage. And you shall never again put another in one. Today is the day you die." The elf turned herself sideways with her sword held out in some sort of sword stance and prepared to fight. Lyon just sighed to himself. "The hard way it is then." She had thought it would be a two versus one fight since the third girl had no weapon, but was surprised when she saw that didn''t stop the girl from trying to help. The girl grabbed hand sized rocks off the ground and began throwing them at Lyon as he advanced carefully toward them. They did literally no damage since he was wearing armor. Astoria and the elf circled to either side of him. Knowing she didn''t have any reach with just a dagger, she needed to be careful. Lyon didn''t really seem to see her as a threat and focused most of his attention on the elf. He lunged toward the elf swinging, but she managed to parry the blade with her own and jump back to avoid his fist as he had tried to punch her with his free hand. As she jumped back he quickly changed directions and ran at the girl who had been throwing rocks. She let out a yelp and tried to turn and run, but he was too fast. Lyon yanked her back by her hair and smashed the pommel of his long sword into the side of her head. She fell to the ground and the fight was down to just the three of them. Astoria wasn''t confident in their chances at victory. The elf seemed to at least know what she was doing with her weapon, whereas she had no formal training in any kind of fighting. Ignoring Astoria, Lyon continued his fight with the elf. They moved so quickly it was almost like watching a dance. The metal clanged loudly every time the weapons met. Astoria was finding herself frozen in fear. This guy knew how to use that thing, and she was just a sixteen year old girl from Earth. What chance did she have? The elf managed to score a hit, stabbing her weapon into his shoulder. It bit deeply but she didn''t get a free hit as he kicked her in the middle with his boots. The elf was pushed backward and held a hand on her middle while squaring up again. "You''ve fought well, but I can see you''re getting tired. You won''t be able to beat me. And that little one over there," he pointed his sword toward Astoria, "is even more useless than the one on the ground. Give it up and I''ll make sure you''re on the good list for being sold to nobles and not the one for whore houses." Astoria needed to move and help but she was afraid of this man. Move! she shouted in her head. The elf needed her help. He was right; she looked to be getting exhausted. Lyon didn''t seem at all worried about his wound, and a moment later she realized why. He casually pulled a potion out from his belt pouch and downed it in one swig. Whatever that thing was, it was a much better potion than the ones she had taken from the goblins, as after just a brief moment he rotated his arm around in a circle testing the shoulder as though he hadn¡¯t just been stabbed there. He raised his sword and looked to be ready to resume the fight. Lyon advanced again and the dance continued. The elf fought to kill with everything she had, while Lyon fought only to injure his ''merchandise'' so that he could recover them. The elf had been making more and more desperate moves, trying to finish the fight. Astoria finally shook off her fear and made herself join the fight.Without both of them they had little chance of victory. Waiting until he was particularly focused, Astoria continued watching for the tiny window she needed to turn the tide of the fight. Now! She took off running as fast as she could toward Lyon while he was defending from an onslaught of blows from the elf. She ducked down low as she approached and slammed her dagger deep into his lower back as hard as she could. The dagger slid deep into his back, through his leather armor and between two of his lower vertebrae for a critical blow. Lyon screamed in pain as his legs stopped working and he fell over. He flailed, swinging his sword as he went down, and the elf moved in to finish the kidnapper once and for all. Astoria yelled, "Wait! He has information that I need!" It was enough to stop the elf from delivering the final blow, and instead she reached down and disarmed Lyon, taking care to also remove the pouch that had contained a healing potion earlier. "You think I''m going to tell you anything useful, little girl?" Lyon laughed in derision and spat blood to the side. "Don''t think you''ve won. Even if I die, you were all given the mark of the red lotus. When we don''t show up in a few days, the hunt will begin. You''ll be hunted everywhere you go; we have agents everywhere." Then he started laughing like an insane person. "Other than the old woman at the inn, no one even knows what I look like." Astoria wanted to believe that this monster of a human being was lying. "It doesn''t matter. The Mark of the Lotus magically identifies you to our members, and you can never be rid of it." He coughed up some blood. She must''ve done even more damage than she had thought. "Any time one of us is within a hundred feet of you, he will know that you belong to us. You''ll never be able to stop running. Sooner or later we will have you again." "I''ve had enough." The elf couldn''t hold herself back anymore and casually stabbed the end of her blade into his eye socket, ending his story forever. Astoria breathed a sigh of relief and put away her weapon. The elf did the same. Astoria couldn''t blame her for ending the man¡¯s life; who knows how long she had been captive. The elf said to her, "My name is Ladriel, what''s yours?" "I''m Astoria," she replied and couldn''t help but stare at the corpse. They had done it. They were free from the clutches of these monsters. But they weren''t truly free, as the Red Lotus would continue to hunt her wherever she went. She decided to use this knowledge to her advantage and intended to turn the tables and become the hunter herself. She knew she would need help, and since Ladriel and the others were in the same boat as she was, she hoped that they would join in her crusade. "I''m going to make sure that monsters like these will no longer plague this world. We''re going to be hunted by them, but if we can work together, then maybe we can put a stop to them and make this world a better place. Will you help me?" Ladriel looked to be contemplating things for a few moments, but then nodded. "I could probably evade them and get to my home in the Whispering Woods, far to the west of here... but it doesn''t feel right to let this continue. Not when we can do something about it. I''m not a great warrior or anything, but I will stand with you." She reached out her hand and Astoria did the same. Then the two new companions clasped wrists. A prompt appeared.
Notifications
You have gained a companion. Ladriel of the Whispering Woods has agreed to add her strength to yours in order to destroy the Red Lotus. You will now be able to see Ladriel''s status screen so long as she remains your companion.
Astoria smiled to herself. She wasn''t alone anymore and had a feeling she could really rely on Ladriel. The two companions left Lyon''s lifeless corpse lying where it was and went to check on the other captives. Chapter 7: The Floating City of Ilios The portly noblewoman let out a shriek when a cutpurse bumped into her and took her coin purse. "Guards! Thief!" she yelled. The lean figure, dressed in tattered clothes, immediately darted deeper into the crowd. Guards in chainmail armor, who wielded spears, jostled people out of the way as they chased their target. The city of Ilios took no pity on thieves. There was a reason that the city boasted one of the lowest crime rates of all the great cities. Anyone caught thieving would be executed on the spot. Ryan''s heart pounded as he tried to shove his way through the crowded marketplace. He gripped onto the pilfered coin pouch for dear life as his stamina bar drained. Fatigue was starting to wash over him and he knew that he absolutely could not get caught if he wanted to keep breathing. It had been only a few days since he got trapped in this world. He had just wanted to escape reality for a bit and relax in a game world. Little did he know that upon logging into the game he would be trapped here forever. What was worse about the situation was that he was spawned into this city without any kind of tutorial or starting items. He darted around the edge of a gothic looking church and scrambled into an alleyway behind the building. He had planned his retreat before starting this endeavor. No one lived long as a thief in this city without at least thinking ahead a little, and he hid underneath a crate he had seen earlier. Ryan tried with everything he had to slow his ragged breathing and calm down. The guards couldn''t have been very far behind. His stamina had nearly been depleted and the muscles in his legs screamed with fatigue. He didn''t dare come out from his hiding spot to see what was happening outside. Sure enough, about 20 seconds later he heard voices. "The rat definitely came this way. Where did he go?!" One of the guards kicked something in the alleyway which crashed against a wall making a loud noise. "Hell if I know. I thought we were right behind him. He must''ve gotten away." He spat to the side. "The Cap''n will have our hides if he finds out that we let that one get away again. Somehow he''s been able to escape his fate five separate times now. The reports describing the assailant have been clear. It was definitely the same one." The guard sighed audibly and Ryan could hear them leave, their chainmail armor clinking as they slowly departed. The guards continued their conversation, but he couldn''t make out anything further. He allowed himself a deep breath and continued to stay in his hiding place. One could never be too careful. Ryan took a minute to consider his situation. The city of Ilios was something plucked straight from the minds of someone who had wanted to live in the clouds. Literally. The giant city floated several hundred feet above the ground proper and that was half of Ryan''s problem. The only way down from the city was to take one of the lifts. There were four lift stations in Ilios, one in each quarter of the city, and they were all heavily guarded and cost 3 silver coins to use. The city was held to the ground by a gigantic anchor that sunk deep into the earth. Grand buildings filled the inner city, made out of a shiny, white stone that resembled the look of polished ivory. Ryan didn''t know much about the politics of the place and didn''t really have the time to care about such things, but he knew that Ilios was ruled by a king. The people of the city all worshiped some sort of sky god and Ryan had found that their religion had a strict stance against people who broke the law. Honestly, he knew he wouldn''t have even survived as long as he had if not for two things: his special ability and that he had met Iris. Iris had taken pity on him, a young man whom she had found laying in the gutter wallowing in self-pity, and showed him the ropes. She had taught him basic thieving skills and how to use a dagger. They were going to work together to find a way to escape the city, but she had fallen to the guards in one of the last thieving runs. He had been on his own for a little over a day now, but he knew enough that he could figure something out. There was an underground market in the city where he could fence items and buy equipment. The prices were pretty much insane and likewise they didn''t give him hardly anything for the items he brought them, but it helped him survive and stay fed. Ryan was his real name, and he used it rather than his screen name here. If he had known that he would be stuck here forever, he would''ve chosen something better than Tankilicious as his name. He had planned on playing a tank class like he usually did in games, but he had to work with what he had available to him, and playing a tanky class probably wasn''t in the cards for him. A loud ringing could be heard coming from the building next to him and he knew that this would be the bell for mid-afternoon services at the churches that were scattered about the city. He was hiding right next to one, and he knew that this meant masses of people would be flooding into the building on the other side. This would be his chance to escape and get to one of the thieving dens where he could count his spoils and maybe get something to eat. He slowly lifted the crate and tentatively peaked outside. The alleyway was dark but clear of any people. He stood up and stretched and let the bag of pilfered coin clink in his hand. He emptied its contents into his own coin pouch that hung from his waist and discarded the noblewoman''s empty one. He didn''t count, but he was sure that he must''ve scored this time. Nobles were not easy targets and he had been lucky to run across one that didn''t have a contingent of personal guards with her. He made his way out of the alley and away from the main street toward the slums of the city. The buildings visibly got poorer as he got closer to the slums. It was like the world in the rich area was completely separate from the one where unfortunate souls like himself lived. Beautiful, white, polished buildings gave way to concrete structures, which gave way to poor wooden shacks that lined one of the many spillways where water from the large lake near the palace drained from the floating island to the earth below in a magnificent cascading waterfall. This spillway was full with water and was about 15 feet wide. Ryan made his way to the back of the tavern where an entrance to a cellar was. He lifted the door and walked down the creaky steps toward the basement of the business. After a few feet he came to a set of heavy wooden double doors with a covered slit. He knocked heavily on the door three times before the slit opened and a man with a deep voice said, "Tribute." "Yeah, yeah," he said, as he reached into his pouch. He pulled out 4 silver coins, the going rate for safe haven here, and slid them through the slit. A few moments later he could hear some latches being undone, and the doors swung open. A mountain of a man stood before him and motioned for him to enter. "Follow the thieves'' code and you won''t have any trouble." The man closed the doors to Ryan pass through and then leaned against them relaxing in a casual manner. It had surprised Ryan when Iris told him about the thieves'' code. He wouldn''t have thought that people who made their way through life by breaking laws would have a code of ethics, but they did. The code had three rules.
  1. Thieves do not steal from or harm other thieves. 2. Thieves do not commit murder without good cause. 3. Safe houses are sacred. None shall ever speak of their locations to guards if caught.
The rules were simple, but they did keep these places relatively safe. Ryan knew that no one would try to steal from him since he was one of their own and no one would harm him. There was little doubt what the penalty for breaking one of these rules was. According to Iris, none of the thieves'' safe houses in Ilios had been found in well over a hundred years. He knew that the game wasn''t that old, of course, but the lore was solid and it meant that this place was relatively safe.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Ryan sat down at a table in the corner of the room and opened up his coin pouch. He counted his haul. There were 3 gold coins, 7 silvers, and 13 coppers left in his bag. He had scored big time today. He couldn''t stop a huge grin from coming across his face. The average person whom he had managed to steal from so far typically had little more than a couple silver coins worth of money on them. He had enough money to use the lifts to get to the earth below, but he was a wanted criminal. At this point, he had been seen on several occasions, and had only just barely escaped with his life each time. The guards carefully examined everyone before they went below and he would be caught for sure. The guards all knew what he looked like and he had even seen wanted posters around the city. He had no hope of getting down the conventional way. Jax, an older grizzled looking man, walked over and took a seat at his table. "Got anything you need fenced today? How about that other thing we talked about?" Ryan had met this man when Iris first brought him here. She said that in addition to being a fence, Jax was an expert smuggler. He apparently had a way of getting people in and out of the city. The risk was high, however, and the cost reflected that. Jax'' fee was 10 gold coins to extract a person from the city. Ryan sighed to himself about how long it would take to get that much money and replied, "Didn''t manage to get anything to fence today. I did get some coin to put toward the smuggling fee though." Ryan reached into the pouch and pulled out the gold coins and handed them over to the man. Jax smiled and deftly plucked the coins from his outstretched hand, making them disappear quickly. "Looking good, mate. Five more gold coins and you''ll have paid your fee. You have two weeks to get me the rest, and if you can''t by then, you''ll have to wait another month." The man got up and went back to his own table, leaving Ryan alone to his thoughts again. Ryan had found that he didn''t mind being a thief, but he had absolutely no desire to stay in this place. Simply put, it had become far too dangerous for him to stay here. If not for obtaining his class so early on, he''d surely still be level 1. He was happy that by completing class-specific quests he had been able to grind up a couple levels despite being in a place where he couldn''t exactly go out and kill monsters. It was probably possible to gain a bunch of experience if he could kill some of the guards, but he had no doubt that in a straight-up fight they would easily stomp him into the ground. Currently he only had one active quest, and he reviewed it now.
Quest Log (Active)
Flee the Floating Isle of Ilios! Illios is a harsh place for people who live in the gray areas of society. Those who are caught stealing face a swift and brutal execution, no matter how small the infraction. Jax, one of the item fences of the slums, has offered to get you safe passage out of the city... for a prices. Pay him a total of 10 gold crowns and he will get you to the ground. Status: 5/10 gold paid Reward: ? 2000 EXP ? Safe Passage to the ground
The 2000 EXP would definitely be a nice bump and he couldn''t wait to see what else was in store for him in this world. If he was stuck here, then he would make the most of it. Ryan didn''t really have anyone or anything he cared about in the real world. He had no love prospects to speak of. He worked in a dead-end job and spent most of his free time gaming and eating junk food. Day in and day out he would do the same things. Even though this world was dangerous, it was his now and he would own up to the reality that he preferred the excitement of ducking guards to taking crap from his boss at work. Sure, it was dangerous, but at least it was exciting. He had completed several minor quests and currently sat at level 4. He examined his status screen. Spoiler: Tankililicious'' Stats
Name Tankilicious
Level 004 (942/1307 EXP to next Level)
Class Thief
HP 150/150 MP 150/150
AP 6
Attributes
Vitality 10 Magic 10
Endurance 10 Magic Resistance 10
Strength 10 Luck 8
Agility 14
Dexterity 18
Abilities
? Chameleon
Skills
? Stealth - Level 5 (6% toward next level) ? Pickpocket - Level 4 (98% toward next level) ? Daggers - Level 2 (33% toward next level) ? Throwing Daggers - Level 1 (79% toward next level) ? Lockpicking - Level 2 (53% toward next level)
Ryan hoped he could level again soon. It was clear from how hard he had to run today that he needed to sink a couple points into endurance. High agility, dexterity, and luck would be his bread and butter though. He would need to be quick and have nimble fingers if he hoped to be successful as a thief. The dexterity stat served the dual purpose of being able to nimbly steal from people and also added extra damage for thrusting types of weapons like his daggers. He intended to get better at throwing his blades as well. Ryan had no doubt in his head that he had been extremely lucky to run into Iris. She had been kind and had been willing to take him under her wing. She was a high level thief and was able him a lot before her time ran out and the guards finally caught her. His ability, which so far as he could find out from the people around here, was unique. Chameleon allowed him to blend completely into any surroundings for 5 minutes so long as he didn''t move. The downside was that he could only use the ability once per day and it wouldn''t hold if someone bumped into him. He also had to be up against something for it to work, he couldn''t just stand in the middle of a street and activate it. He had used it while hiding under the crate earlier just in case the guards decided to look closer. "I need to get another big score... it''s going to take me forever to get 5 more gold at the rate I''ve been going," he mumbled to himself. Ryan stood up and made his way over to the bar. A older woman stood behind the bar and was polishing a glass, just like one would see a bartender doing in old western movies. "What can I get ya, darlin''?" She leaned forward and looked him over. "I''ll take a bottle of honey mead and what do you have to eat here today?" "Today''s special is roast pork with beans." "I''ll take a plate of that as well then. How much do I owe ya?" "For the mead and the meal the total will be 74 coppers," she turned around and grabbed a dark green glass bottle of alcohol from the shelf behind the bar and placed it in front of him. Ryan dug through his pouch and found a silver coin. He slid it across the bar. "Keep the change," he gave her a smile. He knew he had no shot with her but couldn''t help himself anyway. "Have you heard of any big jobs lately?" he asked hopefully. "Actually... we just got a big request today. The client wishes to remain anonymous, but it''s a big job and pays extremely well. I have three others lined up for it and they could use one more guy. You''ve been making waves around here lately, darlin'', and I haven''t failed to notice. You can join them if you''re up for it." A wide grin found its way back onto his face and he readily accepted her offer to join in on the job. He couldn''t wait to get off this rock and this job would be just the thing to make that happen for him if he could make it through the ordeal alive. Chapter 8: A Dire Situation After making sure that the girl who had been knocked out was okay, Astoria climbed into the wagon to check on the other girl. She was still sitting in the same place staring blankly forward. "I wonder what happened to her..." Astoria said quietly to herself. Ladriel had heard her and answered, "I was captured before the others, so I saw her before she became like this. She managed to escape, but it didn''t take long for the three men to find her. I didn¡¯t see exactly what happened, but when they brought her back, it seemed like all the fight and life had gone out of her. She just stopped responding to anything. It¡¯s like she shut down. At first they thought they had beaten her too roughly, and they tried in vain to heal her with healing potions. I heard them say that they were going to try to find a healer once they got to Geddon. I¡¯m sure that whatever happened to her can be healed. Anything short of death can be healed by a priest of the Church of the Phoenix, for a price, or so I¡¯ve been told.¡± "So... where can we find one of these priests?" Astoria wanted to help this poor soul. She thought she had problems back in the real world, but it was nothing like what people in this world faced. "The nearest church is in Elivaster. If you want to get there, then we''ll need to follow the road back east to Oliend and then go north from there.¡± Ladriel sat down on the edge of the wagon and leaned back against the canvas, closing her eyes. "I think we should help her, but since we need to pass through Oliend, we should first go confront the woman who sold me to these creeps. I''m sure she must have some information that can help us, and she needs to be stopped." Astoria considered something. "Do you think that the local lord would arrest her if we told him about what happened to us?" "In such a small town, I''d be completely surprised if the person in charge wasn¡¯t somehow involved in all of this." Ladriel''s mouth twisted in disgust. "Okay, it sounds like we''ll have to take justice into our own hands then." If the authorities wouldn''t help, then she, as the hero of her own story, would have to do what she must. "It''s pretty likely that you''ll be noticed if we just waltz back into town. This wagon stands out too much as well. Not only that, but it''s slow and it restricts us to using roads, which might make us vulnerable. We''re going to need to leave it, I think." Ladriel spared a glance for the girl on the ground, who had begun to stir. "How about we take what we need from the wagon and sneak back into town on horseback during the night?" "Um... that sounds like it could work. Think she can ride?" Astoria gestured toward the girl in the back of the cage. "She can ride in front of me," Ladriel said as she looked over at the girl. Just then, the girl on the ground grumbled and sat up. She seemed panicked momentarily and looked around with wild eyes before realizing that they had prevailed. "We did it? We''re free? Thank you! Thank you! I thought we''d never get away!" She hopped up into the wagon and gave Ladriel a huge hug, then ran over and did the same to Astoria. "Well, it turns out we''re not exactly free and clear yet." Astoria explained the situation to her. The girl''s mood dampened visibly more and more as she finished filling her in. "By the way, I''m Astoria, and this is Ladriel. What''s your name?" "I''m Tilly. I don''t know how to fight or anything so I don''t know if I''ll be of any help to you... I was just a cook''s apprentice at The Gilded Sparrow inn. That''s in Elivaster, you know. I really don''t know what to do..." She deflated and plopped down hard onto the bed of the wagon and began to cry with her head in her hands. Astoria felt bad for her. She wasn''t exactly a hardened fighter herself, but she had at least wanted a life of adventure. Tilly, on the other hand, had just wanted to live a normal life. "Do you have any family that you can return to? Maybe someone who can keep you safe?" "My parents live in the capital. My dad is one of the city guards. If I can get there in one piece, then I''ll be safe. It''s just so far away though..." "Tell you what, Tilly, stick with us for now and we''ll do what we can to get you safely to your parents. You said you''re a cook''s apprentice, right? So at least you can cook. God knows I can''t." Astoria gave Tilly a reassuring smile. Tilly sniffled and wiped her runny nose on her soiled dress before nodding faintly. "Thank you so much. I can never repay you for this," she perked up a little bit, "but I''ll cook anything you guys can scrape up!" "It''s settled then! You''re with us. Is that okay with you, Ladriel?" The elf nodded her assent. A notification window popped up as it had when Ladriel become her companion.
Notifications
You have gained a companion. Tilly will accompany so far as Egris. Although she has no skill in the art of combat, she has agreed to use her cooking skills to aid your party as you travel. You will be able to see Tilly''s status screen for as long as she remains a member of your party.
Astoria and Ladriel hopped down from the wagon and went over to examine Lyon''s corpse. Ladriel went through Lyon''s belt pouch and pulled out a few small vials that looked to be health potions. Afterward, she unclasped the belt of their former foe and took his long sword and sheath, equipping them. The two went about collecting everything they could find on the men and the wagon and putting it into a pile. They recovered all of their belongings that the men had taken away when they had each become captive. Astoria kept Bren''s dagger, which was razor sharp and an improvement over the one she had taken from the goblin. She also kept a fishing rod they had found, as well as two of the health potions. Astoria examined each of the items that she intended to keep for herself.
Sturdy Iron Dagger
? Quality: Average ? Durability: 44/45
Bamboo Rod
? Quality: Average ? Durability: 45/45 ? Special: +5% chance to catch fish
Minor Health Potion (2)
? Quality: Average ? Durability: 45/45 ? Effects: Restores 120 HP over 25 seconds
Ladriel had brown leather armor that looked light and easy to move in. She told her new companions that she was a ranger. Ladriel had a finely crafted green longbow and a quiver bristling full of arrows with green fletchings that she hung from her belt. Astoria wondered just how they managed to capture her as she exuded a deadly grace once she was fully equipped. Tilly put on the clothes she had worn before being taken, a simple white dress that had a navy blue trim. She said she didn''t have any combat training, and chose to not take a weapon. There were three packs in the belongings of their captors and Tilly had taken one and filled it with food and the one frying pan she found in the supplies. "There looks to be enough food for a few days here. Nothing fancy, it''s mostly dried meat and stale loaves of bread... so we might want to try catching something with that fishing rod if we want to eat something decent. They do have some herbs and salt so we could do something with fish if we catch some." Astoria remembered that they had stopped by a stream the night before and she did have that stolen fishing skill. Maybe it would be of some use to keep them fed at least. "Let''s head back the way we came and we should come to that river eventually," she suggested. "We should keep off the road, but we can follow it from a distance. First, let''s ditch the wagon." Ladriel had the horses take it well off the side of the road into a thick, wooded area. The wagon was now just barely visible from the road. It wasn''t perfect, but it''d have to do. "I was taken from behind by the three men when I was traveling down the road alone between Egris and Elivaster. That''s why I no longer trust the safety of the roads in this kingdom," the irritation was strong in her voice, and Astoria could tell that Ladriel blamed herself for not being more cautious while traveling. "Okay. Let''s get moving. It''s going to take us a long time to get back to Oliend." Astoria and Ladriel each took a horse. Tilly would ride with Astoria, while the fourth girl would ride with Ladriel. It took all three of them to get the dead-eyed girl up onto the horse, but once she was there she seemed to be stable. With their belongings packed on the horses, they set off, following the road from a distance through the forest at a steady trot. While they rode Astoria decided it would be a good time to have a look at her status. There were notifications to read, so she opened them up to have a look.
Notifications
You have gained 300 EXP for defeating level 8 Cutthroat.
You have gained 540 EXP for defeating level 10 Cutthroat.
Congratulations! You have reached level 6! You have gained 6 attributes to distribute.
You have been cursed! The Mark of the Lotus will identify you to members of their organization by surrounding you with a faint red aura visible by them alone.
Astoria was happy to see that she could once again get stronger. She carefully thought about where she wanted to distribute her points. Considering she was going to be using daggers and a bow as weapons, she placed two points into agility and one into dexterity. As for the other three points, she decided to play the long game and put them all into luck. With a higher luck stat, she hoped she might be able to avoid situations like this in the future. At the very least maybe it would help her get luckier when using her Kleptomancy ability. With that done, she decided to check her status page, as well as her new companions'' pages. Spoiler: Astoria''s Stats
Name Astoria
Level 006 (2,510/3,579 EXP to next Level)
Class None
HP 210/210 MP 150/150
AP 6
Attributes
Vitality 14 Magic 10
Endurance 15 Magic Resistance 10
Strength 16 Luck 10
Agility 16
Dexterity 14
Abilities
? Kleptomancy
Skills
? Archery - Level 2 (13% toward next level) ? Fishing - Level 1 (0% toward next level)
Spoiler: Ladriel''s Stats
Name Ladriel
Level 009 (8,137/10,569 EXP to next Level)
Class Ranger
HP 150/150 MP 180/180
AP 0
Attributes
Vitality 10 Magic 17
Endurance 16 Magic Resistance 17
Strength 8 Luck 5
Agility 24
Dexterity 26
Abilities
? Wild Instinct
Skills
? Archery - Level 14 (63% toward next level) ? Piercing Shot - Level 10 (48% toward next level) ? Stun Shot - Level 8 (74% toward next level) ? Tracking - Level 4 (34% toward next level) ? Stealth - Level 5 (78% toward next level) ? Swords - Level 5 (21% toward next level) ? Daggers - Level 2 (70% toward next level)
Astoria was more than a little impressed by Ladriel''s status page. It was no wonder she had more than held her own against Lyon. If she had had a bow and distance from him, the fight would have been over instantly. Astoria wondered if her companion would be willing to teach her some skills and decided that she would ask when they stopped for the night. She focused on the Wild Instinct ability and read the description.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Wild Instinct
Path finding in forested regions of the world comes to you like second nature. You will have a natural sense of direction and an increased affinity for learning the skills needed to become a ranger. You feel at home in the forest.
Interesting, she thought to herself and then had a look at Tilly''s page. Spoiler: Tilly''s Stats
Name Tilly
Level 001 (37/90 EXP to next Level)
Class None
HP 63/75 MP 105/105
AP 0
Attributes
Vitality 5 Magic 8
Endurance 9 Magic Resistance 11
Strength 10 Luck 8
Agility 9
Dexterity 15
Abilities
? None
Skills
? Cooking - Level 7 (82% towards next level)
Tilly''s status page was tragically bad. It seemed that people were not gifted by the creators of the game with equal stats to start with. Astoria thanked her lucky stars that her stats had started out as balanced as they had. Tilly would probably be useless in a fight, as she had proven in the fight against Lyon, but bravery was not something she lacked. Astoria wouldn''t have tried to do a thing against Lyon if she had this girl''s stats. Astoria hoped that she could convince her to take a weapon or learn some combat skills, but she decided it could wait until later. Astoria was also surprised to find that Tilly had so much charisma. The final thing that Astoria noted was that Tilly hadn''t gained any experience from the previous battle. That made her curious and so she asked Ladriel, "Why didn''t Tilly gain any experience from the fight?" "Because she didn''t do any damage and wasn''t officially our companion. The two of us got experience because we were directly involved in slaying them. Even though Tilly tried to help, it wasn''t enough to gain her any experience. However, since we are now companions, we will all gain experience so long as we are nearby. Experience is shared for a party of up to five people. Any party larger than 5 will have a heavy penalty on experience, unless there are special skills or abilities in play such as those employed by military commanders." Astoria took in the information and was glad that she now had people with her who could fill her in on things she didn''t know about this world. She supposed that a normal villager wouldn''t have many opportunities to gain the large amounts of experience needed to reach high levels. Taking that into consideration, it wasn''t too surprising that Tilly wasn''t a higher level. Astoria took in her surroundings and could only describe the forest they traveled through as beautiful and bursting with life. There were trees of all sizes and types, and Astoria recognized that most of them looked similar to oak trees. Acorns littered the ground and crunched beneath the hooves of the horses. After a few hours of travel, the forest grew thinner and gave way to an expanse of rolling plains as far as she could see. The fields were peppered with wildflowers of numerous colors. All of this reminded Astoria of hiking trips she had taken with her father before he died when she was little. He had liked spending time outdoors and spent a lot of time fishing, hiking and hunting. Astoria and her sister had gone camping with him several times that she could remember and they had hiked to mountain meadows that were as breathtakingly beautiful as this. Sadly, her father died in a car accident when she was 8, changing her family life forever. The memories of him were bitter-sweet and she was sad to admit to herself that they had already begun to fade. There were a lot of things about him that she could hardly remember anymore, and the thought of it was so heart wrenching that she turned to the side and bit her lip, trying to control herself as tears began to well up in her eyes. "We''ll be able to travel faster if we go back to the road now. There isn''t any cover to hide behind anymore anyway." Ladriel steered her horse in that direction and Astoria followed close behind. They slowly made their way back to the winding road. "We should stop and eat something. I''m aching all over and I want to get off the horse for a bit," Tilly complained. "You can eat while we ride. We''ll be able to stop pretty soon for the night," Ladriel immediately shut down the idea. Astoria was thinking it''d be nice to get off the horse as well, but decided to suck it up and didn''t voice her own complaints. Just as the sun began to set, they finally arrived at the river where they would camp for the night. Astoria climbed down from the horse and felt extremely sore after an entire day of riding. Her back ached so much that she could hardly believe it. Riding a horse was something she''d definitely have to get used to if she wanted to get around in this world though. It''s not as though she could hop in a car. Tilly clearly felt the same way as she did and plopped down on the ground after getting off the horse. Ladriel seemed fine, however, and hopped down from her horse looking like she was used to riding. Astoria and Tilly helped to get the other girl down from atop the horse, and then Ladriel led the horses to a tree where she tied them up. Astoria grabbed the fishing rod, which was broken down into two pieces for easier travel, and went to the riverbank. She found some worms in a container in one of the bags that belonged to the men. She baited her hook and cast the line. It took time, as fishing always does, but she got a bite and used the crude wooden reel to drag the fish onto shore. After about an hour she had caught 4 fish and received a notification.
Notifications
Congratulations! Your fishing skill has increased to level 2! At level 2 you have an 8% increased chance to catch fish.
She was happy to find that this skill wasn''t as useless as she had originally thought. They would not have to eat that stale food tonight. Ladriel made a fire, and once there were some good coals, Tilly took the cast iron skillet out of her bag and placed it over the red, hot embers that she had pushed to the side. Astoria used her iron dagger to clean the fish. Somehow, the way she had seen her dad do this a long time ago stuck in her memory, and she managed to do a decent job. She was able to remove the spines and most of the bones as well. Once finished, she handed them over to Tilly. Astoria washed her face and hands as best she could in the cold water, and then went over to sit beside the fire and rest. The water had been just as frigid as before, but she didn''t mind so much this time around. Tilly salted and seasoned the fish. She folded them over and then removed a small container of lard from her bag and proceeded to fry up the fish. Astoria was really surprised at how good they turned out. After eating, she decided it might be a good time to find out how skills could be learned in this game. ¡°Hey, Ladriel, this is going to sound like a dumb question, but how do people usually learn skills? Could I learn some of the things you know? In particular, your special archery skills, perhaps?¡± Ladriel actually let out a little laugh before responding, ¡°Seriously? Okay, so you can learn skills in a few different ways. The easiest way is to have someone teach you a skill. There are skill trainers who are masters of their respective skills in various large cities who will teach you some of what they know for a cost. There are also different guilds around the world, and if you join one, they will typically help you out with skills as you move up their ranks. The other typical way to learn skills is by finding a skill book, although those are about as rare as spellbooks. There are guilds such as The Golden Quill, which is a scribe guild that has amassed a large collection of tomes. They hoard them and don¡¯t sell them cheaply, either. Your special ability, as far as I know, is unique. I¡¯ve never heard of anyone being able to steal skills from people.¡± I hope that she isn¡¯t thinking that I¡¯d steal skills from her. ¡°So, does that mean you can¡¯t teach me since you¡¯re not a trainer?¡± Astoria asked, feeling a bit crestfallen. ¡°No, I can teach you some of what I know. Unfortunately, some skills have basic requirements that must be met before you can learn them. My two special archery skills are one example. You need to have at least a level 10 Archery skill to learn them. I could try to show you a thousand times and it just wouldn¡¯t work until the minimum requirements are met. It¡¯s a little late today, so how about I teach you something tomorrow when we stop to rest? ¡°Sounds great! Thank you so much!¡± Astoria could hardly contain her excitement. She wanted to learn as much as she could so that she could continue to grow in strength. "We''ll camp here for the night. I''m going to stay up and keep first watch. Astoria, I''ll wake you up when Murasaki reaches its zenith," she pointed toward the violet moon that hung low in the sky. "That should give you about half the night to sleep." The smallest moon was already a third of the way across the sky and the large cherry-colored moon loomed on the horizon. They didn''t have any shelter, but the grass was soft and Astoria was so tired that falling asleep didn''t take long. Astoria awoke to Ladriel shaking her quietly. Bleary-eyed, Astoria sat up and rubbed her arm across her face. She started to speak, but Ladriel quickly shushed her. Alarmed, Astoria looked around for signs of trouble but didn''t see anything. "I was walking around the perimeter of the camp and saw the tracks of a dire bear," Ladriel whispered very quietly to her, "and just a few minutes ago, I''m pretty sure I heard it moving around somewhere on the other side of the river. That thing is gonna be trouble. We need to get away before it spots us, if possible." Almost on cue, a gigantic shadow lumbered along the riverbank on the other side, making grunting noises. It was much larger than any bear that existed on Earth. Four giant fangs glinted in the light of the moons as the beast came closer and she got a better look. Two of the fangs stuck up through its snout and were about 8 inches long. The other two were just as long and hung well below the lower jaw. Astoria felt fairly certain that the bear could snap her in half with a single bite. "Let''s wake the others and go?" Astoria asked as quietly as she could. "It''s too late for that. It would hear us and would run the horses down in no time at all. Despite their size, dire bears are very fast." Ladriel held her long bow at the ready and nocked an arrow. Astoria grabbed her own bow from her side and did the same. Great, she thought to herself. She focused on the bear, trying to decide her plan of attack. Astoria didn''t think for a second that this was going to be easy. Hopefully the two of them would be agile enough to dodge the thing, since the claws on its gigantic paws looked just as wicked as the fangs in its mouth. "I''ll try to stun it. Fill it with as many arrows as you can. I can only fire one stun shot every minute and it will only stun the beast for a few precious seconds." Ladriel brought the string of her bow to her cheek and the arrowhead emitted a soft yellow glow. This immediately caught the attention of the bear. It stood on its hind legs and let out a deafening roar that pierced the silence of the night. The horses reared up and tried to escape but they were stuck. The thing had to be the size of a truck. Before it could charge forward, Ladriel loosed her arrow. The arrow sunk deep into the shoulder of the bear, causing it to let out another roar which was cut off as it smashed down into the ground losing all control of its body, stunned. "Now!!" Ladriel yelled, utilizing her high dexterity to nock and loose another arrow in the blink of an eye. Astoria fired off an arrow that was badly aimed due to her being so panicked. It missed and she cursed in frustration while quickly nocking and firing another. Her second arrow hit the beast in the middle and sunk nearly all the way into the body of the bear leaving only the end sticking out. Luckily, Ladriel was a much better archer than she was. In the few seconds that the bear was down, she landed 4 more arrows into the beast. One of them pierced it completely and flew out the other side. It had to be her other archery skill, Piercing Shot. The bear began to stir and charged across the bridge. Astoria couldn''t believe that it was still moving with all those arrows sticking out of it. The bear was bleeding heavily but it took no time at all before it was on them. Ladriel pelted the bear with two more arrows as it had charged across the bridge, and it only seemed to enrage it further. The bear completely ignored Astoria and lunged toward her companion, but Ladriel was very quick on her feet and managed to roll backwards as the giant paw of the bear swung through the spot where she had been only a fraction of a second earlier. The force of the blow was so powerful that it smashed a boulder when the paw hit the ground. Tilly had woken up and was dragging their addled fourth companion over to the horses several yards away. Meanwhile, Astoria fired another arrow hitting the bear in the back. It roared and turned its attention to her. I''m going to die. This is it. This thing is going to smash me like a bug. She fired another desperate shot at the bear and managed to sink an arrow into one of its eye sockets. The bear thrashed and pounded the ground in rage and pain but it wasn''t going to give up on killing the things which had caused it so much pain. It would kill its hated enemies or continue fighting until its last breath. It swung a paw at her and she was unable to dodge as fast as Ladriel had. A glancing blow connected across her upper left arm, sending her skidding several feet across the ground. Her health bar immediately dropped by 40 points and she was bleeding from a gash the claw had put into her arm. The bear was about to finish the job when Ladriel distracted it yet again, saving Astoria''s life by shooting two arrows in quick succession into the monstrosity. The bear was moving much slower now due to all of its blood loss, and even though it turned and tried coming at Ladriel again, she was easily able to move back a dozen paces all the while filling the beast with bristling arrows. Eventually, it let out a low groan and collapsed to the ground, breathing its final few breaths before the light went out of its eyes. Astoria reached with her good arm into the pouch at her belt and quickly downed a potion. Sweet relief came to her as it started working. The cut that had been about three inches long on her upper arm knitted itself shut and the bleeding stopped. She couldn''t believe it. She had managed to cheat death yet again. Astoria couldn''t help but start laughing like a crazy person as she sat in the dirt. "Are you okay?" Ladriel rushed to her side, soon followed by Tilly. They looked her over with worried expressions. ¡°I¡¯m okay¡­¡± Astoria got back up onto her feet. She couldn''t believe that they had actually been able to kill that thing. She checked to see how much experience it had given.
Notifications
You have gained 834 EXP for defeating level 18 Dire Bear. (3,344/3,579 EXP to next level)
"So much experience for just one monster..." She couldn''t help but get excited over how close she was to gaining another level. She would not be weak and helpless forever. One day she would be a beacon of light in this fucked up world. They managed to make it through the rest of the night without any more problems. The next morning they packed up and left the gigantic bear corpse behind as they continued on their journey to Oliend. Chapter 9: A Return to the Whispering Willow Astoria and her companions continued to pass through green, flower-speckled, rolling hills as the morning progressed. Astoria was getting more accustomed to riding and even though she still felt a little saddle sore from riding so much the day before, it seemed to bother her a bit less. A few hours passed without anything out of the ordinary happening until suddenly the horses got spooked for some reason. They struggled to control the reigns of the horses and then it became clear why the horses were so frightened. A burgundy scaled dragon, the size of a large house flew over the top of them and swooped down into a nearby field. Its talons were extended downward and it grabbed two cows. It didn''t pause for even a moment before regaining altitude and flying off into the distance. Astoria felt as though her heart would come out of her throat when she saw the thing. It was one thing to know that there were things like dragons in this world, and god knows she had seen plenty in games over the years, but it was completely terrifying to see a creature like that in real life. She was just thankful that the dragon hadn¡¯t wanted to snack on them for its lunch. "I''ve never seen a dragon before," Tilly mumbled to herself after a moment. ¡°Neither have I,¡± Ladriel said. As they continued down the winding road, Astoria¡¯s curiosity demanded that she probe her companions for more information about dragons. She was able to learn that the dragon they had seen was likely Volcania due to her coloring and that she was from the southern isles, far from the country of Regulus. Apparently, dragons never ventured far from their territories and the last time one was seen out of its territory was hundreds of years ago. Time had flown by as they talked and it seemed like they arrived outside Oliend in no time. It was still only mid-afternoon when they reigned in their horses. "So, what''s the plan?" Tilly asked, hopping down from the horse. "Well... we need to get information on the Red Lotus from the old hag at the inn I was taken from. The problem is, we''re all marked and she probably will see us coming. Who knows, there might even be other members of that organization here who would also be able to identify us." Astoria would not be deterred though and she would not let that woman get away with what had been done to her, and probably countless others. "How about we rest outside of town until nightfall over in that small grove of trees," Ladriel pointed over to a clump of trees to the side of the road. "Sounds good to me. If we wait until the middle of the night, we can go into the town and make our way to the inn hopefully undetected. If we''re lucky, and that is the case, then we can sneak into the inn and get her while she''s sleeping." "And if we''re unlucky?" Tilly gulped and asked. "Then someone will spot us and know that we¡¯re back in town.I think we can take her out, but only if we are careful about not being seen by anyone.¡± Astoria knew that the last thing they would need is a bunch of thugs being alerted. I won¡¯t be captured again. "You guys can fight... I can''t do anything. I get scared and think that I¡¯ll just freeze. I want to change and be more like you two..." Tilly looked at the ground. Astoria took off the goblin dagger and held it out to Tilly. "You should take this. Even if you don''t really know how to fight, it''s better than nothing. Just remember, ''Stick ''em with the pointy end.''" Astoria chuckled to herself a little over the reference even though neither one of her companions would get it. Tilly took the weapon with shaky hands and lifted her dress to tie it to her leg. When she was done it was concealed and looked as though she had no weapon at all. At the very least if someone went for her thinking she was completely helpless, she would have the element of surprise. It wouldn''t be easy to get access to the weapon there, but it was better than nothing. They led the horses into the grove and once they were out of sight, Tilly took some food out of her pack. They still had a bit of the jerky. The four of them ate in silence, while Astoria mentally prepared for what was to come. Once the meal was finished Ladriel stood up, "I''m going to keep an eye out just in case. We''re far enough from the town that we should be safe but we need to be vigilant anyway." She shouldered her bow and proceeded to nimbly climb a tall tree that stood nearby. As agile as a cat, she was quickly high up into the branches of the tree. "I have a good view of the road from here. No one will sneak up on us easily. You two should try to get a few hours sleep. It''s going to be a long night." Astoria was grateful that she had Ladriel as her companion. She always seemed so confident and fearless. It made her feel a lot more secure in this dangerous world knowing that Ladriel had her back. Tilly put her pack on the ground near a tree and used it as a pillow, laying down in the tall grass and closed her eyes. Their fourth companion sat on the ground nearby, her customary blank stare stuck to her face. Astoria had almost forgotten somehow but Tilly must have leveled up, probably more than once, from the experience they had gotten when killing the dire bear. "Tilly, didn''t you level up? Did you remember to allocate your points?" Tilly opened her eyes and turned her head to look over at Astoria. "I''m level 4 now. I placed my points this morning when we woke up. I''m not sure how much of a difference it''ll make, but I should be better off than before." Astoria was happy to hear that her new friend was getting stronger. Maybe they could both learn some things from Ladriel and then they would be more effective fighters. They had most of the day to wait around, and it was probably more important for now to get a little rest. Astoria lay down next to Tilly and decided to have a look at her friend''s status to see where she had put her points before taking a nap. Spoiler: Tilly''s Stats
Name Tilly
Level 004 (871/1307 EXP to next Level)
Class None
HP 153/165 MP 120/120
AP 0
Attributes
Vitality 11 Magic 8
Endurance 17 Magic Resistance 11
Strength 14 Luck 8
Agility 9
Dexterity 15
Abilities
? None
Skills
? Cooking - Level 7 (83% towards next level)
Tilly''s stats were looking a lot better now that she had gained a few levels. At the very least she would probably be able to take a hit better than before if things were to go south later. Satisfied that her friend would be a little more safe tonight, Astoria closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep. Astoria awoke to the sound of a thud as Ladriel jumped down from the tree. The forested area was silent except for the crickets that chirped loudly nearby. Tilly was still asleep and it looked like it was just about sunset. Deciding to let her friend sleep a bit longer, she quietly got up and walked over to where Ladriel was. "Hey, did you need to get some sleep before tonight? I can climb up there and keep watch for a while." She offered, speaking in a quiet voice. Astoria hadn''t been the most athletic person in real life, but she was sure that she would be able to climb up that tree here. "I''ll be fine. Did you get enough sleep? Hopefully this goes smoothly for us," Ladriel whispered to her. "I got enough sleep. Are you ready to teach me some of what you know, now?¡± Astoria asked hopefully. Ladriel nodded her assent. "We don''t have a lot of time right now, but I should be able to teach you something while we wait for it to get late enough to head into town. As I told you before, the archery skills are beyond your current capabilities. Tracking probably wouldn''t be useful for us right now, either. For tonight¡¯s operation, I think it¡¯d be best if you had the stealth skill." Astoria couldn¡¯t wait to learn the stealth ability; it was an invaluable skill in a lot of games. She would be able to get the drop on opponents and that could literally mean the difference between victory and defeat. "That would be awesome! Let¡¯s get started?" Ladriel nodded and led her away from Tilly so that they could talk at a normal volume. They could still see her from where they now stood but at least they wouldn''t wake her up so easily. "The secret to stealth is learning to minimize your aura and move quietly." Ladriel demonstrated by going behind a nearby tree and then disappearing. Moments later, she popped up behind Astoria and poked her in the shoulder causing her to jump. "See? It''s very useful, and the more you practice the more natural it''ll be to sneak up on opponents without being seen." Ladriel showed her the basics of how to do this and after a few hours of failures, Astoria was finally able to somehow dampen her aura. She felt her presence shrink and knew that her movements would be harder to detect now. She practiced her new Stealth skill on Ladriel and noticed a new icon that closely resembled the stealth icon from the Elder Scrolls games. It was a closed eye that opened slightly when she moved and made noise. The eye opened all the way and she had been spotted by Ladriel. "Not bad. It seems like you have the basics down. The more you practice at it, the better you''ll get. My master back home had such a high level of stealth that she could sneak up on almost anyone. You picked this up faster than I would have believed someone could. You have a lot of potential it seems. I''ll teach you more of what I know when we have more time." Astoria nodded and thanked Ladriel again for teaching her such a useful new skill. Astoria couldn¡¯t believe how long they had been practicing stealth. The sky had already become dotted with stars and the three moons had spread themselves across the night sky. They had decided on a plan while letting Tilly get some more rest. They would utilize the inn¡¯s stables to hide their horses while they looked for a secondary entrance into the inn. They would neutralize any threats and find Elena and have their answers, all while being as stealthy as possible. Astoria told her all she knew of the layout of the inn and that she wasn¡¯t sure if any employees other than Elena lived in the place. "Tilly, it''s time to go," Ladriel placed her hand gently on Tilly¡¯s shoulder. Their silent companion remained sitting in the same spot they had left her earlier. I wonder if she slept at all. I hope we can heal her;she might be trapped like a prisoner in her own mind. That would be terrible. "What are we going to do with her while we do this?" Astoria pointed at the girl. Tilly stirred and sat up rubbing her eyes. She blinked and looked around. Letting out a big yawn, she said, "I could stay here with her. I''m not going to be very useful in a fight but I can watch over her while you¡¯re gone." Astoria didn''t like the idea of leaving the two of them outside town. She remembered the wolves at the farm. "There could be wild animals roaming around out here. There has to be a better solution than leaving you out here, pretty much alone." "Astoria is right, who knows what you could run into out here by yourself. It isn''t ideal but I really think that the only way to do this is to have you two come along with us."If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. "I guess you guys are right... I''ll come along and keep an eye on her and the horses. I can do that at least." The four of them got onto the horses once more and began the journey into town. It¡¯s almost time. In just a little while, that old hag will face sweet justice. She¡¯s going to get what¡¯s coming to her. Oliend was pretty quiet this late at night. Only a few lights could be seen lit in people''s windows and on the main street only the inns and the tavern were lit up. Astoria could hear some music drifting from the tavern along with raucous laughter. It sounded as though everyone in there was having a good time. They kept to the side of the street as far away from the tavern as they could. Luckily no one had come outside and they were able to pass through the town like ghosts, unseen in the darkness. It took only a few more minutes before they stood before The Whispering WIllow and Astoria felt bile rise in her throat at the sight of this place. She ground her teeth a little and hopped down from the horse as quietly as she could manage. Ladriel and Tilly also hopped to the ground trying to make as little noise as possible. The town felt dead and other than the creaking of the sign as it swung in the slight breeze, the silence was deafening. There was a lantern that hung beside the entrance to the inn that held a candle. The uneven light flickered and Astoria was happy that they had the light of all three moons so they could see clearly in the darkness. They went around the side of the inn toward the stables. There would be a stable hand watching the place of course, at any time of day. Horses were too valuable to be left unattended and an inn that couldn''t protect the property of its guests would not last long. Ladriel motioned for her companions to stay back with the horses for a moment and then activated her stealth skill. Before their very eyes, Ladriel crouched down and Astoria could tell that she had activated stealth. She silently moved off ahead of them around the corner. I hope that she is able to scout out the area without getting caught. The three of them waited for several minutes before Ladriel¡¯s dark shape crept back around the corner. ¡°I¡¯ve incapacitated the stable hand. He looked like he was just a kid. I doubt he¡¯s involved in any of this. He didn¡¯t see me and I have him tied up in one of the horse stalls,¡± Ladriel said. "She may already know we''re here. For all we know, we could be walking straight into a trap. We have to be extremely vigilant and stick to the plan.¡± They led the horses into the stables and put them as far toward the back as possible. It was likely that some of the employees of the inn were involved in the trafficking. Because of this, they would need to subdue or possibly eliminate any people they came across. "Let''s do this." Astoria tempered her hatred for the Red Lotus into courage for what had to be done next. "Tilly, if we aren¡¯t back within an hour leave without us. Don''t try to do anything stupid. Just head north, don''t trust anyone and don¡¯t stop for long periods." Astoria gave her friend a hug. Tilly hugged her friend back and Astoria stole one final glance back at Tilly as her and Ladriel left the stables. Astoria activated her Stealth skill and the two companions made their way to the back door of The Whispering Willow. The door was not locked, thankfully, and they were easily able to slip inside. A candle inside a glass case hung from the wall and flickered providing faint light in the room. It was the kitchen, and a huge wood stove stood in the center of the room. There was enough room atop it to fit several large pots Astoria supposed. Knives of various sizes hung from a rack on the wall and there were crates filled with various vegetables in the corner of the room. A large door was at the far end of the kitchen that likely led to the common room, but there was another door off to the side. Ladriel must''ve had the same thought as she did and they made their way to the side door. It would be likely that the living quarters for the people who worked at this place would be here rather than upstairs with the guest rooms. Ever so quietly, Astoria opened the door with her dagger ready, while Ladriel stood a few paces back with her bow drawn. On the other side of the door was a hallway, lit by a single candle in a glass container, just as in the kitchen. Astoria peeked around the corner and saw that there were three rooms down the hallway. Since the guest rooms were upstairs, these would probably either be for storage, or possibly staff member rooms. They walked quietly through the doorway and then shut it behind them. Astoria was relieved to see that the stealth icon still showed a closed eye and they made their way inch by inch down the narrow hallway. All three doors were on the left side of the hallway and it didn''t take long before they came to the first one. Astoria''s hands felt clammy and sweaty as she reached over and gripped the doorknob. The confines of the hallway were too tight to use a bow and Ladriel had her shortsword unsheathed and appeared ready for action. Quietly turning the doorknob, Astoria slowly pushed the door open. Rusty old hinges made the door creak a little as she cracked it open and peered inside. The room was empty. The two crept further down the hall to the next room. Astoria took a deep breath and tried to calm herself as her heart beat wildly in her chest. She repeated the same process as before and cracked the door open. The hinges on this door were in better shape and luckily made no noise. A mountain of a man lay in the bed in the room. Next to him on an end table sat another lantern as well as a giant meat cleaver. Astoria moved a little and to her horror there was a loud creaking noise from the floorboard she had stepped on. The eye icon opened all the way and Astoria''s heart dropped. Crap! The man''s eyes shot open and he sat up. "What in the¡ª?" was all he got out as Ladriel bounded into the room and jumped atop the bed. He must¡¯ve been in shock to see a tiny wisp of a thing atop him holding a weapon. He reached for the cleaver, but was too slow and Ladriel smashed the pommel of her blade into his right temple. The blow must¡¯ve knocked him out as he stopped moving and Ladriel hopped down from the bed. The two worked quietly and quickly as one to cut part of the bed sheet into strips. They gagged the balding man and tied his hands and feet tightly. Astoria gave Ladriel a thumbs up and got a confused look in return. She just shook her head and whispered, "Never mind. So far so good." They quietly made their way back into the hallway. It didn''t seem like they made enough noise to wake the innkeeper, so they should still have the element of surprise. They got to the last door and went inside. Elena, the innkeeper, sat up from her sleep and her eyes opened with shock when she saw Astoria. "You!" She tried to get out of bed as quickly as her old body would allow. Astoria''s rage at seeing the woman could not be contained. She ran over to the side of the bed and slapped the woman as hard as she could across the side of her face. The woman flopped backward onto her bed and moved a hand to her face. "How could you do that to me? To anyone! You''re a monster!" Astoria spat at the woman. Elena didn''t say anything further and just stared at Astoria in shock. It was very clear that she never thought she''d see her again. Ladriel walked into the room at the end of Astoria''s quick tirade. "Shhhh! Do you want to wake the whole place on us?" She took stock of the situation and saw the old woman laying in the bed who looked to be in a state of shock. "Listen here, old woman, you''re going to spill every detail that you know of the Red Lotus to us one way or another." She put a wicked smirk onto her face and brandished the shortsword she held in her hand at her. The innkeeper''s eyes opened wide. Astoria could tell that the gravity of her current situation had begun settling in on her. "Help! Jonathan, get in here!" she yelled. "He¡¯s going to beat the two of you bloody and then we¡¯ll put you back where you belong." Ladriel sighed and walked over to the edge of the bed. "If you''re calling for the man in the other room, we already took care of him. No one will be coming to save you." What was left of the blood in the innkeeper''s face drained out and she looked like she would pass out. Astoria remembered how this woman had changed from a kindly grandmother type of figure into a monster who had sold her in the dead of night. She didn''t feel one bit sorry for what they intended to do to the woman. This revelation about herself gave her pause. She considered who she was becoming. Was she a murderer? Just a couple days ago she had been a normal high school girl and now she was going to torture and kill this old woman for both revenge and information. What did it say about her that she was okay with what they were going to do? It was too hard to think of this as just a game anymore, the people here may be just code in a program, but they were much more like real people than NPCs. The reality of her situation was that she didn''t live in the real world anymore. She would have to be prepared to do whatever it took to survive, or she would die here sooner rather than later. In real life, the police would at least try to do something about an organization like the Red Lotus, but here she was left on her own. She snapped back to reality as the old woman began to speak. "You''re marked. You''ll never get away from us. Killing me will do nothing, you might as well turn yourselves over." "Turn ourselves over?" Astoria''s face grew hot at the audacity of this woman to suggest such a thing in her situation. "You''ve got to be kidding, right?" "I never kid. I will tell you nothing." The woman clamped her mouth shut and looked down. Maybe she was stalling, or maybe she just didn''t care if she died. Astoria couldn''t be sure. "Have it your way, old woman," Ladriel grabbed the woman by her hair and yanked her out of the bed onto the floor. Elena let out a cry of pain as she was dragged across the room into the open. Ladriel planted a boot into the woman''s lower back and dropped her to the ground. Afterward she began kicking her in the stomach over and over. Elena coughed up some blood and Ladriel again grabbed the woman by her hair and smashed her face into the floor. "I''m not playing around. Things can get much worse for you if you don''t talk. Make it easy on yourself, old woman." Astoria had only seen such brutality before on TV and even though she had agreed to do this, she was taken aback at the efficiency and cold way that Ladriel worked the woman over. She went over to the door and kept watch down the hallway. They wouldn''t be taken by surprise if someone came to help Elena. "Talk!" Ladriel kicked the woman again. "You don''t want me to have to start breaking things or cutting them off. I will do it." She said with cold hatred. It was abundantly clear that Ladriel felt exactly the same as she did about the Red Lotus and what had been done to them. Elena spat out a glob of blood. The old woman was a tough one but Astoria thought she''d break soon and they could be done with this place. "No one would miss that girl, she had no one," she coughed again. "Lord Dane is one of the higher-ups in the organization and makes sure that when girls who are alone disappear, no one goes looking for them. I agreed to participate... and he gives me a small cut of the profits... that''s all. It''s just business." Ladriel just loomed over the woman as she kept speaking. "It doesn''t matter what you do. You can''t go against a nobleman. He has guards and you won''t ever even get to see him, much less stop him." Ladriel grimaced. "Tell us about the mark of the lotus curse. Can it be removed? How exactly do you identify us?" Ladriel''s face looked like she could hardly contain her disgust for this woman. "Only the leader of the organization could remove the curse. I have no idea who that is. A red glow appears around you when we can see you. Please... that''s all I know." Astoria had no intention of showing the woman any mercy. Just as she was thinking that they needed to finish the job and leave, the door at the end of the hallway creaked open and two men walked through. They were armed and paused for a second when they saw Astoria standing there holding a bow. The woman had been stalling. She must have known that these two would show up and was buying time. "Ladriel, we have company." Astoria said as she quickly nocked and released an arrow toward the two men. She hit the one who was further into the hallway right in the throat. He gurgled as he fell to the ground bleeding out. The second man jumped back out into the kitchen and took cover. "They won''t save you, old woman," Ladriel casually yanked Elena''s head back by her hair and used her sword to slit her throat. After dropping the body to the ground she ran over to the hallway to help Astoria. "There''s at least one more, he''s in the kitchen." Astoria and Ladriel moved slowly down the hall. Ladriel led with her sword out in front of her. She walked carefully in some sort of fighting stance. They were trapped in here, and had no choice but to rush out the door into the large kitchen. As they ran out into the room, a man lunged at Ladriel with a short sword from the side. Her friend was just barely able to bring her sword up in time to parry. A second attacker rushed Astoria from the front. She fired a poorly aimed arrow which clanged as it hit the heavy iron stove on the other side of the room. Shit! She rolled nimbly beneath the swing of the man¡¯s sword and ran to the far side of the room. Ladriel clashed with the large man in close quarters and it was clear that she was the better swordsman. Astoria quickly fired another arrow from her bow at close range, but missed again. The arrow connected with the wall making a loud thunk. Astoria saw Ladriel move as quick as a viper and jam her long sword into her opponent¡¯s gut. He fell to the floor bleeding out. The second man let out a curse under his breath and ran for the door. You won¡¯t get away! Astoria and Ladriel gave chase and burst out into the cold night air just in time to see that the man going around the corner of the inn. They sped up and closed some distance on the man but he was going to get to the main street in mere moments. Astoria stopped running and took aim with her bow. She fired an arrow and just barely missed her target, once more. She only had time for one more shot before he would be at the street where there could be witnesses. She took a deep breath, aimed, and fired. The arrow flew true and hit him in the lower back. The impact caused him to fall forward onto his face letting out a scream of pain. Ladriel caught him and silenced him only a second later. "We should search her room and the front desk." Astoria suggested. "Good idea. We should take what supplies we can as well. I''m sure the local guards will be on high alert after they find out about their deaths. Stick to the plan; we need to make it look like a robbery, but let¡¯s be quick about it." Ladriel led them back to the innkeeper''s room. They found a key atop the dresser that opened a strong box in the corner. Inside there were some documents, most of which looked like records of food deliveries and bank deposits. There was a letter from Lord Dane mixed in with the rest of the documents. Astoria took it and placed it in her bag to read later. There was also a large coin pouch that clinked when she removed it from the box. Afterward, they went to the front desk in the common room. There was nothing of use there, however, and they didn''t want to waste more time than they had to. On their way back out of the kitchen, Astoria grabbed a couple loaves of bread, some large chunks of cheese and some vegetables. They had been inside quite a while now and Astoria was worried about Tilly. Quietly, they headed back to the stables and loaded everything onto the horses. "We need to hurry," Ladriel said in a whisper. "I know a place that will be safe outside of town." Astoria didn¡¯t really want to endanger Jayse¡¯s family, but she didn¡¯t have a better idea or anyone else to turn to for help. Morning was quickly approaching and the four companions made their way out of the town quietly and headed down the road toward Jayse''s farm. Chapter 10: Corruption in Oliend The clip-clop of the horses'' hooves down the packed dirt road was the only sound in the early morning air as the group of companions finally caught sight of Jayse''s farmhouse in the distance. Astoria and Ladriel had filled Tilly in on the events inside the inn and Astoria had opened up the letter from Lord Dane that she had found. The letter didn¡¯t contain any useful information, however, so she tucked it away in her bag again after reading it. The sun was just barely peeking over the horizon and it was already starting to warm up. Astoria had told the others that she knew of a safe place, but she wasn''t really sure that she was making the right decision. The truth was, she just didn''t know what else to do. It was clear that they needed to do something about Lord Dane since he appeared to be one of the higher-ups in the Red Lotus, and she needed a safe place to hide since they were going to be sticking around town for a while. The farmer and his family had been the first people she had met in this world, and they were good people. Astoria hoped that at the very least, they could watch over Tilly and their silent companion while she and Ladriel did something about the problem. Astoria held no illusions that the town wouldn¡¯t be on high alert after the grizzly scene at the inn would be discovered this morning. Astoria opened up her notifications while they rode toward the farmhouse.
Notifications
You have gained 120 EXP for defeating a level 2 human.
You have gained 840 EXP for defeating 3 level 6 Cutthroats
Congratulations! You have reached level 7! You have gained 6 attribute points to distribute.
She saw that she had a quest notification as well and opened it up.
You have unlocked a sub-quest: Corruption in Oliend
Lord Dane of Oliend is involved in the Red Lotus organization. He ensures that nobody takes note of the girls who go missing from time to time in this area. Investigate further and bring this man to justice in order to put a stop to the Red Lotus'' operations in this region. Reward: 5,000 EXP Do you accept? Yes / No
Once again the universe wants to reward me for taking out a slimeball! Astoria selected yes on the new quest and was more than happy to see that she had gained yet another level. Her thoughts were interrupted when Tilly spoke up. "You said this farmer and his family helped you before?" She sounded wary of trusting strangers. Astoria couldn''t blame her after what the four of them had been put through. She shuddered to think of what would have become of them if Lyon had actually managed to get them to his planned destination. Astoria went into details of how she had met Jayse and his family. She explained how she had helped them and that they had rewarded her for doing so; they had even offered to let her stay with them instead of heading off on her own again. When she was done she finished by telling Tilly, ¡°I think we can trust them. They¡¯re good people.¡± "The Red Lotus has dealings with one of their local nobility, it could put their family in danger if we are discovered. Are you sure we should involve them?" Ladriel asked. Astoria paused for a moment, feeling the gravity of the situation before replying, "Honestly... I''m not sure, but I don''t know what else to do. We need a safe place to plan our next move, and we can''t just keep dragging these two into dangerous situations." "I know that I''m not useful in a fight right now, but maybe I could learn a few things, you know. I want to help! These people are monsters and I don''t want to just sit on the side and do nothing," Tilly said with resolve in her voice. "I can teach both of you the basics of what I know. I''m not very skilled myself, but if we can all fight, then we''ll have better chances," Ladriel smiled at Tilly. An extra fighter could make all the difference. A few minutes later they reached the farm. It was pretty early in the morning, but farmers typically started their days at the break of dawn. Jayse was no exception to this. Apparently he had already repaired the damage done to the chicken coop, and he could be seen inside tossing feed around to the hungry birds. He saw them approach and stopped what he was doing. He came out of the coop and made his way over to them, clearly taking stock of Astoria''s companions. "Hello again, Astoria," he gave her a warm smile. "What brings you back to the farm? And who are your friends?" "Hi, Jayse." Astoria hopped down from the horse. "It''s kind of a long story, would it be okay if we talk inside?" Jayse looked at the others appraisingly before replying, "Sure. Let''s go inside and you can tell me everything." Astoria and the others walked the horses over to the house and tied them to the post that supported the small porch. They proceeded inside and after they had all sat down, Astoria introduced her companions and relayed her story to him. Rodia and the girls were still asleep and Jayse didn''t seem to feel the need to wake his wife just yet. Jayse listened quietly as she recounted her journey after leaving the farm and Astoria believed that he truly felt sympathy for their plight. He was a father of two girls, so how could he not be bothered to hear about girls being stolen away in the dead of night. Astoria saw that the gruff farmer was truly shocked to hear about Elena, the innkeeper, had been Involved in such horrible things. He told the group that he had known the innkeeper for several years, and although at times she had seemed a bit off, everyone had thought she was a kind person. "I am so sorry for all you girls have gone through," he said in a sorrowful tone. "You can take shelter here as long as you need." "Thank you. We won¡¯t be here long, I intend to lay waste to the scumbags in charge of the organization that did this to us. Beyond that, I want to help this town. Who knows how many girls they have taken in the night from that inn." "Going against the nobility is not something to be done lightly. Even nobles way out here in the sticks hold a lot of power. The particular noble that you mentioned is known to be a brute. He''s one of the three noble families that owns most of the land around here. Lord Garland is in charge of the town and it is well known that he holds some sort of grudge against Lord Dane. Nobody is sure why, though," Jayse explained. "Maybe we can use this against him. We could go speak with lord Garland," Tilly suggested. "Lord Garland doesn''t hold public audiences, so it would be impossible to just go to his estate and talk to him. If you can do something to gain his attention, then your chances of gaining an audience will be much higher," Jayse said. Astoria remembered that the quests on the board in the tavern were both signed by a Lord Garland. "Wait... What about if we did something about those goblins that have been terrorizing the town? Do you think he¡¯d hand us the reward in person?¡± Astoria asked hopefully.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. "Well... yes actually. He would certainly be the one handing out the reward." That was enough confirmation for Astoria. She filled in the others of her party on the quest to repel the goblin threat and showed them the approximate location of their target as marked on her map. "Considering that they outnumber us so vastly, I was thinking we should try to go in under the cover of darkness and pick them off using bows," Astoria suggested. "It''s not a bad plan. I will spend the afternoon teaching the two of you what I can and with three of us such a thing might be possible," Ladriel replied. "We¡¯ll take you up on your offer, Jayse, but only for our fourth companion. We need to get her to some sort of healer when this is all done, but for now she needs to stay safe." Astoria was glad that she had trusted her instincts on coming back here. "That¡¯s fine. If you¡¯re tired, you can rest in the girls¡¯ room before you head out," Jayse said. Rodia walked out from the hallway and had a surprised look on her face when she saw Astoria and her companions sitting in her living room. Jayse updated her on the situation as the four of them made their way to the girls¡¯ room for some much needed rest. When Astoria awoke, she was the only one in the room, and so she got up and went outside. "It''d be good to teach you guys some basic skills since we have a little time before we need to leave. Like I said before, I''m pretty much a novice myself when it comes to this type of thing, but I am a ranger who had been training under a master, even if only for a short time." Ladriel unsheathed her sword and handed it over to Tilly. "We don''t have a third bow, so I''m going to teach you some basic blade skills." Over the next few hours Ladriel showed her two students the ropes with swords, daggers and bows. Astoria didn''t need any help in the third department as she already had the archery skill, but it would be great to know that if Tilly got herself a bow, she could use it effectively. Astoria decided that she would go back to using two daggers, and gave Tilly her short sword. Ladriel also took the time to teach Tilly stealth so that they could more effectively sneak up on the goblin compound. She pulled up her skill window to have a look at how everything was progressing. Spoiler: Skills
Skills
? Archery - Level 3 (7% toward next level) ? Stealth - Level 2 (57% toward next level) ? Swords - Level 1 (0% toward next level) ? Daggers - Level 1 (0% toward next level) ? Fishing - Level 2 (71% toward next level)
Astoria was happy that her stealth skill had leveled, she would need every edge she could get tonight. It was amazing how information just sort of flooded into her once she got the skill learned and she had even gained a sort of muscle memory when it came to using her new skills. Even though she had a basic understanding of swinging the weapon around before the training, she now found that her mind held intricate details of how to move and why that she wouldn''t have had before. She knew how to stand and move and could more easily riposte. The sun hung low in the sky and it was time for them to head out if they wanted to take care of the goblin problem. Astoria and the others bid farewell to Jayse and his family and told him that they would return as soon as they could. Jayse told them to be safe and wished them well as they took their horses and made their way to the east. "I''ll do my best to back you guys up if the goblins try to get close," Tilly announced with a bit of a shake to her voice. It was clear that she was still pretty scared of doing this. They cut across fields and around the town. The fields were eerily quiet once it got dark save for some chirping crickets or the occasional hoot of an owl. Astoria looked around vigilantly as they traveled, remembering the pack of wolves that she had fought with Jayse last time she was in this area. The night wore on and the moons slowly moved across the sky providing the dim light that she had now gotten used to. All three moons seemed to be in a waning cycle and even though the light they put out was far less than it had been when they were full, it was still not too difficult to see. Several times they came across the burnt remains of farmhouses and Astoria couldn''t help but feel bad for the poor people who had lost everything to the goblins, perhaps even their lives. They didn''t stop to examine any of the burnt farmhouses and simply continued their quiet trek through the darkness. The dry fields from before gave way to wet, muddy ones and the hooves of the horses made slight sucking noises as they continued. Once they had gotten to the marshland area it didn''t take much longer for them to spot a crude wooden fort in the distance. Torches blazed on the ramparts of the fort and Astoria had little doubt that they had found the newly erected goblin stronghold. Luckily they hadn''t been spotted yet and they circled back a ways to find a place to leave the horses. After tying them to a tree they hopped off their mounts and got their weapons ready. Tilly now held Bren''s short sword in her hand while the others carried their bows. ¡°Do you think we''ll be able to get close enough to pick the ones on the roof off?" Astoria asked. Ladriel had a considerate look on her face while she contemplated the plan. "The tall reeds in the marsh should give us a little cover, we need to stay low and move quietly. I think we will be able to get close enough though." ¡°Sounds good. Let¡¯s go.¡± Astoria activated stealth and the others did the same. She ensured that she saw the familiar closed eye icon before moving forward. The three of them crept along slowly like turtles crossing a road and after long minutes had passed they had a much closer view of the threat they now faced. There was a makeshift gate that lead into the goblin hold and outside of it there were two guards sitting next to torches. Luckily, these two were asleep. Atop the building there were three more goblins that appeared to be patrolling, they could see bows leaning against the walls illuminated by the flickering torch light. If they were seen by those then there was no doubt that the entire goblin hold would come running through those gates after them. "We need to take the two by the entrance out silently in one strike," Astoria whispered to the others. "I''ll take the one on the left." "Understood," Ladriel answered. The two archers then readied their bows. Astoria kept a close eye on her stealth icon and was happy that they remained undiscovered so far. Her heart felt like it would leap out of her throat and her hand felt sweaty against the smooth wood of her bow as she nocked an arrow. She forced herself to focus and took in a deep breath before pulling the arrow back to her cheek and aiming at her target. She wasn''t confident that she could kill the goblin with a head shot, so she decided to aim for the chest for a bigger target. They fired their arrows in unison and both found their marks. Ladriel had managed to hit her target right in the eye socket while Astoria''s arrow had found her target''s heart. The goblins would never awaken from their nap. Now that their first obstacle had been taken care of they needed to do something about the patrols. They waited patiently studying their targets. After a while it became clear that two of the three goblins atop the tower would stop and chit-chat while the third just keep moving. "Maybe we can take out the third goblin first while those two are chatting? Afterward, we can quickly dispatch those two?" Astoria asked. "That is probably a solid plan." Ladriel answered. "I''m just glad they haven''t seen us. I wasn''t sure that hiding in these tall reeds was really going to work," Tilly whispered. They watched their quarry until the perfect opportunity arose again. Ladriel would be the one killing the moving target since she was the better shot. It didn''t take long before the moment of truth arrived. Astoria aimed for one of the two who had been chatting while Ladriel loosed an arrow at the patrolling guard. Once again she scored a perfect head shot and the patrolling goblin died instantly. The other two who had been chatting turned, seeing their companion hit the ground and before they could react two more arrows had been loosed and sunk into their bodies. Astoria was amazed at how fast Ladriel was able to fire those things off and even more impressed that she had been able to take out two targets herself with no problems. The three companions stood up, no longer needing to hide and quickly made their way over to the structure while maintaining stealth. Astoria slung her bow over her shoulder and unsheathed both of her daggers. With a nod to her companions she quietly crept over to the door and opened it ever so slightly. She listened for a few moments and didn''t hear anything inside. With a hand motion she beckoned her companions forward and the three of them disappeared into the dark structure. Chapter 11: Assault on the Goblin Stronghold The door opened into a hallway dimly lit by torchlight. It flickered and their shadows danced against the walls as the three companions slowly made their way inside. Astoria had no idea what to expect. There could be any number of enemies within this place and there were only three of them. She did her best to push her fear down and concentrated on moving as quietly as possible. It was impressive that the goblins were able to construct such a building so close to a village without being brought down by the guards or something. She supposed that the local lords didn''t want to risk the lives of their own personal guards and that''s why the ad for help had been placed, but it was a horribly irresponsible way to rule. After making their way down the hall that slightly curved as they walked. Before too long, they found themselves in a spot with a door to the right as well as one to the left. The hallway continued onward for several feet and it looked like there was an open room ahead. Instead of charging forward, she decided it would be good to clear the way systematically as they wouldn¡¯t want any enemies coming up from behind them. Astoria motioned the others to stay back a few paces and she made the decision to go to the door on the left. She carefully pushed on the door to see if it was barred shut and was glad to see that it moved easily and quietly on its hinges. She cracked the door open and peeked inside. It was dark, but she could hear the soft snores of something sleeping. Astoria gulped and made sure to keep a close eye on her stealth icon as she slipped inside. There was just enough light to see that there were three makeshift beds on the ground which were little more than piles of hay that the goblins were using. She readied her daggers and crept over to the closest body. With her heart pounding so hard in her head that she couldn''t believe the goblin hadn''t woken up, she took one of her daggers and slit the throat of the sleeping goblin while simultaneously shoving all her weight atop it to keep it still. It awoke and tried to scream but no sound escaped its mouth, just the quiet gurgling of blood as it died. One down, two to go. Astoria got up and saw that Tilly had also snuck inside the room. With a nod to her companion the two of them dispatched the two sleeping goblins in the same way Astoria had done the first. It was hard for her to not feel guilty for killing these creatures in such an underhanded way, but they had to bridge the numbers gap somehow and winning a fair fight against a dozen enemies would have been impossible. The black goblin blood smelled rotten and stained her already tattered clothes. I have got to get myself some new clothes! This is getting ridiculous. Now I''m going to be going around smelling like goblin! Ugh! She thought to herself as she and Tilly made their way back into the hall. This operation was going extremely smoothly so far and Astoria had no complaints about that. Astoria made her way to the other door. The other room appeared to be some sort of larder. There were piles of food strewn about haphazardly, some of which looked to be rotting. She sighed in relief before heading back to the hall. Sweat dripped down from her forehead and threatened to get into her eyes. She quickly wiped it with her sleeve and took in a deep breath to calm her nerves. The room up ahead was well lit, which meant that they would run into trouble ahead. Preparing herself mentally for the worst, she crept forward toward the other room, signaling Tilly to stay close to her. Ladriel hung back with her bow at the ready. Astoria peeked out into the room and then quickly moved back into the hallway.. Damn, there¡¯s a lot of them. "There¡¯s a total of 7 goblins. 4 asleep on the ground, three sitting at a table. One of them is a lot bigger than the others and has dark red skin." Tilly seemed to be trying hard to stay brave, Astoria hoped that she could do just as well as her friend and not freeze like the last time she had been in a fight. "That must be a goblin warrior," Ladriel said. "They are said to be bigger, faster and much more cruel than their smaller cousins." "Taking on all 7 at once is probably not a good idea..." Astoria whispered. ¡°We should think of a plan.¡± "There might even be more goblins that we haven''t seen yet." Ladriel grimaced. Great. Just what we need... a million of those things chasing after us, She thought to herself. Tilly took a step back and tripped over a rock in the dirt floor of the hallway. She didn''t fall, but when she scuffled to regain her balance it definitely made some noise. Fuck my life, I seriously need a higher luck stat. Astoria thought as she watched the stealth icon open halfway. A guttural voice could be heard from the other room. An instant later Astoria heard footsteps coming in their direction. If only this game worked like those old games where you could kill someone and then hide for literally a second and the others would forget about you. She wished frantically for some solution but knew that they would be fighting for their lives in mere moments. Astoria put her back to the wall of the hallway so that when the goblins come around the corner she could get the jump on them. Tilly followed her lead and the two companions prepared for battle. Ladriel had stepped back several paces but stood in the middle of the hallway with an arrow pulled to her cheek, ready to fire. Two goblins came around the corner, each carrying spiked clubs and saw Ladriel. The enemies shouted and charged forward, somehow not seeing Tilly and Astoria hidden in the shadows. Ladriel loosed her arrow and took one of the goblins in the shoulder as it charged. Meanwhile, Tilly and Astoria moved quickly and took the two enraged goblins from behind. Tilly''s blade went clear through the small torso of her target, while Astoria had planted both of her daggers squarely into the other goblin''s back. The two enemies fell lifelessly to the ground. Okay, now for the bigger problem. Four more goblins came into view and they carried an assortment of melee weapons. They didn¡¯t have a lot of room to swing their weapons in the short hallway and so they so they charged out into the large room and engaged their goblin foes. The red goblin was screaming at its underlings. The four goblins ran toward them with their weapons raised.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. ¡°I¡¯ll handle the big one,¡± Ladriel said. I guess it''s time to see what I¡¯m made of, Astoria said to herself. "Okay! Let''s do this!" she yelled. Astoria charged the closest goblin who swung his mace at her. She danced to the side and used all the agility she had invested to stay ahead of the quick movements of her opponent. Her daggers didn''t give her a lot of reach so she had to be careful. She did have a size advantage over her opponent, however, and she intended to use that to her benefit. The next time the goblin swung his weapon at her, she made an X with her daggers and blocked it. She then kicked the goblin right in the nuts as hard as she could. The creature reacted just like any guy who got kicked there would, it fell to the ground screaming in pain. She moved in quickly and ended his life. Astoria quickly assessed the situation again once she was sure the goblin would not be getting back up. A dead goblin lay on the ground over where Ladriel was fighting. The elf was locked in fierce combat with the goblin warrior and the sound of metal clashing against metal rang in the air. Oh no! Tilly needs help! Astoria thought as she saw her friend fighting desperately against two goblins who were currently pushing Tilly back. "I''m coming!" She yelled as she ran toward the goblins. She wasn''t going to make it in time. The goblins had managed to maneuver themselves so that they had her caught in a pincer attack. Tilly tried to get to where she had her back to the wall but one of the goblins rammed a dagger into her shoulder. "No!!!" Astoria screamed as she dove into the fray. Tilly slumped to one knee and Astoria came just in time to intercept what would have been a fatal blow from a goblin sword. Friction made her arm vibrate as she slid the guard of her weapon against the goblin blade blocking the blow. Not today, asshole! Astoria swung with her second dagger and slashed the goblin''s stomach. The cut was shallow as her foe had reacted quickly enough to get back. "Tilly! Are you okay?" Astoria couldn''t spare a moment to check on her friend as the goblin advanced on her again swinging his sword furiously. She blocked and tried to counter but it took everything to just hold her ground. ¡°I''ll be okay. They caught me by surprise. I can still fight." "Let''s finish this then! Ladriel might need our help," Astoria managed to spit out between parrying the relentless blows of her enemy. She was starting to get tired. Her stamina bar was about halfway gone. I need to end this quickly, or I''m going to tire out and collapse. A few moments later she got her opening. In a desperate bid to end the fight, she managed to catch the blade with one dagger and slash the forearm of the goblin with the other causing him to drop his weapon. A wide look of surprise took the goblin before she plunged her blade deep into his chest. Astoria turned around to see how Tilly was doing and saw that she was on the offensive. Her injured shoulder was luckily not her sword arm and she had turned herself sideways as to make herself a small target. The goblin only had a dagger and didn''t have the reach that Tilly''s short sword did. He was pushed back and she rained blows against the beleaguered goblin. It was over. Tilly''s shortsword found its target and she sliced deeply into the side of the goblin''s neck, nearly decapitating it. They didn''t have any time to celebrate their victory as Ladriel appeared to be desperately fighting for her life against the goblin warrior. Astoria saw that it¡¯s eyes glowed a faint red color as it chased Ladriel around swiping its huge weapon at her. She wasted no time, and ran to help her friend. As Astoria charged forward she saw that the various wounds on the goblin were closing. It must''ve used some sort of skill or magic. Just hang in there, Ladriel! She ran at the final goblin slashing with her daggers from the side as he had been focused on Ladriel. He must¡¯ve heard her coming from behind and spun around with his blade so fast that she could hardly believe it. She performed a roll to the side just in time as the blade flew through where she would have been. The blade would have probably cut her in half. She rolled away from her opponent just as he brought his blade down in an overhand blow smashing into the ground where she had just been. Tilly rushed in and slashed at the goblin. He swatted away her blow like it was nothing. This thing is way out of our league. Astoria was starting to panic. Ladriel seemed to have caught her breath and jumped back into the fight. The goblin mostly ignored Astoria and Tilly, focusing again on the more skilled opponent. "Do not think you will overwhelm me, humans," The goblin grunted in the common tongue. It moved away from its three opponents getting a moment''s respite and then it grunted something in its own tongue. Suddenly the air began to shimmer and three perfect copies of the monster stood together. What the hell kind of bullshit is that? Astoria complained to herself. She and her companions readied themselves for what was to come. The goblin and its shadows rushed in and when Ladriel stabbed the one coming for her it shimmered and disappeared. The image going for Tilly slammed its blade into hers and sent her flying several feet. She hit the ground hard. Ladriel and Astoria were at an even steeper disadvantage now. At least it seems like those are illusions... Astoria dodged the one after her and stabbed it in the back causing it to shimmer and disappear. Astoria thought that the goblin had to be getting tired by now. It had probably also expended a lot of effort to use those special skills it had been using. She just needed to think of something. My bow! She exclaimed in her head. Astoria took a moment to remove the bow that had been fastened to her back during the fight and tossed it toward Ladriel. "I''ll stall it! You know what to do!" Astoria charged the goblin warrior and with everything she had she began to perform a dance with death as she dodged, rolled, and barely managed to parry its blows. I just need to get her a clear shot. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Ladriel taking aim with her bow. She shouldn''t have let herself be distracted, however, and barely dodged the sword that swung for her head. Just as she was about to try and get a little further away again, a powerful red fist found her stomach. Pain enveloped her and she coughed up blood from the powerful blow. Is this it? Is this the end? She thought as she collapsed to the ground in a heap gasping for air. Her enemy had its sword raised and was so focused in its rage that it had forgotten, even if just for a moment, about Astoria''s elvish companion. An arrow streaked through the air and connected with a thunk as it smashed into the sternum of the goblin warrior. Bone cracked, but the bone didn''t manage to penetrate far. It didn''t need to. The goblin was stunned and fell to the ground. Even as it lie helpless on the ground its wound was already starting to close. Astoria knew Ladriel wouldn''t be able to make it all the way across the room in time. Gasping for breath, Astoria willed herself to move. It felt like it took forever, but only a second or two passed before she was atop the goblin, straddling its chest. She spat blood in its face before stabbing her knife into its sword arm at the shoulder. The regenerative abilities of the goblin couldn''t hold up much longer. It would not be able to recover. The stun period had elapsed and it struggled to shove her off. She wouldn''t let it and continued to hold it pinned. What''s yours is mine now, asshole. She activated Kleptomancy. Once the five seconds elapsed she stabbed the other blade into its eye socket ending its story forever. Astoria fell over in exhaustion and checked to see what skill she had stolen.
Notifications
Congratulations! You have stolen the skill Regeneration! At level one this skill costs 70 MP and will restore 30 HP over 40 seconds. A cool down period of one minute will apply. As this skill levels, it will cost more MP, regeneration speed will improve, and you will be able to regenerate more health.
Chapter 12: Evidence Discovered Astoria spent a few long moments on the floor contemplating what had just happened. Violence is coming so naturally to me now, am I becoming just as much of a monster as the people that I''m hoping to fight against? This is a game, right? I need to make myself harder or I won''t survive long here, but does that mean I have to give up my humanity? Her musings were brought to an end as Ladriel stood over her with a concerned look on her face. "Are you alright? That hit to the middle was brutal," she knelt down to look her over and passed Astoria their last health potion. "Tilly is okay, she¡¯s over there. Looks like she¡¯s beginning to stir," she pointed. It wasn''t easy to pull herself away from thoughts of what she had just done, but she turned her head and was relieved that Tilly was fine. She couldn''t believe how much HP she had lost from that punch. The spiked knuckles of the goblin''s hand acted like a natural set of barbed brass knuckles. She hadn''t been bleeding heavily, but her HP had dropped by nearly a third. "I''ll be okay," she groaned as she sat up. She felt like she must look like something out of a horror movie. She was covered in blood and dirt and it was hard to keep her lunch down when she thought about it. Slowly making her way to her feet, she handed the potion back to Ladriel. "Save it, I don''t need it." Ladriel gave her a puzzled look that turned to shock as Astoria activated her new skill. Astoria had assumed her companion would''ve looked over her status page, and maybe she had, but it was probably surprising nonetheless to see Astoria using the skill that their foe had been using constantly throughout the fight. "You¡¯ve been blessed by the gods with an amazing ability,¡± Ladriel said. Astoria didn¡¯t really know how to respond to that, and so she simply nodded. Her MP had dropped by 70 points, and she felt her wounds slowly begin to heal. After the spell had finished doing its work, she felt markedly better. This was her first taste of magic in this world. Surprisingly it didn''t require invoking some long drawn out spell with chanting and hand gestures, she simply had to concentrate on activating the skill. She idly wondered if all magic worked this way on this world, maybe more complex spells required more complex actions. Only time would tell. For now, her fantasies of shouting some sort of magic incantation like "Wingardium Leviosa," in Harry Potter were dashed. "Do you think we need some sort of proof that we removed this threat to the village?" Astoria asked, hoping that something gruesome like taking in heads for a bounty would not be a thing here. If only I had my cell, I could take a selfie, she joked to herself. Ladriel walked over to the red goblin and reached down, yanking a heavy bone necklace off its neck. "This will be proof enough." "Did we get all of them you think?" Astoria looked around the large room and didn''t see any other hallways. There were stairs leading up to the roof and there was a single door over by the crudely constructed firepit. The building hadn''t been a very big one from what she could tell from the outside, so she doubted there would be much more to the place than this. "If there were more, they would''ve come during the fight. We''ve won." Ladriel replied. Despite what she had said, Astoria couldn''t help but notice that her companion was still on edge and was probably ready to fight again should the need arise. She made her way over to Tilly. "Find anything useful?" Astoria asked hoping to have at least gained some loot. "No... none of them had anything useful. The big red one had a small brass key on him though. I don¡¯t see what it¡¯s for, though. Want to go check that last room with me?¡± Tilly asked. "Yeah. Let''s do it and then let''s get the hell out of here." Astoria walked over and opened the door. The room was lit by a torch and it really wasn''t anything special. There was a crude looking bed rather than a pile of straw on the ground so Astoria supposed that this must be where the big red one had slept. There was a small wooden table that had a small wooden chest the size of a loaf of bread atop it. Sweet! Maybe there''ll be something good in that! she excitedly ran over to the chest and put it up onto the table. "Tilly, do you have the key?" "Here you go," Tilly handed the small key over to her. The key fit snugly into the lock and a click was audible when she turned it. She opened the chest like an excited child would open a present on their birthday and her excitement turned to disappointment when she saw the contents of her prize. There was a rolled up piece of parchment and a few silver coins inside but nothing else. Seriously, game devs? Seriously? she sighed and put the four silver coins into her pouch and then unrolled the parchment. Her eyes widened as she read the text.Stolen story; please report.
Employment contract: I, Lord Ryland Dane of Oliend, offer this contract to Grizaldo and his troupe of goblins. Cause mayhem and destruction in the outlying areas near Oliend. The terms of this contract are:
  1. Destroy a minimum of 5 homesteads. 2. Murder and pillage as much as you can. 3. Leave the area after one month.
Fulfillment of the contract will result in payment of 32 gold pieces, which will be delivered to the agreed upon location.
An elegant scrawling signature was at the bottom of the parchment. Astoria felt ill. Just how underhanded and dirty is this guy? Trafficking women wasn''t enough for him? He has to go and order the destruction of families in his own town just for kicks! "What is it?" Tilly asked as she came up beside her. Astoria handed the parchment over to her friend and saw that Tilly had the same reaction as she had. "Lord Garland will definitely want to see us when we show up with this. This guy needs to go down for the things he''s done." "I feel that it is time we left this place," Ladriel said plainly. ¡°Okay. It doesn¡¯t look like there¡¯s anything else interesting to find here for us anyway. Let¡¯s go,¡± Astoria replied. The companions made their way out of the goblin hold and back to their horses. Oh my god... I just realized... she thought as she remembered that she had actually leveled up after their trip to The Whispering Willow and she had yet to allocate her stat points. I''m so dumb. Those points could have meant an easier time for us in there, she resolved to try harder to place her points right away. Astoria definitely didn''t ever want her points to get randomly distributed. She opened up her notifications and quickly skipped past the ones telling her of her skill increases.
Notifications
You have gained 372 EXP for defeating 3 level 5 Goblin Scouts
You have gained 100 EXP for defeating 2 level 2 Goblin Raiders
You have gained 197 EXP for defeating 3 level 3 Goblin Raiders
You have gained 297 EXP for defeating 4 level 7 Goblin Raiders
You have gained 837 EXP for defeating level 19 Goblin Warrior
Congratulations! You have reached level 8! You have gained 6 attribute points to distribute. (Experience to next level: 5147/7,667)
I need to allocate my new points so that I don¡¯t end up forgetting again like an idiot. She pulled up her status page and placed 6 points into agility and 4 points into luck. She also decided it was time to upgrade two of her neglected attributes now that she had a skill that utilized MP. So she put one point into Magic and one into Magic Resistance. Spoiler: Astoria''s Stats
Name Astoria
Level 008 (5,147/7,667 EXP to next Level)
Class None
HP 160/210 MP 95/165
AP 0
Attributes
Vitality 14 Magic 11
Endurance 15 Magic Resistance 11
Strength 16 Luck 14
Agility 22
Dexterity 14
Abilities
? Kleptomancy
Skills
? Archery - Level 3 (2% toward next level) ? Stealth - Level 4 (17% toward next level) ? Swords - Level 1 (0% toward next level) ? Daggers - Level 3 (7% toward next level) ? Regeneration - Level 1 (5% toward next level) ? Fishing - Level 2 (71% toward next level)
I really scored with Kleptomancy this time. If I can grind some levels on Regeneration, then I won¡¯t have to be so dependent on health potions anymore. Astoria was happy to see that her skills had all increased a fair bit from the fight as well. It looked like her MP regenerated pretty slow so it would probably be a long while before she could use the regeneration ability over and over again, but it was a start. She activated the skill again and felt relief as her body began to heal further. In a short while she would be almost as good as new. "So, do you guys think we should go back to the farm first or continue straight onward to Oliend?" Astoria asked. "I''m beat, let''s go back to the farm and rest up before taking on more bad guys, okay?" Tilly answered. ¡°Since it is a safe location, it makes sense that we should rest up there before continuing on our way,¡± Ladriel added. Astoria and her companions got back onto their mounts and quietly rode through the night towards Jayse¡¯s farm once more. Chapter 13: The Wandering Beastmaster Lupin gripped the haft of his wooden spear tightly as he stared up at the gigantic crystalline structure before him. It had been several days since he had been trapped in this game, and he still didn''t have a single lead. The only thing he could think of was to search the area where he had spawned and hope that he could find her. I will never give up. She''s here somewhere and I will scour this world if I have to, he thought to himself with powerful resolve. Lupin had just been a regular guy, nothing special really. He had a good job and had generally been blessed in life. His wife, Melissa, was a gamer like himself, and they had been looking forward to tackling a new game together. Somehow, even though they literally logged into the game at the same time, they had not spawned together. He had appeared in a swampy area only a couple days journey from the base of these rocky mountains and she was nowhere to be found. Lupin had immediately tried to open a chat window to find out where she was so they could meet up, but this world had no such feature. When the global announcement came down, he had fallen to his knees in grief. The possibility that he would never see his wife again was very real, but he would search to the ends of the universe if he had to in order to reunite with his soulmate. There weren''t any cities nearby, but he had been able to spot this gigantic crystal wall from far below. Perhaps there was a city inside, or maybe it was a dungeon. He had no idea, but he had to check. If I can get to civilization, I might be able to find other players who may have seen her. It''s not much to go on but what else can I do? he mused to himself. The wall of the structure was at least 100 feet tall and even though it was made of shiny pale-blue crystal, he couldn''t see through it. In the brief time he had spent in this world, he hadn''t had much luck other than the fact that he spawned near a weapon, and that he apparently had been gifted with a special ability. The ability, Beast Tamer, allowed him to tame a familiar who was at his level or below. He could only control one creature at a time, but it would grow stronger as he did and he was able to send it commands telepathically. Lupin glanced down at his companion, a level 1 green slime. "Ready to do this, buddy?" he asked the creature. The undulating green blob didn''t respond, of course, but he liked having something to talk to. It was dumb luck that he had tamed the thing anyway, and it had been pretty useful so far. The monster was a green slime whose attribute was poison. It wasn''t very strong, but when it contacted the flesh of an enemy it burned like acid and poison would seep into its victim. He had learned that first hand when he had stepped on it while trudging through the marshland at the base of the mountains. He reached down and reflexively rubbed his leg before snapping himself back to the present. A heavy looking door stood before him and he reached out and pushed against it. It was surprisingly light and swung open. Crystals sparkled inside jutting out of the ground, walls, and even the ceiling in beautiful fractals that acted like prisms creating rainbows in the light. A large crystal floated in the middle of the small room and it rotated reflecting light, just like everything else in the place. As he went to enter the building he was stopped by some invisible force and a prompt appeared.
The Crystal Labyrinth Dungeon
Woe to all ye who enter here. The beauty of this place is only matched by the danger found within. There are great treasures hidden deep inside the dungeon for those brave enough to claim them. Take heed, adventurer, if you become lost here, you will never again be found. Recommended Level: 15+
Well... that''s a dead end if ever one was to smack me right in the face. Not a city, and most likely not a place where she would have spawned at level 1. Even the sadistic fucks who created this game wouldn''t do that I hope... not to mention I''m still only level 3. He selected no on the prompt and the door closed on its own leaving him once again staring at the wall of the dungeon. "Time to head in another direction," he announced to his companion. "Maybe once we find Melissa we can come back here. Just need to keep hope alive, my friend." The slime undulated again but that would be all the response Lupin would get out of it. The two of them began the long trek down the mountain. Lupin decided that they would head in the direction he had seen that red dragon flying in a couple days back. If nothing else, maybe it was headed toward where people or farms with livestock were.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. After what felt like forever, they finally made it to the base of the mountain. Lupin wished he had a good source of fresh water or even a way to start a fire, but he had to make due with what he had. He reluctantly reached down and scooped some of the murky looking swamp water up and drank it. Somehow he hadn''t gotten sick from the stuff thus far. He had pushed himself hard today to get to that building and back and he felt exhausted. His stamina had reached critically low levels a few times throughout the day and he was ready to find a dry spot to rest for the night. After mucking about for a bit he found a high spot of ground in the marshland where he and his slime could hang their hats for the night. He yawned and ordered the creature mentally to stand guard. It didn''t need sleep so far as he could tell and for that he was glad. "Wherever you are, babe, hang in there. We''ll be together again soon," he said aloud. Lupin was sure that she would be searching just as hard for him and so it would only be a matter of time before they found each other. If anything has happened to her, I swear with every fiber of my soul that I will burn this world to the ground. The designers wouldn''t have made this place without partaking in it themselves. If I can''t find her, I''ll find them and find some way to make them pay. It took some time, but he finally drifted off to sleep. The next morning, he awoke and stretched his sore muscles. Lupin was grateful for a good night''s rest after all that exertion from the day prior, and even though he was without food and hungry, he set off through the marsh. Things couldn''t go smoothly forever, though, and right before him a large head popped up out of the shallow water. The creature was something right out of his nightmares and its forked tongue tasted the air as its eyes stared right at him. The snake was enormous and he had no doubts that it could swallow him. He jumped back and held his spear point first at the thing. "I don''t want any trouble, but if you come looking for it, you''ll get more than you bargained for," he warned the snake. Its only answer was that it dove in to strike him. He barely jumped out of the way as the snake''s face smashed into the soft ground where he had been standing. He used the long reach of his weapon to stab at his foe but wasn''t able to do much damage. Jeez... what are those scales made of? he didn''t have a lot of time to think about it, though as it dove for him again. Luckily he wasn''t alone and the snake had overextended. His trusty slime jumped onto the back of the snake and a searing noise could be heard as its gelatinous body oozed down the sides of the snake burning and poisoning it. "Great job, buddy!" he loved that little slime right now. The snake thrashed around in pain unable to attack the slime as it was positioned near the back of its head. Lupin ordered the familiar to retreat and as it jumped off he stabbed the tip of his spear deep into the exposed area. This time, the blade went in easily and the creature fell silent shortly after. Lupin accessed his notification window immediately hoping that this had been enough to gain both him and his familiar another level.
Notifications
You have gained 51 EXP for defeating level 5 Anaconda
Congratulations! Your familiar has reached level 3! It has gained 3 attribute points.
"Better than nothing. Congrats, little guy," he opened up the creature''s status screen.
Name Slimer
Level 003 (307/667 EXP to next Level)
Current Evolution Minor Slime
HP 60/60 MP 15/15
AP 3
Attributes
Vitality 4 Magic 1
Endurance 2 Magic Resistance 1
Strength 2 Luck 1
Agility 2
Dexterity 1
Abilities
? Dissolve
Skills
? Weak Poison - Level 2 (43% toward next level)
Lupin decided to put two points into the creature''s vitality and one point into agility. His little buddy was just a basic slime monster, but he would make it the strongest one it could be. With its higher health it would at least be able to take a bit more of a beating in the future. He was a little disappointed that he hadn''t leveled himself, but he was very close at this point anyway. On that note, he and his companion trudged onward toward the direction the dragon had flown. I''ll find you. I swear it. Chapter 14: Onward to Lord Garlands Estate! The sun was just beginning to peak over the distant horizon as the three companions arrived back at Jayse¡¯s farm. It was still hard for Astoria to believe how far she¡¯d come in just a short time within this new world of hers. Before all of this, Astoria had been a very passive person. She wouldn¡¯t have gone out looking for a fight; she had already changed so much from the meek girl who hid in her room while her parents drank and fought. We actually have some solid evidence against that Dane bastard now. He¡¯s going down. After the fight and travelling all night, she felt as though she could sleep for the whole day when they hopped down from their mounts and she said as much as they walked over to where they would tie them up, "Let''s get these horses tied up and go get some sleep. I''m beat." "We shouldn¡¯t tarry here for long. Remember, we still have much to do before this ordeal is all done," Ladriel said. I swear it''s like she can function with like no sleep at all. She''s right, of course, but I just wish I could get a full night''s sleep. Is that so much to ask, universe? It looked like Jayse had put out some food for their horses as there were a few bales of hay placed where they had tied their horses. Jayse is the best. He really didn¡¯t have to do that for us. Astoria gave her horse a good pat on its head, running her fingers through its mane before heading inside. Jayse and Rodia had really come through for them once more as the first thing she saw when entering the small farm house was that they had set up bedrolls in the middle of the living room for them. The pillows looked so soft and inviting. Astoria turned and saw that Jayse was sitting at the dining table puffing on his pipe with a book in his hands. Her eyelids felt so heavy but she forced herself to stay standing. He saw the three of them standing at the entrance to the house staring and he took the pipe out of his mouth, "Good morning, girls. You look to be in one piece. Everything went well, I suppose?" Astoria nodded. "You won¡¯t believe it! It looks like Lord Dane is responsible for the goblin trouble as well as being a scumbag involved in the Red Lotus.¡± She reached into the pack where the piece of parchment was stored and held it up like a flaming sword of justice before the older man¡¯s face. ¡°We''re going to go into town and present this evidence to Lord Garland after we get a few hours of sleep," she yawned again. Jayse frowned and stood up. "That lord and his damned politics! Some of those farms had children! I hope that Lord Garland will have the man hanged for his crimes. Go ahead and get some sleep, you three look like you¡¯re ready to fall down. I have work to do so I''ll be outside for most of the morning.¡± The farmer stood up and set his pipe and book down on the table before heading outside. "He''s such a nice man," Tilly said after he was outside while yawning. "I could sleep for a month," she took off her soiled outer clothes and crawled into bed. Astoria and Ladriel quickly followed suit and Astoria felt herself drifting off to sleep almost the second that her head hit the soft, fluffy pillow. Astoria dreamt of home. She had been preparing to take the SATs and she would need to really buckle down soon if she wanted to get into a decent school. The dreams were so vivid that when she awoke, and found herself on the floor of Jayse¡¯s farmhouse, she was a little confused as to where she was. I¡¯ll never be able to go home. I wonder if time passes the same here as it does in the real world. She sighed as she reminded herself that this was the real world for her now. A dangerous, monster filled world full of murderers and worse. The others were already awake and their bedrolls had been folded up neatly and put into the corner of the room. Her clothes were gone. Rodia must¡¯ve taken them or something. Astoria stretched her arms above her head and then climbed out of the bedding. She folded everything up and put it with the others. Rodia was in the kitchen trimming what looked to be a roast when Astoria finished doing what she had been doing and walked into the kitchen. The house was warm at least, but she didn¡¯t want to be walking around half-naked all day. "Good morning, dear. I took the liberty of cleaning your blood-stained clothing while you slept. I did what I can, but it seems like you need to get some new clothes soon. They¡¯re drying outside." She stopped what she was doing. "Come with me, I¡¯m sure that I have something that will fit you in my closet.¡± Astoria followed the older woman into her room at the back of the house where she opened up her closet revealing a small collection of dresses on hangers. Rodia shoved most of the clothes, which were definitely too big for Astoria, to the side of the closet and pulled out a couple options that looked like they would fit. ¡°How about one of these?¡± Rodia held each dress up against Astoria in turn. ¡°It looks like they¡¯ll both fit you.¡± The dresses looked pretty and were very well cared for. Astoria chose to take the yellow sundress and put it on. She did a little spin and was happy to wear something nice after going around in half-destroyed clothes all this time. ¡°It fits great. Thank you!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t mention it, dear. You can keep it.¡± Astoria beamed. She finally had something without holes in it! Going around fighting monsters in a dress wouldn¡¯t do, however, so she would need to stop in town and get some new gear. it was nice that she would get to wear something more normal again, even if only for a little while. ¡°I can make you something to eat if you¡¯d like. Everyone else already had breakfast earlier." She gave Astoria that kind smile of hers. ¡°It¡¯s okay. I¡¯m actually not really very hungry. Do you know where the others went?¡± ¡°They¡¯ve been outside for quite a while now. Ladriel said that she was going to teach Tilly some things about defending herself.¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to go learn some stuff too. Thanks again for the dress!¡± Astoria exclaimed as she ran out the front door. Aerie was sitting outside the front door playing with her dolls while watching Ladriel and Tilly who were a short distance away from the house to the side. The little girl jumped a little when Astoria came crashing out the door and spun around. She grinned and stood up when she saw it was Astoria before running over. "You''re awake! Wanna play?" Astoria couldn''t help but smile at the little girl. She knelt down and answered, "I wish I could. It looks like a lot of fun, but I have some grown up things that I have to do today. Another time, okay?" Astoria patted the girl on the head and stood back up. Aerie looked a little disappointed for the briefest of moments before shrugging and running back to her spot with the two dolls and began playing once more. Astoria walked towards the pair and took note of Judy, who was in the fenced garden area watering the various vegetables with a large watering can, staring at Ladriel and Tilly as well. Ladriel was giving instructions to Tilly on stances and sword forms when Astoria walked up. The elf told Tilly to practice and came over to her. I¡¯m glad Tilly is so into all this. Hard to believe she is the same person as she was before either. It seems that we¡¯ve both grown. "How long have you guys been out here? Did you guys sleep at all?" "Some of us do not sleep like logs,¡± the elf sniffed. ¡°We got up early when we smelled the food Rodia was making for breakfast. I can¡¯t believe you didn¡¯t wake up. Did you sleep okay? You were tossing and turning,¡± Tilly asked. ¡°I¡¯m just¡­ a little homesick, that¡¯s all.¡± The others dropped it at that seeing that it was a sore point. Astoria wondered if Tilly would still want to go back to being just a cook once this was all over. Not that there was anything wrong with dreaming of becoming a chef, but it didn¡¯t sound very interesting to her. ¡°Are we going to be departing soon?¡± Ladriel asked. ¡°Yeah. Let¡¯s go. Before we go to Garland¡¯s estate, I want to find the blacksmith and get some proper equipment. The stuff I have is pretty much destroyed at this point. Tilly needs some real gear, too.¡± The three of them got their belongings together and said their goodbyes. It was time to really do some damage to the Red Lotus. Dane was a noble, so surely he was not a lowly member of the organization. Astoria could hardly wait to squeeze the man for information. They made good time travelling the road during the daylight hours and before time they were in town. Now¡­ where is that blacksmith? She looked around as they trotted down the street on their horses. They had come into quite a bit of money by robbing that corrupt innkeeper of her coin. Not to mention, they would be getting a pretty nice reward for their goblin slaying services. It occurred to her that she had been so busy with other things, that she had never even counted the money. I wonder if Ladriel or Tilly counted it though. "Did either of you happen to count the money we got from Elena?" she spoke quietly now that they were in town even though no one was anywhere near them. One couldn''t be too careful, after all. Tilly was the one to answer, "I counted it once we got to Jayse''s farm. The total was 7 gold, 11 silver, and 37 copper coins." "Sounds like she was making a fortune off of selling people like livestock." The woman had probably been selling girls to the Red Lotus for years to have amassed such a huge fortune. Astoria swallowed the rage that swelled within her at the mere thought of the Red Lotus and focused her mind on the task at hand. She needed good gear if she was going to get ahead in a game world like this. I wonder how much a good set of armor costs in this world. This is probably a starting area, so I doubt that a little town like this will have anything extraordinary. Six gold coins felt like a huge fortune compared to anything she had seen so far in this world, but she remembered how expensive something basic like a magic map had been, and her heart sank a little bit.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. "Let¡¯s go find the blacksmith before we do anything else, but we should also think of getting some more potions before we go to Lord Garland¡¯s estate," Astoria said. "Sounds good to me," Tilly seemed eager to do something as ordinary as going shopping. "We should get some ingredients from the general store as well. There are some basic necessities that we¡¯ll need for the trip to Elivaster." "Do you think we can afford another horse?" Astoria hoped that it would be a possibility. Riding double wasn''t the most comfortable way to travel, after all. If horses were cheap enough, she thought that it would be a good idea to get one for their injured companion down the road as well. "In Egris, a decent horse typically goes for around 20 silver pieces. We should be able to find someone who will sell us a horse if we ask around," Tilly said. It didn¡¯t take long for them to find the blacksmith. Heat waves could be seen radiating from the building where the open forge lay. The three of them hopped off their horses and stepped inside. A man with rippling arm muscles pounded steel against steel in a rhythmic motion. The clanging was so loud that Astoria¡¯s ears hurt. She winced each time he brought down his heavy hammer. The man had a huge, bushy beard that went halfway down his chest and sweat glistened all over his face and bulgy arms. Bang. Bang. Bang. After a few moments, he finally noticed that the three of them were standing inside his domain when he stopped hammering and placed the project back into the hot embers of the forge once more. He turned to them and with a voice like gravel grinding he addressed them in what sounded like a dwarvish accent from one of those old Lord of the Rings movies she saw once, "What can I do for ye, lassies? I be Kristov, the smith here in Oliend," he crossed his arms. "We need to buy some armor. Something light and easy to move in, but that will also provide as much protection as possible." Astoria hoped that she could afford something of good quality. She really wanted to get good gear, but at the same time she wanted that magic map that was at the general store. Would her money be able to stretch that far? "If ye be lookin'' for light armor, ye came to the right place. I dun have a large selection of armor that will fit a wee lass like ye, but I may have somethin'' that''ll fit the bill," he wiped the sweat from his brow using a cloth that had been tied to his belt and motioned for them to follow him to the back of the building. There were barrels filled with various farming tools like scythes, hoes, and shovels. Astoria even noted some weapons. There was a small assortment of simple looking, yet well crafted swords, spears, daggers, and even a couple halberds. Upon inspection, every weapon that she saw was of above average quality or better. Hanging on the wall there were several different suits of armor in pieces. They looked fairly plain and she doubted she was strong enough to walk around in something like that all the time. Besides, none of it would fit her. Once they got to the back corner of the forge, the blacksmith took out a heavy ring with several keys on it. He placed one into the lock of a large chest that sat on the ground nearby and rummaged around inside for a few moments. He pulled out two sets of armor and placed them on a nearby table. "This un'' here be fine leather armor if I do say so meself. This will allow ye to move freely and will offer minor protection in critical points on your body. This other un be a cheaper option for ye. It be leather armor but will not offer as much protection. I dinnae know what yer price range be, Lass, but this be the only light leather armor that I have that would fit ye. I can part with the finer set for 5 silver and 27 copper pieces. The cheaper set be 3 silver." Well within my price range. Astoria had a hard time following the man''s speech but she understood the important bits. I think I''d better not skimp out when it comes to my defense, the more expensive set looks like it¡¯ll fit me better, anyway. She picked up the armor to feel its weight before answering. "Can I try it on? If it fits, I''d like the nicer set." "Of course it''ll fit, lass. I have a good eye fer these things. Ye can try it on if ye wish though," He pointed toward a door and motioned her to go inside and change. She grabbed the bundle of armor and went inside. I hope this fits good. she undressed and started putting it on. The set consisted of a dyed dark blue, tight fitting pair of pants and long sleeve shirt that would leave only her fingers in the open air, brown leather pauldrons for her shoulders, a chest piece that resembled a corset that tied together at the front, knee-high leather boots and vambraces for her forearms. It wasn¡¯t plate mail, but she felt like she would be able to move really good in the outfit. It was time to find out. She pulled off her dress. She started by putting on the two piece jumpsuit which fit snugly but well, followed by the boots. The boots felt soft and she could tell that they would be both quiet and comfortable to walk in. She put on the chest piece which was more comfortable than she would have thought it would be at first glance before attaching the pauldrons and vambraces. Once she was done she looked herself over as best she could without a mirror. I look like a badass assassin chick! I love this outfit! Astoria walked around for a few moments in the small room to make sure that everything was comfortable and nothing rubbed her the wrong way, and she wasn¡¯t disappointed. The new outfit allowed her to maneuver easily and she retained her full range of motion in her arms and legs. She stepped out of the small room with confidence to see what her companions thought. "So? What do you guys think?" "It looks sufficient and appears to be well made," Ladriel commented. She was no fun at all and Astoria noticed the blacksmith¡¯s small grin at the compliment on his wares. "You look more dangerous in that getup! It looks great, Astoria!" At least Tilly seemed to be excited for her. "It¡¯s your turn next! Do you have anything that would fit her?" "I do have some things that would fit that one. Depending on what ye want, that is. What kind of armor do ye want, lass?" The burly man asked Tilly. Tilly looked to be contemplating her decision carefully before answering. "I want something that can take a beating. Something that offers good protection and decent mobility. I¡¯d also like a shield." Interesting... Maybe she''s going to be the tank for our little group after all. She does seem to be taking her sword training seriously. The blacksmith pondered for a moment and then opened another chest. "We dinnae get many requests fer armor around these parts, but I think I have a set of light armor that will do." Kristov took out another set of armor and placed it on the table just as he had last time. "This set of light armor will cost ye 10 silver and will offer a good amount of protection. I¡¯ll throw in any of the shields on that table over there for an extra 4 silver." he announced. Tilly moved over to the table holding all the shields and picked up a medium sized kite shield and placed it on top of the bundle of armor. She picked up the assortment of gear awkwardly and headed into the little room. A few minutes later she came out of the room fully equipped. The armor was made of a dull looking steel and when she examined it, it looked as though it was, as everything else in the shop, of above average quality. The steel armor gleamed in the light of the forge. The set consisted of dark brown clothes underneath, with a cuirass, brown tabard, pauldrons, vambraces, greaves and sabatons. Her shortsword was sheathed at her side and her shield was clipped onto a strap on her back. She looked like the spitting image of a knight to Astoria. "And how about weapons? Our gear is in pretty rough shape.¡± She unsheathed a dull and dented dagger and held it up for the blacksmith to inspect. ¡°Do you have anything better? Would you be interested in buying our old ones?" Astoria placed both of her daggers down on the table. Tilly followed suit and placed her short sword alongside Astoria''s weapons. Kristov examined the weapons and with a harrumph, "These do be little better than trash, lass. I dinnae know how ye have gotten by using these. I will give ye 1 silver for the lot of it and that do be a generous offer. As village smith most of the requests I get are for everyday items. I do have a small selection of blades. They be of much better quality than the things you have been using, though. They will serve ye well." The smith wandered around the forge and pulled out several weapons, placing them in a line on a large empty table for them to look at. They were more or less all the same as far as she could tell, but they were definitely a step up from what she had before. None of the prices here were what she would call unreasonable. She selected a couple daggers that felt like they had good balance and weight to them, while Tilly grabbed a longsword. After a bit of haggling they had everything they came for . Once they had decided on everything they needed, Astoria was able to haggle the price down, but only just a little. She guessed that she would need some sort of skill to do it better. In the end they left the blacksmith a little over 16 silver pieces poorer than they had come in. Definitely an improvement over what I''ve been using. she flipped one of the blades into the air and caught it easily, something she would have never been able to do in the real world. The blade was almost perfectly balanced. The blacksmith really did do fine work. The next stop would be the general store. They needed food, potions, and with a bit of luck, a certain magical map. As soon as the three of them entered the store Eld came out from behind his counter and greeted them. "Good to see you again on this fine day! What can I do for you ladies?" "We need to buy some of your health potions and some provisions for travelling. Can you help us with that?" Tilly asked. "Of course, of course! I''ll be happy to help you three out. I currently have 8 health potions in stock. Two weak ones, three minor, and three greater potions. Which would you three be interested in?" Eld wrung his hands, waiting for their reply. Just as Astoria was about to answer Ladriel spoke up, "We''ll take all of them," Astoria didn''t want to waste a lot of time in the shop as she didn¡¯t particularly like the man who stood before them. He reminded her of a sleazy car salesman who would sell his own grandmother to get ahead if he had to. ¡°Tilly, go grab whatever it is you need. We need to get going soon,¡± Astoria said. We have more important things to do than to sit here and listen to this guy and watch him wring his hands all day. We''re doing pretty good money wise right now anyway. Tilly was speeding around the shop grabbing this and that until a nice pile of things sat on the counter at the front of the shop. She had grabbed some spices, lard, and some cured meat that looked like bacon. There were also assorted veggies and two small containers of what looked to be flour and sugar. ¡°I¡¯d also like to buy that map we talked about before,¡± Astoria said. The shopkeeper gave her an incredulous look as Astoria placed the gold coins on the counter one at a time. Astoria grinned to herself as the three of them exited the shop. Finally. I have a useful map. The process for changing ownership on the map wasn¡¯t too hard and once it had been done, a blinking magical dot on the map indicated her position. It would be infinitely useful if they ever had to stray from the road. Another nice surprise that came with the map was that she found she could open the map in her head by concentrating on it. A transparent window would pop up and it was just like on a regular game. Things were definitely looking up. They distributed the potions as evenly as possible between themselves as they walked over to their horses and loaded all the new supplies on them. It was time to go collect their reward and get justice for the farms that had been burned down. Jayse had told them where to go to get to Lord Garland¡¯s estate, so it didn¡¯t take them long to find it on horseback. The mounts certainly made travel easier and Astoria was getting used to riding now. It wasn''t anything like a car, but it sure beat walking everywhere. The side road that lead to the lord¡¯s estate was lined on both sides with tall hedges that were in full bloom with some sort of blue flowers. A few minutes more and they found themselves before a large steel gate with a guard house on the other side. Two guards with spears standing watch on their side of the gate stepped forward as they approached and a man who must have been their guard captain or something stepped out of the little house and out of the gate to meet them. Astoria and the others dismounted as an older man, dressed in the same style armor as the other guards came out of the guard house and outside the gate. Astoria would have guessed the man was in his late 40s and his chiseled face sported a well kept beard. All three guards wore green and white and had a coat of arms painted on their breastplates. "What business do you have here, strangers?" the older man asked in a no-nonsense tone. "We''re travelling adventurers and we¡¯ve taken care of your goblin problem for you." Astoria pulled the goblin warrior''s necklace out of her bag and tossed it over to the guard''s feet. "We¡¯d like to speak with Lord Garland to claim our reward and to provide him with some important information that we discovered," Astoria said in her most diplomatic tone. The guard captain eyed her suspiciously for a moment before bending down to pick up the necklace. He examined it and then nodded. "You¡¯ll be rewarded for your heroic efforts. Come with me." He pushed open the gate and gestured for them to follow. "It hardly needs to be said, but if you mean to cause any trouble, I won¡¯t hesitate to cut the three of you down. Consider this your only warning." Astoria gulped and the three companions followed the man through the gate and toward the mansion that was visible ahead. This is it. We''re going to put that Dane guy away and hopefully get some more information on the Red Lotus. Hopefully this Lord Garland guy isn¡¯t just as bad as Dane. Chapter 15: The Great Game Astoria took in the scenery as they passed through the foreboding gate and into the expansive grounds of Lord Garland''s estate. He isn¡¯t going to be just as corrupt as Dane is he? I just hope that he isn¡¯t in bed with the Red Lotus. The place reminded her of the Japanese Tea Gardens in San Francisco. Everywhere she looked there were carefully trimmed and cultivated plants that were literal eye candy. She particularly liked the shrubs that had enormous purple and white flowers on them. Off the main pathway a short distance there was what looked like a zen garden. Raked gravel and large boulders covered the small area and she wondered if the designer of this part of the game world liked the old Karate Kid movies. Gardeners were busily working to keep the place looking pristine. She saw several of them trimming the various shrubs and deadheading flowers in the beds scattered around the grounds. The lord''s manor was literally a humongous mansion that any celebrity would envy. There were large wooden columns with carvings on them by the front entrance. There were double doors that led into the house that also featured intricate carvings. Two more guards stood at either side of the double doors and slapped hands to their breasts as they saw their escourt approaching. He must be the head guard or something around here just like I thought. Once they were inside she was impressed by the vastness of what was likely a ballroom for hosting parties. There were stairs that led up to the second story at the far side of the room. Lavish tapestries hung from the walls and she had to remember to keep moving rather than gawk. The man led them into a room near the back of the large room by the staircase. It reminded her of a boardroom that you would see on tv shows and movies. Comfortable looking chairs surrounded a heavy wooden table complete with a fancier chair at the head of the table with the house crest embroidered into the back. Okay, so where is Lord Garland? I thought he''d be taking us to him. I guess we''re supposed to sit in this room and wait for him to show? The older man walked to the end of the table and sat in the ornate chair. He leaned forward with his elbows on the table and laced his hands together in front of him. Isn¡¯t this guy going to go get him? Wait a se¡ª "As you may have guessed, I am Lord Silvis Garland III, and I am tasked with taking care of the city of Oliend. You have my gratitude for relieving the city of the goblin threat. I would have gone with a few of my guards, but my personal guard has been slowly losing strength between these relentless goblin raids and the bandits who have been harassing my townsfolk. We were waiting for a garrison to arrive from Elivaster to re-enforce our numbers as the other two lords that live near Oliend have refused to provide any assistance." Lord Garland''s face twisted with a bit of disdain as he said that last part. Astoria was dumbstruck. How had she not figured out his identity sooner? She wondered why he was hanging out in the guard house by the gate and not being lazy and doing extravagant things that lords typically did in stories. "I''m Astoria and these are my companions, Ladriel, and Tilly. We found a letter locked away in the goblin leader''s room." She pulled out the parchment and handed it over. Garland read the document and his became red with anger. "That pompous blowhard, Dane, will not get away with this! I will see him hanged for this treason!" he slammed the parchment onto the table. Astoria couldn''t help but jump a little and winced as the man''s hands hit the table. She looked to the others for a second and they all shared a look. Garland still looked furious but it looked to be more of a calm fury than an explosive one. She continued, "Also... we''ve been able to uncover that he has some part in an organization called the Red Lotus. They kidnap girls and sell them in some sort of black market. We know about this because we were actually prisoners until we managed to escape." Garland''s face softened and a look of concern appeared on his face. Astoria felt that she could see compassion man¡¯s eyes. "I''m so sorry for what has happened to you. There is much evil in the world, though I didn¡¯t realize it was so close to home..." he stood up and walked over to her. "I haven''t heard about this organization myself, but I will do everything in my power to extract information from Dane before he meets his fate." He is genuinely a good person. How could I have had such a bad image of him built in my head before just because he''s a noble? Maybe there really is justice in this world. Astoria felt her eyes begin to well up with unbidden tears. I won''t let myself cry. I need to be stronger than this. Despite the thought she had to wipe away a tear that had begun to form at the corner of one of her eyes. "Thank you. We would like to help. We aren''t the type to just sit on the side and let bad things happen if there¡¯s anything we can do about it," Astoria said. "Very well. The truth is, I don''t currently have the manpower to storm his compound and arrest him at this time anyway. The garrison from Elivaster will arrive tomorrow morning and we can all march in there in force. Until then, you are my honored guests.¡± He stood up and made his way towards the door. ¡°I will have one of my attendants provide you with the reward for ridding us of those goblins and show you to your rooms for the night. Wait here." With a nod he headed back out of the room. I want to trust this guy, but I was fooled by Elena also. Astoria sat in one of the chairs and the others did the same. "So, what do you guys want to do? He seems nice enough, but I''ve been fooled before. I don''t want to let my guard down. Maybe we should stay somewhere in the town for the night. There are other inns." "It''s probably as safe here as anywhere outside with the Red Lotus being able to recognize us so easily and all. Plus, I bet the beds in a place like this are amazing!" Tilly seemed to be excited at the prospect of getting to stay in a place like this. Ladriel on the other hand looked a little wary. She eyed the door before answering, "He might be a good person, but I agree with Astoria, we can''t just trust someone because of how they appear. We should take turns keeping watch during the night and should barricade the door as well." "Okay. If we do that, then I think we can be safe enough here. We''ll take him up on his offer." Astoria folded her arms on the table and put her head down to rest. It''s exhausting being so suspicious of everyone all the time. I want this curse gone already. she yawned. I wonder how long we''re going to have to wait for that attendant guy to show up. A few minutes later a stuffy looking man walked into the room. He was dressed in the livery showcasing the house crest on the front and carried a small pouch that clinked as he stepped. "I am Niles, the head attendant of this manor. Lord Garland has instructed me to have rooms prepared for you and to provide you with this reward," he placed the bag of coin on the table. "Thanks," Astoria took it and handed it over to Tilly since she had been holding onto most of their money. Tilly took the bag and upended it on the table to count it. Maybe it would be an insult to do something like that, but Tilly didn¡¯t seem to care. ¡°It¡¯s all here.¡± Niles frowned at the comment. "Of course it is. Would you like to be shown to your rooms now? You are also free to explore the manor. Keep in mind we will know if anything¡­ accidentally goes missing." "Show us to our room. Thank you, Niles," Ladriel replied, pointedly ignoring his last comment. The three of them followed Niles back into the main room and then up the stairs. The second floor was just as decked out as the first one had been with expensive decorations everywhere. There were vases decorated with gold leaf and exotic looking plants as well as huge portraits hanging on the walls. Astoria supposed those people must be the previous lords of this house. They were each provided with a lavish room with huge comfy looking beds. Looks like rich people here like nice things just as much as those in the real world. Niles informed them that dinner would be served in the dining hall in the first door to the right off of the main entryway downstairs before he excused himself. After the attendant left them they waited a few long moments before speaking. "We should all sleep in one room," Ladriel said. Tilly looked a little disappointed but nodded her assent. They looked over each of the three rooms to see which one had the easiest escape route. One of the rooms had a large tree growing next to the window that would do the trick. Astoria went over and sat on the bed. It was so soft, even softer than her modern bed back home. She flopped backwards and closed her eyes for a moment. These nobles almost live in their own little world it seems like. Must be nice to live in such comfort all the time. A second later Tilly flopped onto the bed beside her. "It''s so comfortable! It''s like laying on a cloud!" she swooned then rolled around a little. Meanwhile, Ladriel kept a close eye on the door. It was clear that she took the possibility of being betrayed by Garland very seriously. Once Astoria had finished enjoying the soft bed, she sat up and was surprised to see a large grandfather clock in the corner of the room that she hadn¡¯t noticed before. It was the first time she had seen an actual clock in this world and the first time she had ever seen a grandfather clock in real life. She stood up and went over to it inspect the fancy clock. The pendulum swung quietly left and right with only a barely audible tick-tock when it switched directions. The clock face was ornate and looked to be made of gold. "Are clocks common in bigger cities here?" she asked, genuinely curious. "Only nobles and successful businesses tend to have clocks. Normal people could never afford such an extravagance. I thought everyone knew that." Ladriel came over to inspect the clock up close as well. Astoria wondered if either of her companions had ever seen a clock like this one before. While she was on the subject of asking dumb questions, she had been wondering for some time about classes and how they worked. ¡°This might be a dumb question¡­ but how do you gain classes?¡± Both Tilly and Ladriel looked at her as though she asking a silly question. Ladriel was the one to answer, ¡°Classes are gained by training with a master. You can also learn them by doing extraordinary things, but I haven¡¯t personally ever heard of it happening. Training with a master is the most common way.¡± Astoria was satisfied with the answer for now. She still didn¡¯t know what class she wanted anyway, or even what was available, so she would be fine as she was for now. "So what do you guys want to do for the rest of the day? According to this clock we still have a few hours to kill before dinner. Should we go exploring the manor?" Astoria kind of wanted to go look outside some more, but a nap was also sounding pretty good. "Let''s go look around!" Tilly answered excitedly. "I wouldn''t mind having a look around, myself. Besides, if we check the perimeter, maybe we can find an extra escape route just in case we need one," Ladriel added. Astoria noticed that there was a large chest in the room and that a key had been left atop it. She guessed that leaving some of their valuables stored inside that wouldn''t be a bad idea. She didn''t have anything to put in it really other than her bag, but Tilly left their coin pouch inside it and their pack that contained their provisions. They locked the chest and Tilly kept the key. Astoria and Ladriel decided to leave their bows behind in the room and with their burdens lessened they were ready to go. "Okay. Let''s go explore!" "Where to first?" Tilly asked. "How about we go outside? It''s a nice day and the grounds here are beautiful. It might be nice to take a walk out there. Ladriel¡¯s idea of looking for an alternative exit is also a good idea I think." Astoria said. It was another warm day and it felt good to be outside. Astoria idly wondered if it was summer here. In the real world it had been in the middle of winter. Gardeners were still at work around the grounds, though there weren''t as many as before. Astoria went over to the rock garden and walked along the pathway that lead through it. Most of the large boulders were taller than she was and she was impressed by the delicate patterns that had been raked into the dirt alongside the path.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. On the other side of the rock garden there appeared to be a waist high hedge maze with a large tree standing in the middle. The hedges had orange flowers blooming all over them resembling roses and they smelled oddly like peppermint. ¡°Let¡¯s go through the maze!¡± Astoria ran inside. Once they made it to the center where the tree was, they noticed a grave with flowers on it. The tombstone read: Gloria Garland 1357-1384 Loving wife, you will be missed for all eternity. Garland stepped out from the other side of the tree while they were staring at the tombstone. She felt like she had possibly invaded on this man''s private moment. He had a sorrowful look on his face. "This was my wife''s favorite place. She would sit here, beneath this tree, and read books for hours and hours..." he paused for a long moment before continuing. "I had been called to war, you see, and even though our child was due to be born soon, I couldn¡¯t disobey the call to arms from our king. The border war with Geddon was bloody, but short... even so I didn''t make it back in time. My wife and child both died during childbirth. That was five years ago." "That sounds awful, I''m sorry," Astoria didn''t really know what else to say. At home she was no stranger to loss. She had lost her father when she was little, but at least she had gotten to know him before he was gone. She also still had her mother and sister to comfort her during her time of loss. Did Garland have anyone like that here for him? Despite being surrounded by attendants and guards, he probably didn¡¯t. She felt empathy and kinship with this man. They both had experienced terrible losses in their lives. "We didn''t mean to intrude. We can go if you would like to be alone." Garland took a moment to respond. "No... it''s alright. How do you like the grounds? They were a project of Gloria''s. She loved the outdoors." "They''re beautiful!" Tilly exclaimed. "I can tell that there is a lot of thought put into everything out here. Everything is so perfect." "Thank you. I''m sure she''d have loved to hear that people like it. We used to let the villagers come inside to relax and have picnics on the grounds. I have been busy with other things, so we stopped the practice a couple years ago." I really do think this man is nice. Maybe¡­ maybe everything will be okay from here on out. I can sleep easy tonight. Astoria felt the tension leave her shoulders with this realization. She had been more wound up over the possibility that this man was a member of the Red Lotus than she had admitted to herself. "If you''ll excuse me, I have to go check on the guards and make sure that they will be prepared for tomorrow''s raid." Garland gave a slight nod to them again and made his way out of the hedge maze. Astoria was tempted to ask him if they could come to the briefing, but decided that she probably didn''t need to bother with something like that. They would probably just march in with a ton of soldiers and arrest the other lord anyway. She and the others continued to wander the yard for the next couple hours. There was a small pond that had koi fish in it on the other side of the grounds and they spent some time sitting next to it relaxing. Before they knew it, the hour seemed to be getting late. "We''d better get back if we want to eat dinner," Astoria suggested as her stomach growled audibly. "Sounds like you''re starving!" Tilly let out a giggle and her stomach growled as well. The two of them laughed a little and then the companions all made their way back to the manor and went into the dining hall. The dining hall looked like it could seat fifty people or more if the occasion warranted it. The only piece of furniture in the room was a ridiculously long dining table. Candelabras lined the table and the food was all at the far end where Garland sat. There was a lavish looking meal prepared which featured a huge roasted turkey or some similar animal. There were rolls, roasted potatoes, and a couple different salads on the table. She noted that there were also several carafes filled with deep burgundy wine as well. It reminded her of Thanksgiving. Astoria and the others went to the end of the table where Garland sat and took their own seats. "Thanks for dinner. It looks and smells wonderful!" Astoria could hardly wait to sink her teeth into that roasted turkey. Thanksgiving was always one of her favorite holidays, as it was typically the only time of year where they would have a homemade turkey at her house. Some people got to have it on Christmas as well, but her family was firmly in the camp that made a honey glazed ham for Christmas. Garland gave them all a kind smile. "I''m glad to have some company for once. Believe it or not, this place can be pretty quiet at times." Two waiters appeared and began doling out portions of food onto plates that they then placed in front of each of them before going to stand at the back of the room in silence. "Really? It seems like it''s so busy here all the time," Tilly said after stuffing her mouth full with the roasted potatoes. "Your cook seems to be very talented! Everything tastes so great. Before all this started, I was a cook at the Gilded Sparrow inn over in Elivaster." "Oh? A cook who has become a swordsman, huh? An interesting turn of events for you, I''m sure. I''ll make sure to pass your compliments to the chef." "Do you eat like this every day, Lord Garland?" Astoria asked. "Yes. It''s a big difference from being on the road with the military over the years. Rations have nothing on a well prepared meal. Being back at home has its privileges. This doesn''t all go to waste, of course if that¡¯s what you were wondering. After the meal, the servants come in and eat and the guards filter in over the next couple hours. My personal guard force is understaffed right now, but I always keep a few guards out on rotation." Astoria was grateful to be in what she perceived to be a safe place. There was something reassuring about knowing there were guards who would be watching the place throughout the night. "Did you spend a lot of time in the military, Lord Garland?" Ladriel asked. "All young lords are conscripted into the military unless special circumstances forbid it. Although, we are only forced to do so for a couple years. I found that military life suited me and served for fifteen years before settling down with Gloria. I had thought that life was behind me, but I was called back into service for the war. How about you? Egris is a long way from where you elves call home. You must have an interesting story as well," he took another bite of food and washed it down with a large gulp of wine. Now that I think of it, I don''t really know much about Ladriel''s backstory, Astoria listened intently for her friend''s answer. "I was travelling outside of The Whispering Woods in order to get to Tenriel. I wanted to prove my worth to my teacher. As part of my ranger training I was tasked with leaving the safety of our people''s land to explore the world at large. I thought that if I made it to Tenriel and was able to delve into the dungeon beneath the Emerald Lake, it would prove to myself and my master that I had what it takes to continue his harsh training," Ladriel looked down into her cup of wine at the end of her explanation as if she was embarrassed or something. "The Emerald Dungeon, you say? Quite the foreboding place for a lone adventurer. I admire your courage," he took another swig of wine. Astoria wondered what the dungeons in this world were like. In most games it would be foolish to try and enter one alone. Maybe there''s more to her story than she''s letting on. I wonder if she really was alone when she got taken. The rest of the meal was spent doing idle chit-chat and before long Astoria felt like she would explode from all the delicious food she had stuffed down. "I''m going to turn in for the evening. We have much to take care of in the morning, I suggest you all do the same," Garland got up from the table excusing himself and left the dining hall. The three companions got up soon after and went back to the bedroom they had decided on. Astoria wasn''t tired just yet and neither was Tilly, so they sat down at a small table in one of the corners of the room which turned out to have a marble chess board inlaid within it. "I''ll get some sleep first if you two aren''t tired," Ladriel took off her armor and boots and plopped into the soft bed. "Do you know how to play this?" Astoria asked. "I used to play it sometimes with my dad in Egris," Tilly ran her fingers over the board which had tiny grooves between the black and white tiles. Astoria found the pieces within an ornamented wooden box that was on the back end of the table. The pieces were individually set into what looked to be velvet. They were slightly different shapes than the ones back home, but it was easy to figure out what was what. They set the game up and began playing. Neither of them were very good, but it was a nice way to pass the time. They played several games over the next couple hours before Tilly decided to go lay down next to Ladriel. The bed in the room was so huge that Ladriel only took up a small portion of it. Tilly undressed and hopped into the other side of the bed. Well, I guess I''ll keep watch all by myself. She stood up and went over to the window looking outside. The moonlight was dimmer than it had been over the past few days and when she looked into the sky she only saw the largest moon, which itself was down to nearly a sliver. Shadows danced outside the window as the wind picked up and the tree branches outside the window began to rustle. She could see a guard walking down the pathway toward the gate holding onto a torch. Must be a shift change, she yawned. Astoria wondered what time it was and went over to look at the clock. It was almost midnight. I wonder when I should wake Ladriel. She''s been down for a few hours, but I think I''ll give her a little longer. Astoria stretched her arms up over her head and then walked over to the door, sitting down with her back up against it. She felt her mind drift towards thoughts of home. I wonder if anyone I know at school ended up in the game like me. I''m sure there must''ve been other people who were going to try it out. I wonder what happened to the company that created this game. We''re still here so the server must be live still. I hope my mom and sister are okay. She imagined that Sarah probably would''ve left school to come home when she found out what had happened to her. Astoria wondered if the creators of Phoenix Online left a letter or note explaining that while everyone had died, they would be living on in the game or not. I hope they did, maybe then it''d bring my family some small comfort knowing that I''m probably not completely gone... She spent the next couple hours caught up in her own thoughts and before she knew it the grandfather clock was chiming for a second time indicating that it was now 1 AM. She thought she heard something coming from outside, so she got up to stretch and have a look out the window. What she saw below made her heart sink. There were so many men outside, and they were fighting a one sided battle. In the middle of the group of enemy soldiers, sat a fat, balding man with curly hair and a sneer on his face. This doesn¡¯t look good! We need to get out of here. The bodies of a few guards lay on the ground in the distance and more were fighting and falling against the overwhelming odds. All of this was just barely lit in the dim torchlight. Garland and three guards held the door and she watched as they cut down several enemies. There was no way they were going to survive against such an overwhelming number. Astoria quickly turned to the others. "Wake up. There''s trouble we need to get up right now!" Ladriel and Tilly both jumped at her yell and scrambled out of bed. Tilly ran over to the window to see what Astoria was talking about and Ladriel had immediately started putting her gear on as quickly as she could. "Get your equipment! Don''t just stand there gaping, you fools," Ladriel said as she rushed over to where her bow and quiver lie on the floor. Tilly jumped into motion and started putting her armor back on. Astoria was already equipped, other than her bow so she ignored Ladriel''s shout. Instead, she cracked open the window to hear what was going on. "How dare you come into my estate in the middle of the night!" she heard Garland shout at the sneering man who still sat atop a horse. "Your time is done, old man," the mysterious man said with contempt in his voice. "You are harboring my belongings and I will have them back." "Belongings? They are human beings, you will not have them." Garland raised his blade and pointed it towards the mounted man who let out a chuckle. "You don¡¯t have the numbers to stop me. You¡¯re delusional old man. That garrison you were waiting on to take care of the goblins, is actually coming here to arrest you. I¡¯m doing the high lord a service by bringing you in early,¡± Dane said smugly. ¡°You should have paid better attention to the great game, and by not doing so you¡¯ve been outplayed. I¡¯ve been gaining allies in the capital for years while you¡¯ve sat here and mourned your wife like a pathetic fool. After tonight, you¡¯ll be remembered as the lord who betrayed his own village.¡± Astoria¡¯s heart sank even further to hear that Dane had the garrison that they had hoped would be their salvation in his pocket. They would need to get out of here and take matters into their own hands at a later date. Astoria knew she needed to move, but she couldn¡¯t peel herself away from the window. This isn''t right. He''s a good man! I wish there was something we could do. But there are so many of them. The older man fought expertly and she watched as he lay waste to several men, but even as he did so, his remaining companions fell. He now stood alone against what she guessed was still over 30 soldiers. "Astoria! We need to go. Now!" Tilly grabbed her by the arm and yanked her toward the door. "He''s all alone! He''s going to die tonight. He¡¯s out there fighting to protect us from that monster!" Tilly grabbed her arm and dragged her away from the window. Astoria listened to reason, and reluctantly, but quickly, grabbed her belongings. What else could she do? She was a low level weakling. Tears of frustration streaked their way down her cheeks. They made haste into the main hallway and then cut through the dining hall, heading towards the kitchen. "Hopefully there is a rear exit that isn''t blocked," Ladriel said as they made their frantic dash through the door into the kitchen. "Damn! There¡¯s no way out from here!" Ladriel kicked a counter and a pan fell off its hook on the wall, clanging to the countertop loudly. They ran back to the main hallway and to their surprise Garland squeezed his way through the front doors and jammed a spear through the handles. He ran over to them. "Quick! Follow me. There is one way out that may yet see us all survive this night. No one alive knows of the hidden passage." He ran to the audience room where they had first learned of his identity. The doors were being pounded on behind them as they ran and Astoria could hear the spear starting to splinter. "Close the door behind you," he shouted and he shoved the table ever so slightly forward before bending down and sliding his fingers along a tile that was slightly raised. He whipped out his belt knife and jammed it into a particular spot on the large tile and it easily popped up. He set it to the side, revealing a dark hole with a ladder. "Inside, quickly!" There wasn¡¯t any time to spare, so Astoria just followed orders and slid herself down into the hole, climbing down into pure darkness. She couldn''t see anything but quickly moved to the side once she reached the bottom to make room for the others. In seconds her companions had reached the ground. Garland came last and pulled the tile securely down using handles it had attached to its underside. The small amount of light that filtered down from above disappeared completely. I will die before I let them take me again. God... I hope they can''t find us down here. It''s so dark. Astoria heard Garland''s boots hit the stone floor a moment later. "This is a little trick I picked up back in my military days." A small globe of light bloomed to life illuminating the small room where they now hid. It floated above Garland''s outstretched palm and emitted a steady light. "Dane played me for a fool... I will be stripped of my status and I''m sure I''ll be wanted all over the kingdom for whatever story he has concocted about me. I will serve him a taste of justice though. First thing''s first, however, we need to escape the manor and regroup. Will you allow an old soldier to join your group?" Astoria hadn''t really thought that this man would want to join her party officially, but she would gladly accept more help. This man clearly knew his way around battles and she had no doubt that he had probably cut down some of the men outside before retreating. A prompt appeared.
Notifications
Silvis Garland III has asked to join your party. His reputation has been ruined and he is now a wanted criminal in the country of Egris. He seeks justice against Lord Ryland Dane. Will you allow him to accompany you and will you aid him in his quest for justice against Lord Dane? Yes / No
Astoria readily accepted yes on the prompt. "Of course. We''d be honored to have you with us. We, too, wish to see that man brought down." "We will have to make our way through these ancient catacombs. They run beneath the manor and an exit is somewhere far from here. Be warned, this escape route is not what I would call safe, but we have no other options it seems. These ancient ruins that my home was built upon now house re-animated corpses and other kinds of foul beasts. The escape route hasn''t been used in generations, so I don''t really know what to expect, although I do know we can make our way back to the surface eventually. Are you ready to begin?" he asked before pushing on a stone in the wall before them which opened another secret passageway with stairs leading deeper into the darkness. Tilly and Ladriel both nodded their assent and readied their weapons for what was to come. "Let''s do this." Astoria said as the four of them set off into the dank catacombs. Chapter 16: Into the Catacombs Catacombs... there''s going to be zombies here, I just know it. It beats being dead though. Astoria followed Garland into the cramped passageway, which wound its way down in a spiral for what Astoria estimated had to be a few floors. It was hard to really tell in a place like this. The walls of the passageway were time worn and there were bricks missing here and there which had crumbled into dust and were scattered along the stairway. Roots of plants had worked their way down into the tunnel and Astoria wondered which direction this ancient escape route would take them in. At one point there were so many roots in the way that they had to cut their way through them to continue forward. After what felt like forever, they finally stopped moving downward and leveled out. The narrow passageway widened into a proper hallway and soon they reached an expansive room that had three doorways leading off in different directions. The room was very dimly lit for some reason. Was it magic? At the very least, she could see a little bit without Garland¡¯s spell now. Astoria felt the strong urge to cover her nose, the place smelled of mold and decay. This is how horror movies start. All that''s missing is for someone to say, ''Let''s split up to look around,'' Astoria thought as she looked around the room hoping that nothing that craved brains would be popping out at her. "Should we split up and check out the individual passages?" Ladriel suggested. "No fucking way! We''re going to stick together and that''s that. Haven¡¯t you ever read a horror story?" Astoria shut that down immediately. It was unbelievable that the elf had suggested what she had just been thinking about. Was the game reading her mind? She doubted it. "Astoria is right, this place is designed as a labyrinth of sorts to confuse pursuers. Many generations ago, my family buried there dead here and used it as a secret escape tunnel, but something happened and the entrance had been sealed. We should stick together. Be wary of traps," Garland said. "So do you know which way we need to go?" Astoria asked. She hoped that they wouldn''t just be relying on blind luck to get out of this place. "Unfortunately, not. As I said before, this hasn''t been used in ages and we don''t have a map. We''ll have to explore carefully." "This place just feels wrong. Elves have no business being underground. We need to be outside in nature, this place is for the dead and should remain so. Let¡¯s hurry." Astoria watched as Ladriel rubbed her arms nervously. It was the first time she had seen her friend so shaken. She completely agreed with the elf as far as wanting to get the hell out as fast as possible, though. "Well, let''s get a move on? The sooner we get going, the sooner we can get out of here and have a nice cooked meal outside," Tilly suggested. "Right. Let''s go." Astoria pointed to the passageway to the left. "Since we don''t know where we are going, let''s go there first. Garland, do you have the stealth skill?" she asked. "I don''t. I have never had any need of sneaking around." "Alright. Tilly, stay right behind me with Garland and I¡¯ll go a little ways ahead. Ladriel keep that bow of yours ready, okay?" "Understood." Astoria unsheathed her twin daggers and activated stealth. She slowly crept towards the open door. Her stealth icon remained closed and she controlled her breathing. Undead creatures were terrifying, but she could handle this. It''s not as if she was still on Earth, she wasn''t defenseless anymore. The others stayed close enough behind that there was a faint amount of light in the room ahead as well, but it still wasn¡¯t very easy to see. She tentatively poked her head inside the doorway and looked around. It was a dead end. Seeing as there wasn¡¯t much here, she held her hand up to tell the others to stay back as she slowly stepped inside. An empty room filled with piles of dust was all that remained of whatever this place was. There were holes for coffins in the wall that were more empty than not, and full of cobwebs. She had never seen so many cobwebs in her entire life. Astoria rubbed her arms reflexively. I hate spiders. There¡¯s nothing here though. She turned around and walked back towards the exit of the room and to the others. That¡¯s when it happened. Fuuuuuc¡ª She tripped over something and landed on one of the tiles on the ground with a thud. What''s worse was that the tile she had landed on depressed slightly into the floor. An audible click resounded in the dimly lit room. Instantaneously, three darts flew through the air where she would have been standing had she been upright. The projectiles snapped into the far wall with incredible force. That was way too dang close! She sat up carefully and looked around. Unfortunately, the darts weren''t the only thing she had to worry about. Several of the sarcophagi in the room popped open and hands reached out as the undead pulled themselves out of the holes in the wall. Great. Just fucking great. She quickly stood up and yelled, "We have problems! I tripped a trap, there are undead coming!" She ran back to the other room and her party prepared for what was coming. Several undead creatures ambled their way out of the dark corridor after her. They were slow, but not as slow as the zombies she had seen on most TV shows. The undead warriors dragged huge greatswords behind them and one of them lunged for her with speed that she wouldn''t have thought possible from a decaying corpse. Astoria was more than a match for the thing in speed, however, thanks to her choices in leveling, she easily dodged the monster¡¯s attack. She hoped that zombies in the game were like the ones on TV, and she tested the theory by moving behind the creature and stabbing it in the back of its skull. The blade sunk deep into the rotting creature¡¯s skull and pierced its brain. The zombie thrashed for a moment and Astoria twisted the blade before pulling it free. The enemy dropped to the ground. She didn¡¯t know if this was common knowledge here or not, so she said, "Stab them in the head!" Astoria turned to see Tilly fighting with an undead nearby. It smashed its heavy greatsword into Tilly¡¯s shield and the cook grunted against the force of the blow, but she held on. The zombie raised its sword to slash again when Garland rushed in from the side like death incarnate and decapitated the monster, severing one of its raised arms in the process. He didn''t even pause for a second before dashing towards the next creature and ending its miserable existence. Another undead came for her and she dispatched it just as she had the first. She was just too nimble for these slow monsters. It was empowering to know that she had grown so much stronger. To her right, Ladriel had her bow out and was firing arrows at a rapid rate. Each projectile met its mark directly in their eye socket. And in the blink of an eye, there were only a few monsters left. Astoria didn¡¯t need to move, however, as the remaining undead both fell in the blink of an eye to Tilly and Garland. Her friend had managed to knock the heavy sword out of the way as one had been trying to perform an overhead strike at her and she stabbed it right in the face. "Is everyone okay?" Astoria felt like her heart was going to pound out of her chest and was breathing hard. "No injuries here." Ladriel stated. "Man, those things hit a lot harder than I would''ve thought." Tilly stretched her shield arm and moved it around in a wide circle. "What happened in there?" Garland asked. He sheathed his sword again and strode over to her. "I tripped over something and then landed on some kind of dart trap. That was when those things started coming out of the coffins." "We''ll need to be more careful. You were lucky. There are surely other traps down here. Was that room a dead end, or did it continue forward?¡±Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. "It was a dead end. Let''s keep going." Astoria still couldn''t believe how lucky she had been to not have those darts hit her. What she wouldn¡¯t give to find a 1-UP mushroom or something in a chest, just so she could feel a little more safe while exploring. "Which way do you think we should go next, Astoria?" Tilly had begun pacing back and forth nervously. Astoria had little doubt her friend shared her extreme desire to get out of this dank place. Astoria pointed to the room on the right. ¡°We may as well be thorough.¡± They got back into the same formation they had used previously with Astoria out front, and they made their way over to investigate. She made sure to be extra careful of where she stepped and did her best to watch for trip wires. The second room was also a dead end, but there were no holes in the walls for bodies here, just a few empty sarcophagi on the ground. Astoria carefully stepped around the tiny room and looked inside the empty coffins. She spotted something interesting in the one by the back wall. The item she found was a bronze disk about the size of her fist. It was over an inch thick and heavy. There was what looked to be an image of a mountain etched into the front of it. She pocketed the disk and went back to the main room where the others had been waiting for her. "I found something. What do you guys make of it?" "No idea. I think we should hold onto it though,¡± Tilly said. It''s probably some sort of clue on how to get out of this place. Might even be a key or a hint to some puzzle. She imagined the old Legend of Zelda games where dungeons were filled with keys and puzzles. It wouldn¡¯t surprise her if this disk was somehow important. No one else had anything to say about the item, so Astoria stowed it away again and they moved forward. As the group walked towards the second room, Astoria read through her notifications. Additionally, she was more than a little curious about Garland¡¯s level. He seemed to be far more powerful than her and her companions combined from what she had seen in the fight against the undead. Not to mention the fact that he was able to escape the situation outside the manor unscathed.
Notifications
You have gained 1200 EXP for defeating 6 level 8 Emaciated Corpses. (Experience to next level: 7066/7667)
Dang... I''m so close. She moved on and checked Garland''s status page. Spoiler: Garland''s Stats
Name Garland
Level 028 (250,429/269,358 EXP to next Level)
Class Knight
HP 750/750 MP 315/360
AP 0
Attributes
Vitality 50 Magic 26
Endurance 47 Magic Resistance 20
Strength 42 Luck 16
Agility 22
Dexterity 24
Abilities
? None
Skills
? Swords - Level 24 (3% toward next level) ? Disarm - Level 9 (27% toward next level) ? Riposte - Level 17 (14% toward next level) ? Flurry of Blades - Level 6 (13% toward next level) ? Shield Mastery - Level 10 (11% toward next level) ? Shield Charge - Level 4 (81% toward next level) ? Shield Bash - Level 8 (19% toward next level)
White Magic
? Analyze - Level 18 (1% toward next level) ? Enchant Weapon (Holy) - Level 6 (3% toward next level) ? Minor Light Orb - Level 7 (41% toward next level) ? Minor Light Barrier - Level 1 (91% toward next level)
Her eyes probably bulged outward as she read the man''s stat page. Hopefully, no one noticed. Holy shit! This guy is strong! I feel like I''m Cloud travelling with Sephiroth in Nibelheim right about now. That didn''t end very well though. Hopefully, he won¡¯t snap and try to kill us or something like that. Satisfied with what she now knew about her newest companion she closed out of the windows as they stepped into the next room. There wasn¡¯t anything really to see here. There was one branch that led off of this room, but they decided to continue straight. The next room only had one exit, and the following one had two. There were old urns of various sizes in each room and more than a few cobwebs, but they had been lucky enough to not have triggered any more traps. Please don''t let there be gigantic spider monsters down here. That''s all I ask, okay game gods? The odd thing about this last room was that at the end of it was the first time they had seen a door that was fully intact. Astoria wasn''t sure if she was glad for the change or not though, but it was something different and that was good, wasn¡¯t it? She and her party made their way over to and through the double doors and opened them. The room beyond was lit up a lot better than the previous ones, but there still weren¡¯t any torches or anything. It was eerie. At the end of the room, there was a door that looked carved of stone. That was interesting, but not nearly as much so as what stood next to it. There, on a pedestal, was a wand. It was difficult to see the details of it, but it was blue and about as long as her forearm. It had a glass orb that rested atop the shaft. Okay! I totally want that thing. But there''s no way that this room isn''t one huge trap. She took a moment to take in the rest of the room. There were three more pedestals to the left side of the room, each with a disk shaped recess set into them. Carefully, she glanced around the floor and walls of the large room. She didn''t see anything out of the ordinary other than the fact that the floor was made up of different tiles in front of each pedestal. Alarm bells went off in her head, and she knew that she definitely didn¡¯t want to just march over there to grab the wand. The tiles started at the edge of each pedestal and continued on to the wall straight across from them. Each strip was about 6 feet across. It looked like she could approach each pedestal from the side, but they would be impossible to climb over safely. What if the things fell over? No matter how she looked at it, trying that wouldn¡¯t end well. Remembering advice about traps from Huey, Duey and Louie from an old Ducktales movie she watched when she was little, she reached into her coin pouch and pulled out a copper coin. "Get back into the other room. I¡¯m going to try something," she told the others in a whisper. Astoria flipped the coin out over the closest of the three strips of tiles. As soon as the coin passed the invisible line that marked the tiles, a spray of what was probably acid fell from the ceiling all the way across the first region and in seconds the coin was completely dissolved. She didn¡¯t know what the substance was made of, but she knew that she didn¡¯t want to get it on her. The liquid death drained into tiny holes that she noticed lined the floor and she heard a click above her. The trap had reset. She tested this out a few more times hoping that maybe the trap would run out of acid, but for all she knew it could be some sort of magic powering the trap. Over and over the same process repeated itself. After the 7th time, she decided that this wasn''t going to work. There has to be some trick to this. She turned around to go back to the other room and saw the others staring at a large metal plate that was attached to this side of the doorway. She read it.
Passage is not for the weak of heart, if you falter, then go back to the start. If the way forward you seek, then the powers 3 you must appease. Ancient am I, with hair of green and tears of red, I am the mother to all and I consume the dead. I am always hungry, ravenous and red, In order to exist, I must always be fed. I am everywhere, but cannot be seen, I can be captured, but cannot be held.
She looked over the riddles and reached into her bag and pulled out the bronze disc. She ran her fingers over the mountain that had been etched into the front of the disc while she thought about the riddles. The first one seemed to her to symbolize earth. It was also the first of the three riddles. There were three pedestals with recesses that looked to fit the object she was holding. The last thing to consider was the nature of the trap. Corrosive acid would likely be a spell of earth. She was sure that the disk with the mountain on it would go in that pedestal. Astoria took a deep breath. ¡°I¡¯m going to try something.¡± She stepped back into the room. Her heart was pounding so hard that she could hear it in her ears. She knew that it was reckless to do this without talking it over with the others, or at least going back and exploring the rooms they hadn¡¯t gone to yet, but she was almost certain that she had this right. She hugged the wall closest to the entrance and followed it around taking deliberate steps until she stood beside the first pedestal. The small gap before the first tile change left only just barely enough room for her to work her way over to the pedestal. She looked back at the doorway and saw that Tilly and Ladriel had poked their heads back in to see what she had been doing. She assumed Garland was probably still reading over the plate on the door. Here goes. Okay. I''m really going to do this. Here''s hoping my hand isn''t melted off or something. I¡¯m an idiot. I¡¯m going to die. She gripped the disk in her shaking hand and slowly reached towards the pedestal. With sheer willpower alone she made her hand stop shaking and with a quick movement she placed the disc into the recess. It sunk into the stone and she heard a click. Did it work? Do I dare step out there? No. Don''t be stupid, Astoria. She went back the way she had come and once she was at the entrance, she took out another copper coin and tossed towards the trap as she had before. The coin clinked as it hit the ground. Nothing happened. Success! "I did it! The first one is disarmed." She beamed with pride that she had figured out the trap. The only problem was that there were two other traps and she didn''t have any more bronze disks to put into the corresponding pedestals. "Alright. So we need to find two more of those disks. They''ve got to be hidden somewhere back where we came from. We''re going to have to backtrack." "You did good in solving the riddle, but you should at least consult with us before doing something so reckless in the future," Ladriel said. Astoria felt her feelings of pride shivel, just a little bit, at the comment. Ladriel was right, of course. It felt like she was being scolded by her mother or teacher or something though, which grated on her slightly. "Sorry. You''re right," she admitted. Her friend gave her a pat on the shoulder. "It''s okay. I was just worried about you. I¡¯m on edge down in this hole." "Me too. Let¡¯s get to it, then." Once more, Astoria took point and continued back into the darkness from which they had come all while continuing with stealth activated. Two more disks. That''s it, I¡¯m sure. After that, that big stone door just has to open up and lead to the outside. It has to. Chapter 17: Traps! Astoria and the others decided that they should check the rooms as they passed them rather than going all the way back to the beginning of the catacombs. It took a bit of time as they always moved slowly, but they soon arrived at the first fork. It was really amazing how huge this place was. The rooms were humongous, and Astoria couldn¡¯t help but worry about when they would run into more trouble. She pointed towards the open doorway that stood to their right and the others nodded in understanding that she would once again be the scout. Her stealth skill seemed to be steadily gaining experience with all the sneaking she had been doing and that felt good. She poked her head inside the room as she had before. It was dimly lit, just as the rest of the place, and she saw that it wasn¡¯t a room after all, but a passageway leading downward. The smooth stone floor curved in a spiral, so she couldn¡¯t see very far. She walked down a ways and after a couple minutes she stopped and looked back up in the direction she had come. Who knows what¡¯s down there, but I wouldn¡¯t be one bit surprised if it was something nasty. Dungeons always get worse the deeper you go. We should clear the first floor first. Deciding that it was foolish to keep going alone, she turned back and made her way to the others, telling them about what she had found. A short discussion followed, and they listened to reason about going down. ¡°Let¡¯s go check that other doorway first. If it¡¯s a dead end, it won¡¯t hurt to turn over every stone. We¡¯re looking for more of those disks. Who knows, both of them might be right here on this floor and we don¡¯t ever have to go down into that scary place," Astoria said. "Okay. After you,¡± Tilly said. ¡°If we can get out of here without going deeper into the bowels of this foul place, then I¡¯m all for it,¡± Ladriel added. Garland had been quiet with a contemplative look on his face through the whole discussion. He didn¡¯t seem to have anything to add for some reason. Astoria figured maybe he was showing deference to her as the leader of their little band. She sighed and turned back towards their next destination. It seems like I¡¯m the undisputed decision maker of this little group, I guess. I wonder if they¡¯re letting me make all the decisions because they¡¯re NPCs. It¡¯s really too hard to say, though. Everyone in this game seems so real. They continued back toward the direction they had entered the catacombs from. The next room had two exits leading off of the right side of the room. Astoria went over to the closest one and peered inside. Unlike most of the other rooms, this one was even more poorly lit. She couldn¡¯t really see the details of anything. ¡°Garland, can you come light this room up a little more for me?¡± He came over a few seconds later and held his palm up with the small orb of light. The dark room lit up and she could see a lot clearer. The first thing that stood out to her were the bookshelves on one side of the room that were covered with about two inches of dust. There was also a half-rotted table on one side of the room. None of that was as exciting as the small chest that she saw at the back of the room on a stone dais. Two statues stood next to it on either side like sentinels. The statues looked like two large birds roughly the size of a human being. They were eerily beautiful and were untouched by the age that most of the things in this place had been. She moved towards the chest. If those disks were anywhere, they¡¯d probably be in that chest. She stopped several feet away from the chest and looked at the large eyes of the bird statues. They seemed to be staring into her soul. I have a really, really bad feeling about this. Astoria took a few steps back and then spun to whisper to Garland. "There''s no way that this room isn''t a big trap." ¡°If something looks too good to be true, it usually is,¡± he replied. She turned back towards the chest once more. She ducked down and looked at everything very carefully. Then she saw them. There were tripwires on the ground near the chest. She stood up and noticed that the tile in front of the chest was poking up out of the ground ever so slightly as well. "Everyone move back. Be ready for when I come running out of here.¡± She saw the light dim as Garland backed most of the way out of the room. Leader? I''m making myself glorified bait here. Carefully, she moved forward while stepping over the trip wires that crisscrossed around the room. There were two tiles that looked suspicious to her that she would need to be careful to avoid if she had to run out of there. After several long moments, she stood only a foot or two away from the chest. That was when the statues decided to move. Fuck my life! I knew something terrible would happen! She watched in what felt like slow motion as the two statues changed. The stone melted away to nothing and left two blue, ethereal birds that turned their beaks towards her and let out a terrifying screech. Fuck! Fuck! She turned around and ran as fast as she could while jumping over the various trip wires like a nimble cat. She didn''t dare look back to see if they were coming for her. She knew they must be right behind her. "Trouble!" She dove through the door onto the ground and quickly rolled to the side. She got up just in time to see the two bird ghost creatures diving towards the spot where she had been only a split second earlier. She jumped back to her feet and ran towards the center of the room before she turned around. The two creatures glided above the ground and appeared to be slow at least. Two arrows flew through each of the things as they advanced upon her party without causing any sort of damage. Crap! We''re screwed if those things are completely immune to physical attacks. Where are the damned Ghostbusters when you need them? Astoria considered taking out her bow and firing at the things too, but saw little point in doing so as she watched a couple more arrows phase right through the monsters. Tilly charged in with her shield in front of her and sword raised, ready to engage in melee combat with the beasts. Her friend swung her sword and it passed through one of the creatures as it glided toward her making that screeching noise before back-stepping a couple feet and keeping her shield up. The bird that Tilly had attacked reared up and was going to attack. The things were slow, and there was no way that Tilly wouldn¡¯t be able to block that. Her friend carefully raised her shield and just before the beak of the monster was about to come into contact with the shield, Garland slammed into Tilly from the side, knocking her over. "Don''t let them touch you! These are wraiths!" He spun out of the way as the bird dove for him and grabbed Tilly¡¯s hand, yanking her along with him. "What can we do? Do they have a weakness? If we can¡¯t touch them, then we should run," Astoria said. "Holy magic!" Garland yelled back. He motioned them back and seemed to concentrate for a moment before slowly sliding his hand along the blade of his sword. A brilliant white light radiated from the blade and nearly blinded Astoria with its brilliance. "I''ll handle this one. Keep its twin distracted!" Astoria didn¡¯t know of any other way to distract the second wraith other than to dangle herself in front of the thing. She charged towards the creature, which had been on its way towards Garland¡¯s position, and got close enough to get its attention. The creature turned towards her and then began pursuing. Something was different about it than it had been before, it seemed to be moving faster all of a sudden. Maybe it realized that whatever Garland was preparing for was a threat? She didn¡¯t have a ton of time to mull things over though as the monster¡¯s blue ethereal form bled to red. It screeched and began chasing her at nearly triple its previous speed. She ran with everything she had as it tried to chase her down. What the heck happened to it? It¡¯s so fast now! It was hard to believe these things ever caught anyone with how they moved, but then again, all they had to do was tire someone out. It didn¡¯t help things that she managed to trip a few traps while running around the room. Tiles sunk in under her feet and darts shot out, just narrowly missing her. She had to hop over trip wires that were hidden in the rubble. It was sheer luck that she was managing to stay ahead at all. She saw Garland slash at the other enemy as she circled around. His glowing sword passed through one of the creature¡¯s large wings and then puffed into smoke. It turned red as well after taking damage and dove for the older man with reckless abandon. He didn¡¯t seem to be too worried, however and kept slashing away parts of the beast when it came for him. Astoria thought as she began to pant from all the running, she wouldn¡¯t be able to keep this up for long. Tilly and Ladriel stood near the center of the room, forgotten in all the noise. The monster had it in for her though, and would not be lured away even though the two of them were shouting at it. Her stamina bar was more than halfway gone now. Her lungs and legs were beginning to burn from the exertion. Hurry up, Garland! On the next lap, she saw Garland deliver the coup de grace on the wraith he was facing, but his blade suddenly stopped glowing. Her heart sank and she hoped that he had enough mana to cast the spell again or they were screwed. The older man looked to be concentrating like before and then he brought the blade back to life again. I have to hang on! Just a little longer. She zig-zagged around and she knew that she was slowing down. Her stamina was in the red now and she felt like she was going to die. She knew what she had to do, though, and ran towards Garland. Her heart felt like it was going to explode and she was gasping for air as she ran, but she had to make it in time. The monster behind her let out its terrifying screech again and she knew it was only inches away from her. Astoria felt something pass through her shoulder and down to her elbow. She let out a blood curdling scream. It hurt like nothing she had ever felt before and then her arm went dead. She felt her entire arm flop lifelessly down at her side. Tears leaked from her eyes at the excruciating pain. She couldn¡¯t stop now, he was just a dozen feet away now. She spared a glance for her arm, which was now grey and dead looking as she ran. It flopped at her side like one of those toy rag dolls. Astoria pivoted as she got close to Garland and ran to the left. A scream of rage sounded behind her after a few more steps and she spun around. The old soldier had bisected the thing cleanly from behind. She stared at it as it puffed away into nothing and Garland stood behind it. She stopped and grabbed her other hand to examine it. She couldn¡¯t even feel it anymore. Not knowing what else to do, she activated her regeneration skill. It took only a second to activate the skill and almost immediately she began to feel a warm sensation run down from her left shoulder toward her elbow. That was way too close. I would''ve been a goner if it had managed to strike me in a vital spot. Thank god that Regeneration seems to be restoring me. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. The warm feeling continued to move down her arm and after a few moments the skin all the way down to her elbow was back to normal, and then the skill ran out. Skill duration must have run out. Stay calm, everything is going to be okay. Just have to wait on cooldown. "Everyone okay?" Ladriel asked. Tilly ran over to Astoria and knelt down next to her, examining her. "Astoria... your arm?¡ª" she reached into her bag for a potion. ¡°A regular potion won¡¯t work on a wound like that. We need to get her to a healer,¡± Garland said. "It''s okay. I can heal myself, see." She activated the regeneration magic once more and felt her dead forearm come back to life. The second casting had been enough to bring her back to normal. She wiggled her fingers in front of Garland who had a shocked look on his face. ¡°If you had healing magic, you should have told us sooner. It will be of great aid to us down here,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s just a skill. It only works on myself though, sorry.¡± "At least we managed to kill them. Thankfully we have Garland and his holy sword enchantment or we would''ve been toast," Tilly said. ¡°Can you teach us that spell?¡± Astoria asked. Garland shook his head. "Don¡¯t you know? Magic can only be gained through spell books under normal circumstances. Master magicians work with scribes to create spell books in order to pass on their knowledge. The books are horribly expensive. It''s interesting that you have magic yourself and did not know this." Astoria was disappointed to hear this, but hoped that in the future she might have a chance to steal magic from someone using Kleptomancy. The goblin warrior''s regeneration skill wasn''t listed as magic, but rather as a skill. ¡°I didn¡¯t learn the magic in the normal way. I have a special ability, and took the skill from a goblin warrior,¡± she said. ¡°Intriguing.¡± "Anyway, I want to go investigate that room now that those wraiths are gone," she hopped up onto her feet and walked over to the dark room. ¡°Let¡¯s see what¡¯s in that chest. Hopefully, it¡¯ll be two more bronze disks.¡± Garland and the others followed her back to the room. Everything was well lit since Garland was using his light spell inside the room. Astoria headed over towards the chest, taking care to avoid the traps. This must have been a study or something. Why would there be a room like this down in the crypts? Maybe they used this place as a shelter at some point. Just how old is this place? Astoria spotted a couple unlit torches on the wall and grabbed it. The top smelled like tar or something and she took off her necklace to try to light the thing. After a few strikes of her flint and steel, the torch roared to life. "Now we can have a bit more light without relying on your spell," She smiled as she handed the torch over to Tilly. She grabbed the second torch and lit it with the first one. After both torches were lit, Garland extinguished his ball of light and Astoria was ready to go directly to the chest, but something in her made her want to look at the bookshelf. There were two books that lay on their side rather than being put into place. They looked to be in better condition than the rest of the tomes and she blew off the mountain of dust that covered them. Astoria read the covers: The Art of Trap Detection Vol. 1 and Disarming Basic Traps Vol. 1. "Are these... skill books?" she asked. Astoria felt excitement rising within her. She had just found some loot that would actually be useful in this place. Ladriel peered at the dusty tomes. "They appear to be skill books, yes." "Awesome! Would anyone object to me using them?" Astoria didn''t think anyone would mind, but this place did belong to Garland''s family, so she felt that she should give him a chance to object. Nobody offered any objections. They all agreed that she was well suited to skills like the ones these books based on the scouting role she had been playing throughout the expedition. Astoria excitedly flipped the cover of The Art of Trap Detection open and a prompt window snapped up in her field of vision just as she had hoped it would.
Notifications
Do you wish to learn the skill: Detect Traps? Yes / No WARNING: This book will disappear forever once used.
Astoria didn''t hesitate at all and selected yes. The book floated out in front of her upright and began to emit a dim light. The pages of the book flipped quickly from start to finish and Astoria felt knowledge flooding into her brain. After just a few moments, it finished going through the pages and slammed shut, sending a cloud of dust up around her. Astoria was unable to stifle a cough and watched in awe as the book began to disintegrate. It fell to dust starting from the bottom and working its way to the top until nothing remained of it other than a fresh pile of dust on the floor. Just like that she had learned a new skill and the world sprung to life around her. All the trip wires and traps she had seen before began to glow a faint red signaling that they were traps. To her surprise, only one of the two odd tiles was trapped. She wondered if maybe it was trapped but her skill level was too low to see. Better play it safe for now. Astoria reached over and grabbed the second book off the shelf with the intention of repeating the process but heard a loud click as she lifted the book. Fuck my life. A trap wall slammed down right behind her cutting her off from the others. She could hear shouts from the other side of the trap but didn''t see a way to lift the wall up and escape. Pushing on the button that had activated the trap in the first place also didn¡¯t do anything. Stay calm. There has to be a way out of this room. She glanced around the room to make sure nothing else was out of the ordinary and didn''t see anything. "I''m all right. I don''t see a way to lift the wall, but I''ll look around more carefully. Do you guys see any way to lift it up from that side?" "Hang on! We''re trying!" Tilly shouted through the wall at her. Astoria could hear them banging on the wall, but it didn''t budge. "I''m going to keep looking around here. There has to be a way out, right?" Silence. "...Right. There has to be. Just be careful!" Ladriel''s reluctant voice came through the wall. Her vote of confidence didn¡¯t do anything to make her feel better. It was time to use the other skill book. If nothing else, maybe the skill could help her get out of this mess. She put the torch into its place on the wall and opened up the book. Here goes nothing. Within a few moments she had gained yet another valuable skill. Knowledge about the workings of traps burst to life within her and now she knew the basics. She felt like she was in the matrix or something. ¡°I know kung fu,¡± she whispered to herself and chuckled at her own corny joke. Now to test it out. These trip wires are pretty simple looking. She knelt down next to one and looked it over carefully while using her disarm traps skill. At the end of the tripwire she saw a green glow. She bent down close to it and looked into the small hole in the wall where the wire was coming from. It was tied to some sort of mechanism. I see. So all I have to do is?¡ª She managed to get one of her fingers into the small opening and felt around extra carefully for what she was looking for. After a second she was rewarded with the sound of a small click and the red line that had been the tripwire lost its color and fell to the ground. Astoria stood up and brushed her shaky hand through her hair. I did it! That was freaking scary though! There were three other tripwires clearly visible in the room and over the next few minutes she disarmed each of them in the same way she had done the first. They all turned out to work in the same way and she got faster at it as she practiced. Astoria checked and saw that the disarm trap skill had already leveled up and was well on the way to level 3. Her detect traps skill was nearly level two now as well. If I can get out of this room alive, I should go back and disarm all of the traps in the rooms we explored before. Most of them were just tripwires like these, but maybe I can gain some more levels. What would an MMO be without a bit of grinding, after all? Now that all the trip wires were gone she knelt down next to the glowing red tile. She circled around it carefully examining it from each side. After doing this twice she noticed the slightest green light along the far side of the tile coming from a tiny slit. Somehow she knew exactly what she had to do. She took out her dagger and carefully poked the tip of it into the slit and pried gently. The tile popped up out of the floor without too much difficulty and she deftly snatched it up; setting it to the side. Beneath the tile was a mechanism with a pressure plate. It had a vial of brown liquid attached to it. She could somehow tell that it would have broken open and released some sort of gas into the room. That would definitely not be a good time if it was to go off. Maybe I can retrieve it and throw it at an enemy or something. Waste not, want not. Maybe I can take the entire mechanism and set my own trap down the road. "Are you still okay in there?" Garland''s muffled voice came through the wall. "I''m okay. I read the second skill book and I''ve been working on disarming the other traps. I''m hoping that I can find a way out by combing through this room." Astoria replied. Astoria went back to work on the trap in front of her. After a few more minutes of looking it over, she was able to disable the mechanism and retrieve the whole trap in one piece. She examined her new toy.
Noxious Gas Trap
? Quality: Crude ? Durability: 17/19 ? Effects: When activated this trap will release a vial of noxious gas that will affect a 15 foot area. Enemies who come into contact with this gas will be inflicted with large boils anywhere the gas comes into contact. Breathing the gas will destroy lung tissue.
Wow. That sounds awful. I''m glad that I was able to avoid that fate. It seems like it might be possible to survive if you hold your breath, but you still wouldn''t be happy, that''s for sure. She placed the trap into her bag and then went over to look at the other tile that had stood out to her before. There''s just something so suspicious about this. It isn''t red, but then, neither was the bookshelf. She slid her fingers along the raised edges of the tile and it didn''t feel like it wanted to give. She got down on the ground and looked at it very closely and then she saw it. The tile suddenly began to glow the same faint red as the other one had. Success! I knew there was something up with this thing. After further investigation she found that this tile had two slits instead of one. They were on opposite sides of the tile and she took out her second dagger. Please don''t blow up in my face. She slid the tips of her blades into the tiny slits that glowed that faint green color simultaneously and heard a click. It felt like her heart was about to leap out of her chest when she heard that noise but nothing happened. Sweat trickled down her face and dripped onto the tile she was working on. She panicked again. Oh no! Nothing happened. Phew! It would''ve sucked if that was enough to activate it. Seeing that she hadn''t activated the trap by sweating on it, she pried it up using the two blades. There was another pressure plate mechanism below this tile but the trap itself was different. She saw that when activated it''d pull a cord that went off beneath the tiles. She looked up and sure enough there were three glowing red holes in the ceiling above the tile. Probably poison darts or something. As before, she looked the mechanism over and meticulously worked to disarm it. It didn''t take long as she understood how something like this would work now. With a sigh of relief she flopped backwards and looked up at the ceiling. "I disarmed all the traps that I can find. I''m going to go get whatever is in the chest next." "Okay. Be careful." Tilly answered. Astoria spent a little time taking deep breaths and recovering from the stress of disarming those deadly traps. After a few minutes, she was ready to go see what kind of treasure she had earned. Hopefully it''s another one of those coins for the pedestal room and a spell book or something. Please be something awesome like fireball. She walked over and looked at the plain looking chest that stood before her between where those wraiths had been. Better be on the safe side here. She leaned in close to look for any signs of traps. The plain looking chest sprung to life and dove for her. She only just barely avoided having her face eaten off. It''s jaws opened wide and its maw was filled with jagged teeth. Astoria rolled backwards just in time to avoid certain death as the thing sprang to life and leapt for her. A mimic! Really? I just can''t catch a break. She backed away from the creature and prepared to fight in the tight space. The mimic had formed crude legs out of its bottom and was charging towards her. She readied her daggers, but it did something unexpected, and a razor sharp tongue slammed into her upper abdomen like a spear. It pierced her new armor, but only just a little bit and threw her off balance and shoving her backwards with incredible force. The wind was knocked right out of her and she was stunned for the briefest of moments. Its tongue was like a bladed whip and it was readying itself to make another strike. Astoria dove to the side avoiding a second, whip-like strike that would have sliced cleanly through her neck if she had been standing still. I need to end this fight fast! Astoria charged at the beast and got around behind it while it prepared to strike again. She stabbed both of her daggers into the mimic simultaneously and twisted before yanking them back out. Green liquid oozed out of the holes she had made and the mimic let out an angry sounding noise. It moved lightning quick and spun around, chomping at her right arm. "Astoria! Are you okay?" Ladriel''s asked through the wall. "Mimic! Busy!" The thing was much faster than anything looking like a box had any right to be. It dove for her and she was too slow to get away. It chomped its razor sharp teeth into her forearm. The bracer was pierced slightly, but it held. She gritted her teeth against the crushing pain and used her free hand to stab the mimic repeatedly as it continued trying to crush her arm. She felt her arm being crushed like it had been put into a vice. It felt like it was going to snap right off. "Let. Me. Go. Asshole!" she said putting emphasis on each word as she continued stabbing the thing again and again. After what felt like forever the chest''s grip loosened and it no longer moved. A pool of green, malodorous liquid had formed below the chest as she had stabbed it relentlessly. She tossed the chest angrily to the ground and it landed with a thud. She reflectively shook her arm and activated Regeneration. Astoria gritted her teeth against the pain in her arm as it slowly melted away. When the skill finished doing its work, she felt a lot better, but not completely. Her MP was now too low for her to cast it a second time, so she¡¯d just have to live with the pain until it went back up. At least her hand was functional again. It was time to see what, if anything, this chest held. She kicked the thing over with her boot, just to be sure it was dead before carefully reaching down and opening the lid. As she had hoped, a bronze coin sat nestled in the bottom of the dead mimic. She pulled it out and saw that there were three squiggles on its face, probably depicting a gust of wind. "I''m okay. It¡¯s dead," she announced triumphantly through the wall to her companions. "It had another of the bronze coins, too. Now I just have to find a way out of this death trap of a room.¡± ¡°That¡¯s great. I¡¯m glad you¡¯re okay! We¡¯re looking around out here too, but there isn¡¯t anything to find on this side. The wall won¡¯t budge an inch,¡± Tilly replied. Astoria sighed to herself and told the others that she was getting back to work. There has to be a way out. Don¡¯t give up no matter what. Chapter 18: Magic! I''m seriously getting tired of being trapped in here. There has got to be a way out! I refuse to rot away down here! Astoria continued examining her small confines with a fine toothed comb, but nothing jumped out at her. There were no levers or buttons anywhere to be found. She even pressed against the walls in various places hoping that maybe there was some sort of false wall that she could find, but everything appeared to be solid. On the bright side, she hadn¡¯t run into any more traps either, so there was that. She glanced over at her torch, it was starting to grow dimmer. She hoped that the room wasn¡¯t air tight and that the thing wasn¡¯t burning away the oxygen. The last thing I need right now is to run out of air on top of everything else. The bookshelf still seemed to stand out to her like a sore thumb for some reason. She just had a feeling that there was something else to the thing. Astoria warily looked over the shelf once more before pulling dusty tomes off the shelf and setting them on the floor in stacks. A few moments and a cloud of dust later, the shelves stood empty and she still hadn¡¯t found any hidden buttons. She went back over to the wall that was trapping her in this place and slumped down against it. Searching for a way out was exhausting. "I still haven''t found anything. I''m not gonna lie, it¡¯s starting to look pretty bad for me. You guys have any more ideas?" she said to the others through the wall. "We don''t really have any ideas. Garland and Ladriel went to check the room next door, maybe there¡¯s something in there that can get you out. It¡¯s a long shot, though.¡° Tilly replied. That''s it! There¡¯s a room right up against this one. I have an idea! Her friend had inadvertently given her an idea and she hopped up excitedly and went back over to the now empty bookshelf once more. She went to the side of the thing and hoped she was right, because if she wasn¡¯t, then she really didn¡¯t see any way out of this. She began to shove the empty bookshelf in the direction where the mimic and the wraith statues had been along the wall. There was just enough room so that she could shove the thing all the way to the far wall. The thing was heavy and she was really glad that she had taken all the books off before trying this. It moved an inch and then another. She strained to push the heavy thing until she saw exactly what she had hoped hidden behind where the shelf had been; a hole. Seeing the crack widen gave her encouragement to keep pushing, and in no time she had revealed a hidden doorway. The shelf let out an audible click once it touched the wall she had been shoving it towards and it made her jump back in fear for a moment. After her heart stopped pounding and she saw that nothing was going to happen, she grabbed the torch and went back over to the open doorway. The passage wasn¡¯t very long, but she saw what she had hoped for at the end of the small opening and a sigh of relief exited her mouth. A wooden lever stuck out of the wall next to where she hoped an exit was. She had learned her lesson about touching things in this place, and so she approached it with caution. There wasn¡¯t any sign of green or red light emanating from the thing, so it was probably safe. With a shaky hand, she reached out and tentatively touched the cool wood. You can do this. It¡¯s just a lever. Please don''t drop me into a pit of spikes. I just want to get out of here in one piece! She took a deep breath and pulled the lever down. A loud grinding sound could be heard somewhere in the wall and to her horror the bookshelf slammed back into its original position behind her. Astoria began to panic and hyperventilate. Had she just traded one box for a smaller one? Just as she was about to start screaming, the wall to the right of the lever slid down and revealed a dark room where a stunned looking Ladriel and Garland stared back at her with wide eyes. Thank god! "You''re okay!" Ladriel exclaimed. "Just barely! That was definitely no picnic. I got the coin though, so there''s that at least." She felt better already. Claustrophobia be gone! Astoria glanced around the new room briefly before she took any steps, and she was happy to see that there were no traps that she could see here. It was just an empty room. There wasn¡¯t anything interesting to see at all here. The three of them left the empty space and went back to where Tilly was. When they entered the room, Tilly was kneeling down next to the corpse of the mimic and jumped a little when she heard them walking up behind her. Astoria could see the relief that washed over her friend when she saw that Astoria was with Ladriel and Garland. "You made it out! Everything just started moving on its own and you were gone. I was seriously freaking out!" She ran over and gave Astoria a big hug. "Thanks! That was way too close. I definitely need to be more careful. The good news is that I got a good amount of practice disarming and detecting traps." Astoria stepped back from her friend''s embrace and couldn''t help but smile with pride over what she had been able to accomplish in such a dire situation. Don¡¯t let it be said that I crack under pressure! "Maybe we should rest for a while. We''ve been at this for hours and hours now. None of us are going to be in top condition if another fight breaks out," Garland suggested. Astoria couldn''t deny the fact that she was really tired. Will it really be safe enough to sleep in a place like this, though? They would need to venture to the lower level next and she did not look forward to that at all. She had a feeling that what they had gone through so far was probably a walk in the park compared to what lie ahead of them. The decision was obvious, they needed to rest. "Okay. Let''s rest in the room where I came out. I didn''t detect any traps in there and we can have one person stay up and watch the exit. I also want to go back through the other rooms we¡¯ve been in and disarm the traps for practice. Can one of you keep watch, while the other two sleep?" "I''m not really tired. I can take the first watch, but are you sure that you want to go off alone after what just happened?." Tilly said. "It¡¯ll be okay. We cleared out all the zombies before, so unless something comes up from below, then there isn¡¯t much to worry about. If anything happens, I¡¯ll scream and run back here." "All right. Be careful, Astoria." "I will. See you in a little while." Astoria left the others and went off into the darkness holding one of the torches. The catacombs were eerily quiet and it was strange travelling alone through the empty place. It''s like in a horror movie where some idiot separates from the group, only this time I''m the idiot. Hopefully, this doesn''t turn out the same way it usually does in the movies, though. Astoria¡¯s perception had definitely gotten better thanks to her skill, and as soon as she entered the large room, she saw the familiar red glow of traps in several places around the room. Time to get to work! She made her way over to the first of the trip wire type trap and got to work on disabling it. Now that she had the hang of how these worked, disarming them went much more smoothly. In just a short time she had disarmed a half dozen of the traps and the room was clear. She managed to retrieve another pressure plate type of trap called a Corrosive Acid Trap. I''m sure this will come in handy should I need to melt someone. She grinned to herself and placed the trap carefully into her bag, making sure that the vial of deadly acid was wrapped up in cloth to prevent breakage. She couldn¡¯t help but wish that she had a magical inventory or something similar when she thought about the real possibility of the vial breaking during a fight. She shrugged off the thought, there wasn¡¯t anything to be done about that now, anyway, and moved on to the next room. This one was where they had fought the zombies and she saw several more traps in this room. They were all the same types as before, and so she quickly got started disarming them. She glanced over at the side room where the zombies had come out of several times while she worked. I hope there aren''t more in there that didn''t come out earlier. She looked around at the corpses that littered the floor of the room as well a bit warily. Just don''t come back to life and attack me while I''m here alone. That''s not too much to ask, is it? Astoria forced herself to concentrate and efficiently disarmed the traps one by one. These were all just the trip wire variety, and she saw places in the ceiling and walls where poison darts would have shot out from if they had been triggered. She hadn''t found a good way to retrieve any of the darts from those traps, but it was good to know that if they had to retreat to this area in a fight, they wouldn¡¯t have to worry about tripping some sort of trap.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. In just a short while, she was done with this room as well. Astoria felt confident about herself now. I''m really getting the hang of doing these trip wire traps, disarming them is a piece of cake. Astoria didn¡¯t let herself get too big of a head, though, as she figured that since this was the equivalent of a beginner dungeon, she would probably still be unable to detect better traps if they were to show up in the lower levels. For some reason, she had the feeling that she should revisit the room where the zombies came from. It was terrifying, but there might be something good hidden there that they had missed before. In the end, her desire to grind her disarm and detect traps skill outweighed her fear of running into more zombies that hadn¡¯t activated before. Besides, if she got trapped again, the others would come to look for her sooner or later. After taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, she went over to the room while holding her torch out in front of her. She cautiously poked her head into the doorway and looked inside. Just inside the room the empty holes where the zombies had crawled out of loomed in the flickering light. She gulped nervously and forced herself to look away from them and examine the rest of the room. Empty sarcophagi were scattered around the room and she didn''t see any signs of more bodies. At the back of the room she noted something odd about the configuration of some sarcophagi. Why would all those zombie things be in here if not to guard something. That area is really suspicious. Astoria stepped the rest of the way into the room and made her way towards the back. There was something off about the floor where she had noted the odd configuration of coffins. She couldn¡¯t say for sure what made her think something was off, but she just had a bad feeling. It was just a sort of wrongness. That was the only way she could put the feeling into words in her mind. She saw two sarcophagi to either side of the space and she got a little closer, hoping to see the telltale red glow of a trap, but there wasn¡¯t one. It almost looked like the tiles were slightly offset on the other side of the two coffins and she reached down to grab one of the many pieces of crumbling stone that lie at her feet. Let''s see what this does. She stepped back to the doorway and tossed the heavy stone directly between the two sarcophagi before quickly jumping back. She heard the stone land and then looked back inside. A trap had just revealed itself. The floor had been some sort of finely crafted cloth that had been covering a pit. It was amazing how real the false ground had appeared. She walked over to the pit and looked down. There was nothing to see except a gaping hole that led into eternal darkness. She listened for a long while and finally heard the sound of her large rock hitting the bottom with a crash. Well... that would have been bad. Crisis averted! In order to get to the far end of the room, she would have to climb over one of the empty sarcophagi. With the zombies here earlier, she really hadn¡¯t had time to examine the room closely last time. She was more sure than ever that she had made a mistake before by not coming back to investigate this room. There wasn''t a lot of space at the back of the room but there was just enough room for her to see that there could be something hidden behind the empty sarcophagus that stretched across the room horizontally by the far wall. I just hope this will all be worth it. Astoria stepped carefully into the sarcophagus to the right and kept her back to the wall as she side stepped across it towards her destination. Before getting out on the other side she made sure to look down to check for additional traps. She wasn''t disappointed as now that she had reached the other side, she could see that either tile right on the other side of the coffins had tiles that glowed with the faint red glow. The view had been obscured for the most part before and she hadn¡¯t been able to be sure that there was something there. Her intuition had paid off it seemed. The game devs sure are some evil bastards. This is a messed up trap for sure. I can just imagine someone carelessly thinking they had avoided the pit to step onto one of these tiles just to die horribly anyway. Astoria knelt down inside the sarcophagus she stood in and leaned over the side ever so carefully. Following the procedure she had done before she used her dagger to lift the tile and reveal the trap below. This plate was attached to a cord that led off into the wall to the right side of her. She looked up the wall and saw that there were several pin sized holes spaced about six inches apart from one another going up to a total height of about six feet. Whoever stepped on these would likely have been skewered by some sort of dart trap it looked like. Carefully as ever, she disarmed the trap and let out a breath that she hadn¡¯t realized she had been holding in. She had little doubt that the trap on the other side of the room was identical. It wouldn¡¯t have been hard to avoid the other trap as she could always just go back the way she came, but she wanted that sweet skill experience, so she got out of the sarcophagus and went over to disarm the second of the traps. That just about takes care of all the traps as far as I can tell at least. Now what could be hiding back here? She moved a couple steps closer to the horizontal sarcophagus that had no lid, just like the others hadn¡¯t and didn¡¯t see anything of note in it. She wasn¡¯t about to give up so easily after all this work, and so she carefully looked around the sides and the back of the thing. There. A book was wedged into the crack between the sarcophagus and the wall, beneath some cobwebs. She made herself be brave and reached down to yank the thing out. The tome was thick and ancient looking. She honestly couldn''t believe how it had not rotted away down there. Astoria carefully wiped off the dust that had been caked onto the cover and read the title: Fire bolt. Awesome! It''s a magic book! Fire bolt! That¡¯s going to be awesome! Undead are usually weak against fire, too, right? Astoria considered for just a moment if she was the best one of her party to have this magic, but after a few moments of deliberation she decided that she wanted the power to herself. She had always dreamed of wielding magic and this was her big chance. She flipped open the book, hoping that it wouldn¡¯t crumble away from age, and the same type of prompt that had appeared with the spellbooks popped up once more. She selected yes immediately and the book floated into the air before her, emitting a faint red light as it flipped through the pages at an incredible rate. The tome crumbled to dust just as the skill books had and her head was now filled with the arcane knowledge of how to cast the fire bolt spell. She opened her skills screen and focused on the spell to read its description.
Fire Bolt
Conjure a small, but concentrated ball of flame, that you can cast towards enemies. The ball will explode upon impact. The area of effect for the explosion is 3 feet at level 1 and the blast radius will increase by 6 inches every 10 levels. This spell''s potency and will increase respective to the users magic stat and the levels earned as will its cost. Cost: 50 MP Cooldown: 30 seconds
Wow! I really scored with this one. That reminds me, I haven''t checked my status after the fight with the wraiths and mimic. I''m sure I must''ve leveled up. I really need to stay on top of this stuff better. She looked at her notifications and she had in fact leveled up. Astoria had gained 350 EXP for killing the mimic and 1000 EXP from the wraiths. This place may be horrible and she almost died more than once, but at least she was getting a lot out of it. She was more than a little happy with all the progress her new skills gained from disarming all the traps. Grinding had really paid off in a big way as her Detect Traps skill was already level 3 and Disarm Traps had already risen to level 5. Astoria knew that she had been neglecting her magic stats until now, and for good reason as until now she hadn¡¯t really had a good reason to raise them. She placed 3 points into Magic and 2 points into Magic Resistance and as always, one into Luck. She had a feeling that the luck stat had really helped her out in here, but one could never really tell for sure. Now that that¡¯s all done, I think that I can handle whatever this place throws at me. I should really get back to the others and get some rest. How long have I been gone, I wonder? It¡¯s so hard to tell time here, but I know that I¡¯m freakin¡¯ beat. Once she got some rest, it would be time to head down to the next level. The prospect was a bit daunting to say the least, but with her party, she didn¡¯t think it wouldn¡¯t be something they couldn¡¯t handle. For all she knew, there wouldn''t even be any worse traps than she had already encountered, but her recent experiences had taught her the importance of being cautious. As such, she intended to take further exploration of the catacombs nice and slow. She now had enough mana to cast regeneration on herself again to bring her HP to maximum once more, so she cast the spell as she climbed back over the sarcophagus and headed for the door. The last of her pain from earlier washed away on her walk back to the others. Hopefully, with some extra points in her Magic stat, she would regain her lost mana faster. When she arrived at her destination, Tilly was standing watch just outside the door leading into the room. Astoria waved to her friend as she closed the distance between them. Tilly returned her wave. "How''d it go? All the traps taken care of? It looks like you¡¯re in one piece. I was starting to get a little worried, you know? I¡¯ve been pacing around out here." "Sorry. It took longer than I thought, but I¡¯ve managed to get a lot better at detecting and disabling the traps. I found a spellbook hidden in the room that the zombies came out of. I know how to cast fire bolt now!¡± Astoria couldn¡¯t hide her excitement over her new magic. "Wow! That''s great! That¡¯s an amazing find! It''s been quiet and boring here. How are you holding up? You look really tired." "I am feeling a bit tired, do you mind if I go get some rest? Were you going to wake one of the others soon?" "In a bit, I don¡¯t really know how I¡¯m going to sleep in this place to be honest. The whole place gives me the creeps big time. I¡¯ll try to sleep some soon though." "All right. I¡¯m with you on that, but I think I could fall asleep standing if I stay up much longer, so I¡¯m going to try to make the best of it. Good night." ¡°Good night.¡± Astoria walked past her friend and into the room, yawning as she cleared the threshold. Tilly was right about the place being creepy, but it didn¡¯t matter. She felt so exhausted. Garland was snoring softly on the ground near the entrance and Ladriel was leaned into a corner in the back of the room asleep in a sitting position. Astoria didn¡¯t want to be right by the entrance in case something happened. She took a few moments to arrange a small spot for herself in the corner opposite Ladriel and curled up on the ground, using her cloak as a blanket and the sun dress from Rodia as her pillow. After wiggling around for a short while to get comfortable, she fell into a deep, dreamless sleep. Spoiler: Astoria''s Stats
Name Astoria
Level 009 (7,697/10,569 EXP to next Level)
Class None
HP 210/210 MP 19/165
AP 0
Attributes
Vitality 14 Magic 13
Endurance 15 Magic Resistance 12
Strength 16 Luck 15
Agility 22
Dexterity 14
Abilities
? Kleptomancy
Skills
? Archery - Level 5 (13% toward next level) ? Stealth - Level 6 (19% toward next level) ? Swords - Level 1 (0% toward next level) ? Daggers - Level 6 (32% toward next level) ? Regeneration - Level 1 (20% toward next level) ? Fishing - Level 2 (71% toward next level) ? Detect Traps - Level 3 (58% toward next level) ? Disarm Traps - Level 5 (4% toward next level)
Magic
? Fire Bolt - Level 1 (0% toward next level)
Chapter 19: No Respawns Astoria awoke to Garland''s voice telling her softly that it was time to get up. For a moment, she forgot that she had been trapped in Phoenix Online, and jumped at the sound of a strange man¡¯s voice talking to her in her room. She looked at her surroundings and recognized the cold hard floor of the catacombs and reality crashed back into her. She wasn¡¯t at home in bed, and she never would be again. "Monsters? How long have I been asleep?" "No monsters. It''s hard to say for sure how long has passed since we¡¯re underground, but I¡¯d say maybe six hours. The others are already awake and waiting for us in the other room.¡± She got to her feet and yawned while stretching her arms. She had slept surprisingly well considering it had been on stone. She really must have been exhausted. The two of them headed out to where the others were and she was surprised to see the others were standing around near the center of the room. ¡°Good morning, or whatever time it is,¡± Tilly said as Astoria and Garland approached. ¡°Morning.¡± ¡°We should eat something before we go to the deeper levels. Just a second, I have some stuff that we can eat while we walk,¡± Tilly said as she started digging through the pack on the ground next to her. ¡°Good idea, I¡¯m starving!¡± Astoria said. ¡°Tilly told us you found a spellbook and another of the bronze coins. That¡¯s great. I cannot wait to get out of this tomb.¡± Ladriel rubbed her arms as if she was trying to scrub away some sort of taint. Tilly was rummaging through her pack and pulled out a few things for her and handed them over. The group ate as they walked and Astoria filled the others in on everything she had discovered in the other rooms. ¡°Sounds like your rapidly leveling those trap related skills of yours. That¡¯s really impressive, Astoria,¡± Ladriel said. ¡°Thanks. I¡¯d be lying if I said that my heart didn¡¯t jump up into my throat every time I went to disable one of the traps I found, but it definitely got easier as I leveled. The group passed around a water skin and finally they reached the stairs leading deeper into the catacombs. No matter what she did, Astoria could not shake the feeling in her gut that something very nasty was waiting for them down there. ¡°I¡¯ll stay out front again since I can detect traps. I have a feeling that we¡¯re going to have a fight ahead of us soon." ¡°What makes you say that?¡± Garland asked curiously. ¡°Let¡¯s just call it¡­ intuition.¡± He shrugged and then the group began creeping down the side passage that led deep into the ground. Astoria¡¯s heart pounded and soon the tunnel flattened out and she could see a doorway just ahead of them. Astoria knew that if the area ahead was a dead end, then they would most definitely be fighting some sort of boss. She only hoped that they would be strong enough to handle the situation, at least they had Garland with them. No more wraiths. That''s all I ask. I just want an enemy that I can actually hit. Astoria activated stealth and motioned for the others to hang back while she checked out the situation. She crept forward ever so carefully and kept an eye out for traps on the floor as she went. The room ahead was blocked by tons of spiderwebs and she said a little prayer hoping that there wouldn¡¯t be monster spiders down here as she took out one of her daggers and carefully cut her way through the sticky substance. There''s no save point, so that means there'' s no boss in this room, right? She joked to herself as she poked her head into the next room. She didn¡¯t see any signs of traps, but the walls of the narrow room were covered from wall to wall with standing sarcophagi. If she were a betting woman, she would say that there were a lot of undead ready to charge at them in an instant inside each and every one of those sarcophagi. What I wouldn''t give for this game to have save points and respawns. Seriously, what the hell is the matter with the creators of this place? Seeing as nothing was popping out at her, she continued through the narrow room to the next doorway. The room beyond was humongous and she saw large stone pillars all over the place, obscuring her view at every turn. It screamed boss room to her and she backed out of the doorway slowly before turning and going back to the others. "This doesn''t look good," she whispered. "What did you see?¡± Garland asked. Astoria told them her theory about what lie in store for them when they continued forward. ¡°The passageway is too narrow for a fight and it''s a long run to the top. At least the second room sounds to be large enough for us to maneuver," Ladriel said. "So we should charge in head on? I know that we don¡¯t exactly have a lot of choices here, but I seriously have a bad feeling about what we¡¯re going to find in that room." "Do you see any traps?" Tilly asked. "No. But that doesn''t mean there aren''t any." The others looked at each other thoughtfully and Garland spoke up, "Since we don¡¯t have any other options, we must press forward. "Okay. Stay close, everyone. I really don''t want to get shut in here alone with these things if a trap wall falls down again." The others nodded and Astoria breathed a sigh of relief when they all entered the large room and nothing had happened yet. There was definitely something eerie about the place though.Astoria noticed the similarity in the lighting between this room and the one with the pedestals. She wondered if they were directly below that room. The light felt so unnatural, and after glancing around a bit, she saw several torches poking out here and there from the large stone pillars that filled the room. Each torch burned with bright azure colored flames. This is definitely not good. She turned back to the others and saw that they were right behind her huddled in a tight cluster. "I''m telling you guys. This isn''t going to be good. Get ready. If there isn''t some horrible monster in here, I''ll eat my bag for breakfast." "We''re right behind you. Whatever it is, we can handle it if we work together." Tilly answered. "All right. Let''s go." There were still no signs of traps, but as far as Astoria was concerned that just meant that she was too low to detect them. Idly, she wondered if her detect trap spell worked on magical traps or just the regular kind. She got her answer when after taking just a few more steps into the enormous room. A heavy stone door slammed shut back at the entrance to the passageway leading up. She gripped her daggers in anticipation of all those sarcophagi flopping open to reveal a host of undead enemies. She held her breath and waited for a few seconds, but nothing happened. Okay, so if not that, then what are we trapped in here with? Whatever it was, she was going to give it a taste of her new magic. She sheathed one dagger so she had a free hand to cast with and looked around. If there was a boss here, wouldn¡¯t it have heard the noise of the door closing? Since they were stuck, there was no choice but to proceed cautiously. She huddled up with the others and whispered to Garland, "Can you keep watch from the rear? There¡¯s no way that those sarcophagi are not full of undead. We don¡¯t want to be caught from behind. I''m going to sneak around using the pillars for cover to see what we''re dealing with here." "All right." "What about us?" Tilly whispered. "Keep an eye on my blind spots and if you see something coming after me, then give a shout, okay?¡± Tilly and Ladriel agreed to the plan and Astoria took a deep breath before activating stealth again and creeping forward. nodded and it was time for Astoria to delve deeper into the room. Her palms felt sweaty on the hilt of her dagger and she couldn¡¯t get rid of the sinking feeling in her stomach that screamed this was a boss room. Keeping a close eye on her stealth icon, she inched her way towards the center of the room, always careful to peek around the pillars before she moved. Once she was about 50 feet away from her companions, the pillars stopped and there was a large open area with some more pillars on the far end of the space. Right in the center of the open area she saw a pedestal with a bronze coin sitting atop it. The pedestal was exactly like the ones above, but she didn¡¯t see a recess for the coin. She figured it must be a coincidence. There it is. This is too easy so far. That is definitely a trap, even if I can¡¯t see the red light. She contemplated dashing over to grab the coin, but that just seemed stupid. Her stealth icon still showed that she was still hidden, so she felt safe where she was. There wouldn''t be anything to hide behind out there and that was a problem she wasn¡¯t ready to face alone. I''m going to wait and see what happens. If there¡¯s a boss, maybe it¡¯s patrolling the other side of the room or something. She ducked back behind the pillar and poked her head out once in a while for the next several minutes. Just as she was about to give up and go back to the others a monstrosity slogged its way out of the far pillared area and stomped around. It hadn¡¯t seen her, thankfully and she only stayed out long enough to get a good look at the thing. It was something that looked as though it belonged in a Resident Evil game. The creature had to be over sixteen feet tall and was a mass of undulating muscles. There was no skin on the thing and its arms and legs had spikes sticking out of them that were a good 10 inches long. The creature''s face was the stuff of nightmares. Dark, bloodshot eyes were sunken deeply into the skull and the thing sported a large mouth that hung open with an impressive amount of long, jagged teeth. Another terrifying thing about this creature was that it had another large mouth on its stomach. The mouth, if you could call it that, was a huge maw that sported interlocked teeth resembling that of a shark. The mouth was big enough that it could probably fit her entire head and shoulders inside. The mouth was closed tight and rows of shark-like teeth locked together. This thing is bad news. It hasn''t seen me, though. I need to go back to the others and come up with a plan to take it down. Thank god we have a high level warrior with us. I doubt that we would have any chance without his help. She slowly backed away as quiet as a mouse and headed towards the others. After getting two pillars away, she picked up the pace, but all of a sudden the stealth icon opened up completely. What the¡ª The monster leapt out of nowhere with a roar and she only just barely avoided having one of those spikes smashed into her face. She rolled to the ground with a squeak and heard the creature¡¯s arm smash into the stone pillar she had been next to. She quickly got back onto her feet and saw that the thing had impacted the stone so hard that it had sent cracks sprawling out from the point of impact in a spiderweb like pattern. "Help! There''s a huge fucking monster over here!" Astoria ran behind another pillar as the thing took another swing at her. The monster was much more nimble than she had originally estimated and it charged after her swinging and roaring. She wasn¡¯t fast enough and one of its fists smashed into her chest. All of the air exited her lungs and she flew backwards through the air a dozen paces before smashing hard into the ground.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. She found that she was unable to move and her health had dropped by a large margin. She was stunned and a little red icon had appeared in the corner of her vision. No! Come on! Move! Move already! No matter how hard she tried, she could not overcome the stun effect that was in place on her body from that powerful blow. The creature bellowed and charged towards her helpless body. It took no time at all for it to close the gap and she looked up at the creature as it raised its arms high above its head knowing that she was about to die. She watched in horror as the things arms began the motion of a downward strike that would end her life, and just as she thought all was lost, Tilly jumped in front of her with her shield raised. The impact was so powerful that her friend was forced down to one knee, nearly on top of her, but she was successful in blocking the attack. Almost simultaneously, she saw an arrow slam into the head of the monster. It didn''t seem to be bothered too much, but Garland charged in from the side of the creature and stabbed at the creature''s middle. It jumped back, avoiding what could have been a fatal blow. Astoria¡¯s body still wouldn¡¯t move and all she could do was watch as her party fought the thing while she was crumpled on the ground like a rag doll. Tilly and Garland engaged the thing together, circling around it warily. Whenever it would try swinging for one of them, the other would stab at it with their sword. Meanwhile, Ladriel was pincushioning the thing with arrows. Her skill shots must have failed because none of the arrows managed to stun the creature or pierce it very far. The monstrosity spun deftly and swung at Tilly, but she blocked it with her shield again. It was amazing that she could hold up against the impact of those blows. Had she been putting every stat point into strength and endurance? No matter what her companions did during the short battle, the boss appeared to be unfazed. Astoria wondered just how much health the creature had. Ladriel ran to Astoria and knelt down next to her while the others continued their deadly dance with the creature and poured a health potion into her mouth. She began to feel a lot better and almost instantly her breathing improved. It occurred to her that it had probably broken some ribs when it hit her. Her stun status icon faded away and she let out a groan of pain before activating Regeneration. That thing had taken nearly half of her health away in a single blow, but she would be okay enough to fight in a moment. Astoria stood up and was once tried to think of what they could do against that thing. Ladriel turned away once she knew that Astoria was okay and resumed pelting the thing with arrows. She was nearly out of the several dozen arrows they had at their disposal. "What is that thing?" Astoria asked. She was waiting for an opening to join the fray or at least roast the thing with a well placed Fire Bolt. "It''s a gloom. A powerful undead creature that has the power to awaken and control corpses," Ladriel replied. Astoria watched in awe as Tilly and Garland danced around the large creature slashing and stabbing it over and over. Come on. I just need a small opening. As Tilly and Garland danced backwards from the thing, she got her opening. Astoria stretched her hand toward her target and focused her aura in the space just above her outstretched palm. "How about a little fire, scarecrow?" she said. Almost instantaneously she felt the air around her change as the small fireball formed above her hand. The heat it gave off was intense, and she wasn¡¯t sure how she wasn¡¯t being burned herself. Once it formed she directed the roiling ball of flame towards the target and it shot forward at an incredible speed. She watched in amazement as the ball of flame actually grew larger as it traveled the short distance and before it impacted the gloom, it was around 8 inches in diameter. Her spell bolt struck the beast and exploded with a deafening bang. For the first time, the thing let out a scream of agony instead of rage. The magical flames seemed to stick to the body of her enemy and it continued to burn for several seconds while the beast thrashed around on the ground. Tilly and Garland moved in again while it was distracted and stabbed deeply into the gloom''s chest, just above the mouth on its torso. The gloom screamed in agony once more, but the flames were dying out and it managed to swing its hand out to the side and grabbed Garland by the leg with its monstrous hand. The grizzled soldier screamed in pain as the gloom squeezed his lower leg with incredible crushing force. Astoria could actually hear his bone snap like a twig. The monster stood up, and dragged Garland into the air while Tilly slashed at it ineffectually and did its very best Hulk smash impression on the older man. Garland¡¯s face crunched as he was slammed into the ground and Astoria watched in horror as her spell completely fizzled out. It wasn¡¯t enough! I need to do something else or Garland is going to die! The gloom was swinging Garland around like a club at Tilly, who had been forced to back away. Astoria quickly reached into her bag and retrieved the acid trap she had been saving. She quickly retrieved the vial of acid from it and tossed the contraption to the ground. This had to work, it was their only chance. She didn¡¯t have time to be careful and simply ran straight at the monster who was at the moment preparing to shove the battered lord¡¯s arm into the maw on its stomach which was now open for the first time ever. She only had one shot and she took it. The vial flew the six feet through the air and right into the mouth on the gloom¡¯s torso. It broke open and acid sprayed all over inside the creature¡¯s body. It sizzled and smoked filling the room with an awful odor as the gloom literally melted from the inside out. The gloom dropped Garland to the ground and fell backwards, thrashing on the ground as it had earlier. Pools of gore dripped from the creature¡¯s middle as it continued to melt. The gloom clawed at its torso as it rolled around, but it only served to spread the acid onto its arms, causing them to burn as well. Tilly hadn''t wasted any time while Astoria stood there gawking, she had darted back in and was dragging garland away from the hopefully dying creature. Tilly was pouring a health potion down his throat, but Astoria didn¡¯t want to take her eyes off the thing. She needed to make sure the thing stayed down this time. Not leaving anything to chance, she burst into motion and charged towards the gloom. It was still howling and thrashing on the ground, so she was able to easily get around it, to its head. Once she was in position, she jumped in quickly with both daggers out and stabbed both of them into the gloom¡¯s giant eye sockets before jumping back again. It continued thrashing wildy and Astoria watched cautiously for a few seconds, all the while gripping her bloody daggers in white knuckled fists, and then the creature finally fell completely still. The acid continued to eat through the creature even after its demise and the corpse continued to smoke. She was glad that she hadn¡¯t triggered that trap. It looked like an awful way to die. She stopped staring at the smoking corpse and rushed over to Garland¡¯s side. She had a health potion on her still and popped the cork off, dumping it down the man¡¯s throat just as TIlly had. He was unconscious, but she and Tilly managed to force the liquid down his throat. I need to check his status. He looks to be in really, really bad shape. She had a look and was shocked to see that the grizzled soldier had just 96/630 HP remaining even after the two potions. He was seriously on the verge of death. "He''s in a lot of trouble. We''re going to need to give him every health potion we have and we''ll need to rest here for several hours at least I think." "I hate being underground any longer than we have to, but we have no choice." Ladriel said. The elf then reached inside her bag and produced her remaining health potions. Hopefully, they would be enough to save his life and get him stabilized. They administered the potions to Garland over the next few minutes and once he seemed to be breathing normally again, Astoria checked his status once more and saw that he had regained almost half of his health. That''s the best we can do. I wish that one of us had a real healing spell. I should prioritize buying a healing spell book when we get to a bigger city. Hopefully, we can find one and it won''t cost an arm and a leg. "What about the coin?" Tilly asked. "I''ll go check it out in a minute. Seeing how this place has been so far, I wouldn''t doubt it if removing that thing will trigger some sort of trap. We don¡¯t want to do anything rash while we¡¯re down a fighter. Let''s play it safe and wait until Garland is a little better off before doing anything hasty." "Okay. Can we at least move away from that... thing? I don''t know about you guys, but the smell is making me feel ill." "Agreed. That foul creature was bad enough before you decided to cook it. Let''s move to a corner?" Ladriel said. "All right. But let''s be careful when we move Garland." The three of them carried Garland over to the side of the room and didn¡¯t go back into the pillared areas. Astoria saw that the area in the back of the room wasn¡¯t nearly as deep as the front part. There was only one row of pillars and so if they wanted, they could go to the corner and still be close to where the pedestal was. Astoria was still worried about the fact that they were probably still locked in here, but at least no zombies had come out of the sarcophagi by the entrance yet. It had been a long time since Astoria had taken a look at her notifications and since they would be sitting around for a while, now was the perfect time to do so.
Notifications
You have gained 1050 EXP for defeating 2 level 15 Wraiths
You have gained 300 EXP for defeating level 10 Mimic
You have gained 2,350 EXP for defeating a level 31 Gloom.
Congratulations! You have completed a hidden quest: Cleanse the Catacombs of Garland Manor Reward: ? 4500 EXP
Congratulations! You have reached levels 10 and 11! You have gained 12 points to distribute.
Awesome! I¡¯ve gotten so much stronger since we came down here! We were extremely lucky to have been able to take down something so powerful. Astoria wondered if her luck stat had been in play at all with all the things she had found while down here. She wasn¡¯t a superstitious person in real life really, but since luck was a tangible thing in this world, she was glad she had invested in it. It was time to allocate her new stat points. She thought about what she wanted to accomplish in the near future and decided that being a little more sturdy couldn¡¯t hurt. She placed three points into endurance, three into strength, and three into luck. Seeing as how powerful her Fire Bolt spell had been, she wanted to become even stronger in that regard, so she placed her final three points into magic. Okay, that looks good so far. Hopefully the extra vitality and endurance will help me take a hit a little better. Being stunned sucks. It had been a long time since she had looked at Tilly''s or Ladriel''s pages, so she was curious as to how they had progressed as well. She started with Ladriel. Spoiler: Ladriel''s Stats
Name Ladriel
Level 012 (21,134/23,554 EXP to next Level)
Class Ranger
HP 165/165 MP 180/180
AP 0
Attributes
Vitality 11 Magic 17
Endurance 19 Magic Resistance 17
Strength 9 Luck 5
Agility 27
Dexterity 35
Abilities
? Wild Instinct
Skills
? Archery - Level 15 (3% toward next level) ? Piercing Shot - Level 11 (1% toward next level) ? Stun Shot - Level 8 (78% toward next level) ? Tracking - Level 4 (34% toward next level) ? Stealth - Level 5 (82% toward next level) ? Swords - Level 5 (21% toward next level) ? Daggers - Level 2 (70% toward next level)
Looks like she''s continued to put her points into agility and dexterity for the most part. Now for Tilly''s... Spoiler: Tilly''s Stats
Name Tilly
Level 010 (12,074/14,137 EXP to next Level)
Class None
HP 397/450 MP 120/120
AP 0
Attributes
Vitality 30 Magic 8
Endurance 24 Magic Resistance 11
Strength 23 Luck 8
Agility 9
Dexterity 15
Abilities
? None
Skills
? Cooking - Level 7 (86% towards next level) ? Stealth - Level 5 (14% towards next level) ? Swords - Level 5 (4% towards next level) ? Archery - Level 1 (0% towards next level)
No wonder she was able to block that thing. I was right, she¡¯s been pouring most of her stats into tanky attributes. She sure has come a long way from being a girl who just wanted to cook and not be involved in any of the fighting. Astoria didn''t look at Garland''s status, since due to his level she knew he hadn''t leveled and most things probably hadn''t changed much. Now we just have to wait for Garland to get better, grab the coin, and get the hell out of here. "I''m going to try to take a quick nap since we don¡¯t really have anything else to do. Do you guys mind?" Astoria asked. "Not at all. I''m actually still a bit tired as well. Can you keep first watch, Ladriel?" "Yes. I''ll let you guys get some rest." Astoria moved into the corner and lay down on the floor using her bag as a lumpy pillow. Surprisingly, even though there was a rotting monster only about 100 feet away, she quickly fell asleep. Spoiler: Astoria''s Stats
Name Astoria
Level 011 (14,547/18,442 EXP to next Level)
Class None
HP 210/210 MP 19/165
AP 0
Attributes
Vitality 17 Magic 16
Endurance 18 Magic Resistance 12
Strength 16 Luck 18
Agility 22
Dexterity 14
Abilities
? Kleptomancy
Skills
? Archery - Level 5 (13% toward next level) ? Stealth - Level 6 (22% toward next level) ? Swords - Level 1 (0% toward next level) ? Daggers - Level 6 (36% toward next level) ? Regeneration - Level 1 (25% toward next level) ? Fishing - Level 2 (71% toward next level) ? Detect Traps - Level 3 (58% toward next level) ? Disarm Traps - Level 5 (4% toward next level)
Magic
? Fire Bolt - Level 1 (15% toward next level)
Chapter 20: Awakening Nyx awoke with a start and jumped up. I will escape this time! That''s when she noticed that she was no longer in the back of a wagon. She wasn''t even tied up anymore. The sound that had awoke her, a chicken crowing, could be heard again outside of the building she was in. Chickens? Where am I? Was I out so long that they already sold me to someone? Her heart pounded in her chest and she took in her surroundings. The room was poorly lit, but she had been in one of two small beds. One of which was made up, and hers, which had the scratchy wool blanket was against the wall with a window to the outside next to it. Upon examination of her clothing, she found that she was in a soft cotton nightgown, and she saw a pile of folded clothes next to the bed where she had woke up. The clothes were the ones she had been wearing in the wagon. She walked the couple feet over to the end table and put her hand on the clothing. There were toys strewn across the floor and she saw that the other bed had a small collection of stuffed animals sitting atop it. This looks like a little girls'' room. The last thing I remember was being beaten and dragged back to that awful carriage before I activated my special ability. Nyx raised her hand to her head and brushed her wavy hair out of her face. Her bare feet felt cold on the wooden floor, and she knew that she must have been rescued from those slavers, but by whom? Her stomach grumbled loudly, but she did her best to ignore it. She quickly changed into her original clothing and seriously considered climbing out the window. She walked over to it and ran her fingers across the grainy wood. It still amazed her how real everything was in this virtual world. She was stuck here, forever. That thought still stung deeply, but she made herself focus on the task at hand. So far the game had been less than kind to her. Shouldn''t she just run while she had the chance? The people who saved her must be good people, though. Nyx¡¯s ability, Stasis, had the major downside of placing her in a state that was similar to that of a sleepwalker, but it had preserved her sanity, which she surely would have lost if she had to endure another moment in that cage. Her body was on a kind of autopilot for a duration that she set in return for a short burst of increased stats relative to how long she remained in stasis. Essentially the lights had been on, but nobody had been home the whole time. She had no memory at all of what her body had been doing this whole time. Considering she had been captured by slave traders, she wasn''t too disappointed to have that gap in memory, but it was all very confusing to wake up in a strange place and not have any memory of it. She had set the duration of the Stasis to be one day before they were to arrive at their destination after she had been captured during her first bundled escape attempt and beaten within an inch of her life. The slavers had been pretty free with their tongues up in front of the wagon while she had nothing better to do than listen. She silently vowed that she would grind some levels and if they hadn''t been killed already, she would make sure that they got what was coming to them. She had arrived in the middle of a field when logging into this world. After reaching a nearby farm, she had been told the closest town had been Elivaster, and that it was to the south. She had just been getting started, still level 1, when they had snatched her up from the side of the road. Nyx hadn¡¯t been given any starting gear to fight with and so she was easily taken. This whole experience has been a nightmare. I fucking hate this place. They never even gave me a chance to succeed in this world. No tutorial, no weapon, nothing. I had zero chance. The only thing she had going for her at all in this world was the ability that she had been given. Initially, it didn''t seem as though it was very overpowered, but her opinion had changed on that after having spent all this time in a vegetable-like state. When she had originally tried using the ability to escape, it had run out too soon and so she was easily captured after what was less than a ten minute chase through some fields, she hadn''t wanted to make that mistake again, and when the began to beat her, she put herself in that state. Nyx had no idea if they would take care of her in that state, but someone must''ve been at least giving her water. She was glad they hadn''t just thrown her away. Slave girls must be worth a good amount of money. She had also hoped that when she came to, they would think she was still broken somehow, so she could get the drop on them the next time they took her out of the cage. For sure someone saved me. There''s no way those bastards would have sold me to someone who would leave me free like this and not in another cage or something. I wonder if that elf that was captured before me was rescued as well. If she was, then why isn''t she here, too? I hope she¡¯s okay. In the end, her stomach made the decision for her. She hadn''t eaten for so long that it felt as though her stomach would burn a hole right through her center. Someone had to have been feeding her something, as she hadn''t lost any weight, but she was still starving. She silently cursed the developers of the game for putting in hunger mechanics, and made her way slowly to the door leading out of the room. Hopefully, the people who had saved her would also be kind enough to feed her for free as she had no money at all. The hallway outside the room was much warmer and she edged her way out the door. She wondered if it was early. Don''t roosters crow at sunrise, or do they do that at other times of the day as well? From the window, she knew that it had been light out and that she was on some kind of farm, as she could see a barn nearby, but it was hard to tell the time of day as she couldn''t see the sun. The game''s interface didn''t seem to work at all other than to show her some notifications and her status page. Maybe she could unlock more stuff later? A clock would have been a nice basic thing for those assholes to include, but she guessed that they wanted things to be as real as they could be while still having a leveling system. She crept forward and winced when a floorboard creaked loudly under her boot. There was no sounds of life ahead of her so she breathed a sigh of relief before continuing onward. When she came to a small living room with an open kitchen, she didn''t see anyone right away. There was a lingering smell of some food coming from the kitchen and once again her stomach grumbled loudly. While she debated on whether or not to go steal some food, the door swung open with a slam and a little girl ran into the room. Nyx stared at the girl in shock and received what was probably a mirrored look in return before the girl turned around and dashed out the door. Crap! I need to get out of here right now, don¡¯t I? ¡°Daddy! The girl is moving! Come see!¡± she heard the little girl yelling to someone outside. Should she run back to the room and out the window? There was no time. A man stepped inside the front door before she could run, followed by a kind looking middle-aged woman and the little girl hiding behind the man''s legs. Her body was still tensed and ready to run, but it really didn''t appear that these people were bad. If they aren''t going to kill me, then maybe they can tell me what happened and how I got here. The man looked a bit intimidating at first glance, but he was probably just worried about his family''s safety. No one could have known she wasn''t some kind of murderer or criminal due to her vegetable state, so could she blame them for being wary? She forced a smile onto her face. ¡°Hi. My name is Nyx. Thanks for taking care of me. By any chance could you tell me how I came to be here?¡± They stared at her for a moment before the man responded. ¡°It¡¯s good to see that you have recovered,¡± the man looked her up and down. ¡°My name is Jayse, and this little one is Aerie. You don''t have to be frightened of us. Have a seat and I¡¯ll tell you what I know of what happened to you and how you came to be here on my farm.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± Nyx took a seat in one of the chairs in the living room and put her hands in her lap. The hand crafted furniture was sturdy and well made. It wasn''t the most comfortable furniture in the world, but the blanket hanging from the back of her chair was nice to lean against. Jayse sat down in a rocking chair across from her and told her everything he knew over the next several minutes. After he was finished, she quietly digested the information that had been given to her. Astoria¡­ as in the town in Oregon from The Goonies? Probably not a coincidence. She must be another player. What are the odds that we would both end up captured by that Red Lotus group? This game has a sick sense of destiny. Seems like she¡¯s a good person though. I definitely want to help her rid this world of those creeps if I can. ¡°When were they last here, again?¡± ¡°They were last here about two days ago. I hope they¡¯re all right,¡± he said. ¡°You think they might still be in the town? How far is that from here? Maybe I can go meet up with them.¡± ¡°Are you sure that you want to be going off alone? You¡¯ve been through a lot and you should be safe here. I¡¯m sure the others will come back for you soon.¡± ¡°I¡¯d feel better if I could help them in some way,¡± she didn¡¯t mention that she would feel a lot safer with another player nearby so she could have someone to relate to rather than hanging out with some NPCs, no matter how realistic their AI was. The front door opened and an an older girl who was maybe just a few years younger than herself came in and shut the door behind her, leaning against it. ¡°Dad, there are three soldiers outside asking for you.¡± The girl''s eyes darted over to Nyx for just an instant. ¡°Do you have any weapons in the house? Maybe a sword or dagger or something?¡± Nyx asked. ¡°No, nothing like that. I have a bow, but it won¡¯t do us much good against trained soldiers. I¡¯m just a farmer and the worst I have to deal with is wildlife trying to get at my livestock. I have an axe near the back of the house for chopping wood, it could work as a weapon, but I think it''d be best if you hid instead of trying to fight. We don''t know what they want yet. Rodia, take her back to our room and if it sounds bad, get out using the window, take the girls with you to our shelter. I don¡¯t care what he says, I have a distinct feeling that those guards are going to be trouble somehow. I won¡¯t just stand by and do nothing. I will fight. I¡¯m never going to let myself be taken again. She let Rodia lead her to the back of the house and they quietly huddled behind the door listening. She was prepared to activate her ability, she wasn''t a trained fighter, but she would be far stronger than the average person. She strained to hear the conversation that was taking place. She had already missed the beginning of the conversation. ¡°Listen, old man, we¡¯re just looking for a group of four girls. Three of them were seen in town just the other day and escaped. According to the warrant I received from my superiors, there is also a fourth girl that was travelling with them. They are all violent criminals. We have two witnesses that have stated they saw four individuals on horseback headed in this direction recently, which means the fourth girl is hiding out somewhere. We''ve already checked the other farms, yours is the last, now step aside and let us do our job. If you don''t comply, I''ve been given the authority to burn your farm to the ground. We''re going to search the house, and then the barn and other outbuildings one by one whether you agree or not.¡± ¡°I told you before, I haven¡¯t seen anyone out in this direction in weeks, certainly not any strangers. Lord Garland would not stand for this behavior from his soldiers, you should be ashamed of yourselves for threatening to destroy my home!¡± ¡°Garland is a filthy criminal. He¡¯s no longer in charge. Are you going to move and let us inside, or do we need to move you?¡± ¡°By the king¡¯s laws you have no right to enter my home!¡± ¡°Just shut up and move!¡± Nyx heard some struggling noises and then a thud. The little girl, Aerie, started to let out a cry but her mother clamped a hand over her mouth and shushed her. ¡°We need to go. Jayse is tougher than he looks. There¡¯s a hidden storm cellar in our barn for emergencies. Please, help me get the girls to safety.¡± ¡°Okay. We need to move fast.¡± Footsteps could be heard down the hallway. They would be searching room by room. It would be mere moments before they got to the room where they were currently hiding. Nyx helped Rodia get the older girl out of the window first, followed by Aerie. Rodia went next, and Nyx took up the rear. Just as her feet hit the dirt outside the door creaked open and she could hear voices again. ¡°I don¡¯t know why Lord Dane cares so much about finding these girls, anyway.¡± ¡°Orders are orders. We aren''t paid to think. This farmhouse looks to be clear, we should head back and then work on searching the outbuildings.¡± ¡°We¡¯re going to burn this house to the ground as a lesson, anyway. That old man is hiding something. Maybe not the girl, but there¡¯s something suspicious going on here,¡± a third voice said in a commanding tone. ¡°Isn¡¯t that extreme, sir? I didn¡¯t sign on to burn down people¡¯s homes. I want to uphold the law. There''s no evidence. He just didn''t want us trashing his home.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll do as your told. Go light the torches.¡± They stopped listening at that point and ran towards the barn at full speed. This isn¡¯t right! These kind people are going to lose everything just for hiding me. I have to do something. Just as they ran past the wood pile, Nyx took a moment to grab the woodcutter''s axe that was sticking out of a large round of wood. She heaved it up over her shoulder and continued to follow the others. Once they were all inside the shelter of the barn, Rodia spoke, ¡°It¡¯s just a house. We can rebuild. It isn¡¯t worth your life, dear. Help me move these piles of hay over just a little,¡± she pointed to a mound of hay that was in the far corner of the barn surrounded by various farming tools and equipment. The kindly woman handed her a pitchfork and they moved the pile slightly to the side revealing a hidden cellar door beneath. Rodia grabbed a lantern off of a hook and quickly lit it before leading the girls down some stairs. ¡°I¡¯m not going. I will help Jayse and try to save your farm if I can. Besides, someone has to be up here to hide the cellar again, and I won''t let it be you. If the worst happens... I don''t want them to be without parents because of me.¡± She could see that Rodia wanted to tell her go down the stairs, but she nodded at the logic of her words. ¡°Bring him back to us, okay?¡± ¡°I promise that I¡¯ll do everything I can.¡± She hefted the heavy double bladed axe onto her shoulder and accessed the reserved stats she had saved up from her stasis ability. She could immediately feel in her strength as the axe felt light in her hand. She could swing this thing with ease now. She swung it a few times to test her newfound strength. I can do this. I¡¯m now twice as powerful as I would normally be. I can fight. You have to be brave if you want to survive in this shitty world. Taking a deep breath she went to the barn entrance and peeked out. Three guards stood before the house talking. She couldn¡¯t hear what they said, but one of them was lighting torches. I need to move before it¡¯s too late. She stepped out of the barn with the axe at her shoulder and shouted, ¡°Hey, assholes! You looking for me?¡± The men all turned toward her at the same time. ¡°Go get her!¡± the man with the voice that had wanted to burn the farmhouse down commanded. Here goes nothing. If I die, at least it will be on my own terms, doing the right thing. Two of the three soldiers walked in her direction without even an ounce of worry on their faces. She didn¡¯t have any skill in using axes, or anything for that matter, but she could swing the thing around and move quickly. The thing was far from a battle axe that people see in the movies, it was just a regular double headed axe with a small head and sturdy wooden handle. She just hoped it was sharp. She would have to aim precisely in order to land a killing blow. The guards weren¡¯t exactly decked out in plate armor or anything, just what looked to be boiled leather and steel skullcaps. The two approaching her were equipped with swords and had shields on their backs. The leader, who was watching the scene play out, had a halberd strapped to his back. ¡°Do you think we¡¯re firewood or something, girl?¡± One of the guards laughed at her. ¡°Put the axe down and come quietly. If you do, maybe we can spare this man''s farm. If not, then we will have no choice but to not only burn the farm down, but kill that lying farmer as well. You don¡¯t want that do you, girl?¡± said the other.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. The guards stopped about a dozen paces away from her, awaiting her answer. Nyx gritted her teeth in frustration. She didn¡¯t want to be taken again, but also didn¡¯t want to be the reason that those kids lost their dad and their home in one day. The people in this world were too realistic to think of as NPCs. In fact, she was likely not much different from them since her real body was dead. She was just code like them now, wasn''t she? Nyx weighed her options, and decided that now would be her best shot at freedom. She didn¡¯t trust the word of these soldiers, anyway. Their leader had sounded like he just wanted to burn the place down no matter what they had found because Jayse had resisted. They would kill Jayse and his family for hiding her, no matter what they said. ¡°I won¡¯t be going with you, and you will not be harming any more innocent people!¡± she said defiantly and readied herself for combat. The guards shrugged and unsheathed their swords. ¡°It¡¯s not like she will be able to resist, anyway. Look at her, she has no armor and no real weapon. Not only that, but a girl her age is likely to have no combat experience at all. Lord Dane is wasting resources sending us after someone like this. Just how violent of a criminal could she be? The other three seem to be the real threat.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not our duty to worry about things like that. We follow orders. Let¡¯s get her.¡± The soldiers advanced and Nyx decided that she would take that smug look off the mocking one¡¯s face first. The guards spread apart a little to give each other room to fight and drew their swords. Nyx burst into action and charged at her intended target. A look of surprise came across the smug man''s face when he saw how fast she ran. He swung at her weapon, probably hoping to cut the wooden handle in half, but she quickly dodged to the side and swung her axe with all of her enhanced strength at the man''s center like she was chopping down a tree. The head of the axe slammed into her target and bit deeply. The man dropped his sword and screamed in pain as she ripped it free. He fell to the ground and while keeping an eye on the other opponent who was now charging her, she brought the axe down on the prone man''s exposed neck. One down. Two more of these assholes to go. The second man had removed the shield from his back and held it out in front of him as he came in, thrusting his sword at her. It caught her just barely on the side as she spun to the side and brought her axe towards him in an arc. He shoved his shield into the blow and she staggered backwards slightly. The third guard, the one with the halberd, was on his way to aid his companion. She needed to end this before he could join the fight. The guard with the shield charged her and got in close, and spun, trying to backhand her with the shield, but she grabbed it with one hand and yanked him towards her hard. He was thrown off balance and she let the haft of the axe slide through her fingers until she touched the axe head. In one swift motion, she brought the blade up to the man''s throat and shoved it into his windpipe. Blood sprayed all over her and she shoved him away from her. He fell to the ground gurgling at her feet. If I can take care of the last guy, then they''ll be safe. You can do it, Nyx, ignore the pounding of your heart, and focus! The leader is probably stronger than these two, or at least it¡¯s likely that he is. I have to be careful. ¡°Looks like you¡¯re a lot stronger than you look, girl. Those weaklings didn¡¯t stand a chance,¡± he sneered at her. The man spun his halberd in a flashy move as though it were a quarterstaff before settling into a fighting stance. It had a half-moon axe on one side and spikes on the top and rear of the weapon. This one is going to be trouble. The reach on that weapon is going to put me at a huge disadvantage. She didn¡¯t have time to think more, however, as the guard sprung into action stabbing at her with the top of the halberd as though it was a spear in a quick motion. She didn¡¯t have time to dodge and the tip of the thing caught her in her left shoulder. Pain exploded in her brain as she jumped backwards. At least he hadn''t hit anything vital, but her arm would not be as easy to move anymore. Blood seeped out of her wounds and the health bar dropped faster than ever now. She cursed aloud and continued to back away as the man stabbed at her from a distance. She needed to get close. In her enhanced state she had a lot more vitality than normal, so while the wounds looked bad with blood drenching her clothes, she could still continue the fight for a while at least. The wounds hurt like hell, though. She was moving a little slower now as well. I need to do something different or I''m going to die here. Nyx threw the axe at the guard who jumped to the side, startled. She darted to the side and scooped up one of fallen guard''s weapons. She gripped the shield in her injured left arm and swung the sword once to get a feel for it. It wasn''t as heavy as the axe, so she could move quicker. The guard had recovered from the shock of an axe flying through the air at his head and advanced towards her again, swinging the halberd''s axe-like blade in a wide arc. This time she was fast enough and brought the shield up, bracing for the impact. The halberd connected and knocked her slightly off balance, but not so bad that she couldn¡¯t recover. In a quick motion, the guard retracted his weapon and stabbed at her again. She spun to the side, narrowly avoiding being skewered. She had to get in close, or he was just going to wear her down. She had higher stats, but her stamina was far from infinite. He seems to be almost as fast as I am, and equally strong. Not only that, but he''s trained, and I''m not. When he swung the weapon at her again she blocked it and then she dropped her sword and with lightning quick reflexes grabbed the shaft of his weapon, yanking on it with everything she had. He only moved forward a couple steps, but he had foolishly let himself be put off balance. It would be enough, she smashed her shield as hard as she could with the injured arm directly into the man''s face, sending him flying backwards onto the ground. She heard the crunch of the enemy''s nose breaking upon impact. Blood spurted out of his nose and she didn''t hesitate to move in. She climbed atop him and shoved the edge of her shield down onto his windpipe. He grabbed at her, struggling to throw her off, but she was too strong. She pressed all of her weight down onto his neck and the metal ate into the man''s neck. Blood blossomed into existence and the man flailed wildly, but still she didn''t relent. She kept him pinned until he died and then flopped off of him to the side and onto the ground. Nyx''s heart was beating a million times a minute and she gasped for air. She had just killed three enemies all on her own, at level 1! She stared up at the sky for a moment or two as she let it sink into her. She was alive! They weren''t going to take her away again! Not ever! I need to go check on Jayse and the others. This will probably cause even more trouble for them, but at least Jayse will live. She looked down at herself and saw that she was covered in gore, but it seemed like the bleeding in her side had stopped already. It still hurt like hell, though. The wound in her shoulder was a bit more severe, but the bleeding had slowed as well. Her health bar was steadying. I just killed three people. Sure, they were bad, or at least two of them were from what I heard, but they probably had families of their own. This isn¡¯t like a regular game, the people here aren¡¯t just NPCs, they¡¯re like real people. I didn''t have a choice though, did I? She walked towards the farmhouse and weighted the moral dilemma in her mind. It wasn¡¯t like at home, this world was one of kill or be killed. Truly a Darwinist experience, survival of the fittest was the rule of this world. She wiped the tears that had come unbidden to her eyes away. In the real world, she wouldn¡¯t have hurt a fly. Video game violence was always okay, because at the end of the day it wasn¡¯t real. She would have to harden herself to the realities of this world, or she knew that she would not be able to survive for long. I will do what I have to do. More importantly, I will do what¡¯s right since apparently even the guards in this world can''t be trusted to do so. They were going to burn down this farm and orphan those girls. I did make the right decision, I know it. She shook herself out of thoughts as she got to the door and deactivated her ability. The increased strength faded from her and the wounds that she had ignored hurt a bit more than before, but it would be okay. Jayse was lying on the floor, and she rushed over to him and leaned down to check his pulse. He was breathing and had a steady heartbeat. He must have just been knocked out. The bastards were going to burn the place down with him inside! There was a large purple knot forming on his head. I need to go let Rodia know that everything is okay. Maybe they have first aid supplies or something. Nyx didn¡¯t waste any time and ran back over to the barn. She opened the cellar door and went down inside. Rodia and the girls were backed into a corner and she held a kitchen knife out in front of her wardingly before she saw that it was Nyx. ¡°You¡¯re okay! Is Jayse¡­ is he...?" The woman couldn¡¯t complete the sentence. ¡°He¡¯s okay. He¡¯s been knocked out and he¡¯s on the floor in the farm house. I¡¯ve dealt with the guards, they were going to burn the place down with him inside. Do you have any first aid stuff? He''s probably going to be fine, but I''m sure that when these guards don''t report back, more will be coming. I¡¯m so sorry that I¡¯ve caused so much trouble for your family.¡± Rodia gave her a warm smile. ¡°We couldn¡¯t just say no. Helping you was the right thing to do, and I¡¯d do it again. Let¡¯s go check on my husband. Girls, I want you to stay here for a little bit, okay?¡± ¡°Mommy! Don¡¯t go! I don¡¯t want to be here, it¡¯s dark and smelly,¡± Aerie said. ¡°I¡¯ll be right back, I promise. Judy, take care of your sister.¡± ¡°All right. Just come back fast, okay, mom?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Everything is going to be fine.¡± Nyx and Rodia made their way back to the farm house at a full sprint and found Jayse still on the floor, but he was beginning to stir. He sat up and rubbed his head where he had the knot. ¡°Ugh¡­ what happened? Did they leave?¡± ¡°No. They were going to kill you and burn down your farm. I took care of them, though. I think that there will be more coming when these guys don¡¯t return, though. Is there a place you can go that¡¯s safe?¡± ¡°My sister¡¯s farm is not too far. We could get there in a couple hours cross-country. What do you think, dear?¡± ¡°This is a small town, the guards would find us there and it would cause problems for your sister. It will be better for us if we hide in the forest for a few days. It¡¯s unfortunate, but we may have to leave this country and start anew. Lord Garland is a man I respect, and I can''t imagine him becoming a criminal. Something bad happened. What happened here today is proof enough. I do have a few gold coins hidden inside the house. We could start over in Triom, we just need to get to the other side of the Serpentine Mountains. If a young girl like Astoria could do it, then I¡¯m sure we can as well.¡± ¡°I suppose you¡¯re right. I¡¯ll gather the essentials as quickly as I can. We can be on our way in no time. What should we do about the bodies?¡± ¡°Leave them. It won¡¯t make any difference, anyway. People would¡¯ve seen them heading toward our place. We don¡¯t need to waste any more valuable time, I¡¯ll go get the horses.¡± ¡°Nyx, could you be a dear and go get the girls?¡± ¡°Yeah. No problem,¡± she replied. She went outside and left the two of them to their tasks. Before heading to the barn she decided to search the guards. Maybe they had some useful items for her to take. Upon inspection she found some health potions and a total of 8 silver coins and 53 copper coins. She decided that she would keep the sword and shield as well. She transferred the coins into a single pouch, downed a health potion, and examined each of her new belongings.
Steel Longsword
? Quality: Average ? Durability: 37/45
Steel Kite Shield
? Quality: Average ? Durability: 42/45
Weak Health Potion (4)
? Quality: Common ? Effects: Drinking this potion will restore 40 HP over 30 seconds.
Belt of Minor Strength
? Quality: Above Average ? Enchantment: +3 to Strength ? Durability: 53/60
The belt was a nice find. It had been equipped on the man who had been wielding the halberd. The belt had a symbol etched into the buckle that was a man flexing his bicep. That was what made it stand out to her in the first place enough to remove it and have a closer look at it. It wasn¡¯t a huge enchantment or anything, but that +3 would turn into a +6 when she activated her Stasis ability. She fastened the belt around her waist and equipped all of her gear. The kite shield was now strapped to her back and the sword hung at her waist in its scabbard. The belt pouch hung from the other side of her waist and she felt like a real adventurer now. She didn¡¯t have any armor to speak of, but none of their equipment would fit her, so she didn¡¯t take any of that. While she was getting equipped, Jayse had brought the horses around front and Rodia was loading them up with things. Right. I¡¯d better get the girls. Only a few minutes had passed, but she realized that she should have looted her enemies later. These people needed to be away from this place, and she had delayed that. She ran over to the hidden cellar and went down inside. ¡°It¡¯s okay to come out now. Your parents are packing up a horse. You¡¯re going to be going on a trip.¡± Judy came out of the corner, followed closely by her little sister and they ran past her to the outside. She turned around and followed them. Aerie let out a gasp when she saw the dead men lying on the ground. ¡°What happened?¡± Judy asked. ¡°They were going to hurt your father and burn down the farm. I didn¡¯t have a choice.¡± Aerie ran over to her mom and hugged her legs. The older woman bent down to give her daughter a hug and whispered something to her. Aerie ran off inside the house a moment later. ¡°Judy, go get some of your belongings. We are going to have to leave this place behind. Grab only the essentials! You can bring one book with you,¡± Rodia said. The older girl looked like she was about to cry. She stood next to Nyx and looked around the farm longingly. ¡°Things were just fine here until all you strangers started showing up,¡± she muttered under her breath as she walked away towards the house. I feel so bad for these people. They have been nothing but kind to me. This isn¡¯t my fault, nor is it Astoria or the others''. The Red Lotus and that lord are the problem. I may not be powerful yet, but I vow that I will make this right. She saw that her notification icon was blinking and so she took a moment to open it up and have a look.
Notifications
You have gained 360 EXP for defeating 2 level 4 Guards.
You have gained 330 EXP for defeating a level 6 Guard.
You have completed a hidden quest: Fight for What''s Right! Bravery means doing what''s right even if you''re afraid. You have shown that you have courage by standing by Jayse and his family when you could have ran away instead. Reward: 500 EXP
You have unlocked a hidden quest: Destroy the Red Lotus An underground flesh trading organization that captures young girls and sells them off to the highest bidders as slaves has ravaged the kingdom of Regulus for years now. Unravel the secrets behind this organization and bring it down once and for all. Avenge the innocent and free the kingdom from this scourge! Reward: Unknown Do you accept? Yes / No
Congratulations! You have reached levels 2, 3, and 4! You have gained 18 attribute points to distribute.
I can¡¯t believe I gained so much experience! I really think that the only way I was able to defeat those guards at all was because they underestimated me so badly. Nyx was grateful for the extra experience from the hidden quest. And selected yes on the one regarding the Red Lotus. It was time to allocate her new stats. She wanted to increase her physical attributes because they would benefit her most right now. She didn''t have any magic to speak of, so upgrading those magic related stats would be pointless for now. She also never really believed in placing points in a useless stat like luck. In most games it barely helped at all, and in others it just increased critical strike chance or stuff like that. She would take a hard pass on wasting points there. She placed three points into endurance, three points into agility, and six points into strength and vitality. She felt the effects take place and grinned as she looked over her shiny new status page. Spoiler: Nyx'' Stats
Name Nyx
Level 004 (1190/1307 EXP to next Level)
Class None
HP 171/240 MP 150/150
AP 0
Attributes
Vitality 16 Magic 10
Endurance 13 Magic Resistance 10
Strength 16 Luck 5
Agility 13
Dexterity 10
Abilities
? Stasis ? 14 Hours 12 Minutes of stored power available.
Skills
? None
She still had tons of time stored up from her long time spent as a vegetable. She had found a loophole in the system, and now she could abuse it. She closed out the windows and turned to the family. ¡°Is there anything that I can help you with before I head out? I¡¯m going to go to the town and find the others. That lord isn¡¯t going to get away with this if I have anything to say about it,¡± she said. ¡°Don¡¯t throw your life away, girl. How about you come with us? We¡¯re going to start fresh where no one will know us. I can just say you¡¯re my adopted daughter if anyone asks,¡± Jayse said. Nyx seriously missed her family and a huge part of her wanted to take the safe route and go with these people. Even so, her experiences so far in this world told her that maybe it wouldn¡¯t be so bad to live a simple life on a farm. Her grandparents owned a ranch and she had spent every summer there since she was little so she knew her way around a farm. It would be so easy to slip into that life and forget about adventuring. She wouldn¡¯t ever be able to return home, and that was heartbreaking, but she didn¡¯t have to throw away her life to seek adventure when there were very real consequences. ¡°I¡­ wish I could do that, but the others might need my help and they did so much to rescue me. I need to repay them. You are such good people. Thank you for offering to take me with you, it means more to me than you could ever know,¡± she wiped away a tear that had escaped her eye while she was reminiscing about her grandparents. ¡°I can¡¯t force you to go, I suppose,¡± Jayse said. He reached into a pack on the side of the horse and pulled out a blue cloak. It had an attached hood and looked warm. ¡°Take this at least. It will keep you warm. If you insist on going to Oliend, tread carefully on the road and avoid people. Keep that hood up. When you get close to the town take the road leading to the left. It circles around the town and past the graveyard. About thirty minutes walk beyond that is Lord Dane¡¯s estate and if you continue a bit further, then you will reach Lord Garland''s home. That is where the others were headed, but I don''t know what happened if he is now considered a criminal. I wish you the best of luck, young one.¡± Rodia came outside and walked over to her with a small bundle. ¡°It isn¡¯t much, but I made you a sandwich for the road,¡± she handed over the food that was wrapped in a hand stitched handkerchief. ¡°Thank you. I¡¯d better be on my way. I don¡¯t think I have long until sunset,¡± she replied. Nyx took the cloak from Jayse and put it on. The fabric was a sturdy, thick wool that felt as though it would keep her nice and warm if she had to sleep outside or be out in the rain. She smiled to the family and said her farewells. As she walked down the dirt road she turned back to see the family leading the horse off into the field toward the direction of the mountains. I hope they will be okay. She thought as she turned and continued on her way. Chapter 21: A Hidden Surprise Astoria ran her fingers across the face of one of the bronze coins that she had taken out of her bag. Three squiggles that depicted a gust of wind were slightly raised against her fingertips. Just need to grab that one over there and then we can get out of this place I hope. I can¡¯t even tell how much time has passed down here. I hope Jayse and the girl we left with him are okay. Since Dane¡¯s spies had seen us go into the manor, it¡¯s not too hard to believe that he would have knowledge of our fourth companion. Hopefully, he won¡¯t go out searching for her. Only a few hours had passed as far as they could all guess and Garland hadn¡¯t awoken yet. The health potions had worked miracles on him, but Ladriel had told her that even with the potions, undergoing that kind of healing exhausted the body. Astoria couldn''t help but feel lucky that they had survived that fight at all after witnessing what the Gloom had done to a high level warrior like Garland. Tilly and Ladriel were both sleeping now and Astoria was tired of sitting around. She got up to her feet and paced around the room a bit before moving a little closer to the pedestal at the center of the open area to have a closer look at it. She didn''t intend to grab the coin or anything, not until the others were awake, but it wouldn''t hurt to have a look, right? As she approached the solitary pedestal, she couldn''t help but have the strong feeling that it was one huge trap. Sure, the place was a boss room, and it could be possible this was just the equivalent of a heart container in a Zelda game after a boss was defeated, but she felt like this place had been too tricky so far to just reach over and grab it. If I had to guess, I''d bet that when we grab that coin, all those sarcophagi in the entrance to the boss area will fling open and a horde of undead will charge in here. She stood before the front of the pedestal and leaned forward to have a look while keeping a distance of a few feet, looking for the familiar red glow that signaled a trap, but she didn''t see anything. She wondered just how much longer it would be until Garland recovered. I''ve had more than enough time down in this hole to want to get outside and feel the sun on my face again. I wonder if it''s night or day outside? When she turned back to the others she saw that Ladriel had begun to stir. She stepped away from the pedestal again and walked towards her friend. ¡°Up already? It¡¯s okay if you want to sleep a little more. Keeping watch is kind of boring, but at least we don¡¯t seem to be in any imminent danger. In a way, I''m actually kind of happy to be bored." ¡°I can¡¯t rest peacefully underground like this. Have you examined the pedestal with the coin carefully, yet?¡± ¡°I didn''t want to get too close to it really, but from what I see, there aren''t any traps. I wish that my trap detection skill was higher than it is. I don''t trust it to not be trapped.¡± Ladriel got up and came over to her. "That makes logical sense. Did you look at it from all angles?" "No, just from the front, then I saw you woke up. I should at least look at it from every angle." Tilly''s eyes opened up while they were talking and she rubbed them with her hands and then slapped her cheeks a lightly with both hands. ¡°Everything okay?¡± ¡°Yeah. Just waiting like we have been. Nothing has happened, and no signs of any trouble. What else do you have in that bag of yours that we can eat? I¡¯m starving,¡± Astoria said. ¡°We have some apples and pears as well as some more dried meat and cheese. The small amount of bread we have left is getting to be as hard as a rock though,¡± Tilly replied as she rummaged through her pack. ¡°I¡¯ll take an apple. Ladriel, you hungry?¡± ¡°No thank you. I¡¯m still okay and we might need to ration if we can¡¯t get out of here soon. For all we know, this is only the beginning of a vast system of catacombs.¡± Already seems pretty damned vast to me. I guess compared to dungeons in most games I''ve played, though, this one is definitely on the small side. Astoria took a red apple from Tilly¡¯s outstretched hand and took a big bite out of it. It was perfectly ripe and crisp. Apple juice dripped from her chin and she wiped it away before taking a seat on the ground. ¡°Here''s hoping that once we put all the coins in the pedestals upstairs, that we''ll get to leave this place and that it isn''t deeper." She took another bite of the apple and wished once more that they had more health potions. With what they had given Garland, they now were completely out of them. If things got bad, she was the only one who could heal herself. Idly she wondered if the regeneration skill she stole from that goblin could be taught to the others. It was kind of like magic, though, so she doubted it. She checked Garland¡¯s health from his status page, and saw that it was a lot better than it had been before. He was still quite a ways from being at 100%, but she thought that he should be able to fight when he woke. A little while after they finished eating, Garland let out a groan in his sleep before rolling over from his back to his side. Astoria and the others rushed over to check on him only to find that his eyes were open and he was staring off to the side blankly. Oh no! Hopefully the Gloom''s Hulk Smash thing didn''t brain damage him like the girl who we left at Jayse''s farm. Astoria placed her hand on his shoulder and shook him every so gently, ¡°Garland. Can you hear me? Are you okay? We need you to get up if you can.¡± The middle-aged swordsman blinked a few times. ¡°I can''t believe that I''m alive. Thankfully those were just nightmares, then.¡± Astoria couldn''t help but smile when the lord sat up and after running his hand through his hair, began to look around at his surroundings. His gaze stopped for a moment on the charred remains of the dead gloom off in the near distance. ¡°That thing must have been the reason that we abandoned this old escape route and stopped burying our family down here. I¡¯m still pretty sore, but I can fight if the need arises." Garland got to his feet and wobbled momentarily before righting himself and placing a hand on the hilt of his sheathed sword. Astoria wasn''t so sure how able to fight he really was if he was still that uneasy on his feet, but they had stalled long enough, it was time to take that coin and get the hell out of this place. "Let''s go get the medallion. Everyone stay back a dozen feet or so and I''ll examine the pedestal closely from all sides before grabbing it." They spent a moment to gather up the few things that they had unpacked from their bags and then headed over towards the solitary pedestal. Astoria walked up to it carefully and while remaining a foot or so away from it she leaned in close to it and examined it. The tiles around the base of the pedestal looked ordinary and weren''t raised up at all, so she stepped up closer. The coin, which was just like the others, except that this one had a flame etched into the surface. There was a thick layer of dust atop the flat pedestal and she thought that she saw what looked like a raised surface under part of it. She took a deep breath and blew on it. Dust flew out in front of her in a cloud and she coughed a little as she breathed it in. There was a metal plaque on top of the pedestal with writing on it. Her heart sank as she read it. Too much and you will die, too little and you will as well, Lighter than air, tougher than rocks, gentle and calming, A cycle of three is the life that I lead. Astoria stared at the words for a few long moments. The answer to that was clearly water, but the medallion set into this pedestal was fire. There was a fourth medallion somewhere. More than ever before, she felt that if she casually removed that coin that it would spell trouble. The pedestal was an exact duplicate of the ones that had been up in the room above. She looked up towards the ceiling and sure enough, there was a hole there in the shape of the pedestal. She pointed up for the others to see. "What is that?" Tilly asked. "There is a fourth riddle! We still have to find one more coin. We need to check everywhere in this room. I don''t think it''s a good idea to remove this until we have the other one." Astoria stepped away from the pedestal and then filled the others in on what the fourth riddle was. Everyone agreed that the answer was water. "What if there is no fourth medallion? Can we go back out through the manor, Garland?"If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "It wouldn''t be wise. Dane will have men waiting for us to return there. We should continue forward if we can, and we can do that if it comes down to it." "We have to be missing something important. Spread out and let¡¯s look around for a clue or something.¡± Garland and Tilly went away to the room with all the standing Sarcophagi, while Ladriel and Astoria combed the room they were in for something out of the ordinary. Astoria decided that it would be wise to systematically check all of the large pillars that filled the room. She started at the back of the room and went around each one. There weren''t any traps or buttons sticking out anywhere, but she continued going methodically. When she reached what was the center of the room, the pillar there had something odd about it. There was a crack in it, but it was the shape of a circle. She pulled out one of the coins from her bag and held it up to the spot. The size matched. She hadn''t seen any damage on any of the other pillars in the entire room other than the one that the Gloom had punched, it was too much of a coincidence. She just hoped that luck would be on her side here. She unsheathed one of her daggers and prepared to jam it into the crack. She just had a good feeling about this. ¡°Did you find something?¡± Ladriel asked walking up to her when she saw the dagger out. ¡°I¡¯m not sure. There¡¯s something weird about this crack, come look.¡± Ladriel ran over to her side and looked at the pillar. ¡°It¡¯s just a crack in the pillar. What¡¯s odd about that?¡± Astoria pulled out the wind medallion and held it up against the crack on the pillar. ¡°See. It''s the same size and shape. It''s too odd to be a coincidence I think. I just have a feeling¡­¡± Ladriel looked skeptical, but Astoria ignored the look she was receiving and jammed the dagger into the crack as hard as she could and then pried on it with both hands. At first it it didn''t move at all, so she yanked it out and stabbed in again at another spot. She gripped the hilt of her dagger with both hands and really put her weight into it this time. The stone finally gave and flew outward while she fell onto her butt. Astoria got back to her feet and couldn¡¯t stop a satisfied smile from appearing across her face when she saw what she had uncovered. Behind the small section of stone was a fourth medallion set into a recess depicting a drop of water on its face. I knew it! Suck on that GMs! She reached into the small recess and pulled out the coin. ¡°Earth, air, fire and water. Each of the four base elements. I should have known it was odd that there were only three of the four in the riddles above. Now to swap them. I just knew there was something too easy about that pedestal just being there in the open.¡± ¡°Go get the others, all right?¡± ¡°Very well. Don¡¯t try to swap the medallions until we¡¯re all together though, okay?¡± ¡°I won¡¯t.¡± Once they had all gathered, Astoria walked up to the pedestal once more. Her heart pounded as she prepared to make the switch. She gripped the water coin tightly in one fist while the other hand shook slightly with nervousness. ¡°I¡¯m going to do it as quickly as I can. You guys ready?¡± ¡°Be careful!¡± Tilly said. Astoria closed her eyes and took a deep, calming breath, before she moved her free hand to the smooth, cold, edges of the bronze fire coin. She just hoped that a boiling vat of water wouldn''t dump on her or something when she pulled the coin free. The acid trap hadn¡¯t activated when she was right next to the pedestal putting the medallion inside, so she hoped the same would hold true here. There was no guarantee, however, and she couldn¡¯t completely force down her worries. Just do it fast. Channel Indiana Jones! As quickly as she could she yanked the fire medallion free and in a smooth motion slid the water one into the recess in its place. She jumped back a foot or so and waited while her heartbeat sounded in her ears. She must¡¯ve been fast enough because nothing bad happened right away. A loud click sounded and she jumped back even further as she heard the sound of stone scraping against stone. The pedestal suddenly had a pillar growing up from the ground beneath it, matching the others that filled this room and it shot up into the ceiling where the hole was. Water began running down the pillar once it was in place and Astoria wondered if anything else was going to happen. She looked around nervously, but heard no zombies rushing out from the other room on their way to murder them. Even so, she didn''t want to wait around. ¡°We have what we need, let¡¯s get out of here.¡± Astoria said. ¡°I have never agreed with a statement more than that one.¡± Ladriel replied. The four of them ran back towards the small one with the sarcophagi and Astoria sighed in relief when she saw that the door that had fallen when the boss room trap had been triggered had raised back up. Beyond that, her heart pounded anew when she saw that one of the sarcophagi that had been closed before was now flung wide open with its lid laying across the floor. ¡°That¡¯s weird. It wasn¡¯t open before. In fact we weren¡¯t able to pry any of these open at all.¡± Tilly unsheathed her sword and approached the thing warily. She stopped and looked inside. ¡°What¡¯s inside? I¡¯m guessing not a zombie that wants to eat our brains or something.¡± Astoria said. Her friend sheathed her sword and reached inside the sarcophagus and pulled out a 5 foot tall staff. The top of the staff bent in a question mark shape and at the center of the circle, floating in mid-air was a large crystal which was a deep blue in color in the shape of a teardrop, just like on the water coin. It glowed ever so slightly with an aqua colored light. Tilly brought the staff over, holding it carefully and Astoria examined it.
Unidentified Staff
? Quality: Unknown ? Damage: Unknown ? Durability: 96/96
Well, that tells me nothing other than the fact that this thing is probably valuable. Astoria reached out and touched the teardrop on the top of the staff. It felt as cold as ice and she had to yank her hand away. ¡°Can anyone identify this?¡± All of her companions shook their heads. Astoria was surprised when they all agreed that she could have it. ¡°I don¡¯t think we ever would have found that fourth medallion if not for you. You deserve this. It can be identified by one of the mage guilds in one of the larger cities. Until then, just carry it on your back,¡± Garland said. ¡°Thanks, everyone.¡± She took the staff reverently and strapped it to her back, handing him her bow and arrows. She wasn''t really into being an archer anymore, anyway. Ladriel had that covered, and once she had her first taste of magic, earlier, she knew that she wanted to shift her focus from things like archery to that instead. Being a stealthy character who could find traps was all good and well, and she enjoyed that as well, so she decided she would try to become some sort of assassin/mage hybrid. Up until now, she had just been working with whatever she had. The game hadn''t given her much, but now she had options on how she would grow. There was no rule that said she couldn''t be a jack of all trades, was there? If she could learn some spells on top of being a stealthy rogue type of person, she could be unstoppable someday. They continued up the long passageway and after a short while found themselves back on the main floor of the catacombs. ¡°So, Garland, I¡¯ve been wondering¡­ did your family actually dig this place out and create it? Or was it here before your family came?¡± ¡°No. The catacombs were a ruin that my ancestors found an entrance to when they were building the manor. When they explored it and found an exit they built it into the plans in case of an emergency.¡± ¡°So they didn¡¯t make all these traps?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t really know. It¡¯s all been lost in history.¡± ¡°I see,¡± she replied. Another few minutes of walking later and they were back at the room with the pedestals. Just one thing was different, on the side of the room opposite of the fire pedestal was the water pedestal. It had apparently risen through the floor earlier; she could see a floor tile sitting atop it. ¡°I¡¯ll go place the medallions. Wait here, everyone. She carefully moved along the wall to the second pedestal and placed the fire medallion in the recess. After waiting a moment for the trap to disarm she continued to the final pedestal and placed the wind medallion. ¡°It¡¯s all clear. Let¡¯s go.¡± The others began moving and once they were all across, Astoria went over to the pedestal that held the small blue wand she saw earlier. She checked for traps and found that there were none, so she grabbed the wand and tried examining it.
Unidentified Wand
? Quality: Unknown ? Damage: Unknown ? Durability: 96/96
That¡¯s about what I expected. Astoria handed the wand over to Ladriel who put it into her bag. It was finally time to see what lay beyond the doors in that death trap of a room and Astoria couldn¡¯t wait to hopefully be outside soon. She and the others had to work together to shove on the heavy stone door that blocked their path. It finally gave way and it opened up into a dark set of stairs leading upward into a dead end. Despair almost took grip on her once more, but then she saw the small lever sticking out at the end of the tunnel as Garland used his light spell once more. There was nothing else in the small room other than the lever. Seeing that there was no other choice, Astoria walked down the corridor to it and placed her hand atop it, pulling down. A loud sound like rusty gears grinding on one another filled the small corridor and the wall dropped down revealing what looked to be the inside of a mausoleum. Moments later they were outside and into the open air of a graveyard. The party stepped out into the afternoon sunlight, shielding their eyes as they went. She took a deep breath, enjoying the fresh air. It felt like it had been ages since she had breathed in anything but stale air. She turned around and examined the plaque on the mausoleum they had exited from. It was marked with the Garland family crest. Of course it would lead to a cemetery. I''m so dumb for not having guessed this sooner! ¡°It feels so good to finally be above ground!¡± Ladriel exclaimed. ¡°What do we do next? I don¡¯t know the area. Where are we, Garland?¡± Astoria said. ¡°This graveyard is fairly near town. We''re close to Dane''s estate, we just have to follow the road. We can wait until nightfall and infiltrate the grounds of his manor as we discussed before.¡± ¡°Sounds good. Let¡¯s get out of this depressing place and find somewhere better to wait for nightfall.¡± Tilly suggested. That idea sounded fantastic to Astoria and the four companions began walking toward the road. After only a couple minutes of winding their way around tombstones, they found themselves at a large dirt road. Garland pointed in the direction they needed to go, and that was when they saw something shocking. Just down the road, walking towards them in the direction they were going to be heading in, she saw the figure of the girl who had been in a comatose-like state they had left with Jayse. She was walking towards them with determined look on her face and a cloak flying out behind her in the light breeze and Astoria noted the sword that was strapped to her hip. She grinned in excitement, hopefully they would soon have another ally against Dane in the fight ahead.